Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
The abandoned house in the middle of the empty cornfields was silent except for the distant sounds of passing trucks on the highway. Darkness enveloped Roger where he stood beside one of the upper-floor windows.
The solitary company of the stars was a boon. He’d woken at dusk, and Vincent had promptly offered his blood. When Roger had turned the boy down, a glimmer of a vague and violent desire had swept through him. The shape of that desire had remained unfathomable, and that had left Roger wondering about the boy he’d taken in.
Nathaniel had offered a mage friend a clean tab if she provided Roger with a fresh feeding. Her blood had been perfectly all right, but Roger’s heart remained a lump in his chest.
Holes in the walls of the house allowed for an icy wind that would’ve been rough for a human or shifter but suited Roger’s mood fine.
He had fucked up so many times, but he didn’t know of any other path he could’ve tread. If he hadn’t returned to Chicago, then Seamus would have sent someone after him. If he hadn’t convinced Zack to accompany him, then Zack would have continued trying to kill him. And if he’d killed Zack? If he’d never known him? Zack would be safe from whatever torture he currently suffered, but he would’ve died uselessly.
Monstrous memories played out. Zack practically dragging Vincent down the hall. Another boy, his name long forgotten, who had belonged to Seamus but had died in the middle of Devil’s Cove back in 1969 because Seamus had fed too long from him. The smell of the Gladwell Manor that fateful night in 1755 and the sight of Anton reveling in the destruction of a family. Ezra’s grief, crying out. And only once did Roger lift a finger. Only for Vincent, who was so jaded by vampires he didn’t seem to understand that Roger wouldn’t demand his blood.
Even though a part of him hungered for blood now.
Roger clenched his fists in his jacket pockets. He’d never doubted becoming a vampire, but he’d never had a choice in it. Feeding was something one did, and humans were hardly an innocent species.
But without Seamus to dictate behavior, Roger could redraw his boundaries. No, he could unearth them, find the root and shape of who he was when he didn’t have to pretend to be a foolish playboy.
Who was that? After centuries, was there anything left of the mortal man he’d been? Did Roger even want any part of that bastard who had been too stupid to realize he was walking toward death without a fucking care?
I can’t be that coward anymore.
From the second-story window, he had a clear vantage for well over an acre down the gravel road. He’d parked his borrowed vehicle behind the house to obscure it. Five minutes before his first meeting was scheduled, a sleek black luxury sedan crawled down the road, eventually turning onto the short drive.
The car came to a stop closer to the road, and the engine turned off, though the headlights remained on. The driver’s door opened, and a woman stepped out. Her long braid swung as she strode. Rock and dirt crunched under her feet until she veered her path onto a patch of lawn before the house. The dry, frozen grass bent in rustles and snaps.
“Roger,” Josefina called out, “you’re being incredibly dramatic, and it better be for a damn good reason.”
Roger dropped from the window to land several feet ahead of her. She jumped, and he couldn’t help the ghost of a smile. Apparently, she hadn’t spotted him. That meant his attempt to pull a loose shadow around him had worked. Doing so had been easy in the darkness, but it was a skill he had to practice. “Forgive me for a few precautions. Last night has put me on edge.”
“So the rumors are true,” Josefina said. “You’ve been exiled.”
“How do you know already?” Roger asked. “Taliville is hundreds of miles from Chicago.”
“It’s called the internet.” Josefina tched and shook her head. “Reed has been glued to social media since the video of your waltz with Zack went viral on the Fang app. You countered Seamus’s ability right in front of him, didn’t you?”
“I was showing off a bit, yes,” Roger replied.
“You should’ve staked the bastard weeks ago.”
“You, more than anyone, should know how delicate a game politics can be.”
Josefina slid her hands into her coat pockets and stilled as only a vampire could. With no reason to breathe or to fidget, she could stand motionless for an age if she wanted. She’d been a member of the Great Lakes Coven when she was first made. A descendant of Anton’s had turned her, and she had hated her lot in life. In 1921, Roger had introduced her to Nell, a master vampire with a coven based in Tennessee, in an effort to save her from a worse fate. Roger had watched the way Seamus and Anton would begin to circle around a victim before draining a vampire of their life force. They were always careful, always certain to take a loner, and Josefina had been one until Nell.
