by K. A. Linde
“Are they dangerous?” Beckham asked.
“Not in the least. Besides the stink eye we got, they seem to want just to be left alone. They’re kind of doomsdayers. Stockpiles of enough shit to sustain a nuclear attack or, you know, vampiric control of the country. Whichever came first. Right now, feels like a coin toss.”
“It just keeps getting better.”
“But can they house us?” Reyna asked.
“Oh yeah. They can probably house two hundred without a pinch. They agreed to let our people stay there as long as there were no vampires.” Kat rolled her eyes to show what she thought of that.
They all stopped in front of the SUV. Reyna wrapped her pinky around Beckham’s. He squeezed gently.
“This sounds like our best bet,” Reyna said.
“Kat? Philippé?” Beckham looked at them with full trust in his eyes. She could feel the bond between them that had been shaped, molded, fired, and glazed over the years. Made from soft clay into a beautiful work of art that fire only solidified. She wondered what they had done to earn that sort of trust.
“I agree with Reyna,” Katarina said. “The place is secure. We didn’t know about it, so Harrington likely doesn’t know about it either. It’s better than the mansion.”
Philippé grunted. Reyna supposed that was a confirmation.
“Okay.”
And just like that Beckham was in on the plan to move the remaining members of Elle to the anti-vamp cult facilities. They spent much of the rest of the day moving people to the new facility. Meghan and Tye had checked out two other safe houses Zoya had discovered while they were gone and found another five people in one location, but everyone at the other had been killed.
Once everyone was finally settled, Reyna and Beckham followed them into the subterranean headquarters. Everett was wearing a smug look when he saw her.
“Stop that,” she spat.
He crossed his arms. “Look, I held up my end of the bargain.”
“There was no bargain.”
“Oh right, that was in my head. I want to go to Visage and see if my brother is alive. And I want the help of someone who has been there.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s you. That’s my bargain.”
Reyna pinched the bridge of her nose. “We don’t have the manpower or resources to break into Visage. How do you expect us to do that?”
“I’m a spy, Reyna. I can get us inside. But you know how to get around. You know where people are kept.”
“I was a prisoner,” she reminded him. “I didn’t go out on strolls.”
“Someone got you out, which means you have floor plans. Just think, you can make this altruistic, if you like. We can get everyone out of there. Even better, we can broadcast it and put a dent in Visage’s credibility.”
Reyna hated to admit that it was a good idea. But it was. She wanted to save the people who were like Jodie and had been under Visage almost all of their lives. The ones like her, who Harrington had used to feed from or experiment on. The ones like Beckham’s sister, Bronwyn, and Everett’s brother, Edmond, who Visage had kept for collateral.
“Let me think on it. We can’t do anything until after the snow clears anyway.”
Everett put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched and pulled away. Sadness crinkled his eyes for a split second before he covered it up. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You know…for everything.”
“I don’t trust you, Everett. This is a huge step for me. I really think you’re going to fuck this up. Do me a favor, okay?”
He looked at her warily. “What’s that?”
“Prove me wrong.”
She moved away from Everett, careful to avoid his friends, and went back to Drew’s side. “Are you ready to go?”
“Go?” he asked.
“You and Laura can come back with us.”
Drew sighed. “As much as I’d like to do that, Rey, I feel like…I should stay here. I don’t trust Everett farther than I can throw him and someone needs to be here to lead these people.”
She swallowed around a knot in her throat. “Right. That makes perfect sense.” Sometimes she wanted to be that little girl who threw herself into her brother’s arms and let her cares fall away. But they both needed to lead this rebellion if it had any hope of getting legs again. “I’ll miss you.”
“Always, Rey.” He drew her in for a hug and whispered into her ear, “We’re going to have to figure out what happened to Brian. The not knowing is killing her.”
Reyna nodded. “I know.”
“The stress is bad for the baby.”
“How are you holding up?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Drew,” she muttered. He’d always been the softer of her two brothers, trying so hard to be more like Brian, but it never took. “Gregory is gone. I know how devastating that is. I thought Becks was gone and it nearly destroyed me.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Rey. Let’s think about Laura, okay? I have to take care of her. Brian would want me to do that.”
Reyna nodded sadly. She knew exactly how he was feeling. Burying yourself in work, in a mission, in everything except the grief was a thousand times easier than facing it.
She saw resolve on his face. Grieve when the war was over. They were still in battle. She just hoped one day they actually would be able to live the life they’d always wanted. And not just endure the hardships they stumbled into.
* * *
—
By the time they returned to Washington’s mansion, the roads were nearly impassable. The snow hadn’t stalled even for a minute and the forecast read white for days. A blizzard had struck and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. The ragged group reluctantly left the heated vehicles they’d abandoned to Washington’s garage and hurried through the rapidly building snowdrifts back to the nineteenth-century mansion.
