Vincent rose slowly from the chair but kept his dark, humorless eyes on hers.
“I don’t like being defied, Olivia.” His glanced at the ammo belt on her waist, and his eyes narrowed. He may have been older than she was, but she was the one sporting an armory under her coat. “However, what I like even less would be to see my progeny slaughtered by the Presidium. If you come back to England with me now, then Augustus would be willing to overlook this indiscretion.” His voice dropped low. “But if you insist upon staying here, then there is nothing I can do to protect you. You will be entirely on your own.”
“You did your due diligence, Vincent. However, I respectfully refuse. There’s a simple way to solve this. I’ll find the rogue and put it down. Then I’ll bring Maya before the czar, and he can read her blood memories to see that she didn’t do it. Plan made and problem solved.” Olivia stepped aside and motioned to the door. “I wouldn’t want to hold you up and ruin your holiday any further.”
Vincent placed his hat on his head at precisely the right angle and moved slowly past her to the door. He paused and turned to face her with his hand resting on the brass knob. “I do wish you’d reconsider. Augustus expects someone to pay for this, and by all accounts, it’s going to be your little blond progeny. I’d be surprised if he would deign to read her blood memories.”
“Someone will pay,” Olivia said quietly. “You can bet on it.”
“I hope it’s not you and your entire coven.” Vincent bowed deeply before stepping out the door and whisking up the stairs in a flourish.
Van whined as Olivia went to the empty doorway, but he stayed by her heels, offering comfort.
“My sentiments exactly,” she whispered.
She left soon after Vincent, much to Van’s dismay. Olivia passed the entrance to her office, turned the corner where stone steps changed to wood, and flew up the old stairs to the exit in the roof. She popped the panel open and stepped onto the angled roof of the old church. Olivia pressed the slate panel closed and surveyed the New York City night warily. If the rogue was killing her customers, then odds were it was still lingering here in Greenwich Village.
She glanced at the digital watch on her wrist. Six more hours until sunrise. Six hours to find the rogue vampire and glamour Doug. Her lips tilted. Maybe.
Hey, boss lady. Pete’s voice cut into her mind. Meet me at Washington Square Park.
Olivia leaped from the roof and flew toward the park, swiftly and silently. Not even the birds knew what it was that blew past them in the cool spring night. Minutes later she landed without a sound behind the construction site where Pete and Shane were waiting.
As his maker, she could detect his presence in the air almost the way a bat reads sonar waves. Too bad she couldn’t detect just any vampire as easily. It would have made finding the rogue a hell of a lot easier. Leaning against the brick building hidden by shadows, he was almost invisible to the naked eye, but Olivia spotted him easily.
“You look good,” Pete said with a nod of approval. “How long has it been since you put that on?”
“Not long enough,” she said wearily. “Where’s Quesada?” Hands on her hips, she scanned the area, sensing the other vampire in the vicinity. “I know you’re here, Shane.”
“I am here,” said a baritone voice behind her.
Olivia didn’t turn around but waved him forward, and a moment later, he was standing next to Pete with an emotionless expression. She looked him up and down as she nodded her approval.
“Good to have you on the hunt.” Her eyes met his. “How much has Pete told you?”
“There is a rogue on the loose, and from what I have heard, you feel that your progeny is being unfairly blamed for creating it.” He grinned, his white fangs flashing in the darkness. “I’m here to help you find it and kill it. Rogues are dangerous, messy, and savage. They have no honor or respect for the order of our society and do not deserve the gift of immortality. It will be my pleasure to assist you in destroying it.”
“I see.” Olivia held his stony gaze. “What about the czar? Aren’t you breaking the rules by helping us before reporting to Augustus?” She wanted to see how much he knew and what he was willing to share. “From what I hear, you are all about the rules.”
“As a former sentry you know that putting down rogues takes priority over all else.” Shane’s voice dropped low. “Augustus knows all about your progeny’s role in this mess. I am here to not only help hunt and destroy the rogue, but also to ensure that you and your little troublemaker come before the Presidium tomorrow evening. You have one night to find this rogue. After that, your coven will pay the consequences.”
“This is bullshit,” Pete spat.
“Fine.” Olivia held her hand up, silencing him, but didn’t take her eyes off of Shane. “I had a feeling your help would come with strings attached. We’ll take the help, and after we capture the rogue and prove Maya’s innocence,” she said with a sigh, “I’ll also take an apology.”
Shane smirked but said nothing. Olivia knew his kind. He was blindly devoted to the Presidium, and even more than that—to his duty as a sentry. She had no doubt he would be a fierce hunter. She also had no doubt that he would kill her and the rest of her coven if it meant following the czar’s orders.
She turned her attention to Pete.
“We now have two dead humans thanks to this rogue asshole and—”
“Two?” Shane interrupted.
“Yes.” Olivia winked. “Try to keep up.” She looked back to Pete and did her best to ignore Shane. “Doug definitely thinks someone at The Coven is responsible.”
“On a first name basis now?” Pete asked.
Olivia chose to ignore the comment and continued. “On top of that, Vincent—my maker—expected me and the rest of my coven to run off to England with him. Apparently, us leaving town is the only way Augustus would overlook Maya’s involvement. He didn’t even want us to hunt for the rogue.”
Shane said nothing, but Olivia didn’t miss the slight narrowing of his eyes at the mention of Augustus’s willingness to bend the rules.
“What?” Pete’s eyes glowed red, a side effect of his demon heritage. “Since you’re here, I take it that you told him to fuck off.”
“Basically.” She looked at Pete through serious eyes. “When we get back to the Presidium, they’re going to tell you to kill Maya. Isn’t that right, Shane?”
“Yes,” he said calmly.
“No damn way.” Pete’s jaw clenched. “We’ll find the rogue and get it to confess to whoever turned it.” He sucked in a deep breath, and his eyes flickered back to normal. He gestured to the crime scene tape that fluttered in the wind. “I got a look at the body in the coroner’s van and took a DNA sample from the wound. The girl was killed just like Ronald Davis, so I had Millicent run the sample.”
“It was a match?”
“Sort of,” he said gravely. “It’s a rogue, but according to the DNA sample, it’s not the same rogue.”
“Son of bitch,” Olivia seethed. “There are two?”
Shane said nothing but listened intently as Pete continued.
“At least,” he said grimly. “Their DNA sequences match them as siblings, which means we’ve got someone out there making their own little rogue coven and a bloody mess. The only good news is that Maya’s DNA wasn’t present on the girl at all.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be, would it?” She went into the decrepit bathroom, and the room was thick with the scent of stale blood. “She’s been on lockdown since we found out about Ronald, but none of that really matters. Augustus has convinced himself, and the senators, that Maya made the rogue. If I know him, he’s already sent word to Emperor Zhao, especially since I didn’t agree to leave town.”