Kristoff leaned forward, his bare, broad shoulders looming over the bound human, and spoke at his ear level. “Start with Soul House and how you managed to create an enemy for life in the Prince of Portland. Not a smart move for a boy who wants eternity.”
Trey closed his eyes, licking his lips, and gave a minute shake of his head. His words came out fuzzy as if the beating had knocked teeth loose. “I didn’t know that would happen. I was just supposed to pump the cop for information, then pass it along.”
“What else did you pump?” Donal jerked down to yell into Trey’s face. “I see the new marks on your neck.”
Teeth grit in frustration, Kristoff pulled the barrel-chested man away. “You knew who you were dealing with, Trey. On both sides.” He glanced to Red, eyebrow arched, as if his words were really for her.
Red inhaled sharply, narrowing her eyes. If he thought he could cow her, he hadn’t been paying attention.
Donal pushed Kristoff away before straightening his leather motorcycle jacket.
Spinning around, Kristoff put his hands behind his back. Shirtless and blood-splattered, the corporate pose didn’t inspire confidence, only dread. The dim lights cast his face in shadow. He matched her gaze. “Remember the people in Baker? This is the traitor who signed their death warrants when he told the Dague where the Soul House was.”
Tears beading at the corner of her eyes, she tightened her jaw and looked away from Kristoff. She would never forget the massacre at the Welcome Diner.
“You cried. I’d kill him for that alone.” Kristoff stepped out from behind Trey, his head bowed. He exhaled harshly through his nose, pressing his lips together. His amber-tinged gaze met hers.
Red saw the unleashed demon in their depths. She covered her grimace, throat tightening, backing away from him. Her voice came out hushed and sputtering. “I don’t want anyone to die over me.”
“Oh, quit busting his balls, ya ginger minge.” Donal crossed his arms, glaring at her. “You’re lucky that it’s him steering this interrogation or else you would have walked in on me gutting this blackheart.”
“You’re both sadists.” Red spat the truth out. It had been too easy to be charmed by them at the Pandora Hotel. She felt like a moron for thinking that she could trust Kristoff.
“I’m a vampire.” Eyes closing for a moment, Kristoff set his jaw. His irises were a deep blue when his narrowed gaze opened. “This is how we’re going to find out how to stop the Genesis Machine. That’s a good guy thing, right?”
“This is wrong,” Red choked out, her palms up and shaking. She couldn’t even begin to explain ethics to a soulless demon. Especially not one like him. Kristoff wasn’t like his sire. Unsouled, Lucas had started riots for fun with an unpredictable boyish thoughtlessness. Kristoff wasn’t flashy; he was strategic. He blended into the modern world, brutality pointed to a businesslike purpose under the cloak of shadows. Now it was unleashed. “Trey might not know the bigger picture. Probably didn’t know what he was doing.”
Donal roared, “He knew he was fucking me over!”
“You can bribe him or something,” Red hollered back. She gripped her temple, trying to get herself under control. Donal was livid. Pissing him off more could only end in Trey’s death.
Kristoff shook his head. “That’s not how this works. You’ve been killing long enough to know it.”
Red flinched at his words. “I’m a hunter, not a killer. There is a difference.”
Kristoff sighed before he turned and walked to the prisoner. He tapped the chair leg with a lazy foot. “Tell her what you did to earn this.”
“I drugged the cop. Told them about that weirdo artist in Slab City. I got the address to Soul House.” Head bobbing, Trey said quickly. “I worked with Michel before he died. Fuckin’ pirate wouldn’t turn me, but his followers didn’t give a shit about the claim on me. I got the Dague everything they asked for. The Genesis Machine didn’t matter. I didn’t want to be a souled vampire anyway.”
“You knew it all?” Red stilled. It was all too much. She remembered seeing Trey at the rogue minion bar, the Halloween Ball, and even at the Fine Line. He had just been another claimed human in the crowd. She had made a classic supernatural mistake—underestimating a muggle. They had lost Joe Chang and so many others because of him. He hadn’t cared what the vampires would do with that information, even knowing what they had planned. Only that he had gotten caught. “Its going to be a feeding frenzy when they turn that thing on.”
