Savage Sons (House of Winterborne Book 2)

by Luanne Bennett

  Glancing at my half-empty plate, he took it from my hand. “Is that all you’re eating?”

  “My stomach was a little upset earlier tonight, so I don’t want to press my luck.”

  He smiled and rinsed the dishes. “So what do you think about Cabot’s little party this weekend? Planning to attend?”

  I had no idea what he was talking about. “What party?”

  “I guess you haven’t talked to him today. He’s having a little soiree Sunday evening at his apartment.” He glanced at the table. “No offense, Hawk, but it’s clan only. No dates allowed.”

  Hawk took a sip of his beer and snickered. “His wife would slam the door in my face if I showed up with Morgan.”

  “Well, she’d be doing you a favor,” he said. “Cabot seems to think the clan is growing apart and a little get-together will make it all better.”

  I laughed. “Well, isn’t that an understatement? I guess he’s forgotten that he and his wife are the reason for all the discontent.”

  “What? And admit that he’s not the supreme and rightful dictator of all that is?”

  Hawk chuckled. We all did. The whole situation was too absurd not to.

  “Are you planning to show up and pretend to enjoy yourself?” he asked.

  “Are you?”

  He stared at me for a few seconds. “Of course I’ll show. For God’s sake, the man was hinting around about a weekend retreat as an alternative, and I’m not spending a weekend at the lake with those two. So you better show up.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

  He lost his grin and got serious. “You know, this is all a show for you. Cabot wants to make peace with the most important member of the clan, and whether he likes it or not, that’s you.”

  “You mean he’s patronizing me.”

  “Exactly. And you need to let him for the sake of peace.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not the instigator here. But don’t worry, I’ll show up.”

  He headed out of the kitchen and waved over his head. “That’s all I ask.”

  When he was gone, Hawk grabbed another beer and followed me into the living room. “How did it go tonight?” he asked when we sat down.

  “Great if you like having the life sucked out of you.”

  He squinted at me. “I’d ignore that comment if I didn’t think you meant it literally.”

  “I did. We confirmed that Benjamin Fuller is a Caspian, but not just any Caspian. His real name is Vikktor, and he’s their king.”

  The bottle went still at his lips. “No shit.”

  “Decker introduced us. When I shook his hand, I started to feel sick.”

  “Sick like…”

  “Like I wanted to hurl all over the museum floor. Decker had a similar effect on Olivia. When we got outside, she said they’d drained our energy.”

  His curious look turned wary. “You should have had more than enough energy from Jules’s blood to withstand a psychic vampire attack.”

  “That’s what Olivia called them.”

  “You don’t have to actually be a vampire to be a psychic vampire, but put the two together and you’ve got something lethal. I doubt they were trying to drain you though. They were probably trying to get under your skin to feel you out.”

  I shuddered. “That gives me the creeps.”

  “Yeah, but it’s a damn good way to get to know your enemy, and I bet the Winterbornes are at the top of their list.”

  He pulled me against him. “Speaking of energy, yours is all over the place tonight. What aren’t you telling me?”

  I turned around and looked him in his eyes. “I interrogated a Caspian tonight. Tortured him a little.”

  When my words finally seemed to register, he lost his calm look. “At the museum?”

  I shook my head. “At Order headquarters. Samuel went back out to Brooklyn a couple of days ago and found a Caspian ransacking Wesley Foster’s apartment. He’s been chained up in the cellar at the brownstone ever since. That’s where I just came from.”

  “Jesus.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know they’ll be looking for him.”

  “Good. Then they’ll really know who their enemies are.” I stood up and began pacing the room when that roller coaster started up again. “It was so easy to break him, Hawk. Before I’d barely lifted a finger, he was telling me where the Caspian’s lair is located.”

  “Where?”

  “A place called North Brother Island. It’s on the East River.”

  His face went ashen as he stood up. “That place is uninhabitable.”

