Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Aptly named, the room is white, everything is white.
I wash my hand across my face and groan.
Oh heck, I can see myself leaving dirty smudges everywhere.
The more I try not to, the more it will happen.
I’m the person who, when told to be careful while eating, gets all nervous and my face twitches and I miss my mouth.
I will drop every crumb or spill my drink.
Not intentionally. But the more careful I try to be, the less it works out.
Gah. I also cleaned the apartment in this outfit.
Forcing a horsie demon into a fully white room amounts to torture.
It’s almost as bad as that red chair. I remove my boots and leave them by the door.
Even with me as an unwilling visitor, some poor sod will have to clean up after me, so I can’t drop my manners.
In my socks, I pad across the white carpet and look around the room…
no windows. The door has a fancy locking mechanism; it is a combination of infused magic and technology.
It also has a dangerous, buzzing ward over the top.
I move to the closest wall and give it a tap.
It clangs. I hum; they’ve reinforced the wall.
There’s a big white bed and another door leading to an attached bathroom.
I yawn. I haven’t got a clue what I’m going to do about the pureblood—I can’t let him get away with this, but I can’t kill him either. I don’t mess around in vampire politics, and killing a pureblood is equivalent to killing a king.
Flash-flash, flash-flash. I lift my head and spot the red light underneath the security camera as it blinks rhythmically. I spin away before whoever is manning the security camera can catch my bright, beaming smile.
I dramatically flop onto the bed and bury my head in the pillows as uncontrollable laughter bubbles up inside of me—I can’t help my giggles. This whole situation is ridiculous.
Anyone watching the camera feed will see my shoulders shake and probably think I am crying, not laughing.
I allow a few more minutes for Ava to do her thing, and when I’m sure enough time has lapsed, I flip over and sit up. I lift my hips and pull my phone from my back pocket.
The naughty vampires really should have frisked me.
My mobile vibrates immediately in my hand. I get comfortable and sit cross-legged in the centre of the bed as I answer. “Hi, Ava.”
“Hey Boss, I’m in their systems—I have been since I got your text message.
I’ve got you on screen.” I wave at the camera.
“I’ve looped the camera feed so they can’t see you talking to me.
I’ve gone through their systems with a fine-toothed comb and I can’t find any evidence of any other safe house being compromised.
No more hidden cameras. I found and deleted the one from the apartment.
But just in case, I’m doing a full security check as a precaution.
I’m…” the phone rustles as Ava puffs out a sad-sounding breath.
“…shit, I’m so sorry Boss, I messed up.” I vigorously shake my head at the camera.
“No, no, hey…you haven’t messed up, don’t be daft. These things happen…” I push my hair away from my face and tuck it behind my ear, “…and I appreciate everything that you do. Thank you for having my back.”
“I saw the void bracelet. Can you still use the doorways?” Ava asks.
I glance down at the snap band on my wrist. Huh, I’d forgotten about it.
“Oh yeah, it’s all fine. I can still use the doorways—my magic is still active; the bands don’t work on me.
I have some clippers at home that I can use to cut this sucker off.
I’m not happy about hanging around here for long—I need to leave. ”
“I will keep you on the camera loop, so you can leave anytime. Are you going to use your doorway?”
I grin at the camera and point at the warded door with my free hand and scramble off the bed and roll my shoulders. “Is it bad that I want to go out the front door?”
“Yes,” Ava says, being the voice of reason. “I can see on the cameras that he has a lot of vampires hanging around.”
I grunt in response.
I move towards the door with its crappy ward and the over-the-top magic lock. It would be so easy to walk out of this room. Going out there and beating up or frightening the vampires is going to make me feel vindicated.
In that awful red room, when I looked down at those glossy red tiles as they reflected my distorted, red face back at me, I felt inspired.
It gave me such a great idea. I could shift into a demon, red, huge, and scare the crap out of them.
A human against vampires wouldn’t stand a chance, but a demon…
Walk away or cause a scene…apart from a bit of bruising across my cheek, I’m okay. I let them take me. I came for answers, and I got them.
But…Ava is right, it’s not a good idea. I am not that person; it’s not the vampires’ fault that their boss is a dick.
I spin and mockingly glare at the camera, then shift my gaze to the room’s bathroom door.
With a disappointed sigh, I grab my boots from the floor, and like a sulky teenager, I trudge away towards the bathroom doorway.
“No, it’s not a good idea,” I grumble, once I’m standing on the bathroom tiles and not on the dreaded white carpet.
One-handed, as I’m still holding the phone in the other hand, I stuff my feet into my boots.
“It’s not a good idea at all. I hate you.
It’s not like you, being the voice of reason. ”
Ava snorts. “Yeah, I know. You must be rubbing off on me.”
I know I’m doing the right thing. Luther has a lot of guards…poorly trained, but a lot of them. Perhaps we can take him on indirectly. “Mhm, so…what else did you find? Do we have any dirt?” I smirk up at the camera. “Of course we have dirt.”
“Oh, Boss, I have access to so much dirt on this guy, I am surprised he hasn’t got a team following him around with shovels.
With the stuff on his computer network, he should have been more on our radar.
There’s a girl at the apartment building they took you from.
In their communication, they call her the rebel leader.
” Ava snorts. “The girl is twenty. Bunch of idiot vampires calling her a rebel leader. I think releasing the information I have to the vampire council will help her, act as a distraction, and keep the vampires away from you. It should keep this Luther guy busy for years. I can make his entire House a priority for the guilds. He is going to be a pariah in vampire circles. It’s a win-win on all fronts. ”
I tilt my head in thought. I’d prefer to see the information with my own eyes and plan things properly.
But…we’ve done this so many times and I trust Ava’s judgement.
This situation calls for something different.
Plus, he made it personal by sending his henchman to my safe house to kidnap me. And he slapped me.
Not that it wasn’t already personal: the guy sold me to a demon. I nod while I rub my sore face. “Perfect, do that.”
“Okay, done. I’ve sent the information out to the vampire guild, the vampire council, and a few Houses. I’ll do the necessary explaining to the girl and get her someplace safe.”
“Do you need me for anything?”
“Nope, I just need to ring the rebel leader.” Ava snorts again. “I’ve already sent all the information out to the relevant parties. Lord Gilbert, your pureblood kidnapper, is about to have a very bad day.”