Descend: Book Three (The Bloodline Trilogy 3)

by J. P.

  Will sneers as he spits on the ground, missing Mason’s foot by only a few inches. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  “I would. I want to understand why my sweet and sensitive brother joined the dark side.” Mason stares at Will, who is staring at me.

  Will’s eyes leave mine for a moment, and he finds Mason again. “You know, Mase, I really do enjoy seeing what a good actor you’ve become. You and Ben and Sean were the golden boys, and I was just the screw-up. Would it really be that outlandish if I decided I wanted to go someplace where I felt I belonged?”

  I see Mason’s face soften before he shakes his head. “I apologize if you felt that way. We never meant for you to feel like that.”

  “Well, it isn’t your fault.”

  “It’s not?” Mason asks.

  “No. It’s Mom and Dad’s.”

  “But…” Mason shifts uncomfortably. “They’re dead.”

  “Bingo. They died, and I decided to do the one thing that I knew they would hate.” Will laughs to himself.

  Mason nods along with what Will is saying. “Okay, so you’re doing this to show our dead parents that they should’ve treated you better.” Mason turns and looks at me. “Why torture Nina?”

  Will sneers. “I’m a Malum vampire now, Masey. It’s in my blood to hate the Blairs.”

  “No, it’s not. You weren’t born into Malum. You weren’t brainwashed as a child. You’ve just decided you hate Nina, and you want her blood.” Mason squats down to look at Will again. “And I want to know why.”

  Will glances at me and licks his lips. “She really is delicious. You should have a taste, Mase. You have no idea what you’re missing.”

  Mason flinches. “Don’t be disgusting.”

  “Why is that disgusting? That’s what we are. We’re vampires. We drink blood.”

  “Not like how you guys do it.” Mason stands again and heads for the stairs. “This interrogation is over for now.” He looks over his shoulder at Will. “You will never hurt a hair on Nina Blair’s head. If you even try, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

  Will furrows his brow, and I see pain flash across his face quickly. “That’s real sweet, Masey. I see that your family values are still strong.”

  “You aren’t my family anymore. You’re a monster. A monster that decided to work with another monster to disturb an innocent family,” Mason shouts at him.

  “Mason,” Elliot says as he holds a hand up. “Enough. He’s only trying to antagonize you.”

  “Wow, I didn’t realize your leash was so tight, Mase. Is that why you have a massive stick up your ass?” Will taunts.

  “C’mon,” Mason says as he gestures for me to climb up the stairs ahead of him.

  “Bye, Nina! I look forward to seeing you soon!” Will shouts from the basement as we reach the top of the steps.

  Mason shuts the door behind us and locks it. “He’s such an asshole,” he whispers under his breath before he turns to me. “I’m sorry if he offended you.”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” I say as I shake my head. “I’m sorry for you. It must be hard to see him that way.”

  “It is,” Mason agrees.

  I hear the front door open, and Sean, Paul, and Tyler’s voices carry throughout the house.

  “There’s our girl!” Sean says the minute he sees me. He walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. “We just went to the blood bank to pick up some more bags.” He gestures to Tyler and Paul, who are carrying coolers.

  “Great, please go put those away,” Elliot says as he gestures to the laundry room.

  I hear someone walk down the stairs as Tyler and Paul disappear.

  “Luke,” Elliot says with a grin as he holds his hand out for him. “It’s so great to see you again.”

  “Thank you.” Luke shakes his hand, and Elliot claps him on the back.

  “I told you,” Sean says as he elbows me. “Good news, Mase, your bank account is safe.”

  “Did you gamble with my money again?” Mason asks with a smirk.

  “Again?” I ask with a laugh.

  “Sean has a nasty habit of doing that,” Mason says as he rolls his eyes.

  “I’m always right, so it’s never a problem,” Sean laughs.

  “May I ask what you’re going to do about Marcy?” I hear Elliot ask Luke. Luke and Elliot disappear into the living room while Paul and Tyler join us at the door to the basement.

  “Where’s Olivia?” I ask as I glance around.

