Page 34 of Absolution
Galloway shrugged. “Yourcibohas just arrived. I will send him up as you’ll need to eat. I look forward to spending more time with you in the future, Sam.” He swept out of the room closing the door behind him. Luca? He knew Luca? Well fuck, didn’t I just have to be right about everyone?
I opened the drawers to find them all empty. That was just great. When the door opened again it really was Luca standing in the doorway. Was he working with Galloway? He stripped off his shirt and threw it in the chair. Chest and defined arms looking as mouthwatering as ever. Fuck him.
“It’s good to see you. Eat.” He reached for me and bared his neck. I let him pull me into his arms and took his invitation to bite into the sweet pulsing vein in his neck. The taste of him was even better than before, likely because I hadn’t fed in two months. I took long gulps of him, waiting for him to pull away or tell me to stop. But he did neither. I wanted to drink him dry for betraying us. To hurt him as I felt in my gut he planned to hurt me. But I couldn’t. Even if I wanted to. I finally stopped when I could hold no more, licked his wound, which healed perfectly, instantly. Fuck!
Apparently going to ground had fine-tuned my power. What else would work better?
Luca tugged his shirt back on and handed me a bag of clothes. “Let’s get you home.”
“Are you working with him?” I pointed toward the door. “Galloway? You know his Focus tried to kill Sei and Gabe.”
“And he had nothing to do with it. He’d gone to ground himself. Spent almost five centuries asleep which is likely why Jonahs went mad. He’d like to prevent the same thing from happening to Seiran and ending the world. Now get dressed. I have to sneak you home before someone sees we’re out after curfew. Con will be ecstatic to see you.”
Curfews? I’d never had a curfew in my life. My bleeding stopped at some point and Luca retrieved a damp towel from the bathroom to wash my skin clean. There was no sign of any former wound. Not from hitting the tree or the claw wound on my back. Did Luca know I had changed? Would I be able to do it again on command or was it just a fluke? I so needed to talk to Seiran.
I dug through the clothes, glad to see they were mine, but when I put them on they were all a little loose. The socks were warm and fuzzy and my shoes felt right. I zipped up the coat and started for the door.
“Don’t you have more questions?” Luca asked.
“Oh, you’re planning to be forthcoming now? Did you know the last time some guy introduced me to a strange and powerful vampire I was used to fuel a death spell?”
“That’s not fair. I’m not Matthew and Galloway is not Andrew Roman.”
“Then explain it to me. Tell me you didn’t volunteer to be myciboso you could get close to me for this guy.”
Luca looked away, which was answer enough.
“Wow. I really do pick the winners, don’t I? Later.” I walked out the door and found myself in the hallway of some weird loft very similar to Luca’s. At least it meant I could find the main door and get the hell out. Galloway had vanished completely.
“Sam! Dammit. You can’t just walk out onto the streets. There’s a vampire curfew in place. No one is allowed on the streets. Anyone they suspect of being a vampire will be shot on sight.” Luca followed me out of the apartment and down the stairs. “Let me drive you home. You can be angry with me all you want. I’m okay with that. But shit, let me get you home safe.”
“My home. Not yours or Gabe’s. Assuming I still have a fucking home.” Two months!
“Gabe is your registered sire. I have to take you to him. Anything else will get us both killed. The guards at the grave should have notified him of your departure. I don’t know how you got all the way out here for Galloway to find you first.”
I sighed and followed him to a car that was parked in a lot below the building. At least we didn’t have to wait for it to get warm. Though I felt okay now, not cold, or really all that tired. More irritated and curious than anything, but I needed answers from someone I could trust first. And there were only two people on that very short list.
Chapter 12
The drive through the city was like traveling through a movie set. Storefronts were boarded up, graffiti scrawled over newer buildings, and the flashing lights of police cars lit up every corner. No one tried to stop us, but even heading to the suburbs didn’t improve the scenery. The snow had melted to wet slush and mud, but there were endless homes standing like burnt out shells. Cars flipped over and charred. Lawns were brown and looking like fresh graves.
The highway digital boards said the city was on lockdown. Any and all vampires needed to be registered with the government and monitored. The curfew was military enforced and police had been authorized to use “lethal prejudice” when finding a vampire out after curfew. “What the fuck happened?” I said out loud while Luca drove. The world had turned into some dystopian nightmare. Was this contained just to the Twin Cities? Or was everywhere like this now?
“The vampires have lost it. Tresler’s war. Half of congress is telling the president to bomb the Twin Cities to kill all the vampires,” Luca said.
“There aren’t even that many vampires here.” I could think of a little more than a dozen that lived in the area and were in Gabe’s nest.
“They’ve been coming in droves. Nate thinks there are probably hundreds of them now. Maybe even over a thousand.”
“Yeah, Galloway seems a stand-up guy. No reason to disbelieve him.”
Luca sighed, but didn’t reply.
“If they are coming to fuck with Gabe they’re messing with the wrong guy. Seiran will fuck them up.” The car pulled up to the door of Gabe’s condo. I was surprised to find armed guards around the place. There had always been security but never like this. I wondered if they’d shoot me.
“Gabe isn’t…right. Max is fine, but Gabe is not. Something’s off. The government thinks Gabe is part of the problem.” Luca frowned at me. “He might be, even if it’s not his fault.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”