Page 26 of Call of the Blood

“Therefore, Declan is safe.”

“Declan is immensely safe,” he confirmed. “Even if he had a secondary motive, what could Declan really get him? Gossip about you and me?” He raised an eyebrow. “What is there to gossip about?”

“What indeed?” I said with a tight smile because he still hadn’t left my personal bubble. “So, how was your evening? I actually wasn’t expecting you home.”

“She told me what she needed, and I got what I needed from her and came back. I was going to be reviewing everything tonight. Tomorrow I will be out.”

“You can ask for help, you know,” I said, eyeing him as I shifted to make space.

“That would defeat the point of the trip.” He turned away and left, taking his phone with him. I was left sitting with my closed laptop. I would have considered calling my brother to tell him what had just happened, the phone call and all the details of it, but I knew my brother was probably getting to sleep by now, and I wasn’t going to be the one to disturb him.

I passed the time until it seemed reasonable to text, an hour before sunrise, just letting him know that I did some asking and he worked for a human company that the L.A. pack had ownership of, but the werewolves wouldn’t bother him with werewolf business. I warned him that we’d need to talk more about it when I came over.

I hoped he would be fine for the day. I hoped none of the werewolves harassed him at work. I hoped this would be resolved.

I just wanted to spend time with my brother, and it got so complicated so quickly.

10

CHAPTER TEN

ALEXIUS

Alexius left her there in the office, not wanting to linger too long. He spent the entire first half of his night thinking about her, wondering if she was safe, hoping that seeing her brother was everything she had wanted and needed it to be. He’d been half listening to Maria, who had recognized the distraction. What she needed wasn’t really something that required him to be on the ball, though. She wanted him to do a couple of things, actually. First, she noticed vampires she didn’t know entering her area of influence. She was having a hard time pinning them down, and she didn’t want to risk her people. Second, she was losing money. Someone in her nest was stealing from her.

“The first I can handle with ease, and with recent events, I don’t blame you for wanting a professional.” He’d frowned. “The second… Everly would be the most helpful, but I’m not letting her get involved with work on this trip.”

“With the second, I’m hoping your very presence either forces them to stop or makes them sloppy enough to get caught.” Maria smiled. “You know how the hunted behave. They panic and slip up, no matter which choice they make.”

“Of course. Now, you have some files?”

He was now staring at those files as a distraction from the fiery redhead with steam coming out of her ears over her brother’s choice in partners. Seeing reported sightings of vampires that never checked in with Maria and her nest; it was suspicious. Vampires knew that unless they were passing through, they reported to the Master or Mistress of the area. If they were passing through, they would be willing to stop and say that. These vampires ran every time someone approached them.

He didn’t like that. He could see how Maria was getting uncomfortable with it. He’d be on the streets all night in the right places and would have to hope to get a trail on one of them. This was a proper hunt, if they were still around. If he could prove they moved on, all the better for him and Maria. If he did get his hands on them, he’d have to make the decision of whether to kill them or not; it might be better to drag them in front of Maria for her to deal with.

They seemed quick to the people she had sent after them or those who ran into them.

Everly could outrun them, but…

He groaned and got up, closing the files. He paced, trying to put together his plan of action for finding these shadows running in the night. He could ask her, but now she was dealing with politics on her own for the first time. She needed to pay attention to how she was behaving around the werewolves and her brother, not getting distracted and running from her problem to help him.

He looked at the equipment Maria had provided him, knowing how he liked to work when he had the time and space to do it. He turned on the projector and got to it. The map filled the entire wall, and he liberally drew on the wall, knowing she could handle it from there. He marked areas where they had been and what directions they reportedly ran, trying to get a pattern. It was three vampires, all seen repeatedly. All in abandoned places or near them. Probably places they scoped out to sleep, then moved on when they were sighted. Places he would probably be sleeping in during the hunt because he wasn’t going to be able to head back here every night. He would have to keep Everly informed.

And he hated it. Since she became a vampire, they were close. He could get to her if a daytime threat appeared. If he was out in the city hunting down vampires, that would no longer be the case.

This is why we’re doing this. Even Maria could tell when she saw me.

“You look like a starved man, Alexius,” she said sympathetically, almost concerned. “You need to deal with that. It’s not good for a vampire to starve any appetite.”

“It’s not a concern.”

“It is if I can tell it is,” she retorted.

He knew she was right, but his options were limited.

He either forced Everly to move out and found someone to help him forget about her, or he fell to the temptation. He felt like they had something tenuous and good, and doing anything would ruin it. He was her boss and the far more powerful vampire. It was a breach of his responsibility and power, and he didn’t want her to think it was required to live with him.

He couldn’t bring himself to do either.