Page 150 of Eternal Surrender

I leaned toward her and slid my right hand into her coat pocket. She cringed.

I removed the small object. “You extracted this from Dominion’s tomb.” I rolled it between my fingers, studying the engraved symbol on the cufflink. “A pictogram.”

“I was going to show it to you.” She looked sheepish. “My methods are a little guarded, I admit.”

“We’re working together. Let’s not forgot that.” I glanced off toward Alistair.

She followed my gaze. “He’s just standing there. Do you think he’s waiting for someone?”

Sensing danger, though unable to define why, I tried to reach into his mind. He’d shut down his thoughts.

Ingrid pointed to the cufflink. “What do you think that symbol represents?”

“Not sure. It’s Newtonian.”

“Sir Isaac Newton?”

“Yes. Newton used planetary symbols for metals and standard symbols for common substances.” I handed it back to her.

She tucked it back into her pocket. “What if it fell off one of the members of Sovereign?”

“They were the only ones allowed in that chamber,” I agreed.

Alistair headed into the midst of a small clearing and turned in our direction. “Inspector Jansen!” he called out.

I tried again to slip past his mind’s defenses, but his thoughts were still closed down.

I grabbed hold of Ingrid’s arm. “Follow my lead, understand?”

“I was about to say the same thing to you,” she said and strolled off toward Alistair.

Warily, we joined him in the clearing.

“I’m assuming you’re not following me to discuss joining our society, William.” Alistair said.

“We just want to ask you some questions,” Ingrid began.

“Then why not just come to the office?” he asked, his tone scathing.

I scanned the area trying to confirm we were alone.

“What are you doing out here?” Ingrid asked.

He buttoned up his coat. “Since when did police officers start associating with the undead?”

She stood her ground.

“William, if that really is your name, when you came to my office you hid your affliction well.”

“Affliction?” Ingrid asked.

“Vampirism,” he said flatly. “Immediately after you left, my Porsche was stolen. Only a vampire would survive crashing a vehicle into the Thames.”

“Perhaps we could explain,” Ingrid said.

He gave a look of annoyance. “One can only assume you’ve tasted your friend here, Inspector.” He gestured to me. “Which would explain your wayward behavior.”

Ingrid tried to hide her reaction.