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I looked from my father to Holden and then back, and my expression must have projected my disbelief, because Holden actually cracked a smile.
“Holden helps me get blood,” Sutherland declared. “You wanted to go see Cal-ee-ope, so I called Holden.”
I stared at my former lover long enough that he said, “Close your mouth.”
“You go with him every time he needs blood?”
Holden gave a half shrug that implied this was no big deal, but to me it was a very big deal indeed.
“How often?” I asked.
“Once a week, usually.”
In that moment I thought I might cry. I had broken this man’s heart—by his own admission—and I had made him kill me, and yet here he was, taking care of my father regularly like it was something he needed to do.
“Why?”
“Because he’s your dad.”
What was unspoken here was that Holden had been with me in California when we had gone to get Sutherland. And Holden had been with me when Dr. Kesteral had held all of us against our will and performed those unspeakable experiments.
Holden might be the only other person undead or alive who knew what Sutherland had experienced there. Maybe this wasn’t all about me. There was a chance he felt responsible in his own way for Sutherland’s well-being.
But at least a small part of it was about me.
Oof, and I thought I felt guilty before. There’s nothing like finding out your ex was visiting your mentally unstable father more times than you were, and was making sure he got the food he needed on a regular basis.
This was a debt beyond the scope of anything I could ever hope to repay.
“Sutherland didn’t tell me you were with him. I thought you’d be out looking for Sig still.” Holden was obviously trying to ease us out of awkward territory and back towards the task at hand, which I appreciated. He peered over my shoulder and spotted the rest of my motley crew. “You found Ingrid.”
“I found Ingrid.” I’d meant to tell him after we left the bar, but things had started to move very quickly after that, and it had slipped my mind as we continued our search for Sig.
“Rumors of my death were only slightly exaggerated,” she said by way of greeting.
“Emilio,” Holden said with a polite nod. The two had met before on several occasions. Not buddies, per se, but they knew and respected one another. “And it appears you have found another man for your entourage.”
“Jealous?” Harry quipped without missing a beat.
Ah, so the demon had clearly picked up on a little lingering tension between the vampire and myself. Good to know that hadn’t fizzled out entirely.
“That’s Harry.” I waved in his direction without looking. “He’s a demon.”
“Ah.” Holden put his hands into the pockets of the lovely wool peacoat he was wearing. God, it was absolutely unfair of him to be so handsome. Couldn’t he have
gotten really ugly while I was away? “I take it we aren’t here to get blood, then?”
“We need to find Sig. Ingrid doesn’t know where Davos took him, and I’m pretty sure they’re about to sacrifice him to open a portal to Hell.”
“And you think Calliope can help?”
“I doubt there’s much that goes on in this city she doesn’t know. She’s an oracle.” Then I dropped my voice and added, “Plus, Sutherland is of Sig’s bloodline. If she needs the blood, he has it.” I didn’t want to spook my dad with that bit of information, but magic always demands sacrifice. Cal usually preferred male virgins, but she wasn’t beneath taking blood if it was necessary, and Sutherland had the blood she needed.
“That actually makes a remarkable amount of sense. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to ask her sooner.”
“Probably because Cal hates Sig, so she’s not the most obvious person to ask about him. Or maybe it’s because you’re not enough of a jerk to use your own father to hunt down information. It requires an especially duplicitous mind to come up with an idea like this, and your brain apparently isn’t as evil as mine quite yet.”
“Right, because asking for help from willing volunteers is the same thing as being evil. Makes perfect sense.”
