Sara was eyeing the way I touched him with undisguised speculation. No doubt she would demand to know what had happened between me and the vampire as soon as she could get me alone for a few minutes. Considering my phobia of vampires, and my prior obvious distrust of Royce, to say that times had changed was quite an understatement. Not a conversation I was looking forward to, but it wasn’t something I was going to be able to put off for long.
Royce, for his part, seemed less than thrilled about the way everyone else in the room was watching him, just waiting for him to reveal the latest bombshell. For the moment, I felt too emotionally drained to be terribly worried about what he had in store for us. After all I had been through, there was little left to get worked up about.
“You two can’t stay here.”
Except for that.
“You both must leave the city. Tonight. I’ve made arrangements for you to stay with an ally of mine across the country.”
I just looked at him.
“You know,” he said, his tone turning dry, “I did try to tell you that it would be best to wait until we had more privacy to discuss this.”
“Oy, lovey, are ye sure they can’t stay another day or so?” Clarisse seemed exceptionally put out, which led me to believe she had a bet riding on our presence here. “Seems a shame to send them away seeing as they’ve both just returned.”
Royce tilted his head down and lifted a hand to press his fingertips against the bridge of his nose. I got the distinct feeling he was as annoyed about the situation as I was, which was unexpected. After spending the last couple of hours thinking he was going to make a grab for any excuse to rid himself of me now that he’d finally had me in bed and tasted my blood, the thought that he would feel any sort of annoyance or regret over sending me away was beyond belief.
“Why do we have to go? I don’t get it—I just got here.”
He must have either read the hurt in my voice or felt it through whatever connection it was we now shared. His brow rested against my temple briefly, followed by the brush of his lips on my cheek. “I’m not doing this because I’m trying to get rid of you, Shiarra. If I could, I would keep you here, but it’s too dangerous. Not just for you, but for the rest of my flock. Until I can remove the threats and guarantee your safety, it would be best for us all if you stayed with one of my allies. It’s only temporary.”
Christoph mumbled a question around a mouthful of cookies. “Where’re you sending ’em?”
“Los Angeles.”
Christoph choked on his cookie as Analie and Ashi both straightened and started talking at once. I couldn’t make out a word since the three were talking over and shoving each other to get closer to us. Startled, Sara and I both shrank back, but there wasn’t any place for us to go. Royce’s grip on my shoulder tightened, keeping me from slipping off the chair.
His voice took on a note of command, a shiver tracing up my spine at the chill in the words. “Do not get your hopes up. She will not be contacting your pack while she is there.”
Christoph and Ashi’s faces fell, the twin looks of disappointment almost comical to see on the pair. Analie, on the other hand, looked close to tears, wringing her hands as her gaze flicked between me and the vampire.
“Please, I haven’t seen Gavin in so long. Can’t she just take him a letter for me? Maybe some cookies?”
As tough as the vampire’s attitude had been a moment ago, the frosty edge was soon replaced by a far gentler tone than I’d thought Royce capable of. “Analie, it would be dangerous for Shiarra to meet with him without me there to protect her. You know how your pack feels about vampires. What do you think they might do to her if they knew she was staying with one of my friends?”
“Gavin wouldn’t hurt her,” she insisted, turning that pleading look on me. “Please, I know I’m asking a lot, but if I give you a package can you bring it to him? Please? I’ll do anything to repay you, and I’ll call ahead and everything so—”
“Analie,” Royce interrupted, “don’t disobey me in this. You can mail a package to him, if you wish.”
“But I—”
“No.”
She ducked her head and hunched her shoulders, backing away. Christoph gave her an awkward pat on the back, but she twisted away from us, gripping the counter so hard I thought I heard the marble crack. Mouse glared daggers in Royce’s direction, which meant Sara and I were on the receiving end, too. We shared a look, uncomfortable meeting the mute vampire’s accusatory gaze.
Royce did not appear troubled by any of this. He shifted to rest his hip against the counter in a casual lean. “Clyde Seabreeze has agreed to take you two in while I sort out matters here in New York. I do not want to risk either of your lives, which is why I am sending you away. The White Hats have become unstable with the loss of their leader—”
I cut him off, alarmed. “Wait, what? What happened to Jack?”
The casual shrug Royce gave did not fit with the words coming out of his mouth. “I upheld my end of our bargain. Since he was turned, the local White Hats have fractured into two factions: those who believe that not all of us are monsters, and those who still feel that every Other must be exterminated. There are quite a few who blame you for Jack’s fall from grace.”
Turned. That meant Jack had finally caved. He was a vampire now.
Chapter 5
“Jack, the crazy guy who kept threatening Shia at knife- and gunpoint to join the hunters, is a vampire now?”
Sara’s incredulity was perfectly understandable. I was having a hard time coming to grips with the idea, too.
“Aye,” Clarisse drawled. “He was so high and mighty until he knew he was faced with death, not in battle, but from a slow sickness eating him from the inside out. As with most people who choose to hunt us, he learned too late that his hatred was due to his envy, and so he bargained with the devil to become what he hated so much.”
We all considered this, save for Analie, who was still pointedly giving us her back. Christoph looked uncomfortable, not meeting anybody’s eyes, and Mouse was thoughtfully nibbling her lower lip as she watched him. Clarisse had put an elbow on the table and was cupping her chin, staring at Sara and me like she was expecting us to say something captivating at any moment.
The voice that broke the silence wasn’t the one I expected. Ashi ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if he were about to bolt. “They never tell you what you’re getting into until it’s too late. Doesn’t matter if it’s vampires or werewolves. He’s going to regret his choice, and a lot of people are going to suffer for it.”
That seemed to break Christoph’s tension. He scoffed, shoving the smaller man’s shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’re regretting being changed. You know you were asking for it when you picked that fight.”
“Yeah, well, even if I was, being stuck here was never supposed to be part of the deal.”
Royce tilted his head, and I’d swear the look he gave Ashi held a kind of hunger that I’d only seen in the vampire when we were alone and he was thinking about bad, bad things to do to me. “Would you have preferred death? I had no need to spare your life then, nor do I now.”
Whoa. Whatever was going on between these two was far more intense than I had previously guessed.
Ashi bared his teeth and settled into a fighting stance, meeting Royce’s gaze. He wasn’t giving an inch—despite the nervous sweat he’d broken into.
“Try to take me, leech. Just try.”
“Och, that’s enough,” Clarisse said, shaking a scolding finger at Royce. I was more than a little surprised to see the older vampire bow his head, the hunger and tension he’d exhibited only a moment ago replaced by a small, mockingly contrite smile. A grudging concession, maybe, but he was willing to back down for her. “You know I’ve laid the claim, Alec. He’s mine, now.”