Ettie folded her hands on the desk and looked at me intently. “Alice, if you know anything about the House of Basarab that you think could help us, please tell us. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem.”
I rubbed my face and took a deep breath, and then I launched into it. The words came tumbling out of mouth, pouring out far faster than I intended them too, but I couldn’t seem to slow them down.
My confession began with the run-in in Prague, with Olivia and the two members of the House that we’d killed. I didn’t leave any detail out – including that part that both Cate and Cyrus had known that I was a hunter. Next, I told them about Aisha and Liesel, and how Aisha seemed to know about my occupation.
That all came out fast and easy, but in the end, I had to go back to the beginning – I had to tell them about Jane and Jonathan, and the words caught in my throat as I talked about his staunch belief in vampire superiority, that he was trying to expose the vampires so we’d have to take control of the humans, and that now I realized that killing him had been nothing more than cutting off the head of a hydra. Cut off one head, and two more would grow in its place.
When I’d finished, Abner stared down at me with concern and unease – but at least he wasn’t disappointed. His arms were folded over his chest, and he didn’t say anything the entire time I told my tale.
“Merde,” Ettie whispered and leaned back in her chair. “You should’ve come to me sooner, but I suspect that you already know that.”
“I do,” I said, my voice thick with contrition. “I thought we took care of the problem, and I didn’t want to get Olivia in trouble or cause a hassle for anyone.”
She exchanged a look with Abner that I couldn’t read before saying, “The good news is that I don’t know what I would’ve done with this information if you had told me sooner. The House of Basarab is doing a superb job of keeping us in the dark, so to speak.
“Any vampire that aligns themselves with us is being targeted,” she went on. “Which is why we think Iris Emmanuel began harassing the girls who work at Darah Merah in the first place. She resents that Ottaline relies on us.”
“We should be out patrolling, adding extra security for her and the girls working for her,” I realized with some dismay.
Abner held up his hand to soothe my concerns. “We have other hunters on it. Don’t worry.”
“And you, with your less than secretive status, should be lying low,” Ettie commanded. “We’ll try to sort this all out, but for the next few days, I think it would be best if you didn’t go anywhere – personally or professionally. We’ll call you when we need you.”
“I’m not fired, am I?” I asked, sounding embarrassingly plaintive.
“No,” Ettie said, and she actually sounded offended by the idea. Abner let out a soft chuckle. “You made a mistake, but it wasn’t a grave one. Now you know better, and you’ll do better in the future.” She paused, then asked, “Correct?”
“Yes, of course, correct,” I replied in a hurry. “So… you just want me to go home?”
“For now. But call us if you think of anything more that might be of help to us in fighting the House of Basarab.”
“YOU WANT ME TO CALL in sick?” Milo sat on the couch next to Bobby, with his arms crossed over chest.
I stood in front of them, trying to explain my reasoning as calmly as possible. “I would like it if you did.”
His scowl only deepened. “I can’t call in. It’s the weekend! That’s the busiest time at a restaurant, and no bad guys are even coming after me.” He fixed his accusatory glare on me. “I’m not a hunter.”
“You don’t need to blame me for this,” I said, struggling to keep my cool.
“Don’t I?” he shot back. “You’re the one that decided on this suicidal career and drug my husband along with you, and you’re constantly putting yourself and the rest of us in mortal danger.”
“I am not.” I groaned in frustration. “The danger already exists! I’m only trying to protect you from it.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job, since we’re all on lockdown, once again, because some maniac wants to kill you or Jack or Peter or whoever they’re after these days,” Milo muttered derisively.
“Milo, calm down,” Jack interjected.
He’d been sitting on the far edge of the couch, but now he stood up and came to my side. Because he was Milo’s maker, they had a special bond, and Milo tended to listen to him, but based on his annoyed eye roll, I was guessing that it wouldn’t work tonight.
“You know how much your sister does for this family – for you – and she’s only asking this to keep you safe,” Jack argued. “I left Jeroen in charge at the store for the next couple days, and I’m going to work on books and revamping my inventory. Maybe you could use this time to be productive and retool your menu.”
“I would be happy to work as a taste-tester, if you need one,” Bobby offered, meekly.
“Fine!” Milo shouted in exasperation and stood up. “I’ll call into the restaurant and ruin my career and do whatever it is that Alice says because she knows best.”
He started trudging off in the direction of his room, and I went after him. I wasn’t letting him get away with his attitude.
“Milo!” I yelled at him, and he grudgingly turned around to look at me. “This is ridiculous. You are almost twenty-two-years-old! There’s no reason for you to be acting like a spoiled teenager over this!”
That wasn’t entirely true. Milo had in fact been born twenty-two-years ago next month, but he’d been barely sixteen when he turned. Vampires didn’t stop aging, not entirely, but they aged much differently. Since he’d been so young and hadn’t been a vampire for that long, he was partially trapped in a stage of adolescence.
Fortunately, Milo had been insanely mature for his age as a human, so even now, most of the time, he ended up acting more grownup and responsible than vampires that were older than him, like Jack and sometimes even Mae.
