"Are you hungry, Mr. Hancock?" Mr. White asked. Everett looked at the other man. He and Mr. Townsend looked young to him—younger than his son, who'd been thirty-six when he'd died.
"I could eat," Everett nodded.
"What would you like?"
"Oh, a piece of chicken, maybe a sandwich." Everett didn't care. The doctor was always on him to lower his cholesterol. Nowadays Everett ignored that warning and ate what he wanted. Nobody was going to live forever, after all.
"A chicken sandwich, maybe?" Mr. Townsend asked.
"Yeah. With fries." Mr. White went back upstairs.
"You will stay here, Mr. Hancock," Mr. Townsend showed Everett a bedroom. "There is a bathroom there, too, if you need to go." Chris Townsend showed Everett where the bath and shower were inside his bedroom. "You will not attempt to leave and you will do what Mr. White and I tell you." Everett nodded.
* * *
"Albert, they have him at the safe house in Pittsburgh," Charles spoke quietly into his cell. "Wlodek wants you to check to see if he has mindspeech."
"I can be there tomorrow; I'm in New York now," Albert replied.
"Let us know as soon as you can so we can make a decision," Charles said.
"Of course," Albert agreed and hung up.
* * *
"Take one or two nice outfits; the rest can be clothes you wouldn't mind working in. Just everyday stuff," I sat on Roff's bed as he folded clothing and placed it in his borrowed suitcase. Franklin and Greg had bought jeans, shirts, shoes and other necessary items for Roff and Giff. Both were quite happy with their new wardrobe.
"Where will we be staying?" Roff asked, folding a pullover shirt.
"I don’t know yet. Maybe hotels or safe houses," I said. "Do you have pajamas or something to sleep in?"
"I have pajamas, but prefer to only wear the lower half," he informed me.
"That's not unusual," I told him. I helped him pack shampoo and the soap he liked.
"It was not this complicated to make the pilgrimage to Baetrah," Roff muttered, zipping his suitcase.
"What is Baetrah?" I asked.
"Baetrah is the volcano on Kifirin's planet. The comesuli go there and ask Kifirin to take us back to Le-Ath Veronis."
"You can ask him in person," I smiled at Roff.
"You think we have not done this? He was not always available, you know. Only recently did he come to me and my family, offering us a place with you, along with the promise that if we worked hard, Le-Ath Veronis would again be inhabited by vampires and comesuli."
"So the volcano is the place to go if you want to ask Kifirin for something?" That made me chuckle. Honestly, I wondered about the volcanic scent I smelled around him at times.
"The Dragon's Teeth are nearby, too. That is the way for the High Demons to ask Kifirin for something. They should have asked long ago for him to wake and control the copper Ra'Ak. They did not."
"So, how did he wake, then?"
"Someone finally remembered how to wake Kifirin when it was nearly too late. The Dragon's teeth require blood. The blood given was almost too dear."
"That seems a little drastic," I said.
"It was," Roff nodded.
"It sounds like you've had a tough time," I gave him a quick hug.
"I would endure it all again if it would mean I could come to you," he sighed.
"Roff, you need to stop, you're going to make me think I'm more important than I am," I said. "And we don't need that." I patted his shoulder and walked toward the door. "Do you need help carrying anything downstairs?"
"No, Raona. I can get this easily."
"Merrill wants us downstairs in fifteen minutes. I'm going to grab my things. I'll meet you there." I trotted down the hallway. I'd left Gavin in his bedroom, packing his bags. At least he could do that for himself.
Gavin hadn't just packed his things; he'd carried all our bags down to the garage. He and René were making Tony load up the back of the Range Rover. Poor Tony—he was the rookie, looked like. Tony didn't seem to give a damn; he was having fun flinging heavy bags around as if they were throw pillows.
Griffin and Amara came to see me off; Griffin told me they might drop in on us now and then, just to say hello. I nodded. Amara hugged me. Griffin got a hug and a kiss before letting me go. Franklin and Greg got big hugs too. I was worried about Greg but afraid to say anything—his blood scent was far from normal. Roff appeared, carrying his bags easily; he truly was stronger than he looked. He and Tony got the last bags loaded in and we were ready to go.
