Nathan hit pause on the San Fran footage and turned to face Bhavin. He rested his hand on the desk as he leaned closer to the computer. Three days wasn’t unusual for a hunter to be gone. Sometimes they ran into leads that didn’t allow for contact.
“Any who have been missing longer?” Nathan asked him.
Bhavin’s hesitation revealed his answer before he spoke. “We had four go missing about three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you report this?” Nathan demanded, but he realized a report hadn’t been necessary even before Bhavin replied.
“We have no confirmation of death, and it’s only been three weeks.”
Without a confirmed death, there was no report of the loss of a hunter to him, unless they were missing for a month. Then, they were reported missing and also presumed dead. Hunters had turned up again after a couple of months of following leads that led them farther than they anticipated, but that was in the days before phones and technology. Nathan hadn’t heard of it happening in over a hundred years.
The lengthy period before reporting a hunter missing was yet another outdated thing the hunters continued to practice. Those rules were established when communicating with others had been far more difficult.
After today, all missing would be reported when three days passed, but that wouldn’t help him now. He had no idea if there were any missing hunters from San Fran or Moscow; he suspected there was at least one from each stronghold for an extended period.
“You are to evacuate now, Bhavin,” Nathan commanded.
“Do you know how many hunters we have here?” Bhavin demanded, his black eyes narrowing.
“The last count I was given was seven hundred sixty-two,” Nathan replied. “If you want to remain the largest stronghold, you’d better take precautions to stay alive. Evacuating now is one of those precautions.”
“We have nothing to fear here,” Bhavin replied. “Our security and hunters are the best. We’ve been in this location for over three hundred years, and we will not abandon what our ancestors built.”
Nathan gritted his teeth as he worked to restrain his temper. Normally, he would listen to an argument and judge every side before reaching a conclusion, but there was no time. However, he had to maintain control when responding. A frazzled, hot-tempered leader would only divide them all further.
“I realize your history is important to you, it’s important to all of us, but the fact that you’ve been there so long could also work against you now,” Nathan said.
“I don’t see how it could, and some of us respect our history far more than others.”
“Don’t play games, Bhavin. If you have something to say, say it.”
Bhavin’s shoulders went back. “Did you stop to consider San Francisco and Moscow went offline? That they might have pulled out of our union because they’d prefer not to have a leader who is aligning himself with our enemies?”
Nathan felt every eye in the room burning into his back as well as the weight of the stares coming from the computer.
“I have not aligned with our enemies,” Nathan replied through his teeth. “I have agreed to an alliance that could save us all. If Joseph is successful in building an army of Savages, we won’t survive the aftermath. We all want to remain loyal to our history and our ways, but the world is vastly different than it was when the hunters were founded. Our ancestors have never seen anything like the threat rising against us. We adapt, or we die. You may not like my decision about this alliance, but you will abide by it.”
Bhavin’s hands clenched on his desk, and his nostrils flared.
Nathan continued speaking before the man could respond. “You’re not so foolish as to deny there is a difference in the way vampires smell? Not so stubborn to admit that if we continue to fight vampires who only want the same as us, we will ensure our destruction by vampires and Savages?”
“We are aware of this,” Edward said.
Nathan focused on the leader of the Manchester stronghold in England. Edward’s blue eyes were steadfast as they held Nathan’s. His more orange than red hair fell in waves around his plump, freckled face.
“We’ve all agreed this truce is necessary, though many still don’t like it,” Edward continued.
“Understandable,” Nathan replied. “And yes, Bhavin, I have considered San Fran and Moscow went offline because of the alliance—”
“And the fact your sister is now a vampire,” Bhavin interrupted. “Not only that, but she’s also become the wife of a vampire.”
On the table, out of view of the webcam, Nathan’s hand fisted as he sought to restrain himself. Sensing his simmering temper, Roland wheeled a couple of inches away from him and focused on typing.
“There was much talk of you twins when you were born. You were the first to be born to a hunter in nearly seven hundred years and the first male/female twins in over a thousand years. Many here believed such a thing heralded the coming of something big on the horizon,” Enlai said from Beijing. “Perhaps this alliance is what your birth heralded, or perhaps it was the herald of the end of the hunters as we’ve always been. Maybe it was meant to announce the destruction of the hunters completely, a destruction brought onto us by those twins.”
No one in the room breathed as all their gazes swung back to Nathan. His mind churned with Enlai’s words while he sought to form a reply beyond a “fuck you and your heralds.”
• • •
Vicky spent an hour running on the treadmill in the gym before swimming fifty laps in the pool and beating the crap out of a punching bag for another hour. She still felt barely in control of her emotions and like a caged, unruly tiger. When she realized exercise wasn’t going to take that away, she decided to call it quits for the day.
With her towel slung over her shoulder, she made her way up to her room. Leaning against the wall of the elevator, she focused on her sneakers as the elevator ascended and snorted with amusement. There was a time when she wouldn’t have been caught dead in sneakers, not when there were so many fabulous boots, heels, and sandals in the world, but now they were her favorite things to wear. She missed her shoes, especially her boots, but they didn’t have a place in her life right now.
