Shrapnel opened his mouth . . . and nothing came out. Now that I'd married his boss, he couldn't be certain if anything was off-limits to me. Cat took my arm, whistled at the current that shot into her, and then went on with her cheery chatter.
"I bet Vlad's got the most high-tech stuff available to protect his people, so the communications room should give you great ideas for what you want in voice-activated software."
It was all I could do not to kiss her. Where would the traitor have likely left the most incriminating essence trail? In the room that would've been used to locate Maximus's cell phone signal. Cat must've been listening to my thoughts this morning for her to know exactly what I was after.
I controlled my grin with effort. "Great. I'm sick of not being able to use any tech stuff." Then I turned to Shrapnel. "Which way is it again?"
Those generous lips pursed in disapproval, but he said, "Left at the end of this hall, then it's the first door on the second hallway to your right."
"Thanks!"
As soon as Cat and I were out of his sight, I stopped her.
You don't have to go any further, I thought rapidly. If Vlad finds out you helped me do this, he'll be pissed.
"That's why Bones is packing now," she said with a little laugh. Then her voice lowered and she leaned in close. "But you don't shelve your best weapon just because using it is risky. Vlad told me that once. He's just too deep in Overprotective Male Mode now to remember it."
"You nailed that one," I said dryly.
An eye roll. "I've had lots of experience with it. One night we'll swap stories over drinks. But be smarter than I was, Leila. Know your limits, and when you reach them, ask for help."
"Believe me, I'm not looking to jump into the grave."
The stare she gave me made me wonder if I'd misjudged her age. It seemed to hold the weight of centuries even though I'd pegged Cat to be recently undead.
"Sometimes the grave finds you whether you're looking for it or not."
I said nothing, once again covering my thoughts with Vanilla Ice's one-hit wonder. Even if it did bring the grave one step closer, I was doing this. Until we found the traitor, no one in this house was safe, least of all me.
The communications room looked like a smaller version of something NASA would have. A dozen manned computer stations were spread out around a large map of the world with multiple pinpoints indicating safe houses for Vlad's people. Another interactive map could be rearranged by grabbing things out of thin air, and a third 3-D image was a digital recreation of this house. Right now, all the lines on it were green. If any of them turned red, it indicated a security breach.
When Cat and I opened the door unannounced, the area for this room went red. Then, much like Shrapnel, Vlad's staff decided they didn't want to be the ones to tell me I needed better clearance than the wedding ring on my finger and it returned to green.
"Check this out, Leila," Cat said, pointing at the screen nearest to her. "The different sections on this security grid indicate that it checks for trespassers on the grounds, in the air, and a hundred feet below the ground, too."
"That's right," the monitor tech said with faint surprise.
Brisk nod. "I designed a similar system for my old job."
I leaned in next to Cat, pretending to be fascinated by the security details. In reality, I palmed a pen and stuck it in my skirt pocket. Then we moved to the next station, where I swiped a paper clip. By the time I'd feigned interest in every workstation, my skirt pocket was full of stolen items.
Cat helped by angling her body to shield what I was doing, but I could only hope that if a sharp-eyed employee had seen anything, he'd chalk it up to me being a kleptomaniac. Now, to beat a hasty retreat. I'd used up every minute of the half hour I'd arranged for releasing Maximus. With luck, by the time Vlad heard where I had really been, I'd already have psychically sorted through my stash to see if any of the employees on this shift were the traitor.
"This has been great, thanks," I told the group as we left. Once in another hallway, I gave Cat a grateful smile.
"I owe you. Now, get the hell out of here."
She grinned. "You've made Christmas come early for my husband, you know. Vlad once mocked Bones for his overprotectiveness by saying he should've married a docile girl who wouldn't stray too far from the kitchen."
Then she enveloped me in a quick hug before dashing off with a cheeky "Karma's a bitch!" thrown over her shoulder. In the next blink, Cat was gone.
I was still smiling over that when I rounded the next corner - and almost ran right into Vlad. Ice Ice Baby, too cold! rang across my mind as I gave him my most guileless look.
"Hi. Cat was just keeping me company until you came back."
He glanced in the direction she'd disappeared to before returning his attention to me.
"Fourteen hundred and thirty-one."
I blinked. "What's that?"
"The year I was born, which is not, as you'll note, yesterday."
I stifled a groan. Busted already. "Vlad, I - "
"Not here," he interrupted, grasping my arm. Then he propelled me down the hall and into our bedroom far less romantically than he'd done last night. Once the door shut behind us, I started back in on my defense.
"Look, I was being careful. See? No blood, no problem."
Vlad leaned down until his mouth was near my ear. "Before Maximus walked out of this house, I hadn't paid your bride price yet. You could've picked using your powers to find the traitor instead of his freedom."
"That is not fair," I hissed, my voice equally low.
A light kiss preceded his response. "Neither is life."
I pushed him away, sending my next message with my mind because I was too angry to trust keeping my voice down.
You can't expect me to do nothing when my abilities could find the traitor that leaked information to Hannibal AND probably helped the person that blew up the carnival, too.
Vlad crossed his arms over his chest almost casually. "When it could kill you at any moment, I can."
I'm fine! I mentally shouted.
"You were also fine the time before when your powers caused you to hemorrhage to death in my arms."
Spoken in a whiplike tone I'd seen centuries-old vampires cower under. All it did was add to my growing ire.
Oh, but all's well if I bleed to death in your arms while you're turning me into a vampire?
Not a hint of shame colored his tone when he said, "Yes."
Pride stiffened my spine.
Unless you lock me in this room, you can't stop me from using my powers to find the traitor.