Chapter Twenty-Six
Watching Viktor lead Sybil to the dance floor left Trixie bleeding inside. Had he forgotten he’d asked her for the first dance?
Chris leaned to whisper in her ear. “This place stinks of death and betrayal. How long do you think he can keep her busy?”
Viktor glanced over his shoulder, his heated stare pinning Trixie’s. Over that distance and in only those few seconds, understanding gonged in her head. She entwined her fingers with the alpha’s. “Let’s find the dhampir.”
Viktor was distracting Sybil. That had to be it, because why look at her with such longing and go with that bitch? Nobody would pay attention to a dogcatcher and a werewolf. Sybil had made sure of that. They were below her or her nest’s standards.
Chris’ lips spread into a vicious grin. His eyes flashed amber. “Let the hunt begin.”
She strolled as best she could in the heels Chris had provided. “Next time you buy some shoes, try to be more practical.”
He eyed the slit that ran down the side of her gown, which gave her some room to move. “I think they’re sexy.”
“Don’t make me smack you in public.”
“Then you’d be forced to marry me, because only my mate would be allowed to live after such a transgression.” He turned his wolfish gaze on her.
“Did Betty smack you?”
He growled. “Repeatedly.”
“And you still have no common sense.” She scanned the crowd. “You know what Jade looks like?” Jade Ellington, dhampir tattoo artist, sounded like someone who would stand out in a crowd.
“No, but I would know her scent.” His sharp smile turned sheepish. “The tattoo parlor still had some of her stuff in storage. Apparently, she left town so quickly she never returned for it. I bought the box. Her scent is still on her needle gun.”
“Even after all these years?”
“Packing it in the box helped. The smell was faint, but…” He shrugged. “I am an alpha.”
And he had the ego to go with his acute sense of smell. They combed through the guests quickly. “Are you getting anything?” Who knew how long Viktor and Sybil’s dance would last. She and Chris had to work fast.
The werewolf shook his head.
She eyed the sweeping staircase and rejected the idea of climbing to the second floor. Everyone would spot them since it was central to the room. “Come on. Let’s look for a back way.” She jerked her head toward where one of the servants exited. Sybil didn’t strike her as someone who would let the help use the same public hallways.
They crossed a dining room to the kitchen then to a narrow hallway that followed the back wall of the mansion. It ended at a wooden stairwell. “Ha! And I knew watching TV would come in handy one day.”
“Why do you think Jade is upstairs?” Chris asked.
“I don’t. I think the bedrooms are. With your nose, we’ll locate her room and hopefully the book.” She doubted that Jade would keep it in the nest library for anyone to use.
Chris scowled, taking the lead and making sure she stayed behind him. “I want her, not the damn book.”
“Stick to the plan. We destroy the book.” Her feet were cramping so bad she could barely think straight. She kicked off her heels and followed close behind Chris, trying to move as silently as the alpha. The stairs groaned under her weight and she frowned at how quietly Chris managed when he was twice her size.
The second-floor hall looked like the servant quarters. They treaded passed quickly until Chris stopped so fast she walked straight into his solid back.
She rubbed her nose. “What is it?”
“I smell her.” He bent to one knee, sniffing the bare, unpolished wood floor.
“Here?” She glanced at the yellowed plastered walls and ancient cracked doors. Something didn’t feel right. Why was Jade in the servant quarters?
Chris moved them back to a doorway they had just passed. “Her smell is strongest here.” He tried the knob. “Locked.” That wasn’t surprising, considering what Jade had in her possession. Chris used force until metallic parts of the knob and lock cracked. The door swung inward.
Together they peered inside the room.
Light glared from a bare bulb that hung from the ceiling. A young woman dressed in a threadbare T-shirt and torn jeans sat on the metal cot, reading a worn paperback novel. She rose to her bare feet, skeletal thin with bruises lining her arms and face. “Who are you?”
Chris jumped to his feet so fast he almost slammed into Trixie’s head. Win for vampire reflexes kicking in. “Jade Ellington.” The alpha tossed Trixie a smug look over his shoulder. “I’m Chris Jenkins, alpha of Riverbend Wolf Pack.”
“I’m Trixie from New Port.” She waved her hand over Chris’ broad shoulders. “Why are you locked inside this room?”