  “She didn’t want to come with us. She’s probably still in her room,” Paul says.

  “Someone should tell her Luke is back,” Sean says as he scratches the back of his head.

  “I’ll do it,” Paul volunteers as he makes his way up the steps.

  “He’s back?” Tyler asks Sean.

  “Yeah.” Sean turns to me. “When did he return?”

  “Last night,” I tell them.

  “Sean, we should probably go speak to Will again. Nina and I were just down there, and he wasn’t cooperative. Should we see if we can break him?” Mason asks.

  “Let’s do it,” Sean agrees with a nod. “The old Will is in there somewhere.” They shut the door behind them, leaving Tyler and me alone.

  “I got an interesting phone call from Marcy this morning,” Tyler tells me as he leans against the wall.

  “Really? About what?” I ask, curious.

  “She’s putting together a team to find Ethan. I volunteered to join.” He takes a step closer to me. “I will find him, and I will put an end to this for you. I promise.”

  I give him a tight smile as I nod. “I appreciate that. Just do me a favor and be careful.”

  “I’m always careful,” he tells me with a smirk. “But seriously, I won’t rest until he’s found. I’ll keep you updated.”

  “Thank you, Tyler.”

  “Anything for you,” he says with a grin before he walks away.

  36

  “Luke?” Olivia shrieks as she races down the steps. Luke emerges from the living room, and the second Olivia sees him, she squeals. “I knew it!” she says as she rushes over to him. She pulls away from him suddenly, pulls her arm back, and punches Luke in the bicep. “What the hell were you thinking leaving like that? You scared Nina and me to death!”

  “I’m sorry,” Luke apologizes. “I—”

  He’s cut off by the sound of a knock on the door. The door swings open, and I turn my head to find Marcy walking in.

  “Marcy,” Elliot says from behind us as he walks over.

  “Hello, Elliot.” She looks at each of us. “Nina, Luke, Olivia.” Her eyes find me again, and she frowns. “I am very sorry for your loss. I wish I could’ve been there to help you.”

  She says it sincerely, and I put aside the fact that she wants to take Luke away.

  “Thank you,” I say to her.

  “You’re welcome.” She looks at Luke. “Now, back to business. Are you ready to go?”

  I feel my body tense as I glance at Luke.

  “I have a proposition for you,” Luke says.

  Marcy’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “A proposition? This ought to be good,” she says as she laughs to herself. “Let’s hear it.”

  Luke clears his throat. “As you heard, my father is back.”

  Marcy scowls as her eyebrows draw together, but she nods for him to continue.

  “No one knows my father like I do. I know his plans, some of his secrets, I know how his mind works. I’m volunteering to work for you. I’ll help you find him and finally put an end to all of this—”

  “What’s the catch?” Marcy interrupts him.

  “I will help you only if you allow me to stay,” Luke finishes.

  Marcy runs her tongue over her teeth as she stares at him. The four of us stare at her in silence as she takes a while to think about it. “Fine,” she finally says, and we each sigh in relief. “You may stay, but only if you help us. If we don’t find him in a week’s time, you’re coming with me.”


  I swallow hard, suddenly nervous again that he’s going to be working under a time constraint.

  “Deal.” Luke walks over to her and shakes her hand. “I think I should start at the mansion. I don’t think he’ll be there, but there may be a clue as to where he might be headed next. It’ll give us a better idea of where to start rather than tearing the whole island apart.”

  “Yes,” Marcy nods in agreement. “My soldiers are there now, and there’s no sign of him. I have people at every airport to ensure that he won’t leave the island.” Marcy begins to walk to the door. “I have to go, but it has been a pleasure,” she says with a smile that I can’t decide is genuine or not.

  The second she leaves, Luke sighs in relief.

  “Nice work,” Elliot says to him. “Now, you just have to find him.”

  “You will,” Olivia says without a doubt. “There has to be some kind of clue in the mansion.”

  “Olivia!” Paul calls from upstairs.

  “Be right back,” she says before she skips up the stairs. “What is it, Paul?” she shouts back to him.

