“What did you do?” I whispered.
“I sent my family away, out of Bluff City. I told them the truth and told them they had to leave. For how long, I didn’t know. The man was following me at that point, and I was going crazy. Because how could he be in so many places at once? He was everywhere.”
There was a very good reason for that. “Hazel eyes and brown curls? Tall? Cold eyes?”
Her gaze flew to mine. “Yes.”
The triplets. I’d wondered how Fyrlia got away with this kind of shit. They hadn’t directly approached her or compelled her. They’d broken her. Or tried to. Focusing on something unrelated, I said, “There’s more than one of them.”
“That did occur to me at first. But then they came closer, and I began to see stranger things. Things that couldn’t be possible. Their teeth were long—fangs. Once, the man blurred across the road a-and ripped the head off the neighbour’s cat. I woke up and the cat’s head was sitting on top of my letterbox. My neighbours reported me to the police. I saw the man break a street post in half with a twitch of his hand. I tried moving house after that. I moved three times, changed banks, but they found me over and over again.”
And she still held strong against approving Mr Ringly’s deal. “What you did took some serious fucking guts.”
She shook her head. “Not bravery. If I did what they wanted, they’d either kill me or I’d be in their pocket for the rest of my life. I had a plan. After my family was safe, I applied for a transfer despite knowing I should cut all ties and get another job. I’d worked too hard to get where I was. I’d leave my reputation behind, and that was bad enough. I’d hoped to use that reputation to become a private town planner. Giving up everything was too much.”
I reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. Her pain was real and so very familiar. Just like my grandmother’s friends, like Rhys, like me, Sandra Hoyt was an innocent pawn in Ingenium. I came here to save Sundulus so I could continue my own game, but I’d help this woman with everything I had. She’d gone through that alone. As much as I hadn’t wanted Kyros’s protection at the start, things could have been so much worse if the triplets got to me first.
“There was one problem. No one would take me,” she breathed. “The CEO was blocking me, or my colleagues were spreading the news of my behaviour at work. Council staff gossip like nowhere else I’ve ever worked. Regardless, after two months of submissions and rejections, the council here offered me a position.”
Fyrlia let her leave because she wouldn’t approve the plans.
“It was too close for my liking, but I leapt at the opportunity. Two hours from Bluff City was better than being in Bluff City.”
They wouldn’t have followed her. Not in the same way. They would have compelled her or killed her once her use had expired. She spoke far too openly to have been compelled. “They’ve never showed here?”
“No. And my team here didn’t act strangely. They were welcoming. The man—or men—never showed their faces again. The letters stopped. I have a bag packed in case they do, even now, just in case I needed to cut ties and run. But Bluff City never followed me here until today.”
I released Sandra, thinking over her words. This was surely proof of coercion. They’d forced her out of the city to make way for someone more pliable to their harassment. They must have done something similar to Julia. Even if they hadn’t, what they did to Sandra had to be enough to break the deal. Except I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t make my move until I was certain. I owed her and her family my full diligence in the matter.
“They’re vampires, aren’t they?” she said dully.
Thinking of my body lotion, I managed a nod and gave her a minute to absorb that confirmation.
“Do you know what happened in council after you left?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t care. I just wanted out. I was so angry at the people I worked with. I just didn’t want to know.”
Julia Dinh was going through the same hell, most likely—and yet I couldn’t blame Sandra one bit.
“Here’s what I need you to do,” I said, holding up my phone. “You need to repeat everything you just told me so I have proof. After that, you need to take the packed bag you mentioned and the cash I give you and leave Frankton Gorge.”
She opened her mouth. “Where?”
“That’s something you must never speak aloud.” I tapped my ear. “Don’t take your phone. Don’t take your computer. Not your car. Nothing. And don’t go to your family. Do you understand?”
“Can’t I come with you?” she asked.
“I need to make sure my move is solid before I make it,” I told her. “If I play it wrong, you suffer. Not only that, I almost definitely have eyes on my estate.” If Sundulus got hold of Sandra, and I didn’t have a leg to stand on, they’d take a walk through her mind, and then she’d be tied to them for life. There were worse things in life—like being tied to Fyrlia—but I’d avoid her compulsion if possible.
When Sandra nodded, I took out a card. “This is my personal email. Find a new phone. Message me if there’s any hint of trouble or if you need more money. I’ll see that it gets to you. And after, when things are safe, I’ll see that you find a council position equivalent to what you now hold. Better if I can wrangle it.” Lady Treena shouldn’t have any trouble with that.
“I just…” The woman blinked. “It’s so fast. No one has ever helped me. I’ve been afraid for so long. I don’t know what to think or do.”
I pressed my lips together. “What is your body telling you to do, Sandra?”
“T-To run. To not look back.”
“Stop ignoring your instincts. They’re there for a reason. I have you now.”
Tears tracked down her cheeks. “I want to believe you. That you’ll help me.”
