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Haven heard his name muttered in whispers and hisses. But the guard persisted, pushing past the assembled vampyres toward Reyber’s room. There was chaos all around, vampyres hurrying ahead, but the guard kept a steady pace.
Only a few moments later, Reyber found them with Gaius on his heels.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Reyber hissed.
Gaius’s eyes never left Haven’s.
“Lord Haven was attacked. The human prisoner has escaped. Lord Merick is dead.”
“What of the De Raises?”
“Held in another cell. Opposite end of the castle.”
“Check them!” Reyber commanded. “Leave Haven here and check the De Raises. Now.” Reyber dismissed the guard with a curt nod. Then Haven was left alone in the presence of the council leader and his sire’s maker.
Slowly, Gaius approached and lifted Haven’s face, examining him for wounds. He ran his fingers over the patches of dried blood along Haven’s neck, brushing his hair aside to check his face. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“I went to confront my slave. Merick was already there. He’d opened the cage to continue to molest him when the human attacked. I tried to stop it, but he knocked me unconscious. When I woke, Merick was dead, and I was locked in the cell. The human was gone.”
Reyber eyed him suspiciously. “Merick is dead, then?”
Haven nodded.
“Interesting that only you and the human were there to see it happen.”
“What are you insinuating?” Gaius snapped, glaring at him.
“We’ve all seen that Haven had a soft spot for his pet.”
“Of course he did. We all have soft spots for our pets. How was he to know that the pet would turn on him? Humans are deceptive. Devious. Haven is not at fault here.”
“And you’ve a soft spot for Haven.”
Gaius bristled. “I don’t appreciate your tone.”
Haven met Reyber’s eyes. “What would it take for me to prove my allegiance to you?”
Reyber glared at him. “I want the human’s head.”
“I’d gladly give it to you. But as I told you already, he’s escaped.”
“Perhaps I’ll put you in charge of the efforts to reclaim him, then. You have that woman guard, don’t you? She seems adequately suited to swinging a sword and subjugating humans.” He paused. “Which, now that I mention it, her absence is...interesting. Where is she?”
“I told Sirene to give me privacy,” Haven said smoothly. “I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for company.”
“And she never came to find you? That seems very unlike her. She trails behind you like a lost pup. You haven’t sent her on some important mission, have you?”
“She was performing a task for me.”
All eyes turned to look at Thorne, who had just broken forward from the sea of onlookers. At his side was Sirene, her expression unreadable. For a moment, Haven felt fear surge through him.
“A task for you?” Reyber spat, glaring at Thorne.
“Yes. And now that task is finished, she can be returned to her master and attend to his wounds.”
“What task?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Thorne tutted. “All that matters is that I can account for her whereabouts. She wasn’t there with Haven to protect him.”
