22. Vasile
Chapter twenty-two
Vasile
I wake when Deacon leaves the bed and presses a kiss to my hair, then doze as he showers and gets ready. He’s not as quiet as he thinks he is, but I fancy he knows I am awake because he doesn’t startle when I sit up and fix him with a stare.
He shoots me an apologetic smile instead, buttoning up his creased shirt. “I have to go see to the packs.” He runs a hand through his damp hair, pushing dark strands out of his face. “Hopefully, we’ll get to spend a full day in bed soon.”
“Not likely,” I say grumpily, and Deacon laughs, leaning in to peck me on the lips. He doesn’t fight when I deepen the kiss, holding on to his shirt and no doubt leaving yet another crease. “Come back tonight?”
“Of course.” He pushes my hair back from my face and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll let you know what time, but I’ll do my best to be here after sundown.”
I pull a face. It’s December; there’s barely any daylight as it is. “I won’t waste away if you can’t make it until later in the night.” Deacon laughs. “I’ll check in with Njáll and Elle, too.”
“All right,” he says. He kisses me again, then takes a very deliberate step away from the bed. “See you tonight.”
“Tonight.”
I stay in bed as he leaves, then for a while after he closes the door behind him. It’s sometime after eight in the morning, so I should sleep for a few more hours, but instead, I find myself pondering the decision I was trying to make last night.
I wasn’t lying to Deacon. I never should have been made crai, and I know it was a position they gave me out of fear. After all, other vampires knew of Tamesis’ existence. His sudden disappearance came as a shock to them; enough so that no one else could lay claim to ridding the city of him.
Something I have briefly considered but never truly dug into is whether or not I ever wanted this role. Whether I was even in any frame of mind, after Deacon left, to sensibly think about the shape I wanted my future to take.
Deacon ran and shifted and spent years as a wolf. I took on this role, this responsibility for any and all vampires in the city, and though I know I’ve done my best, I’m beginning to wonder…
Has my best ever been enough?
I huff out a breath and snatch my phone up from the bedside table. Njáll answers on the second ring, which tells me he hasn’t slept at all. “Is everything all right, crai?”
“Fine,” I reply. “I’ll come to the clan tonight. We need to see what we can do about luring Tamesis in that won’t endanger anyone more than we have to.”
Njáll hums like he expected this from me. There’s a chance he did. He knows me well. “I was going to call tonight anyway,” he says. “Some of the donors caught wind of what’s going on. They’ve requested to volunteer.”
I shake my head. “They—”
“This is their home too, crai,” Njáll replies firmly. “We should discuss it.”
“Fine.” I can always veto it if needs be, but there may be roles where we can use them. Our donors are not guards. Not fighters. We’re supposed to protect them.
“There is something else,” Njáll says, voice suddenly strained. “I was going to wait and see what the problem might be, but since you’re coming anyway…”
“What is it?”
“It seems as though someone has been through Lazarus’ rooms,” Njáll says.
I frown. “You’re certain?”
“Looks that way. We’ve had them locked since his personal effects were retrieved for the ceremony, but someone reported last night that the door was open, and when we went in, things were out of place.”
“Who would—He’s been dead for a couple of months.”
“I don’t know, crai. I wanted to investigate first, but something does feel off. Maybe a mage?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’ll see who can come with me tonight. At the very least, we should be able to find out if it was a magic user or a vampire.”
“Thank you, crai.”
“I’ll see you after it gets dark.”
We hang up and I lean back against the headboard. I don’t understand why someone would break into Lazarus’ rooms in the first place. We searched his things after he died, and they were packed up once Adelaide proclaimed herself responsible.
The only reason his rooms have not been cleared out is because of everything that has been going on.
There is nothing in there that should be of interest to anyone.
I put my phone back and lie down again. I’ll see if Sam can accompany me tonight. That might make Deacon feel better, too, when he finds out I’ve left this building.
