It was almost midnight by the time Nathan felt secure enough to leave the temporary stronghold for a couple of hours. Ronan had called a dozen trainees in to help stand guard with the hunters. Some of the elders protested this action, but when their protests resulted in a tie between them, Roland intervened and cast the deciding vote for the vampires to help.
Nathan didn’t think he’d ever seen the elders as irate as they were at Roland, but he would have vetoed them if they had voted against the vampire’s aid anyway. Roland’s vote had saved him from taking the brunt of their displeasure again.
“I’m going to get Vicky,” Nathan said when he gathered with Ronan, Kadence, Declan, Logan, and Asher in the restaurant again.
“Who is Vicky?” Logan asked.
With everything that happened, he’d forgotten Logan didn’t know about Vicky or Jordan, and Jordan would have to be dealt with soon. He’d planned to do it at the old stronghold, but he realized he couldn’t; Jordan would be a public trial.
It was time to make it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate any more discordance between the hunters. It was sink or swim time, and he would not be brought down by hunters who weren’t willing to at least doggy paddle.
“You saw her once, briefly, when we met with Ronan here before. She’s one of the twins who was standing in the hall,” Nathan told Logan.
Logan frowned at him. “Why are you going to get her?”
“She’s been helping me try to find a lead on Joseph, and I need to make sure she’s safe. I have a lot to fill you in on.”
“Did you call her?” Kadence asked.
“She’s not picking up,” Nathan replied. “I’ll go to her hotel.”
“She’s probably not there,” Declan said.
“Why not?” Nathan demanded, unable to keep the fear from his voice.
“After our meeting earlier, Ronan called Brian to let him know you and Vicky were working together. Brian later called me to say he and Abby were cutting their visit short and coming back. Ronan gave Vicky permission to return to whatever the two of you were doing with one of her family members. I’d bet money that’s what she’s doing now.”
Nathan’s mouth went dry as a sense of foreboding slid down his spine. Judging by the events of this day, he and Kadence were in far more danger than Vicky, but he couldn’t shake his growing worry for her. “I have to find her.”
Before anyone could say anything, the elders, minus Roland, opened the doors on the other side of the room and entered.
“Here comes the guillotine,” Asher murmured as the elders approached.
“Nathan,” Ida greeted and stopped ten feet away from them. Though she wasn’t the oldest hunter, Ida often took the lead in things. She purposely snubbed Kadence while some of the others, including Elfry, waved a greeting to her.
“Ida,” Nathan said tiredly.
“We’re going to hold the engagement ceremony tomorrow, during the Mayday celebration,” Ida stated.
“No,” he said.
“It will be more simple….” Ida’s voice trailed off; she blinked as Nathan’s response sank in. “Did you say no?”
“I did. There’s too much going on right now. The engagement ceremony can and will wait.”
Ida threw back her shoulders as the rest of the elders exchanged glances. “And that is exactly why it will happen!” Ida declared. “It will be more simple than normal, but our people need a distraction. The joy of upcoming marriage nuptials will provide that for them.”
“No,” Nathan said again. “The ceremony will not happen tomorrow.”
Ida gawked at him while over her shoulder the rest of the elders looked as if he’d dropped a bomb on them. Unwilling to hear any further protests from them, Nathan turned and walked away.
He could overrule them on any of the decisions they made, but the elders had been revered for centuries. They’d earned the right to be respected through years of sacrifice for their people, and while he saw their point about giving the hunters something to look forward to, the engagement ceremony would not happen.
• • •
Following the twisting path of the sewers, Nathan’s heart hammered as he tried to catch Vicky’s scent somewhere in the labyrinth of tunnels. Asher and Logan followed him as he led them deeper into the maze.
On the drive here, Logan rode with him while Asher followed in his Expedition. Nathan had filled Logan in on everything, knowing it would either push Logan away for good or ease the divide between them these past months.
Logan remained silent for a while when Nathan finished. Finally, he replied, “Jordan’s an asshole.”
And with those simple words, Nathan knew he’d gotten his friend back.
