Chapter 11 #2
“Accidents happen,” he says. “People die by mistake all the time.”
“You make Kayla sound like she was a piece of trash, something unimportant, something to throw away. She was more than that,” I snap but my anger is going from raging inferno to deflated balloon very fast. I frown. “So much more.”
“Monty…I’m sorry—”
“Save it.” I can’t take any more lies from him. I suck in a breath and slide down in my seat. My gaze drifts out the window, where the city blurs in black and white. How am I supposed to spend forever with Lucian if I can’t trust a word that comes out of his mouth?
Time ticks on in silence. I think it’ll last the entire ride until Lucian clears his throat and leans forward. “Don’t you want to know where we’re going?”
“You’ll probably just lie to me about it, so no.”
His eyes narrow. “Monty, please. I didn’t tell you right away because I knew it would break your heart. I was going to tell you eventually, just when you were more…stable.”
“I’m fine,” I bite out. “Don’t insult me. You should’ve told me.”
“You’re telling me you wouldn’t try to kill Vittoria?”
“I never said I wouldn’t do that,” I say. “I’m still considering it.”
I don’t know if he believes me and right now I don’t care. Vittoria’s lucky she isn’t on this little excursion with us or I would rip out all of her pretty red hair.
Another bout of quiet stretches between us.
And then, “We’re going to a meeting, a dinner,” Lucian says. “To see what the Rogues’ agenda is.”
Maybe that was his plan all along, but my curiosity surpasses my anger. At least for now. “Rogues?”
“A group of young vampires who want to live with humans. Not feed from them.”
“Not drink from humans?” I ask. “What do they eat?”
“Animal blood.”
I scoff in disgust. “Vegan vampires.”
A smile flickers across his face. “You could say that.”
“Are these Rogues a threat?”
“Not yet,” he says. “But Santiago claims they are making moves to challenge me, take VMR out. That’s why he visited. To warn me.”
“Santiago.”
“Yes.” He sighs. “I know from experience that I can never take him at his word, so I’m meeting with Raleigh to find out the truth for myself.”
“I guess you two share that trait,” I mutter. “Brothers in blood and brothers in omission.”
“He’s not my brother,” Lucian growls.
“Right.” I look back out the window. “You brought me out tonight for, what? To distract me from what that bitch did? Or is it because you don’t trust me to be alone?”
Even now, with how devastated I am over Kayla’s death and how furious I am with Lucian for lying to me, my body is hyperaware of his closeness. The pounding of his heart. It’s confusing. And uncomfortable to think about because it opens such deep pools of complexity in myself.
“I’ve included you in this meeting,” he says, “because you can read people better than I can. This is where your skills as a journalist are important. You’re smart, Elliot, and I need smart. Smart, intuitive, and able to read situations. That’s what I need here.”
So it’s a test. He’s trying to see if I can react reasonably in a high stress environment and not emotionally.
The car stops, and he holds out a hand. “Ready?”
I ignore that hand and reach for the door, not waiting for the driver to open it, and I get out, Lucian right behind me. His hand slides around my waist, holding me there.
“Yes,” I answer. “Ready.”
It’s clear to me this Raleigh guy has an agenda. He either isn’t a fan of Lucian or he’s not a fan of older vampires, and I’d put it as somewhere in the middle, a little of both for varying reasons.
But he’s handsome, though rougher than Lucian. Dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, he’s covered in tattoos and piercings, with green-tipped hair peaked in a mohawk on top of his head. His finger pads are calloused as he takes my hand and kisses it, which earns a slight hiss from Lucian.
They both rule their domains. But from the grungy underground room we’re in with leather-clad biker-chic vampires, it’s clear Raleigh’s domain is the opposite of Lucian’s polished, tightly ruled one. Between us is a single hanging lightbulb that flickers every few seconds.
With Lucian’s expensive suit and my flashy dress, we’re extremely overdressed.
“I didn’t get the memo about the dress code,” Raleigh says with a tense laugh. “And I didn’t bring a date.”
The vampires around the room snicker.
I’m restless. But for once I can think straight, even with Lucian next to me. I think it’s because Raleigh is a vampire, so there’s no craze to drink his blood.
As he pulls on his jacket that is decked out in silver chains, he says, “She is a beauty, old man. And she smells brand spanking new. Did you change her?”
Lucian doesn’t answer, but from the rigidness of his stance, I can tell he’s not amused.
“I didn’t think you had it in you.” Raleigh’s attention swings to me. “You shouldn’t waste your time with dinosaurs, little lady.”
“And what? Join your coven of rat-sucking leeches?” I snort. “I don’t think so.”
An audible ooooh passes through the crowd, but Raleigh only smirks. “Oh, she’s got teeth, this one.”
“You have no idea,” Lucian says.
“Another Vittoria?” Raleigh asks. “You know I like my women with bite.”
“Elliot is mine,” he snarls the last word. “And therefore off limits.”
Raleigh holds his hands up in surrender. “Understood, grandpa. You like to rob the cradle.”