“That’s enough for now,” I said, holding out another tissue. “Dry your face and let’s get to work. These fuckers are going down. You might have been their victim until now, but you’ll stand beside me when we have the last laugh.”
Hatred glinted in her eyes. “I want that.”
Revenge was a strong motivator. It had fuelled my grandmother for decades. It fuelled me for a while too. I missed the mindlessness of revenge after all Kyros’s lies. When I hated him, my decisions were blissfully black and white.
“Then take it,” I replied, lifting my phone up. “Tell everyone what happened to you.”
Sandra squared her shoulders.
“I’m ready,” she said.
10
My body had begged for rest, and sleeping on the drive back was tempting to the extreme, but I had shit to sort through. This development was huge, and I had to play it exactly right. The lives of Kyros’s family depended on this. Kyros’s forgiveness hinged on this too.
“Fred, please pull over when you can.”
I fired off a text to Laurel, and in short duration, she slipped into the car.
“Laurel,” I greeted.
I pressed a button on the console next to me and the soundproof screen between us and Fred slid up. Soundproof for human ears anyway.
She took the seat opposite me. “Basi.”
“You heard?”
The vampire inclined her head. “I worry about leaving her unprotected.”
“Same here. But I can’t leave you guys to protect her without questions being raised by Kyros and Sundulus. I’m not prepared to answer their questions yet.”
Sandra got this far without being compelled. I’d do everything possible to keep her out of chains.
Twenty-five Vissimo came with me to Frankton Gorge. I had to assume twenty-five heard Sandra’s story. All of them knew the confidentiality rules when with me on the estate, but I couldn’t depend on Laurel keeping them in check when they had so much motive to pay off their debts.
The sooner I hammered out the finer details, the better I’d feel.
“What do you know about the rules surrounding the presentation of this kind of evidence?” I asked.
Fuck.
I couldn’t move in the dark.
“You need the rule book,” she said. “The manuals are readily available. Children in both clans are taught the rules during their schooling.”
I lifted my head. “You’re shitting me?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “How else would the clans keep track of everything? The rule book is a direct copy of the original contract between the two kings with any new rules inserted with passing decades.”
This was… “I needed this, like, yesterday.”
“Might I recommend consulting Deana on this point?”
Deana was the woman who introduced me to vampires when she sank her teeth into her boyfriend.
“She’s not here today.” Laurel continued. “I keep the newest of our kind in the tower and away from the estate. Their loyalty must be proven first. However, you’re part of the inner circle on Level 66 now. You can use that as a cover. With some caution, she’ll be one of the best to quiz on the complexities of the game. She’s the only one of us to have worked in Ingenium.”
Talking to her would be a risk, but nothing on the risks I’d taken to get here. “I need a copy of that book regardless.” I hesitated before adding, “Are there books on the rules of Vissimo and mating?”
“Publications are held in high esteem in our world,” the vampire replied, blue eyes scanning passing cars. “You know every clan is dedicated to a cause. They tend to write these things down and disperse the copies to various clans to show what they’ve achieved. But I warn you, they’re generally long-winded and complex. That’s why I didn’t bring them up. Incorrect interpretation is dangerous.” Her eyes glimmered.
Maybe. I was sick of relying on what others told me or didn’t tell me. “I’ll take them all the same. I’ll double-check details before acting.”
The tension left her shoulders. “Then I’ll see that copies find you.”
“Thank you,” I said, blowing out a breath. “The fifth exchange is set for next Sunday.”
She met my gaze. “I see. How does that tie in with the current state of Ingenium?”
Not good. No point having completed six exchanges to buy myself an army if the game was fucking over. “I’m another step toward keeping a promise,” I answered, letting my head thump back against the headrest.
Laurel leaned back, surveying me. “What happens to you?”
“Nothing like a bit of uncertainty in life.” I cracked a smile.
My phone rang. I checked in on Kyros mentally before checking the name. He was focusing.
I checked the name. Yep.
“Kyros.”
“Basilia. Are you on your way back?”
He knew I was. “Missed me, did you?”
“Today wasn’t an easy day. You’re an hour away—”
“Does my GPS signal give you an ETA and take traffic conditions into account?” I frowned as a flutter of exasperation tickled my senses. “Did you just roll your eyes?”
“Yes.”
Ha. “I felt it. Who knew eye-rolling had an emotion? Hey! You did it again.”
His amusement was a trophy I wanted to keep winning.
“If you listen for three seconds strung together…”
I kept quiet and then deliberately rolled my eyes.
The vampire growled. “Woman.”
“Man.” I grinned. “Spit it out.”
“Dinner,” he said. “At my Lyall Bay property. Maybe one of us can cook.”
I burst out laughing. “Kyros, really? Do you know how to cook?”
He was silent for a beat. “No. Do you?”
“I’ll let you think about that one.”
He snorted. “I’ll pick up something. See you there in an hour.”
“Hold on, I never—”
The line cut off, and my phone beeped.
I opened the waving kitten GIF. “Bastard.”
