Pursued: A Vampire Syndicate Paranormal Romance (The Vampire Syndicate Book 1)

by Rebecca Rivard

  “Thank you.” I raised on my toes to kiss him.

  “I’m sorry to just leave you here,” he added, “but I have to get back to the building to help with the cleanup. And then I have to head down to the Syndicate’s building in the Village. With my father out of town, I’m working double-duty right now.”

  “Okay.” I must have looked disappointed, because he tugged on a curl that had escaped my bun.

  “You’ll be fine, I promise. I’m leaving a couple of guards to watch over you two.”

  “It’s not that. It’s just I thought we could spend the afternoon together.”

  “Not today.” He smoothed his thumb and forefinger down the curl. “You probably won’t even see the guards; one’s in the foyer where the elevator lets out, and the other’s keeping an eye on the service staircase. It’s off the utility room.” He nodded at the kitchen. “They’ve been told that no one other than Jessa is allowed on this floor. But I thought you’d feel better if you had a phone, too. I loaded the app for my security system on it.”

  Taking the phone back, he showed me how the app worked, including the panic button that would call the guards and another button to alert him. “If you need Jessa,” he said as he returned it to me, “she’ll be on the floor below in her apartment. There’s an intercom in the kitchen.”

  He lifted my chin with the edge of his fist and studied me with dark, unreadable eyes. “We’ll talk tonight, okay?”

  My heart jittered. Something was wrong. “About what?”

  “Where we go from here, for one thing.”

  Oh. I nodded. “All right.”

  He gave me a hard, open-mouthed kiss, then strode out of the room.

  As the elevator doors closed behind him, I felt a surge of panic. I took a deep breath and glanced down at the phone.

  Gabriel was right, I felt safer having it with me. But we both knew he hadn’t just given it to me because of that.

  Even more than the stiletto, it was a sign of good faith. I wasn’t a prisoner anymore.

  So what was the problem?

  Uneasy wings fluttered in my stomach. I shook it off to consider the phone. I wanted to call my mom and dad, but after my talk with Joey, I wasn’t sure I could deal with their questions.

  Later, I thought. When I wasn’t so tired.

  I curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

  I woke up to find Joey rummaging in the kitchen for a soda. Whatever they’d drugged him with seemed to have worn off. His eyes were clear, and he had some of his old energy back. We ate a late lunch together, then went into the living room.

  I sat on the couch while he moved restlessly around the room: fiddling with the sound system, picking things up and putting them down, staring out the window at the river.

  I blew out a breath. “Joey, please—sit down. I know it’s hard, but Gabriel wants us to stay put for today.”

  “Right,” he sneered. “And he’s the boss, I guess. Where the fuck is he, anyway?”

  “He went back to the vampire nest to help with cleanup, and then he had to work. And it’s for our own safety, for Chrissake.”

  He just shook his head, then flopped onto the couch opposite me. “So. You said at breakfast that you worked on an organic farm?”

  We spent the next hour catching up. When I’d left, he’d been a high school senior, and now he was three years into an engineering degree.

  “I have to work my ass off,” he said, “but I figure it will be worth it.” His face fell. “I have an internship at a chemical company this summer. I just hope they’ll take me back after all this.”

  “Gabriel will talk to them for you.”

  “No.” His mouth flattened. “I’ll handle it myself.”

  I jerked a shoulder. “Suit yourself.”

  An awkward silence fell until Joey jumped up again. “Let’s play rummy. He must have a deck of cards around here somewhere.”

  We found a couple of decks of cards in a cupboard and played a game of gin rummy to five hundred points. Joey won, as usual.

  He grinned as he gathered up the cards. “I still got it.”

  I tossed my pencil at him. He snatched it out of the air and tucked it behind his ear.

  “You got it, all right,” I retorted. “A big fat ego.”

  He chuckled, and then sobered. “Mila.” He shuffled the deck and set it on the coffee table. “Come home with me. Mom and Dad—you broke their hearts, leaving like that. You need to make it right with them. And what the fuck was that money for?”