  “You’ve heard of it?”

  “Heard of it?” He turned away and let out a low laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.” When he turned back around, his face had taken on a distant expression. He was looking at me, but he wasn’t. There was a memory stirring behind his eyes. “We lived on that island before Selene took us in.”

  For a second, I thought I’d heard him incorrectly. “You and Mia? Why would you stay on an abandoned island?”

  He glanced around the penthouse before bringing his eyes back to mine. “Because we weren’t raised with money. When our mother died, Mia and I had nowhere to go. We were just kids.” He let out a sarcastic laugh. “It’s not like a couple of half-vampire kids can just walk into Social Services and ask for shelter, and we wouldn’t have done that even if we could. It wasn’t our world.” He turned away again for a moment. When he looked back at me, his golden eyes had lost their shine. “None of your world was a part of me until we met.”

  “But I thought…”

  “You thought what? That my mother’s coven would help us? All three of us were banished when they found out what our father was. We were already homeless by the time our mother died.”

  I wanted so badly to ask him how she died, but it was a touchy subject that he avoided. When the time was right, he’d tell me.

  “That island is closed,” he continued. “But as run-down and neglected as it is, it was a safe place for Mia and me to stay for a while. I actually have some good memories of it. We could do whatever the hell we wanted out there.” His brief smile vanished, and he got that distant look again. “But that place is dangerous, and it sure as hell has never been deserted.”

  “Well, it isn’t now. It’s been invaded by Caspians.”

  His eyes darted to mine. “That’s not what I’m talking about. There are souls on that island. Some of them are so damaged they don’t even know they’re dead. Victims of disease sent there to die. They tolerated us because we could see and talk to them. I’m sure the Caspians can see them too.”

  The heaviness in the room was unbearable. I slipped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his warm chest. “I’m sorry you and Mia had to go through that. Losing your mother is hard enough.”

  He pulled me tightly against him and kissed the top of my head. “I didn’t mean to suggest that it was easier for you when your mother died because you had money.”

  But it was. I had a home and security. Not to mention what he went through when Mia turned dark. I got a sickening image of the Circle killing her and wondered why he didn’t hate me.

  I pushed myself away from him and changed the subject. “I’ve been having these swings. It started right after Vikktor touched me tonight.”

  “What do you mean by swings?”

  “One minutes I’m full of energy, and the next I feel like I can barely function.”

  He got a puzzled look on his face. “It could be a side effect of Jules’s blood. The effects of a Violet’s blood usually linger for a while. That’s one of the reasons it’s so coveted. And since you were attacked by a psychic vampire tonight, it’s possible it’s acting as an interim energy source while you regenerate what was taken from you. Kicking in and out to be more efficient until you fully recover. You should feel better by tomorrow.”

  I hoped so. “Yeah. It’s probably nothing.”

  He scratched the back of his neck and gave me
a hesitant look. “I think I’m going to sleep at my place tonight.”

  “What? No, stay.”

  He shook his head and took my hand. “It’s not you. Selene isn’t feeling well. Yesterday was the anniversary of her husband’s death, so she’s been a little down. It’s been over a decade, but it still gets to her. I don’t want to leave her alone this weekend.”

  Selene. Another tricky subject. But I needed to know more about the woman my boyfriend was living with. “Of course. She’s family.” Not technically though. I hesitated to ask the next question, but Selene was starting to drive an invisible wedge between us. If I didn’t meet this woman soon, there wasn’t going to be any more us. “Am I ever going to meet her?”

  He nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. In fact, she suggested it this morning.”

  It was hard not to smile. Meeting Selene would finally help me to understand why he stayed with her when I had a perfectly good penthouse big enough for both of us. And since I was falling more in love with him by the day, it would have been only a matter of time before I insisted.

  Chapter 19

  What does one wear to meet the woman her boyfriend is living with? I found myself rooting through my closet like I was preparing nervously for a blind date, which in a way, I was. For some reason, I felt the need to impress the mysterious Selene.

