Chapter 29
It wasn’t too long after our honeymoon that I received an update about my estranged family.
Robert and I had just gotten back from Reykjavik, where we’d spent a few amazing nights taking in the gorgeous postcard surroundings that Iceland has to offer.
Northern Lights, dogsledding, ice caves, geysers, a bustling downtown—there’d been so many things to see and do that I felt as if I’d need another vacation to recover from the one I’d just been on.
By the time we arrived home, I’d nearly managed to forget about my abduction.
What a bummer it was that two-thirds of the adult biological family I had left were such vile human beings.
Unlike the Nolans, I vowed that I’d always treat my own child with kindness and respect they deserved.
Whenever I thought of my great-grandparents, I was overcome with rage and disappointment, so I tried to block them from my thoughts to the best of my ability.
I could see no good that would come from stressing myself while pregnant.
Then, however, I got a call from Joseph. Suddenly, the Nolans moved right back to the front of my mind.
“Your abductors have been located,” he told me, his voice sounding as grim as I’d ever heard it.
“Are they dead?”
It wasn’t my first rodeo; I knew how the VGO operated. No way were they going to let the Nolans live after learning of their plans to commit vampire genocide. As I knew personally, they’d killed for far less.
“I’d rather we discuss this in person,” Joseph said after a pause. Whatever it was must be bad if he didn’t want to discuss it over the phone.
I frowned. Despite my love of Scotland, I wasn’t keen to hop on a plane and travel back across the pond after having just returned from overseas.
It made me feel bratty, knowing that countless individuals would probably give their right arm for an all-expenses paid trip to the United Kingdom, but I was pregnant, swollen, and feeling lethargic.
No point in stalling. “Are you wanting me to come to the VGO headquarters or—”
“No. I’m already here,” he said, sounding oddly sheepish.
“In San Francisco?”
After a beat, he said, “I’m visiting your friend.”
There was only one vampire that could be. “Liz?”
Well, well. Couldn’t say I was surprised. Every time those two were in the same vicinity, they flirted like their vampy lives depended on it. They were standing so close at my wedding that you’d have thought they were the ones getting married.
If I had to be shocked about anything, it was that Liz hadn’t found the time to tell me that she was meeting up with Joseph. Then again, I’d had the honeymoon and a baby to plan for, so I’d been busy myself.
I was struck with an abrupt sense of nostalgia for when Liz and I were roommates.
Back then, we’d tell each other everything, and I was usually the first to hear her gossip.
But that was life, wasn’t it? You grew older, developed new relationships with others, and lost a little bit of closeness with your best friend, despite still loving them.
“Yes, I’ve flown all the way to San Francisco to have a few dates with Elizabeth,” Joseph said with a mixture of haughtiness and guilt.
A few dates? He must have been in town for some time.
I stifled a laugh. Vampires could be so proud and private. As if I was going to think less of Joseph for having ooey-gooey feelings for Liz, which he obviously did.
He cut me off before I had a chance to tease him, his words bringing me back to the ugly reality at hand. “I’m afraid there’s news beyond your great-grandparents. Bad news.”
Robert and I met with Joseph and Liz the following day.
“I didn’t realize you also had a home here,” Robert commented as we took in the glittering landscape from Joseph’s 60th floor penthouse.
“I didn’t until recently,” Joseph said. “I had a chance to tour around San Francisco while I was here for your wedding, and I fell in love with the city.”
Hmm, fell in love with the city or Liz? I wondered, stifling a grin.
“Anyway, I saw this place for sale, and I thought it would make a nice little vacation home. Admittedly, it was a bit of an impulse purchase.”
An impulse purchase, like he’d splurged on a fancy coat and not a penthouse in the heart of San Francisco that had probably set him back about ten million bucks—a vacation home, no less, though I was sure he had dozens of those.
No matter how long I lived, I’d never fail to be shocked by the spending habits of ancient vampires.
“Quite the view, isn’t it?” Liz said, taking Joseph’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She was back to her old self now that the quickie divorce from David had been finalized.
It had been a depressing time for her. Thankfully, her sadness didn’t last too long once she came to grips with the reality that she and David were no longer compatible.
Although, one had to wonder how compatible they were to begin with if her newfound immortality had broken them so quickly.
Liz and David hadn’t been married long, so the bright side was that there hadn’t been much for them to squabble over.
In the end, their possessions were divided without any fuss, though David did insist on keeping the little cottage he’d purchased for them as a wedding gift.
How he was going to explain to guests the lightproof chamber that had been installed for Liz, a present from Robert, was anyone’s guess.
Though she’d painstakingly decorated the cottage, Liz didn’t mind too much about having to change residences.
Marlena had offered Liz the plush guesthouse located behind Dignitary, complete with antique crystal chandeliers, marble sinks, and designer furniture, so she’d upgraded, in a way.
It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it was the fresh change Liz needed.
Liz never said as much, but I could tell as her best friend that what hurt her most was how easy it had been for David to give up on their marriage.
I’d be lying if I claimed vampire-human relationships were easy, but they weren’t as impossible as David had claimed.
He could have found a way to make things work, if he’d really wanted to.
Liz had certainly hit the jackpot with her new beau, and not only because he was mind-bogglingly rich, powerful, handsome, smart, funny, and charming.
He also appeared to genuinely care for her, too, which made sense because they had similar personalities.
I once again hoped it would work out for them because Liz deserved some happiness, and I really liked Joseph. They seemed like a sweet couple.
“It’s gorgeous,” I agreed about the landscape. I let out a long whistle, feeling a little dizzy and breathless. I hugged my womb comfortingly. I’d sure hate to fall out a window, though it didn’t appear as if any of them opened beyond a couple inches.
