Chapter 17 #2
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “My, my. They really have been asleep for a long time if they’ve forgotten how doors work.”
“They used magic to get him,” I said.
Sebastian lifted his eyebrow even higher. “Now that is interesting. Vampires with magic?”
“You think Kayla will know anything?”
It was his turn to shrug. “I’ll definitely ask her. She has access to plenty of grimoires that could mention something.”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “Shit, Seb. What if Ciara and I hadn’t been in that coffee shop?
” An image of Francois fighting his way down to the ground flashed through my mind.
“They could have captured us all. Hell, they could have killed her. The sister of an alpha wolf shifter has to be a prize, right?” Panic that I’d been holding at bay swept through me.
“And if they found out she was my mate… she could…she could be used against us. Against me.”
Sebastian nodded. “If the Ancients are against the Duponts, against our family, mates are a target.”
He didn’t add even yours but I heard it. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be of equal worth to Sebastian. Not like I was with Nic. Oh, Sebastian didn’t mean it, but he had much more of a prince complex about him, even though he’d been made rather than born.
“I think I might send Kayla to be with Leia in Baton Rouge. Now that the Ancients are here, both will be safer there in the mansion where no one could get to them.”
“But Ciara…” I didn’t finish. It was a useless protest, anyway.
Ciara wouldn’t leave her pack. She wouldn’t leave Conri. I couldn’t ask her to leave with the other women to go to Baton Rouge. She wouldn’t understand the danger she was in. She didn’t know she was my mate.
“Nic’s on his way.” Sebastian made the abrupt announcement as he turned and began to walk through his house.
I followed him. “He what?”
“He’s on his way. Thinks he needs to be here to deal with the Ancients himself.” Sebastian glanced over his shoulder. “And I agree. Nic is the oldest and most powerful among us. He’s our king.”
I nodded. I agreed with him, too.
“Working together, we’ll find a way,” he continued. “We always do, right?”
That much was true, but since taking New Orleans, Nic always seemed to be heading here to put out a fire.
Maybe it hadn’t been the best plan in the world to expand.
Still, we’d overthrown the Ricard regime and saved the people, and I never would have met Ciara if not for all the events that had gone before.
“He’ll be here soon.” Sebastian said that like he was reassuring himself, and it was unusual to hear him so rattled.
Usually, their brotherly rivalry—mostly perpetuated by Sebastian—kept Sebastian wanting to do everything by himself, like he had to prove something. But now he wanted Nic here, by his side, taking control. Ready to fix everything.
I didn’t disagree with the sentiment. It was just an unusual one to witness from Seb.
I couldn’t guarantee, though, that Nic’s arrival would make everything better for Ciara. I didn’t know that she’d be safe. Right now, she was with Conri, and I was pretty sure that wolf would lay down his life for his sister, but the rest of the pack wasn’t the same.
And if Ciara felt unsafe with the pack, she might leave.
“I need to call Ciara.”
Sebastian waved in the direction of the study. “Sure. I need to go chat with Kayla about all this shit, anyway. She’s not gonna be thrilled if I try to make her miss out on the action again. This isn’t my favorite conversation to have with her.”
I headed into his study as he walked away, still muttering to himself about his upcoming conversation with his mate.
I reached for my cell phone and took a deep breath before selecting Ciara’s number.
I didn’t need the air—it was an old reflex from when I was human.
Like a pause moment or a tic I couldn’t help when I was anxious about something.
That was a ridiculous human habit, too. Vampires had very little cause to ever be nervous.
Except where mates were concerned, perhaps. I was experiencing an entire range of emotions that weren’t familiar to me. They had echoes of something I’d known once, though. Something I wanted again.
“Hey.” Her voice was low when she answered. A little tired. A lot sexy.
My cock reacted right away. I wanted that voice to talk to me when we were alone, lying in a bed together.
“Hey. You okay?” I didn’t ask half of the questions I wanted to. That one would have to do.
“I’m good.”
I could hear the smile in her voice.
“How are things going in the pack?” I wasn’t sure Conri would ever let me on his land again, to be honest, so this question seemed valid, too.
“Well, now that Conri knows about the paper vampires, we’re on high alert.
” They didn’t deserve the kind of respect their preferred name, the Ancients, lent them.
They looked no stronger than paper, and if I kept calling them that, maybe I could will it so.
“And that means Conri has some of his guys posted around the city. Watching the civilians, trying to keep them out of trouble.”
I nodded to myself. Sebastian had probably done the same.
“And you’re sure you’re okay?” It seemed silly to ask her the same question twice, but my concern for her safety overrode anything logical.
She laughed softly. “Why did you really call, Jason? Why would you keep asking about me like you’re concerned?” The confusion in her voice sounded genuine.
Shit. I opened my mouth to reply. This was the perfect time to tell her all about being a vampire mate, right? If I told her everything, I could end her confusion and reassure her that she’d always have my support and my concern and anything else she needed to keep her healthy and well.
But I was afraid. If I fucked this up, she’d be gone. Well, she could be gone. I shook my head.
“Just worried for you, I guess.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t say anything else, but relief quickly replaced my anxiety.
I couldn’t tell her she was my mate while we were on a phone call. I’d never had the conversation before, but instinct told me there was a whole lot of wrong ways and this would be one of them.
“Any time, Ciara.”
“Bye, Jason.”
“Bye.” I waited as she hung up. Then I held my darkened phone to my ear for just a moment longer, imagining our connection hadn’t been severed.
Cell phones were too abrupt. Letters and mail had definitely been too distant back in the day, but cell phones were a little too efficient at terminating a call.
Still, I’d spoken to her. I knew she was okay now. It was time to get back to work and try not to think about her. I laughed. Yeah, like that was ever going to actually happen. It was like Ciara had invaded my brain and was now living there rent-free.
I’d never imagined what it would be like to be so consumed by another, but I knew there would never be any turning back.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and left to find Sebastian. Distracting myself with work was definitely worth a try.