Trey’s voice pitched up in panic as if he realized he was losing the sympathy of the only person in the room who didn’t want him dead. “You understand, Red. You know what its like to sweat, fart, and age next to these fucking perfect creatures. They bring you in, make you crazy about them, and it’s all on their terms.”
Red looked down, Lucas’s last words flashing in her mind. Her cheek twitched, but she managed to return Trey’s gaze.
“We change everything about ourselves for them.” Trey leaned his head forward, straining against his bonds. Spittle landed on his bruised chin from the fervor in his words. “I gave up the sun years ago. It was my destiny. How could I say no to their offer? I would have started eternity on third base. Sancha Constanza was going to be my sire.”
Red blinked at him. Another puzzle piece fell into place. That was the promise that the Queen of the Prairie Dead had made to the Dague’s traitor. Bile rose up in her throat at the desperate longing in Trey’s eyes.
Donal pointed to himself, lips curling over bared fangs. “I would have been your sire!”
Shaking his head, Trey screwed up his bruised face. His swollen cheeks wobbled. Even tied to a chair, his hackles rose. “How long have I been fucking with you and no ring?”
Kristoff blocked Donal’s lunge. He tried to pull away, but Donal charged again. He held his friend back. “Boyo, be calm!”
Chuckling darkly, Trey sniffed through damaged nostrils before spitting on the floor. He flashed his teeth like they were fangs. It looked like a jack-o’-lantern grimace marred by the bloody gaps where his canines used to be. He had wanted to be a vampire, and they had punished him like one.
“That’s what I think of your blood,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I know now. Its already done. I copied your stupid keys, and I shared every bit of pillow talk. The Dague has everything they need. They will zap every single vampire in SoCal with that unsouling death ray. Tonight.”
“Fuck!” Kristoff’s eyes widened at the confession, his grip loosening on Donal.
Red gawked at the bound human who had brought the master vampires to their metaphorical knees. “No…”
“You arrogant dead fucks didn’t see insignificant me in the background, and now it’s too late. The Dague couldn’t have done it without me. That’s how a good vampire I would have made.” Trey laughed. The hollow sound wheezed out like a gust over a grave. “You could have had this forever, Donal. You didn’t even give me a drawer at your lair. That’s your screw up.”
“Shut up, Trey!” Red hissed. She felt like she was already looking at a dead man. Queasy, she tried to figure out if she could shoot Donal without hitting the human man. A smaller, colder internal voice whispered that Trey had betrayed humanity.
Donal growled again.
Kristoff held Donal by the shoulders, his heels slipping on the ground.
Donal pushed him aside and rushed the human. He gripped Trey’s collar. His chin wobbled as his shoulders dropped. “I cared for you.”
“You wanted my blood and the body it came in.” Trey shook his head.
“If you had been loyal…” Expression darkened by hate, Donal cradled Trey’s jaw in his big hand. His fingers caressed the bruise dappled skin.
Stomach jumping like animals fleeing a forest fire, Red open her hunter’s kit to get her revolver. She feared it was too late.
Kristoff grabbed her wrist. His loose grip didn’t hurt her, but it felt as solid as iron manacles. “This is not your fight.”
�
�This isn’t a fight, it’s murder.” Heart breaking into rough palpitations, Red tried to pull away, but his hand didn’t budge. She tried to pull on her magic. After crafting orbs and protection spells in the last few days, the wild energy could only hobble to her reach even with the boost from Kristoff’s blood. There was no time for a proper incantation, and she didn’t have the supplies for ceremonial magic.
Red mostly only knew a few down and dirty elemental tricks anyway. She evened her breathing to sink into hyper-awareness of the air. It was the only element that came when called. She opened her senses to be aware of every molecule. The dank underground air might have been tinged with blood, but it still answered her. Her ponytail fluttered in a sudden breeze.
The pillar candles in the tall candelabras sputtered before burning stronger than ever.
Skin crawling, Red shuddered as her magic scampered from her. Channeling an element burned through energy fast. She hadn’t even managed to blow out the candles. Failure hung like an anchor over her shoulders.
