Raised in Fire (Page 42)

He studied me in silence, his dark eyes holding mine. Suddenly, I was overcome with an intense urge to crumble at his feet and beg to reveal all I knew. I could feel it weighing on my shoulders and churning my guts. I didn’t know if this was some special superpower of his, or just the desire to buckle under his obvious expectations, but it was potent.

Vlad took a slow sip of coffee before carefully setting his cup back onto the table. “What would you say if I told you that the aswang you defeated started its journey in Northern California, and made a beeline from there to New Orleans? Straight to your house.”

I felt my brow lower as I tried to process what he’d said. “Huh?”

I didn’t quite get there.

“I was sure Darius knew about that. No matter.” He leaned back and crossed an ankle over his knee. “I see he has taken your blood.”

I flinched, but stopped myself from reaching for my neck. A vampire’s saliva healed the bite wound pretty quickly. Teamed with my healing capabilities, I knew that mark, and any others, were long gone.

“I promised Roger that Darius could take from me if he needed to, that’s all,” I said. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

His smile spoke volumes. He knew Darius and I had gotten a lot more intimate than the mere taking of blood.

That was embarrassing.

“As of late, Darius has made a habit of guarding you very closely,” Vlad went on. “You, and any information about you. Any records regarding your past or present have been hidden or destroyed. Even that which should be public record. For a vampire who has always relished having no ties from which he can’t immediately walk away, I find this curious. And now a demon shows up on the surface, looking for something it appears to value highly, and you just happen to show up at the same place, nearly at the same time. All these elements are a recipe for a hearty soup.”

“I don’t know much about soup, but Darius just wants what he can’t have. That’s the long and short of it. He wants to control me, and I want to stab him with sharp things.”

Vlad took another sip of coffee, his eyes still glued to mine. It felt like he was peeling back the front of my forehead to get a peek at my thoughts. I felt completely naked. Utterly exposed to his prying.

If I stayed here, I was bound to reveal something I didn’t want to.

How many times do you need to come to that conclusion before you stand up and walk out, idiot?

“What is it that makes you so unique, Reagan Somerset? What has this demon come to the surface to find?” He paused. His head tilted. “What has Darius stumbled upon?”

“Blood that tastes better than it smells, if he can be believed.” I rose and turned toward the door.

There was a blur of movement, and Vlad was suddenly blocking my way. Someone in the cafe gasped.

His smile had turned feral. “It is in your best interest to sit back down, Miss Somerset. We are not done speaking.”

Mad shivers driven by adrenaline worked through my body. This was about to get real. Where were the shifters when you needed them? “Yes, we are.”

Vlad’s body loosened, about to make a move. I braced myself, my power pounding within me.

Outside, a body flew across the length of the cafe window. It landed out of sight. The door swung open and in walked the best sight I’d ever seen.

“Vlad,” Darius said in a quiet whip crack of a voice. “Step away from her.”

Vlad’s eyes crinkled and his head tilted toward me, just a fraction. Approval. For what, I had no idea.

He turned around slowly, facing a vampire taller and broader than himself. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. Not to vampires their age.

“I was just speaking of you,” Vlad said, not stepping to the side. “You’ve thoroughly covered her in your scent. Was that by design?”

“I’ve already submitted the bonding paperwork,” Darius said, thankfully ignoring that gross question. “Per the bylaws, she has been claimed until they come to a decision. She is under my protection. You are wasting your time here.”

“I can easily deny your request,” Vlad responded.

“You could try.” The power and confidence in Darius’s voice fluttered my insides. “Of course, you would have to wait for Winston to return from his pilgrimage. The request is frozen until such a time. You know what it means to flout our laws.”

I shifted enough to see the sly grin soak up Vlad’s face. “I have taught you well. Too well, perhaps.” He took a step toward Darius and lowered his voice. “What have you found, old friend? It must be a diamond in the rough for you to act like this. Curiosity is eating away at me.”

Darius ignored that question, too. “Have you made contact with the demon?”

A predatory gleam flashed in Vlad’s eyes. “Let’s step outside.”

Darius pushed open the door, and both men looked at me, waiting for me to go first.

“You try to kidnap me, stalk me, threaten me, manipulate me, but oh look, you’ll hold the door for me,” I mumbled. “You guys are something else.”

“Is that not what you desire?” Vlad asked, following me out the door. Darius moved to my side, placing himself between Vlad and I.

“No. I’d rather be left alone.”

Vlad smiled like he didn’t believe me. To Darius, he said, “From what I can gather, the demon is from a sect known for their ambition. They have power in plenty, and play the game well. They’ve sent Agnon to the surface, promising rewards if it completes its mission. That’s all anyone knows, but the…coincidences are telling.” Vlad glanced at me.

“How does this demon affect your plans?” Darius asked.

Vlad spread his hands. “Not at all. I am merely along for the ride.”

“And the mages in the area—do they have any bearing on your intentions?”

“From what I hear, your people have already started to dabble in the politics of this area. I’ve granted you the professional courtesy of staying clear. I am not meeting with anyone outside of this specific situation while I am here.”

I frowned up at Darius. What sort of dabbling was he doing, and why wasn’t he helping me more if he had connections?

If Darius saw my questioning gaze, he didn’t let on. He nodded at Vlad. “I’ll see you in the lair.”

“I’ll look forward to hearing about this exquisite treasure you’ve collected.” Yuck.

Vlad bowed to us and then reached out his hand. The male vampire melted out of the night and handed over my phone. Before he turned away, I was the recipient of an intense scowl.

“Dude, you started it. Just be glad your face healed,” I said. His scowl deepened.

“Here you go, Reagan.” Vlad handed it to me. “Take care of yourself.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

Vlad’s eyes twinkled as he bowed again. “Something tells me I’m going to regret passing you off to Darius. Ah well. Such is life. You can’t be lucky all the time.” He winked before he turned and strode away.

“Lucy, you have some ’splaining to do,” I said to Darius as I pulled up the text message app on my phone.

Immediately, an outgoing message from me to Darius caught my eye. It informed him I’d meet him at the hotel in a half-hour.

The vamp must have sent it, but Darius hadn’t known that.

“You ignored my text, I see.” I pulled up an old group message between Callie, Dizzy, and myself.

“I knew you didn’t send it.”

“How?”

“It was much too polite.”

I nodded, because that was a good call, as I texted Callie and Dizzy where to meet us. When that was done, I turned my attention back to Darius. “What’s this about the aswang?”

I pointed to the right because I needed something to eat, and there was a restaurant down the way.

“Vlad knows about that, does he?” I barely heard Darius sigh.

“The question is, why don’t I know about that?”

“I wanted more evidence. When I got it, I had other things on my mind.” His touch slid down my back and across the top of my butt. I wiggled out of the way, knowing exactly what had been on his mind. “It seems my fears—our fears—are coming to fruition. The demon from—”

“I know that part. What I don’t know is how the aswang fits into this.”

“The aswang that you killed didn’t come from New Orleans. Or anywhere in Louisiana. It left a chain of murder victims across the country. If one painted a line on the map, stringing those murders together…”

“You’d get that Northern California town.” I let out a breath slowly.

“The aswang fed every so often en route to New Orleans, stopping and killing one person before moving along. Its first feed in town was across the street from your house.”

“It was spooked off from there, I think,” I said.

“Yes. But it didn’t leave town quickly, as it had done on those other stops. It lingered, killing again. And again. I believe that was to gain strength. Only after the last feed did it try to infect you.”

“It wouldn’t have succeeded, and not because of stupid Garret firebombing my face. So then what?”