Chapter 13 #2
She set her tablet aside. “But why wait a year between your banishment and these deaths?”
“Exactly. But what if it’s not a year? Like I said, my father wouldn’t have sent out postcards to let anyone know I’m gone.
Same with the other factions. What if other heirs are dead or missing and we just haven’t heard anything?
Maybe it’s been going on, and no one has caught on to the pattern.
Could have started even before my banishment. How would we know?”
That sent a chill down her spine. She wanted to deny it, but Luke was right. It made a lot of sense.
Except for one thing… “What’s the motive?”
“Oldest one out there…rule the world.”
Sorcha screwed her face up at his simple answer. “That’s a bit trite, don’t you think?”
“Occam's razor. Sometimes trite is the only answer. Besides, you’re not dealing with people. We’re talking about creatures who view people as food.
They’d love nothing more than to have the ability to stick humanity into incubators like meat in a freezer or on farms where humans are treated as cattle.
” He let out a bitter laugh. “Hell, my father would love nothing better than to take over every last bit of this planet and burn it to the ground for no other reason than to lay waste to everything the good Lord created.”
She didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Is that his ultimate plan?”
Putting his hands in his pockets, Luke sighed.
“That was the plan when he got here. But he was stopped before he could do it. If he could reactivate his quest, he wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
Again, I’m not here to sugarcoat the devil and say he’s just misunderstood.
He’s not. He’s everything you’ve heard and worse.
No one wants to dance with him unless they’re ready to be damned to a place much worse than anything a horror writer has ever conceived. ”
Her head was starting to hurt. There were so many more predators out there than she’d ever known. Real ones that terrified her.
Think about work.
For some reason, murder was a safer topic. “Any chance I can nab a water from air?”
He snorted. “’Course.” He opened his palm and a bottle of water appeared before he offered it to her.
Nice. She’d love to have that ability. Taking the bottle, she took a sip before she returned to their topic at hand. “Okay. Assuming you’re right,” and she had no doubt that he was, “we need to speak with this girl…Amandine.”
“Already on it.” He showed her his phone where he’d used the IA database to pull up Amandine’s address.
She gave him an amused smirk and used his words. “Wouldn’t it be easier to call her?”
He shook his head. “The bolt factor is high with this one.”
“Thanks, Yoda.” And he dared to comment on her addiction to streaming networks. He quoted as many, if not more, movies as she did. “Shall we saddle up?”
With a laugh, he gestured toward his door so that she could lead them to the garage.
They got into Delilah and headed toward the modest home Amandine was renting not far from Forsyth Park.
“This is rather underwhelming for someone who is the heiress of a vampire dynasty. Don’t you think?”
Luke shrugged. “You never know. I live in an apartment above a garage that gives my mother hives whenever she visits. Some of us don’t need all the bells and whistles.”
He had a point. “Why do you live in a small apartment?” She would think he’d be more at home in a grand palace or mansion.
“It’s convenient and I don’t want to draw attention to myself.”
She couldn’t stop the mad laughter that exploded from her.
Luke turned his head to give her an annoyed glare. “What was that?”
“Oh, yeah, ya blend,” she said, imitating Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny. “Do you own a mirror? You’re nine feet tall, exceptionally handsome and wear a black leather coat in the dead heat of summer. Dude! You do nothing but stick out.”
“Dude?” he repeated.
“It’s one of my favorites. I know it annoys many people so I try to limit its use around strangers.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Doesn’t bother me. And…I can’t help my looks.”
“Aren’t you a shapeshifter?”
“Human appearance or hellhound. I only have two forms. Well, unless you count the wings I keep hidden. I guess that could be considered a third form.”
For some reason, that surprised her. “You have wings?”
“I do.”
Interesting. “So you could fly if you had to?”
“Yes, but rather not. With human paranoia being what it is, I might get shot down. And while it wouldn’t kill me, it’d definitely hurt and piss me off to no uncertain end.
With my luck, some old woman somewhere would find me and put me in her cage and force me to say, ‘I think I saw a puddy cat’ for eternity. ”
Sorcha tried hard not to laugh at his dry humor, but…
He arched a brow. “Don’t you dare laugh. I’m still waiting for those nude photos of me to show up someplace. It’s why I don’t dare run for office.”
