We were meeting the rest of the guys and Kacie at a restaurant for a late dinner, mostly because half of our group was human and still required actual food. We’d been waiting at our private table in the back for O’Shea and Kacie to show up, and they were seriously running late. We’d been waiting for them for half an hour before Aurora decided to call Kacie and see what was taking them so long.
“Maybe they’re lost,” Jonas offered.
“Kacie always answers her phone,” Aurora said as she sat her phone down.. “It rang until it went to voicemail. I can’t imagine what’s going on.”
“Maybe they’re having a really good time,” Chase offered, waggling his eyebrows.
I called O’Shea’s phone, too, but he didn’t answer either. “We’ll give them another thirty minutes, and if they don’t show ... “ my voice trailed off.
“Then what?” Aurora asked.
“Then we start to worry, I guess,” I said, hoping they’d just get here already.
“We’ll, I’m ordering,” Chase stated, rubbing his stomach.
Aurora’s phone rang fifteen minutes later, and she sighed in relief as Kacie’s name appeared on the screen. “It’s about time,” she said, sliding her thumb across the screen to answer it.
“Aurora, it’s me,” Kacie’s panicked voice came through the phone, and I heard it clear as daylight.
“Kace,” she said. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“We’re ... I don’t know. This guy-” But she didn’t get to finish her sentence. The next voice that came over the line was one we both recognized. My stomach tied itself in a giant knot as I listened.
“Hello there, Aurora.” It was Stanislav Vidic. Aurora and I shared a knowing glance, and she pressed a button to turn the phone on speaker.
“What’s going on?” Aurora said, speaking in an even tone despite the anger flashing in her green eyes.
“I’ve just been visiting with your friends,” Stanislav said calmly. “We’ve had a nice little chat.”
“Aurora, help!” Kacie called out in the background.
Mark and Tytus both got to their feet in reaction. Every muscle in my body tensed, but all I could do was listen as Aurora tried to reason with the Synod Elder.
“Leave her alone,” Aurora demanded, raising her voice now. “Whatever it is that you want, it has nothing to do with them.”
“Why don’t you and your husband come and see me, and we’ll see just how agreeable you’re willing to be.”
“Where are you?” Aurora said without hesitation. Stanislav gave us the address to a hotel. “Is O’Shea okay?” Aurora tried to ask.
“Come quick,” Stanislav said, ignoring her question. “I’m beginning to feel a little parched.”
“If you so much as lay a hand on either of them-” Aurora began, but the line had already gone dead. Mark swore under his breath.
“What are we waiting for?” Tytus asked.
“You’re not coming,” Aurora told him decisively.
“You’re going to need help tracking them,” Tytus insisted. “He didn’t mention what room they’re in.”
“You’re going to stay with Chase and Jonas, and make sure they all stay safe,” Aurora instructed.
“We don’t need a babysitter,” Chase said.
“Chase, don’t,” I said.
“I’m just saying,” he muttered, but dropped the issue.
Tytus wasn’t happy with the arrangement, either. He looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it.
Aurora turned to look at Mark. “You’re coming with us....” There was an implied just in case they’re hurt at the end of her sentence that she couldn’t bear to say out loud. Mark gave a quick nod, and Aurora met my eyes.
I squeezed her hand with mine and said, “We’re going to find them.”
She nodded and said, “Let’s go.”
Tytus headed for the band bus and Aurora, Mark and I took off on foot around the block. We hailed a Taxi and sat in anxious silence as the driver took us to our destination. The idea of O’Shea and Kacie being held by a bunch of seething vampires was almost more than I could take. Images of them being used as donors flashed in my mind, making my blood boil. O’Shea was my brother, and I’d come to think of Kacie as a sister. That meant Stanislav Vidic was messing directly with my family. He was almost certainly counting on the fact that Aurora and I would do anything for the people we love. I just hoped it didn’t involve hurting anyone else.