The Council's jet was flying us to Dallas, and we were packed to the roof inside the Range Rover. Gavin held me on his lap, which was against the law since I wasn't wearing a seat belt. Roff was scrunched between Tony and René in the back seat. Merrill drove us to the airport and we were loaded on the jet in very little time. I recalled that I hadn't flown with Gavin since our trip back from Florida. This time I sat next to him, while Roff sat across the aisle. This was old habit for Tony; I figured his hands were itching to send emails or something as he and René found seats. Roff was excited; he'd never done anything like this before.
We were in the air for nine hours, stopping once to refuel and landing in Dallas around midnight local time due to the time difference. Winkler, Rhett and Dalroy were waiting there to meet us. Winkler provided two of his company-owned SUVs, so we were loaded up and hauled off to Winkler's home outside Denton.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked as Winkler stole a hug while Gavin stood by, frowning. I didn't want to put him or his unborn children in danger by staying with him.
"It'll be all right," Winkler grinned at me. "I'm putting all of you in the guesthouse. We haven't closed on your house next door or I'd let you stay there." So many things had happened; I'd forgotten he was buying it for me.
In the meantime, I was no stranger to the guesthouse. Gavin, Roff and I got the top floor for old times' sake; René and Tony took the bottom floor. The only difference was that this time Gavin and I shared a bed; Roff slept in the second bedroom. "Do you know how many times I wanted to come in and climb in bed with you?" Gavin asked as I hefted a suitcase on the king-size bed and unpacked a few things. Winkler had renovated since we'd stayed before—the bath had new tile and granite counters, the bedroom had new carpet, drapes and blinds. He'd spared no expense, I noticed.
"Hmmph," I grumbled at Gavin's question. "You didn't stop yourself from coming in and undressing me before digging around in my shoulder for that bullet."
"Cara, the feel of your skin under my hands almost drove me wild," Gavin came to nuzzle my neck. "I had to force myself to focus on the task instead."
"Uh-huh," I said. "Don't go down that road, Gavin. You know what happened not long after that." He'd placed compulsion and hauled me off to the Council. That still pissed me off every time I thought about it.
"Cara, put that out of your mind, I beg you," Gavin said, turning me in his arms. "This is our first time traveling when we are truly together. I do not wish to ruin this."
"You know what I remember?" I said. "I remember dancing with you at the wedding reception that we crashed. You had your eyes closed on the last dance, Gavin. I always wondered what it was you were thinking about right then."
"You wish to know this?" He blinked at me before lowering his head to steal a kiss. I shrugged when he pulled away. "For just a moment, I pretended that you were mine," he admitted. "That there was nothing standing between us and that you loved me. I wanted to take you to my home and keep you, cara. That is what I was thinking."
I let my forehead droop against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. "I love you, cara mia. More than I have ever loved anything. You have to forgive my desire to lock you away at times; I only wish to keep you safe."
"What would you have done if the vote had gone the other way?" I leaned away from him and studied his eyes—they were a beautiful, deep brown. I stroked fingers through his thick, close-cropped brown hair before trailing a finger down his
cheek. "You were set to kill me, Gavin. What would you have done afterward?" My fingers traced the line of his jaw. It was strong, that jaw, his lips fine and well-shaped. He quirked a dark brow and a corner of his mouth lifted slightly at my touch.
"Probably what I did anyway," he replied, kissing my fingers. "I drove straight to El Diablo and proceeded to get as drunk as I could. Flavio had to haul me away; I spent the day in his townhome afterward. I was terrified that you could never bring yourself to speak with me or care for me."
"Flavio," I huffed, moving away from Gavin. "He couldn't wait to tell Wlodek how I'd misbehaved in New Mexico."
"Cara, he was only doing his duty."
"Yeah? If they were discussing a beating for you, do you think I'd just let them do it? They'd get an earful, I think. There would be no doubt in their minds as to what I thought of all of them, too."
"And that would mean a beating for you as well, cara."
"Then they could do both of us at once. Two for the price of one, don't you think?" I walked away from him. "Fucking Council," I grumbled.
