by HELEN HARDT
“You’re a detective. You’re on the lookout all the time.”
“Yeah. For clues. For criminals. I watch my own back. I don’t like the idea of someone else watching it for me.”
“Come on. You and River are partners. You have each other’s backs. How is this any different?”
“It just is. I have a weakness, and I don’t like it.”
“Not being able to glamour isn’t a weakness.”
“No. But being able to be glamoured is.”
He had a point. “I don’t like it any more than you do. But you need to be safe, and so do I. We both need to be our best selves so we can find Lucy and the others.”
Jay got comfortable on the couch while I tidied up the kitchen from my earlier attempt to make dinner. Seemed like a lifetime ago.
I jarred when a knock sounded on the door.
I eyed the clock on the wall. Ten p.m.
Who would be knocking this late?
Chapter Nine
Dante
“It’s simple,” I said to my grandfather. “You give us back the Texts, or we tell the council what you did. How do you think they’ll react when they find out you took it upon yourself to read the Texts when it’s forbidden?”
“They won’t believe you.”
“Won’t they?” I scoffed. “We know you heard the ghost of Levi Gaston at the restaurant. Erin heard it too.”
“It’s true, Dad,” my father said, standing nearby. “He was there.”
“How would you know?”
“I was there too. I can control whether you see me. And no, Gaston didn’t see me.”
“You were about to tell us some council secret, something that would help us find Lucy and the others,” River said. “The ghost stopped you.”
My grandfather looked around nervously. “Is he here now?”
My father shook his head slightly at River and me—code I assumed meant not to tell my grandfather about the shield.
“No, Dad. I’d be able to see him if he were.”
“He’s not here,” I said. “So spill it. How can you help us?”
“I’ll do nothing. Nothing. Not if you’re determined to translate the Texts.”
“That’s not negotiable,” River said. “Dante needs them. He needs to find out what’s happening. Not just between him and Erin, but to him as well. You saw what he did in the courtroom.”
“No. I can’t. Not in good conscience.”
“Would you have a little faith in us, for God’s sake?” I stood. “Whatever you read didn’t turn you to the dark side. Why would it do so to any of us?”
“Because you’re both young. Young and at the height of your potency. You’re ruled more by instinct and emotion than by logic.” He shook his head vehemently. “I absolutely cannot allow it.”
“Are you fucking kidding—” River started.
“Then give them to me, Dad.”
“To a ghost? You can’t even carry them. How can I do that?”
“You give them to Dante and River, and you take their word that they’ll attempt to translate them only so I can read them. Trust me to make the decision as to what they can know.”
“Julian…”
“You raised me. You taught me. I’m no longer a slave to the hormones and chemicals of a body. Who better to trust with the Texts?”
He had a good point.
“Julian…” Bill said again.
“Do you want to find Braedon?” my father asked.
“Of course. More than anything.”
“Then give us the Texts. Something is happening to Dante. He has a power unheard of for vampires. If the Texts can give us the key, he can use this energy he has to help us find Braedon.”
“He might be dead.” Bill lowered his head so his chin touched his chest.
“He’s alive, Dad. He’s alive. But he doesn’t have much time. We need those Texts.”
“I’m sorry, Julian. I can’t. And as long as you continue on this quest to get information out of that book, I will not help you find the women who have disappeared.”
“You fucking son of a bitch.” I growled, baring my fangs. “These are people. One of them is Erin’s best friend. River’s girlfriend. If you have sources no one else has, you need to use them.”
“You may think my position callous.” Bill sighed. “But if you had read what I’ve read, you would understand.”
“You’re willing to sacrifice innocent people to keep your secrets?” River shook his head. “You’re not the grandfather who looked after me when my father disappeared, who taught me our history and how to glamour. Who taught me how to be a moral, ethical vampire. A moral and ethical man. No moral or ethical man would leave innocent women to rot when he could help them. What’s happened to you?”
My cousin paced across the Persian carpet swiftly. He was angry. Angry, anxious, and full of nervous energy. Why weren’t his teeth descending?
Control. He’d been taught the control I lacked.
Fine with me. I wasn’t a big fan of control at this moment.
“What happened to me?” Bill, the ultimate in control, bared his own fangs this time, his voice rumbling into a growl. “That damned book happened, and I’m willing to face the wrath of my sons and grandchildren to keep its secrets. For your own damned good.”
My own bigger and longer teeth pulsated. “We are adults. Grown men.”
“You’re a grown man who can’t control your own teeth, Dante,” Bill said.
“What about you? Why are you baring your teeth at your son and grandsons?” River asked. “Don’t talk to us about control.”
“I was talking to Dante.”
That bolt of electricity, that red rage of anger, all of it boiled in the pit of my stomach. “Say goodbye to your seat on the council, Grandpa,” I snarled. “Come on, Riv. We have some phone calls to make.”
River regarded me, his eyes unreadable.
