Chapter 16 Sebastian
Sebastian
Nic and Leia were sitting in the airy kitchen when I entered, Nic’s ridiculous comedy blood mug in front of him.
I nodded at it. “You take that thing everywhere?”
“I like to drink from it.” He picked it up and took a deliberate swig.
I curled my lip. None of the rest of us liked Nic’s old habit of drinking from warmed blood bags, but that was the way he’d always chosen to live. He probably preferred to drink direct from Leia, but their habits as true mates were none of my business.
“We’re leaving this morning, Seb,” Nic said. “But can we have a quick chat first?”
I nodded, but my heart sank. He sounded serious, and Nic sounding serious was usually bad news.
Leia stood. “I’m going to find Kayla to say goodbye. Any ideas where she might be? She seems sweet, Sebastian. I hope I’ll see her again.” She winked at me.
“If she’s not in her room, she’s usually in the library,” I offered, glad to be having a conversation where I actually knew some of the answers.
“A girl after my own heart.” Leia clasped her hands to her chest dramatically as she left the kitchen.
“Take a seat, Seb.” Nic nodded at the bar stool Leia had vacated, and I drew it a little farther away from my brother before sitting down.
I figured he didn’t want us sitting as thigh-touchingly close as he and his wife did.
“Everything okay?” My question sounded desperate rather than merely curious, and. I hated that I’d reverted straight to type as the king’s younger brother. Those usual family roles never really left us, though.
I’d always tried to be as good as Nic. Always failed, too. The only reason I was still alive after trying to turn his mate wasn’t exactly brotherly love, either. Hell, no. It was motherly love because our mother had pleaded for my life.
And then there was the whole issue where Nic was a born vampire and I’d been turned. I couldn’t measure up to him in any way at all.
It was probably about time I stopped trying but hell…old habits died hard, after all.
“I know we have some rogue vampires here in New Orleans, but I don’t think it’s wise for me to stay.
” He held up a hand to prevent me from interrupting him.
“I think me being present undermines your authority as regent, and more importantly, I trust that you can clean this mess up. You don’t need me hanging around, little brother.
” He grinned, and the muscles in my chest relaxed.
I drew a breath.
“I trust you, Seb,” he repeated.
“Really?” I was so surprised at his words that I spoke without thinking. He trusted me? Did that mean I was forgiven too? I didn’t dare ask.
“I can see all the strides you’re making on behalf of the Dupont reign here. And you’ve made huge achievements since you left Baton Rouge. It looks like you’re succeeding in leaving the past behind.”
“I am,” I assured him. “I’ve found a whole new life here.”
He patted my shoulder. “And it looks good on you. When you get everything under control here, you’ll have to come visit us and Mother in Baton Rouge — introduce her to Kayla.”
He stood and my eyes pricked a little as I nodded. I swiped at them. Nic had forgiven me for Leia. He didn’t have to say those exact words for me to know. His invitation was enough.
Leia reentered the kitchen. “I found Kayla, she was in the library like you thought. I’ve said our goodbyes, Nic.” She stopped and leaned up to kiss her husband’s cheek, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder for support.
Nic stood and offered me a brief hug, his hand patting my back to signal the end almost as soon as it started. “Keep in touch, okay? Let me know how things are progressing.”
I nodded. “Always.”
He grabbed their suitcases and they left to get in the car so Andrews could take them to the airport.
Even as the door closed behind them, I was already holding my phone to my ear, calling my guys to tell them to meet me in my office so we could go over what to do about the rogue captains and their nests.
Nic trusted me to get this situation taken care of, and I was going to fucking take care of it.
Breaking into Kayla’s apartment was a declaration of active disobedience on Nic’s territory—and if the vampire captains had realized Kayla was my mate, it was an act of actual war. My blood burned through my veins as I thought about how close they’d come to taking Kayla from me.
Kyle was already in my office by the time I arrived, and Jason strolled through the door just moments after me, bringing his new ever-present scent of wet dog with him.
Kyle started talking before I could even open my mouth. “We need to move fast on this.”
Jason threw himself into one of the easy chairs and propped his feet on the coffee table. “Did Temple get some intel?”
“Yeah. It’s not just a faction of pissed off vampires used to getting their own way under Francois. They’re far more dangerous than that.”
“Oh?” Jason crossed his arms.
