Talia laughed at his distress. “I agree, even if I did think you looked adorable holding a cursing little girl.” While Talia wasn’t suddenly having the urge to become a mother, she did find it surprisingly endearing to see Drew holding Tempest’s daughter. She was definitely falling hard for this vampire.
Chapter Forty-Three
After two days of doing nothing but waiting around the house they’d rented, Corbin was running out of patience. He was sitting in a room, watching Elgin read. “Why are we still in this area?”
“The breeder is in this area,” Elgin replied without looking up from his book. His long pale blond hair hung forward, shielding his gaunt face. Regardless of how much energy or blood he fed on, Elgin always looked sickly. Even his brown eyes were lifeless and sunken.
“We already know she’s not the one we’re looking for,” Corbin seethed.
Elgin set his book on the table beside him and regarded Corbin with narrowed eyes. “I’m not willing to trust your assumption. It’s best if we test her blood. If she’s not the one we’re looking for, we’ll kill her.”
Corbin’s fists were clenched in his lap as he struggled to keep his opinion to himself.
When Elgin’s phone buzzed, he answered it, effectively dismissing Corbin.
“This is Elgin.”
As he listened to the caller on the other end of the line, Elgin’s lips curled into sinister smile. “How did you manage to get my number, dear girl?”
Elgin chuckled. “I don’t think so. You’ll deal with me.”
Whatever the caller said made him frown. “You need to learn you place.”
Elgin’s eyes landed on Corbin, and his rage was obvious. “The girl insists on speaking to you.”
It took him a moment to realize which girl Elgin meant. As realization dawned on him, Corbin reached out and took the phone. He had no clue how she’d found him.
“Who am I speaking with?” he asked.
“Your daughter,” the girl snapped from the other end of the line. “I guess you could also refer to me as your science experiment gone wrong.”
“How did you know where to find me?” he asked.
“Computers make it easy to find just about anyone,” she replied.
“Yes, I suppose they do,” he mused. “Why are you calling?”
“I’m tired of hiding,” she admitted with a sad sigh. “I know you’re looking for me.”
“Where are you?” Corbin asked.
She snorted. “You think I’m just going to lead you to me? Lead you to my family?”
“Then come to us,” he suggested.
“I have no intention of walking into my own execution,” she argued.
Looking over at Elgin, Corbin knew he had to choose his words carefully. “I don’t want you dead. In fact, I’ve negotiated with the head of our family to keep you safe and alive.”
She snorted. “Why should I believe you?”
“I killed the hunters involved to keep you safe,” he insisted.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “I want to believe you. I’ve never fit in here, and I’m tired of living a lie.”
“Come to us,” he urged. “We’ll keep you safe. I know you’re with hunters. They’ll kill you if they find out what you really are.”
“You have no idea what I am,” she accused.
“I know you carry my blood,” he stated. “You have my word that no harm will come to you.”
“Wait!” Elgin called out. “How do we even know it’s her?”
Elgin made a good point. Someone could be trying to trick him. It was possible they’d left some of the hunters involved in the order alive. It was also possible the hunters had others involved they knew nothing about. “Send me a picture of yourself.”
“Give me a minute,” she told him, just before he heard her doing something with her phone. Soon, the phone buzzed with an incoming message with a photo. The woman in the photo had dark purple hair, not blonde, but her blue eyes were the same shade as Nicola’s. Aside from those two things, she looked exactly like his mother.
“Do you believe me now?” she demanded.
“Yes,” he breathed out.
“Now that you believe me, tell me why I should trust you,” she pushed.
“I’m your father, and I’m here to protect you,” he insisted. His annoyance was growing at her doubt in him. “Tell me where you are.”
“I’ll think about it,” she replied before ending the call. When he tried calling the number back, Elgin’s number was blocked. “She hung up on me and blocked your number,” he ground out. “I’ll call her back on my phone.”
“Don’t bother. She’ll simply block your number, as well,” Elgin told him. “Not to worry. It seems she was foolish enough to call us from her real phone. I’m sure your computer expert can track her.”
Corbin nodded. “I’ll contact him to see if he can trace her phone.”
Elgin retrieved his book and opened it. “It’s only a matter of time before we have her. After her little outburst, I’m beginning to think it might be fun training the breeder,” Elgin mused. “If she produces strong children, I might even keep her.”
Chapter Forty-Four
“You’re a pretty good actress,” Drew praised. “Even I almost believed you didn’t want to meet with them.”
“I don’t,” she admitted. “This is just the best way to end it.”
They were at a hunter-owned house in San Leandro. It was once a safe house, but it had been compromised so the local hunters were planning to sell it. That was the only reason they’d been allowed to use it. Drew had heard the angry conversation between Talia and Mason’s uncle. He hadn’t been happy about them moving forward with their plan without his help. The fact that vampires were so heavily involved seemed to make him even angrier, but there’d been nothing he could do since he was out of town, following up on a lead. The local council knew they were using the house to try to trap those responsible for the hunter killings. They even knew Roman was assisting them.
“I hope you being here doesn’t scare them off,” Talia told him.
