“Your mother is trying to get rid of us, Nico,” his father said with a laugh. “We might as well leave now.”
“Behave while I am gone,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“What does he think I will do?” she asked Adelaide and Diana.
“Oh, never mind him. Men are always trying to exert their dominance over us. It is just part of their makeup. The smart women just ignore it,” Adelaide said. “Your father is here.”
“Mrs. Blackburn,” Diana said in horror. “Not so loud.”
“First, I told you to call me Adelaide. Second, no one can hear.” She turned to Cordelia. “I made sure he will be seated across the table from you.”
All of the sudden her heart started to gallop. “I am not sure I am ready for this.”
“You are,” Adelaide said. “And Diana, I made sure you were sitting by Malik.”
“What?” Diana practically yelled.
“Diana, really. People are staring,” Adelaide said. “Come, I want to introduce you to Countess Featherstone. She has been dying to meet you, Cordelia.”
She glanced at her sister. “As I said, it is just better to follow along.”
“I think you may be right.”
* * * *
“Your mother wanted to be sure I invited Gavin MacDonald tonight,” Gray said to Nico.
He frowned. “MacDonald?”
“Yes, I have an idea she thinks that MacDonald might be Cordelia’s father,” Gray said happily.
“What?” Nico was stunned by this news.
“He might be her father. You were interested in finding out at one time before you married her,” Malik said.
“He’s right, you know,” Gray added cheerfully.
“Yes, I have been a little busy trying to find Neal.” Nico hadn’t given the question of Cordelia’s parentage a second thought.
Gray’s jovial mood dissolved. “Of course.”
“I think we should go out again tonight.”
“I don’t think this is going to work,” Gray said. “I think we need something else to draw him out.”
“I have been thinking of that, and that is why I want to go out tonight.” Nico had a plan.
His father studied Nico’s expression then nodded. “It is a good plan.”
“Risky.” Nico admitted as much.
His father gave him an encouraging smile. “Yes, but you can do it. It won’t be a problem.”
“What the bloody hell are you two talking about?” Gray asked.
He knew that it was going to put him in danger, but it was the only way. The only reason that Neal was making vampires was to get his attention and draw him out.
“I am going to set myself up as bait.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cordelia had to fight the urge to dry her hands on the skirt of her gown. Dinner had been excruciating. The excitement of meeting her father had made it very difficult to eat. Having her father sit across the table from her had been just too hard to ignore. It had taken all her courage to talk to him. Thankfully, Nico took pity on her and asked for a private moment with the Scottish laird after dinner.
She was clasping and unclasping her hands over and over, trying to calm her racing heart.
"You don't need to worry, Cordelia."
She looked at her husband. "How did you know I was worrying?"
"Your nervous energy is flowing off you."
"I—"
There was a knock at the library door.
"Come," Nico said.
Cordelia rose slowly from the sofa. Not for the first time, she felt her stomach roll over.
Her father walked in. Nico stood next to her and said only loud enough for her to hear, "Breathe."
She let loose a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Laird MacDonald," Nico said.
"Blackburn," he said, his voice stern. When he turned his attention to her, his facial features soften. "Lady Cordelia."
"Please have a seat, MacDonald. Would you like a brandy?"
He nodded and took one of the two chairs opposite of the sofa. Cordelia followed suit.
"You are newly married?" he asked.
A nervous laugh tried to bubble up, but she fought it off.
"Yes, just over a month now," she said, watching Nico hand her father the brandy.
"I understand it was hastily planned." He glanced at Nico with an evil look.
"Once I met Cordelia, I had to marry her. I knew she was my mate."
He said it so convincingly that she almost believed the story.
"Ah," MacDonald said as he nodded and took a sip of his brandy. "Your sister was in attendance?"
"Yes," she said. "She came into town just in time for the wedding."
"Did her husband attend?"
She glanced at Nico and wondered where her father was going with the questioning. "No. Her husband died several years ago."
"Ah.” MacDonald swirled the liquid in his glass. “I guess you know I knew your mother. You look very much like her."
She smiled. "That is nice to know. My mother died in childbirth, so I never knew what she looked like."
"She knew, you know."
"She knew what?" Cordelia forced herself to keep her hands in her lap.
"That she was a Carrier."
She felt her eyes widen. "She did? My sisters did not know, and I know my fa—" she cleared her throat. "The earl did not know."
"So your sister is moving through a room filled with vampires and she has no idea that she is a Carrier?" MacDonald seemed disturbed by the thought.
She nodded.
He tossed an angry look in Nico's direction. "You allowed this to happen?" His accent now made it almost impossible to understand him.
"She is a widow, MacDonald. I cannot tell her to do anything. And you know in our society the women go about however they like. Being that she is seen as a widow in human society makes it even more difficult."
"I will have to have a talk with her brother."