  “We have to work on that science project,” he replies.

  “Ugh, I thought you were just going to do all the work for me!”

  “Well then,” Elliot says as he turns to Luke. “When are you going to leave?”

  “Tonight,” Luke says as he checks his phone. “I don’t want to waste any time.”

  “I want to go with you,” I blurt out.

  Elliot and Luke look at me like I have three heads.

  “You do?” Luke asks.

  “Yeah, that’s a huge mansion, and it’ll go faster if you have another set of eyes,” I suggest. I turn to Elliot to gauge his reaction, and he seems to be considering it.

  “I’m busy here, Jake and Tyler are dealing with their own part in finding Ethan, Mason and Sean are dealing with Will and Paul and Olivia seem to want to go to school tomorrow.” Elliot shrugs. “If Marcy is saying the mansion is safe, I don’t see why you can’t go.”

  I grin at him before I look to Luke. “What do you think?”

  He grins back at me. “I think it’s a great idea.” He wraps his arm around my waist and kisses my temple.

  “What’s a great idea?” Jake asks as he walks down the stairs with Tyler.

  “Marcy was just here. Luke and Nina are going to the mansion tonight to see if there are any clues as to where Ethan might be,” Elliot says, filling them in.

  “Is it safe?” Jake and Tyler ask at the same time.

  “Yes. Marcy assured us that Ethan isn’t in the mansion,” Elliot tells them.

  “Alright, then I’m okay with it,” Jake says, completely serious. I’m a little worried about him.

  “I think we should take a quick trip to the woods. I know we just got blood bags, but sometimes you just need the real stuff,” Elliot says with a laugh.

  “Great idea, Elliot. You can take everyone, and I’ll stay here. I need to get some more work done,” Jake says before he turns around and makes his way into the dining room.

  Luke furrows his brow at me, silently asking me what’s going on. I shrug my shoulders, not entirely sure myself.

  “I’ll tell Sean and Mason what’s going on,” Tyler says as he heads for the basement door.

  “I’m going to stay here and make a few phone calls. I want to see if any of my old friends from Malum have seen Ethan,” Luke tells me.

  “Okay.”

  “We’ll leave once you come back,” he says with a grin.

  “Alright, the gang’s all here,” Elliot says as Sean, Mason, and Tyler walk over to us. “Everyone ready?” Elliot asks as he looks around. “Good. Let’s go.”

  We walk through the woods at a slow pace, taking our time so that we don’t trip over tree roots as night starts to fall. Sean grabs my arm as I stumble and saves me from falling on my ass.

  “Thanks,” I say with a giggle.

  “Anytime, ma’am,” he replies in a fake southern accent, which only makes me laugh harder.

  “Keep up, guys,” Elliot says from the front of the group.

  Sean and I rush to keep up with Tyler, Elliot, and Mason as they travel through the tall, dark trees.

  “Do you hear anything?” Sean asks me.

  “She has a super cool, super-advanced hearing ability,” Mason says with a snort. “She probably hears every animal in this forest.”

  “Is that true?” Sean asks me with wide eyes.

  I take a second to listen. “Yeah, I hear a lot right now,” I tell him with a sheepish grin.

  “Where are the rabbits at?” Sean asks as he looks around.

  “You’re going to use Nina for her hearing ability?” Mason asks with a snort.

  “You bet I am.” Sean winks at me. “Now seriously, where should I go?”

  I listen again, and I hear something a few feet to our right. “That way,” I say, pointing to a bush.

  “See Mason, my best friend looks out for me.” Sean sticks his tongue out at Mason as he walks over to the bush.

  “Best friend?” Mason asks with a laugh.

  We all try to find food ourselves, except for Sean, who asks me to help him every five seconds, before we start to head back to the car.

  By the time we reach the clearing, Elliot’s phone starts ringing.

  “Hello?” I hear him say as he answers it. “Sorry, we must not have had service.” A few more seconds of silence pass as I hear Jake’s voice screaming through the phone. “What!”

