Fated In Secrets (Nocturne Vampire Clan #2)

Chapter 3

3

EVANGELINE

“ C ommander Nash.”

I grinned in satisfaction in the too-fast way Nash spun to face me, the fact I’d ambushed an older vampire—with the experience to command an army, no less—in his own barracks. The shock in his eyes when he saw who’d snuck up on him was an extra special bonus to an already excellent day.

“I thought I might find you here.”

“You are supposed to be in your chamber, Lady Evangeline.”

The man exuded power, the slow, simmering sort that made you want to take a healthy step back and keep your hand on your weapon. His cropped hair was dusted with gray, as was his short beard, and four evenly spaced scars tracked all the way around his skull, like his head had been crushed between the jaws of one of those revenants

“Really? And here the king keeps telling me I’m not a prisoner. I thought I’d test that theory out. Take it for a walk, so to speak.”

Nash possessed that on-edge calmness that screamed trained killer , huge, bulky shoulders held with rigid, military sharpness, ice cold gaze measuring me up within the space of my next step. I knew the type.

I’d spent half my life around them .

A male of few words, demanding unflinching loyalty and unbending obedience who would slice his enemies off at the knees without breaking a sweat, then go drink a beer to celebrate.

By the time we were face to face, we’d both made our decisions.

He tipped his head. “Heard you were the one who dealt Tyrell’s death blow. Is that true?”

I preened. Just a little . “You heard right.”

With a broken blade and a shit ton of luck and all the pent-up rage I’d been hoarding for twenty plus years. Excitement flared in his expression and my hand drifted to the knife hanging at my side. This castle—my new world—was a series of death traps and even though I was supposedly immortal, I had no desire to test that theory out.

“Heard you’re in charge of security around here.”

“You heard right.” He scratched his chin, and out here in the open, the rough scratch of nails against stubble sounded far too loud. “Tell me, was it a lucky shot?”

His question was valid, given there were no witnesses to speak of and Tyrell’s mortal flesh had decayed within seconds, leaving nothing but a pile of bones. Both the bones and what remained of the broken dagger were locked away somewhere in this castle, not that Riordan trusted me enough to tell me where.

“If you call stabbing him in the throat three times lucky, then yes, I suppose you would be right. Not so lucky for Tyrell, though.” Anyone else would have at least pretended to be appalled by my too-soon black humor.

But Nash threw his head back and roared.

Bex was right. I did like him.

“Fucking hell, you made me rich. I bet a shit ton of money on you, since my men put theirs on the new king.” He fist-bumped me. “Riordan ended up with the old bastard’s power, though, didn’t he?”

Yes, he did, though I was still deciding if that was a boon or a curse.

“Ah, power or glory, isn’t that always the question?” I shrugged. “But I didn’t come down here to talk about me, Nash, I came down here to talk about you. Like how many guards you have on the perimeter. What sort of shifts are you running and how are your men trained?”

“That’s a lot of questions.” He gave me another once over, eyes narrowing. “You asking for any specific reason, or are you just curious? You’re well protected. The king went to great lengths to ensure Darkmore is impenetrable.”

Yeah, so had Tyrell and I’d decimated his grand staircase and half the west wing.

All by my little old self, in a silk dress and strappy high heels.

“I don’t care about protection; I care about opportunities. I’ll assume all your security protocols are based on a vampire attack?”

“Of course.” Nash scoffed. “Humans would be crazy to attempt something, they don’t have magic, they’d never get past our traps.” His nose wrinkled. “They’d use guns .”

“The Silverwoods would be crazy enough. They’d bypass the electric grid embedded in the top of the outer wall. They’d use thermal imaging to avoid your landmines and trip wires. They might,” I focused every ounce of my regard on him, “even have a witch in their employ who could bring down the outer ward.” Nash’s eyes grew wider with every boobytrap I listed off.

My days staring out my window hadn’t been for naught.

“So I’ll ask you again, what protocols do you have in place? ”

“All the usual ones for vampires, like you said. The Silverwoods are in town? Lord Marten never mentioned they were a threat.” His glower turned cataclysmic. “How can you be so sure about this?”

I was too busy rolling my eyes at the whole Lord Marten thing to notice Nash’s reaction when I said, “Because I’m Silas’s daughter and I can assure you my family will certainly attempt to breach this castle. If they aren’t already here.”