  I pulled out a blue dress and slipped the formfitting skirt over my hips. “You’re not going to a club,” I muttered to myself.

  After trying on several outfits, I finally settled on a pair of slacks with a chiffon blouse. Not flashy, but not too conservative either.

  Hawk arrived as I was walking out of the bedroom. “You look beautiful.” He ran his hand up the side of my torso and gave me a lingering kiss. “Maybe we should reschedule for tomorrow night,” he whispered against my ear.

  “Cabot’s party is tomorrow evening,” I reminded him.

  He sighed and let go of me. “Right.”

  I looked down at my pants. “Is this too casual? I tried on a few dresses but couldn’t decide.”

  He grabbed my arm when I turned back toward the bedroom to change again. “Maybe you should calm down. It’s just Selene. She’ll probably be wearing a robe when we arrive.”

  “I know I’m being paranoid, but I don’t want her to think you’re dating a tasteless bimbo. You’re practically her son, and I’ve met a boyfriend’s mother or two.”

  He glanced at the time. “You look perfect, and we need to get going. She’s a punctuality freak, so it’ll annoy the hell out of her if we show up late.”

  I froze for a second before glancing around the room. “Damn it! Where’s my purse?”

  “I’m kidding, Morgan. She won’t give a damn if we show up a little late. But we should get going.” He grabbed my hand and headed for the terrace door.

  Halfway across the living room, I stopped him. “Where are you going?”

  “Where do you think? To the terrace.”

  “Oh no. We’re driving tonight. Edward is already waiting downstairs.” He seemed a little wary about leaving the building the old-fashioned way, so I said, “Look, Hawk. You need to get over your fear of running into Cabot or Rebecca. I make the rules in this building, and they know you’re here practically every night. In fact, I’d love for you to just move in.”

  He snickered and shook his head. “Yeah, right. That would start a war.”

  “Now you’re the one being paranoid. Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and led him toward the elevator.

  We made it down to the first floor without incident. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  He ran his hand through his blond spikes and surveyed the lobby, spotting Jakob near the door. “At least there’s one person in the building who doesn’t want to cut my head off.”

  “Nonsense. Michael likes you too. And I’m sure my grandparents will love you. And if they don’t, who cares, because I do.”

  We both stopped walking as I shut my eyes and silently chastised myself for letting the L-word slip from my mouth. My feelings for him were obvious, and I’d all but said it. But I hadn’t actually said it, and neither had he. When I reopened my eyes, he was staring at me with a curious look.

  “Hawk, I didn’t mean…”

  “So you don’t love me?”

  Jakob was standing a few feet away with his hands folded over his chest, seeming to be just as curious to hear my reply.

  “Let’s talk about this outside please.”

  Edward was leaning against the car and reading a book when we walked out of the building. He snapped it shut and opened the rear door when he saw us. “Sleep well?” he asked me as we got in.

  I glanced at Hawk. “It could have been better. How about you? Did you have fun in the cellar after I left?” The satisfied look on his face answered my question.

  Hawk gave him the address and settled back in the seat. “Shall we finish that conversation now?”

  I caught Edward’s stare through the mirror. “Let’s just wait until we get home. Then I can show you.”

  He ran his hand over my thigh and slipped it between my knees, moving it higher as his eyes gazed into mine.

  “You better stop what you can’t finish,” I warned under my breath. “You are staying tonight, aren’t you? Selene should be feeling better by now.”

  Laughing quietly, he pulled his hand away and looked out the window. He seemed a little nervous himself, making it worse for me. Heading north, we turned left when we got close to the top of the park. The neighborhood was quiet with few streetlights to illuminate the buildings. Eventually we pulled up to a brownstone that had a single light on in one of the upper rooms.

  “Are you sure you told her it was tonight?”

  He chuckled. “She knows we’re coming.”

