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Chapter Twenty-One
Skylar
Finding the royal seal around the vampire’s neck gnawed at me. David had accused the queen of being involved and added Elias to the blame. Knots twisted in my stomach as I recalled his reaction to the necklace. He seemed surprised, which went against part of David’s accusations.
There was still the matter of the fact that the royal family was connected to this.
Elias started the car. “Is it still where I dropped you earlier?”
“Yes.” One point for Elias. He hadn’t demanded to follow me and didn’t know if I’d requested my friend to move the stone to another location. There was a sense of trust there. He relied on me to do what I said I’d do.
“Why did that vampire have the royal seal?” I asked. “I’ve never seen it on someone before.”
“I’m not sure,” Elias said. “But it can’t be good.”
“David said the queen was involved in Lola’s death.” I hesitated, unsure if I should add the part about how Elias wasn’t on my side.
“That’s impossible,” he said. “The queen is funding my quest to hunt down the traffickers who took my sister. They’re vampires, she could easily turn a blind eye. But she came to me when word got out about what I was doing.”
My brow furrowed. “That’s how you came to work for her?”
He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. “She’s eliminated the old ways from her court. The groups like the Clover Coven are hanging on to the last remnants of what Vampire life used to be. She’s trying to change things.”
“That doesn’t explain how that necklace got there,” I said.
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed. “But we’ll figure that part out later.”
He was right. There wasn’t time for that rabbit hole right now. And if the royal family was somehow involved in all of this, I wasn’t sure there was much I could do. They had resources and connections. I was a nobody with a guild membership and fighting skills. Which would be useless if the royal vampires came after me.
It was one thing taking down the dregs of vampire society. Fighting millennia old vampires was a death sentence. They had skills I couldn’t even being to imagine and more experience than I’d ever gain in multiple lifetimes. I wouldn’t stand a chance.
I had to hope it was an awful coincidence and that I wasn’t trying to keep the stone away from them.
“What did you tell your friend?” Elias asked. “About the stone?”
“Nothing much,” I said. “I told her it was a family heirloom that I was protecting for someone and that she should call me if anyone showed up asking about it.”
“She said they were outside the building?” Elias asked.
“At least they were when she called. She’s got very good senses for a mortal. I’m sure she can tell something’s off.”
“I’m glad she called you,” he said. “Let’s hope nothing exciting has happened while she waited for us.”
I nodded and swallowed against the lump in my throat. I shouldn’t have involved her in this. If we were too late I’d never forgive myself.
I never wanted to involve Heidi in this. It sounds stupid now, of course. By leaving the stone with her, I put her at risk. In my defense, I thought I’d be able to get it back before anyone found it. When I hid it with her, I didn’t know just how far this thing went. It wasn’t a roving vampire attack or revenge against her pack; everything about this was calculated. And as much as I hoped it wasn’t the case, the royal vampires were somehow involved. I had a feeling we were not even near the truth of this.
In the darkness of early evening, we raced down the highway back to the city. Most of the traffic went opposite from us, people who worked late in the city heading to their homes in the suburbs. It was a little too early for the night life to really kick off. Most of the clubs didn’t get loud or crowded till after midnight. With the massive supernatural population, things got wild here in the wee morning hours.
Elias pulled into the tiny gravel parking lot to the side of the house and turned off the engine. “I don’t see anyone.”
I took a deep breath. “If they’re not out here, they’re probably inside.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to find in there,” Elias said. “I’ll go first.”
“You still don’t think I can handle myself, after everything we’ve been through?” I asked.
“I know you can handle yourself,” he said. “But if I have to use my magic, I don’t want you in the way.”
