I don’t like it.
I lift my chin. “You were supposed to find out about the original vampires.” I allow my lip to curl. “I can see you’re ‘on it.’”
She sighs. “Actually, I am. I sent a phoenix to Conah as soon as I got off the phone with Cora early this evening. If there’s information to be found, you can be sure he’ll find it.”
Ah, the nose-in-a-book Dominus with a penchant for filing. I suppose he’s a good choice to weed out any hidden texts on these creatures.
A frisson of warning skates over my mind. Cora? I close my eyes and reach for her. Her confusion and fear are muffled by the amulet, but I focus. Is she in danger? The fear dissipates. No. She’s safe.
I focus on Fee. “Send another phoenix. In fact, go there yourself and speed shit up. Cora would do it for you.”
Her expression hardens. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, Jasper, but if you must know, I’ve spent the last few hours in the Dominus archives looking for information on these vampires that call themselves Sons of Adam. If I had my way, I’d be jumping to Cora’s side right now, but I’m respecting her wishes, no matter how hard it is to do so, so don’t you dare insinuate that I—”
The air crackles and Conah materializes by the door.
Fee glares at him. “Seriously? What if I was naked?”
He looks sheepish. “I focused on you and not the location when jumping. Probably not the best idea in hindsight.”
She arches a brow. “You think?”
I don’t care about her sensibilities or his embarrassment; my attention is on the book clutched in his hand.
“Is that for Cora?”
He looks down at the book as if noticing it for the first time and nods. “Yes. This was all I could find on them. I haven’t had a chance to read it through; I figured you’d want it as soon as possible and—"
“Give it to me.”
He glares at me and then looks to Fee.
She holds out her hand and he gives her the book.
It takes everything I have not to snatch it from her. She smiles thinly at me and then turns away, leans on her dresser and writes a note that she slips into the book before handing it to me.
I pluck it from her fingers. She’s looking at me expectantly. Waiting for a thank you, no doubt.
Not happening.
I jump to Cora.
Chapter Fourteen Cora
Leif got off the phone with Anna. “They’re upping the wards. She’s petitioning the silent sisters to provide assistance.”
“How is this Dimitri guy not dead?” Halle asked.
We were gathered in the lounge by the fire. Fresh hot chocolate had been made, the biscuit tin was on the coffee table, and if not for the fact that our sanctuary had been infiltrated by a Renfield, all would be fine.
Wren was tucked into my side, nibbling on a cookie, sleepy-eyed.
Rune lay on the floor by my feet, gold-flecked eyes fixed on Leif. Did Anna have anything to say about the fact that thing just got up and walked away after a broken neck?
“Apparently Renfields aren’t entirely human. Their life forces are linked to their masters. He’s invulnerable as long as they live, and he benefits from their abilities. He’s their bitch.”
Fuck, how old was he? “So, he got away. Big deal. He won’t be back in a hurry.” My bravado sucked. I couldn’t stop thinking about his ultimatum. “What did Anna say about his ultimatum.”
Leif looked shifty.
“You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“It’s not important.”
Rune chuffed and Tor nodded.
Halle winced and slid a glance my way. They were trying to protect me. Sweet and all, but my coven needed to know about this.
My coven.
When had I started thinking of them as such?
I grabbed my phone off the coffee table. “They need to know.”
“She’s right,” Tor said to Leif. “They need to be prepared.”
“And what if that means handing Cora over?” Leif asked.
Wren sat up straight. “Wren won’t let them!” His expression was fierce.
Tor’s lip curled. “Don’t worry, little guy, if they try to take her, they’ll have to go through the tri-packs.”
Make the call, Rune agreed.
Leif turned away, hands on hips. “Jasper said the elders contemplated giving Cora to the bloodsuckers.”
But they discarded the idea, Rune said.
“Having a six-week deadline might change that,” Leif countered.
I understood his reservations, but we needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and we couldn’t do that if we kept the coven in the dark.
I dialed Sloane because Anna’s number wasn’t in my cell.
“Miss me already, cupcake?” She sounded croaky, like I’d woken her up.
“Obviously. Look, Dimitri just paid me a visit.”
“What?”
Yep, she was wide awake now.
“Anna knows. We called it in, but he dropped an ultimatum that she doesn’t know about.” I filled her in on the events.
“Fuck. Leave it with me.”
“Sloane, what are we gonna do?”
“Be prepared, that’s what. Get some rest. I got this.”
I hung up and sat back with a sigh. “Well, at least we know they won’t be attacking before that deadline, probably, because they’re not strong enough to.”
“Which means that the next six weeks is our window to eliminate them,” Tor said.
“If we knew how to kill them.” I peered up at him. “I’ve contacted my reaper friend. She’ll do some digging. I’m sure she’ll find out how to end them. Sit down, please, you’re making my neck hurt.”
Tor lowered himself into the single-seater opposite me. “We need to have a pack plan for when these fuckers attack.”
“I’ll call a meeting tomorrow,” Leif said.
Tor stood. “I need to run.” He looked down at me. “I’ll be back in an hour, then we go to bed.”
Halle choked on a mouthful of hot chocolate.
My pulse skipped but I kept my expression neutral. “You best not hog the covers.”
“Not promising anything.”
He headed into the kitchen and was gone.
Halle looked from me to Leif and down to Rune.
“Just as protection,” Leif said.
