Consumed (16 page)

He held up a hand. “Sorry, but I knew you were having a meeting about the brothel, and I figured you’d all be interested in this.” He took a seat before continuing. “My squad and I managed to track down one of the suppliers. The son of a bitch was already dead – nothing but a pile of ashes.”

“Do you think Diane got to him first?” asked Reuben. “Cleaning house, so to speak?”

Evan sighed. “I don’t know. But some of the clients were found dead too. Get this: all of them, just like the supplier, had some kind of red powder mixed in with their ashes.”

I gasped. “Demons.”

All heads whipped round to face me, but it was Salem who spoke. “What?”

“All demons are impervious to fire, but some can actually create and manipulate it. From what my friend told me, some exceedingly powerful demons can call on the flames of hell, though it’s extremely rare. Ashes left behind from hell’s flames are said to contain a red residue.”

“And Knox Thorne is rumoured to be extremely powerful,” mused Jared.

“He is,” said Salem. “I could feel it at the hotel.”

Sam nodded. “Me too. I also got the feeling he was trying to conceal just how much power lives inside him. But why would he do that?”

I shrugged. “Only he can answer that.”

“And you’ve got no idea at all what kind of demon he could be?”

I shook my head. “It’s possible that he’s an incubus, since his sexual allure is off the charts.” I smiled at Salem’s growl.

“Whatever the case,” rumbled Salem, “it seems like the demons are on the right track.”

“That’s definitely not good.” Chico cursed. “God knows what the supplier told him before they killed him.”

Max skimmed a hand over his military haircut. “Like finding everyone responsible for this shit won’t be hard enough without racing against the demons.”

“Yep.” Sam shrugged. “But if the situation was reversed and one of mine had been kidnapped and forced to work in a brothel, I would do everything in my power to avenge them.”

Harvey smiled. “That’s why we love you, Coach.” He blew her a kiss…and then jerked as an electrical charge from Jared zapped his chest.

“Back to the matter of our upcoming trip to France…Ava, I’m sure you’ve figured out that you’re here because I want you to come along.” Sam gave Salem a ‘don’t interfere’ look.

After a stare-out with Sam that almost had me laughing, he grunted, resigned. “She stays with me every second,” he stated, his tone non-negotiable.

Jared struggled to hide his smile. “Fine.”

“When are we leaving?” I asked.

“As soon as Sam and I have talked to the squad who will be checking out Diane’s Manhattan apartment.” Jared got to his feet. “All of you expect a call within the next hour. And be ready.”

(Salem)

“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting this.” Stuart’s words penetrated the silence that had fallen the moment Jared had teleported us to France, only to find the sight in front of us.

“Maybe we should have, considering what Evan told us earlier,” said David, which was a valid point.

I grunted. “The demons seem to be ahead of the race.” Why else would the house be nothing more than a heap of ashes – ashes that contained red residue?

Jared tapped his temple. “I just heard from Evan. The interior of Diane’s apartment has been destroyed by what could be mistaken for an average fire, if it wasn’t for the red residue in the ashes.”

“Hey, do you think someone’s leaking information out of The Hollow?” Max asked Sam as we circled the scorched ground where the house had once stood.

Her brows drew together. “Leaking info?”

“Think about it,” pressed Max. “The demons didn’t seem to be on track. Then suddenly, they’re going after the same people as us, and they’ve even beaten us here.”

“As Thorne said, demons have their ways of finding things out,” said Ava, who was walking in front of me; edging away from a large mound of debris.

Max looked at her. “Yeah, and one of those ways could be by corrupting one of our own.”

Sam puffed out a long breath. “I hate to say this, but you could be right, Max.”

Satisfied by that, Max continued. “It could even be that they’ve possessed the mind of one of the legion.”

Jared turned to Ava. “Are demons capable of possession? Or is that a myth?”

“From what I’ve heard, it’s rare,” she replied. “Only enormously powerful demons can do it.”

“Demons like Knox Thorne,” reflected Jared, shooting her a meaningful glance. Ava shrugged.

“You could have Ryder search the mind of every legion member,” suggested Damien. “He’d find the taint, right?”

“Yeah,” allowed Sam, “but we’re talking a
lot
of people. It could take days for him to find out whether our suspicions are right.”

Jared squatted and scooped up a little of the red powder with his finger. “A better question would be: was Diane inside the house when the demons destroyed it?”