Roger’s matchmaking had worked. Seamus hadn’t wanted to let her leave the GLC, but Roger had convinced him that Josefina would become a spy in Nell’s court. His lie had gotten her to safety, and he’d swallowed another round of Seamus’s anger. Seamus had chalked up his “miscalculation” to Roger’s lack of intelligence rather than a purposeful deception.
At least I’ve managed one good deed in my life . Roger matched her neutral expression, glad to suppress his worries instead of giving in to them.
“People were supposed to welcome you back,” Josefina said.
“About that. Dmitri had his own plan,” Roger replied.
Josefina scowled. Roger told her what had happened since his return to Chicago as precisely as he could. As he spoke about the night that Dmitri was dragged out onto the stage, he found a hollow part inside himself and pulled it forth. He didn’t have time for his emotions. The information mattered. He barreled forward into recounting the previous night’s ball and attack.
When he had woken from his cursed coma, she had been the first vampire he encountered. And out of everyone he knew, she was one of the few that he had broken down and admitted his deepest need. He had to rid himself of Seamus so that he could finally have a life. A real one. She’d agreed to help.
He’d failed her, too.
“In the 1680s, Seamus and Anton made a wager between themselves,” Roger said. “They’d been going through a patch of killing each other’s sirelings, so they made a bet over whose would live longest.”
“So they made you and Dmitri the same night,” Josefina said.
“My life’s a fucking game to them,” Roger said hoarsely. “Now, they’ve taken Zack and Takashi. I have to get them back.”
The wind gusted past them, and Josefina stared off into the distance. Her car’s headlights finally snapped off and plunged them into darkness. Both of them could see well enough not to need the light source.
Josefina nodded tightly. “That explains a lot. Do you know where they took Zack and Takashi?”
“Likely his mansion northwest of the city,” Roger replied. “I’m planning a strike to free them. After I get them back, I am ruining everything Seamus holds dear.”
“I hope you’re not expecting me to be part of a raid. If anyone spots me, that will mean a war between the GLC and my love’s coven. That’s the opposite of our goals.”
“I have a part for you to play.” Roger heard the rumble of a vehicle turning onto the gravel road. “But I’ll have to tell you later. Do me a favor. Hide in the shadows and make sure my second appointment doesn’t kill me.”
Josefina opened her mouth to ask the question, but she must have heard the growing sounds of the truck’s engine. She darted into the house with a burst of vampiric speed.
Roger braced himself, keeping his hands loose at his sides.
Eventually, the truck swerved around Josefina’s car and came to a stop in the yard. Its headlights illuminated Roger. He squinted into the bright light but remained still. Hopefully, they aren’t planning to run over me.
The engine remained on, though the headlights dipped from high intensity to a regular glow. Both doors opened in unison. The lighting made it impossible to take in the details of the newcomers right away. They were shadows, one broader, while the one on Roger’s right was shorter and slimmer. For a second, an irrational hope flared that the one on the right must be Zack. But the figure was taller than Zack, and, though narrow in the shoulders, not quite narrow enough.
The bigger shadow stepped into the light.
Callum Wright had a gun in his hand, the weapon up and pointed at Roger. While he shared Zack’s gray eyes and delicate nose, the similarities ended there. Where Zack was the wind, Cal was the unforgiving rocks, relentless and punishing to any wave that dared brush against him. He was thick with muscle and taut with anger. He sneered with a malice that matched the worst of Roger’s nightmares.
“Put the weapon away,” the figure on the right said.
That voice rent Roger’s heart into pieces. Zack never said that he sounds just like his father .
Thomas Wright walked into the light. He was lithe for someone who had to be near fifty, clearly making an effort to remain physically fit for his line of work. His light brown hair was the same shade as Zack’s, only he had streaks of gray starting from his temples. And though Zack had his mother’s eyes, he had his father’s jawline and squared his shoulders in the same fashion. Everything about him was a glimpse of what age would bring to Zack.
There was so much familial familiarity between Zack and Thomas that Roger was glad the Wrights were dealing with a spat between them. If he’d had to speak, his cracked heart would’ve shattered, and he couldn’t afford weakness around these predators.
“I said put the gun down,” Thomas ordered.
“I see a fucking bloodsucker and no Zack, so no, Dad, I’m not putting the gun down,” Cal replied sharply.
“Oh my God, you are the fucking worst!” a higher-pitched voice declared.
Both men jumped and turned toward their truck. Roger had the advantage of seeing someone crawling out from the back seat while both men shielded their eyes in the headlight in an attempt to spot the interloper.
