Chapter 29
Ansley
I can tell Hayden is more tense than normal when he picks me up after work.
His shoulders are tight. He’s grinding his teeth together. Something is definitely bothering him. I wouldn’t be a good mate if I didn’t try to figure out what it is.
“Everything okay?” I ask cautiously.
“No, not really,” he growls. “The others went after a vampire today, and the trailed him to his nest, except it wasn’t a nest, it was a lair.”
“Is that worse than the blood bank?” I ask, assuming it is.
“Yes, a lot worse,” he confirms. “It’s a sign there’s a vampire in Chicago who is much older than we thought. Lairs require planning and organization. They were probably using the blood bank to feed all the makers so they could avoid detection.”
“What about my blood? I gave Wyatt a sample this morning,” I say. “Did it help?”
“It worked. Wyatt and Storm drank it before they fought the vampire. They were immune to the bites and even the claws couldn’t pierce their skin,” Hayden reports.
“Storm drank it? I haven’t even met him yet,” I’m surprised by this information. Drinking my blood feels like a very intimate thing to do. Since we haven’t even met yet, I guess it didn’t seem like something Storm would even want to do.
“Your blood didn’t make him crazy like your scent will,” Hayden says. “But you’ll meet him today. He’s at the safehouse waiting for us.”
“What about Jaxton?” I ask.
“No, he’s at The Den. He’s not ready to meet you.
I’m not sure if he ever will be,” Hayden sighs, shaking his head.
“Storm may be the last one we need to complete the mating ritual. We’ll know soon.
Jaxton… if we need him, then we may never be able to complete it.
I don’t know what it would take to get him to come around to this.
He’s a genuine loner and is still devoted to the memory of the woman he loved and lost.”
My heart goes out to the brother I might never meet.
The tragedy he suffered was so crushing, it sounds like he will live under it for the rest of his life.
I can’t help being a little nervous, though, about meeting the man who could be the final missing piece, and my thoughts soon shift away from Jaxton over to Storm.
He’s in finance. He used to work for York Financial.
I should have more in common with him than any of the others.
“Storm might like hearing about my day,” I offer. “I got to meet with a really wealthy client named Daniel Lumen. He’s obscenely rich. I had to look him up after the meeting.”
“Yeah, I already know about him. Spotted him when he left and had Storm check the security footage,” Hayden sounds a little bit…pissy. “He’s nobody. Just another rich asshole.”
“Asshole? I don’t know that I’d call him an asshole. He does a lot of philanthropy. Seems like a decent guy,” I retort. “Definitely charismatic.”
“Are you saying you were attracted to him?” Hayden asks, his eyes narrowing.
“What? No! Not like that. Honestly, I haven’t even looked at another guy since I met you, other than your brothers,” I say quickly.
“It wasn’t attraction. He was very nice and seemed really happy with the work I did.
My boss said I made a great first impression, and now I’ll be managing his new investment. ”
“Good for you,” Hayden says just a little bit dismissively, an edge still lingering in his voice. “But if he gets too friendly, we’re going to have a problem.”
“I doubt I’ll even see him again. Most clients don’t stop by for a personal visit unless there’s a problem.”
“I’m sure you’ll take good care of his money,” Hayden says. “Just like Storm takes care of ours.”
“I hope so,” I answer. “That’s why they pay me. Can we stop by my apartment? I’d like to get a few outfits, so we don’t have to keep going there every morning so I can change. Clearly, I won’t be staying there for a while.”
“Not with all these vampires,” Hayden confirms, shaking his head. “And if we’re able to complete the mating ritual, we’ll be wed. That’s how it’s usually done with our kind, and you’ll live with us after that.”
“Are we all going to move into together?” I ask, some concern in my voice as I try to imagine it. Five of us living in a house with large furniture, enormous beds, and an industrial-sized fridge that will have to be refilled every couple of days. “All of us? Except Jaxton I assume.”
“We haven’t discussed it yet, but that’s what I’m thinking,” Hayden’s tone is a little lighter now. “Maybe we find a place out in the country, away from people. Forget about this city.”
Then I imagine a large barn, children, and a life that sounds simple, but it doesn’t feel right. “No, Chicago is our home. We don’t have to run away. We’ll… we’ll manage. I can’t just give up my job. Especially now that my portfolio is growing.”
“We’ll discuss it with everyone when the time is right. Not right now. We have to deal with the vampires.” So much for the lighter tone.
