Chapter 26 #2
Noah leaps out of the passenger’s seat and immediately begins stripping his firefighter gear. Cassian emerges from the driver’s side and then does the same.
Olivia and I shamelessly gawk.
“What is it about uniforms?” she whispers, holding back a giggle.
“It’s not just the uniforms.” My eyes run over Noah. “No offense to Hilo, but he wouldn’t put on quite the same show.”
She nods sagely.
As soon as Noah is free of the heavy gear, he jogs over to me, grabbing me by the arms like he’s going to kiss me.
“Hi,” I say breathlessly. “Glad you’re not dead.”
“Same.” He frowns. “What were you thinking going after Ethan without me?”
“I didn’t think you’d let me go, and I couldn’t figure out how else we were going to save Olivia.”
“Piper.” Noah begins to shake his head. “I—”
“Can you two do this later?” Cassian asks. “We have a vampire to interrogate.”
“You have Ethan?” I whisper, my eyes widening.
“Yeah,” Noah says.
“How’d you get him out of the house?”
Noah watches as Max and Carlos hurry to help Cassian unload the vampire. “We drugged him and threw him in the back.”
“Drugged him? With what?”
“A sedative. His system will process it fairly quickly. It’ll knock a vampire out for a few hours, but we’re probably running out of time.”
And he’s not wrong. The men pull Ethan from the back, and though he’s very floppy, he’s awake.
He mumbles all kinds of incoherent threats, his eyes still mostly closed.
“What if someone saw you and alerted the cops?” I ask, getting a little panicky.
“One, no one saw us. Two, Ethan is an unregistered vampire. His people aren’t going to report him as missing.”
“Okay…” I say, but I’m still nervous as Noah and I follow the men inside.
I gape a little as we step into the foyer. Ethan has antler chandeliers. Cassian has chandeliers, too, but his are crystal.
The floors are hardwood, it smells faintly of orange oil, and natural light spills in from the massive windows.
Apparently, the daylight drug is working well.
“He admitted that he killed Kevin,” I tell Noah as we walk. “Or rather, he paid a guy to kill Kevin. The same guy he hired to kill you.”
“Ah,” Noah says darkly.
“What happened with that?”
“I knocked him out, but he woke up too quickly and got away while I was looking for Colin.”
It doesn’t make me feel great that an assassin with a grudge is out there, but we have other things to worry about right now—namely, a vampire who’s growing louder and angrier by the second.
Cassian leads us down a set of stairs that go to the basement. Or, judging from the dark stone walls, limited light, and general foreboding feeling, the dungeon.
I don’t see any cells, though, and there are shelves of bottles, so it might just be a wine cellar.
“Carlos, stay with Olivia and Max,” Cassian instructs when we reach what looks like a storage room. He flicks on the light—a single fixture with two fluorescent tube lights. It looks out of place in the almost medieval space.
Along the walls, there are shelves with books, random cardboard boxes, and more bottles, but at the center, there’s nothing but a folding chair.
“Piper, you come in with Noah and me,” Cassian says.
“I don’t know that I necessarily want to be involved—”
“Piper, now,” the super old vampire commands in a no-nonsense tone that has me hopping.
“Okay, coming.” I step into the room.
Max and Carlos deposit Ethan on the chair and then leave, closing the door behind them. It shuts with an ominous echo that makes me want to run even though I’m not the one in trouble here.
Ethan half-sits, half-lies on the chair, slumped down, about to slither right out of the hard metal seat and onto the harder stone floor. “You’re going to pay for this,” he slurs.
Cassian steps forward, looking formidable. I think I’m finally going to see the scary side I knew was lurking under his pretty exterior. “How are you feeling? Snapping out of it?”
Ethan swears a few times, his eyes flashing, and pushes himself back onto the seat.
Cassian extends his hand. “We need to have a chat, so if you could pull yourself together—”
“You son of a…”
I blink, startled by the combination of words coming out of Ethan’s mouth. He’s usually so mild-mannered.
