by Deanna Chase
“Dammit! Please tell me you have those photos in a cloud.”
“I do.” I’d emailed them to myself immediately after taking them, just in case.
She sighed in relief and her shoulders visibly relaxed. “Thank you for finally coming through on the technology end, Wil.”
I chose not to respond to her jab, but only because it was true. I hated phones and all the technology I didn’t understand. Powering up the laptop, I asked, “What did you find out?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I think the pictures will put some things into place.”
I opened the top drawer, rummaged around, and pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. A loose sheet slipped from the legal pad as I tossed it on the desk.
Phoebe’s gaze followed the paper and then her eyes widened in surprise.
“What?” I glanced at the scribble across the bottom of the paper and frowned in confusion as a ball of unease formed somewhere close to my heart. “Does that say what I think it says?”
She snatched the paper and nodded.
I leaned over her shoulder and forced myself to read the words one more time. The paper was a directive from Cryrique with a list of tasks for David to complete. And there, scrawled at the bottom, were the words: Convince Willow to turn Father into a daywalker.
Chapter 16
“What the fuck is this?” Phoebe waved the directive around the room. “Is this why Allcot is on his ‘protect Willow’ mission?”
I sat back, stunned into silence. The handwriting was David’s. Was it an order, or was the mission his own idea? Righteous anger took over. I snatched the paper out of her hand and stalked out of the room.
Voices carried down the hall from David’s master suite. I stomped past the four bedrooms and stormed into the suite without knocking. Three steps in, I skidded to a stop on the plush carpet. “Whoa. David, stop!”
Across the room, David had one hand clamped tightly around Harrison’s neck as he suspended him a few inches off the ground. David twitched at the sound of my voice but didn’t turn around. Instead, he growled and slammed Harrison against the wall.
Harrison let out a strangled groan and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“David!” I yelled again and ran across the room. What the hell was wrong with him? I clutched his arm, unable to move it even an inch. His shoulder was covered in a blood-soaked bandage, but the wound didn’t seem to slow him down. “What are you doing? Let go. You’re going to kill him.”
Finally my frantic tone must have registered, and David lowered Harrison to the ground. His grip relaxed, but he didn’t let go.
Harrison gasped for air, clutching at David’s hand. “Fuck, dude. Let go.”
A snarl curled on David’s lip. “Next time, I’ll rip your damn head off.”
The icy calm of David’s voice made Harrison’s dark face turn ashen.
Even I took a step back. “David?” My tone was softer, quiet. “What’s going on?” What could Harrison have done to cause such a violent reaction from David? They’d been fine five minutes ago.
David squeezed Harrison’s neck for one last reminder and then let go. But before Harrison could move, David slammed his fist into Harrison’s gut.
Adrenaline shot through my already-wired body as I took another step back, barely able to contain the urge to take flight out of the room.
Harrison sputtered and coughed until blood stained his lips.
David leaned in and I heard him whisper, “That’s your one and only warning. No one talks about her that way.”
Who? Me?
A wild, almost-crazed look flashed through Harrison’s eyes. David must have seen it too because his fist flew again, but Harrison twisted and blocked the blow with his forearm at the same time.
“Stop it!” I cried, my demand falling on deaf ears.
Another fist flew and Harrison dodged, this time landing a roundhouse kick to David’s torso. David grunted and paused momentarily.
Phoebe raced into the room, no doubt because she’d heard my cry and clasped her hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, frozen in shock. That kick had been entirely too fast and had hurt, otherwise David would’ve caught Harrison’s leg and broken it in two before he’d ever connected. Holy shit. Could Harrison be on Tal’s drug, too? There was no way to tell until the person showed their cards. Did that mean Harrison had some I could take to trade for Tal? Hope fluttered inside me.
David threw one more punch, this time an uppercut to Harrison’s jaw. Then he stepped back, as if waiting to see what my supposed bodyguard would do.
“Fuck you, Laveaux.” Harrison spit a mouthful of blood on David. The red saliva sprayed over David’s face and chest. David’s nostrils flared and surprisingly, instead of breaking Harrison’s neck, he backed up slowly until the entire room separated them.
“Jesus,” Phoebe muttered under her breath.
“Remember when we were friends? I do.” Harrison’s eyes narrowed and then he turned to me. “He didn’t want to turn vamp, you know. Said he never wanted to be like his father. And now look at him. He’s just like every other entitled vampire lord. And it only took three fucking months.”
Didn’t want to turn vamp. The words kept running through my mind in a loop. He’d told me it had been his choice. Had he lied? I turned and faced David with trepidation filling my heart. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the truth. But I had to ask. “What is he talking about? Were you forced into this life?”
David’s deep blue eyes clouded with frustration as he tore them from Harrison to meet my gaze. “No. Father would never force anyone. That isn’t what this is about.”
Somehow I found the part about Allcot not forcing anyone very hard to believe, but I kept my thoughts to myself.
Harrison snorted his disagreement.
“Shut up, Harrison,” David growled.
Harrison stood straighter, his head held high as if to let David know he wasn’t afraid of him. And why should he be? In the fight they’d had, Harrison had certainly held his own. “She’s going to find out the truth sooner or later.”