But from the way they frowned, they clearly knew the voice. Thomas called out, “ Amber ? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Amber joined them outside the vehicle. Though she was the shortest of the three by at least six inches, she had the same defiance in her posture. The dark gave her longer shadows, but Roger was accustomed to picking out details. She had a few acne blemishes, but the softness of her features gave away her youth. She was practically a child, and yet she had an enchanted dagger in a sheath on her belt. Roger couldn’t remember if Zack had ever said her age. Sixteen was too generous of an estimate. Was she fifteen? Fourteen?
She had the sort of determination that Zack had had when Roger first met him. The confidence of a freshly minted hunter suited her. Roger only hoped that she wasn’t so entrenched in her family’s beliefs that she was a crusader like Cal.
“Maybe if you two hadn’t been arguing since this morning, you would’ve seen me sneak into the truck,” Amber declared.
“Get back in the truck,” Thomas said.
“Zack is my brother.” Amber stamped her foot as she came to stand between them. “I’m not letting him down more than we already have.”
A flicker of a deeper emotion crossed Thomas’s face, but he quickly schooled his features into the firm countenance he’d first displayed.
Cal didn’t bother hiding his disagreement. “You’ve got it wrong, little sis. Zack’s the fucking disappointment.”
“He is not!” Amber whirled on her brother. “I can’t do a third of the research he pulled off at my age!”
“Because you actually get to do the job ,” Cal said.
“When are you going to get that research is part of the job? You can’t just shoot everything until it stops moving!”
“I find cutting heads off works pretty damn well, too.”
“Enough,” Thomas snapped with parental authority.
Watching the three of them only strangled Roger’s heart. No wonder Zack had been so hurt when they had disowned him. Family was something Roger had never really had, not like the Wrights did. He had seen plenty of them to know that the Wrights were tight-knit. He’d assumed Zack had never fit into their weave, but was he wrong? What was he like with his sister, his father?
Roger prayed he’d find out one night soon.
“We’re not unaware that something happened at Chateau de Vampire last night,” Thomas said. “We have our resources, and the community has been lit up with rumors about the ball. You texted on Zack’s phone that you needed our help. What’s happened to my son?”
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Cal growled. His finger half squeezed the trigger of his gun. “This bastard seduced him and then got him killed. Let’s put him down.”
“I am not a starved nest vampire eager for my next blood fix,” Roger said, matching Cal’s tone. “I have been contending with greater threats than you could dream to be for centuries. Put the weapon away so we can have a civil conversation, or go pout in the truck like the small child you are. Zack needs us to cooperate.”
Cal took a step forward.
Thomas moved at the same time, reaching out to catch Cal by the wrist and force the point of his gun toward the ground. He was face-to-face with him. “Callum, I came to learn what we can do. Wrap your head around the mission, or do what the vampire says.”
“We know what happened. He turned Zack into his blood bitch. He’s probably luring the rest of us into a trap,” Cal replied. “Let’s end him and join Mom in Indiana before we wind up in the ground. Or worse, enchanted into mindless blood bags like Zack was.”
This was the brother that Zack had once idolized. This was the man the family had chosen over Zack. Kind, courageous, compassionate Zack had been cast out, and his monster of a brother was the one loved and adored.
Roger embraced how anger petrified his heart and allowed that stillness to creep over his limbs. All the rage and self-disappointment that he’d been putting off compounded inside him, and he turned that into fuel for his cold and distant attitude. Every second bickering was a waste.
“I have seen a thousand petty pieces of shit like you, Callum Wright,” Roger said, the snarl and hiss working into his voice. He curved his lips into a cruel smile. “At their rotten core is the fervent wish to drag everyone into the mire with them because they can’t figure out how to rise above their heartless, loveless selves.”
Cal paled. He wrestled free of his father and quickly raised the gun. “You son of a?—”
By the time the bullet cleared the chamber, Roger had blurred into action. The world seemed to stand still as he rushed forward. He gripped Cal around the throat. Humans had such soft and destructible bodies. He wouldn’t need to apply much of his strength to break bones or crush Cal’s windpipe.
But he held back. Instead of ripping Cal’s head from his spine, he forced Cal against the truck’s hood and applied pressure to pin him in place. “Your brother is twice the hunter and four times the man you will ever be. If you were in danger, I would have to beg him not to go to your side. I. Do. Not. Like. You . You are alive because Zack wills it. But he is not here. So give me a reason to snap your neck. Please .”
