Tempt the Stars

because . . . ?” I demanded again.
    “We
can’t
,” Jules said, going back into panic mode. “If we do the master is sure to find out!”
    “So? It’s not like he’s going to assault Augustine—”
    “Who cares about Augustine? I’m worried about me!”
    I struggled back around to see what looked like genuine panic in those blue eyes. “Mircea doesn’t go around assaulting his vampires, either,” I pointed out. He didn’t have to. Most of them acted like he was the second coming already.
    “It’s not so much assault that’s the problem,” Fred said, apparently in Zen mode, despite getting deluged by a waterfall from off the shelf.
    “What, then?”
    The three exchanged glances. At least, I guessed they did. I couldn’t see Rico anymore, but Fred looked behind me and then at Jules. “I’m gonna tell her,” he warned.
    Nobody said anything.
    “Tell me what?” I demanded.
    “It’s like . . ” Fred thought for a minute. “You know how the Brits used to send convicts to Australia?” he finally said.
    I stared at him through the streams of muddy water cascading off my dirty bangs.
“What?”
    “You know, in the bad old days. When they needed to dump some troublemakers who hadn’t done enough to hang but weren’t good enough to keep around? How they’d load ’em up on ships and send ’em off to Oz?”
    “No!”
    “Australia is a bad example,” Rico protested. “People died there. And before that there were hardship and pain and suffering—”
    Fred raised an eyebrow. “And?”
    Rico thought for a second. “Good point.”
    I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. And then opened them to glare at Fred. “Why are you telling me this?”
    Gray eyes met mine with a hint of compassion. “Because you’re Australia?”
    I wanted to bang my head on the tiles, but I couldn’t reach them. So I just stood there for a minute, wondering how much trouble I’d be in with Mircea if I killed three of his guys. If I was getting what they were saying, not all that much.
    Rico huffed out a laugh. “I wish I could see her face.”
    “No,” Fred told him. “You don’t. But we don’t have time for diplomacy.”
    “Just as well,” Rico said, somehow managing to light a cigarette. “We all suck at it.”
    “So you’re saying you screwed up and Mircea punished you by sending you to me?” I summarized.
    “See?” Rico said. “I keep telling everyone she isn’t really a dumb blonde.”
    I turned around, elbowing Jules in the gut in the process, and grabbed the cigarette out of Rico’s mouth. And dropped it onto the soggy tiles, where it went out with a little hiss. “That was a compliment,” he protested.
    “The point is, we can’t screw up again,” Fred said quickly. “Or . . . well, I don’t know what might happen. But I think it’s safe to say that none of us wants to find out. But you know how Augustine is. The guy’s touchy even on a good day—”
    “They call it the artistic temperament,” Rico said, sounding amused.
    “Well, I call it being a dick,” Fred said sourly. “But if he has to get out of bed, and come all the way up here, and reverse his hex or whatever, and then he sees the mess you guys left in the workroom—”
    “You left a mess?” I asked Rico, squirming back to face him.
    “You were in a hurry.”
    “I was—I didn’t ask you to do a damned thing!”
    “They’re always telling us to be proactive,” Jules said, sounding aggravated. “Back home, that is. A good servant knows what his master wants before his master does—”
    “I’m not your master!” I told him, finally managing to duck under those encircling arms.
    “Well, you’re the closest thing I’ve got right now!” Jules said, using his wrists to shove a swath of wet blond hair out of his face. “And I went down there to take care of you. Now take care of me!”
    I stared at him, feeling angry and waterlogged and pissed. But also strangely understanding. Because in two sentences, he’d just perfectly articulated the vampire code.
    Real vampires were not the lone wolves of the movies, living out a solitary but sexy existence in a castle somewhere, pining for the love of a good woman. In fact, pretty much the opposite was true. If anything, they reminded me of ants, living in sprawling, social families, sometimes hundreds or even thousands strong, with each member slotted into a complex hierarchy that would have made most people’s heads explode trying to comprehend