Pants pocket buzzing, Kristoff pulled out his phone with his free hand. His eyes snapped to the screen, lips pressing into a line as he put it away. He shot Red an annoyed side-eye. “We know where the burrowers have their lab and keep their most valuable prisoners.”
Red flinched. She had been neglecting to mention that for a reason. Now, they had no reason to keep Trey alive.
Donal paled, even for a ginger vampire. The drained color left him looking truly dead. His mouth twitched. Reddish tears stained the whites of his eyes. He glanced back at Trey as if seeing him for the first time. His expression softened.
Kristoff tightened his grip on Red, then pulled her against her chest, pinning his other palm over her mouth. His sympathetic words rumbled in his chest. “I can do it for you, Donal.”
Red tried to yell, but the cold fingers muffled the sound. The Bell Witch had warned her that until she learned her magic she would always tire too quickly, had said Red was hitting a nail with a rock instead of a hammer. She had been so afraid of hurting people with her magic that she hadn’t thought of the people she could save.
Cheek nudging Donal’s palm, Trey whispered, “You said you loved me,”
Fury sharpened his features, Donal backhanded Trey. He grabbed the other man by the collar, yanking him up so forcefully that the back chairs legs lifted. “I’ve loved exactly one man in over four hundred years. You couldn’t compare.” He dropped his hold.
The chair legs clattered back on the floor.
Spitting in Donal’s face, Trey sneered. Blood dripped down his chin. “No one could compare to a memory. That’s why you’ll be sad and alone forever, serving a creepy fucking boy. You’re a psychopath!”
Donal wiped his face with his sleeve. His quiet words cut through the air. “And you broke my heart.”
Jerking her chin to the side to avoid Kristoff’s hold, Red threw herself against the bare arms that held her. It was too late.
Rearing back, Donal bit deep into his lover’s neck and tugged his blond hair to force his head to the side.
Trey screamed, bucking against his bonds. His breath gurgled in his throat. A wide rolling eye beseeched her from behind the shoulder of the feeding predator.
Red struggled against Kristoff, biting his fingers pressed against her mouth.
Kristoff scooped her up in his arms and sprinted away from the cells. The shelves of the decoy storage room passed by as the vampire hauled her into the underground parking garage. “That was reckless!”
Set back on her feet, her head spun. She shoved Kristoff away from her and backed away from him, hand half in her hunter’s kit. “Don’t fucking touch me, Novak.”
“I never wanted you to see that. You have to believe me.” Kristoff put his hands up, brows knitting together to dig a worry trench between his eyes.
“Of course I do.” Red looked away from him. Her voice sounded robotic to her own ears. A chill ran down her spine at the hope blooming on his face. She rubbed her arms. Her lips curled into a sneer. “You’re very deliberate in what you let me know. You want to look good, after all.”
His face fell. He swiped at the dried blood on his toned bare chest as if only just realizing that it was there. Setting his jaw, he raised his gaze. “That’s not the vampire in me, that’s the human.” Kristoff crossed his arms as if lobbing a defense before a judge. “We all try to make a good impression.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s blown now that I’ve seen you help murder a man.”
“He was a traitor. How many people have you lost because of his double dealings?” Kristoff counted on his hand, starting with his thumb. “I bet those models would still be alive today. The people at the café too. Selene would never have lost her soul—and we all know what that did to your personal life.”
“Stop!” Red waved her hands, trying to block his dimpled chin and excuses for his behavior. “I know he was guilty. That doesn’t mean I need to be okay with watching him die.”
“I’m sorry you saw it. I was trying to do the right thing.”
“You don’t even know what that is.” Red pinched the bridge of her nose. Unlike Lucas, he had never been cursed. It didn’t just give you a soul, it chucked empathy and a moral compass back into a vampire. Explaining mercy to the uncursed was useless. She spun on her heel and stomped toward the stairwell. “You can chill out on the rationalizations until Donal is done slobbering over Trey.”