  “You didn’t use it?”

  “Are you kidding? The only thing Mom and Dad used it for was to pay the guy searching for you. There’s something like $25K left.”

  “Tell them to use it, please. I won’t need it now.”

  “No way. Mom put your name on the account. All you have to do is show some ID and it’s yours.”

  “Joey.” I passed a hand over my eyes. “Don’t you understand? It’s done. I’m with Gabriel now. But I will make it right with Mom and Dad—I just have to talk to Gabriel first.”

  “So you are a prisoner.”

  “No!” I drew a slow breath, made myself answer calmly. “I told you, we’re together now. But I can’t just up and leave.”

  “For Chrissake, Mila.” He plowed a hand through his dark curls. “What’s wrong with you? If you don’t care about me, what about Mom and Dad? And Nonna—you know you’re her favorite. She still says a rosary for you every night.”

  My stomach lurched. “I’m sorry I left that way. But I didn’t have a choice—I had to get right away.”

  “But why?”

  “Because I fell in love with a dhampir, damn it. And not just any dhampir—Gabriel Kral, heir to the Kral Syndicate. Karoly Kral was not happy that his son was in love with a human. And later, when I thought I might be able to come home, I was told to stay gone—or they’d come for you guys next.”

  “Those motherfuckers.” Joey shot to his feet. “That’s it. We’re out of here—now.” He lunged around the coffee table and grabbed my arm.

  “No!” I dug in my heels. “You don’t understand.”

  “The hell I don’t.” He dragged me toward the hall.

  “Listen to me.” I shoved my face into his. “I don’t want to leave.”

  The guard stationed in the foyer appeared with vampire-fast speed and planted himself in front of us. “Miss? Is everything all right?”

  Joey growled at the guard, but the man just stared back coldly.

  “We’re fine,” I hurried to say. “My brother’s just upset about…” I trailed off lamely. “Everything’s fine. Really.”

  The vampire narrowed his eyes at Joey. “Dial it down,” he suggested in a hard voice. “I don’t care if you’re her brother, this is the crown prince’s woman and our orders are to keep her safe.”

  Joey’s hands fisted at his side, but a look of shame crossed his face. “Sorry,” he muttered to me.

  With a curt nod at us both, the guard returned to the foyer.

  “Jesus,” Joey muttered. “Let’s go somewhere private, all right?” Without waiting for an answer, he headed down the hall to his bedroom.

  I sighed and followed. The moment the door shut, Joey took my hands.

  “You see what it will be like if you stay. Come home, damn it. If Gabriel is such a good guy, he won’t stop you.”

  “You’re still not listening.” I pulled my hands from his. “I love him. And besides, we have…an agreement.”

  His mouth thinned. “What kind of agreement?”

  My stomach tightened. Blood bonds didn’t have a good rep in the human world. But he had to know, and so did my parents.

  “I accepted his blood bond.” I was careful not to say when and why, because if my brother realized I’d accepted the bond to save him, he’d go ballistic.

  “You’re his thrall?” Joey sank onto the edge of the bed.

  I wrapped my arms around myself. “It’s not like that. A blood bond is more than just a thral
l contract. And besides, I want to stay. I never wanted to leave in the first place.”

  Joey’s lip curled. “How do you know he’s not compelling you?”

  “Because he swore he wouldn’t—not ever—and I believe him.”

  “Vampires will lie through their teeth if it gets them what they want.”

  My chin jutted. “Not Gabriel. He loves me.”

  “You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you?” He shook his head. “A vampire or dhampir—or whatever the fuck he is—doesn’t give crap about humans like you and me.”

  “He rescued you, remember? When he was hurt himself. Those bastards attacked us last night. He almost died, but this morning he dragged himself out of bed to save your ungrateful ass.”

  “Hell.” My brother dropped his head into his hands. His thin shoulders heaved. “So you’re not coming home with me tomorrow?”

  “No. Soon, though.” I hoped. I wasn’t sure exactly how a blood bond worked, but Gabriel’s mom didn’t seem to be a prisoner.