"You have not had many good experiences with them," Gavin nodded. "Perhaps if you give them some time, they will win you over."
"That'll be the day," I snapped. "I don't even know their names—except for Flavio and Oluwa. I know those two. That's it."
"Then introduce yourself at the Annual Meeting this year," Gavin came to stand next to me, trying to coax me back into his arms. "They cannot refuse the introduction."
"Maybe I shouldn't know their names," I moved away from him again. "Do you like any of them?"
"I like a few, I think. The others I tolerate."
"That dark-haired female is a problem, Gavin. Trust me on that. Someday, Wlodek may have her standing in front of him." Gavin lifted an eyebrow at my statement, but didn't say anything. I didn't expect anything else—I was used to nobody listening to me. I sighed. "It sucks being a new vampire," I said, picking up my shampoo and soap and carrying them into the bathroom.
"Cara, the first five years are mandatory," Gavin came in to stand behind me. "While your first years seem to be more troubled than others, you have many important vampires watching you. You are extraordinary, Lissa. A Queen. Wlodek is holding off informing the full Council because of Xenides—you understand why he must continue to think your weakness is compulsion. When the Council and the race as a whole are informed there is a Queen again, that will be cause for celebration."
"Celebration my ass," I muttered. I didn't want a celebration. I just wanted to make decisions for myself.
"Don't you want others to recognize you for what you are?" Gavin sounded puzzled.
"Sheesh. No," I replied, tossing a hand helplessly. Honestly, whenever Kifirin started talking of rebuilding Le-Ath Veronis, I got chills, and not in a good way.
"Lissy?" Tony's voice sounded through the upper floor guesthouse. I guess he didn't want to surprise us in case we were in a compromising position.
"Tony, what do you want?" I headed toward the bedroom door. René was right behind Tony; Dalroy, Rhett, Winkler and newly appointed Director Bill Jennings were right behind René in our small sitting area.
"Lissa, Director Jennings has unfortunate news," René said. Gavin stepped up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"What is it?" I was suddenly terrified. Tony looked gray. Bill's face had lost most of its color.
"This was sent to the OSBI," Bill held out a photograph. OSBI—Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. My fingers shook as I took the photograph from Bill's hand. Gavin's arm around my waist was what kept me standing; the photograph was of Don's brother, David. He'd been killed; multiple stab wounds covered his torso and he'd been dumped on top of Don's grave, his neck bent at an unnatural angle as it rested against Don's headstone.
"Oh, dear God," I muttered, my hand covering my mouth. "Where's Sara?"
"We don't know," Bill said. "We received a typewritten note with this photograph. It says come to me or there will be more of the same."
"Lissa, the authorities don't have any leads. There weren't any fingerprints on the photograph or the note. Not even the envelope or the stamps." Tony had already discussed this with Bill, I could tell.
"Where was it mailed?" I was doing my best to keep from crying. David's body had been tossed carelessly onto Don's grave, his stab wounds likely from a vampire's claws. "How long has he been dead?" The photograph shook as I handed it back to Bill.
"He was killed somewhere nearby and thrown on the grave. We couldn't find shoe prints or other evidence," Bill said softly. "This happened two nights ago."
"Don's grave is at least twenty feet from the nearest road that runs through that cemetery," I wiped my cheeks. "Those fucking vampires threw him from the road so they wouldn't leave prints behind."
"We think that too; the coroner is certain that all broken bones were postmortem."
"Raona," Roff walked in the room. He'd been wandering outside; I smelled freshly mown grass and flowers about him. Roff had been exploring Winkler's four acres surrounding the house. He came straight to me now, wiping stubborn tears from my face.
"We're keeping this away from the media for now," Bill went on. "Of course, it was all done at night and nobody saw anything."
"Do you have surveillance cameras around the cemetery now?" Tony asked.
"Yes, but as you know, they probably won't go back there."
"Then how the hell am I supposed to come to them if I don’t know where they are?" I was getting angry, now. If I had any idea where Xenides was, he would be a very dead vampire as soon as I could make him so.
"Lissa, you will get that thought out of your head immediately," Gavin growled. "You will not be going to any of them. We will track them down and take care of this."
