Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
It was a lucky thing that autumn came on slowly in the south. The nights still clung to the sultry warmth of the day in Cape Charles. With the home being situated on the edge of a nature preserve, the scents and sounds of woodland mingled with that of the ocean on their doorstep.
The town itself was only a twenty minute walk away and offered a variety of restaurants and shops for the nocturnal among them even on the cusp of the off-season.
At first Luis was leery of letting Francesca out of the house or off their immediate — and secure — property, but after two weeks of isolation, she began pushing him for a little bit more activity.
Luis was shocked to realize he didn’t actually need it as much as she did.
Not since his childhood had he spent so much time in one place doing next to nothing.
He’d spent nearly every waking moment since his majority chasing the next game, thrill, scam, dollar, and woman he could get his hands on.
Sitting still wasn’t interesting, and it allowed too many opportunities for introspection.
But when he was with his anchor, sitting still was a privilege.
Being with her was everything he’d imagined it would be — and quite a bit more.
He delighted in holding her hand as they walked the length of their private beach and found his heart racing every dusk when he awoke to her curled up into his side.
While she cooked her meals, he watched her from his place at the kitchen island, fascinated by the way she moved.
Conversation was as easy as it’d always been, and laughter even moreso.
They often sat for long stretches on the beach, staring out into the waves glittering with moonlight, to discuss anything and everything.
Francesca adapted fairly quickly to an entirely nocturnal schedule, which allowed them to spend even more time together in the quiet, white-washed beach house.
When they needed space, he moved to the office — usually to take calls or manage things with the family — and she drifted into the kitchen for what she called “culinary challenges”.
This involved ordering several strange, seemingly unconnected ingredients to be delivered to the house and challenging herself to make a successful meal out of them.
Of course he encouraged this, since he found it deeply entertaining to hear her curse or yell out in triumph over foods he’d never deign to put in his mouth, and he encouraged her to up the ante every time.
When she was alone in the kitchen, she took long phone calls with Maxine and her parents, assuring them all that she was well.
To her parents she explained very little, only that she’d started dating a friend and they’d gone on a vacation together.
This obviously led to many more questions, and Luis happily introduced himself as her new husband.
That led to several more questions.
Luis liked her parents. At least through the phone they seemed like kind, slightly oblivious people who loved their daughter endlessly.
They didn’t appear to know almost anything about her life or how hard she worked for them, but after an initial burst of ire on her behalf, he realized that was a deliberate choice on Francesca’s part.
Like him, she kept many aspects of herself hidden from people. No one ever got to see the full scope of her, or to truly know the inner workings of her mind behind the shell.
But he did.
More and more, she opened up. Despite the very real fear and guilt that dug its claws into her, she still somehow managed to give herself over to him, trusting that he’d care for the tender parts of her she’d hidden away.
It was a trust he intended to honor until the day he died.
It came with enormous responsibility. The moment his fangs punctured her skin, his life and all his priorities changed.
A vampire’s world revolved around his anchor.
He often stayed up far past dawn, holding her as she slept, his mind racing with everything that needed to be done and all the terrifying possibilities the future held.
Seeing to her needs, making sure she was safe, ensuring her happiness… Nothing mattered more to him now.
That was why he struggled when, two and a half weeks into their stay, she asked if Maxine could visit.
He’d discovered that caring for an anchor was a balancing act.
On one hand, giving her anything she could ask for was an easy choice. He wanted her to thrive, and that meant encouraging her to have fun with her friends. On the other hand, Malachi was a slippery son of a bitch and until he was put in a shallow grave, he didn’t want to take any risks.
His paranoia wasn’t helped by frequent frustrating updates from Felix and Milo on the situation at home.
Malachi hadn’t been in contact with the family to make demands for tribute or to hand over Frankie. Intel came through that he’d left United Washington sometime after they did, and he’d been spotted in Baltimore.
That should’ve reassured him. More distance between them was certainly a good thing, but the silence was unsettling. A man like Malachi didn’t just give up after a missed shot. His reputation and pride were on the line. There was no room to cut losses and run.
But there’d been no attacks on Amauri businesses or family members. There hadn’t even been a disruption in the flow of shipments through the docks, though they’d braced for it. On the surface, everything seemed normal enough — which was the worst possible sign.
When a furious vampire went quiet, that was when you really needed to worry.
He didn’t want Francesca to be afraid, so he told her the truth: nothing had happened. That had the unfortunate side effect of making her think that things had begun to blow over.
Luis struggled with the desire to tell her that whatever was going on, Malachi hadn’t given up, which conflicted with the need to give her peace.
And denying her the chance to see Maxine didn’t feel fair when she’d given up everything familiar to her.
Despite Maxine’s relation to Easton, he knew for a fact that she was a decent sort of vampire who had worked hard to keep her nose clean. If he were forced to allow anyone to visit, at least it was her.
So as the clock began to wind down on the contract and Malachi’s inactivity stretched, he finally agreed to let Francesca’s friend visit on the condition that she must come alone.
She arrived a few hours after dusk in a blue sports car that looked objectively ridiculous against the backdrop of the wilderness and churning waves.
Dressed in itty-bitty cut-off jean shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops, she looked like a completely different person than the glamorous syndicate lawyer he knew.