Stopping in the sewer, he caught the faint whiff of jasmine in the air. Nathan hurried faster until he was running. His hammering heart didn’t ease until, ahead of him, he heard voices drifting through the tunnels.
Coming around a bend in a pipe, he skidded to a halt when he came face-to-face with a tall, blond vampire with blood-red eyes and bared fangs. Nathan almost tackled the vamp before he recognized Brian.
“What are you doing here?” Brian growled.
Ignoring him, Nathan looked to where Vicky stood with her sister and Duncan. Though it would be easier to tell two specks of sand apart, Nathan knew immediately which one of the twins was Vicky. The pressure in his chest eased when her emerald eyes met his. He almost held his hand out to her, but the look on her face said she wouldn’t take it.
“Nathan? Why are you here?” she asked.
“I came to find you,” he said. “We have to go.”
“Go? Where? Why? And who is that?” Vicky nodded toward the man she’d seen once before, but she didn’t know his name.
“Logan, and we have to get you somewhere safer.”
“What’s going on?” Brian asked as he stepped closer to Abby.
“Nothing good. I’ll explain as we walk, but we have to move,” Nathan said.
“We have one more place to look,” Vicky said.
“Not tonight, and it would be best if Duncan, Sister, and the children leave here with us. I’m sure Ronan will take them in, even if the children are human,” Nathan replied. “Now, let’s go.”
Vicky bristled against Nathan’s command. Sorrow quickly doused her initial burst of joy over seeing him, and now she welcomed the anger. She was so tired of him and fate and everything else.
Nathan saw Vicky gearing up for an argument and recalled Lucien’s words about telling a woman what to do. “Please, come with me,” he urged.
That simple “please” knocked the wind out of her. She blinked at Nathan before her shoulders slouched and some of her ire eased.
“We can stop by our last location on the way back to Sister,” Duncan said.
The rest of Vicky’s argument faded away. “Then let’s go,” she said.
She fell in beside Abby to stay away from Nathan as Duncan took the lead. Nathan fell back toward her, and feeling like an idiotic child, Vicky slid to the other side of Abby. Her sister frowned at her before her eyes narrowed on Nathan.
“Why are you here and what is going on?” Brian demanded of Nathan.
Nathan gave them a recap of everything that had unfolded over the day and night. By the time he finished, they’d all stopped walking to stare at him.
Brian pulled Abby against his side as his eyes turned a deeper shade of red. “We have to get out of here.”
“That’s what I said,” Nathan replied.
“Are you okay?” Vicky asked Nathan.
She’d intended to maintain an emotional distance from him, but she couldn’t imagine the turmoil he’d gone through since she last saw him. He already believed he was failing as a leader and didn’t hold up to his father. What had this day done to him?
“Yes,” he said. “But I’d be better if I knew you were somewhere safe.”
How did she resist him when he said stuff like that? You grow a backbone and do it, dumbass!
When everyone started into the tunnels again, she kept Abby and Brian between her and Nathan. Illuminated by her flashlight, she counted the cracks in the floor of the tunnel as she tried to ignore Nathan’s cypress scent.
Somehow, in all her counting, she found herself walking beside Nathan. Abby and Brian were in front of them, following Duncan who stooped to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling. Asher and Logan walked behind her and Nathan and focused their attention on the tunnel behind them.
“I’m sorry about your people,” Vicky whispered.
“It will be dealt with,” he replied.
His azure eyes were colder than she’d ever seen them before. He’d always borne the weight of his leadership duties, but now he also carried the deaths of so many on his shoulders, including children. Hatred smoldered in his gaze; she couldn’t help but worry that hatred would one day become directed at her and vampires like her.
She’d witnessed enough brutality over her lifetime to know people often blamed innocents for the perceived wrongs they believed dealt to them. Would Nathan take his wrath to a dark place and decide all vampires must go? She didn’t think he’d ever harm Kadence, but over time, maybe he’d start to see his sister as the enemy too.
Then his hand brushed hers. Vicky jumped as tendrils of electricity crackled across her fingertips before he grasped her hand and squeezed it. That simple gesture let her know that no matter how furious he was, he would be okay.