Adam frowns from the doorway of Lazarus’ rooms, wrinkling his nose. In the end, Sam was unavailable, already busy with the rest of his coven. Pris offered to come, but Adam jumped in. He wants to see Elle again, and now she stands by his side, gaze darting between Lazarus’ rooms and Adam’s face.
“Magic?” she asks.
“Yeah, a little.” Adam takes a cautious step into the room. It’s not ransacked; the few things that are not packed are truly only a little out of place. “But I don’t know what for. It’s not like they teleported in.”
“You’d be able to tell?” Njáll asks. He’s surprisingly… frosty with Adam, and Elle is not pleased by it. I think it’s down to the fact that Adam has left our clan. He needs to get over it. We’re all working together on this, and Adam is no different vampire than he was a few months ago.
“Yeah. The traces would be bigger,” Adam says, apparently unaware of Njáll’s attitude. “They must have managed to sneak in.”
“If they did, then someone from the clan would have told them how,” Elle says. “The guards are on alert. They’re stopping anyone who’s not in the clan.”
“Unless it was someone who is,” Adam replies. “One of the guards?”
Our human guards don’t donate blood, generally speaking, so it would be difficult for most of us to tell if they had magic or not.
“We’ll keep an eye out,” Njáll says. “Post a guard. Whatever they were looking for, maybe they found it.”
“Thank you,” I say.
We leave the room behind, and Elle goes to find a guard for the door as the rest of us head to my office. Njáll pauses once he’s stepped beyond the threshold, careful to take a seat where he usually would. I take the seat behind the desk, and Adam drops carelessly into the one next to Njáll.
“We should get Sam to come and check it,” Adam says. “He might be able to tell you more about the spell.”
I have no doubt he will. Still, I shake my head. “No matter,” I say. “Not right now. He has more important things to be working on.”
His coven is trying to find a way to protect Kieran if he goes up against Tamesis alone. I do not want to distract them from that.
A knock at the door distracts us all now, and expecting Elle, I’m surprised when Jamal walks in. He’s the most dressed down I’ve ever seen him, wearing loose jogging bottoms and a T-shirt, though his eyes are still lined, hair perfect. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.
“Jamal,” I say.
“Crai. When’s the last time you fed?”
Njáll coughs, clearly hiding a smile behind his hand. Adam stares at the floor between his feet. I never asked him and Lucien about the blood they have in Kieran’s flat. After all, I have not been apart from the clan for very long at all.
I sigh. “I’m not certain,” I admit.
I am not hungry, not really, but I know the foolishness of not feeding when we are planning on going up against Tamesis so soon. Jamal raises an eyebrow at me, pursing his lips.
“So… Were you not planning to, or…?”
“I was,” I say, frowning. “Can it wait until—”
“No,” he says and stalks over to where I’m sitting at the desk. He perches on the edge just as Elle walks into the room, and she outright laughs when she sees him thrust out his arm.
“Told you he wouldn’t have done it,” Jamal grumps.
“Yes, yes. I owe you again.” She drops into the chair next to Adam and crosses one leg over the other before she looks at me. “You should feed, crai. What if Tamesis comes after you on the way back?”
I roll my eyes and grasp Jamal’s arm gently. His look is pointed, and I sigh. “You’re right,” I say. “Thank you for coming.”
His expression softens. “Go on, then. Should have enough for whatever you need to take.”
Elle leans over to talk to Adam as I sink my fangs into Jamal’s wrist. Hot blood fills my mouth, tart and delicious, and I swallow carefully. I truly am not that hungry, but his logic is sound. There is a good chance I will end up fighting Tamesis, and I need to be at my strongest for it.
When I’ve taken enough, I lift my head, and Jamal doesn’t argue as I lick over the marks, sealing them. He grasps my hand, though, when I let go of his wrist.
“How else can we help?”
