"He's back now." I wasn't supposed to let that slip. I might as well have let Cyrus spring out at Clarence in full vampire face. But then, maybe someone coming back from the dead wasn't that weird to him. After all, he did work for vampires. He'd probably seen worse.

"He can't come back here." Clarence shook his head as though his denial could stop it.

"I hope he doesn't." This could be a bargaining tool. If Clarence feared Cyrus… "It's really Cyrus who's sent me to do this. He wants to know how Dahlia is involved with the Soul Eater."

A visible shudder went through him. "They're tangled up. I don't know how."

"Maybe you could help me figure it out. It might keep Cyrus from coming back to find out for himself." I wielded the name like a weapon.

Clarence saw through the ploy. "You can't keep him from doing anything. Don't even try to play that hand."

I'd always underestimated this man. "How about the 'I'm your friend, you should help me' card?"

He laughed. "How about you ain't my friend and why don't you come back when you've got something to bargain with?"

He moved toward the gate, and I stepped forward as if to stop him with a hand on his shoulder.

Bad move.

He whirled before I could lay my palm on him, his eyes flashing rage. "Vampires don't ever get to touch me."

I remembered the second night I'd spent in Cyrus's house, when Clarence had displayed his scars from a past attack. I should have remembered.

He walked into the shadows between the stone columns, and the gate began to creak closed. I thought it was a lost cause, until his voice drifted back to me from the darkness. "I know how to take care of myself. And your friend up there. You come back tomorrow night, you'll get your answers."

I stood on the sidewalk, my mouth gaping like a carp's. "So, you'll help?"

"I won't repeat myself." he snapped. I heard his quick steps up the paved drive, and turned toward the car.

Cyrus stood on the sidewalk, his arms folded arrogantly over his chest. "That went well."

"Get in the car before I run you over with it." What the hell did Clarence mean, that I'd get my answers?

Cyrus was quiet on the ride home, but he kept his smug smile. I parallel parked in front of the building, then turned to him to ask what his problem was. That was a big mistake. He lunged—no, more like launched himself—across the car, and I found myself pinned between the door and his body.

"What the hell are you—" My outrage was smothered beneath his lips. I was too shocked to fight him.

He pulled back and smoothed my hair from my face. "You still have feelings for me. You wouldn't have had that dream—"