“I don’t want to get anyone pregnant,” Drew insisted. “I’m a fucking mess who should never have kids. Shayla is a fucking mess, too.”
“We’ll consider helping you find the breeder,” Mason told him, much to Talia’s surprise.
“I just need you to tell me what you know about her and where she might be,” Drew told them. “The hunters in this area must be either looking for her or keeping tabs on her since they claimed responsibility for her.”
“He has a good point,” Phoenix agreed. “The hunter culture isn’t as old-fashioned out here, but I’ll bet your council isn’t happy about her living on her own.”
“They try to keep tabs on her,” Talia admitted.
“Do they have any idea where she is now?” Drew asked.
“If we decide to help you, we’ll go with on the search,” was Mason’s response.
“I don’t need your help,” Drew argued.
“The hunters go with you,” Roman told him.
Drew’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I need hunters with me? I’m good at hunting on my own.”
“To keep you out of trouble?” Isaiah suggested.
“That’s part of the reason,” Roman admitted. “There’s a bigger reason for involving the hunters.”
“You’re hoping to avoid any conflict with our council,” Talia deduced.
“Yes,” Roman agreed. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping to avoid. Keeping Andrew out of trouble is just an added benefit.”
“I can stay out of trouble,” Drew insisted before chuckling. “Fine, I probably can’t stay out of trouble. So, who’s going on a road trip with me?”
“We’ll get back to you,” Mason told him.
Talia let out a sigh. In her opinion, they should help Drew find Shayla. Their council was already getting impatient with her flighty behavior. They wanted to keep better tabs on Shayla. Someone would be sent out to find her, eventually. This way, they could help Drew and avoid giving the impression Shayla was being dragged back to Santa Cruz like a prisoner. Talia had no idea who the council would send to find Shayla, but it was entirely possible they’d be willing to use any means necessary to get her to Santa Cruz.
“We’ll be in touch,” Talia assured them, knowing Mason wasn’t going to agree just yet.
“I’m going to look for Shayla with or without hunters helping me,” Drew warned.
“Maybe you can talk some sense into him,” Mason told Roman.
Roman regarded Drew for a short time before speaking. “Andrew will give you two weeks to consider going with him.” When Drew looked like he was going to argue, Roman gave him a warning glare and continued. “In that time, Isaiah will start doing research on his end. If you decide not to help him, Andrew has my permission to search without you.”
Mason didn’t look happy, but he nodded. With any luck, he’d change his mind.
Chapter Four
Talia was edgy when she got home after their meeting with the vampires. She was tempted to go for a walk on the beach, but it was too cold. That left her stuck in her apartment with Mason. She hadn’t invited him over, had in fact told him goodbye when she’d dropped him at his car. Mason was a pain in the ass who couldn’t take a hint.
“Are you just going to ignore me?” Mason asked from his spot on her sofa.
Turning, she regarded Mason with a raised eyebrow. “I’m the one who’s ignoring you? We’ve been here for more than thirty minutes, and the only thing you’ve discussed with me is how much my internet access sucks. Actually, discussed is the wrong word. You’ve complained about my internet access.”
“Seriously, Talia,” he began with an exaggerated sigh. “It takes forever to get anything done when I’m over here. You should move.”
“Sure, Mason,” she muttered. “I’ll move from my apartment that happens to be within walking distance of the beach so you can have better internet access.”
“Thanks, Talia,” he replied in a bored tone. “That will definitely make things easier for me.”
“You do remember that talk we had about sarcasm, right?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I remember, but I prefer to interpret anything you say in a way that benefits me.”
“You would,” she muttered, before sitting beside him on the sofa. “What are you working on?”
“I’ve been thinking we should help the vampire,” Mason replied in a distracted tone, not really answering her question.
She waited for him to elaborate, only continuing when she realized he had no intention of explaining himself. “Help him do what?” she asked, sitting up straighter. They’d argued about helping Drew find Shayla during the drive back to Santa Cruz, and Mason hadn’t changed his mind. He couldn’t be talking about helping Drew find Shayla. “I agree that vampire needs a lot of help, but I’m not sure what you think we can do for him.”
“We should help him find the breeder,” Mason replied, looking up at her briefly. “I know I said we shouldn’t, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“Something tells me you don’t want me to just call him and tell him where she is,” Talia muttered. Mason had kept tabs on Shayla’s whereabouts over the last few months. She wasn’t easy to track, but Mason loved a challenge.
Mason chuckled quietly. “I’m not entirely sure where she is. A week ago, I could have told you exactly where to find her, but it seems she’s run again.”
“Why do you suddenly want to help Drew find her?” she pushed. “You were dead set against the idea, and you’re probably right about how the council would react to him having any involvement with her.”
“She can’t keep running around the country like she is,” Mason explained. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Why is it suddenly too dangerous?” Talia asked. “She’s been living on her own, and from what I hear, she can fight and handle a firearm. No one is likely to go after her, other than our council.”
Mason studied her. Of all the people in her life, Mason understood her best. She loved him, but she was the first to admit he could be a major pain in the ass. “I know she’s tough. That’s why we need to find her. She’ll believe she can handle this on her own, but she can’t.”
