Chapter 19 #2
The vampire stiffened suddenly and blinked, the glow disappearing. “You the witch?”
“Yeah.” Fox stopped in the front yard, his hands on his hips and head thrown back as he gulped in air.
The breathlessness and trembling now had more to do with fear than exertion.
They’d officially entered the point of no return.
There was no turning back from his plan now.
“Escaped. Don’t…don’t let the Variks find me. ”
The vampire grabbed his arm and dragged him up the three porch stairs to the front door. “You need to talk to Luke. Call Paavo.”
Fox made sure to stumble in the doorway.
He made a whole mess of getting inside the house, acting as if his legs were completely giving out while throwing the door open wide.
The vampire didn’t quite know what to do with him and seemed about to carry him inside when Fox finally regained his feet.
He could only pray that those extra seconds helped Winter get inside the house with him.
At the very least, Fox was sure all eyes were on him, so no one would have noticed Winter in the first place if he had been standing right there.
The vampire kept his hand clamped on Fox’s sweaty arm as he pulled him along the hall to the living room.
The windows were covered, and the walls were painted a painfully bright white.
Some lunatic had opted for modern decor.
Everything was rather sparse and cut at weird angles.
The chair he was shoved into was hard and uncomfortable.
There was a surprising amount of orange, sort of like he was swimming in an orange Creamsicle.
“Stay!” the vampire commanded, pointing at him.
Fox was sorely tempted to bark at him and shake his ass, but he swallowed the comment. “Can I have some water, please?”
The vampire ignored him as he hurried away, shouting for Luke. There were more footsteps around the house. Both male and female vampires appeared in the open doorway to stare at him. No one looked friendly. He tried to smile and wave, but no one waved back.
In all of this crowd, Fox couldn’t guess at where Winter was.
Had he followed the vampire who went in search of Luke?
Was he scouting out the rest of the house?
Or was he right there in the living room with Fox, protecting him?
He liked the latter thought best, but he figured it was safest to figure that Winter was searching the rest of the house.
Fox needed to focus on possible escape routes if he needed to make a run for it on his own.
The plan was simple.
Get information about Damon’s plans.
When Winter gave the signal, which would be some kind of distraction, Fox was to run to the car.
A key to the SUV was hidden in the rear passenger-side wheel well.
He would drive to Rafe’s penthouse and wait for Winter to retrieve him.
The last bit was the real shit part. Fox hated the idea of leaving Winter behind.
He wanted to fight with Winter, to protect the vampire’s back.
But Fox couldn’t risk having a weapon on his body, and he didn’t know a single spell that could help protect Winter.
His use went no further than bait or a distraction.
The vampire hideout was relatively quiet except for the sounds of footsteps. No sounds from a TV or music. No one seemed to be talking either. Just lots of staring.
Dear God, he was already missing the Variks.
Those people never stopped talking.
Or bickering.
Or teasing.
Or laughing.
Yeah, Damon had to be a real asshole to want to kill the Variks. They were wonderful, loving, compassionate people who actually cared about each other. Even when they thought he was going to kill them all, they still made sure he was comfortable and treated him with respect.
One of the silent vampires looked down at his leg and it was only then that he realized it was nervously bouncing. The longer he had to wait, the harder it was to sit still. What if they knew it was all a ruse? What if they saw him with Winter in the parking lot?
“Can he find me here?” Fox asked, trying to infuse as much fear as possible into his voice.
“Who?” a blond vampire who’d been watching him too closely asked.
“Winter Varik. He’s the one who kidnapped me from Damon’s. Do you think he’ll be able to find me here?”
“What? Did you lead him here?” Blondie surged forward, his plain face twisted with lines of fear.
“No. I mean, I don’t think so. He-he was still sleeping when I sneaked out.”
It was like watching terror form a wave and wash through the assembled vampires.
Winter’s name was repeated over and over again in frightened whispers.
Someone said, “Winter is coming” and it was like Game of Thrones had become infested with bloodsuckers rather than white walkers. It was both funny and creepy.
Were all those stories about Winter true?
They couldn’t be. He’d been sure Damon and his goons were just trying to scare him.
