Chapter 34
Max
“Yes, Chaz, what is it?” I answered my phone more curtly than I intended, but the conversation with Damon was still echoing in my ears.
“I’ve been there, and it pains me to see you go through something similar…”
I’d tried so hard to hide my pain—to not drag my mates into my issues alongside me—but it appeared they’d sniffed me out anyway.
The mate bond surely hasn’t helped.
Unfortunately, the idea of talking about my past, never mind going to dreaded therapy, made me want to hide inside my coffin for all eternity, but I couldn’t keep avoiding the inevitable.
Not if I want to keep my mates happy.
The irony was, the very thing I’d been trying to avoid was exactly what would accomplish that. As Damon had said, the first step in my healing journey was to stop operating as if I needed to walk this path alone.
But do I want to drag others into this abyss along with me?
“Uhhh… could you come to the cottage?” The werewolf on the phone somehow sounded more awkward than usual. “All of you? There’s a… visitor.”
I snapped to full attention. “What do you mean, a visitor?”
Nobody visits us!
No one aside from Mags and her unnerving mate.
“Well, she says she was… invited.” He cleared his throat then stage-whispered into the phone. “But I wasn’t gonna invite her into the main house, if you know what I mean.”
Oh no.
Pure terror flooded my system—not for me and my mates, but for the idiot on the other end of the line who’d just invited a bloodsucker into his house instead of ours.
“We’ll be there as soon as possible,” I replied and promptly ended the call, hoping that whatever hostage situation was underway wouldn’t come to a head before we arrived.
If anything happens to my werewolf, heads will roll.
Spinning on my heel, I stalked into the hallway, finding Star leaning in our pitch-black bedroom doorway, wearing nothing but an oversized band T-shirt and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Damon, meanwhile, had apparently stopped halfway up the stairs to the third floor, and was now staring at Pearl’s photograph as if he’d seen a ghost.
Fuck.
Something new to add to my list of fuck-ups.
“Chaz needs us at the cottage.” I willed my voice to remain calm before realizing this was exactly the sort of placating behavior I needed to stop. “There’s a… vampire with him who claims they were invited here.”
“W-what?!” Damon choked out, his gaze darting from me to the photograph and back again. “Who invited her?”
How does he know it’s a she?
Star sighed loudly. “Why are you weirdos being so dramatic? We invited the new vampire seeking asylum with Live & Lurk to reach out, remember?”
Oh.
“Of course…” I smoothed my hands down the front of my smoking jacket, annoyed at myself for being so unnecessarily jumpy. “Well then, we should all get dressed and greet our visitor—”
“You both can go,” Damon blurted out, clutching the photograph to his chest like a life raft. “I-I’ll stay here.”
Ugh.
While it would make the best impression if we were all there, I understood his hesitation. Damon wasn’t particularly sociable on a good day, and I’d just given his nervous system a shock with an unexpected reminder of his traumatic past.
“No, Damon, we are all going,” Star firmly replied. “I’ll pick out your outfit if that will help.”
“It’s not that, baby…” I sighed, knowing I needed to come clean all around—at least, about this. “That photograph I removed from the envelope we received was a portrait of Pearl, and he,” I gestured at Damon, “just found it hidden in my desk.”
Star glanced at our mate before giving me an exasperated look. “You know, Max… for being around as long as you have, you are a fucking dumbass sometimes.”
Factual and completely called for once again.
I couldn’t help but laugh at how unafraid Star was of speaking her mind. It was one of the first things I fell in love with all those years ago, back when she was a feisty human unknowingly working for two deadly vampires.
Not that she became less feisty once she discovered what we were.
“C’mon, pet.” She held out her hand until Damon ventured down the stairs to join her. “Let’s all get dressed and head to the cottage.”
Damon still looked like he wanted to argue, but he obediently allowed Star to lead us both down the hall and into the spare bedroom we used as a walk-in closet and dressing room.