Sam halted next to him. “And we need an answer fast.”

Butch stared at the remains of the house with an agitated glint in his eyes. “So how do we find out if she’s alive or if she’s part of the ashes we see here?”

Jared stood upright. “We visit her Sire. He’ll know if she’s dead, because their blood-link will have severed if that’s the case. And if she is alive, he could lead us to her.”

Denny grimaced. “I doubt he’ll give her up easily.”

“Of course he won’t,” said Sam. “She’s part of his nest, and a blood-link has a strong effect on the mind. His loyalty will be to his nest, first and foremost, whether we like it or not.”

“What we need to know is how far he’ll be willing to go to protect her.” Jared glanced at the cloudy sky. “It’s one thing to be reluctant to hand Diane over; it’s another thing altogether if he’s prepared to hide her. He might even be prepared to fight us.”

“You really think he might fight you?” Harvey sounded surprised.

“As the Grand High Pair, we’re due respect and obedience. But it doesn’t always work that way.” Sam toed a small scorched rock. “There’ll always be people eager to overthrow us, for one thing. And no leader of a nest is going to appreciate being
ordered
to do anything by anyone – especially to give up one of his own, thereby sentencing her to death. As such, there’s a huge chance Diane’s Sire won’t help. That’s assuming, of course, that she isn’t already dead.”

“You could speak to the vampires she created, too,” Ava suggested. “They each have blood-links with her, they’ll know if she’s alive.”

“I’ll assign one of the squads to the task.”

“In the meantime, we’ll have our researchers dig up everything about Diane’s Sire,” declared Jared. “Then tomorrow night, we pay him a visit.”

Butch arched a brow. “And if he doesn’t do what you ask?”

It was Sam who responded, her expression blank. “He dies.”

CHAPTER TEN

(Salem)

Conscious that we would be going on an assignment in a few hours’ time, I went to pick up some NSTs at dusk, since our stock had ran low. I wanted Ava at top strength when we paid Diane’s Sire a visit, particularly since there was a chance that a fight might break out.

It was as I was retrieving a crate of bottles from the walk-in refrigerator at the store that I heard people coming up behind me. The familiar scents told me exactly who it was. Ignoring their presence, I rounded Will and Gina and went to the counter. Annoyingly, they trailed after me.

Gina did her best to make eye contact, but I refused to look at her. “You’re not angry that I hurt your little Sventé’s feelings, are you, Salem?” Like that would make me not only childish but touchy.

“I think he must be,” said Will.

“Didn’t I say we were done?” I muttered, dismissive.

“I’m your Sire, Salem. We’ll never be ‘done’.” Will’s smug tone made me want to smash my elbow into his throat.

Instead, I paid for the crate and then left the store. The fuckers continued to follow me.

“So it would seem that you’re stuck with me.”

I wanted to wipe away that self-satisfaction, and I knew one way to do it. “There are ways of breaking the blood-link, Will.” I kept my answer vague, not wanting to reveal Imani’s gift. I was betting that Imani would be willing to break it if Ava asked.

“You would Bind with Ava?” Pure astonishment dripped from Gina’s words.

Of course she would ask that since, as far as those who didn’t know of Imani’s gift were aware, the only way to break a blood-link was to replace it with another. Binding with Ava would destroy my link to Will. But that would mean forming a psychic, unbreakable bond to her – one that wouldn’t permit any physical or emotional distance between us.

I waited for panic to set in at the very idea of it, but it didn’t come. There was actually an appeal to having the tie with Ava that Jared had with Sam, to be that deeply connected to her. And it would mean Ava couldn’t be free of me. Not that I’d ever let her go, but I was selfish and possessive enough to find the added assurance sort of...comforting. And if there was anyone who I was willing to allow so deep into my soul, it was Ava.

Will must have taken my silence as a reluctance to admit that I would never Bind with her, because I could hear the smirk in his voice as he then taunted, “You can’t escape me, Salem. No matter what you do, you will never change the fact that I’m your Sire.” Like I was stuck under his rule.

“You lost your authority over me the moment I joined the legion.” Even he couldn’t deny the truth of that statement.

