Page 59

Which meant he was still here, somewhere.

Maybe even watching us right now.

Below me, Black let out a low growl.

His chest vibrated under my hands, and I glanced down. He still wore the tuxedo from our wedding, but his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. I saw cuts and bruises on his chest, bite marks. Jesus. He looked almost as bad as Nick.

I let out a string of curses so loud, I felt Jax jump.

“…I KNOW THIS IS ALL TERRIBLY INCONVENIENT,” the recorded voice boomed over the high-ceilinged foyer. “BUT I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME. YOU WILL BE WELL PAID, ONCE YOU COMPLETE THIS TASK. YOU WILL HAVE MY UNENDING GRATITUDE, AND I WILL OWE YOU A PERSONAL FAVOR, QUENTIN, ONE YOU MAY COLLECT ON WHENEVER YOU SEE FIT. FURTHER, NONE OF YOUR PEOPLE WILL BE HURT. I CURRENTLY HAVE PEOPLE IN NEW MEXICO WITH THEM NOW, BUT NONE WILL BE HURT IF YOU DO THIS SMALL JOB FOR ME. ALL OF YOU WILL BE RELEASED AS SOON AS IT IS COMPLETED…”

I met Black’s gaze.

The blazing rage I saw in his gold eyes briefly caught me.

It might have frightened me once, but now I found it strangely beautiful.

I could feel the frustration woven in with that rage.

If ever there was a time Black wanted to turn into a dragon, it was definitely now. Even with his black pupils swallowing his irises, I’d never seen so much rage gleaming in his tiger-like eyes. I hadn’t seen anger on him like that in years.

Years.

In fact, the last time––

“I REALIZE THIS WILL NOT ENAMOUR ANY OF YOU TO ME… LEAST OF ALL YOU, QUENTIN… BUT AS I SAID, THIS IS NOT A SMALL THING. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT. IT CANNOT BE HELPED… AND IT HAS TO BE NOW.”

“I will fucking KILL YOU!” Black snarled up at the speaker.

His voice came out low, guttural, like an animal.

“LET MY FRIENDS GO!” Black snarled. “LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW! LET MY WIFE GO! LET MY WIFE GO OR I WILL KILL YOU!”

But the voice went on in the same tone, with no change at all.

“…I WOULD NOT TRY ANY SEER’S TRICKS TO GET OUT OF YOUR PREDICAMANT, QUENTIN. I’M AFRAID THEY WON’T WORK IN HERE…”

I heard the vampire smile.

I could practically see it with my inner eyes.

“…OF COURSE, IN SAYING THAT, I’M QUITE CERTAIN I’VE ONLY GUARANTEED THAT YOU WILL BE TRYING THAT VERY THING, RIGHT NOW…”

Something about the uniformity of the vampire’s voice and cadence hit home that this really was a recording. He’d really set this whole thing up beforehand. Even if he was watching us now, he’d spent time planning this bullshit. I suspected all of it was planned.

Every aspect of the timing.

Possibly even the exact combination of seers and humans he’d brought with us.

Otherwise, why take us on our wedding night?

He could have just taken me out of the hospital in California. I was even more vulnerable then. So was Black. Both of us had just had our living light scrambled. Black had just lost one of his closest friends. When I didn’t wake up, Black stopped sleeping.

According to Angel, he barely ate.

Thinking about that, it occurred to me that Brick the Vampire King might not fully understand what happened in those woods in Saratoga.

He might not know what happened to me and Black’s light.