Reyna shivered even when she was inside. A place this old didn’t trap heat in the same way as modern houses. There were strange, chilly drafts. The massive fireplaces were built high to try to combat the heating problems that a house of this size had.
“This is an icebox,” she murmured as she put her hands up to the fireplace. “Maybe we should have stayed in the city.”
Beckham just kissed her forehead and retreated upstairs. The rest of his inner circle followed him. Reyna almost headed after them, but one, she was too cold, and two, she knew that even though she and Becks were a team…he enjoyed his privacy. They were his people. Not hers. Not yet.
The door to the basement creaked open and Jodie appeared, dashing across the sitting room. She threw her arms around Reyna. “Thank fuck you’re back.”
Reyna laughed. “Miss me?”
“A day felt like an eternity in this house with nothing but vamps and Gabe as a shadow. He’s a pretty fucking hot shadow, but I didn’t need one.” Jodie gave her a pointed look.
“Better to be safe than sorry.”
“If you leave me with him again when he’s feverish to be out with y’all, I might have to kill you.”
“Seems fair.”
Jodie sobered. “Tye radioed in when he got close enough. I heard what happened at the other safe houses.”
“Yeah.”
Reyna didn’t want to think about that. Those bodies. All that blood. The message. She shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold. No, she definitely didn’t want to relive that memory anytime soon. Harrington had done this on purpose and with her in mind.
“Stop that,” Jodie ordered.
“What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. I know you well enough to know when you’re blaming yourself.”
“Did Tye tell you about the message?”
“Yes. Harrington’s toying with you. It’s what he does. You know that.”
“I do. But
it doesn’t change how I feel about it, Jodie.”
“If anyone knows that, I do. I fucking had blood drawn today while you were gone.”
“I know. I know.”
“I’m tired of Harrington messing with us. He wants us to fall apart. We’re not going to, okay?”
“You’re right.”
“Plus, Zoya said she’d help me find June.”
Reyna’s eye lit up. “She did?”
“Yep. She said she could take a look for me after she breaks through the last code for the final safe houses.”
“That’s great. I’m sorry I didn’t think to help before this. There was just so much going on…”
“Hey, whatever,” Jodie said. She waved her hand dismissively. “You’ve got a lot on your mind. Like vamp boyfriend coming back to life, leading the rebellion, and I don’t know…taking out Harrington?”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Speaking of…how’s vamp boyfriend?” Jodie waggled her eyebrows up and down. “He biting you? There better be some awesome sex.”
“You are ridiculous.”
“Come on. Don’t hide the details. A girl is starving for sex here. Feed me.”
Reyna pushed her gently. “There’s sex. It’s awesome. There may be…some biting.”
“Girl, yes.”
Gabe walked into the sitting room. “What’s all the excitement over? I thought we were in a sad state of affairs because we have to trust that motherfucker Everett.”
Reyna blushed and turned her bright red face away from Gabe. Jodie just laughed hysterically and exclaimed, “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“What the hell did I just walk into?” Gabe sank into an overstuffed brown leather chair. His dark red hair had been combed messily and his bright green eyes shined when he looked at the pair.
“Reyna telling me saucy stories,” Jodie teased.
“Well, don’t stop because I’m here.”
“I’m pretty sure a certain vampire might kill you.”
“I could take him.”
Reyna arched an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine,” Gabe said, looking sullen. “Let’s get back on topic. Everett?”
“I know,” Reyna said with a sigh.
“You trust that douche?”
“Of course I don’t trust him.”
“Yeah, get off her case,” Jodie chipped in. She plopped down next to Gabe and punched him on the shoulder. “She’s doing the best that she can. Give her a break.”
“It’s just a huge risk. The only thing we know about this guy is that he’s a spy. He turned you in to Visage. How do we know he won’t do that to the rest of Elle?”
“We don’t. But he’s making an effort. His brother is inside Visage, and he wants to work with us to get him out. To break everyone out. That’s also something I want. As long as we have mutual interests, I think he’s going to work with us. And really…what other choice do we have?”
“I trust you. It was a tough call, but we’re in a tough situation.”
“I’m hoping for the best.”
“Me too.”
Reyna pushed away from the fireplace. “I’ll see you guys in the morning, once I’ve slept a solid twelve hours and washed this day off of me.”
“Hey,” Gabe said.
She glanced back at him.
“We believe in you, you know?”
She nodded. She did. That was what worried her.
Reyna trudged up the flight of stairs and headed to her bedroom. But when she entered, it was clear that Beckham was holding court within their quarters.
She froze on the threshold. Barging into the room and acting like they owed her anything would never be the right move. Reyna met Beckham’s gaze head-on. She tilted her chin up. She could read the thoughts forming on his blank face. Ones she was sure only she could see. Things that said he was quite content for everyone else to get the fuck out right the fuck now.
“Let’s reconvene in the morning,” Beckham said. He nodded once at Gerard, who pulled out a cellphone and slipped from the room.