“You owe me,” he growled. “You would have died in that alley if it wasn’t for me. The people who ordered the death of your –”

I had my hand around his throat in under a millisecond. “Don’t say it.” Apprehension flashed across his face just as a tingle of fear shot down our link. Will was strong and a good fighter, but I’d always unnerved him on some level. I’d seen it in his eyes, heard it in his voice, and felt it through the link a thousand times. Maybe part of his wariness was that my emotions weren’t so clear to him; according to Will, he only felt ‘tiny flickers’ of emotion from me, as if I was too closed off.

“Let him go, Salem,” urged Gina, gripping my arm. I shook her off.

“I gave you your revenge,” Will reminded me. “Now you must repay that debt.”

I released him with a shove. “I couldn’t get you a position in the legion even if I wanted to. It doesn’t work that way.”

“But you can talk to Sam and Jared. You can put in a good word for me. I would make a valuable trainer.”

Even if there were trainers within the legion, I wouldn’t have done any such thing. Not after the devious shit he’d pulled at the meal. “If you’re so confident in your suitability, you don’t need my interference.” I strode away, and they thankfully didn’t try to follow.

“You broke the golden rule I gave you during your training.”

I didn’t turn at the sound of his voice.

“I told you never to allow yourself any weaknesses. But you have one now, don’t you? Sventés are so fragile compared to us, aren’t they? So easily breakable.”

Halting sharply, I slowly turned to face him. “Are you threatening Ava?” I rumbled, sure my irises were glowing red.

“Of course not.” He sounded genuinely offended, but his eyes glinted with amusement at my angered response. “I don’t hurt women. You know that.” But Gina would have no problem with hurting Ava. And if Will wished it, she happily would.

“Sam and Jared might have vowed to let you stay here, but I can promise you right now that if either of you hurt Ava, they will banish you all from this island faster than you can blink. But I’ll get there faster, and I’ll make sure you don’t leave this place alive.”

“You’d never hurt me.” But Will didn’t appear as sure as he sounded. He was right to be worried.

It was rare for vampires to harm their creators. Even if the vampires had no regard or time for their creators, they respected the fact that they had Turned them. Plus, not only was the blood-link overpowering for the mind, it was incredibly painful to break unless it was replaced with another.

All of that would make a vampire extremely hesitant to harm their creator. But I knew for a fact that none of that would keep Will alive if he did anything at all to harm Ava. “As you pointed out, I have one weakness. That weakness is the only being on this planet that’s safe from me. Remember that.”

“There are three entrances,” Stuart told Sam and Jared after doing a perimeter check in his molecule form of the club opposite us. “One at the front, one at the back, and one at the side. The only entrance being used is the front.”

From our spot on top of a twelve storey building across the street, we could see the line of people hoping to get into the club belonging to Giles Rowland – Diane’s Sire. It was guarded by four Pagoris, all of whom were vigilant.

“We need to cover all three doors,” Sam told us.

“In case Giles tries to flee?” Ava asked from beside me.

“Yes, and also in case he decides he wants a fight and calls for back-up. I doubt he will, but it’s best to be cautious. Stuart, Damien – I want you covering the side. Reuben, Harvey – you guard the back door.”

“If people start trying to get in or out,” began Jared, “contact me.” All they would need to do was direct a thought at him. “The rest of you will come through the front with me and Sam, watch our backs.”

So that was what myself, Ava, Chico, Butch, David, Denny, and Max did. As we approached the club, three of the bouncers straightened to their full height, their posture confrontational. The fourth paled.

“There’s a line,” spat one of them.

The fourth bouncer bowed at both Sam and Jared. “It’s an honour to meet you.” That was when the other three realised that, hey, we weren’t your average vampires. They also bowed as they opened the doors wide, allowing us all to enter. The place was dark, loud, and smelled strongly of sex and blood.

Ava leaned into me. “Do you think these humans know they’re around supposedly mythological creatures?”

Noticing that one human had a set of fangs buried in her throat, I grunted. “Maybe. I think someone wipes those memories before they leave. A lot of Kejas can do that.”

Jared tipped his chin toward the bar. “There’s our guy.”

I recognised the tall, grim looking vampire from the photograph the researchers had provided. I’d suspected then that I’d met him before, long ago. Now, I was certain I was right, but I couldn’t recall where from.

There were three Pagoris either side of Giles, keeping others from getting too close. None of them were aware of our presence. Yet. It was really only a matter of time.