We turn down the street that leads to our perfectly normal looking house. On the outside. Inside, it’s getting rather crowded.
I can tell how crowded when I open the door and hear music like some sort of party is going on.
“Oh no,” I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “Daisy, what are you doing?”
I rush to the living room door and pause in my tracks.
They’re not having a party. Well, they are, sort of, except Daisy is the only one standing.
My mates are casually relaxed in their true Human Forms. And they’re…
they’re playing poker. Just casually leaned back on the furniture, drinking and playing cards.
Everyone has an enormous stack of money, and it appears the ante is on the coffee table.
“Alright, I raise… um, let’s see,” Daisy casually taps her finger on her chin. “Two hundred thousand.”
“Fuck, I’m out,” Remy sighs, tossing his cards.
“Me too,” Wyatt says, leaning forward to collect Remy’s cards, and the deck.
“I’m…” a man I’ve never met before starts to speak, then he lifts his head and our eyes meet. “All in.”
The pull is instantaneous. It’s like I’m in love with the silver in his hair and the matching streaks in his amber eyes immediately. I don’t have to ask if he feels it too. It feels like time slows down or my brain is just stuttering to catch up.
He doesn’t push money into the pile. He stands up, drops his cards revealing Pocket Aces, and walks across the room. He’s gorgeous, but there’s something in his smirk that reflects the kind of confidence I’ve seen in his brothers. Possibly even some arrogance.
“I’m Storm,” he says, taking my hand. “I didn’t realize it would be this strong. Your scent. You. I feel it, just like they described.”
“I feel it too,” I breathe out.
“The mating bond,” Hayden speaks over Storm and I staring at each other. “Every missing piece seems to make the connection stronger.”
The connection isn’t just strong. It’s undeniable. The need. The desire. The strange flare in my depths that wants him. I can see it in his eyes, too. We’re both practically ravenous and we just met each other.
“There will be time to get to know each other later,” Hayden grumbles impatiently, breaking us out of our trance.
Storm lets go of my hand, but he still seems to be studying me. Or drinking in the sight of me by the looks of him.
“I fold by the way,” Daisy sighs, throwing her cards down, revealing two Queens. “You won back two-hundred-k of the million you gave me so we could play.”
Did she say… million?
“What is going on here?” I chuckle nervously, feeling some dampness between my legs.
“Playing some Texas Hold’em,” Daisy explains as glibly as if we just walked in on them watching a rerun on TV. “Let’s see, I started with one million, then I won two, three, six hundred-k, lost two hundred. Yeah, I’m doing pretty well.”
“You aren’t keeping that money, right? This is just…” I look around and nobody seems bothered by it.
“I gave her a million dollars so we could play, like she said,” Storm clarifies, gesturing towards Daisy, his eyes never looking away from me.
“Alright, clean this stuff up,” Hayden orders. “We need to talk about the vampire lair and put together a plan for dealing with it.”
“There’s no plan for dealing with it, Hayden,” Remy exclaims. “Chicago’s fucked. It’s time to go. Storm says New York. I’m not sure about that. Wyatt doesn’t care. Jaxton doesn’t care, long as he has his own place.”
“Maybe if we all drink Ansley’s blood,” Hayden spits out, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but if we’re all immune, we could fight them. Even an older vampire.”
“Sure, an older vampire if it’s just us against him, but you’re talking about a lot of makers there as well. They could be young, or they could be like the one we fought today. That would be a whole different game,” Wyatt says.
“Chicago is our home. It’s our mate’s home. Her Mitra’s home. Ansley and I talked about it on the way here,” Hayden says. “Not this specifically, but where we’d live, after the mating ritual is complete. I wasn’t going to bring it up until later, but we can’t just tuck tail. That’s not our way.”
“Right, and then when the Crimson Templars show up, we do what?” Remy asks. “Hide? Because I guarantee if there’s a vampire lair here, it won’t be long until they show up. It happened in Los Angeles. Dayton.”
“We’ve hidden before, and kept out of sight,” Hayden says, his voice getting harsher, more emotion thickening it.
“After our parents were killed, after we lost so many of our brothers and all of our sisters. We learned how to control our Third Forms for a reason. They’re not going to go door-to-door hunting Scions like they did last time.
If we wipe out the vampires, they won’t find anything, and they’ll leave. ”
“Hiding in place?” Storm asks, finally looking away from me. “Yes, but not for the Crimson Templars. We always said we’d… tuck tail, as you put it.”