Retribution of Sins

by J. L. McCoy

  I swallowed hard and stared at Hagan as my heartbeat racketed up a notch. I was terrified. This was the moment that would either make or break us, and I had to trust that Corvus knew what he was doing.

  Hagan didn’t hesitate for a second as he sank his fangs into the feeder’s wrist. He took one full mouthful, followed by another, and then withdrew and stepped past him.

  The feeder made no noise and seemed absolutely unaffected by the bite, which I knew was filled with Hagan’s powerful venom, and I was shocked to say the least. I blinked and turned to Hagan, taking his arm again and acting like nothing at all was amiss.

  We went into the party and didn’t wait for Corvus to finish, but he joined us shortly after.

  “How did you do that?” I asked Corvus in the barest of whispers next to his ear, and he grinned widely when I stepped back.

  “With twenty-five thousand dollars and a favor owed,” he replied silently as he winked.

  I just shook my head in awe. We’d never have gotten into this party without Corvus and would probably have been escorted off the property had we been recognized as Day.

  “Kitten, you and Hagan scope out the left side of the place. I am going to check out the right. We’ll rendezvous back at the bar in an hour. Deal?” Before I could verbally agree, he’d turned and was gone.

  For the first time, I got a real good look at our surroundings and stood in awe. The masquerade ball’s theme was Medieval Circus, and there were court jesters juggling, fire breathers, sword swallowers, and old games attendees could try their hand at. The grand ballroom was decked out in garnet red and black silk banners that hung from ceiling to floor, and there were candelabras lighting every inch of the place. It even came complete with an elaborate chandelier that must have cost a cool million if a penny.

  I was in the process of studying it when a couple walked up and greeted Hagan and me. And so began the process of flawlessly mingling with the Dark masses. It was tricky, but every time I got near freezing up, Hagan would step in and take over for me. I was impressed by his ability. Being one of The Faithful meant he was trained in all arts, even deception, and it was one he excelled at. While he talked, I held on to his arm and let my senses wander. I was listening in to everyone I came near as well as keeping a nose out for Stanus’s telltale scent. There were feeders everywhere, and the smell of blood in the air was strong. It took a lot of willpower to deny my hunger and to focus on the task at hand.

  We were approaching the second hour of scoping out the left side of the ballroom when I heard Corvus’s voice in my head.

  “I’m at your three o’clock, kitten. No luck so far over here. Touch your earring if you’ve found something and smooth your hair down if you haven’t.”

  Doing as instructed, I smoothed my blonde wig down on the side as I laughed at a lame story some Dark schmuck was in the middle of telling.

  “That’s not good news,” he answered, practically sighing in my head. “Let’s switch it up, shall we?”

  I touched my earring in a “yes” to let Corvus know I’d heard him and would steer Hagan to the other side of the room, and after a respectable few minutes, I interrupted.

  “Oh, darling, this is our song!” I exclaimed breathily as I grabbed onto his upper arm. “Dance with me.”

  The orchestra had begun playing the “Vienna Blood Waltz” by Johann Strauss Jr., and Hagan made his apologies to the man before escorting us to the massive dance floor in the middle.

  “Thank God,” he muttered silently before bowing to me. “That man was like nails on a chalkboard.”

  Curtseying, I agreed under my breath. “If I had to pretend to laugh at one more of his jokes, I was going to slit my wrists.”

  There was laughter in Hagan’s eyes and a small smile on his face when I looked up. “Do you even know how to waltz?”

  I shook my head no as I walked up to him. “I’ve only really done it once, so you’ll have to be a strong lead,” I whispered, remembering the time Corvus and I danced at Les Oubliette.

  I placed one hand in his and the other on this shoulder. Grabbing the small of my back, he pulled me closer to him and began to dance.

  We whirled around the large dance floor, giving me an opportunity to listen in on many more people. I tuned my senses into those near me as we danced, and picked up an array of thoughts. Some were bored, some hungry, others horny, but most were having a good time. I was starting to get frustrated as the song began to come to an end when I unexpectedly picked up one particularly interesting thought near the bar.

