Chapter 17
Leandro
As Anais left the room I could have burst into a string of expletives.
I had lived my whole vampire life in service to my clan, helping my father and then my uncle.
Learning what it meant to be a Brethren and always keeping the turned in order.
I’d lived through multiple centuries, taking and looking after plenty of enthralled along the way.
None of them had marked me like Anais did. Not one of them had drawn my attention and made me feel this alive. But now duty and loyalty to my clan and the missions my uncle gave me kept getting in the way of me promising her everything I wished to offer.
It had seemed like we were finally getting somewhere and then her team came back and I had to focus on what my clan needed again. That was the worst part about this situation. In many ways I was using her.
She was being understanding about the situation.
It even aligned with her goals on some level, otherwise I was sure that she wouldn’t be here.
I had no idea how much she was here for me.
Although she had just let me screw her without it being because of the mission.
And she had stuck around at the end of the last one as well.
If nothing else, I knew she was attracted to me and I had shown her that I wanted her pleasure simply because, even if we’d interrupted that as well. It just meant I could show her again sometime soon.
After taking a few slow breaths to calm down and focusing on what I could hear outside, I walked out to join them. Everyone was there, Tess and Petros coming inside as I came out of the bedroom.
Naomi and Alan must have been the ones to disturb us, both of them already sitting on the sofa. Anais was between us, the relief clear on her face when she saw Tess.
The young woman flushed and her cheeks changed to a shade of pink. I glanced over at Petros and he gave me a brief smile before resuming his serious expression.
“Are you all okay?” Anais asked, reaching out for Tess. The younger hunter went to Anais and hugged her before also sitting on the sofa.
“We’re fine. Didn’t achieve much, but we found some more vampires here and there. There were a lot trying to find a pet each, but there were also some that were promising... more.” Naomi folded her arms at the last part.
“More?” Anais raised an eyebrow.
“To turn you,” I said for them.
Alan was the first to react. He nodded. “Yup, there were two very attractive vampire women who offered to make either of us their pet and then this other guy came along—not one we’d seen before—and he said he could go one better, but didn’t offer it to Naomi.”
“Just you?” Now I was listening, very curious about what a vampire would want with only men and not women.
“Just me. Said he couldn’t offer it to Naomi. She got very offended and I used it as a way to turn down the offer and still seem polite. Of course, we knew he was offering to turn us and what that meant. But he made it very clear that he could only accept men. Complimented me on my physique.”
Anais chuckled and Naomi smirked as well.
I frowned. What was so important about them being male?
“Did you find out anything?” I asked Petros, hoping he would talk less about his ego and more about information that was useful.
“Not a lot, I’m afraid to say.” Petros shifted to the bar and motioned toward the whiskey. I nodded to let him know that he could help himself.
Tess sat forward again and looked up at me. “Some of them talked about a relic. That their boss had some fancy relic and as soon as there were enough to work with they would share the power it created. They were essentially recruiting.”
I glanced at Petros again, but the turned vampire wasn’t as eager to talk.
Instead he poured a drink and leaned against the bar.
Although I wasn’t sure if he was holding back because he didn’t know if he could trust the others present or if he truly didn’t want to speak much, I could tell he wasn’t going to say what he knew.
As long as Tess had picked up on everything, I knew he wouldn’t need to, but it made me fear that he could be trusted less than I’d hoped. He was also a male turned and apparently what this boss or leader wanted.
“Did anyone say anything about what this relic might do?” I asked when there was a growing silence.
Tess shook her head. I looked directly at Petros, but he was still focusing on his drink and didn’t look at me. I narrowed my eyes, not looking away. It drew the attention of the others and they all looked toward him as well.
When he finally looked up we were all staring at him, and he immediately clocked it.
“I didn’t discover anything more,” Petros said. “I was with Tess the entire time and I was focused on keeping our cover intact, especially after their reaction to Anais.”
“How did they react?” Naomi asked, reminding me that Alan and Naomi didn’t know what had happened inside the lounge reserved for vampires.
Anais explained while I continued to study Petros from the side of my vision.
He didn’t drink more than the one glass, but he never fully relaxed either.
I couldn’t tell if he knew something and he simply wasn’t comfortable talking about it in front of them, or he was just reflecting on what had happened and how little we knew.
He was taking a big risk helping us if this was going to turn into some kind of clan coup.
But he had promised to help. And he had to know there was a decent reward if he succeeded in helping us stop all this.
At least there ought to be, but my uncle didn’t always remember to make sure those who helped him were taken care of.
It was the biggest difference between my uncle and my father. My father had wanted to make sure he had loyalty because he took care of everyone. Not that his care had seemed to come my way as much. But my uncle was more pragmatic.
“Does anyone know what this leader vampire might look like?” I asked, wondering if Petros had been able to glimpse him at all.
“There was a description of him,” Tess replied. “And he came into the lounge briefly. I didn’t get a good look at him. A lot of the vampires seemed to flock to him.”
That wasn’t a surprise, but it made it clear that we wouldn’t have many allies aboard. They were all going to suck up to this vampire.
Petros and Tess described the man between them, but it wasn’t a lot to go on. The description of tall, dark and attractive fitted so many of our kind it was almost a cliche.
“He was a little taller than the majority of them. And he wore an earring on only one side. A small cross that dangled. Like it was funny.” Petros almost rolled his eyes, but glanced back at me. I finally picked up on his lack of apparent interest.
This was a threat he didn’t respect and thought ridiculous.
I wasn’t so sure we could be dismissive of it, but I couldn’t take the chance.
My uncle thought the clan was at risk, and I didn’t think he was wrong.
Until we knew if there was a relic and what it did, we couldn’t afford to get complacent.