The truth. Convince Willow to turn Father into a daywalker. That’s what he didn’t want me to find out. Rage filled me and everything went cold. David and Allcot were using me. Just like everyone else in this godforsaken city. I’d been fooling myself, thinking I could trust him or Allcot. What a fool I was. Damn them all. Used, betrayed, and emotionally beaten down. I had to get out of there.
David launched himself in Harrison’s direction so fast I wasn’t able to even process words, much less move to stop the altercation. David landed a fist in Harrison’s gut, and as the guard doubled over, David twisted Harrison’s left arm behind him and grasped him into a headlock.
“Whoa, boys. Maybe we should all cool down,” Phoebe said, moving toward them.
They both ignored her.
“Do it,” Harrison said. “Rip my head off or drain me. Go ahead. At least we’ll know once and for all exactly what you’ve become.”
David vibrated with barely contained rage. His head and fangs were so close to Harrison’s neck I was certain I was about to watch the man take his last breath.
“Stop it!” I cried and ran forward.
“No.” Harrison cast me a dangerous glance. “If you interrupt this, you’ll never know what he’s become.”
David’s arm tightened around Harrison’s neck, cutting off the man’s response. “Leave, Willow.”
I stood my ground with Phoebe silently backing me up. “Let Harrison go.”
Silence.
“David?” My tone was quiet, and while I was going for firm, the word came out as more of a plea.
He cut his gaze to me, and right in that moment, something shifted. He swore under his breath and pushed Harrison away. “Get out. Now,” he told him.
A smug smile flashed over Harrison’s face and disappeared just as fast. He glanced back at David. Some form of silent communication passed between them before
he turned and nodded to me. “Good luck.”
The door shut silently behind Harrison. David and I stared at each other. Finally, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair and slumped against the wall.
“I’ll give you two some privacy.” Phoebe squeezed my hand and then disappeared into the hall.
I fluttered forward and landed inches from him. With the paper I’d found earlier still crumpled in my fist, I placed my hands on my hips and met his troubled gaze. “What just happened here?”
He met my penetrating stare with an unflinching one of his own. “He was out of line.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Out of line? Seriously, that’s all you have to say?”
“It’s the only thing that matters.”
The rage I’d suppressed earlier came roaring back, filling up my soul and spilling into my heart. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” I raised my hand with the crumpled paper, and after taking a second to smooth it out, I smacked it to his chest and let it fall to the ground. “Everything matters. You’re lying to me. How can I trust you when I have no idea what’s going on?” I glanced at the discarded paper. “When I’m certain I’m being used.” When he made me regret ever saving him from certain death.
I’d had feelings for this man. Had loved him enough to not let him die. Had risked my own life to keep him safe and turned him into a daywalker in the process. And what was he doing? He was trying to trick me into turning Allcot, a process that could very well kill me. And he was lying…again.
I knew my stare was cold and unfeeling. Exactly like the one David used when he was hiding his emotions. He was expert at it now that he’d turned vamp. It was part of his new personality, the one that made me want to slap the crap out of him every time he used it.
“Lying?” David asked, appearing genuinely confused. All it did was piss me off.
“Stop playing games, David! Son of a bitch. That’s all you’ve done since we’ve met.” I threw my hands up. “How am I ever supposed to trust you or anything you say when you have a hidden agenda?” I picked up the paper and pointed to the handwritten line at the bottom. “How do you explain this?”
A transformation came over David and I swear if it were possible for blood to drain from his face, he would’ve turned an even starker shade of white. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. When he opened them, he waved a hand toward the two chairs in the adjoining sitting room. “This isn’t what you think.”
I ignored his invitation and crossed my arms over my chest. “From your expression, I’d say it’s exactly what I think.” My voice was flat, emotionless.
His piercing eyes bored into mine. “Will you sit?”
“Are you going to start talking?”
“Not right now. We have more important things to worry about.”
I dug my fingernails into my palm and forced down a scream of frustration. “You’re damn right we do. But I can’t ignore this.” I waved the paper in front of his face. “Have you lost your mind? It says here to convince me to change Allcot into a daywalker. Is that why you’re helping me find Tal and why you’re keeping such a close eye on me?”
He stared at me in silence for a long moment. His expression hardened. “Is that really what you think of me?”
Oh, hell no. He wasn’t seriously turning this into some sort of slight on his character, was he? I shook my head in disgust. “Honestly, David? I have no idea what to think. All I know is I can’t trust you. Not after the lies and finding this.” Moving toward the door, I crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at his feet. “And right now the last thing I need is one more person who’s trying to use me.”
Before he could stop me, I flew down the hall and back into the library. “Harrison?”
He placed a book back on a shelf as he turned toward me. “Yeah?”
“You’re on Tal’s drug, right?”
He glanced at the doorway, presumably looking for David. Then he focused on me again. “Yes.”
“Do you have more?” I was all business now. Forget David and Allcot. I had a job to do, and no one was going to stop me.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, pity lining his face. “No. He only supplied us with enough to last forty-eight hours. It was one dose.”