Cal scrambled against Roger, but he didn’t have the strength or leverage to move Roger’s hand.
The tip of a blade poked Roger in the back. Amber wouldn’t be fast enough to stop Roger from killing Cal, but she was in a good position. One solid push and she’d send her silver dagger into Roger’s heart. He might be able to avoid it—he could attempt to drop into shadows for a flash of a moment like he had on Halloween in order to escape Seamus’s grip—but the fact that he hadn’t felt her move until it was too late either spoke to her expertise, or his rage was blinding him worse than he’d thought.
“Point’s made,” Thomas said. The eldest Wright had his enchanted dagger in hand. The shape of it was closer to a dirk, with a wider blade at the hilt. The runes carved into it glowed with bright white light. “Now, take your hand off of him before we have a bigger problem.”
Roger released Cal and then blurred with movement to where he’d stood before. Impressively, Amber spun toward his direction with little lagging. Thomas was slower, and Cal had to recover from the sudden lack of force holding him up.
Sliding his hands into his coat pockets, Roger pulled on his colder demeanor again. Zack had called it his Master Vampire face. God, I miss him .
“Your text said you needed to meet with the family to discuss a mission for Zack’s sake,” Thomas said. “We’re what you’ve got. I’m guessing Zack isn’t here because no force on Earth could’ve convinced him to sit by while all this bullshit went on. What has happened to my son?”
“After the ball, we were ambushed,” Roger said hollowly. His rage at Cal drained back to the hold it’d flooded from. As infuriating as he was, he wasn’t the true target of Roger’s anger. “Anton and Seamus surprised us, and though we fought valiantly, they won. They took Zack and Takashi. I need to get them back.”
“Who the fuck is Takashi?” Cal demanded.
“Takashi Sato?” Amber asked.
Cal scowled at her, and Thomas frowned in confusion.
Amber lifted her chin, just like Zack might have. “We almost failed to stop a cult from raising a demon this last Halloween because no one was picking up the research slack. So when Zack mentioned he had another boyfriend, I did what he would do. I went looking.”
“Mentioned?” Cal repeated. “When did he mention another boyfriend?”
“Not the time, Cal,” Thomas said warily.
“No, no, no. See, he didn’t have any boyfriends in Taliville. He had a bloodsucker he might’ve called one, but only the one . So when did he tell you about this other boyfriend, Amber?”
“Oh, grow up!” Amber threw her hands up and turned to glare at her brother.
“Mom said?—”
“I don’t care.” Ignoring her brother, Amber slid her blade back into its sheath and addressed Roger. “Did you mean Takashi Sato or not?”
“I did,” Roger replied.
“Why take them but leave you?” Amber asked.
“Seamus knows that I’ll agonize over what could be happening to them.” Roger straightened his shoulders. “But I refuse to stand by while it happens. I know his mansion and where he keeps his prisoners within it. I’ve drawn up plans for it and had someone who knows it assist me in fleshing out any changes.”
“He may suspect you’ll come for them,” Thomas said. “That makes the job tricky.”
“Are we talking about a rescue op? Seriously?” Cal scoffed. “We should burn the place down.”
Roger kept his gaze on Thomas. “Seamus has long preyed on the unfortunate. Most of the humans he seduces into his collection of pets are hardly older than your daughter. He has a skill at picking out weaknesses and exploiting them.”
“Any way to get them out while we’re at this?” Thomas asked.
“Not likely. He terrifies them into obedience and slaughters those who attempt to leave. I only managed to take one at the ball because an Unseelie noble stepped in,” Roger replied. “The boy was left alive because Seamus wanted him to deliver a message to me.”
“Why don’t you go in yourself and get them?” Cal demanded. “Why do you need us if you’re such a badass?”
“Because if they’re not able to move under their own power, he’ll need help carrying them,” Thomas said, a haunting, knowing quality changing his voice. There was a distance to his gaze and an emptiness to his expression.
Cal had an echo of that emptiness on his face suddenly.
In the quiet, Amber strode forward until she was a foot from Roger. She met his gaze with her brown eyes and held it. Staring contests were a frequent occurrence in Roger’s life. And often, he had backed down in them, given way so that he could convince the other party he believed they were in the right. Sometimes, those others had been; sometimes, he had been conning them. With Amber, he held her gaze and remained motionless.
“Zack said you had some mission for him, but he wouldn’t tell us what,” Amber said.