“Could you just spit it out, Mason?” she nearly snapped. “Why do you have to act cryptic about this?”
“Feeling extra bitchy today?” he asked. His hands went up in surrender when she simply glared at him. “Fine. I’m not trying to be a dick about everything.” Talia’s doubt must have shown on her face because Mason laughed. “Don’t look at me like that. Seriously. I’m just worried.”
“About Shayla?” she asked, confused by his concern. Mason didn’t usually care about people he didn’t know well—a common trait among hunters. They were raised to be killers. Even with the truce, hunters were trained from an early age to distance themselves from most.
“I’m worried about Shayla,” he hedged. “She’s in danger, so we need to do something.”
Talia waited, knowing he wasn’t telling her everything.
“Mostly, I’m worried about you,” he admitted.
“Why me?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “And what does this have to do with Shayla?”
“People are looking for you, and I’m pretty sure this is going to put Shayla in danger,” he explained.
Talia felt the weight of Mason’s words. They’d known this day would come, even if Mason had been in denial about it. “Why would this put Shayla in danger?”
“Fucking Seattle hunters are embarrassed about what happened with her and her brother,” he muttered. “They’re also butt hurt about her refusing to return to Seattle.”
“Let me guess. The Seattle hunters are claiming she’s always been a little off, and that’s why they don’t want her back. They’re saying she might have even been adopted,” Talia finished for him.
“Bingo!” Mason said with a snap of his fingers. “They’ve been saying stupid shit like that for months. At first, it wasn’t a concern because we hadn’t heard anyth
ing about people looking for you. It seemed possible no one would realize you’re still alive.”
“As I’ve said before, that was a stupid thing to hope for,” Talia grumbled. “Burying our heads in the sand won’t help. We should have come up with a better plan to find them before they started looking for me, but why should anyone listen to me? It’s just my life at stake here.”
Mason stood and began pacing the room.
“Tell me what happened,” she pushed.
“Before you get pissed, remember how our uncle can be,” Mason began. “He’s not good at working with others, and he still thinks of us as children.”
“I know,” Talia assured him. “Gareth has kept us out of the loop enough times for me to expect it.”
“He called right after you dropped me off, to tell me Alonzo was dead—shot in the back. Before Alonzo was killed, he left Uncle Gareth a message telling him they were looking for you,” Mason explained.
“When did this happen?” Talia demanded, knowing Mason’s response was going to anger her.
“A couple months ago,” Mason admitted after a short pause. “Gareth only called me now because he discovered Alonzo had security cameras outside his place, and he hoped to get a good look at the people who killed Alonzo.
Talia let out a frustrated sigh. “It would have been nice if he’d called one of us earlier, but I know how he is. There shouldn’t have been anything at Alonzo’s to lead them to me. The scientists destroyed all the data they had on me.”
“Alonzo was off his fucking rocker,” Mason muttered. “He made Drew look sane. I’m not sure anyone realized how crazy he was until I hacked the security feed outside his place and scanned through some footage. He kept a picture of you, and he used to talk to it when he went out for walks. I guess he mentioned enough to the hunter and vampire who came looking for you to give them something to work with. They know you’re blonde from the photo he carried around. It seems they also know you’re with hunters and on the west coast since they’re only investigating female breeders on the west coast.”
“And now they’re looking for Shayla because she fits that description,” Talia deduced. “At least, that’s what you’re assuming.”
“They’re definitely looking for Shayla,” Mason told her. “There’ve been too many inquiries about her lately. Our council had a woman contact them claiming to be the sister of Shayla’s biological mother. This person believes what the Seattle hunters have said about Shayla being adopted and assumed we believed it, too.”
“Idiots,” Talia muttered. “Why would they assume we’re that stupid?”
Mason shrugged. “The way I see it, they don’t see any reason we’d doubt what the Seattle hunters said. Why would they assume we had any knowledge of their little experiment? As far as they know, we have very little information about Shayla. We need to find her before those bastards do. Pain in the ass or not, Shayla’s safety is the responsibility of our council.”
Talia paused to think before speaking. “Can I assume we’re including the vampire so you can get Phoenix to tell us if she hears from Shayla?”
“It’s not just that. The vampire will make the trip more interesting,” he admitted. “Besides, he might be able to talk her into coming back willingly so we don’t have to use force.”
“This had better not be about you wanting to have someone else to help you watch my back while we’re looking for her,” she warned.
“You might not like it, but we need more backup if we don’t want our uncle getting bent out of shape about this,” Mason told her.
Their uncle wouldn’t be happy about them going off on their own. At three-hundred, he had a tendency to view anyone who hadn’t lived at least a century as a child.
Talia couldn’t help it; she laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Mason asked.
“Do you honestly think that cranky old hunter is going to be happy about us involving a vampire?”
“Technically, you’re a vampire,” Mason reminded her.
“Great time to remind me I’m a freak, Mason,” she grumbled.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Talia,” he told her. “We don’t have time for that. Besides, our uncle doesn’t hate all vampires.”
That was true, but he definitely didn’t trust them.
“We should talk to the vampires about this before telling our uncle what we have planned,” Mason told her. “This impacts them, too.”
