“Preschool, just off Camelback,” says Freddy, his dark eyes glued to the road.
“How do you know where her school is?” I ask.
“The king,” he glances at the man in the passenger seat, who’s too occupied on his phone to answer, “makes it his business to keep tabs on all his subjects.”
Jesus. The guy sounds just like Michael. Even his cocky tone is the same. And I’m not talking about this version of Mike. Freddy looks and sounds exactly like the vampire I fell in love with, which is stressing me out.
“Does he now?” I say with blatant skepticism.
Freddy is silent on the matter.
“So,” I say, buckling in out of habit, “after we get Stella, what’s the plan?”
Michael joins the conversation. “You are unsafe at your home. You will come with me to Cincinnati.”
“You want us to come to your house?” I ask.
“To a house,” he corrects.
A safe house, he means. Michael thinks I’m just going to hide while he fills out paperwork. “Sorry, but I don’t like that plan.”
Michael pivots in the passenger seat to offer a stern warning with his intense dark eyes. I can’t deny that his gaze stirs up old feelings. “I am your king, and your level of enthusiasm for my decisions does not weigh into the matter. Best you accept that.”
His gaze also stirs up new feelings. I want to punch him in the nose. “Yes, I get it, Michael. You don’t love me anymore. You don’t love Stella. Our needs and feelings mean nothing to you, but I will not be relinquishing my rights as a mother. Best you get used to that.”
Freddy keeps glancing at me in the rearview mirror, and his grip tightens on the steering wheel. He probably doesn’t appreciate the tone I’m taking with his king. I might be new at this whole vampire gig, but I know from my Keeper studies that vampires are extremely loyal to their families and societies. There isn’t anything they won’t do to protect them.
I believe it’s because vampires feel with such intensity. When we need, we need with all our hearts. When we love, we love like there’s no tomorrow. When we want revenge, nothing will stand in our way. For example, the moment I woke up after being turned, my emotions felt like a freight train, and I was tied to the front, along for the ride. My need to find Stella, who’d been taken by Nice at the time, was like a fury I’d never known.
Now, after a few months of being a vampire, I’ve made some progress reining in my emotions, but I think that has more to do with the years of discipline my parents taught me. Self-control is the cornerstone of who I am. That’s why Michael is my Achilles’ heel. Even when I was human, I couldn’t resist my feelings. I wanted him. I still do—the old Michael, anyway.
Honestly, I wish I knew how to fix him. I miss his laughter and humor. I miss the way he used to look at me with intense desire and admiration. Once upon a time, I could do no wrong in his eyes. Now I’m just another one of his subjects.
Still looking over his shoulder at me, Michael lifts his chin. “I sense disapproval in your tone, librarian, but I recall a time when you accused me of poor judgment. You claimed my feelings for you were a hinderance. So, problem solved. My attention is now laser focused on my responsibilities to you and all my people.”
“Fair point,” I say. “But you can’t dismiss feelings altogether. They come in handy for making abstract connections. Intuition and gut feelings are valuable tools when it comes to detective work.”
“So you believe I am at a disadvantage when it comes to hunting down Nice.” Michael’s tone is filled with condescension.
“No. I do not. Because you have me. Which is why you should tell me what you know. Together, we might have a chance of catching him.”
Michael faces forward but doesn’t comment.
At least he didn’t say no. I decide to drop the issue for the time being because we’ve arrived at the preschool.
My pulse rate ticks up, and my vampire senses—hearing, sense of smell, and visual awareness—go into overdrive. Logic says if someone wanted to hurt Stella, they would have tried by now. They would have come after her and me at my house. Still, I can’t stop worrying. Nice is unpredictable.
“I will go in and retrieve her,” Michael says. “You two wait here.”
“But they don’t know you. They won’t let you…” My voice fades as Michael opens the car door, hops out, and approaches the two guards in front, who wave to him like old buddies. “How does Michael…? How do they…?” I watch the guards let Michael past the gate. A few moments later, he has Stella in tow. “Freddy? Why was Michael allowed to retrieve Stella just now from a high-security preschool?”
Freddy looks at me in the rearview mirror. “I believe, ma’am, that Mr. Vanderhorst came to the school to introduce himself and make a sizeable donation just last week.”
What? “Are you sure?”
Freddy doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t have to.
I push the passenger seat forward and rush out of the car to grab Stella, sweeping her into my arms. I hug her harder than I should, and she grunts.
“Librarian, do not break the child,” says Michael.
Why does Michael keep calling us librarian and child? It’s starting to grate on my nerves. Vampire nerves. They don’t like grating.
I set her down and look her over for dents, scratches, and anything else. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mommy. We were in the middle of singing. Why did I have to go?” she asks in her teeny-tiny voice, her big brown eyes wide.
“Well, there was a problem at the library, sweetie,” I say, “and we are going to have to take a trip with your daddy to fix it.”
Stella stares up into my eyes. She senses my fear. The