After all, he graduated from high school (unlike me), found a steady, safe job (also unlike me), and married his long-time boyfriend (before me). He had the most ordinary life out of any vampire I’d ever met, and he seemed happy with it.
But then there were times like this, when he stomped his foot at me like a child.
“You don’t get it, Alice!” he yelled. “I have a job. I have a husband. I have responsibilities, and they constantly have to be put on hold for you and your drama.”
“It’s not ‘drama,’” I said, doing air quotes. “It’s serious.”
“Oh, believe me, I know,” Milo continued. “How many times have I been almost killed since you got in bed with vampires? Half a dozen? Maybe more?”
“What are you saying?” I asked, feeling a sense of dread welling up inside my chest. “Do you not want to be a part of my life anymore?”
“Hey, now, come on, you guys.” Bobby got up and walked over so he stood in between the two of us. “Let’s cool off before we say something we might regret.”
“I don’t know what I’m saying!” Milo yelled then exhaled heavily, and his whole body slacked. “Sometimes I get really frustrated that we can’t just have a normal life.”
His wide brown eyes had this forlorn, plaintive look in them. “You know, I’m working so hard here to establish myself at work and in town, but the reality is that we’re going to have to move in a few years anyway, when it becomes too apparent that I’m not aging.”
“We may not get a normal life, but we get something better,” I said gently. “We get to have many lives. We can do so many things that no one else gets a chance to. We have forever to do and be whatever we want.”
“Yeah, some of us, maybe,” he said, and then his melancholy gaze landed on Bobby.
“Milo,” Bobby said with a sad smile of his own. “I have at least another fifty years, probably longer with the way medicine is going.”
“Yeah, that’s assuming you don’t get killed first,” Milo muttered.
Bobby moved closer to him and took his hands in his. “I’m not going anywhere, not any time soon. But you knew that I wanted to stay human before we got married.”
“I know but I want forever with you,” Milo persisted sullenly.
“Forever is a relative term. In the end, you only get one lifetime,” Bobby said.
“Bobby…”
He appeared moved by Milo’s sadness but he was adamant about his choice. “We’ve talked about this. Vampires still die – I’ve seen plenty of that first hand. I just don’t like the idea of eternity. You ever watch a show that you love and it goes on for too long, and then it sucks?”
“Are you talking about Dexter again?” Milo asked wryly.
“That final season was terrible,” Bobby insisted. “But no, I’m just saying that everything has an end, and it doesn’t do anybody any good to extend it past that. And this one mortal lifetime is enough for me. It’s all I need.”
“That’s not fair, Bobby.”
“Look, Milo, I’ve got plenty of time to change my mind. But right now, I can tell you with absolute certainty that I want to stay human. And I need you to accept that.”
Milo put his hand on Bobby’s face. “I will try, but I need you to be careful.”
“Hey, I already told Alice I’m staying in for the weekend. But I need you to do the same thing. I don’t want you dying before your time, either.”
“I’ll go make the call.” Milo kissed Bobby, then went to the other room, presumably to call into work.
“Thank you,” I told Bobby.
“No problem.” He smiled sadly back at me. “Anytime you need my assistance, I’ll just get into an existential fight with my husband.”
THE LOCKDOWN AT HOME HAD gone on for nearly twenty-four hours, and it hadn’t been as bad as Milo had feared. Truth be told, Bobby and I had been travelling and working so much that we could use a couple days to veg out on the couch.
Milo had taken Jack’s advice and started reworking a few items for his menu, which led to him feeding Bobby far too much rich, delicious French inspired gastro pub cuisine. Or at least that’s what Bobby complained when he started doing some weird CrossFit exercise with free weights out on the rooftop patio.
Meanwhile, Jack had taken to analyzing his inventory and sales, so he had headphones on as he worked on his laptop and frequently muttered to himself. So, that left Matilda and me being the only ones to truly enjoy our time off.
Which meant that it couldn’t last for long. I was in the middle of my third hour of catching up on Law & Order: SVU when my phone went off. Bobby was still in the midst of his workout, and Milo was baking something that smelled like amaretto in the kitchen.
I saw it was Abner that called, and I tried not to sound nervous when I answered, “Hey, how is everything going?”
“I’m sorry,” he said wearily, which was never a good way to start a conversation. “I seem to be calling you only with bad news lately.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. I’d been lounging on the couch, with Matilda laying on top of me, but I gently pushed her off and sat up straighter.
“Doesn’t your boyfriend own a store down on Dijkstraat?” Abner asked.
I looked over to where Jack sat, looking healthy and normal as he typed. “Yeah, he does. Why? Did something happen to it?”
“No, no. His store is fine,” he assured me. “It was someone who owns a place down the street from him.”
“What happened?”
“Too early to say exactly, but there’s a dead body, and it’s a mess,” Abner replied vaguely.
“Oh, shit.”