“Are you suggesting we tell the vampires what’s going on?” she asked, certain she’d misunderstood him.
“Not all of it,” Mason replied. “We definitely shouldn’t tell them about your involvement, but they need to know what they’re up against. If we don’t warn them, and the vampire goes off looking for Shayla on his own, he could end up getting himself killed.”
“And you care, why?” she pushed.
He shrugged before giving her a sad smile. “To be honest, I don’t care that much. I just figure you’ll feel guilty if someone dies.”
She snorted. “I’m not that soft,” she insisted, but they both knew it was a lie. While she wasn’t the emotional type, she’d still blame herself if someone died while she hid from her DNA donors. “Looks like I might get to meet my birth parents,” she said with a dry smile.
Chapter Five
Pulling the old photo from the front pocket of his trousers, Corbin studied the little girl. Her blonde hair was secured in high pigtails, and her face was smudged with what looked like blue paint. Her deep blue eyes held a strange mix of joy and weariness. She’d had a difficult childhood.
It was strange how quickly he’d become attached to the girl. When he’d tracked Alonzo down, it had been with the intention of killing her. Then, he’d seen her picture. Something about her haunted eyes had tugged at his heart. No child should look that old. He’d tried to push down the guilt and remind himself she was nothing to him, but Alonzo’s words kept playing in the back of his mind. She was his daughter, and he’d failed her.
“We must have just missed the girl,” Nicola muttered angrily as she walked into the room without looking at him. The woman didn’t honestly care if Corbin or any of the vampires listened to her. Nicola didn’t even appreciate the presence of other hunters. As far as she was concerned, she could handle things better on her own. Nicola was definitely over-confident.
“It would help if we had any recent photos of her,” he remarked.
“There are some in the report I received,” Nicola replied impatiently.
Corbin struggled with his temper. The self-absorbed bitch had been reluctant to share any information the hunters found.
“Why are you so determined to hide this report?” he demanded.
Nicola regarded him with a disdainful stare. “I don’t see any reason to encourage your unnatural attachment. I’ve seen you staring at that old photo. You should burn it.”
Corbin struggled with his temper, refusing to respond to her taunting.
“If we’re going to help find her, we need to know what we’re looking for,” he ground out.
Nicola snorted. “If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be here.”
“But it’s not up to you,” Corbin reminded her. Nicola wasn’t the head of her family, and even though she’d prefer to do things on her own, she still had orders to follow.
“It’s my job to find the little lab rat,” Nicola snapped. “Personally, I think bringing you along is foolish. Vampires caused this problem. She should have already been destroyed.”
Corbin sneered. The stupid bitch refused to accept any blame for what had happened. In her mind, the hunters’ only mistake had been aligning themselves with vampires. “Yes, Nicola, we’ve all heard how the vampires have inconvenienced you.” He bit back the urge to tell her to stop acting like a child. Nicola’s childishness and arrogance would be her downfall. “I’m done playing games with you. We’ve tried working with the hunters, but you’re determined to make it impossible.”
Nicola hesita
ted, and Corbin saw his own hatred reflected back in her eyes. One of them would die soon—a thought that brought a sudden rush of adrenaline. He looked forward to seeing which of them would succeed in killing the other, proving just how mundane his life had become.
Tossing her bag on the table, Nicola pulled out three photos and set them in front of Corbin.
“If our reports are correct, she’s an emotionally unstable breeder,” Nicola finally told him. “There is absolutely nothing special about her.”
Corbin disagreed. The fact that she was a female child of a vampire made her special.
“If she’s a simple breeder, why are we having so much trouble locating her?” Corbin demanded. “Your kind doesn’t have much respect for breeders. They’re unlikely to allow one to travel far from home.”
“We don’t know she’s just a breeder,” Nicola said through her teeth. “That’s all anyone has noticed, or admitted to noticing. Her adoptive parents are dead, but if they knew the truth, they might have shared that information with others. What happens if they decide to test her blood?”
“When did her parents die?” he asked, wondering if someone else was looking for her.
“They were murdered last year,” she replied. “The girl may have killed them. There’s speculation that she’s killed others.”
“So, she’s dangerous,” Corbin said on a sigh. “This was a mistake.” He hadn’t realized he’d said the last out loud until Nicola spoke again.
“The mistake was trusting fools with her,” Nicola spat out. “No, that isn’t the biggest mistake. I should have just killed the surrogate breeder. She was a liability we should have eliminated at the same time as the experiment. I’ll remedy this situation now. I’ll kill the lab rat and destroy her body,” Nicola told him. “That’s the only way to prevent this from coming back to haunt us. I can’t believe you can even look at the photo of that disgusting creature.”
Corbin clenched his fists at his sides. The hag had complained about this so many times, he could recite her rant word for word. He chose to ignore her. Instead, he considered what she’d said. If the girl was a breeder, it could create even more problems. They had no idea what kind of children she’d have. For all they knew, she could have a vampire child. If the hunters decided to breed her despite her suspected insanity, their plot could be uncovered. That brought him to another line of thinking. The idea of breeding her was intriguing.
Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Psy-Vamp Book 7) Page 3