Cassian listens, his expression impassive, as Ethan tells him what he can do with himself—and frankly, his suggestions aren’t very nice.
I glance at Noah and find him resting against the wall, one foot pressed against the stone. His expression is grim, and he holds a stake.
“Are you finished?” Cassian asks when Ethan runs out of four-letter words. “You’re looking a bit worse for wear. Do you need coffee?”
“Can you drink coffee?” I ask Cassian, surprised.
“In moderation, yes,” he answers. “It’s mostly water.”
“Oh, right—zero calories. There’s not much actual plant in there, I guess?”
“Exactly. Teas are the same.”
“What about wine?” I gesture toward our angry captive. “I’ve seen Ethan drink it twice.”
“If the product is fermented, we can generally—”
“Can we discuss this later?” Noah asks dryly.
“Sure.” Cassian chuckles, turning back to Ethan. “How are you feeling, champ?”
There’s something about Cassian saying “champ” in his muddled European accent that makes me snort.
Ethan turns his eyes on me, his face contorted with hurt. The genuine emotion startles me. Clearing my throat, I join Noah next to the wall.
“I think you’re feeling well enough we can begin,” Cassian says, his tone becoming businesslike. “My name is Cassian Chevalier: Prince of the Chevalier line.”
“He’s really a prince?” I whisper to Noah.
Rolling his eyes, Noah nods.
Ignoring us, Cassian continues, “You were infected through my bloodline, and therefore, you are my problem. I am your judge and your jury. But because I’m feeling benevolent, and Piper and Olivia have returned to us unscathed, I’m going to give you two options.
The first: you can give us a detailed list of your crimes, tell me who infected you, and admit who’s your contact at NIHA. ”
Ethan laughs, shaking his head like he thinks this whole thing is ridiculous.
“Or I can execute you right here, as is my right, to ensure the integrity of my line.”
Ethan pales a little, but he doesn’t answer.
Cassian gestures to the corners of the room, at cameras I didn’t even notice. “Which will it be? Shall we begin recording your confession or end this now?”
“And if I confess?” Ethan says, his voice sharp with growing fear.
“Instead of, say, two life sentences, I’ll see if the judge will give you one.”
“How long is a life sentence?” I ask Noah quietly.
“When vampires are involved, it’s usually a hundred years, but often, they’ll be charged with multiple life sentences in severe cases.”
“And capital punishment?”
“It was officially abolished in Colorado in 2020, but it’s still doled out by the heads of a bloodline.”
Ethan looks like a cornered animal, his eyes moving between Cassian, Noah, and me.
“Noah, the stake,” Cassian says, extending his hand backward.
Noah hands him the weapon, and Ethan zeroes in on it, gulping.
“You’re out of time.” Cassian steps forward. “What will it be?”
I don’t think any of us expects Ethan to lunge forward, least of all me. But he leaps past Cassian, fangs bared like a cornered predator.
I scream, throwing my hands up like that will protect me. One second, he’s inches away from me, and the next, he’s on the floor. Noah pins him in place, and Cassian leans over him.
“That was the wrong choice, Ethan,” Cassian says, adjusting his grip on the stake.
“Reid,” Ethan sputters quickly. “He’s the head of the investigations division for the region. He made a deal with the woman who changed me.”
Noah jerks his head up to Cassian.
Cassian grasps Ethan by the collar of his polo shirt and yanks him to his feet. “What woman?”
“I don’t know her name.”
Cassian smashes him against the closest bookshelf. “What was her name?”
“I DON’T KNOW!” Ethan cries. “I really don’t. Please, I don’t know. She doesn’t share her name.”
Noah touches Cassian’s shoulder. “I think he’s telling the truth.”
“Fine,” Cassian says, looking like it’s taking a great deal of willpower to resist shoving the stake into the sniveling vampire’s heart. “Tell me everything else—and don’t leave anything out.”
“I will,” Ethan vows, tears welling in his eyes. “I swear, I will.”
With a heavy sigh, Cassian yanks him back to the chair. “Get on with it then.”