It was a long moment before he answered. “Fine. But I won’t agree to her coming here.”
So bloody stubborn. I wanted to argue that further, but I knew he wasn’t going to budge on this. Not now. Maybe if in a few weeks’ time we hadn’t found another possible way of helping Evan, Max, and Stuart, then maybe Jared would relent. I just had to hope that we did find an alternative to involving Paige West. If not, it was quite possible that we were all fucked.
(Jared)
When I set off with Sam to see the guys in the containment cell, I hadn’t expected to find them playing poker – acting like nothing was wrong. But maybe that was how they were coping with the situation. Spotting Sam and I standing on the other side of the glass, they all paused in their game and approached us. They looked completely normal, healthy. I might have wondered if they had been immune to The Call if it wasn’t for the fact that their bite marks were oozing rather than healing. Soon enough, their symptoms would begin and I’d be looking at three skeleton-like vampires if I didn’t find some answers fast.
“I don’t suppose you have anything good to tell us.” Max didn’t appear optimistic. Neither did Evan or Stuart.
I told them about the teleconference with Harry Covington, but neatly avoided the subject of Paige West. When I sensed Sam’s discomfort, I quickly spoke in her mind. Don’t mention Luther’s vision. Antonio was right – it would only give them false hope, and they won’t support your case to bring her here anyway.
Her almost imperceptible nod was begrudging.
Satisfied, I continued. “We’re going to search for Quentin Foy, ask how his nest became tainted. Maybe he has answers as to when The Call first struck. If it didn’t surface inside those tunnels, it means others outside the nest might be tainted. If that’s the situation, we need to know before it has any chance of spreading.”
Evan nodded. “But we’re kidding ourselves if we think we can fight The Call, Jared.”
My expression hardened. “You don’t know that for sure.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Evan’s right,” said Stuart. “This thing has been around for centuries. No one was able to get rid of it, and – as far as I know – no one was ever immune to it.”
Sam scowled at them. “If you expect us to just sit back on our arses and let this drop, you can think again.”
Evan smiled sadly. “I just don’t want you both exhausting yourselves, searching for something that doesn’t exist. I know how you are, Jared. You’ll start feeling guilty that your efforts are fruitless. I’ll bet you’re already blaming yourself for what happened down there.”
He’d always been able to see right through me. “I shouldn’t have let you come with us. I knew your head wasn’t in a good place, I knew you’d be reckless, but I let you go anyway.”
“You couldn’t possibly have known what lay in wait for us down there. If it’s anyone’s fault that I’m tainted, it’s mine. I didn’t listen to you in those tunnels. I threw myself into a dangerous situation, and I even put myself in the lead. You told me to back away from that vampire, you warned me that he’d attack, but I ignored you.”
“You’re not responsible for what happened to Stuart and me either,” Max adamantly stated to Jared. Stuart nodded his agreement. “You trained us well, and you kept us behind you in those tunnels because you thought we’d be safer that way. Even when you heard the first horde of vampires coming, you tried to get us to leave instead of asking us to face them with you.”
“Shit like this happens,” said Stuart, shrugging. “I knew when I joined the legion that my immortality would be fragile. Every time I left for an assignment, I was conscious that it could be my last. It’s no one’s fault that we got hurt. If you can find a way to help us fight The Call, great. But if you can’t, it doesn’t make you responsible for what will happen to us.” He smiled widely. “Just know that my replacement in the squad will have big shoes to fill.”
I couldn’t imagine replacing any of them. Sensing Sam’s anguish, I took her hand in mine and squeezed it lightly. “We’ll do what we can.” Evan’s expression was begging me to let it go. “If it was me in there, if the situation was reversed, what would you do?”
Evan answered without missing a beat. “Search high and low for a way to fix this fucking mess.”
“Then don’t expect me to do anything different.”
“Do you want us to contact Alora about what’s happening?” Sam asked carefully.
Grinding his jaw, Evan replied, “No.”
“She cares about you, Evan.” Sensing Evan’s scepticism, she quickly added, “It was written all over her face at the Binding ceremony. I don’t know why she resisted staying here with you, and I’m not asking – that’s your business. But if it was Alora who was tainted, wouldn’t you want to know about it?”
“Yes, I would. But I don’t want her to see me like this.”
“It’s possible that she’ll find out from Bran,” I pointed out.
“If she turns up at The Hollow, you don’t let her down here.” Evan’s voice was harsh. “Not for any reason.”
I understood why he was so set on this: if he was going to slowly wither until he eventually died, Evan wanted Alora to remember him as he was before. In his position, I would have wanted the same thing. But…“You’re not going to die.”
Evan ignored that. “Promise me you won’t let her down here.”
I nodded. “I promise.”
Evan looked at Sam then, brow arched expectantly.
After a brief hesitation, she spoke. “I promise.”
Satisfied, Evan gave a slight smile. “Now get out of here. We’ve got a poker game to play, and I was winning until you both showed up.”
Max snorted at Evan. “You think you’re winning – there’s a difference.”
Bantering, the guys returned to the table at the centre of the room and went back to their game. And I hated the thought that that could have been the last rational conversation I’d ever again have with my twin brother.
CHAPTER FIVE
(Sam)
Frustrated, I slammed the thick book on my office desk. From his seat at his own desk, Jared arched a quizzical brow, smiling in amusement. I just shook my head. His smile widened, but he said nothing and returned to…well, whatever the hell he was reading.
Five days had gone by of researching The Call by reading books, surfing the V-Net, and consulting various knowledgeable vampires by teleconference. But none of the information had proven to be any more informative than what Antonio and Luther had been. We had explored every possible idea and examined every possible theory in our search for a counteragent, but our efforts had so far come to nothing.
Furthermore, there was no trace of Quentin Foy anywhere, so we were no closer to finding out if there were more tainted vampires on the loose or not. Another squad within the legion had searched the borders of Quentin’s tunnels and also the nearest towns, but no tainted vampires had been found.
According to Sebastian, who regularly kept in contact by cell phone, Robert Langley hadn’t been much help with the Paige West situation. Sebastian sadly didn’t believe he was close to finding her yet. Jared was still refusing to even consider bringing her to The Hollow, but I was just thankful that he had at least conceded that there was no harm in Sebastian attempting to locate her.
Conscious that we had been badly neglecting our usual duties, Jared and I had given the squad the rest of the night off and then retreated to our office. Although the squad were in top shape and had amazing control of their gifts, we still worked with them each week Monday through to Friday in order to ensure that things stayed that way. Unfortunately, recent events had messed with that schedule – not to mention the morale of the squad. Still, to their credit, they hadn’t slacked off.