Page 74 of Call of the Blood

I kept calling until I got into the car. Then I bluetoothed it to the car and kept calling as I hit the gas toward Declan’s condo.

29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ALEXIUS

Twenty minutes. Maria’s people moved efficiently. It took twenty minutes to get them into the van and back to her main home, the central location of her nest. It was a mansion, a huge, wealthy compound of a place that was dripping in money. She was neighbors with celebrities and entertainment execs. None of them had any idea a real bloodsucker lived in their neighborhood. If they did, they would probably ask her for lessons.

It was even faster to shuffle the vampires into one of her secure rooms, much like a human police interview room from shows, with a double-sided mirror.

“You like police procedurals, don’t you?” he asked as he saw the three vampires swallow down blood and finally get color back in their cheeks. They were wrapped in blankets because they had started shivering, not a great sign for their health. That was why they were eating before any interviewing happened.

“I do,” she confirmed, looking at them as well. She smiled for a second, then sobered. “Look at them. Desperate, homeless things. Who do you think made them?”

“No idea. That’s something we need to figure out once they finish drinking. It’ll give them clearer minds to really give us details.”

“I think the taller woman is the best option for the most truthful information. The male seems hostile, and I don’t have a good read on the little one.” Maria crossed her arms. “Should we separate them?”

“No. From what I heard, she’s honest no matter what. She’ll fight with them and say whatever she wants. I want to see their reactions to her if something is particularly… sensitive.”

“Ah. Fair enough. We both have the reaction time to stop fights.”

“We do,” he confirmed.

“Have you told Everly we have them yet?”

“No, I actually was so focused on what to discuss with them that I forgot my phone was silenced.” He patted around, looking for his phone, not remembering what pocket it was in. “She said she was going to break into a house earlier…”

“What?”

“Yes, she asked you for a file yesterday, and she’s breaking into that vampire’s home tonight.” He found the phone and pulled it out.

“Oh, James Bishop. He’s actually my no-show for tonight. He’s going to be severely disciplined for that.”

Alexius looked at the five missed calls on his phone as he registered what Maria had said.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought since Everly wanted his file, you were looking into him,” Maria said and shrugged. “He is attached to the building you were staying in, so I thought he would actually be useful too since he knows that area quite well. And look, he didn’t show up. He panicked. Looks like we found either someone connected to them or the money. I think it’s the money. He’s part of my finance group.”

“James Bishop is Henry Abbott,” Alexius said softly, watching Maria pale as she took that information in. “That’s why Everly wanted the file. Because she found her uncle in your city.”

He lifted his phone and showed Maria the missed calls, and within the second of her eyes seeing that, Everly was calling again. He’d even turned off the vibration, something he never did. He hadn’t been paying enough attention.

“What is it, Everly?”

“Henry has been stalking Declan!” The urgency made it hard for him to say anything as she continued. “And me! For over a decade. Any time we weren’t in the area around Jacob’s nest. I found a fucking shrine in his house. His fucking fae magic helped him hide, so he could stalk us for over a decade!”

“Everly, take a deep breath. Where are you now?”

“Heading to Declan’s. We were on the phone when I found it, so I told him and Lexi to lock up and stay safe. Declan knows being stalked is bad. So bad. Especially for a human. Are you available?”

“We just got the vampires back to Maria’s nest, and I have bad news. He didn’t show up to work today.”

“Fae magic?” Maria finally asked.

“How he tricked you. I asked that fae at the café, Wren. Henry paid good money to shed his old identity and get a new one so he could go to a new nest away from Jacob after being exiled.”