“Let’s go, Riv,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Yeah. Sure. After I use the john.” River stood and left the room.
Bill sighed, his countenance returning to normal, though his cuspids were still descended. “I don’t know what they’ll do to me. It won’t be pretty. But I’m old. I’ve lived an amazing life. Go ahead, Dante. Tell the council. I can’t risk letting the secrets of the Texts get out.”
“Have it your way. Let’s go, Dad. Riv,” I yelled. “Meet us outside.”
“Got it.” His voice was muffled.
I walked out of the living room, through the foyer, and out the door. I stood still for a moment on the porch, waiting to see if Bill was watching.
He wasn’t.
I walked quickly to the side of the house, to the window of Bill’s study. River was there, as we’d planned after dropping Jay and Erin off. He handed me the heavy tome. “Be quick,” he said, “now I really do have to use the john.”
“Great job. See you in the car.”
“Nicely done,” my father said out of thin air while we were driving away from Bill’s house.
“Thanks for telling me where to look, Uncle Jules,” River said. “The book was right where you said it’d be. So much for Bill trying to keep it hidden.”
“I just happened to see where he hid it,” my father said. “He’ll realize it’s gone quickly enough. I hope he didn’t hear you. He used to be able to hear Brae and me even thinking about sneaking out. His ears take acute vampire hearing to a new level.”
“I was quiet as a mouse,” River said. “I couldn’t even hear myself. If we’d had more time to plan, we could have replaced it with the fake.”
“Let’s make sure he can’t get to this one,” I said. “We’ll have to hide it well.”
“I’ve got that covered,” my father said.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see.”
“I still don’t understand,” River said. “If this book is as dangerous as he thinks, why does he keep it?”
“I don’t get the f
eeling he’s lying about that,” my father said. “It’s our history. It’s been part of our culture for so long. He can’t part with it. What if Christians found something dark and evil hiding in the New Testament, or Jews in the Torah or Hindus in the Bhagavad Gita? They wouldn’t destroy them. They couldn’t.”
We pulled into the townhome complex and—
“Oh, God,” River said. “Jay’s in there.”
Oh, God was right. Emilia stood on Erin’s stoop, her fist poised to knock on the door.
“Now’s not the time,” I agreed.
“I’ve got this,” my father said. “I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
She tapped on the door twice before my father appeared at her side and apparently convinced her to move away quickly.
A few seconds later, Jay opened the door, holding his pistol. “Huh,” he said and then looked toward us. “Good. You guys are back.”
“Did you hear us?” River said.
“No. Someone knocked on the door. Must be kids playing tricks or something.” He shoved his gun back into his shoulder holster. “I see you got the book back.”
We walked into the townhome.
What had Emilia come here for? To see me, no doubt. She looked better than she had a few days ago, thank goodness. Whatever she needed, my father would see that she got it.
Right now, with Jay here, Emilia couldn’t be. Though Jay had every right to know about her pregnancy, it was Emilia’s call, and the stress of seeing Jay wouldn’t be good for her or the baby.
This pregnancy had to progress smoothly. I wasn’t ready to lose my baby sister.
I set the book on the coffee table next to the fake. They looked identical.
“I wonder what’s different about the fake?” Erin said. “I guess we could compare them page to page.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” River said.
“It sounds like it will take hours and hours and lead to nothing,” I said.
“That’s where you’re wrong. It might lead us to exactly what we need.”
“Good thinking, partner,” Jay said. “Find the discrepancies, and you find the parts your grandfather doesn’t want you to see.”
“But we can’t read it. We’d have to go through word for word until we find a word that doesn’t match. Sounds ridiculous.”
Erin was looking at both books, open to page one. “I don’t think that will help,” she said. “From what I can see, every word is different. This phony one appears to be Old French gibberish.”
“How would you know it’s gibberish if you can’t read Old French?”
“Because the words are all here on the page. They’re just out of order. I noticed it when I got to the second paragraph. The first sentence has all the same words, just in jumbled-up order.” She turned the page. “Yeah, it looks like the same thing here.”
“I guess Nocturnal Truth is our only chance,” I said. “Good thing we have the money now.”
“Still,” River said. “We don’t know who this Lucien Crown is and whether he’s legit. I’d feel better if we could read these damned things ourselves.”
“Me too,” I said, “but we don’t have time for that. It’s time to contact the site.”
Erin lay in bed, her eyes closed, while I undressed. A few minutes later, I slid into bed and snuggled against her warm body.
“Did you send the request?” she asked.
“Yeah. I waited for my dad to get his input.”
“Julian’s here?”
“Not anymore. He left when River and Jay left.”
“Quite a night,” she said. “I’m beat, which is weird, because I’d be at work right about now.”
“I don’t think any of us are going to be keeping normal hours until we figure everything out.”
She sighed. “I get so distracted sometimes with everything else. Then I feel guilty because I haven’t been thinking about Lucy.”
