Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
SEBASTIAN
“April seemed upset.” Andrei’s words proceed him through the door.
“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” Not looking away from my task, I continue moving things around the living room.
“I can see why…” Drawling, he comes to stand next to me. “Is this really necessary?” After looking around the room, his gaze settles on my face.
“I wouldn’t waste my time if I thought otherwise.” Dismissing his meddling, I pick up one candle to move it further away from the cleared-out center.
“I keep telling him he needs to get his strength back before facing her on his own.” Marcus strides in, stopping next to us.
“The woman is unpredictable.” At my glare, he shrugs a shoulder, unconcerned that he is within striking distance.
“I barely got out with my head intact last night, thanks to Andrei.” Nodding at Andrei in gratitude, he looks at me unflinching.
“You do what you want, I simply think I needed to warn you.”
“What news do you have?” If I don’t change the subject, I might strangle them both. “Or are both of you here to share your opinion on my life choices?”
“The Guardians found three humans trying to infiltrate our nest.” With a frustrated sigh, Andrei walks up to one of the sofas, throwing himself on it. “The Council either thinks we are idiots or fledglings.”
“I doubt they think we are idiots or fledglings, as you say. It’s more along the lines of the fact that we are too preoccupied with a certain new vampire that we won’t pay as close attention to a few mortals.
” I point out the obvious. “The Council knows better than to underestimate us after they lost two of their own.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case.” Marcus sounds doubtful. “I sent two of my own humans in hopes to get a message across to our inside help. I haven’t heard from them yet, but I should be getting word any day now.”
Finally satisfied with everything being out of reach so April can’t use it against me, I walk up to the corner bar, pulling out the whiskey and three glasses.
The tension in the room is palpable, setting my nerves on edge.
Apart from the few inutile humans, the old bastards have been quiet. Too quiet for my liking.
“We cannot take action until April is ready.” Handing a glass to Marcus who has followed behind me, I fill up the second one. “With the rate we are going, she won’t be ready for a decade.”
“If we lose you, everything else is pointless, my friend.” Snatching the second glass from my fingers as soon as the two ice cubes dip in the liquor, he walks away, passing it to Andrei. “If April takes you out of the count and cuts off our heads, the rest of us are debilitated.”
Staring at the amber liquid in my glass, I watch the ice cubes float futilely. Marcus has a point, of course, but I will not admit weakness. Not even to the two of them.
“I will handle her.” Saying I will handle April makes hunger roar in my ears at the words. I want nothing else but to control her ever since I carried her in my arms. Turning to look at them, I lean back on the bar.
“You will?” The raised eyebrow, along with the incredulous look on Andrei’s face, make me grind my teeth.
“Don’t you have something productive to do?” I scowl at him over the rim of my glass.
“All I’m saying is, I’ve never seen anything like it.
” He shakes his head, looking at Marcus for confirmation.
“She was turned not even a full week ago, and still, I barely managed to get her off Marcus. I’m ashamed to admit I got out of here so fast, the heels of my boots were hitting my ass on the way out. ”
“I refuse to keep hiding like a coward.”
“After everything, I dare say you don’t need to worry that anyone will accuse you of cowardice, Sire,” Andrei drawls right before he stiffens. “We have company.”
I stay leaning on the bar, sipping the tasteless drink, but my insides are burning with anger.
Both males slink stealthily near the front door, their feet silent on the wooden parquet.
I can hear the anxious breathing of whoever is on the other side, the air whizzing slightly through their nostrils.
A human then.
Marcus positions himself at the wall where the open door will hide his presence, his body coiled up to rip whoever it is apart.
When an unexpected guest shows up at your door without notice of a dozen predators throughout a building, it makes even one of us too wary to simply yank a door open. Alas, this human seems alone.
How peculiar.
Andrei relaxes his body, his demeanor almost bored when he pulls the door open, facing our guest. An unremarkable man wrings his hands, staring wide-eyed while sweat drips down his hairline, perfuming the air with his stench.
“Last time I checked, I didn’t order food.” My softly spoken words spook the human and he staggers, his too-wide, bloodshot eyes jerking to me over Andrei’s shoulder.
“Ma…mar…” Stuttering, he almost swallows his tongue when I near the entrance of my personal nest. “Marcus…” Nervously swiping a hand to clear out the beaded sweat on his upper lip, he drops on his knees.
I lift an eyebrow at Marcus.
“How did you manage to get here without anyone to announce you?” The human keeps shaking, prostrating himself at the door.
“He is one of ours.” Marcus comes from behind the door, his glower wasted on the human.
With his face pressed on the carpeted hallway, the shivering man pretends to be an ostrich, burying his head in the sand. How they have survived this long is beyond me.
“Sir, I have news.” After the fifth try, the human tells the carpet his message. Lucky for our enhanced hearing or it would’ve been wasted words.
“How did you get here without being seen?” The note of danger is not lost on the man. Not that stupid, I guess.
“There was no one on my way here, sir…Master…” He rambles titles that make no sense whatsoever.
“This is what we have fallen down to?” Frowning at Marcus, I make sure he knows my displeasure at the display. “We rely on this to keep us updated on the Council?”
“I will check what is going on.” Without waiting on approval, Andrei disappears from the spot he was occupying.
“What news?” Grinding his teeth, Marcus quivers in rage. “And stand up before I maim you, vermin.”
“One of the Council…the Amazonian woman…she is driving on streets around the hotel.” It takes the human a few tries before he lifts himself up, sitting on his haunches.
“She is not coming too close, but she makes sure we can see her. There was no one around, so I came here to tell someone.” A vein is pulsing on his neck like a frightened bird, pulling my gaze.
“I thought they somehow breached the perimeter when I found the hotel empty and quiet. I ran up the stairs, hoping you were safe.”
“How very noble of you.” Addressing him dryly, I press the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “I wonder what Eshe wants.”
“An alliance?” Snickering, Marcus hauls the human up by the neck of his shirt. “I’m more interested in where everyone else is, if what he says is true.”
“Oh, it’s true.” Andrei appears at the end of the hallway, coming from the stairway. “The building is as empty as a tomb.”
“It is?” The glass I’m still holding cracks under my fingers.
“They are all in the building.” Pushing past the human, he stands in front of me.
“Sire.” Adding it as an afterthought, he grins.
“April is prowling the place. And she was pissed when I left her.” Andrei looks pointedly at the atmosphere I created in the apartment.
Marcus barks out a laugh, and my lips twitch, unbidden.
“I can’t blame them for staying out of her sight. ”
“No.” Shaking my head, I chuckle. I’ll use all the advantage I can get tonight, and keeping her unnerved is the best way forward if I am to succeed. “I suppose we cannot.”