“Do we know if he truly has a relic?” Anais asked, anticipating my next question.
“No, but I think it’s safe to assume he does have something that gives him an edge,” Petros replied. “From the amount others are interested. Vampires are drawn to power, especially if it means we live longer and have better access to food.”
“Can we start picking off the minions closest to him and make him more vulnerable?” Naomi asked. “See if we can capture one maybe and ask questions.”
“It isn’t easy to get a vampire to tell another vampire’s secrets,” Petros replied.
I chuckled. “Not to a human perhaps, but... I got what I needed out of Ludis’s right-hand vampire.”
Petros lifted an eyebrow and Anais and the rest of her team looked at me wide-eyed. Not even Anais knew what had happened in that regard. She had just let me get on with the task and I had trusted her, but her life had been in danger and for her I had been willing to do anything.
“So what about if we capture one then?” Naomi continued.
“We’d need to get an idea of who to capture.
As soon as we gain suspicion we are going to ruin any chance of getting close again, and possibly bring down the entire ship of vampires on us.
” Petros shook his head. “I understand that all of you are committed and trying to keep each other safe. And I applaud you all for being so brave, but in the nicest possible way, I’m not that vampire.
I don’t want trouble. I’m involved because I can help identify the relic and what it does. ”
Anais gave Petros her attention, turning fully to him.
“Thank you. I know it’s a lot to ask you to be involved in our battles.
We will do our best to keep you out of it as much as possible, and if it comes to a fight we’ll assume that you’re not going to enter one we can’t be sure to win. Does that sound fair?”
He sized her up, paying almost more attention to her than I’d have liked, especially when I didn’t know what I could trust of his alliance with us.
“That’s fair. Thank you for understanding. I’m happy to be backup as much as I can, and if you get the relic or manage to see it, I’ll do what I can to identify it, even see if we can combat its powers, or use my contacts to find someone who can. That much I’ll promise.”
I blinked, not sure what had just happened, but I had never seen Petros so solemn.
For the first time since meeting him I believed he meant what he was saying.
Giving him the opportunity to state what he was comfortable with and then respecting it had earned Anais the loyalty I’d not been able to be sure of.
“Sounds like we need to get to know this head vampire and find out what relic he has and if it’s on this ship or not,” Anais said as she shifted again so she could see all of us.
I walked closer to Petros, giving him a nod that I hoped showed my appreciation as well, and considered our options. Anais’s team were all looking between her and me, clearly waiting to see if we approved or declined the current idea.
“Based on what we’ve all seen so far, other than the vampire who threw us out of the lounge, do we know of any vampires for sure who work with this leader?” I looked toward Tess and then Petros, knowing they were more likely to have answers.
Both shook their heads, leaving us with nothing there either.
“It’s likely the vampire who wanted to turn Alan works for him,” Naomi replied.
“Works for him isn’t necessarily trusted by him,” Tess replied. It showed she understood the vampire lifestyle at least a little, and it was good to see everyone else nodding along with her. They weren’t stupid.
This job was going to be more complicated. “We need someone closer to him, I’m afraid. If we can figure out how to capture the right person, I’m happy to interrogate them. And I’ll take the consequences for doing so.”
Petros narrowed his eyes as he looked at me, and I knew that it was the sort of thing a Brethren would say and be confident about.
Brethren weren’t allowed to kill turned with no good reason, but we were allowed to investigate.
There were some rare circumstances were turned could do so on behalf of Brethren, but they were usually turned who everyone knew worked for a Brethren.
Although my clan was known by the way I dressed and the ships we were on, that was the same for all of us.
We wouldn’t be operating on this ship if we weren’t affiliated with my uncle’s clan in some way.
That meant I had to either be Brethren or working for a Brethren in a way that was out of the ordinary.
Of course, I was Brethren, but Petros didn’t know that and I still didn’t trust him well enough to want him to know. He was gaining my trust, but that was my biggest and most important secret in this matter.
“I think I need to be bait and go back to my room with Naomi. We need to let more of his minions come to us. Or go back into the lounge. Either or. I’m going to have to draw them out of the way at least.”
It wasn’t an idea I liked, but no one spoke to suggest a better plan, and I couldn’t think of anything else. It was sadly true. I hated it. But it was the only way we were going to progress forward.
“Naomi should go with you again, and possibly another.”
“There’s only two beds,” Anais replied, lifting an eyebrow.
“I could sleep on the floor,” Alan offered.
“No, I’ll chill on the veranda,” Petros replied. “We need you two to remain out of the way and have the vampire here think you’re unconnected. If they see you with us too much they will realize you’re connected. We also need some of us to get a good night’s sleep.”
Although I considered pointing out that I wouldn’t sleep well knowing Anais was being bait with nothing but Petros for protection, I kept the thought to myself. I couldn’t watch over her all the time and enact this plan.
She seemed to sense my distress at the idea and came to me. “Can you try to rest and look out for Tess and Alan for me? If anything happens, we’ll get some kind of message to you or Petros can come get you.”
Petros finally left the bar and came closer as well. “That, I can also promise. I’ll make sure you’re the first to know if the plan goes wrong in any way.”
“All right. Tess and Alan should stay here, where we know they’re safe and we’re close to provide backup if you need it.” I frowned, but Anais gave my hand a squeeze.
“I’ll go down the other way and wait on your veranda. Just come check I’m out there and unlock it for me,” Petros told Anais and Naomi before he headed toward my balcony.
It wasn’t the best way for someone to travel and it had dangers of its own, but it was the best way to go down there without being seen.
No matter what I thought of the plan, I knew I had to let the team do what they knew to. But I was determined to make sure Anais lived through this. I had to.