Naturally Jared hadn’t been happy with that response, which was why he sulked the entire time we gathered the squad, and right up until we reached the gates of Orrin’s Spanish style duplex in L.A. Although we had taken the entire squad, we decided it would be best to leave most of them outside so that we didn’t appear threatening. As Antonio had said, this was supposed to be a social visit, nothing more.
Jared’s knock was answered by a large, sleazy-looking Pagori who I would bet had an affinity for banjos. He ran his gaze over Jared, myself, Max, Salem, and Denny, scowling. When his eyes focused again on Jared, he demanded, “Who the fuck are you?”
Ignoring his tone, Jared simply said, “I’m here to see Orrin.”
“And who—” Realisation must have dawned on him, because his eyes widened and he spluttered. “Jared…For a second there, I didn’t recognise you. Come in.”
Entering, we found ourselves in a small, bright hallway. Branching off it was a living area on our left side, and a dining area on our right side. In both rooms, a number of vampires were lazing. They tensed at the look of Jared, but bowed their heads respectfully.
Have you met any of them before? I asked Jared.
No. But they’ll recognise me as being the Heir. Antonio made sure that would be the case worldwide.
“I’m Rudy, by the way,” the large vampire informed us after chasing the vampires out of the dining room. “Take a seat. Can I get you anything before I go tell Orrin that you’re here?”
Jared shook his head. “No thanks.”
Rudy nodded and left the room.
No sooner had we all seated ourselves at the large, glass dining table than Rudy returned with the lanky, blond Pagori from the photograph. He wore a timid, shy smile as he walked toward us. He had an awkward way about him, much like one of those school geeks who totally lacked social skills. Not that my social skills were much better.
“Jared,” he greeted simply, shaking his hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Jared nodded. “Likewise. This is my fiancée, Sam, and three of my squad.”
Orrin must have looked at me a little longer than Jared was comfortable with, because he stiffened beside me. Personally, though, I didn’t feel that Orrin was ogling me. His gaze was studious, searching.
“It’s an honour to meet you all.” Having taken a seat directly opposite Jared, Orrin again smiled shyly. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”
Jared returned the grin. “No, nothing like that. I’m hoping that you can help us with something.”
Orrin suddenly looked eager, perhaps flattered that the Heir would come to him for any assistance.
“The Grand High Master is looking for a vampire with a certain set of skills. Namely, someone with the ability to alter DNA. But he needs one strong enough to alter the DNA of vampires. We know that one of your vampires has that gift. We’d like to borrow him for a short time.”
I thought that was quite clever of Jared. Vampires could be quite protective of those they had Turned. Therefore, if Jared had said that he wanted to punish any of them, Orrin would most likely have concealed their location.
Orrin scratched his nape. “I don’t have a vampire with a gift that strong. However…put him and his brother together and you have a force powerful enough to achieve that.”
“It requires two of them?”
“Yes. Quinn can manipulate DNA, and Wyatt has the capability to freeze and unfreeze things. Vampires are physically frozen in their development, but if Wyatt can very slightly affect that, it enables his brother to play with DNA.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Where can we find them?”
Orrin’s expression was sheepish. “I’m afraid that’s something I can’t help you with. Once the Trent brothers realised how strong they were, they felt that they didn’t need their Sire or anyone else. They felt that they were quite capable of starting their own line. I heard that they were seen in Vegas a few days ago. I doubt it was really them, though. They prefer solitude.”
I strongly suspected that it had been them and that they were trying the trick of hiding in plain sight.
“Do you want me to have a few of my guys search for them?” Orrin seemed keen to help, clearly wanting to impress the Heir.
Jared waved a hand. “That’s not necessary. There are other vampires on the list that we can approach.” Very smart of Jared to not seem desperate. Besides, now that we knew their names and a little more about them – including where they were last seen – it was very possible that Sebastian could track them much faster than Orrin ever could. “Thanks for your time.”
Back at The Hollow, Jared and I relayed all of the information to Antonio. Going by the strain in his expression, I suspected that he was sincerely looking forward to getting a grip of the Trent brothers and making them pay for what they had done. Well he’d better get in line.
“Sebastian, I do not need to stress to you the importance of the brothers being found,” said Antonio. “Track them as best and as fast as you can, but do not act when you finally find them. Simply report back to me with their location.”
With a nod, the tracker left.
Antonio looked between Jared and I. “You should both go and get ready for tonight’s entertainment. We shall see you soon.”
Ah, yes, the Opera. So not my thing, but I was willing to keep an open mind.
I had expected to find Fletcher waiting outside my apartment with a shopping bag containing a revealing dress, as he normally was. Instead, I found Evan, smiling like the cat that got the cream. Nope, that wasn’t good.
CHAPTER EIGHT
(Sam)
I’d never liked those ‘I know something you don’t’ smiles, and I especially never liked them when they belonged to Evan. He was a great bloke and all that, but he was also a sneaky bugger. I immediately narrowed my eyes.
Jared, who knew his brother well enough to know what that look meant, groaned. “Okay, what did you do?”
Evan shrugged innocently. “Who says I’ve done anything?”
“Spill it.”
“Bro,” whined Evan, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt that you’re so suspicious. Secrets aren’t always bad secrets.” He looked to me for some kind of character back-up.
“Yeah, I’m with Jared on this one, Ev. It’s never good when you’re smiling like that.”
He seemed delighted rather than offended. “Ready for your Binding gift?” he asked me.
“Should I be worried about what it is?”
“You’re going to love it.”
Jared shook his head at his twin. “Do I at least get to come and see this gift that’s supposed to be for both of us?”
A little patronisingly, Evan patted him on the back. “Sure. You’ll love it too, because it’s work-related. But it’s mainly for Sam.” He peered down at my feet. “Oh good, you’re wearing cross trainers.”
I frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
That smile was back. “You’ll see.”
Excited in spite of myself, I followed him down the hallway where we came across Fletcher. He was holding a shopping bag, surprise, surprise.
Evan spoke to Fletcher. “If anyone asks, they’ll be gone most of the evening. And they’ll be having way more fun than they would have at the opera-thing that Antonio’s got planned.”
Jared exchanged a baffled look with me before asking his brother, “Gone where all evening? And why will we be gone all evening?” His twin merely winked in response.
Fletcher put his hands on his hips, studying Evan over the rim of his glasses. “Hang on a minute, why are you smirking like that? What have you done?”