Neither will I. In fact, Baojia had a feeling there was a lot about this situation he wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

Despite the new complications in his life, Baojia walked into Boca that night in a better mood than he’d enjoyed in months. Maybe years. He ignored the boring pulse of music and the human women who tried to catch his eye. He nodded once to Luis, then ducked into his office to call Paula, trying not to smile. For the first time in almost two years, he wasn’t bored out of his mind.

He dialed the old-fashioned rotary phone and swirled the ice water the waitress brought back. He was watching the ice cubes tumble when his sister answered.

“¿Cómo?”

“Paulita.” He slipped into Spanish. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Hermanito, Rory complained all last night about spreadsheets and résumés. What are you doing to my husband?”

He smiled. One of the things he disliked most about being in San Diego was missing the company of Paula. There were few vampires or humans he liked spending time with, but Paula was one. “It’s not my fault he doesn’t have your keen appreciation for numbers. What’s going on at home?”

“Oh, the usual. Lots of meetings with the accountants as we get ready for the end of the fiscal year. And there’s a trade meeting with a Japanese company that Father seems anxious about.”

“Any security concerns? Human or vampire?”

“Human. And not that I know of,” she said. “It’s more financial. Their earnings reports don’t seem to match their investment activity…” She started in on a litany of business information he would catalogue and examine later. Ernesto’s shipping inte="1hippingrests had shifted in the past forty years to focus on Asia, which created new balances of power and influence that Baojia had to keep track of. He had a hard time getting excited about the business side like Paula did, but the political and security ramifications were interesting.

Power followed money in the vampire world, and both fed into the influence that individual immortals wielded. An immortal in power only lasted as long as he could support those under his aegis. And what had been the status quo for hundreds of years could shift in the space of a heartbeat if the balance of power became tenuous. Considering most immortal business empires were run like combinations of corporations and organized crime, it had never been a boring job. Paula handled the business end, and Baojia had been in charge of security and information. Up until he had fallen out of favor with his sire, the balance had worked beautifully.

“Paula?”

“Hmm?”

He could tell she was distracted by something. She was probably looking at financial papers the same way he read police reports or watched security tapes. “Have you heard anything about humans being killed along the border?”

“You mean Juarez? You know Father told you to stay out of that. It’s none of our—”

“Not Juarez. Closer. On our border, hermana.”

There was a pause on the line. “What? Our border? With Ivan?”

“Mmhmm. I heard a disturbing rumor that humans were being found out in the desert.”

“Ivan’s side or ours?”

“Both. I need to investigate more. I may need to set up a meeting with him.”

He heard her mutter. “Well, don’t let Father get wind of it. He’s still… you know.”

“Trust me, I know.”

“Want me to mention it to Rory? I think technically that’s his job while you’re gone.”

“Mention it to him. Have him call me when he can.”

“Hermanito…” Her voice was soft. “I don’t know why he’s being like this. I’ve tried to talk to him.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said, unexpectedly homesick. “It’s mine. I fought alongside Vecchio. I knew it would make him angry, and I did it anyway.”

“Why?” she groaned. “I still don’t understand—”

“It was the right thing to do, Paula.” When he closed his eyes, he could still see the bodies of the dead monks. The blood pouring out from under Beatrice’s body on the riverbank where Lorenzo had stabbed her. “Even if he doesn’t understand.”

“You were supposed to protect his human, not join a war.”

“I know.” His thoughts flicked to the reporter and his promise to Dez. “Right and wrong are subjective in our world. We both know this.”

“Be careful,” she said. “I don’t want you hurt.”

He smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

The following night, he had Luis put in a call to Ivan’s human staff, laying the groundwork for a meeting between the two vampires. In all likelihood, it would take weeks to actually happen. The night after that, he was following a smartly dressed redhead into the cheapest bar in downtown San Diego. She crossed 5th Street and headed into the dimly lit club that clung stubbornly to its cheap neon beer signs and even cheaper beer while the rest of downtown San Datwntown iego reveled in aspiration.

Slipping into the dim bar, he tried to ignore the floor that stuck to his handmade leather shoes. The barstools were cracked red vinyl and occupied by a curious mix of patrons, but the old Chinese woman behind the bar nodded at him and pointed her chin toward an empty stool. It was well away from where Natalie Ellis was sitting, but he preferred that. He wanted to observe the woman. For now.