One of the nearby vampires accidentally bumped into Jared and swiftly turned – maybe to apologise. Then he gawped, clearly very much aware of who he was looking at. Without moving his eyes from Jared, he tapped the vampire behind him with the back of his hand. The guy turned, joined his friend in gaping at Jared, and then clicked his fingers at another vampire to gain his attention. On and on it went – one vampire wordlessly warning another, who warned another, who warned another, until eventually news of our arrival reached Giles just as the music abruptly switched off.

Giles snapped to full alertness, eyes searching for us. A wave of his hand caused the crowd to part, creating a path. We followed Sam and Jared as they strolled casually toward Giles.

Smiling graciously, he bowed at them; his guards copied the move. “It is a pleasure to meet you both.”

I might have believed that if it wasn’t for the apprehension that very briefly glinted in his eyes. I was betting he knew exactly why we were there.

“Same to you,” drawled Jared. The civil exchange seemed to relax the crowd, and the music came back on.

As Giles introduced his guards, I briefly studied each of them, and was surprised to discover that I’d met one of them before. Going by the black glower he was wearing, he recognised me too. And that was when I realised why Giles was so familiar.

Why does that guard look like he wants to castrate you?
Jared asked telepathically.

Back when I worked for Will in his fight club, I was pitted against this guy by Giles.

I take it you won?

Knocked him unconscious in under ten seconds – that was without using my gift.

Despite that glower, it wasn’t that particular guard that was at risk of seriously pissing me off. It was the one who was raking a heated gaze over Ava. I shifted closer to her, gaining his attention, and shot him a ‘don’t even fucking think about it’ glare. Wisely, he averted his gaze.

Rather than introducing each of us, Sam simply said, “We brought along some friends.”

Giles did a very quick study of each of us, and his eyes lingered on me. “You’re one of Will’s vampires. Salem, isn’t it?” I merely nodded. Giles then turned to the bartender. “Hal, please get our guests whatever drink they choose. It’s on the house, of course.”

Sam smiled as she perched herself on a stool. “I appreciate the gesture, Giles, but we’re unfortunately not here to socialise.” Jared sidled up to her, presenting a united front.

“Oh?” Giles’ smile wavered slightly. “Then what has earned me the honour of your presence?”

“I think you know. But let’s pretend that you don’t. Let’s pretend that you didn’t watch or hear of the announcement that Jared and I made on V-Tube. Let’s even pretend that you didn’t know we’d mentioned the involvement of a vampire who has a gift that protects their identity in that announcement.
Or
we could drop the pretence and have a straightforward conversation that doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence.”

Giles inclined his head, admitting, “I saw the announcement. You think the person you are searching for may be Diane.”

He didn’t say it may have
been
Diane, didn’t say her name in the past tense, which would suggest she was still alive.

Sam shrugged casually. “We’d simply like to talk to her.”

“Many vampires have gifts similar to Diane’s.”

“That they do, Giles. That they do. Which is why we need to briefly speak with each one of them.”

“Hopefully it will be a case of crossing Diane off the list of suspects,” said Jared. “Where do we find her?” His expectation of an answer was clear in his expression and tone.

“She has an apartment in Manhattan.”

“Yes, one of our squads did pay it a little visit.” Sam sighed. “It seems that there was some kind of fire. Does she have any other homes?”

“Not that I am aware of. But I do not know the business of each one of my vampires.”

“Her entire nest has gone into hiding.” Sam had been pretty pissed on hearing that from the squad she’d assigned to find them. “It’s not looking good for dear Diane. It’s important that we talk to her.”

“I wish I could help, but –”

“Don’t play games.” Jared’s voice was like a whip. Giles’ guards tensed, ready to protect their Sire. My past opponent was focused totally on me, probably desperate for an excuse to attack.

“People of various species were kidnapped, sold, and forced to work in a brothel,” continued Jared, his voice close to a growl. “The owner was also blackmailing the clients. It is imperative that we take care of this, because if we don’t, another species might.”

Giles’ face fell. “Some survived?”

Jared evaded the question. “The trail will eventually lead back to a suspiciously absent Diane, which will then lead to you.” And he’d pay for what Diane did.

“There was a demon in that place.” Sam’s revelation made Giles blanch. “She got away.”

Giles swallowed. “I heard that a horde of demons has been hunting vampires.” And it wasn’t a stretch to conclude it had something to do with the brothel.

“It will only be a matter of time before they come knocking at your door, Giles,” she pointed out.

“What do you want from me?”

“I told you, we want Diane.”