“I was hoping he could help me kill Seamus so I could become the master of the coven,” Roger replied.
“What happens once you get him back?” Amber demanded. “You go back to making him wear a collar and making a power play?”
“Once I have them back,” Roger whispered, “I will dismantle everything Seamus has ever held dear. I will burn his clubs. I will decimate his mansion. I will pull apart his coven until every vampire that holds him in esteem is a corpse. But I cannot risk Zack and Takashi. I cannot let him use their safety to keep me in check.”
“Okay. I’m in,” Amber said. She turned to face her brother and father.
Thomas ran his hand through his hair. Light and shadow played across his features, making him harder to read. After a moment, he nodded. “We’ll save Takashi if we can, but Zack is the priority. Deal?”
Roger nodded in agreement. Because if I have Zack, we’ll be able to save Takashi together.
“With you involved, we’re limited to a nighttime strike,” Thomas said. “That’ll put us humans at a disadvantage, especially if the master of the house is in.”
“He won’t be,” Roger said.
“How can you guarantee that?”
“Because Seamus will have to make an appearance when a high-ranking member of another coven stops in for a spontaneous visit,” Josefina said loudly from her hiding place in the house. She stepped out into the night and dropped down to the ground. Despite the hunters’ slight scramble at the sight of her, she approached Roger’s side calmly. “I assume that’s the real reason you asked me here.”
“I was hoping you’d assist,” Roger said.
“Eh, I suppose,” she replied with an air of nonchalance. She had a hint of worry in her eyes, though. Takashi had been part of her coven longer than she had and was one of Nell’s closest sirelings, likely making them close as well. And though she had a tough shell, she’d gone to great lengths to help Zack prepare for his role at Roger’s side. She wouldn’t have put in the hours if she didn’t care for him.
“Excuse me, but who are you?” Thomas asked.
“Josefina, captain and beloved of Nell.”
“Nell as in the Nell? Taliville matron Nell?”
“That would be the one.”
Thomas looked from Roger to Josefina and back to Roger. In a hoarse whisper, he said, “What the hell has my son gotten into?”
“The middle of his favorite sick fantasy,” Cal grumbled.
Amber stepped on her brother’s foot hard enough to make Cal jump. He shoved her in return.
“Knock it off,” Thomas warned. He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s nearing the middle of the night. We need to make a plan to strike. You have anything written out, or do I need to break out the pen and paper?”
Slowly, Roger reached into his inner coat pocket and took out a set of folded papers. He’d written down everything he knew about the mansion and had had Vincent help him where he could. He offered the papers over to Thomas.
“Cal, grab the lantern,” Thomas said as he walked around to the back of the truck. “And turn the engine off.”
“I’ve got it,” Amber replied as she hurried to the cab.
“Since the threat of murdering each other appears to be over, I’ll be going,” Josefina said. “Roger, a word?”
While the hunters spread the floorplans and Roger’s notes across the tailgate, Roger accompanied Josefina over to her car. She lowered her voice to the barest whisper. “Have you thought about Dmitri?”
“It’s possible that he’s still alive,” Roger admitted. “Anton said the gamble wasn’t settled after all just before breaking my neck. Seamus could have come up with some new condition. Some other comparison to start. I don’t know. But if I try to win back everything I’ve lost in a single move, I’ll be crushed under the weight of my goals.”
Josefina put her hand on Roger’s arm. When Roger had seen her as a mortal, she’d been demure with a caring soul. After she’d been turned, the softness in her brown eyes had died. A hint of that old warmth came back now. “My love put her faith in Zack and Takashi, but mine has been in you. Ever since you told me what you did for me, I’ve had a new filter to view the past. I can see you clearer now. You have a strength in you, Roger.”
“All a show,” Roger murmured.
“It’s not.” Josefina squeezed his arm. He bent his head down, and she touched her forehead to his. No romantic love had ever existed between them, but their quiet kinship was its own loving bond. “Save our lost dear ones and watch your back. I want many more decades hearing your voice.”
“I’ll try.” Roger smiled, but it felt hollow.
Once she was driving away, Roger returned to the Wrights. They were already deep in the discussion of the best approach to the mansion, and Amber began to pepper Roger with questions he hadn’t thought of.
But a plan was forming. Roger had experienced allies, even if he couldn’t trust Cal not to stake him in the back. Hold on one more night, loves. I’m coming .