  But she’s Karoly’s mate, not his blood-bonded thrall, said an uneasy little voice.

  Still, Gabriel had said he loved me, that three years ago, he’d intended to ask me to be his mate. Maybe that was even what he wanted to talk about tonight.

  “I don’t like it,” Joey said, but he sounded resigned. “And Mom and Dad won’t either when they hear why you left. We’re a family, and families are there for each other.”

  “I know.” I sat down and bumped him with my shoulder. “I love you, squirt.”

  He heaved a breath and wrapped a wiry arm around me. “Love you, too.”

  22

  Gabriel

  After leaving Mila, I returned to Redbone’s Fifth Avenue nest. Tomas had left to take his day sleep, leaving Isaac Bajoie in charge, but I wanted to make it clear to the surviving vampires that Redbone had been a traitor to the Syndicate, possibly even working with the slayers to engineer a coup against my father.

  Five of the nest had been sent to their final grave during the Montauk attack, but that left another half-dozen still in Manhattan. The two youngest had slept through the commotion, but by the time I’d arrived the four older ones were standing around in the penthouse salon, sizing each other up.

  The jockeying for kapitán had already begun. The coven had the right to select their own leader, but until they did, I wanted someone I trusted in charge.

  Brenda, the owner of the building, sidled up to me. “Prince Gabriel.” A long-legged blond vampire, she was hot as hell and she knew it. She slicked the tip of her tongue over full red lips. “I hear you were the one who sent the kapitán to his final death.”

  “That’s right.” I eyed the wolf tattoo on the side of her neck. She’d recently made enforcer. “Congratulations on your promotion.”

  “Mm.” Leaning closer, she traced a finger down her neck and into her cleavage where her soft white breasts were displayed to full advantage by her skimpy purple dress.

  She was either trying to seduce me, or get close enough to stab me with the dagger I was sure she had strapped to her thigh. Either way, I wasn’t in the mood for games. I took her firmly by the shoulders and set her back a few feet.

  “Enough. I’m here as the Primus’s representative. Gather the rest of your nest and have them meet me here in ten minutes.”

  A slow blink of crystal-blue eyes. “Even the sleepers?”

  “Yes. Unless they’re too young to be awakened, I want everyone in the salon ASAP, including Isaac Bajoie.” The other enforcer was on a lower floor, ensuring the safe removal of the enslaved humans.

  When she still lingered, I showed my fangs. “Now, Enforcer.”

  She straightened. The pout left her lips and I saw the lethal vampire who was the real Brenda. “Yes, sir.”

  When the group was assembled—four men and two women—I brought them up to date in a few pithy sentences. “Kapitán Redbone was staked for attacking me. Not only that, he kidnapped my woman and her brother. This entire nest is now under the Primus’s control.”

  I sent a hard look around me, daring them to argue. The vampires stared back with expressions varying from respect to sneers, but no one spoke.

  “Isaac Bajoie is now the coven’s acting kapitán,” I added. “The nests in Louisiana are being informed as we speak.”

  Per tradition, the challenges would take place at the main coven nest just outside of New Orleans, and I had a feeling that Bajoie would toss his hat into the ring.

  Bajoie was standing a little to my left. He blinked, then squared his shoulders. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Where’s the Primus?” one of the older men dared to ask.

  I moved forward, got right in his face. “Taking care of business. That’s all you need to know.”

  Bajoie ranged himself at my side, backing me up. The man looked from him to me and gave a curt nod.

  “And,” I added, my eyes still trained on the vampire who’d spoken, “this nest is being punished. Your blood slaves are being transferred to a rehab facility as we speak. You will drink only from paid thralls for the next decade, or I will personally see that you all join your kapitán in the final death.”

  They didn’t like that. But no one had the balls to openly defy me.

  I jerked my chin at Bajoie. “Confine them all to the basement for the thirty days. They’re to be fed only once a week—and no fresh blood. Only blood-wine.”

  Let them see what it felt like to be locked in a cell with barely enough nourishment to survive.