“We’ve kept the police at bay so far, but we won’t be able to for much longer, I’m sure,” he went on. “But I was hoping you could stop by. Since you’re familiar with the neighborhood, I thought you might know something.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, and I was already getting to my feet and thinking about the things I’d need to gather before I left. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, maybe less if I rush.”
“I’ll let you go so you can hurry then.”
Nobody was thrilled about me going out alone, and Bobby practically insisted on tagging along before Milo was finally able to convince him to stay behind. But I was only going a couple blocks, with several stakes hidden inside my jacket pockets, and I was meeting with Abner. Plus, if it was a murder, other members of the Agency would most likely be there.
I dressed as fast as I could, and I was still pulling on my oxblood jacket as I ran out the door. My trepidation grew as I walked, twisting my stomach up in knots, and I kept picking up the pace until I was nearly jogging by the time I turned down the street.
Jack’s store was on the far end of the block, but midway down was a shop that I had been to before. One that usually had a pink glowing sign in the window, and it probably would be glowing now if it wasn’t for the black tarp hung over the entire storefront, blocking out onlookers from peering inside.
I cursed under my breath, knowing that something terrible had happened inside Jessamine’s psychic shop, as I ran over. Before I even lifted the heavy tarp, I could smell exactly why the store had to be covered – metallic, rich, tangy blood. Not strong enough for humans to notice through the closed door, but strong enough where I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
Inside, the shop was only partially lit, but the only ones alive were vampires, so it was more than enough light. The room was in shambles, with tapestries torn off the walls and crystal balls shattered on the floor. Gems and incense sticks were strewn around, and all the furniture was tipped over.
Blood had been splattered all over the front window, like someone had torn open an artery and aimed it right for the glass. The body lay in the center of the room, crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood.
Abner stood over the corpse, standing with his hands on his hips so his overcoat flared out around him. A few other cleaners were trying to erase any signs of vampires before the police eventually stumbled on the scene.
Before I reached him, I knew it was her. The hem of her satin pencil skirt landed at the knee of her thick legs, and from where I stood, I could see her long lavender hair cascading around her, turning into a burgundy ombre as it mixed with the blood.
“That’s Jessamine,” I said thickly. “She owns this place.”
Abner looked back at me. A strand of his ashy blond hair had fallen free of his usual slickback and lay across his forehead.
“We’d already gathered that, but do you know anything else about her?”
“Well…” I trailed off because I’d now gotten close enough that I could get a good look at her.
Her tattooed arms were now torn up, covered in scratches and bite marks, and her throat had been completely ripped open. The strap of her dress was broken on one side and fell across her cleavage. She lay at an odd angle, with her head pulled back, so her open eyes stared straight upward.
“Alice?” Abner asked, drawing me from my thoughts. “Did you know her well?”
I shook my head. “Not well. I’d only met her a couple times. But Jack and I were just here… this past Sunday. It hasn’t even been a week.”
Abner stood up straighter and narrowed his eyes. “You were here recently to see her? What did you talk about?”
I swallowed hard and tried to decide how much to tell Abner. “We came to talk to about me, at first, but Jack mostly talked to her.”
Abner scratched the back of his head. “Do you think your visit and her death are connected?”
I shrugged emptily. “Do you?”
“I should show you something.” Abner crouched down beside the body, and he gently lifted Jessamine’s arm, turning it so her wrist was facing skyward.
I went behind to look over his shoulder, but the wound was plain as day. A swollen, bloody dragon in the shape of a crosshatched U. The mark of the House of Basarab. I gasped and took a step back, covering my mouth as I swallowed down my vomit.
Abner gently set her arm back dow
n and stood up. “The House has been active in this area. You are in the heart of one the larger metropolitan areas in Europe, with one of the largest vampire populations in the world. This could all be a coincidence.”
“It could be,” I said feebly.
“But given your connections, and that your occupation has become public record, I don’t know that we should treat it like that.” He stepped in front of me, deliberately blocking my view so I couldn’t keep staring at Jessamine. “Do you want to leave the city?”
“I….” I let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know. Where could I go? The House of Basarab found me in Prague. Maybe they’ll find me anywhere?”
“They might,” Abner agreed. “Which is why I’m not ordering you to leave. I know that you would probably be safer somewhere else, but I don’t know where that would be. The awful truth is that we don’t know how big or how connected this House is.”
“So what do I do? I mean, if this is about me, if they’re after me for some reason, I should stay here. I should take them on.”
“Give me and Ettie and the rest of the Agency a few more days,” Abner said. “The House is getting bolder, but that means they’re getting more careless. We have new information, and soon we’ll know more and we’ll be able to come up with a game plan.”
“And until then?” I asked.
“Stay home. Lock the doors. Batten down the hatches,” he said grimly. “There might be a war on the horizon.”
IN THE DARKNESS, I COULD only smell the flowers, and that’s when I knew that she was back.
It had been over a week since Elise had last come to me in my dreams, before I had gone to Ireland to her home and before Cate had confessed to her murder. Part of me had hoped that she would be done visiting now that Peter had solved her murder so she could move on.
Swear (My Blood Approves #5) Page 21