“I didn’t come here to be ridiculed. If that’s what this is going to be—” He’s about to turn away when Raleigh calls out.
“I’m sorry, Lucian. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know this.” He laughs again. “I like to think I’m funny.”
“Hilarious,” I mutter.
Raleigh clears his throat, switching gears. “Anywho, I invited you here for one reason. I know we haven’t really seen eye to eye and we think your methods are a bit outdated—”
“Out with it,” Lucian snaps.
“We want a truce,” he says simply. But that only makes Lucian blink. Whatever he had expected this meeting to be about, that clearly wasn’t it. “A formal one.”
Lucian raises a brow, a slight smile lighting his face. “I thought we had a mutual understanding.”
“We did—well, do—but as the Rogues’ leader, it’s up to me to protect my people. I’m not stupid. I know your numbers crush ours. We don’t want any trouble with you or VMR.”
I study Raleigh. He looks honest and open, but he’s smart and looks can lie.
If the Rogues and Lucian have had some kind of agreement to stay civil for years, and he wants to solidify the truce, why would Santiago claim the Rogues want Lucian out?
“And that truce has nothing to do with expanding into de Santis’s territory?” Lucian asks.
“Not unless you’re offering,” he replies. “But no, we don’t mind our little underground slice of heaven.”
I lean closer to Lucian. “I think he’s telling the truth.”
“You do?” he whispers back.
“If he wanted to kill us, he would’ve done it by now.” This entire thing smells like a power play. Lucian nods.
“There have been rumors,” Raleigh goes on as though he doesn’t hear us, “that you’ve been looking to snuff us out.”
Lucian glances at me briefly. “Who told you this?”
“Santiago,” I reply before Raleigh can.
“Exactly, yes,” he agrees. “I’d rather cut through the bullshit and lay all cards on the table. And if you’re not against us, that means Santiago is the one making moves.”
“He was hoping you two would take each other out,” I say.
“He did seem annoyed that we had this meeting scheduled,” Lucian says to Raleigh. “He didn’t expect us to talk, just to fight.”
“Fighting isn’t really our thing. We take in lost vampires, the ones abandoned by their masters who need help navigating through the change. Sure, we like to dabble in some…illicit things to survive, but the big bad mafia lifestyle—nah. No thanks.”
A vampire orphanage, of sorts. It’s kind of…sweet.
“If Santiago is the one trying to sweep Tenebris clean, we’re going to need to team up,” he goes on. “Show him he can’t just take our city.”
The other vampires cheer loudly.
The air shifts suddenly. Raleigh looks around.
Something’s wrong.
Everyone in the room freezes as the same knowing feeling overcomes us all.
Then glass explodes from above.
A shriek of shattering sound tears through the basement as the window bursts inward, raining shards. A dark shape sails through the opening, spinning end over end.
Raleigh dives. Lucian’s hand clamps around my wrist as we hit the ground, and the world erupts in chaos.
Light detonates across the room. Not just light—heat. Fire blooms on impact, racing across the floor in hungry orange tongues. Flames lick up the walls, swallowing shadows, devouring oxygen. Smoke surges thick and choking, the stench of burning alcohol clawing into my lungs.
A Molotov cocktail.
The realization slams into me as the fire spreads with terrifying speed. Someone threw it from outside. This had been the plan all along. Get us all in the same place to eliminate us.
“Elliot!” Lucian bellows beside me.
He hauls me back as the flames crawl closer, heat searing my calves. His eyes are a wild, glacial blue.
I see it then, the narrow row of windows near the ceiling. Street level. The point of entry.
Lucian follows my gaze. “Go. Get yourself out.”
The words don’t land at first. Then they do and my chest caves in.
The windows are barely wide enough for me to fit through. I could force myself out, scrape skin, maybe dislocate my shoulder to make it, but Lucian wouldn’t stand a chance.
“No,” I shout, grabbing his arm. Smoke burns my throat, my eyes. “I’m not leaving you.”
Fire roars behind us, greedy and closing in, and for the first time since I met him, Lucian looks at me like he’s afraid. But not of the flames.
Of losing me.
And I feel it too. That bone-deep fear like when I’d discovered de Santis’s trap for him, and again when the gun fired with a bullet meant for Lucian. I’d felt it then the same way I feel it now. Like something vital is tearing loose inside me.
“Go!” Even as he’s yelling it, his grip is iron on me.
But I can’t leave him behind. I can’t.
I don’t want to live forever if it means it’ll be an eternity without him.
The heat swallows the room, stealing breath and hope in the same cruel pull.
Pulling me close, Lucian’s arms lock around me as the flames roar closer. I bury my face against his chest, breathing him in, trying to focus on the soft thumping of his heart.
His mouth brushes my ear, and I feel the unspoken words sinking deep into my soul.
With death closing in around us, there’s no reason left to deny it—not to him, not to myself.
I…I love you, Lucy.
And then—Hell on earth.