  That settled, I left Bajoie to finish up and headed to Syndicate headquarters. Something was niggling at me. Logic said that Andre Redbone had been the mole. He wasn’t part of the inner circle, but as a kapitán, he had the kind of access that might have allowed him to circumvent our security.

  And yet, it didn’t quite add up…

  I worked through the afternoon, tapping into our ultra-secure network to try to prove or disprove that Redbone had been the mole, but came up empty-handed. I even risked a text to my father, informing him that Redbone was a traitor and had been eliminated, but that I hadn’t yet determined if he was our mole.

  Father didn’t reply, but then, I hadn’t really expected him to.

  Dinner came and went. I was avoiding my talk with Mila, and I knew it.

  I got up from my desk and stretched—and stifled a groan. My body had taken a beating these past twenty-four hours. The wounds had pretty much healed, but the silver poisoning had left me stiff and aching.

  And I was craving blood again. Even three glasses of blood-wine and the thick slab of rare filet mignon I’d had for dinner had barely taken the edge off. I could’ve called for a Syndicate thrall, but I wanted Mila.

  The phone rang. I tensed, but it was only my mother.

  “Mom? What’s up?” I put her on speakerphone and sat on the edge of the desk.

  “Not much,” Mom replied. “Just that my oldest son was nearly staked last night and he hasn’t even called me.”

  I snatched up the phone and turned off the speaker. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “Wrong answer,” was the grim reply.

  I sighed. “I didn’t want to upset you, all right? You have enough to worry about right now.”

  I heard her teeth snap together. “Still the wrong answer.”

  “I’m sorry, okay? It was Andre Redbone. But I survived, and he’s no longer a problem. I sent him to his final death myself.”

  “Andre?” She sucked in a breath. “That low-down, dirty fils-putain. He’s been to our house, drunk my wine. Told me how much he admired my damn flowers. He even promised your father to support you if it comes to a challenge.”

  With each sentence, her voice got louder until I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

  “He lied,” I said flatly when she finally paused for breath. “Anyway, during the attack, I found out he’d kidnapped Mila’s brother.”

  “So that’s why she came back.”

  “Yeah.” I brought h
er up to date on everything that had happened since last night, up to and including the rescue of Joey Vittore. “The pricks locked Joey in a dark cell for a week,” I finished. “Kept him drugged up, too, so he wouldn’t give them any trouble. A twenty-one-year-old kid.”

  “That poor boy. He’s all right? And Mila, too?”

  “They’re fine, just shook up. Redbone didn’t physically hurt Mila, but he fucked with her mind pretty bad.” I rose to my feet, paced across my office. “I’m not going to let her go, Mom. I…can’t.”

  “You really do love her.”

  I closed my eyes. “Yeah.” My voice hardened. “She told me what you did, that you invited her to the house and tried to scare her off.”

  “Is that what she said?”

  “No,” I admitted. “She thought you were genuinely concerned, that you just wanted her to know what life with me would be like. But you had no right to do that. No right at all.”

  “She had a right to know, Gabriel. Your father had to fight his own people for years because they thought I made him weak, and then he had to break heads all over again to get them to accept you and your brothers as his heirs.”

  My fingers clenched on the phone. I drew a slow inhale through my teeth. “D’you know the hell you put me through these past three years?”

  Her voice softened. “I’m sorry about that. I know you missed her. But if she was that easy to scare off, maybe you’re better off without her.”

  “It wasn’t only that. Father sicced Tomas on her. Told her that if she didn’t leave, her family would be next. And they didn’t stop there.” My tone was bitter. “She’s had Syndicate enforcers after her ever since she left. I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to kill her—just keep her scared and on the run.”

  Because if Karoly Kral had actually wanted Mila dead, she would be.

  Mom’s swallow was audible. “I didn’t know.”

  “Yeah,” I said grimly. “It’s one thing to chase her away. But they hounded her, told her that if she came back to Maryland, they’d target her family next. She was afraid even to contact her parents, and she lived in fucking roach-infested apartments because she couldn’t keep a job long enough to make any money.”