  Everyone freezes, and goosebumps spread up my arms.

  “Okay, we’ll be there as soon as we can.” Elliot hangs up. “Will escaped.”

  “What!” Mason and Sean shout at the same time.

  “We need to get back to the house,” Elliot says over his shoulder as he runs to the car.

  By the time Elliot speeds home, only about fifteen minutes have passed. Jake, Luke, and Olivia greet us in the foyer.

  “I heard the front door slam, but when I looked outside, I didn’t see anything, and it wasn’t Paul. I told him to lock himself in his room,” Jake says as he leads us through the house. “I went to check on Will, and, well…” Jake trails off as we follow him to the basement. The pole where Will should be comes into view, and all I see are loose chains.

  “This isn’t good,” Sean says as he shakes his head. “Do you think Ethan helped him?”

  “No,” Tyler and I say at the same time.

  “Ethan is too selfish. He was only working with Will before because it was convenient for him,” I continue, and Luke nods in agreement.

  “Right,” Tyler agrees. “I don’t think that will ever happen again.”

  “Okay, so what do we do now?” Mason asks as he looks around at each of us.

  “We go after him,” Sean says as he stares at Mason. “The two of us.”

  “We do?” Mason’s eyebrows raise.

  “Yeah. He’s our brother, he’s our responsibility. I think we need to find him and stop him once and for all.”

  “You mean like kill him?” Mason asks, now wearing a look of disgust.

  “No. I think we hand him over to Chrome. They will put him in that fancy jail where he can never hurt anyone ever again.” Sean pinches the bridge of his nose as he starts to pace. “If I were Will, where would I go?”

  “Wherever Nina was,” Tyler answers quickly.

  “But he ran away from here,” Jake argues.

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m stuck too,” Sean admits. “Okay. We will all think about it. In the meantime, Mase, we should pack our things and be on the road in an hour or so. We’ll turn the whole island upside down if we have to.”

  “Where do we even start?” Mason asks.

  “I don’t know,” Sean says as he shakes his head. “Knowing Will, he would try to go as far away as possible to avoid getting caught. Let’s go all the way to the opposite end of the island and make our way back to the house, checking everywhere.”

  “Okay,” Mason agrees. “Let’s do it.�
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  37

  I sit on Sean’s bed as I watch him scramble back and forth, getting everything he needs.

  “Are you upset?” I ask him.

  “No.” He stops for a moment and leans against the wall as he thinks. “Upset isn’t the right word. I’m more confused still why he’s doing all of this. It just feels very extreme.”

  “I can understand that.” I hold my body up by leaning on my arm. “I’m sorry he isn’t willing to change.”

  “That’s alright.” Sean waves his hand in the air. “I’d rather him be who he really is, even if that means we have to lock him away forever. At least I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing he isn’t hurting you.”

  I jut my lower lip out, touched by his statement.

  “No, no, no,” Sean starts to shout as he moves away from me. “Don’t start getting all sappy. If you start crying, I’m going to start crying.”

  “You’ve been such a great friend. I’m really going to miss you,” I tell him as I stand up and open my arms.

  “No. I refuse to say goodbye to you.” Sean shakes his head as he holds his hands out and continues to back away from me.

  “Sean, you’re being silly.”

  “Let’s just not do this now, okay? We can say our goodbyes when we need to. This trip won’t last more than a week.”

  “Okay, if you insist,” I say, finally backing off.

  “I will miss you, though.” He grins at me before he bends down and picks up his suitcase. “If you’re having a crisis, don’t do that thing where you lock yourself in your room and refuse to come out. Just pick up the phone and call me.”

  “But what if you’re busy with—”

  Sean silences me with one look.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll call you.”

  “Good.” Sean smiles, pleased, and makes his way to the door. “Are you coming to say goodbye to Mason?”

  “Yes,” I say as I follow him down the stairs.

  After we send the boys off, Luke makes his way over to me.

  “I’m ready to leave whenever you are,” he says.

  “Okay, let me just change and grab a few things from my room,” I say as I walk past him.