Honestly, I just wanted to help Holly. Tessa said I’d be free from the deal I made on my father’s behalf.”
“He was working on something big. He must have been talking about whatever poison he’s concocted, what Naida put in the Puncture,” I said.
I’d never seen Tessa look as angry as she did just then.
“We’ve been compromised,” Tessa mused aloud.
Victoria gave a harsh laugh. “I was there when your servitude began. He was real quick to agree to your plan, just to save his own ass, and never once considered what it would mean for you. Lucky for you Tessa’s not the monster that he is. But he didn’t know that.”
Luna looked pale. She blinked twice as if to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling over. All of us turned when we heard the front door open and a cold gust of air came in along with a windswept Arie. Even though his face was drawn, he still took my breath away. His eyes met mine. “Hey,” he said, closing the door behind him, and then he regarded the group. “What did I miss?”
“Luna just confirmed that Naida works for her father, but then we suspected as much,” Tessa said drily as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And the club has definitely been compromised. We need to sweep my office for bugs, but we need to do it quietly. We may be able to use it to our advantage.”
“I had the surveillance tech clean and enlarge a shot of the fae from the footage and email it to me.” Arie pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and crouched in front of Luna. “I want you to take a look at this.”
I looked over Luna’s shoulder from my vantage point behind the sofa. Arie had pulled up a photo of the fire faerie from the vision I had when the waitress brushed against my arm.
Luna gasped. “That’s my uncle.”
“Does your uncle have a name?” Tessa asked.
“Luca. But I swear he doesn’t work for my father. At least he never used to.”
“Well, he does now,” I muttered.
“Naida stole from me to pay him for whatever she put in the Puncture that killed five of us tonight. Any idea on how he could get his hands on something like that?” Tessa asked.
“I’m guessing that my father probably paid him to develop it. He’s a microbiologist. He lives in the UK. But I haven’t seen him in years,” Luna said. “I just can’t imagine that he could do something like this.”
“I can. You’d be surprised what people are capable of. The ones that you think you know will betray you,” Victoria said with a faraway look. “You can’t trust anyone.”
Tessa looked at Victoria, her expression softening into kindness. But in a blink it was gone. It was the first time I’d ever seen her look vulnerable or show she had a soft spot.
“What if this was just a practice round? And this is just the beginning of…” Arie trailed off his stream of questions.
“War,” Tessa said.
The silence that fell as we all exchanged looks was unsettling. None of us wanted to say it out loud, but we all knew what it meant. It meant that we were all in a lot of danger. Her father had been holding a grudge against vampires since the territory wars, and now he had something that could hurt us. Really hurt us. Worse than that, he had the power to make more of it.
“I’m so sorry…” Luna’s voice broke as she looked at her feet.
Tessa’s head popped up as if Luna’s words had somehow spurred her into action. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number faster than was humanly possible. “F-4-98, confirm,” she spoke the alphanumeric code to someone who picked up on the other end. “I need you on the next flight to the UK. Your target is Luca Monti. He’s fire fae. Expect resistance. Call me when you land and I’ll send you a packet with his photo. I need him kept alive long enough to be questioned.”
Luna started to cry and I couldn’t blame her. She pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her knees, her silver hair spilling around her like a veil. The
“He was working on something big. He must have been talking about whatever poison he’s concocted, what Naida put in the Puncture,” I said.
I’d never seen Tessa look as angry as she did just then.
“We’ve been compromised,” Tessa mused aloud.
Victoria gave a harsh laugh. “I was there when your servitude began. He was real quick to agree to your plan, just to save his own ass, and never once considered what it would mean for you. Lucky for you Tessa’s not the monster that he is. But he didn’t know that.”
Luna looked pale. She blinked twice as if to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling over. All of us turned when we heard the front door open and a cold gust of air came in along with a windswept Arie. Even though his face was drawn, he still took my breath away. His eyes met mine. “Hey,” he said, closing the door behind him, and then he regarded the group. “What did I miss?”
“Luna just confirmed that Naida works for her father, but then we suspected as much,” Tessa said drily as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And the club has definitely been compromised. We need to sweep my office for bugs, but we need to do it quietly. We may be able to use it to our advantage.”
“I had the surveillance tech clean and enlarge a shot of the fae from the footage and email it to me.” Arie pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and crouched in front of Luna. “I want you to take a look at this.”
I looked over Luna’s shoulder from my vantage point behind the sofa. Arie had pulled up a photo of the fire faerie from the vision I had when the waitress brushed against my arm.
Luna gasped. “That’s my uncle.”
“Does your uncle have a name?” Tessa asked.
“Luca. But I swear he doesn’t work for my father. At least he never used to.”
“Well, he does now,” I muttered.
“Naida stole from me to pay him for whatever she put in the Puncture that killed five of us tonight. Any idea on how he could get his hands on something like that?” Tessa asked.
“I’m guessing that my father probably paid him to develop it. He’s a microbiologist. He lives in the UK. But I haven’t seen him in years,” Luna said. “I just can’t imagine that he could do something like this.”
“I can. You’d be surprised what people are capable of. The ones that you think you know will betray you,” Victoria said with a faraway look. “You can’t trust anyone.”
Tessa looked at Victoria, her expression softening into kindness. But in a blink it was gone. It was the first time I’d ever seen her look vulnerable or show she had a soft spot.
“What if this was just a practice round? And this is just the beginning of…” Arie trailed off his stream of questions.
“War,” Tessa said.
The silence that fell as we all exchanged looks was unsettling. None of us wanted to say it out loud, but we all knew what it meant. It meant that we were all in a lot of danger. Her father had been holding a grudge against vampires since the territory wars, and now he had something that could hurt us. Really hurt us. Worse than that, he had the power to make more of it.
“I’m so sorry…” Luna’s voice broke as she looked at her feet.
Tessa’s head popped up as if Luna’s words had somehow spurred her into action. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number faster than was humanly possible. “F-4-98, confirm,” she spoke the alphanumeric code to someone who picked up on the other end. “I need you on the next flight to the UK. Your target is Luca Monti. He’s fire fae. Expect resistance. Call me when you land and I’ll send you a packet with his photo. I need him kept alive long enough to be questioned.”
Luna started to cry and I couldn’t blame her. She pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her knees, her silver hair spilling around her like a veil. The
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