One day, I’ll be in Prada, Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, and Manolo Blahnik again. Until that day, she liked her Skechers.
When the elevator doors slid open, a familiar scent drifted to her. Her heart leapt in her chest at the same time a feeling of dread crept over her. She didn’t know if she could handle this without bursting into tears.
Stepping out of the elevator, her dread vanished, and she cried out in delight when she spotted Abby and Brian standing by her door. When Abby turned toward her, a brilliant smile lit her face; then, they were running to each other.
Vicky babbled as she embraced Abby, and her sister spoke in an excited rush. Abby couldn’t make what was happening between her and Nathan better, but Vicky had missed her more than she’d realized, and she really needed her twin.
“You’re back early!” Vicky gushed.
“Ronan called and told Brian you were looking into something that he didn’t want you doing alone,” Abby said.
Vicky rolled her eyes as she stepped back from her sister’s embrace. “I was doing fine on my own until he found out about it, but since you’re here, we can go tonight!”
“Go where?” Brian asked as he rested his hand protectively on Abby’s shoulder.
His ice blue eyes were wary as he gazed from her to Abby and back again. With his platinum hair and sculpted features, he was one of the most striking men Vicky had ever seen. He was also one of the most lethal and ruthless, something Vicky liked as it meant he would destroy anyone who tried to harm Abby.
“It’s not dangerous,” Vicky said and slid her key card into the lock. “Stop being so boringly overprotective.”
Brian scowled at her as she pushed the door open and held it for them.
“I could never be boring,” he replied.
“Maybe not before yo
u were mated, but after….” Vicky gave a melodramatic sigh as she resumed her role as family diva. “There are times you make dirt exciting.”
Brian’s lips clamped together, and she could practically hear him reminding himself that with Abby came Vicky and vice versa.
“It’s okay, as you’re older than some dirt,” Vicky teased and bumped his hip.
“Hmm,” he grunted and eyed her like he was contemplating strangling her.
Vicky skipped into the living room, tugged her towel from her shoulder, and draped it over the back of the couch. Abby’s eyes traveled over the suite of rooms when she followed Vicky inside.
“Nice,” Abby commented.
“You know me, only the best,” Vicky replied. “Where’s Aiden?”
“He and Maggie will be back in a few days,” Abby answered. “We left Brian’s truck with them and rented an SUV to come back.”
“Why didn’t they just rent a vehicle?” Vicky asked.
“Because they’re using our truck to help stock up on building supplies.”
“Aiden’s moving back home?” Vicky asked, unable to keep the shock from her voice. She couldn’t picture Aiden settling onto Byrne land too, but she guessed it made sense now that he was also mated.
Abby chuckled and shook her head. “No. They’re running out of room to store all their vehicles and toys, so they’re building a couple of garages.”
“Of course they are,” Vicky laughed. “How is the rest of the family?”
“They’re good. They all miss you.”
Vicky bent to pull off her sneakers. “I’ll be home soon.”
“Will you?”
She didn’t look at her twin. Not only were they identical, but they could read each other’s expressions like they were reading each other’s minds.
“Of course,” Vicky replied. “I can’t stay away forever, right?”
“I’m not sure,” Abby said, and Vicky hid her wince. “Are you going to tell us what is going on?”
“I am. Would you like a drink first?”
“Yes,” Brian said.
She poured them all a glass of whiskey and walked over to give Abby and Brian theirs. When she handed the glass out to her sister, Abby’s eyes fell on her fingernails. After speaking with Nathan, she’d cut them off and decided to keep them that way for a while. They hadn’t been this short since her time in the warehouse and, before that, since she was fifteen. Maybe it didn’t match the image she portrayed to her family, but she didn’t have it in her to deal with her nails anymore.
“What happened?” Abby demanded and snatched Vicky’s hand before she could pull it away.
“A little of this and a little of that,” Vicky replied in a singsong voice. “Most of it’s rather boring, but it’s a lengthy tale, so settle in.”
Vicky tugged her hand away and bounced over to a chair with an ebullient air she didn’t feel. She plopped herself onto the plump cushion, draped her legs over the arm, and kicked her feet in the air as she sipped her whiskey. She blithely told them everything that happened while they were away, or at least almost everything, as she kept her relationship with Nathan more of a business arrangement.
She was halfway through her tale when she met Abby’s eyes over the top of her glass and saw her sister wasn’t buying her act.
CHAPTER 34
“Or perhaps their birth was simply biology,” Alejandro interjected in response to Enlai’s words to Nathan. “It’s not like hunter twins have never occurred before.”
“We’re getting off track,” Nathan said. “If Moscow and San Fran pulled out of our community because of my alliance with the vampires, they would still be communicating with all of you. It makes no sense for them to make themselves more vulnerable by being on their own from here on out.”
“Perhaps they are in contact with each other,” Edward suggested.
“Perhaps,” Nathan agreed. “But until I have proof of that, or proof this was a decision they willingly made, then I suggest you take every precaution necessary. Including evacuating, Bhavin.”
Bhavin leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.
“Shit,” someone muttered from behind Nathan.