"No," she said in a near shout. Her father gave her an odd look.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Please, don't contact Alex. Their relationship is very strained." It was the only way she could describe it. MacDonald might be her birth father, but there was no reason to let the man know just how horrible their brother was.
“Of course.”
The conversation stopped there and the silence stretched out embarrassingly long. She shifted on the sofa.
MacDonald swallowed down the last of his brandy. “I am sure that you have many people to talk to tonight, so I do not want to monopolize your time.”
He was leaving. Panic swelled up. She had finally found him, and he was leaving.
“Laird,” she said, then swallowed her nerves and steadied her voice. “I would very much appreciate it if you could find time tomorrow afternoon to stop by for tea.”
For a moment, she was not sure if she stepped over the line. In the rules of etiquette, it was just not done. But she could not take a chance that he would return to Scotland and she might never see him again.
Then he smiled. “I would love to do that, Lady Cordelia.”
When he left them alone, she breathed easier.
“Are you feeling all right?”
She nodded and tried to fight down the nausea that returned. “Yes. I am feeling a little…off.”
“All the excitement is not good for you.” Nico took her hand.
She frowned at him. “I am not weak.”
“I did not say that.”
Irritation had her stomach roiling. “Yes, you did.”
He gave her an exasperated glare. ‘Come. Things should be settling down. People should be leaving.”
She was not sure if he was lying or not, but she did not want to fight anymore. She just wanted to go home.
* * * *
Nico was worried about Cordelia. Once they arrived home, she had not protested when he said he needed to go out.
Sh
e had been fast asleep by the time he left less than thirty minutes later.
"You need to quit grinding your teeth. If you needed to feed you should have done it before we left," Malik said.
He glanced at his friend and watched the passing gas lanterns cast shadows on his face.
"I do not need to feed." But the moment he said it, memories of sinking his teeth into Cordelia's neck, drawing the blood from her veins, rose up. He could feel his body respond. His teeth ached. "I can wait."
"You are waiting too long, my friend. Although, I understand your reluctance."
"You do?"
"Yes. Bonding with a woman who is a reporter is not the thing I would want to do."
Nico felt the need to defend his wife. "Was a reporter. Now my wife."
"You hope."
Nico sighed. "It isn't that. According to Saint she is already carrying our first child."
"That's good news." The worry in Malik’s voice was evident.
"It doesn't sound like you think it is."
"It is just a bad time,” Malik said. “Lots of turmoil."
Nico nodded. "She was asleep almost before she got into bed. I am worried."
"You know that is normal. How does she feel about it?"
Nico crossed his arms. "I am not sure she knows."
"You didn't tell her?" Malik tsked.
"How do you tell a woman she's breeding?"
"Don't look at me, old man.” Malik chuckled. “I do not mate for that reason."
Vampires, both Made and Born, could have intercourse without mating, but instead Malik had abstained for centuries. Nico knew Malik felt tainted by his Maker and he did not want to even take the chance of fathering a child.
"On top of it, I do not trust MacDonald."
"Gavin?" Malik asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Nico glanced out the window. "He is apparently her birth father."
"That makes sense," Malik said. "He comes from a particularly strong line."
Nico nodded. "And for years, he hid up there in Scotland and did not claim his daughter. But now, here he is, ready to do just that."
He knew he sounded jealous. He didn't care. He did not trust the bastard around his wife.
"For what reason? What would he gain by getting close to Cordelia?"
"I don't know. Money?"
Malik shook his head. "He has more money than you do."
Nico did know that. Or he thought he knew. There had always been rumors that the MacDonald fortune was massive.
"I am not certain of that. Can anyone tell us for sure?" Something about MacDonald still bothered Nico.
"What is your problem?"
"Problem?” Nico struggled to keep his voice even. “He left her with that bastard. Who does that? Not a good father, if he even is one."
The carriage drew to a stop. Malik stood. "Stop fighting it, Nico. Bond with the woman so you can get your mind back on matters."
“Of course. And what would that be?”
“Finding Neal Pearson.”
He nodded and looked out of the cab. “We aren’t at the hell.”
“No, we are following up on a lead. There was a rumor that a man by the name of Pearson was living here.”
Nico nodded and followed Malik out of the carriage. The house was in a reputable part of town, clean-looking and dark.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this, Malik?”
“Saint was verifying.” Malik walked towards the house.
“Why is it just us?” Nico was surprised Saint wasn’t here.
“Was living here,” Malik said again. “That is what I said. He’s no longer living here.”
“We could have come during the day.”
“No. We would have been seen breaking into the house. And let’s face it, you need your rest. Being out in the sunlight will deplete your energy as it is.”
He would argue with Malik if it wasn’t the truth. Every day he was out in the sun, he felt a little more of his energy drain out of him.
“Around back,” Malik said.