How are we going to track them down once we’re inside? I projected to Aurora and Mark.
I think I’ve got that covered, Aurora responded. I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by that, but her answer was good enough for me.
Mark, I added. You didn’t happen to select the healing ability last full-moon cycle, did you?
If Mark’s slight hesitation wasn’t answer enough, the sullen look in his eyes was. Mindreading, he answered, almost apologetically. Mark’s healing skills were impressive, even without the additional benefits of asking for the ability, but I was still hoping we wouldn’t need his specific skill set at all. We pulled up to the hotel and I paid the driver, quickly scrambling out of the car to head inside. Aurora paused right in the middle of the lobby and closed her eyes in concentration.
“I’ll ask the front desk which room he’s in,” Mark offered, but I stopped him with a shake of my head.
“He won’t have used his real name to check in,” I told him. “I never do.”
Mark’s shoulders dropped in disappointment, and we both looked at Aurora to see what to do next.
“We’ll take the stairs,” she said after a moment. Aurora slowed but didn’t stop as we climbed new floor of the hotel. She was as focused as I’d ever seen her, and I realized she was actually tracking somehow. It was the first time I’d seen her using an ability she hadn’t called for during the full moon, and I knew it wasn’t coming easy to her. Twenty floors up she stopped at the door in the stairwell. Her hand hovered over the handle for a few seconds before she reached out and turned it, pulling the door open. “This way,” she said as she moved down the hall. She moved quickly at first, but then slowed down the further we went, repeating the same process at each set of doors. She stopped in front of a door, and then took two steps backward to the door next to it. She closed her eyes for a second, and I took the opportunity to really listen to what was happening. There were several vampire heartbeats on the other side of the door, and two human ones. I recognized them both. I didn’t know whether to feel relief that they were both alive, or sickened by the possibilities of what I might see when we went inside. “This is it,” Aurora said, unnecessarily.
I raised my hand to pound on the door, but the knob turned and it opened before I could. The vampire that met my gaze was one I recognized. He’d been following Aurora and I around, showing up at shows and in our hotels for weeks now. He stepped back and gestured with a sweeping hand for us to come inside. I moved quickly past him, Aurora and Mark right on my heels. I surveyed the room with a quick glance to locate my friends. O’Shea was tied to a chair across the room. Dried blood stained his white T-shirt, his lip was split and bleeding, and his left eye was bruised and swollen. He looked like he was on the brink of losing consciousness, but he managed to meet my gaze.
Don’t worry about me, Decker, I heard him think. Then I followed his gaze across the room where Kacie was unconscious, propped up against the headboard of the queen sized bed, bound and gagged. Aurora made a move to go to Kacie, and I stopped her just as Stanislav came into the room from a doorway where a connecting room joined. We were on his turf now, and we couldn’t afford to do anything that might make things worse for our friends.
“Nothing to worry about,” Stanislav said calmly. “I only had a taste,” he said, gesturing to Kacie. “Your friend is a lightweight, and has an aversion to blood, it seems.”
“She’s alive,” Mark reminded Aurora, his eyes darting from Kacie to Stanislav and back.
Aurora
threw herself between Kacie and the Synod Elder, baring her fangs defensively. “You got what you wanted,” she said. “We’re here now. Let them go. They’re only human.”
“A fact that hasn’t escaped me,” Stanislav said, wiping a bit of what I could only assume was Kacie’s blood from his mouth with a handkerchief. “You see, the problem is that you seem to surround yourself with humans. For some reason you care deeply about these two. After our last meeting, it was quite clear that I had to make a move to get your attention.”
“You have it,” I insisted. “Now, let the doctor take them and go. Aurora and I will stay. We’ll talk all you want.”
“I’m afraid we’re way past talking now,” Stanislav said, taking a seat in the only empty chair like my best friend wasn’t tied up and bleeding right there next to him. “You see, I’m ready to take action.” He gestured for Aurora and I to sit on the bottom of the bed. We hesitated, looking over at Kacie, sitting limply against the headboard.