Laurel cleared her throat, and I jumped.
“You forgot I was here.” She quirked a brow.
I spluttered. “No.”
The vampire leaned forward and plucked my phone from my grip. She stared at the kitten GIF and tossed the phone back on my lap.
Explanations died on my tongue. There was no good way to explain a kitten GIF from an alpha vampire prince. In my limited experience of them. I lowered the car screen. “Fred, take me to Lyall Bay, please.” I rattled off the address.
He glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “Yes, miss.”
“How’s that going?” Laurel asked when I raised the screen again.
That? “What do you mean?” I mumbled.
“Don’t be obtuse. The blood bond with Kyros.”
I glared at her, but she didn’t back down. With what she stood to lose, I couldn’t blame her.
“Balancing is difficult. I will still do right by my grandmother. As promised,” I said carefully. The Vissimo with me were aware I was doing things I shouldn’t be, but they didn’t know everything. Neither did Laurel. Neither did my oldies or any of my teams. Only I knew all the various parts.
She scanned me. Was she judging whether Kyros had rendered me to a pile of goo?
“I’d let you know if that ever changed,” I said as Fred drove us over the crest of the gorge. Bluff City glittered below.
“Will it change?”
Would I spit on my grandmother’s memory, her friends, and people like Rhys and Sandra? “It will not.”
Laurel blinked, and I was finally released from her attention.
“Anything good happen at the club after I left?” I asked in the lull after.
Her brows shot up. “Music and alcohol mixed with a race inclined to have as much sex as they can? No. Nothing.”
I laughed and settled in as she rehashed the night. Vampires were worse than horny teenagers. Except they actually wanted babies out of the union and couldn’t get STDs.
Laurel trailed off as we drew closer to Kyros’s place. I took a steadying breath. Why did coming back here feel so normal? The tower and lair never felt that way, but this house did. I was happy to be here. What I felt was above and beyond the usual relief to be within touching distance of Kyros.
Fred stopped in front of the house. Kyros was waiting outside.
My heart thumped at the sight of him standing there waiting for me.
“Laters,” I said to Laurel.
“See you later, Miss Le Spyre,” she said.
I pulled a face, and her lips twitched.
Play it cool, Basi.
Fred was watching. And Laurel.
My butler opened the door, and I slid out, smoothing my black jeans and knit sweater combo.
I’d control my steps toward Kyros.
I would.
Kyros ran toward me at human speed. The air whooshed from my lungs as he spun me in a circle. I laughed and looped my arms around his neck, lifting my legs to wrap them around his torso like the koala I was in a past life.
He walked toward the house, kissing my cheek. “I’m glad you’re here, true mate.”
And I was glad to be here.
I opened my mouth to tell him so, but snapped it shut, resting my head on his shoulder instead.
“Nothing to say?” Kyros asked as we entered the house.
“Nope,” I mumbled against his neck.
We tensed at the contact, but he relaxed after a breath. Maybe that wasn’t the smartest place to put my mouth.
He shifted me higher. “I can feel how content you are.”
It was true and I couldn’t deny it. Just as I wouldn’t confirm it, but I was so content that the current wasn’t as uncomfortable as usual.
“What did you get for dinner?” I asked.
A tiny sadness stirred within him. He grabbed a bag off the bench and then he was lugging me back out of the house, one hand under my ass.
“Thai food. I didn’t know what else
you liked.”
“I’ll eat anything but olives and anchovies,” I answered, locking my legs tighter around him. The guy could toss cars around, but the one-arm hold was disturbing my human sensibilities.
Fred was gone when we reached the front door again. Exiting the house, Kyros left the door wide open and walked us off between the trees lining the driveway.
Throwing off the remaining awkwardness, I said, “Do you want to know a fun fact about human women?”
He glanced at me warily. “No.”
I tapped his nose. “We have legs that we can walk with.”
Kyros caught my finger in his teeth. Ouch, those fuckers were sharp! I sucked on it when he let go.
“You want to be in my arms, so why don’t you let yourself be in my arms?” he replied.
He dropped down into the outdoor area that I’d sat in while avoiding his family. The fire there was roaring. A bottle of wine sat on a low table between the swinging seat and the fire pit.
I tried to lower my legs, but he carried me to the swinging seat and set me on it.
Breathing thinly, I surveyed the setup, something akin to panic rising within me.
“My beauty,” Kyros murmured. “What did you think dinner with me meant?”
We’d had meals together before.
We slept in the same bed.
Stayed in the same house for more than a week.
This was a date, our first date if I excluded the beach—which I did because Kyros had coerced me into going. When I agreed, dinner was just casual. Sharing takeaway food at his kitchen bench before work didn’t hold the same terror as this romantic gesture that I didn’t want.
That I didn’t deserve.
I curled my legs under me, glad I wore ankle boots today. The days were getting chillier now. A woollen blanket rested beside me, and although heat poured off the fire, I draped the throw over my legs. Blood loss would do that to a gal.
Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 3) Page 10