  “Where is he? He said he’d be here.”

  It caught my curiosity, and I glanced over Hagan’s shoulder the next time we turned and spotted a lone female standing at the end, her eyes locked on the front entrance.

  “I hope he’s okay. It’s not like him to be late.”

  I made a mental note to check her out as we finished the song. Once it was over, I gave Hagan a meaningful look as I told him I was going to the bar to get someone to eat.

  “Be careful,” he warned, and I nodded infinitesimally.

  As I approached the bar, I took a good look at the female. She was older, tall, curvaceous, and decked out in a stunning royal purple gown that looked amazing on her dark, olive complexion.

  I watched as she checked her phone, her eyes appearing frustrated behind her tiny black lace mask.

  “No miss calls. No messages. He better not have stood me up. He promised me he’d be here.”

  “What can I get you, mademoiselle?” the bartender asked, and I realized I’d been standing at the bar staring directly at the woman a little too long.

  “AB negative, please,” I replied sweetly, smiling at him. I made it a point not to look over at her again as I listened in.

  Her thoughts were rapid and becoming more like pieces of sentences the longer she sat there and the more worried she got.

  As my feeder arrived, I felt her look over at me for the first time. Maintaining my blank face, I listened in as she appraised me in a positive way. She liked my dress and thought it looked good with the shoes I was wearing. She also liked my earrings and wondered if her fiancé would buy her a pair as well.

  I decided she wasn’t that interesting after all as I bit into my feeder and drank deeply, being mindful of my venom. Her fiancé was probably running late and would be here any second. I couldn’t imagine Stanus being engaged to a female after hearing that he and Weston Ley had been periodically sleeping together—not that he couldn’t be bisexual, just that the chances seemed slim to me—and was about to turn my undivided attention to my feeder when I heard a name.

  “Dammit, Stanus! How can you be running this late? I can’t believe you! You promised me!”

  I almost choked on the blood and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t inadvertently look over at her. She’d said his name! Holy mother of hotness, she said his fucking name! What were the chances of there being two vampires with that name? Okay, so I didn’t know all that many vampires, but still... it was an unusual enough name, and now she had my unwavering attention.

  I finished up with my feeder, wiped my mouth on the red cloth napkin he provided, and thanked him before turning back to the crowd, being mindful not to look at her as I did. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her checking her phone, before putting it away in her jeweled clutch. Abruptly, she turned on her heel and started walking across the room. Being as discrete as I could be, I followed after her as she made her way into the ladies room.

  Being vampires, we had no need for restrooms any longer, but that didn’t mean a lady didn’t have to powder her nose every now and again. I waited a few heartbeats before following behind her and found her doing exactly that.

  “I don’t know whether to be worried or angry,” she mused silently as she applied more lipstick and fluffed her long, curly hair. “All this hard work and he’s not here to appreciate it.”

  Taking my powder out of my own clutch, I stepped up beside the woman and began powdering my nose. I w
anted to know who she was, but her thoughts were not of her so I decided to strike up a conversation.

  “These things can be so dull, don’t you think?” I asked, hoping I zeroed in correctly on her feelings of loneliness as I made small talk.

  “They can be,” she replied shortly, swiping a final coat of lipstick on her bottom lip, seemingly disinterested in me.

  “Your accent, I can’t place it,” I inquired, trying not to show too much interest. “Where are you from?”

  She appraised me then, really appraised me, as her eyes traveled down the length of my body and back, and she frowned. “I don’t think I caught your name,” she said, her eyes narrowed on me as she dropped the lipstick into her clutch and snapped it closed.

  “Oh, I didn’t introduce myself? How rude of me.” I chuckled, feigning surprise. “I’m Caroline Benoit. And you are?”

  “Ansa,” she answered shortly, not providing her last name, but I plucked it from her mind anyway. Now that she was thinking of herself, it gave me the opening I needed into her psyche.