"Then why did you bring me?" I considered misting away from him.
"Because you're good at this, Lissy," Tony said. "You make intuitive leaps sometimes. Look what you did about those child killers in England."
"Uh-huh." I attempted to wiggle out of Gavin's arms.
"Raona, come with me," Roff took my arm and Gavin let me go. Roff led me to the bedroom and shut the door behind us.
"Don't join up with them," I pulled away from Roff.
"I know you are upset and they are not allowing you your full potential," Roff said. "A Queen protects her people. I think they are too afraid of losing you."
"Honey, I think I love you," I said, giving him a hug.
* * *
Bill motioned the others out the door and pulled them down the steps leading away from the guesthouse. "Mr. Hancock asked me not to give additional information to Lissa," Bill said, once they were inside Winkler's mansion. Winkler led them quietly into the kitchen, glad that Kellee was asleep. Trajan was now living with him, and he'd kept James and Leon on as bodyguards.
"We didn't give you the full contents of the note," Bill said, once they'd settled around the huge island. "They want Lissa to come to them in Kansas City. They've given a date and time; otherwise, they'll go after her cousins who live in the state. We have our doubts as to whether Sara Workman is still alive since they're threatening the cousins, now." Bill was thrown into a difficult situation immediately—there hadn't been an opportunity for him to ease into the job. His forehead was creased with worry; Rahim Alif could very well be with Xenides. In his experience, where one of them was in the past, the other hadn't been far away.
"What is the location?" Tony asked.
"They only gave coordinates. Latitude and longitude," Bill answered. "We've checked; that particular spot is a wooded area near Parkville, Missouri, located slightly north and west of Kansas City."
"Anything near there?" Winkler got in on the questioning.
"There's an underground business park nearby," Bill said. "They may be using that as a base; we're checking it now."
"You need to get Lissa up there, along with the rest of us to see if we can sniff any of them out," Gavin said. "What is the date?"
"If we wrap this up quickly, we'll have time to return to France for the Annual Meeting," René observed. The meeting was to be held in France and was scheduled for the beginning of October.
"René, you have always been fonder of those gatherings than I," Gavin said.
"You work them, cousin," René reminded his only living relative. "I go to enjoy myself." He didn't bring Gavin's attention to the fact that he'd put in a bid for Lissa during the last meeting. Had Gavin not intervened, Lissa might be wed to him instead. Gavin would not appreciate the reminder; René was sure of that.
* * *
Albert sent a mental message to Everett Hancock. Can you hear me? he asked Anthony Hancock's father. Everett blinked at him instead.
"You must answer if you hear my mindspeech," Albert laid compulsion. Everett nodded. Albert tried again. Now do you hear me?
Everett sat there, unsure what Albert wanted him to do. Ken white was watching the one-sided exchange, feeling a bit bored. Albert was trying desperately to get Everett Hancock to answer. They'd held hope that the elder Hancock could hear Albert's mindspeech. The unfortunate truth, however, was that Everett Hancock seemed to be—as far as mindspeech was concerned, anyway—deaf as a post.
"We have tried for the past hour and he is unable to hear Albert's mindspeech," Chris Townsend relayed the message to Charles, who would pass it along to Wlodek. Wlodek was actually listening to the conversation. He took the phone from Charles.
"Take him to Oklahoma City," Wlodek instructed. "Introduce him to Lissa. She will have a message for me afterward." Wlodek handed the phone back to Charles. Charles gave the address of the safe house where Lissa could be found in Oklahoma before terminating the call.
Chris put the phone back in his pocket. "Looks like we're going to Oklahoma City," he sighed.
* * *
We were driving north on I-35 about nine in the evening, two days after I'd learned that Don's brother was dead. It was Thursday, August twenty-sixth; Gavin had bought Roff a nice watch with date and time displays, and taught Roff about telling time and using a calendar. Roff was happy with Gavin's instruction and was quite taken with the watch, reminding me in the mornings what day it was. I considered smacking Gavin and hiding the watch. Unfortunately, Roff never took it off—it was waterproof, too.
Blood Royal (Blood Destiny #5) Page 7