“It’s quite spectacular in the daytime, if photos are anything to go by,” Joseph said. “I’m told you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, and San Francisco Bay.”
“I bet,” said Robert.
Joseph clapped his hands together. “But you two didn’t come here to discuss the view.”
He led us to the living room, where he had set out a carafe of blood for the vampires and a pretty, fizzy drink for me that had a sprig of lavender sticking out the top of the glass.
I picked it up and sniffed it. It smelled divine. I thanked Joseph for his thoughtfulness as we all took a seat.
“It’s a lemon-lavender mocktail,” he said, as if he found the term novel. “No booze.”
Joseph also asked about the baby, and I told him the pregnancy was going as planned—or, at least, was running the course of a typical pregnancy.
Joseph, Robert, and Liz acted as if I was made of glass because I was carrying a baby that was first of its kind: conceived by a human female and a human male that had once been vampire and had now become vampire again.
It sounded wild when put that way, which I supposed it was.
With pleasantries out of the way, Joseph wasted no time getting down to business.
“As I’ve said, we’ve located your great-grandparents, as well as their hired muscle.
It was actually Jason we captured first. Our IT department came through once again, flagging the Hawaii-bound flight he’d tried to board at LAX last week.
Amateurish criminal that he was, he’d foolishly believed he could fly under the radar if he hopped a flight leaving from Los Angeles instead of San Francisco.
Clearly, he had no idea who he was dealing with. We have eyes everywhere, as you know.”
That surprised me. I’d been under the impression that everything had happened within the previous day or two. “Last week? Where have you been keeping him?”
Joseph shrugged. “I haven’t been keeping him anywhere. We have a team of collection specialists who handle all that. I did, however, watch footage of the interrogations.”
Interrogations. Right. That was VGO speak for torturing a captive until they got the information they needed. The worst I could imagine still probably wasn’t as bad as what Jason had endured. Joseph was mentioning him in the past tense, so I assumed he was dead.
But, hey, not my circus, not my monkeys.
“Anyway,” Joseph continued, “after Jason was detained, it didn’t take long for him to betray his employers.
He had no loyalty to anyone but himself.
He wasn’t a ruthless fanatic like Richard and Maxine, looking to be martyred for his cause.
Jason’s only cause was making money. It sounded as if he didn’t even know vampires existed prior to his capture, so imagine his surprise. ”
“What did you learn from him?” Robert asked.
“Where Richard and Maxine were hiding, for starters. New York, in case you’re wondering. Jason knew he was doomed, so he struck a bargain with the VGO. He’d give up the Nolans whereabouts if, in return, the VGO promised to pay his wife and child the money the Nolans owed him.”
Liz said, “That was bold. It wasn’t as if he was in any position to bargain.”
He wasn’t, I thought, but he had thrown me those fortune cookies so I wouldn’t starve. I hoped Jason’s family would get their money, even though I was still pissed that he’d tried to kill me. “Will they be paid?”
“It’s already been done,” Joseph said. It wasn’t surprising the VGO had paid Jason’s family after they killed him, given their arbitrary principals.
They probably saw it as adequate compensation for his death and the income he was no longer bringing in.
“He also wasn’t made to suffer—once he started talking.
It took little time to locate Richard and Maxine after that. ”
Who were now also dead, I assumed.
“Here’s where things take a dark turn,” Joseph said with an ominous scowl. “I hope you don’t mind my saying this, Olivia, but your great-grandparents are positively insane.”
“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know.”
“Unlike Jason, they didn’t try to bargain their way out of their predicament once they were caught. Richard especially.”
“He was ancient,” I pointed out. Then, I amended, “For a human. He probably figured he’d done enough living.”
“Richard and Maxine are unwavering in their beliefs. I’ll give them that.
Richard says his only regret about being captured is that he and his wife now can’t witness vampire suffering firsthand—if you can believe their audacity.
He’s been going out of his way to antagonize us.
I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve never seen anyone behave so fiercely in the face of death,” Joseph mused, sounding as if he was impressed by Richard.
“You’re speaking about them as if they’re still alive. Are they?” I asked.
“Aye. Though not everyone agrees with me at the VGO, I feel it would be hasty to take any permanent measures against the Nolans at this time, as their plans have yet to come to fruition.”
“What plans are those?” asked Liz.
Joseph shook his head. “That’s the issue; we’re not sure.
Based on what they told Olivia, we know they’re aiming to replicate Leopold’s serum and then covertly distribute it to vampires on a large scale.
If or when it’s going to happen, we don’t know.
The Nolans are refusing to talk, and my associates have done everything to loosen their tongues. ”
I shuddered. I could only imagine.
“We’re hoping we’ve caught them before their plan was set in motion, but for all we know, we’re too late.”
“That’s alarming,” Liz said.
Robert cursed Leopold under his breath, verbalizing what we were all probably thinking. All of this could have been avoided had his maker not created that stupid serum. It was pointless to mention it now. The damage had already been done.
“It’s come down to a waiting game, I’m afraid.
The Nolans said it’s only a matter of time before the world witnesses the destruction.
” Joseph paused. “Of course, it has crossed our minds that they’re lying.
Some think the Nolans are spouting baseless threats so we think twice about executing them in case they might hold some cure. ”
Robert asked, “Is that what you think—that they’re lying?”
Joseph shook his head. “No, I don’t believe that’s the case.
“I don’t believe so, either. Why else would they have held me captive and taken my blood?” I pointed out. “They’ve been up to something terrible. I feel it as much as I know it.”