“It would scare me off,” Caitlin added as she walked into the room with Lydia by her side.
“This is so boring,” Lydia complained, setting a plate of cookies on the coffee table.
“You don’t have to be here,” Drew reminded her. Lydia was great, but she didn’t have any special skills that would be useful in a fight. In fact, he was annoyed with her presence since it meant they needed to look after her.
Lydia rolled her eyes and tried flipping her hair. “I’ve been taking self-defense classes. I can take care of myself.” Her eyes landed on Drew. “Go ahead and attack me. I’ll show you what I can do.”
Drew let out a dry chuckle. “Since I don’t want to get killed by my uncle, I’m going to pass on that offer.”
“Roman isn’t that scary,” Lydia argued.
As far as Drew was concerned, that proved his uncle’s wife was insane. He knew his uncle was a much different man since he’d married Lydia, but he was still the only person Drew truly feared. His uncle wouldn’t be amused if he took Lydia up on her offer to attack her.
“I can’t believe Roman let you be in involved in this,” Ivy added when she joined them.
“Son of a bitch,” Drew muttered. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”
“I may have mentioned going shopping before asking if I could ride over here with Tempest,” Lydia admitted. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine with this.”
“No, he won’t,” Drew told her.
Talia looked amused—she didn’t know his uncle as well as he did. “From what I can tell, he’ll do anything for Lydia.”
“Which is why he’ll blame me for this,” Drew pointed out. “I like breathing, so this is a problem.”
“He’s not going to blame you,” Talia insisted.
“He probably will,” Caitlin argued. “I’d better go up and warn Tempest and Willow to
be on the lookout for Roman. It won’t be long until he figures out Lydia’s here.”
“Damn right, it won’t,” Drew muttered as he grabbed his phone from his pocket to text his uncle.
“I’m only here because I was worried about you,” Lydia argued. “I know you don’t believe me, but I’m great in a fight. You had better not tell him.”
“Or what?” Drew challenged.
“Or I’ll tell Roman you touched my boobs,” Lydia stated with a confident grin.
“I’m willing to take my chances,” Drew told her.
Lydia gave him an annoyed pout, which he ignored.
“If Roman shows up here, it could tip the vampires off to what we’re doing,” Talia pointed out.
“That’s right!” Lydia agreed. “You can’t tell him what’s going on or you’ll ruin our big sting operation. I am here to protect my favorite nephew.”
Drew snorted. “I’m still letting him know you’re here. Did it ever occur to you that it would be dangerous for you to leave here tonight? If those assholes decide to watch the house before making a move, they might see you leave. What’s to stop them from grabbing you to get Talia to cooperate?”
Lydia frowned. “Why do you have to pick now to be insightful?”
“He’s right,” Talia agreed. “You can’t leave.”
“Which means one of us needs to let Roman know you’re here,” Drew added as he continued his message to Roman.
“I’ll call him,” Lydia offered.
“Already done,” Drew replied after sending the text.
“That Tempest chick is pretty scary,” Mason remarked as he walked down the stairs. “I talked her into lifting me off the ground. It was like flying.”
Ivy looked between Mason and Drew. “I’m beginning to see why you have the right temperament to deal with Drew,” Ivy told Talia.
“Hey!” Mason protested. “I’m nothing like the vampire. He’s obnoxious. I’m a charming rake.”
“Rake?” Drew asked. “Where the hell did you come up with that word?”
Mason shrugged. “Shayla likes those romance novels set in the Victorian times.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Talia remarked. “How are things with you and Shayla?”
“She’s pissed that I wouldn’t tell her what we were doing,” he replied.
“Why keep it a secret?” Drew asked.
“I didn’t want her involved,” Mason told him. “She may be good in a fight, but she’s too unpredictable.”
Mason’s phone buzzed, and he grinned when he saw who was calling. “You miss me already, crazy girl?” His grin quickly faded. “You’d better be kidding.” His fist clenched as he listened to the caller. “No, it isn’t safe for you to be wandering around. There might still be people looking for you.” It looked like Mason’s jaw might snap from being clenched so tightly. “Get back to the house. Sonofabitch!” Mason shouted before looking at the others. “That was Shayla. She left some stuff at the hotel she was staying at, and she decided to head over there to get it. Today. As if there’s not already enough shit going on, she had to steal someone’s code for the front gate and drive into Castro Valley.”
“Alone?” Drew asked.
Mason nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to see if I can find some hunters to head over there to check on her. Hopefully, someone is in the east bay.”
Drew’s phone vibrated. He wasn’t surprised to see Roman’s name on the display screen.
“Yeah,” he answered as confidently as he could manage since he wasn’t sure if he’d get blamed for Lydia’s reckless behavior.
“Why is my wife there?” Roman asked. Though he sounded casual, Drew caught the hint of anger in his uncle’s voice.
“She showed up at the house with Tempest when we were getting ready to leave. I assumed, since she was with Tempest, she was supposed to be there,” Drew began. “My only defense for my stupidity is that I’m worried about Talia. Had I been thinking straight, I would have known she wasn’t supposed to be with us.”
