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“Only because he got what he wanted,” I say bitterly. “My brother. Dylan’s twin that neither of us ever got to know.”
He shoots me a thoughtful glance. “Careful there, Rose,” he says. “Vengeance isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it’s better to harbor justice in your heart than attempt to inflict it and fail.”
I ignore that too. “Well, what about the book? The one that Valtu has. Aren’t Bellamy and the covens trying to get it back? Or Saara and that other vampire? Solon said she’s still alive, doing bad shit with someone called Enoch.”
Van Helsing shrugs. “They’re all probably trying to get it back. Or at least they were. But Valtu has it under lock and key. He himself is under lock and key. It’s why I’m not taking you directly to him, but instead right into Mittenwald.”
“You haven’t been to his place?”
“I have,” he says, flashing me a grin as he presses the key fob on his phone app and a car beeps its location across the lot. “I just couldn’t tell you how to get there.”
“Well, where does he live?”
“Let’s just say Dracula finally found his castle.”
A castle? I almost laugh. “A little on the nose, don’t you think?”
“You know how he can get,” he says. “Such a flair for the dramatic. Here we are.” We stop by a flashy Mercedes.
“This yours?”
“A rental. I landed only a few hours ago, straight from Oxford. Just enough time to get my favorite schnitzel in Innsbruck, then rent the car and come pick you up.”
The doors unlock and I throw my bag in the back before sliding into the passenger seat. “It was really kind of you to pick me like this. I know you’re busy, it couldn’t have been easy to just drop everything and head over here.”
“Not a problem,” he says, turning on the car. It hums to life, electric. “As if I would pass up an opportunity to come see Mina Lucy Dahlia’s latest reincarnation.”
“Hope I haven’t disappointed you.”
“Not a chance.” He gives me a kind smile as we drive out of the lot. “But I am afraid it’s you that’s going to be disappointed.”
“We’ll just have to see,” I say, refusing to let him talk me out of this. “Did you tell him it was me that was coming?”
“Oh,no.” He shakes his head adamantly. “That wouldn’t have been wise. I didn’t say much at all, except that I had someone he had to…meet.” He pauses and squints at me. “You know how to block your thoughts from other vampires, don’t you? Valtu can be very intrusive when he wants to be.”
I laugh. “I’ve been doing that since I was eight years old and accidentally shattered my mother’s favorite crystal. Didn’t want her to know I did it. My brother got blamed instead.”
“Good to know.” He clears his throat. “Because I offered you up as a whore.”
My eyes nearly fall out. “You what?” I exclaim.
Abe looks chagrined, but not enough. He raises one shoulder. “It was the only way I could deliver you to him.”
“Do you often offer him whores?” I ask, though the second I say it, I don’t want to know the answer. The jealousy inside me is acidic.
He bites his lip for a moment and gives me an uneasy look. “In some ways he’s the same vampire you know. Well, perhaps closest to the Venice edition than anything else. He doesn’t have a Red Room to run—Bitrus does that for him back in Italy—but his, uh, appetites haven’t changed too much.”
“So why are you his pimp?” I grumble.
He bristles at that. “I’m not hispimp. But he never leaves Mittenwald. Ever. And there are only so many people—and vampires—in this town. Even with the book and spells at his summoning, he doesn’t get close to anyone without them being vetted beforehand.” He clears his throat. “He’s paranoid. Not just anyone is granted entry to his home.”
“And I guess you can’t just say, hey it’s Mina Lucy Dahlia Rose coming to pay you a visit?”
He gives me a steady look. “If you had purposely erased Valtu from your memory and he showed up at your house, do you think you’d want him to stay? The minute he knows who you are, you’ll be seeing the back of him.” A dark cloud comes over his blue eyes. “Or worse. Possibly much worse.”
“Don’t tell me he’d try and kill me again.”
I was joking when I said that but from the way Abe winces, I realize how serious it is.