Luis met her at the edge of the property as a precautionary measure. He didn’t believe Maxine had any real incentive to betray Francesca, but one could never be too careful with their anchor.
“You look well-fed,” she said by way of greeting. “I hope you’ve made a deposit every time you took a bite.”
Luis stuck out a hand in a wordless demand for her large straw purse. “She’s been given access to all my accounts.”
Begrudgingly handing it over, she asked, “Has she actually used your money, though?”
“Only for groceries and renting movies,” he sighed, pawing through various feminine necessities like lipstick, a silk scarf, a wallet, a high-end brand of synth, and a wicked-looking knife. There were no trackers or anything else he could object to.
“Typical.” Maxine wiggled her fingers impatiently for the bag. When he passed it back to her, she confirmed, “You have paid her daily stipend, yes?”
He gestured for her to walk ahead of him on the sandy path that led to the house. Offended, he answered, “Of course I have. I tripled it.”
Maxine gave him a shrewd look. “And it’s going into a private account only she has access to?”
He wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew why she asked.
Many anchors didn’t bother keeping their money separate from their vampire, which left them vulnerable in the event that the law caught up with them or they died.
Making sure that Francesca would be able to support herself if anything happened to him was one of his first priorities when they came to the beach house.
He’d spent hours on the phone with the family lawyers and his various bank accounts, putting her on everything whether she wanted to be or not.
Even if something catastrophic happened to him and the rest of the Amauris, she would never want for anything again. She’d never have to work two jobs or worry about what would happen to her parents. She could breathe, with or without him.
“It is,” he confirmed, disengaging the security perimeter with a tap on his phone. It was a necessary measure when her bio signature hadn’t been added to the database.
He waved her ahead of him.
“Good.” Maxine stuck her nose in the air as she passed him, her shoes slapping with every step.
As they wound their way up the beach path toward the fenced in garden, he asked in a low voice, “Have you heard anything from Easton?”
“No,” she muttered, her lips puckering. “He scampered off to whatever hole he hides in as soon as we left your apartment. If he was smart, he’d be off the continent by now, but…”
“He isn’t smart,” he finished for her.
“Nope.”
He rubbed his tired eyes. “And you haven’t heard from Malachi?”
She shook her head again. The ponytail she’d gathered her red hair into swung from side to side with the motion. “No. He was Easton’s contact, not mine.”
“Do you have any idea what your cousin owed him?”
“I never asked,” she admitted, shoulders slumping a little.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to know. The reason he came to my house that night Frankie was visiting was because I’d actually stopped giving him money.
I wanted him to learn his lesson, but all I ended up doing was letting her volunteer for something that put her in danger. ”
Luis wasn’t charitable enough to let her off the hook. He was furious that Maxine, who knew damn well how badly Blood Games could go, allowed her friend to enter them.
Stopping abruptly, he bit out, “Why didn’t you tell her to come to me? I would’ve helped her. I would’ve paid for a private investigator, no hesitation. I’m her man, Maxine.”
“Maybe for the same reason she didn’t think to come to you in the first place,” she answered. “She didn’t consider you to be her man, jackass. She never even told me she had a thing going on with a vampire! If she had, I absolutely would’ve forbidden her from entering the Games.”
Eyes narrowing, she took a slow step closer to him. In a chilly tone, she noted, “I think the better question is why she didn’t think you were worth mentioning to her only friend.”
Luis ground his molars together. Speaking through clenched teeth, he forced out, “It’s come to my attention that I was not clear in my communication with Frankie.”
Maxine snorted. “No shit. I had a feeling she was crushing on someone, but she never said a word.” In a slightly more forgiving tone, she allowed, “But she keeps a lot close to her vest. It took months for her to tell me why she was in UW to begin with, and I’m pretty sure she only did it because she needed help with some legal stuff.
And for the record, I did offer to help with a private investigator. She turned me down.”
“Of course she did.” They shared a thin-lipped look of exasperation.
“I assume you’ve already put things in motion on that end.” Maxine arched her brows expectantly.
Getting a little antsy from having his anchor out of sight for so long, he jerked his chin toward the house and answered, “I’m calling in another favor from Tomas Bowan.”
He opened the garden gate for her. Flip-flops smacking the pebbles with every step, she replied, “Oh, that’s a fantastic pull.
The first couple investigators she hired were either totally incompetent or actual scammers.
But I’ve heard that Tomas is good at finding things — and you know how ruthless the Bowans are. ”
“He better be, for the amount he’s charging,” Luis muttered.
Maxine snorted. “Doesn’t sound like a favor if he’s making you pay.”
“See,” he whined, opening the door for her, “that’s what I said.”
They stepped inside the house. Cool air kissed his skin, providing sweet relief from the humidity and heat of the world outside. Setting her bag down on the stand in the entryway, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to reengage the security perimeter.
“Frankie, I’ve come to rescue you!” Maxine called out as she shucked her sandals.
There was a beat of silence, then, “I’m in the living room.”
The hair stood up on the back of his neck. That primordial thing in all bonded vampires roared to life as the unease in her voice registered on a subconscious level — a plucked string in the very foundation of his being.