Nathan turned toward Leonard. The young hunter sat before the computer replaying the footage of Moscow. His blue eyes were the size of saucers, and he’d gone nearly as pale as his blond hair.
“What is it?” Nathan demanded.
Leonard glanced at him, then the screen, and back again. “At first, I thought it was a shadow or… or… anything else.”
Nathan walked over to stand behind Leonard as the seventeen-year-old hit a couple of keys and the video rewound. On the screen, the hunters in Moscow moved backward as Nathan searched for what had caught Leonard’s attention. Then, Leonard paused the screen.
Nothing looked odd about the faces frozen on the screen, or the houses behind them. Leonard lifted his finger and pointed at something beyond the hunters and their homes. Nathan’s blood ran cold when, through the shadows of night, he spotted a head. The man’s head peeked over the top of the wall; his fingers curled into it as he peered at the hunters below.
All that could be seen was the man’s forehead, eyes, and nose, but it was impossible not to notice the incredible white-blue hue of the man’s eyes. Those eyes shone from the sunken sockets of a face made gaunt by hunger.
He’d seen eyes that color only once before, on Kadence. All other vampires he knew had eyes that turned red when their emotions ran high. But his sister, the only hunter he knew who had become a vampire, had eyes that became a white-blue when provoked.
The sick feeling in him turned into a tsunami of emotion, but he kept his voice steady and his face composed as he spoke. “Get me a close up of that man, and also put the original photo up where the other leaders can see it.”
When Leonard started pecking at the keys, Roland wheeled over to help him, and less than a minute later, the original photo and the close-up materialized on another screen.
“I know him,” Enlai said with horror in his eyes. “He’s Marat’s second-in-command in Moscow. He’s lost about twenty pounds, but that is or was Sergei.”
Nathan tried to recall the one time he’d met Marat and Sergei in person. When Nathan was ten, his father was called to Moscow to confirm the nomination of Marat as commander of the stronghold there. Nathan had gone with him, and Sergei had been there too. Nathan barely remembered the man, but staring at the photo of the starved vampire, the memory of Sergei emerged in his mind.
“Every stronghold is to evacuate now,” Nathan said. “Even if you’re not missing any hunters, you have to move. We all know too much about each other to risk staying in our current locations. Bhavin, you have to go now.”
Bhavin opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, his screen went blank.
“Oh, shit,” Roland breathed.
“Go now!” Nathan barked at the others. “And keep the location of wherever you’re going a secret. If you’re missing anyone, do not contact them with your new location. Consider them dead. Keep your phones until you either call me with your new number, or I give you mine.”
Nathan didn’t wait to hear their responses before he turned to Roland. “Shut down the feeds; we won’t be linked to the strongholds anymore, and issue an evacuation order to everyone here.”
Roland stared dazedly at him for a second before nodding. Turning away from the computers, Nathan strode past the bewildered hunters in the room. He gestured for Logan and Asher to follow him as he swiftly descended the stairs. Walking outside, he dialed Ronan as his eyes latched onto the sun sinking low on the horizon.
They had to leave here before they lost what remained of the daylight. Nathan didn’t have any hunters who’d been missing for an extended period, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
“We have a big fucking problem,” Nathan said when Ronan answered. “I know where Joseph is getting some of his newest recruits. We’re evacuating the stronghold and going to
Falmouth. Meet me there in two hours. Bring Kadence with you. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“What is going on?” Ronan snarled.
“I don’t have the time to explain. Kadence will be safe if she’s with you.” He hoped she would be anyway, but he figured she was safer with Ronan than without him. “Is Vicky there?”
“No.”
“I have to go.”
He hung up and called Vicky again, but she didn’t pick up.
• • •
“I gotta admit, I thought I’d see you in Hell before I ever saw you in a sewer,” Abby muttered as she brushed aside a cobweb hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel.
“It’s an old sewer, long out of use, and don’t forget I have killed a human, so Hell might not be far off for me,” Vicky replied.
“Save me a seat there then,” Brian said.
When Vicky met his gaze, she saw an understanding in his eyes that she’d never seen from her brother-in-law before.
“You killed those hunters to save yourself,” Vicky said to him.
“You were starving, and you killed to feed yourself,” he replied.
Vicky blinked at him; she’d been unprepared for him to try making her feel better about what she’d done. Brian wasn’t the complete asshole she’d believed him to be when they first met, but he wasn’t exactly compassionate. It seemed Abby was rubbing off on him.
“We’re almost there,” Vicky said as she turned away from them. She didn’t know how Sister June and Duncan would react to her bringing more vampires into their home, but she hoped they would be okay with it.
“Nathan has been doing this with you?” Abby asked for possibly the hundredth time.
“He’s come with me a few times.” Vicky stifled a giggle when the double entendre of her words hit her. Then, she was struck by the irrational urge to cry. She’d resolved to end it with him, but she missed him.
It’s for the best.
Then why do I feel so awful?
Because she hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to give him up, or how much she would grow to care for him. It was one thing to miss his touch, his taste, and the way he made her body come apart in ways she’d never dreamed possible. It was an entirely different thing to miss him because he’d stolen a piece of her heart and soul.
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