I squeeze his hand before I let go and lean back in my chair. He doesn’t move from his position on my desk, and Njáll, Adam, and Elle fall silent, watching us. I’m not going to send Jamal away. We’ve not had a liaison for the donors and human guards in months—not after all the trouble with Nathan and then Nora —and I’ve relied on what little information Jamal would give me to try to keep people content.
“For now, stay here and stay safe,” I say. “If it comes to a fight… We may have to take some of you with us.”
Elle frowns, but Njáll nods. It’s not ideal, and I’ll have to make sure a mage can ward them, but feeding from hunters and mages in the moment is a worse choice. They need to be able to fight.
“I can give you a list of people who can go.”
Njáll leans forward in his seat. “You know which of you will thrive in battle?”
Jamal looks over his shoulder at him and shrugs. “Every donor here is way more capable than you give us credit for. We don’t panic when you feed from us, do we?”
“That’s different,” Njáll says.
“So it is.” Jamal shakes his head. “You’re fighting for your home and your family, right? Why can’t we?”
He doesn’t have an answer for that, and neither do I. Except, “There’ll be no fighting,” I say. “And I mean it. Anyone we bring along will be vital, but the most important part is that you’re kept safe and whole if you’re to be helpful.”
Jamal nods. “I’ll make the list. You’d be surprised who you’ve got down there.”
I huff a laugh. We shouldn’t be—Njáll and I screened most of the donors ourselves. Still, I nod in reply, and Jamal hops off my desk and leaves the room.
My phone rings and I gesture for the others to go back to their conversation as I pull it from my pocket. The number is unknown. It could be Tamesis, but that seems unlikely.
“Do not hang up and do not react.”
I go still despite myself and shake my head when Njáll’s head snaps up, eyes narrowing. He won’t listen if I make it clear he should not. None of them will.
“Sorry,” I say, forcing a little laugh. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you right now.”
“Apologies, crai,” Lazarus says—or at least, someone who sounds just like Lazarus. “But I fear I am in grave danger and need your help.”
“Of course.” I modulate my tone, trying to make it sound as though I am speaking to Deacon. Adam will know if it is a member of his pack. “I thought you were coming by later?”
Elle smiles faintly at that, though Njáll’s gaze is still a little suspicious. Adam says something and Njáll turns back to him.
“I need you to meet me. I can explain everything then.”
“Really? That late? You could just tell me now.”
“There are vampires in the clan you cannot trust.”
I think through the vampires we have left. No one stands out as having something against Lazarus, not now that he is apparently alive. For a moment, before Adelaide said she killed him, I thought perhaps he might have been working with Tamesis.
Adam said she admitted to his murder. I believe him. But why would she do that if he isn’t dead?
“No, you’re right, that sounds important.” I need to get to the truth of this. “I can come to you.”
“Thank you, crai.” He gives me the name of a street in Camden, not all that far from where Kieran and Sam live. “Can you be here in an hour?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be there. See you then.”
Lazarus hangs up and I end the call, putting my phone back in my pocket. Njáll scowls. “Who was that?”
“Deacon,” I say. “He was supposed to visit tonight, but he’s been delayed.”
“So you’re going to him?” Elle gets to her feet. “I was planning to drop Adam off anyway, so we could take you to the pack house on the way.”
I shake my head. “He wants to meet elsewhere.” I cannot have them go with me. I trust everyone in this room, but Adam was already framed for Lazarus’ murder once. If something else is going on, I cannot have him tangled up in it.
“Crai, that is not—” Njáll begins, and I shake my head.
“I will be fine. If you like, I will call when we are on the way back to Kieran’s building.”
Njáll sets his jaw. “Fine.”
“Good.”
Elle sits back down again. “I’ll get Adam home safe.”
“Thank you. If I do not see you all again tonight, then it will be soon.”
“Be careful,” Njáll says when I reach the door, and I do not like the way my stomach sinks at his words.
“I will,” I reply. “Do you really think Deacon would let anything happen to me?”