“Can I at least see if the girl is okay?” Mark asked boldly, taking a step forward.
Stanislav considered him a moment and then gave him a brief nod. Mark went to Kacie, feeling her neck to check her pulse and then healing the puncture wounds there, all without a word of protest from Stanislav. Maybe he wasn’t completely beyond reason. Aurora and I both sat at the bottom of the bed across from him, though it took everything in me not to go straight to O’Shea and free him. I knew Stanislav’s minions were waiting in the connecting room, and any move on my part could get us all killed.
“What is it that you want?” Aurora asked, exasperated.
“I want what every vampire wants,” Stanislav said, raising an eyebrow like that would clarify things.
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” I said. “I’m not convinced you and I want the same things at all.”
“Of course we do,” he continued. “We are a superior species. I know you haven’t been a vampire long, Trey, but surely you’ve grown accustomed to your new immeasurable strength, speed, and agility, not to mention all the other gifts that come with the moon’s all-encompassing power.”
“I’m getting used to it,” I admitted. “Why?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “Humans have their place, and they’re certainly useful, but we’ve spent too long living in their shadow.”
“We’re vampires,” Aurora stated plainly. “Darkness and shadows are kind of our thing.”
“Not you two,” he argued. “No. You’re America’s sweethearts.” He reached over to the TV stand and picked up a magazine, opening it to read out loud. “‘Trey and Aurora could almost convince you that a celebrity relationship like theirs is easy, even though their lives are anything but ordinary. No wonder the country is fascinated by the pairing. They’re impossibly sweet and down-to-earth real, all at once.’” He turned the page and said, … “‘Power couple,’ et cetera, et cetera, ‘... taking the world by storm ...’ et cetera, et cetera. You see my point. Vampires and hiding are not synonymous. You’ve proven that. We are superior in every way. There’s no shame in what we are. We simply need to come forward and claim that superiority. I had other methods; ways of trying to force the hand of our species to stand up and take our rightful place, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful.”
“What other methods?” Aurora asked. “What have you done?”
“Aside from blessing some young souls with immortality, nothing much. It’s hardly even worth mentioning.”
Aurora’s mind was reeling a hundred miles an hour as she worked out exactly what he wasn’t quite willing to say out loud. “It was you,” she said slowly. “You’re the one who has been changing all the fledglings back home and leaving them to fend for themselves.”
“With very disappointing results,” Stanislav said casually. “I can admit now that turning fledglings loose on Florida wasn’t my brightest idea, but I was hoping they might draw the wrong kind of attention, allowing me the perfect opportunity to help us step into the light.”
I thought of Beck and wondered how he’d feel to know that he’d been changed by a Synod Elder in order to create chaos. No wonder Aurora hadn’t been able to pull any memories from him. If Stanislav Vidic didn’t want you to remember something, he’d make sure you wouldn’t.
“So what? You really expect that you can go public and it’s all going to work out?” I asked. “What do the other Synod Elders think about your plan?”
“Come now, Trey.” Stanislav clasped his fingers together and leaned forward on his knees. “Bylun and Dalek will come around,” he explained. “They simply need someone to show them that it can work. You’ll see. We both know someone has to take the first step for progress to be made. With you and Aurora standing by my side, I believe we can show the human race that vampires are to be respected and revered with very few casualties.”
“Very few casualties?” I scoffed. “What do you call this?” I pointed at O’Shea, who was watching me out of his one good eye.
“He resisted when my men tried to bring him in,” Stanislav said. “It was all a big misunderstanding.”
“If it’s all a big misunderstanding, release him,” I said, calling his bluff.
“I’m afraid he’s my insurance policy,” Stanislav retorted.
Get Kacie out of here, O’Shea thought, knowing I’d hear him.
But Stanislav had heard him, as well. “They both are,” he clarified. “They’re not going anywhere. That’s how I know you’re going to cooperate fully with my plan. If you don’t, you don’t get your friends back.”