Disappointment hit me hard. Was I ever going to catch a break? I nodded, acknowledging his reply and turned to my roommate. “Phoebs?”
She glanced up from the computer. “Yeah.”
“Get me out of here.”
Without hesitation, she jumped up, slammed the computer closed, and tucked it under her arm. “You got it.”
“Let’s go, Link.” He sprang to his feet despite his injured leg and trotted beside us as we left without another word. Neither Harrison nor David stopped us. We climbed into Phoebe’s car, and it wasn’t until she turned the key that David materialized at his front door. The light from his hallway illuminated him, making him a dark shadow in the threshold. He held up a hand in a stop motion.
“Go,” I told Phoebe.
“Where to?”
“Anywhere he can’t find us.”
“You got it.” She slammed the car into gear and took off down the deserted street.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. The idea of David betraying me yet again was too much for me to process. I leaned back in the seat, wrapping my arm around Link. His familiar Shih Tzu weight comforted me and I pulled him closer. “We’ll find him, boy. I promise.”
Link responded by snuggling closer to my torso. He knew who I was talking about. He loved Tal more than anyone except me.
“I found something in those pictures,” Phoebe said.
My entire body went rigid with a combination of hope and fear. “You know where he is?”
“Not exactly.” She scanned the streets at a dark intersection and then turned down an even darker street. There wasn’t a streetlamp or a light in a window anywhere. “But I recognized one of the guys in the photos, and let’s just say he isn’t going to be nominated for citizen of the month anytime soon.”
“And you think he’s holding Tal?”
“If he isn’t, he’ll have a good idea who is.”
Ten minutes later, she pulled into a long driveway of a house obscured by trees on both sides. I peered out the window at the run-down shack that was being reclaimed by ivy. “Where are we?”
“A safe house.” She jumped out of the car and headed for the back door.
I gaped. She wasn’t seriously suggesting we go inside that structure, was she? It looked like one good wind would knock it down.
She paused and glanced back at me. Frowning, she headed back to the car and yanked my door open. “Come on. It’s not safe out here.”
I glanced around again and shivered. Yeah, there wasn’t anything about the neighborhood that made me want to exit the car, much less go inside the house. “Are you crazy?”
She shook her head and laughed. “Maybe, but no one is going to look for you here.”
That was true enough. And this was Phoebe. The house and property were probably protected with at least a dozen spells.
Link hunched over on full alert as we made our way to the back of the house. Paint was peeling off the porch and more than a few wooden boards on the side of the house appeared to be rotted. “Are you sure this place is stable?”
She snickered. “I’m sure.” A soft glow lit up her fingers as she clamped her hand over the door handle. The lock clicked and she pulled the door open, letting me and Link into the pitch-black house. Anything could be living in the run-down place. Visions of rats scurrying to the corners made my skin crawl.
But as soon as she closed the door, she whispered, “Illuminate.” Candles sprang to life, casting a soft glow in the room.
My eyes widened in total shock. Inside, the place had gleaming pinewood floors, comfortable-looking overstuffed couches, and three large desks all outfitted with state-of-the-art computers. It was like the witch Bat Cave. “Holy fae, Phoebs. Is this where you go wh
en you disappear?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes. Now come over here.” She flicked one of the computers on and typed in a password. The pictures I’d taken earlier flashed on the screen. “Anything look familiar to you?”
I scanned the images and started to shake my head. But there, off to the right, the man holding a brown paper bag jumped out at me. I gasped. “He’s one of the guards that held me captive last week. Pittman. Jesse Pittman.”
She nodded again. “Yep. He’s also trained in interrogation. And guess who he has ties to?”
I shook my head, praying she wasn’t going to say Allcot. If I found out he was behind Talisen’s abduction, I’d kill him.
“He was Felton’s second-in-command.”
Felton. The former director who had wanted me incarcerated so they could study my gifts.
“You think he’s taken up Felton’s cause?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
Chapter 17
I clicked on Pittman’s picture, making it fill the screen. His black eyes were bottomless pools of nothing. The way his lips turned up into a private smile gave him the deranged look of a crazy person. A chill of fear swept over me and my wings twitched in agitation. “He gives me the creeps.”
She nodded and clicked the mouse, bringing up another screen. “Me, too. When he’s on duty he manages to appear somewhat normal, but his personality is all anger and domination. Here he gives the impression of evil incarnate.”
I sank into a chair, unable to keep my eyes off the screen. “He has Tal,” I said, feeling the truth of my words all the way down to my bones, the pain of the realization leaving me bereft and desolate. That psycho could have done anything to Tal by now. I steeled myself, not allowing my mind to go there. The thoughts were unacceptable.
“That’s the suspicion.”
Shaking my head, I turned to her. “He absolutely does. And I have no idea how I know, but I’ve never been so sure about anything ever before. Do you know where he lives or where he could be holding him?”
“Let’s see.” She pulled out the book she’d found at the vamp lover’s house earlier that day and started typing in names at warp speed. After she hit enter, the computer flashed a green bar and counted down from three minutes while it calculated.