Ten minutes later, we were standing on the adorably well-manicured garden path leading to Chaz’s front door.
While it had never been established that the werewolf was the actual groundskeeper, he’d picked up gardening as a hobby at some point, and the entire property was meticulously cared for as a result.
With night-blooming flowers included for us to enjoy.
Laughter from inside had me relaxing but Damon looked even more ready to turn tail and run.
“Pet…” I took his shaking hand in mine. “You don’t have to speak at all if you don’t want to. Star and I can handle the small talk.”
“I’m not worried about small talk, Max,” he whispered, radiating something close to panic. “It’s that I think this vampire might be—”
“Hey, guys!” Chaz swung open the heavy wooden door so forcefully, it bounced off the wall inside, making us all jump. “Get ready to meet my new favorite vampire.”
A feminine giggle from behind him tickled something in my memory, but before I could examine it, soft footsteps preceded the appearance of a face I hadn’t seen in nearly one hundred and fifty years.
At least, not in person…
“Hello, Damey. Max,” she addressed us first in that breathy voice of hers before turning to our third. “And you must be Star.”
Well, shit.
“Yeah, that’s me.” Star extended her hand before noticing how we were reacting. “Wait… is this—”
“Pearl.” I nodded at our visitor while not-so-subtly placing myself between her and Damon. “What a completely unexpected surprise.”
Subtext being, start talking.
Her sweet smile dissolved as she dropped her gaze—the instinctive, almost fearful submission giving me pause. “I realize how this must look, but if you’ll just come inside, I can explain. It's quite a tale…”
I bet it is.
Of course, I made no move to enter the cottage, more than happy to make Pearl plead her case right here on the doorstep.
Damon had placed his palm on my back for support, and while he no longer seemed close to panic, he also wasn’t urging me onward.
Chaz had stopped wagging his proverbial tail and was now glancing between everyone like he expected a vampire brawl to break out at any moment.
It very well might.
“Oh, enough of this!” Star shooed Pearl back inside and shoved her way past Chaz. “I’m not standing around waiting for you divas to put your fangs away and play nice. Pearl is our visitor and I want the tea!”
Sigh.
To my credit, my fangs hadn’t come out—which showed how little of a threat I found the tiny vampire. However, my mate’s discomfort was what I was concerned about, so I turned my back on Chaz still awkwardly standing in the doorway to face him.
“What would you like to do, my love?” I cupped Damon’s face, as he’d done for me only a short time ago. “Would you rather return to the house? I can go with you, or send Star…”
He peered around me to where Star and Pearl could already be heard chattering away inside.
“No, I…” Damon pressed his lips into a determined line, even as his chin wobbled. “I want to hear what she has to say. To learn what happened after—”
His words choked off, but I understood what he meant.
He wants to learn what happened to her… after he left her for dead.
“Very well.” I stepped aside, even if I had no intention of allowing him to blame himself for the events of the past.
Just like you’ve been doing for centuries, Max?
“I’m sorry,” Chaz whispered to me as we passed, as if every vampire present couldn’t hear him just fine. “I had no idea—”
Having learned long ago that werewolves were a tactile bunch, I heartily clapped him on the back. “It’s alright. There was no way any of us could have known this would happen.”
Even if I feel I should have seen it coming.
When we joined the others in the living room, Pearl was seated on Chaz’s sagging couch, clutching a steaming mug of what smelled like herbal tea. This was oddly human of her, but I had to assume the werewolf had offered it and she’d been too polite to decline.
Star had squeezed in next to Pearl on the worn cushion—a proximity I didn’t like one bit—but Damon lessened my anxiety by choosing a chair at the dining room table on the far side of the open concept space.
The better for brooding, I suppose.
“So, I’m dying to know…” I drawled, lowering myself onto the seat across from Pearl and slinging my arm over the back. “How did you track us down?”