His uncle’s frustrated breath was all he heard. Finally, his uncle spoke again. “I don’t blame you for this. Mostly, I blame myself for not realizing my wife would want to help. She’s very fond of you, and she’s been worried about you getting hurt protecting Talia.”
“She just likes being in the middle of everything,” Drew argued, mostly because he wasn’t completely comfortable with conversations about people caring about him.
“That’s also true,” Roman agreed. “As worried as I am about her, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“You are?” Drew asked. “I’m not sure the few self-defense classes she mentioned will help much against older vampires.”
“Her mixed martial arts trainer seems impressed with her progress over the last three years,” Roman remarked.
“Mixed martial arts?” Drew asked, shocked by that news. “Three years?”
“Yes,” Roman replied. “As I said, I’m annoyed with her deception, but she can take care of herself.”
“Do you want to talk to Lydia?” he asked.
“I’d better call her when I’ve calmed down some,” Roman replied. “Don’t let anything happen to my wife.”
“I won’t,” Drew assured him. “We have another problem. Shayla decided to sneak out and head over to that hotel she was staying at to pick up her stuff.”
“Foolish girl,” Roman muttered. “I’ll get Justin to check on her.”
Before Drew could say anything, his uncle ended the call.
He glared at Lydia. “You call three years of mixed martial arts training a few self-defense classes?”
Lydia shrugged. “Do you want to attack me so I can show you my skills now?”
“I’ll pass,” he replied. “You’d better not get killed. I don’t want to end up buried behind your house.”
“Roman wouldn’t do that,” Lydia argued.
Talia snorted. “I don’t know him very well, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t react well if anything happened to you.”
Lydia shrugged. “You’re going to be glad I’m here. Just wait and see.”
Drew laughed and walked over to hug Lydia. “You’re even crazier than I am most of the time.”
“But you love me, right?” she asked.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you if Roman kills me,” he grumbled.
Chapter Forty-Five
“From what we can tell, there are three other people in the house—two women and one man,” Corbin told Elgin. They were still at the house they’d rented, having sent someone to check on things before they went to retrieve his daughter. “My daughter is definitely in there.”
Elgin’s eyes narrowed at Corbin’s use of the term. It had been a slip of the tongue, and he reminded himself of the importance of avoiding that term in Elgin’s presence. “Are they all hunters?”
“We aren’t sure, but it seems likely they are,” Corbin admitted. “The man is definitely a hunter named Mason from the Santa Cruz area. Our people got a good photo of him when he stepped out on the porch. Our photographers caught a hazy picture of the girl, Talia, talking to another woman with short blonde hair in the upper window. The other woman was also photographed through a window. She has long black hair. I believe the others are hunters there to protect Talia, but we have no proof.”
Elgin considered what he’d said. “It would be better if there weren’t any hunters at the house. I’d prefer to approach her alone.”
“Perhaps we can get her to leave the house,” Corbin suggested.
“How?” Elgin asked. “She didn’t seem interested in meeting with you alone.”
Before Corbin could answer, Jared, one of his distant cousins, approached with a limp body slung over his shoulder.
“We found her,” Jared announced before dropping the body onto the ground. The blonde he’d been carrying moaned and struggled to get to her knees before collapsing again. Corbin immediately recognized her as the breeder they’d originally been looking
for.
“We’re no longer looking for this one,” Elgin said through his teeth.
“It would have been nice if someone had told us,” Jared muttered.
That was the problem with having too many people involved. When Corbin had been running things on their end, he’d only had a small group working with him. Elgin had brought in others. Most had no idea why they were looking for the girl, and apparently, Elgin wasn’t very good at keeping his people updated.
“Where did you find her?” Elgin asked.
“Checking out of a hotel in Castro Valley,” Jared explained. “We tracked her there a few days ago, but she hadn’t returned to the room until now. We still aren’t sure where she’s been hiding, but she was arguing loudly with someone named Mason on the way up to her room.”
“You’re sure she was talking to Mason?” Corbin asked. Corbin didn't believe in coincidences. It had to be the hunter at the house with Talia.
Elgin grinned. “It seems we’ve found a much easier way to get what we want. Do you have the breeder’s phone?”
Jared nodded. “The others thought we should leave it there in case someone tried to trace it, but I figured we should take it with us—maybe have someone ditch it far from here.”
Elgin nodded. “I’m not too worried about her phone being traced. Even though this breeder is no longer of any interest to us, she may be useful. Hand me her phone.”
Jared pulled the phone from his pocket and handed it to Elgin. “She has a password on her phone,” Elgin muttered.
Corbin resisted the urge to point out that most people had passwords on their phones. Kneeling beside the breeder who was once again struggling to get to her knees, Corbin spoke in a gentle voice. “Tell us the password to your phone, and we’ll let you go.”
“Fuck you,” the breeder slurred.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Corbin pulled her head back so she was looking at him. “You need to learn some manners. I’d always heard breeders were well-trained, but clearly, that’s not true if you’re anything to go by.”
“I’m not going to help you find Talia,” the breeder snapped. “That’s why you want my phone, isn’t it?”
Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Psy-Vamp Book 7) Page 19