“Shh. Don’t beat yourself up about that. There’s a lot going on. We’re going to find Lucy. I promise.”
My cock hardened, and I slid it between her soft ass cheeks.
“Mmm,” she said, wiggling into me. “Please.”
I entered her slowly, impeded a little because she wasn’t quite ready.
I smiled. This was the first time we’d made love without both of us being completely aroused.
But that wasn’t what this was about.
This was closeness.
Closeness after a rough day.
She moaned softly as I continued to pump into her, slowly and gently.
We climaxed together, and I reveled in the sheer sweetness and soft intensity of it.
Then we fell asleep, still joined.
Chapter Ten
Erin
Mmm. Something felt good. Really good.
I opened one eye. Dante was between my legs, licking me.
He smiled, his lips shining with my juices. “Sorry, baby. Couldn’t wait.” He sank two fingers in me while simultaneously spearing his teeth into the flesh of my thigh.
I soared.
So quickly yet so completely.
I’d come to know that Dante’s feedings were another kind of lovemaking between us. I looked forward to them, relished them.
Needed them as much as he did.
As he took the blood his body needed, he also gave to me—his strength, his courage, his magnificence.
I’d grown stronger because of his feedings. Because of his love.
When I came down from my orgasm, he was lapping at the wounds, helping them coagulate and close. Then he slid slowly upward and plunged his cock into me.
I was tight from the orgasm, and now, as he intruded into the tightness, he created a good, slow burn.
Heavenly burn.
“So snug, baby,” he whispered against my neck.
“Mmm. Feels good.” I closed my eyes, my hard nipples pushing against his chest.
He thrust once more, grunting and exploding in orgasm.
Then a knock on the door downstairs.
“Shit,” he said.
“At least you finished.” I chuckled.
“I’m not ready to get up yet.”
“Neither am I. We can ignore it.”
“We can’t. It might be River and Jay. Or it might be—” He stopped abruptly.
“Might be…who?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’ll go take care of it.”
“Not without me, you won’t.” I followed him out of bed and hurriedly put on shorts and a tank top.
Dante pulled a pair of jeans over his hips, and we walked downstairs.
The knocking became more persistent.
“For God’s sake,” Dante said, opening the door. “Oh. Good morning, Bill.”
Bill stood rigid, dressed in black pants and a tan shirt. The man looked too good to be a hundred and two. Too bad he was a jerk who wouldn’t help us.
“What do you want?” Dante asked.
“You know why I’m here, Dante. May I come in?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Do you think I didn’t hear River sneaking into my office? I’m taking the book.”
“Think again.”
Bill pushed Dante out of the way and entered. A low growl emerged from Dante’s throat, and he turned and plastered his grandfather against the wall.
I stood, motionless.
“Good morning, Erin,” Bill said, as if his grandson weren’t holding him against the wall. “I’m sorry to barge in like this, but Dante and River stole something from my home last night. I’ve come to retrieve it.”
What could I say? I had no idea, so I said nothing.
“Let go of me, Dante.”
Dante, to my surprise, released Bill. “You’re not taking anything from this house.”
Bill walked toward the coffee table, where both books sat. “I assure you I am. I could have you and River arrested for theft, you know. I’ll call the police.”
“River’s one of them, even though you forc
ed him and Jay to quit. They’ll never arrest him, no matter how much you glamour the department.”
“I don’t want to resort to that. I’ll just take the book. Which one is it?”
“You want it?” Dante said. “You’re the one who planted the fake. You figure it out.”
“I’ll take both, then.” He picked up one of the books—the phony—and then reached for the other—
“Ouch! What the hell did you do?”
My heart lurched. “What happened?”
“I didn’t even touch it. Damn thing shocked me or something.”
“I did nothing.” Dante reached toward the book hesitantly and touched it.
Nothing happened.
Then he picked it up, holding it out. “You want it? Take it.”
Bill put the fake down and reached for it once more. “Damn! What is that?”
Dante chuckled. “Looks like the book doesn’t want to go with you, Bill.”
“I don’t know what you’re doing, Dante, but I beg you to stop it. You’re dealing with powers you don’t understand.”
“Ha! I did nothing. If someone put some kind of hex on the book, it wasn’t me. I don’t know shit about things like that.”
“Erin.” Bill turned to me. “You need to talk to him. Talk some sense into him. He doesn’t know what he’s dealing with.”
“He just told you he didn’t do anything.” I reached toward the book, touching it lightly.
Nothing.
Thank God.
Whatever was going on seemed only to affect Bill.
Bea. Bea and another shield. Julian had arranged this. I’d bet everything I owned on it.
“Since you won’t be taking the book,” Dante said, “I suggest you leave. Erin and I need to get some breakfast.” He smiled sarcastically. “Unless you’d care to join us?”
“This isn’t over, Dante.” Bill strode toward the door. “Whatever you’ve done to that book, it won’t work. Not in the long run.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, I did nothing. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.”
Bill left.