This wasn’t the same man who held him when he slept and talked trash while they were playing video games.
The man who’d kissed him so tenderly and frotted with him against the goddamn refrigerator couldn’t be the same one who terrorized his own kind.
“What the hell is going on?” a new voice thundered as someone descended from the second floor.
The vampires huddled near the entrance to the living room parted to reveal a tall, lanky creature with deep auburn hair and thin, arched brows that slashed across his forehead.
This was Luke. Winter had given him a bare-bones description of the vampire.
The guard who’d brought Fox into the house hurried over to Luke’s side and quickly whispered something into his ear. His expression did not improve, which was not a good sign. He’d been sure Damon would be eagerly searching for him, anxious to get him back under lock and key.
Luke looked horrified that he was there.
Tearing his deep russet brown eyes from Fox, he looked around at the gathered vampires. “Go! Double-check the premises to make sure a Varik didn’t follow him.” He swung to the guard who’d brought him the news. “Check the perimeter now!”
The guard hurried away, looking relieved that he didn’t have to deal with this new mess any further.
When the immediate area was finally cleared out, Luke turned his full attention on Fox. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“What?” Fox gasped, his brain locking up for a second. This was not the reaction he’d been expecting at all. Maybe he was just misunderstanding. “I’m trying to get to Damon. Winter Varik kidnapped me and brought me to his place. Damon says I’m the key to the prophecy.”
“Yes, the key to destroying the Variks!”
“I…I don’t understand.”
Luke clenched his fists in front of him and stomped over to Fox. He leaned down so that their noses nearly touched. “You’re supposed to destroy the Variks from the inside.”
“What?” Fox whispered.
A loud groan left Luke and he paced away, shoving both hands into his hair. “This is a disaster. I need to call Paavo and tell him about this fuckup. We have to figure out a way to get you into Winter’s hands without him losing his shit and killing you.”
“Wait! None of this is making sense.” He jumped to his feet and took a couple of steps closer to Luke. This…this felt so much worse, and it just couldn’t be true. “Damon was protecting me in his mansion. He said I’m the key to this prophecy that would change the world.”
Luke spun around and shoved Fox hard enough to send him stumbling into the chair he’d just left.
He and the chair tipped backward, balanced on two of the four legs for just a moment before crashing down again.
“Stupid fucking witch! It was all part of Damon’s plan.
Winter was supposed to kidnap you and hold you prisoner.
You’re supposed to destroy the entire Varik clan from within. ”
“How?” Fox asked in a broken voice. He needed to know. While it might be Damon’s plan, Fox had no desire to hurt any of the Variks, particularly Winter. They had to tell him how he was going to hurt this family.
Luke threw his arms up in the air, glaring at Fox. “How the hell should I know? You’re the witch. Maybe it’s a spell. Maybe just being held within their clan will pull them apart. Maybe you trigger some event. I don’t know. The point is that you need to get into Winter’s fucking lair.”
“But…I don’t know where he lives. I ran here. I don’t remember…”
Luke sighed heavily and reached into the pocket of his slacks to pull out a cell phone.
“Useless. We’ll have to dump you somewhere obvious so he can find you again.
Maybe near that hedonist brother’s nightclub.
” Luke paused in tapping on the screen to point the phone at him.
“You just have to fucking pray he doesn’t kill you when he finds you, or this has all been a waste for everyone. ”
Fox couldn’t think. Didn’t want to think. Damon had wanted him to get stolen by Winter? It had been his plot from the beginning, and Winter had fallen straight into it.
Did that mean he needed to get away from the Variks as quickly as possible?
There was no chance to think further on it.
The veil parted directly in front of Luke and Winter stepped into the room with a large knife clenched in his right fist and a smaller one was in his left.
The expression on his face was like nothing Fox had ever seen.
It was colder than his name while ice filled his eyes.
For a heartbeat, time stood frozen. Luke and Winter stared at each other. Fear filled Luke’s face while Winter was only emotionless determination.
And then the Angel of Death was in motion. The long knife surged forward, digging deep into Luke’s chest. The vampire sucked in a harsh breath and when he exhaled, it was in a loud scream.
“Varik!”