  I got out of the car and told Edward not to wait. It was Saturday night, and he had better things to do than sit in the car for hours. In fact, he had better things to do than drive me around town, but he insisted on keeping his unnecessary job.

  As he pulled away, the butterflies in my stomach began to stir again. I followed Hawk up the steps and into the house. The second we entered, the foyer lit up. The living room did the same when we walked inside.

  “Motion activated?” I asked.

  “Sort of.”

  Even with the lights on, the room was pretty dark. The place was larger than it looked from the outside, with a ceiling that had to be twelve feet high. But what really caught my eye were the bookcases. They reached all the way up to the crown molding and were filled with stuffed birds. Crows, ravens, starlings. There was even a falcon on the highest shelf.

  “Is Selene like your mother was?”

  “A raptor goddess? Something like that.”

  Either Selene had an avid taxidermy hobby or she liked to keep her dead relatives close.

  I was about to ask him if she was planning to join us when I heard a rustling sound. Through a veil of sheer fabric hanging over a doorway, she entered the room.

  “You must be Morgan.”

  I was stunned when she walked up to me and came within a couple of inches of my face. She was so close I could have kissed her. Her hair was coal black, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue. She didn’t look like any mother I’d ever met. In fact, she barely looked older than me.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you.” I took a step back and smiled while she examined my face.

  “Come on,” Hawk said, taking my hand. “Let’s sit down.”

  Selene kept staring at me with a lopsided grin, making me exceedingly uncomfortable. When she did finally let up, it was only to look for a match to light the cigarette she pulled from her robe. Hawk wasn’t kidding when he said she would probably be wearing one. But it wasn’t a bathrobe. It was a black silk kimono with a silver embroidered creature climbing up the back and over her shoulder. A dragon.

  “Selene,” Hawk said with a warning tone, shaking his head. “Not now please.”

  She seemed surpr
ised by his reaction, but it didn’t stop her from lighting up. “Why? Have you asked Morgan if she partakes?”

  “Partakes in what?” It took about two seconds for the familiar smell to hit my nose. “Oh!”

  Hawk looked mortified.

  “Don’t be a prude, darling.” She offered it to me. “It’s medicinal, but I won’t tell if you don’t.”

  I politely declined. I hadn’t smoked weed since freshman year, and I had no desire to do so now.

  “Then how about a drink?” she asked. “Or is alcohol off-limits too?”

  Hawk got up and headed across the room. “I’ll get it. Beer, wine? We have plenty of liquor if you want something stronger.”

  God, I needed a stiff drink. “Wine please.”

  “Bourbon?” he asked Selene.

  After he left the room, she sat down opposite from me and crossed her legs. Her robe slipped open, revealing her perfectly sculpted calves and her feet nestled in a pair of black Louboutin pumps. With one arm draped over the back of the sofa, she took a drag with her free hand and inhaled noisily, squinting her eyes at me while she released the smoke in a steady stream. The awkward silence between us didn’t seem to bother her in the least. I think she was enjoying it.

  Hawk came back into the room just in time to keep me from jumping up to offer him help with carrying the drinks.

  “So,” he said as Selene sipped her drink and continued to stare at me, her leg gently bouncing against her knee. “What were you two talking about while I was in the kitchen?”

  Selene and I looked at each other, neither one of us saying a word. She snuffed out her smoke and relaxed deeper into the cushions. “Hawk tells me your family hunts vampires.”

  I nearly lost it but managed to compose myself as I gave him a look. “Uh… that’s correct.” Grieving widow, my ass. And there was no way she was twice his age. The femme fatale sitting across from me must have Hawk under some kind of spell.

  She continued. “Isn’t that a little awkward for you? With Hawk being a vampire, I mean.”

  I swear the woman was baiting me, but two could play that game. “So far it hasn’t been awkward at all,” I said over the rim of my glass. “Hawk tells me you’re like a mother to him.”