This wasn’t going according to plan. They had a starved-looking dhampir, no magic book, and Jade didn’t look like a criminal mastermind.
Jade clutched the novel to her chest and took a step closer to Chris. “Are you here to rescue me?” Hope in her voice, a cry of desperation.
She and Chris exchanged confused looks. The alpha crossed the room in one long stride. He gripped Jade’s chin in his hand and examined her frail face. “Who’s been using you as a punching bag?” His fury was surprising, considering he had wanted revenge on the dhampir himself.
She jerked her chin loose. “Sybil lets them beat me when I fail. She calls it incentive.” She looked from Chris to Trixie and back again. “You’re not here to help.”
“Yes, we are.” Trixie grabbed her hand. “Come on. We don’t have much time.” No matter what Jade had done to Betty, she did not deserve torture. There was something else going on that they didn’t understand, and the only way they could get answers was by helping Jade.
Chris didn’t hesitate and took the lead. He was a bossy wolf but a protective one. He scanned the hall. “It’s clear.”
“Wait.” Jade fell to her knees and searched under her bed. She pulled out a thick, black leather-bound book. “I can’t leave without this.”
It had to be the book they wanted. Trixie didn’t know how to confirm it though.
Chris glanced back. “Is that the book you used at the tattoo parlor? The magic one?” Apparently, he knew.
Jade’s eyes went wide. “How did you know that?”
“Long story.” Trixie pushed the alpha to move.
“My mother is this way.” Jane went the opposite direction. “We have to rescue her too.”
Chris threw his hands in the air. “What the fuck is going on?”
Trixie chewed on her bottom lip and followed Jade. There was no other choice but to keep pushing forward. She wasn’t leaving anyone behind.
Sybil sat on a stone bench, facing the gardens. “I have always wanted to see my flowers in the morning light.”
“They have cameras for that. You can watch them in safety.” He crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe. Noting Trixie and Chris had vanished from the party. He could only hope the alpha kept her safe and that they took this opportunity to search for the dhampir’s magic book.
“It’s not the same. I want to enjoy the warmth on my skin.”
“You would get very warm if you tried it.” Sybil was trying to hint at something, but he was in no mood to play games.
“Viktor.” She patted the bench next to her. “Join me.”
“I am fine where I am. What did you want to show me, Sybil?”
“Power.” She leaned forward. “Real power. Something that could turn the tide for our kind forever.”
“The news, the people the humans claim spontaneously combusted, that was you’re doing.” His arms tightened across his body and he gave her a fake smile. “What have you been up to?” Since they had entered the nest, he had been uneasy. He had come knowing it was a trap, but Sybil was acting too civil.
“I have discovered a way to walk in sunlight.”
He blinked, not sure he had heard correctly.
Her smile turned shy but she did not have a shy bone in her body. “Well almost. Those spontaneous combustions were failed attempts, but we are so close.”
“How is that possible?” He slowly approached her, his feet heavy with wonder. Sunlight was every vampire’s regret at some point in their lives.
“The dhampir I spoke of…”
He didn’t hear her other words as the puzzle pieces fell into place. Sybil was using black magic to alter the vampires of the nest. She was using the dhampir to do her dirty work.
“… extensive testing, we’re close to developing a foolproof spell. Viktor, are you listening to me?”
He stared out over the gardens. “How extensive were your tests?” There were too many young vampires in the mansion and none that he recognized.
“I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
Deepening his tone. “How many of your nest have you killed with these tests?”
She pressed her lips together and turned her back on him. “Their sacrifice was for the good of vampire kind.”
“Did they volunteer?” Even if she said yes, he could not bring himself to believe her.
She refused to answer.
“I did not think so.” He stood, looming over Sybil. “I am relieving you of your rule of this nest. You are obviously too unstable to be left unsupervised.” He flexed his fingers, resisting the urge to fist his hands.
The scent of blood was in the air. Close. He shook his head. There were humans in the other room allowing some of the vampires to feed. When had he last fed? Chuck had brought them blood at the pack house. Had he not drank?
Sybil gave him a knowing smile. “I don’t think taking my rule away will be quite so easy.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “I will just kill you and be done with the whole fiasco.” He tired of Riverbend and all its politicking. It was why he’d chosen to never settle here. Too much strife fed into bloodlust and that was the last thing he needed.
She tutted, wagging her finger at him. “Not so fast.”