Chapter 24
Sebastian stared at the bath that had since run cold. Victor, Charlotte, Piper, and Whitney were pacing around his house, trying to figure out a plan of action. It had become blindingly obvious that she had been taken, and it didn’t take him three guesses to figure out who was behind the kidnapping. Sebastian had briefly wondered if she was just taking her time with the hunt, but she had assured him she wouldn’t be gone for longer than a few hours.
That was six hours ago.
Sebastian had called her friends, asking if they had seen her, but they hadn’t. Panic started to set in and in just a few moments, the four vampires were practically beating down his door. Victor and Charlotte had kept him company, tried to keep him calm, while Piper and Whitney went out to try and track her. They had returned in less than an hour, explaining that they’d found traces of her blood, and had smelled Gideon’s scent. It made him sick. Multiple times.
Now, he was just numb. Numb, but scared and angry. He knew that she hadn’t gone willingly. There was no question in his mind about her loyalty to him, and Gideon was threatened by that. All he knew was to take her by force. That monster would never understand the concept of love or consent. Sebastian just prayed she wasn’t hurt too badly. “Sebastian, come in here,” Charlotte said, by his side all of a sudden. Gently, she placed her hand on his shoulder, which made him jump. Her eyes softened and her frown deepened. “Please.”
He obeyed and followed her into the living room where everyone else was. They all looked hopeless, like they were about to tell him his puppy died, and he hated it. Had they given up? Surely not?
“What are we going to do? When are we going to go get her?” Sebastian asked, breaking the silence.
“It’s not that simple…” Piper started with a glance toward Whitney.
“Why isn’t it?!” Sebastian snapped. “It actually is that simple. It’s five against one. We will come up with a plan and we will beat him.”
“Sebastian, maybe we should just go…”
“You honestly think I’m just going to sit on my ass while you go find her? You could use my help. If you’re so damn scared of him, you need the backup. Where does he live? Somewhere here in the U.S.?”
“No,” Whitney sighed, shaking her head. “He lives in an estate in the countryside in England. He’ll see us coming from miles off. Not to mention Damien and Theodore are probably both there, and they’ll smell us before even Gideon does. There will be no element of surprise.”
“Aren’t you fucking Damien?” Sebastian asked crudely. “Aren’t you the reason Gideon knew where Leona was in the first place? You let slip to your boyfriend that she was here in New Orleans. Now look what happened.”
“Sebastian, none of the blame lies with anyone in this room,” Piper said warningly. “You are misplacing your anger. We are scared of Gideon because he is powerful and terrifying. You are underestimating him.”
“I’m not?—”
“Yes, you are. Don’t talk about things you don’t know shit about,” Piper cursed with her brows furrowed. “We aren’t just going to leave Leona to die, but we do need to come up with a plan. That plan is not going to include you. He will kill you instantly before any of us can even blink. He will ensure you feel pain. He wants to hurt Leona. That means hurting you beyond comprehension. He will punish her through you.”
“Listen to me,” Sebastian said darkly as he squared up to the blonde. “The only way you’re going to keep me from coming with you is if you kill me. I know your kind can’t feel pain, but he will. Leona will be freed of his shackles once and for all and she will never have to look over her shoulder again. If you don’t take me with you or tell me where his estate is, I will find it myself.”
“This is serious,” Piper said in a last-ditch effort.
“No shit it’s serious!” Sebastian hissed, throwing his hands up. “Anyone can be killed. There is no such thing as true immortality. He is not a god. You should stop fearing him like he is. Just because he’s a billion years old, or however fucking long he’s been around, does not mean he can’t be beat. Nobody’s ever had the balls to try is all,” he said. “Whatever we need to do to get ready is what we’re going to do. You turned Charlotte and Victor to help protect me, to fight him. Didn’t you?” he asked, staring at all of them. “Well, now’s the time. I’m asking you to fight for me. For Leona. For the family you claim I’m a part of. I’m willing to put my life down for all of you. Are you?”
Victor sighed after an age of silence, then turned to his fellow immortals. “Sebastian is right. We can’t leave Leona out to dry. She’s probably scared and hurt. Gideon will have an edge because we’d be bringing a fight to him, but at this point, it doesn’t look like we have a choice. We need to stay strong. Like Bas said, there are five of us and one of him. And when Leona’s freed, that’ll be six to one. We can even ask Theodore to?—”
“Theo and Dame won’t fight him,” Whitney interrupted, folding her arms. “They won’t fight with him if we’re involved — if I’m involved — but they won’t go against him either.”
“Fine,” Sebastian interjected. “Just us then. He knows what to expect with you two,” he said, eyeing Piper and Whitney. “But Charlie and Victor are new vampires. He doesn’t have experience with them. And humans are more powerful than you think,” he said.
“Sebby, a gun isn’t going to work on him,” Charlotte said, knowing where this was going.
“I’m going to try anyway,” he mumbled. “It’ll at least distract him long enough for one of you to go after him and try and knock him down.”
“Sebastian can hold his own,” Victor said, not wanting anyone else to dismiss him. It was pointless. “I’ve seen him in a fight. I know it’s a human against a vampire, but he won’t run and hide. He always finds his way out,” he smirked, draping his arm over his shoulder.
Sebastian nodded and looked at the other three. “It’s settled then. Let’s go fuck him up.”