Page 31 of Feeding Frenzy (Crimson Coven #3)

THIRTY-ONE

catalina

The chatter of unfamiliar voices came from the foyer. I let go of Bastien’s hand and ran toward the sniffling and arguing.

“And you thought to bring everyone here ?” Jax hissed.

“I am sorry, Sires,” Talia’s strained voice echoed to me. “I didn’t know what to do.” She sounded so lost. I hurried through the threshold and came to an abrupt stop.

A group of five hovered near the door, covered in soot.

“We had no choice,” a short female vampire with blonde streaks in her hair said, her voice trembling. Jax snarled at her.

She screamed and ran behind another taller female with long flowing hair and brown skin. In her flurry, she bumped a smaller figure who stumbled to the side.

“Sydney?” I said, frowning, hurrying to help her straighten. I smoothed her messy hair back from her cheeks. Bits of ash floated off her. “What happened?”

Her lip trembled but no tears came. She opened her mouth and closed it. I turned to look at Talia who had her lips pursed and stared at the ground. Asher and Jax stood in front of her, glaring.

“What’s going on?” I turned to Tobias who stood near the wall.

“Crimson Nights was burned down.” I returned my attention to the soot covered group.

“It’s not Talia’s fault. We didn’t know where to go and the sun is going to be up soon,” Sydney whispered.

I fixed a glare on Jax. Raising Peter had created a mother hen of me when it came to kids.

“She could have exposed our location to Imogen by coming here,” Jax snapped, angling his glare at them. Talia dropped her head.

“We will leave?—”

“Let’s just stop for a second,” I said, stepping back. “You guys aren’t going anywhere.”

“Pet—” I whipped toward him so fast I gave myself whiplash. Asher shut up. Everyone’s attention focused on me. Other than Sydney and Talia, a lean man stood huddled with three others. A quick scan told me they were all vampires.

“It is close to sunrise. So, instead of kicking your Progeny out, we should probably fix up some rooms.”

“Catalina, having others?—”

I shoved my elbow into Jax’s stomach.

“And you two over there, stop being secretive.”

The back-and-forth between Ren and Tobias toward the corner of the room shut up.

“Where did Baron go?” I scanned for her, but she’d disappeared to make a list. “Baron!” I shouted.

She was the only other person around that knew the layout of the place and knew where all the stuff was.

“You called for me?” Baron’s voice echoed from down the hall. She rounded into the foyer and slowed. “Oh my, visitors.” She grinned.

“Baron, can you get everyone set up in a bedroom?”

A heavy sigh came from one of my vampires, but I ignored them.

“There are no furnishings?—”

“Where are you sleeping?”

She pursed her lips. It was obvious she wasn’t exactly a fan of my suggestion.

“I will figure out something for tonight.” She inclined her head and then turned her brilliant smile over to the group. “If you all follow me to the second floor.”

The four vampires turned to look at Asher questioningly. He met my eyes and then scratched his temple.

“Fine.” He sighed. He turned back to the vampires waiting for his order. “Go. You are not to contact anyone.”

They exhaled simultaneously and scurried to follow Baron, shooting me curious looks as they passed.

“You turned them?” I asked Asher.

He pursed his lips. “Ex lovers?”

He blustered, shaking his head.

“Assssher?” I glowered.

“I don’t remember,” he mumbled, miffed.

“I think that’s the last thing we should be talking about,” Talia said sharply. She shot a glare toward me.

Jax hissed.

Talia flinched and hugged herself.

“She has a point,” I said. I’d allowed myself to get distracted. But to give myself credit, I wasn’t trying to be difficult, it was a simple question. I cleared my throat. “Crimson Nights was burned down?”

Talia didn’t look at me.

“Yes, they were hit a few hours ago.” At least she answered.

“Imogen is a real piece of work.” I grimaced. “Since it was a direct attack, can the Council do something about it?”

“The cameras didn’t catch anything. And like last time, they made it seem like a hate crime,” Talia said.

“If we start accusing her, she’ll claim its retaliation.” Tobias ran his hand through his hair.

“So, there’s nothing we can do?”

A hand settled on my shoulder. Tobias shook his head.

“Not yet. We can attempt to find a witness that will prove her culpability, but Imogen never leaves witnesses.”

The vampire justice system was as broken as the human one.

“That’s bullshit.” I scowled. Tobias’s eyebrows twitched.

Talia cleared her throat, and she faced Asher.

“We caught a vampire skulking around, but he’s not talking.” Talia sniffled. “We have him in the trunk wrapped up in tons of chains.”

“Perfect.” I could only describe Ren’s grin as wolfish. He was through the open door within moments, Jax on his heels.

“Asher, we lost vampires,” Talia croaked. She eyed me. “Maybe we should speak in private.”

“Treat Catalina the same as you would me.”

“Yes, Sire.” She lowered her head. “Again, I am sorry for showing up here.”

A scuffle sounded outside.

“Catalina, Pet.” Asher gripped my arms. I looked up at him. “You should go. You’re not going to want to see what they do.”

I scowled. I opened my mouth to argue and Ren and Jax entered, dragging a struggling body between them.

A sack covered his face. He thrashed between them, wiggling side to side frantically, the chains around him rattling.

I watched them drag him away.

Then I turned to Asher.

“I’ll be writing.” I hurried upstairs.

ASHER

I balanced on the two back legs of the chair. Tobias leaned forward, elbows on the dining table, hands buried in his hair. Everything was in danger of going to shit. We’d taken a vote and unanimously decided to keep the trial date from Catalina. She would know nothing. We needed her to stay safe and out of the way.

Imogen’s goal was to cripple us. She knew what the night club meant to me. But the anger I expected wasn’t as searing as I anticipated.

Tobias’s gaze remained unfocused.

“What are you mulling over?” I asked.

“We need to set up precautions.”

“Should I get Amira on Imogen?” She was a good spy and in all the years she’d been watching Calliope, she’d not been caught. “She has the best chance of finding her.” Her ability to track never failed.

“Yes, do that,” Bastien said from where he hovered near the fridge.

“I’ll call her and pull her from Calliope.”