She grimaced and took a long, no doubt incredibly unsatisfying, sip of her tea before sheepishly replying, “A few coincidences and sheer grit. For starters, I’ve been holding onto evidence you left behind at Sizzling Discourse in the 1980s… Hiding it, really.”
What?!
Star’s blue eyes met mine, wide with panic. “I thought we grabbed everything before we left town!”
“I’m sure you did.” Pearl set down her mug on the coffee table, as naturally serene as I remembered her. “However, you underestimate how determined I was to find you after you left Los Angeles.”
Indeed.
“Why not stop by the store before then?” Damon spat, glaring at his “sister” with tear-filled eyes. “You were in L.A. while we were there, yet weren’t able to contact me? Not even to tell me you’d survived?”
“Would you like more cookies, Pearl?” Chaz suddenly appeared with a plate piled high, clearly attempting to diffuse the tension.
Good luck.
“I would be delighted, thank you.” Pearl carefully selected a single cookie, giving it a delicate nibble before answering my mate’s question. “Interesting choice of words there, Damey… Survived. Because that is all I’ve been doing since we last saw each other in Opalite.”
Damon hissed in a breath, his anguish flavoring the air. I opened my mouth to remind him it wasn't his fault, but then Pearl beat me to it.
“I do hope you are not blaming yourself over there,” she called out in a firm tone that almost had me sitting up straighter. “For all intents and purposes, I died on the Madam’s floor, and you had every right to leave that no-good town after what they tried to do to you.”
It’s true.
I would have killed them all if I’d had the time.
Pearl took another sip of her tea and smiled down into the mug. “You’ll be pleased to hear I burned what I could of Opalite years later—starting with the House of Eternal Moonlight.”
That alone may redeem you, little vampire.
Maybe.
Always ready to plant himself near the action, Chaz lowered himself to the couch on her other side, crowding close in a way that almost seemed protective.
Interesting…
“We found your grave online,” Star broke the awkward silence, waiting for Damon to nod in approval before continuing. “So obviously, there was a burial.”
“There was…” Pearl’s gaze grew distant, although I was unsure if she was dissociating or simply remembering the past. “Unfortunately, I’d already been liberated from my coffin before they lowered it into the ground.”
The vitriol behind her words told me she didn’t see it as a liberation at all. “By the vampire who made you?” I urged her onward, knowing we were close to uncovering some incredibly important truths.
Hypocritical, I know.
Her clear gaze snapped to mine. “Yes… not that I had any choice in the matter.”
It was my turn to sharply inhale, but then, Damon was by my side, placing his hand on my shoulder reassuringly—prioritizing my comfort above his own.
“Can you tell us what happened?” He gave me a moment to collect myself by taking over the interrogation. “Who did this to you?”
My mate was addressing Pearl, but with the way he gave my shoulder a squeeze, I know I was included in the question.
I suppose I should start talking too…
Pearl looked pained, but soldiered on. “It was a vampire—an ancient one who felt his territory had been encroached on by a much younger rival.” Her focus shifted to me.
“A monster who then found his revenge a century later, by driving you and your mates out of the new home you’d claimed for yourself. ”
The blood I’d consumed a couple nights ago threatened to rise like bile in my throat.
I should have known.
None of what Pearl was saying surprised me, not that it softened the blow. I should have made the connection during our final night in Los Angeles, when my nemesis openly taunted me—all but bragging about his unknown mate before threatening mine.
It was difficult not to blame myself. What Damon had endured in Opalite was because of my carelessness at detecting an already established vampire, and my false sense of invincibility in L.A. had me discounting a threat that was right in front of us.
And it sounds like they were one and the same.
Even though just saying his name disgusted me, I needed to confirm the identity of our shared enemy, so I forced the putrid syllable past my lips.
“Vlad.”
It wasn’t a question, but Pearl nodded anyway. Before I could reply, she spoke again, almost sending me to my grave with yet another bombshell.
“He’s my maker and my mate.” She smiled sweetly and took another sip of tea as we all stared in horror. “And I’d like your help in killing him for good.”