Reyna hastily moved out of his way and into the room. The rest of Beckham’s inner circle followed Gerard. Katarina winked at her as she left.
Even though they were all gone, the door closed behind them, the tension didn’t dissipate. He was the king of his people and she was the queen of hers. Could two rulers come together like this? Trust each other? Not leave the other in the dark?
She felt at his mercy. He knew all of her thoughts, feelings, and actions. She hid nothing from him, least of all her heart. And sometimes she felt like he kept so much back. So much that was left unsaid.
“Come here,” Beckham said.
She stepped across the room to him. He pulled the ponytail holder from her hair and let the dark strands fall loose around her shoulders. He tilted her chin up. Their eyes locked. His endless obsidian orbs swallowing her whole.
“You did good today.”
She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “Then why do I feel so horrible?”
“Because trusting your enemy and seeing the death of your people is never easy. It shouldn’t be. You should feel this, Little One.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “I spent countless years not feeling anything at all. A part of me knew that I should feel something for what I had done. For the atrocities I had committed. But I felt nothing. Feeling what you are feeling, feeling something is human. It is real. Do not wish it away. Get up, accept the pain, and keep moving forward. That is all you can do.”
Then he covered her lips with his and there was no more talking that night.
Chapter 13
Bacon.
The morning smelled like bacon.
Reyna followed her nose and grumbling belly downstairs and into the kitchen. Genevieve wore an apron printed with little kittens on it as she expertly handled the enormous kitchen.
“Morning, miss,” Genevieve said.
“Morning. Please, call me Reyna.”
“Of course, miss. Breakfast is almost complete. Do you take tea or coffee?”
Reyna’s stomach grumbled again. “Coffee.”
Genevieve left the stove to pour her a mug. “Cream and sugar?”
“Please.”
She mixed it to perfection and then handed it over. Reyna sidled up next to the oven, where all the heat was emanating from. She drank the scalding coffee despite the temperature and let it heat her up from the inside out.
“I appreciate all that you’re doing, but why are you doing it?”
Genevieve’s eyes twinkled. “I enjoy it. Taking care of house and home was my calling long before I was turned and it has remained my calling long after my kids withered and died their normal human lives.”
Reyna’s heart broke for her. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live as a vampire for what would seem to be an immortal life and watch the ones you love die.
“How did you meet Washington?”
Genevieve laughed. “I grew up in this village. In my time, there were few vampires. They were still in the darkness. To many, including myself, they were myth and legends. Things to scare the children, you understand. I only discovered they were not myths the night that I was made. The vampire left me alone to starve or murder my own village from hunger. Washington found me. He taught me his ways. He kept me from destroying the family I loved so dearly. He’s a good man.”
“Did he know Harrington then?”
“Master William? Of course. He was always in and out of Washington’s life. They were the closest of friends.”
Reyna’s stomach turned at the fondness with which Genevieve spoke of Harrington. “Was he always as he is now?”
“How so, dear?”
“Insane? Obsessive compulsive and calculating
and a murderous bastard set out to take over the world and leave humans subjugated to vampires forever?” she asked, unable to keep her vociferous hatred of the man from her speech.
“Hmm, he was always a passionate man. Fixated on cleanliness and a proper place for things. His mind was beyond reproach. I never saw an ounce of insanity in him. But he did have a way of looking at the world,” Genevieve mused. “He saw things like no other. As if the world was one of his precious chessboards. I know he has killed. All of us vampires have unfortunately. But he never went out of his way to do it. It wasn’t his nature any more than Washington’s. He didn’t like to get his hands dirty, figuratively and literally.”
Reyna thought over what Genevieve had said as she went about preparing plates of breakfast for everyone in the house who didn’t sustain on blood. Reyna knew that she was blinded by her hatred when it came to Harrington. She couldn’t see past what he had done to her, what he was doing to all the people she loved, and the direction he was taking Visage. She would never forgive what he had attempted to do to Beckham. In that instant, he sealed his fate.
But maybe she needed to look at Harrington from another angle. If she ever wanted to destroy him, then she had to understand him. Know him like Washington and Genevieve had known him, how Beckham had known him, not just how she hated him.
“Genevieve,” Reyna said, turning back to face her, “do you think you could tell me more stories about Harrington? From before Visage?”
Genevieve cocked her head to the side, but nodded. “Of course. If you wish.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
—
Later, Reyna found Beckham standing stoically on the front porch. She wrapped herself up to the gills and followed him out onto the icy stone path. He looked pensive. This was one of those moments where she wished that she could read his mind. The more she got to know the man beneath the stark mask, the more she realized that she knew so little. He’d had a life she could hardly fathom. She’d never known the real monster deep within. But she still loved him. Hopelessly loved him. Even with the monster chomping at the bit to be released again.
If she cared even a fraction less, then she wouldn’t have fought so damn hard to keep him. She would be blissfully stupid in a warehouse outside of the city, dealing with everyday complications that meant the world to her then and hardly anything to her now.