“We have friends,” Aurora interjected. “Other vampires who will come looking for us. They can track. You’ll never get away with this.”
“Oh, but I already have,” Stanislav said coolly. “You see, you’re running out of time. A new moon cycle begins in half an hour. At that time, if you’re not holding a full-moon ritual, you’ll forfeit your chance to request an ability, and I think we both know you can’t have that. That’s why you’re going to do exactly as I ask, and now.”
I looked at Aurora, who was trying not to look visibly shaken by the declaration. Stanislav was right. He had us between a rock and hard place, and I couldn’t see any way out of it that wouldn’t put everyone I loved in more danger.
“This plan you keep talking about,” I began, turning to face Stanislav again. “What do you need from us?”
Stanislav’s lips stretched into a victorious smile, and I held my breath to maintain my composure as I waited for the ball to drop. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter 53
Trey
WALKING AWAY FROM THAT hotel room without O’Shea and Kacie was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. In the moments before Mark, Aurora and I had to bolt, I promised O’Shea out loud that I would fix this.
His silent response was, Of course you will. I know you have my back.
His complete trust in me was humbling, to say the least. I practically had to pull Aurora away from Kacie, but I knew that crippling ourselves by missing the ritual wouldn’t do our friends a bit of good, especially since the vampire we were up against was a powerful Synod Elder. So the three of us headed back to the hotel.
It was decided that Mark would choose the healing ability, just in case. The thought made me shudder. I didn’t want him to have to use it at all, but it only made sense to play it safe. I would choose to block my thoughts so Stanislav wouldn’t be able to break into my mind. Aurora was already adept at blocking her thoughts so she would ask for the ability to read them instead. That way she and I could still have some form of silent communication.
“We’ll get set up for the ritual,” Mark said to me as we stepped into the elevator at our hotel. I nodded at him and put my arm around Aurora’s shoulders. She leaned against me for a second, but didn’t speak. Aurora had been uncommonly quiet the entire ride back, but I couldn’t blame her. We both felt like we had let O’Shea and Kacie down tonight. We had to make sure we could f
ix that tomorrow ... somehow. I had to go break the news to Chase and Jonas that I hadn’t come back with O’Shea, and I hoped they could forgive me for it.
“I’ll meet you back in our room in a few,” I said to Aurora.
She looked up at me then with big watery green eyes, and I felt my heart breaking for the umpteenth time that night. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She dropped the walls around her mind and I was flooded with her thoughts. She was worried about me, about how I was going to tell my brothers that O’Shea was still being held captive by a powerful vampire.
“We’re going to get through this,” I assured her. “Help Mark get set up. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded, and I thought she seemed to stand a little straighter before she turned away and headed toward our room. I knocked on the room Chase, Jonas and Tytus were all waiting in, and Chase rushed to the door, pulling it open in a hurry. His eyes immediately darted around, looking for O’Shea.
“Where-”
“I don’t have him,” I admitted, grateful that my vampire voice couldn’t crack the way my human voice would have.
“Where is he?” Jonas asked, coming up behind Chase.
I gestured for them to let me inside and Tytus approached me as I walked in. “Do you need me, boss?” he asked.
I shook my head. “They’re getting ready for the ritual next door,” I told him. “You should probably get in there. I’ll join you in a few.” Tytus let himself out, and as soon as the door clicked shut I turned to face Jonas and Chase.
“Stanislav is holding O’Shea and Kacie as collateral,” I said. “They’re at a hotel with him across town.”
“You saw them?” Jonas asked. I nodded. “Are they okay?”
“They’ll be fine,” I promised, hoping I would be able to keep my word, and unwilling to go into details about the mess O’Shea was in when I’d seen him. “Stanislav wants me to help him bring vampires out into the open. His plan is for me to do it at our show tomorrow.”
“There won’t be a show without O’Shea,” Chase stated.
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