“This is a whole network of organized crime.”
“What? Francois was running some sort of crime circle in his own city? That’s just fucked up.” Jason shook his head.
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m betting Francois didn’t even know, right, Kyle?”
Kyle nodded. “Yep. Temple said it was all going on right under his nose but the dead man’s blood kept him from figuring any of it out.”
I shook my head again. That fucking drug had a lot to answer for.
“Hell, if people didn’t go up and make an actual verbal declaration to Francois, I bet he didn’t even know if it was day or night.
Even then, then he still wouldn’t have remembered five minutes later.
He wouldn’t have had a clue what was going on in this city. ”
“Yeah, and he was kind of fixated on Leia there at the end, too,” Jason pointed out.
“Shit.” I raked my hand through my hair as I paced across the room. “Shit. We’ve taken over some sort of lawless city.”
“It’s a rogue vampire’s wet dream,” Jason agreed. “They’ve been allowed to do whatever they’ve wanted here for far too long.”
Kyle spoke again. “Temple said they’re into everything. Gunrunning, drugs, even prostitution.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “Some of that is going to put them at odds with the wolves, you know? We should probably let Conri know about this before we get too much further in.”
I raked my hair again. “Great. So, we’ve taken over a city full of organized crime and there’s about to be a huge conflict with the new wolf allies?”
“There’s a whole syndicate running here,” Kyle said, and I sighed.
“Do we know who they are? We need more intel. Maybe even a man on the inside. Fuck. Depending on how long they’ve been operational, securing New Orleans for Nic might not be as easy as we’ve been planning.”
Thinking of the club, I needed to get Kayla there soon because she wanted to take a little extra time getting ready.
I checked my watch. “Thanks for the update, guys.”
Jason snorted. “Yeah, shame it wasn’t a positive one, right?”
I shrugged. “We can only work with what we have. I’m going to grab Kayla and take her to Nightfall. Let me know as soon as Temple has any more info.”
Kyle strode from the room first, and Jason stayed where he was as I left and hurried up the stairs to the library. Kayla had probably lost track of the time again. She did that often when she started reading the books in there.
My thoughts of her propelled me faster in her direction, although I stopped in the doorway, one hand on the wooden frame as I took her in.
Her hair cascaded over her shoulder even though she’d made an effort to tie it out of the way, and she’d tucked her legs up on the chair, the enormous book spread over her lap making her look even more petite than usual.
I’d never seen a reason for the collection of grimoires, but maybe fate had mysterious ways.
“Kayla?”
She jerked her head up, confusion at being interrupted giving her scrunch marks at the top of her nose.
She smiled when she saw me, though, and put the book she’d been reading to one side. “Is it time?”
I checked my watch again even though I didn’t need to. “Yep. Exactly that time.”
She grabbed her purse from where it rested against the chair leg and came down the stairs with me without further comment. Outside, I opened the passenger door of my car for her.
“No Andrews?” She glanced around like she expected him to step from an invisible vehicle.
“He’s taken Nic and Leia to the airport.”
“Oh, okay.” She got into the car then buckled up as I shut the door and went around to the driver’s side.
When we arrived, the club was busy again, with the line three people deep down the block.
I cast a glance at some of the waiting crowd.
Some of these were just hoping to be allowed in, it looked like.
Nightfall was still by invitation only, and I could guarantee a good percentage of the people hadn’t received those.
I walked Kayla through the front door and to the curtain where she’d slip from sight, and I kissed her lightly on the mouth.
She squeezed my forearm. “See you later, Sebastian.”
The way she said my name spoke of promise and heat zinged through each of my nerves. “See you soon,” I replied.
I watched her slip through the curtain and turned to head to my office. I could do some work while I waited for her to appear on the stage.
As I walked to the stairs, someone jostled my shoulder hard enough that I stopped walking and turned around.
Rude guests weren’t welcome at Nightfall.
Perhaps this one needed dealing with. I glanced around for security, and they were as unobtrusive as usual, my men in black lurking at the edges of the room, watching.
But the young vampire who’d bumped me held his hands out.
“Hey, sorry man.” He paused and opened his mouth in mock shock.
“Oh, the regent. Well, allow me to pay my respects instead of offering my apologies, man.” He swept into a low, caricature of a bow, one foot in front of the other as he almost doubled over and moved his arms expansively.