Now she was laughing so hard, she was grateful she was sitting in the car. Otherwise, she might have fallen.
Luke appeared a bit peeved as he took his hair down.
She didn’t know why, but his movements made him seem even hotter than normal. His presence was so disturbing. They just didn’t make men like this in the flesh, and it was hard to pretend he was normal when he exuded an unholy sex appeal.
Getting out of the car, she needed to put some distance between them.
Luke joined her on the curb and led her toward the nondescript white house that had been converted into apartments. He led her up the stairs to the second floor, then stopped in front of the first door on the left and knocked.
A man in his early twenties opened it. With dark blond hair, he barely reached Luke’s shoulder. His blue eyes widened as he saw Luke dominating the hallway.
Luke scowled at him. “Eli…what are you doing here?”
“Same to you.”
The confusion on both their faces might be comical if it wasn’t undercut by a ferocity Sorcha didn’t understand.
“I’m here on business,” Luke said simply.
“Satan’s?”
Luke tsked. “He doesn’t like being called that.” Then, he paused a second. “Like I care. Screw it. Satan it is. And no, I’m not here on his business. But it’s official and important.” He showed his badge. “Where’s Amandine?”
“Eli? Is something wrong?”
He started to close the door in Luke’s face, but Luke caught the door and held it open. “It’s me, Amandine. I need a word with you.”
“Lucian?” She gently nudged Eli aside so that she could open the door wider. “Why are you here?”
“Can I come inside?”
“No!” Eli’s tone was emphatic.
“Of course.” Amandine opened the door wider. Tall and slender, there was a fey-like quality to the vampiress. She had long dark hair and was dressed in a flowing black skirt and top.
The girl gave Sorcha a once over that wasn’t exactly complimentary.
Eli’s face was so red, she was surprised he wasn’t screaming at them.
Until Amandine cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled up at him. “Breathe, love. I’m not going to run off with Luke. He’s not my type.”
Luke scoffed. “I’m everyone’s type.” He flashed a charming grin at Eli who finally calmed down.
“Why are you here?” Eli asked.
Amandine tsked. “Be more hospitable. Luke wouldn’t come without a good reason. Right, Luke?”
“Right.” He stepped back. “Want to take this one, Sorcha?”
All attention turned to her, which suddenly was very disconcerting. Shaking it off, she stepped forward. “Sure. Have you heard about the students who were murdered lately?”
Amandine winced. “It’s awful. I know they were drained of blood, but you can’t possibly think I had anything to do with it. Vampires don’t kill like that.”
“I know. But Luke noticed something the cops didn’t.” She turned her notebook on and showed Amandine the actual photos of the women they’d found.
Both Amandine and Eli gasped.
“They look like me?”
Sorcha nodded. “Luke thinks the killer is after you and that killing them was a mistake.” Not her finest moment of letting someone know they had a killer out to get them, but she had yet to find a more delicate way to convey that message.
Amandine turned even paler as she stepped back and sat down on her afghan-covered sofa. She held Sorcha’s notebook in both hands as she stared at their victims. “Who would want me dead?” She glanced to Luke, then to Eli. “Your father?”
“No. He might not be happy about our relationship, but he wouldn’t dare go after you. It’d be all kinds of suicide. The other Orders would have a fit if someone did that. Right?” he asked Luke.
Luke glanced to Sorcha. “I want to say yes, but…”
“My father didn’t do this!” Eli insisted.
“That I believe. However…” Luke trailed off with the thought.
“What?” Sorcha asked.
“I have a long history with the Hellfire Club. I could see one of them wanting to come after me.”
That confused her. “I thought Eli was part of the Phoenix Society?”
“Their modern name. Two hundred years ago, they were the Hellfire Club…a dig at my father. We have definite history between us. Most of which isn’t suitable for younger audiences.”
That explained Eli’s rude greeting. It could also explain why they were setting up Luke for the killings.
It was beginning to make sense.
And before she could say anything, a loud explosion sounded beside her. It took a moment to realize that someone had thrown a bottle through their window. One filled with something flammable. Before she realized what it was, it set fire to the closed curtains and spread across the room.