  Her name was Ansa Halla, and she was from Helsinki, Finland. Her mind suddenly thought of Stanus again, and I got a brief glimpse into their relationship. She had decided she wasn’t worried about Stanus anymore; she was pissed he hadn’t showed up to tonight’s function. She thought about their last phone conversation, and I took as much as I could from her flickering thoughts. It seemed to me that she’d spoken to him recently, but their conversation hadn’t mentioned anything about Austin or his plans for an imminent Dark Throne takeover; as far as I could tell, she knew nothing about it. That meant she’d spoken to him within the last month, but not in the last two weeks. Shit, he could be anywhere by now. I need more information.

  Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, I addressed her again.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ansa. I apologize if my question about your accent seemed rude to you at all. I’m relatively new to our condition and still learning what’s appropriate conversation and what’s not.”

  She lost interest in me then and turned her eyes back to the mirror to fix her hair. I was not the nosy threat she’d first perceived me to be, just a dumb newborn. “That’s fine. We all have to learn sometime.”

  Ansa’s thoughts turned to when she was first made, and I realized Stanus was her maker. She’d been forty-one when she was turned after a night of sex with Stanus. She’d been a prostitute and knew nothing about vampires. Subsequently, it shocked her when he bit into her flesh and she was certain she’d die. That had been back in ’74, I plucked from her mind.

  “Thank you for understanding,” I said, still needing answers and not wanting to let this opportunity pass. “This is my first year at this gathering, and I have to say, whoever the event planner was did a wonderful job of decorating. It’s absolutely beautiful, don’t you think?”

  “Last year was better,” she replied plainly, not elaborating any further.

  Her thoughts then turned to her hair as she fixed it, and I audibly sighed with frustration. I needed answers, and she was more worried about her hair reacting to the humid Parisian weather.

  Ansa’s eyes flickered over to me again, and she seemed annoyed. “Is something the matter? Why are you sighing?”

  The last occupant had just left the ladies room, and I decided now was the only opportunity I’d get to make my move.

  As quick as lightning, I withdrew my dagger and pressed it to her throat as I covered her mouth with my free hand and pushed her across the room and into the furthest bathroom stall.

  She tried to scream then, but I pressed my silver blade harder into her skin, drawing blood and effectively silencing her. Her wide eyes were full of fear, and had she had a heartbeat, I had no doubt it would have pounded.

  “Shut your mouth and you will live,” I commanded lowly, my mouth barely whispering the words as I listened to make sure no one had come into the restroom. Once I was sure it was safe, I dug the dagger’s edge in a little deeper into the flesh of her neck to let her know I was serious. “Scream and you die. Nod your head if you understand.” She nodded her head slowly, the movement drawing more blood.

  “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth in a few seconds and ask you some questions. You will do wise to remember my warning because you will not get another one, understand? Scream or make any loud noise, and I will plunge this dagger into your heart and twist. You’ll be dead before you hit the floor, Ansa.” A single tear slid down the corner of her brown eye, and she nodded again.

  Slowly, I took my hand off her mouth but kept my dagger at her throat. I knew the silver was burning her, but she never even whimpered.

  “Are you dating a man named Stanus Octavius?” I asked in a whisper only she and I could hear.

  “Yes,” she answered, matching my tone, her bottom lip quivering with fear.

  “Are you expecting him to show up tonight?”

  “No,” she answered. “He would have been here by now if he were in Paris.”

  “When was the last time you talked to him?”

  “Why are you doing this to me?” she asked instead of answering my question, so I repeated myself.

  “When was the last time you talked to him, Ansa?”

  “Almost a month ago.”

  So I was right in my assessment. She hadn’t spoken to him recently. That did not bode well for us.

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Almost a month ago. He said he had business in the States.”

  I was able to lift from her mind that their last conversation consisted of him telling her he’d see her again at this ball and that he promised to leave Weston Ley at home. So she knew they were lovers, I mused silently. Interesting.