Kristoff appeared in her path, hands hovering over her upper arms. His shoulders loomed over her, jaw slack as his worried eyes studied her face. “We should—"
Startled at his sudden nearness, Red flinched and jumped back.
Wincing, he bowed his head, dropping his hands to his sides. His broad shoulders slumped. “Please don’t fear me. I would never hurt you.”
“You say that now.” Red shrugged, swiping at her wet cheek. She glanced over to the closed door to the storage room where Trey had died. “Until I need a lesson. Or was that it?”
“Hey, what Donal said. That wasn’t a lesson. I would never.”
“Or you just haven’t gotten the chance.” Red swallowed a lump of dread. Trey’s final words had hit her hard. He had been sick of being compared to a memory… She knew what that was like. Kristoff didn’t know her well enough yet to be disappointed that she wasn’t the Juniper he remembered. Would it turn deadly when he did? “Goddamn it, Kristoff. I saw you in there.”
“I had to be by his side. I couldn’t let him be alone. You saw Donal, he was crushed.” Kristoff gestured to the door. “That kid twisted him up.”
Her jaw dropped. Donal was crushed? That was the victim in his mind?
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair before trying another track. “You wouldn’t let a friend put down their pet alone. They were together years.”
“What the fucking hell, Kristoff?” She crossed her arms. “Good to know that claimed humans are up there with a prized schnauzer.”
He opened his mouth to argue.
“Don’t deny it!” She shook a finger at him, nearly jabbing his bare chest. “That’s what you think of me. I’m just as disposable.”
Rocking back on his heels, Kristoff tilted his head, expression growing remote in the face of her ire. “The murder upset your sense of honor, but you know hunters have done worse to human betrayers. That’s not what gnawing at you, Red. You started to like me, to care for a demon, and now you wonder if any of it was real.”
“You’re not my friend. I was stupid to even think that we could be.” She tried to sneer, but her chin trembled instead. “I’m not going to end up like Trey.”
Kristoff bowed his head. “Red...”
“I trusted you with not just my own life, but Vic’s.” Red shook her head. Nausea churned her stomach. Her words came out in stumbled disgust. “I let you bite me, touch me. Ugh.”
Expression darkening as hurt entered his narrowing eyes, Kristoff crossed his arms. “You got what you specifically asked fo
r, and we both know you liked being bitten as much as I liked biting. Deny that.”
Red licked her lips. There was no refuting the hormones that he had no doubt smelled. And then the whole wrapping her legs around him thing… Trey had told her that cemetery fever had no cure. He would know. It had killed him. She glared at Kristoff. “Fine. I don’t deny that your venom caused a chemical reaction. That has nothing to do with anything.”
“And all those other times that your pupils dilated, a blush rose in your cheeks, and your breath caught in your chest when I touched you.” He brushed his cold fingers down her jaw. “What chemical reaction caused that?”
Snapping her head down, she held in her breath, trying to fight the heat creeping up her neck. “You’re imagining things.”
“I don’t need to. I have supernatural senses, remember?” He bit his smirking lip before leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I can smell a lie.”
Red lifted her chin, stepping back from him. It was the truth. She had been drawn to him at first sight even if she kept telling herself it was just for a case. Her lips gaped as she struggled for a retort. All she had come up with was telling him to ‘smell this’ and then running away. She followed his line of sight to her neck. She covered up his claim mark. Her stomach sank.
A small, hesitant voice piped up from the top landing of the parking garage stairs. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but Miss Cora and the Director are calling a meeting.”
Red cocked her head at the female vampire with the green pixie cut in the open doorway. Her olive-toned face had tugged at her memory for days, but it wasn’t until the other woman spoke that Red placed her—the Club Vltava bartender. She had been alive when Red had questioned her about Julia Crispin’s murder. Narrowing her eyes, she turned back to Kristoff.
His brow furrowed as he took in her death glare.
“You said you only turn those who ask you. I suppose she did.” Red shook her head. “I won’t.” Stomping ahead, she passed the petite minion on the stairs then walked into the building. She slammed the door behind her. Red blinked back tears as she slapped her palm against her forehead. “Stupid. Stupid.”
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