Chapter 17
Seventeen
VAUGHN
Ihave to run all the way back to Bloodstone to retrieve my car—and also to check if Niko and her boyfriend are still around.
I’m relieved when I don’t see his truck.
I so didn’t want to venture into the catacombs again knowing that freakish ghost is roaming freely there.
I’ve had enough high-adrenaline experiences for one evening.
I drive by Isadora’s house to see if Niko is back home, all the while thinking that I might have fucked up the first assignment the High Witch gave me. Just because the teens have left Bloodstone doesn’t mean they went back to her place.
As I approach the house, I exhale in relief.
The evening wasn’t a total bust. The boyfriend’s truck is parked in the driveway, and the lights are on.
The kids are home. I could drive away and consider my duties for the evening fulfilled.
I don’t think they plan to go out again, and whatever crap Niko and her boyfriend are doing inside the house isn’t my problem. But I can’t in good conscience leave.
I call Isadora, hoping she answers the phone. It rings and rings, and I think I’m probably about to get her voicemail when she finally answers, “Hello?”
“Hello, ma’am.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Uh… I guess. I’m calling because Niko did sneak out of the house with her boyfriend.”
“I knew it! Where did they go?”
“They went to Bloodstone Institute. Snuck in via the catacombs.”
“What? Did you ask them what they were doing there?”
“Didn’t realize it was in the job description to run interference, but… no. I encountered a problem.”
“What problem?”
I don’t want to tell anyone about Sophie yet, which is moronic, really. Why am I protecting her? I know where she lives; I could send the Red Guard after her.
“Were you aware there are scary ghosts haunting the catacombs?”
“You saw a ghost?” Her voice rises in pitch.
“I didn’t see her per se. I felt her, and she was nasty. I think she wanted to do some serious damage to me.”
“That is very troubling news, Vaughn. Where’s Niko now? Is she safe?”
“She’s back in the house, but… her boyfriend is with her. I just thought you should know.”
“Honestly, out of everything you told me, that’s what concerns me the least.”
“Wow. That’s very forward-thinking of you. Do you think it’d be okay if I went home? I don’t believe they’re going anywhere else tonight.”
She sighs. “Yes, whatever Niko wanted at Bloodstone, she already got it. Thanks for keeping an eye on her and for telling me about the ghost.”
“No problem. Glad to help.”
We end the call, and I don’t feel guilty about putting my car in gear and driving away. If Isadora isn’t concerned about her daughter spending time alone with her boyfriend, then I’m not either. I have bigger problems to worry about.
What am I going to do about Sophie? I wish I had gathered more information about her, like her last name for starters. Although, maybe Gerard knows the towering vampire named Igor. He had an accent, maybe Russian. He’d be hard to miss.
He called her Miss Sophie. That tells me she’s someone important, probably a Blueblood. Hell, I wonder if she’s related to Tatiana. Wouldn’t that be my luck to become involved with a relative of the hateful shrew. At least Sophie hated Boone. That’s something in her favor.
I touch my neck. Her bite is already healed. That’s the second time now that she’s done it, and on both occasions, it left me horny as hell. I shuffle in my seat and adjust my pants. My dick is getting ideas again, and I can’t have that. I’ll develop a serious case of blue balls at this rate.
I should feed when I get home. I’d kill two birds with one stone, but as hungry as I am, I don’t want to fuck my food.
I’ve done it once since becoming a vampire, and I felt too weird about it afterward.
Now I keep it in my pants, even though it isn’t normal for vampires to not mix feeding with sex.
Just do it, dumbass. You need to stop getting boners whenever you think about Sophie. It isn’t healthy.
Despite my sage thoughts, I know I won’t feed from a live source. I’m on edge, ready to explode. I’ll end up fucking the blood donor but wishing the whole time it was Sophie. Blood bag it is.
I’m already looking forward to seeing her again. She evaded all my questions tonight because she had the upper hand. I should return the favor and capture her this time. If blood remembers, then all I have to do is drink from her to uncover all her secrets.
My dick stirs again, getting harder. I don’t even try to stop it from happening. I recognize that it’s already too late for me. I’m obsessed with her because that’s how I roll—always picking the most toxic relationships. “Glutton for punishment” should be my middle name.
Gerard is around when I get home. Working for vampires means you must adopt a nocturnal schedule. I don’t even need to call on him—he comes to greet me as soon as I step foot inside the house.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Hey, man. I already asked you to not call me ‘sir.’”
“My apologies.”
“You don’t happen to have information about the vampire I met at Night Crawlers, do you?”
“No, s—I mean Vaughn. I’m still waiting to hear from my contacts in London. You said she had a British accent, correct?”
“Yes. Well, I have more intel. She has a friend named Igor. Super-tall dude built like Arnold in his glory days, possibly Russian.”
Gerard’s face seems to drain of color. “Are you certain?”
“Yes. What’s with the grimace? Do you know him?”
He swallows hard, and it’s audible. “Yes. Igor Svechnikov works for Jacques Tellier. He’s a deadly enforcer.”
“Fuck.” I pull my hair back. “That’s definitely not good. I had the impression he was Sophie’s bodyguard.”
“How did you get that impression? Have you met him?”
Shit. I wasn’t planning on telling Gerard that I managed to get kidnapped by Sophie. But it’s hard to explain how I know of Igor without spilling the whole story.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
I give him the most abridged version of how I ended up being taken by Sophie, and how I managed to escape.
When I finish telling my story, Gerard looks like he’s going to panic and freak out.
Since meeting the man, I’ve never seen him so rattled.
His face is ashen, and the lines around his mouth are deeper.
“How could you let her drink from you?”
“Did you not hear the part where I told you my hands were literally tied? Do you think I like getting my blood sucked by a random stranger?”
No point in confessing that I liked it very much.
“It’s very possible she knows where you live now.”
“How? It isn’t like this place is visible to the naked eye. There’s still a spell concealing the mansion, right?”
He begins to pace in a restless manner. “Right. She wouldn’t be able to find it… hopefully.”
“Hopefully? That doesn’t comfort me.”
He stops pacing and whips his face to me. “I wasn’t trying to comfort you. This is very serious, Vaughn.”
“I know it’s serious. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a moron. But truthfully, I don’t think she’s going to come after me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I don’t know. A hunch? She hates Boone for starters, and after seeing glimpses of my memories, she knows Lucca and King Raphael aren’t the bad guys. I don’t think she drank the ‘Tatiana is the best’ Kool-Aid.”
“If you think for a second that Sophie isn’t dangerous, you ought to have your head examined. She doesn’t need to come after you. If Igor is her bodyguard, then she’s important to Jacques. Maybe she’s his lover.”
That idea makes me sick. “God, isn’t he old?”
Gerard gives me a droll look. “All vampires are old besides you.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think they’re lovers.”
It isn’t something I know for sure, but I just can’t stomach thinking about the possibility. I don’t want Sophie to be attached to anyone romantically because I want her for myself, and that’s a disturbing thought.