  “Where is Stanus now?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered, and I heard the sound of truth ring in her words. That wasn’t good enough for me, so I pushed.

  “Where do you think he is?” I asked, pressing the dagger harder to her throat. She winced in pain, and I would have felt bad for her had I not needed to find Stanus so quickly.

  “He could be anywhere,” she answered, then asked more loudly than I would have liked, “Why are you asking these things of me?”

  “Don’t play innocent, Ansa,” I said plainly, cocking an eyebrow. “You know Stanus wanted to take over the Dark throne and you did nothing to warn Atticus Frost. You could be tried for treason if he wanted.”

  She said nothing, but from reading her thoughts, I knew she knew Stanus was sore about not being the heir apparent any longer.

  “I have nothing to do with that world,” she said simply, raising her chin higher, almost in defiance, “and if I did, I sure wouldn’t give two shits about Atticus fucking Frost.”

  “That makes two of us,” I said, surprising her. “Now tell me the top three places you think Stanus could be.”

  “No.”

  Shocked at the balls she had, I dug the dagger in deeper. “Tell me. Now!”

  “You will hurt him as you are hurting me now or worse, so no... I will not betray my lover.”

  “Wrong choice, Ansa,” I growled lowly, letting my eyes flicker pitch black as I grabbed the sides of her head with both hands and gazed deeply in her eyes. I needed the information she was refusing, so instead I forced my way into her psyche and stole it from her mind.

  Tierra del Fuego. Amsterdam. Izmir. Budapest.

  “What are you?” she asked, terrified, and it brought me back to reality. I’d gotten more than three possible locations, and that gave me everything I needed to go on for now, so I decided to cut her loose.

  “I’m your boyfriend’s worst nightmare, Ansa,” I whispered, looking deeply into her eyes before snapping her neck. If she happened to talk to Stanus after this, I wanted him to know I was looking for his sadistic ass.

  I stuck the dagger back into my thigh holster and positioned her body up on the toilet. She’d heal in roughly ten minutes, and that meant I had less than nine minutes to get out of t
he bathroom, find Hagan and Corvus, get our shit from the room, and skedaddle. I knew she’d be screaming when she woke up, and that meant security would be looking for us shortly after that. The things I got myself into sometimes.

  Carefully, I opened the door to the stall and exited. Luckily, there was no one in the restroom, so I flashed to the door and then slowly walked out. Hagan was at my two o’clock, and Corvus was at my nine. With a tilt of my head, I motioned to the entrance, and as slow as I could possibly make myself, I walked to it. They followed me, and I heard Corvus and Hagan both in my head. They figured out I’d done something to Ansa and were wasting no time getting the hell out of dodge as well.

  Once we were clear of the ballroom and back on the elevator, it was safe to talk.

  “Her name is Ansa Halla, and she is Stanus’s girlfriend. He is not coming tonight, but I did get the names of four possible cities he may be in, so that’s a start.”

  “You didn’t kill her, did you?” asked Hagan, seeming a tiny bit concerned.

  “No, of course not,” I replied, leveling him with a serious gaze. “I snapped her neck though to give us some time to get out of here.”

  “Smart thinking, kitten,” Corvus stated as the elevator reached our floor. “Grab your things as quickly as you can. There will be a car waiting for us at the back service entrance.”

  “We’d better hurry,” I instructed as we flashed down the hall. “We have less than five minutes.”

  “We’ll only need four,” Corvus smiled, reaching his door.

  I arrived at my room next and quickly flashed inside. Stuffing my leather clothes in my ammo bag, I gathered my boots and guns and was ready to go in thirty seconds.

  As I exited my room, Corvus and Hagan were doing the same. Corvus had changed into his clothes he had arrived in, but Hagan and I hadn’t wasted the precious time. Together, we flashed down the long hall and to the service elevator.

  “Three minutes,” I called out the count that was mentally ticking in my head.

  “We’ll make it, kitten,” Corvus reassured.