They walked to the back and found the kitchen door standing open. Nico pulled out his stake. He glanced at Malik and motioned with his head that he would go first.
The kitchen had been left in a mess, as if the cook had been in the middle of preparing a meal and was interrupted. The scents of rotting food mixed in with the scent of blood. He stepped past the counter and found the cook. Her neck had been slashed.
“Not good,” Malik said.
“Yeah, not good at all.”
The worked their way through the house, finding the members of the household. The scent was making them both nauseous, but they continued through the entire house.
They found the last of the bodies laid out in the bedroom.
Malik lifted one of the bodies with his foot and rolled it over. Nico recognized him immediately.
“McAlister,” Nico said. “He’s not a very nice fellow.”
“No. He’s also a predator,” Malik said. “It is said he likes boys.”
“Yes. But why is he here?”
“We assumed Neal was working by himself, but he doesn’t like to work.”
Nico nodded. “He was always lazy. So, maybe he had Simmons do the dirty work and report back to him?”
“We need to get this cleaned up before anyone finds it. It’s surprising no one reported it before now.”
Nico looked down at Simmons. He had been murdered the most viciously. His neck was a mess, not like the clean cut of the others. “He cut them across the neck, except for Simmons. With their vocal cords severed, there was no way to scream out.”
Malik studied the scene. “And from the look of them, they have only been here a few hours.”
“Why would he do this?” Nico asked.
“His game is over.” Malik began moving through the room, starting the ghastly task of cleaning the slaughter.
Something wrong moved through him, tightening his stomach.
Malik continued. “And he got rid of anyone connected to him.”
Something propelled him to start moving. He was halfway downstairs before Malik yelled. “Where are you going?”
Nico had to go. He had to get home now. “What was the one thing he did right before he went after Magdalen?”
“Damn. He killed all his staff.”
“He’s going after Cordelia.”
He rushed out the front door, his worry about being detected by humans gone.
“Home, Briggs.”
His driver nodded. Malik and Nico scrambled into the carriage.
“He hasn’t had much time, and you have your house well-guarded. We will save her in time. He might not even be acting out tonight.”
He knew Malik was trying to calm him, but Nico remembered Neal too well. “Neal was unpredictable except for two things.”
Malik’s face was grim.
“He always killed his partners, and he always used the women to get to the men.”
He just prayed they made it there in time.
* * * *
Cordelia woke up slowly. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d slept so soundly. The room was dark, but she sensed a figure moving through it.
“Nico? You know I hate when you sneak through the room in the dark.”
He said nothing and kept walking toward her. As he came within inches of her, a slant of light from the bathing room illuminated his face. The man she saw was not Nico.
“Good evening, Lady Cordelia,” he said as his lips curved. Something cold moved down her spine as if he were sliding an icy finger across her flesh.
“Who are you?”
“I’m an old friend of the family. The Blackburns. A pity they never told you about me.”
Cordelia tried to stay calm. “What are you doing here?”
“Righting the wrongs of the past. Up, Lady Cordelia. We have a ride to take.”
“No.”
“Oh, I think you will come with me.” The
man seemed very sure of himself.
“Why?”
He held up a sharp piece of wood. Even in the dark she could tell it was a stake. “If you don’t, I will kill your family.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nico rushed up the stairs to his townhouse and burst through the door. Terror was screaming in his veins, and it was more than just worry. The fear he felt rushing along his nerve endings was not just from him.
“Cordelia,” he yelled.
“What on earth,” his father said as he walked out of the study. He was still in his evening clothes which meant he must have just returned.
“Have you checked on Cordelia?” he asked, running up the stairs.
“No,” his father said, but he barely heard him. The only sound he noticed was the rush of Malik behind him. He hit the door full force and burst through. He found the room empty.
“Cordelia!”
Nothing but silence. He rushed into the bathing room. Empty.
“Nico,” Malik said. He was holding a slip of paper.
“He has her.” Nico knew what the note said without Malik even reading it.
“Yes and he wants you to meet him.”
“Where?”
“Demetrius’s old house.”
His heart sank. Everything in him chilled at the thought. Neal had taken his sister-in-law there and killed her in front of Demetrius.
“We go.” He knew what would happen to Cordelia if he did not.
“But it could be a trap.”
“Of course it is. It’s Neal. We just have to make sure that we outsmart him.”
Malik sighed.
“Agreed. Let’s send notes to Saint and Gray and tell them to meet us there.”
Nico nodded.
* * * *
Cordelia shook her head, trying to get her wits about her. For some reason, everything was very fuzzy. When she opened her eyes, the room was unclear.
“So nice of you to join me again.”
The voice was familiar. Then everything came rushing back to her. Her eyes finally focused. She was in a dimly lit room. The furnishings were old and there was a hint of mold in the air.
When she could finally see clearly, she noticed the man in the shadows.
Desire by Blood Page 23