Page 80 of Flock This

“I don’t think wasting time is really a problem for me.” I gestured around me. “It’s not like I’ve got anything else going on right now.”

He chuckled, then came closer, the action causing me to take a step backward. He moved the same way Kelvin did, but where Kelvin gave me a—admittedly unwelcomed—jolt of desire, this man didn’t.

My back hit the wall, and when I had nowhere else to go, the man stopped with a foot between us. “My name is Iglesia Vasquez. If we are to speak, names would help, would they not?”

Vasquez? My brain tried to keep up, to search through everything I’d seen in the records at the Castle, but I recall no mention of such a name.

It meant he couldn’t have been one of the big families. There were plenty of others, those who existed in the lowest rungs of vampire society, but this man had enough power to at least frighten Ursula. That meant I needed to remain wary.

“You should try to make better first impressions,” I warned him, ignoring the way my voice shook. “Because hitting someone in the back of the head is not the way to make friends.”

“You might be surprised. Some of my most trusted allies began similarly. Our world is a dangerous one, and I think no true friendships occur without a bit of blood and violence.”

“Yeah, well, those aren’t the sort of people I like to make friends with.”

“No?” He tilted his head, his smile never fading from his lips. “You may claim to not like violence, but it shadows you everywhere. Where you go, disaster is sure to follow. You might escape unbloodied for the most part, but the same isn’t true for others. You, Grey, might as well be a herald of chaos.”

I swallowed hard, hating that I couldn’t deny those words.

While I didn’t like to cause pain to others, I knew it happened, that no matter what I did or tried or wanted, things often escaped my control and people suffered because of it.

I wanted to tear my gaze from his, but I didn’t dare. Instead, I stared back at him, silent.

He chuckled and backed away a few steps, then sat cross-legged on the floor. He waited, as though inviting me to do the same.

While I would have preferred to remain on my feet, I knew better than to think that mattered. Whether upright or not, whether in a position of advantage or not, I couldn’t stand against his strength or speed if he wanted to hurt me.

So I followed suit and sat, my back sliding against the wall as I went down. I winced when my ass hit the floor, the aching making me wonder if I’d bruised the thing when I’d tripped.

“How’d you know I was following her?” I asked.

“I’d heard rumors of sightings of you—or at least, sightings I assumed were you. You see, the vampires, the other clans, they mostly think you ran away. They figured you would try to save your own skin—whether or not you were guilty. The vampires think you killed William and escaped, planning to spend the rest of your life on the run. The other clans think you either killed him or were on the run to avoid the Justices. I knew different, though.”

“So what do you think I’m doing?”

“You’re looking for the real killer.”

“So you know it wasn’t me?”

He tapped his knuckles against the floor, his smile spreading. “Of course I know it wasn’t you. You were just unlucky, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn’t even supposed to be you.”

“It was supposed to be the courier who called in sick?”

He nodded. “Of course. She was an idiot—easy to frame. In fact, we’d already placed money in her account so it looked as if she’d been paid to do it. She would have been found in William’s room, the weapon in his hand, then, sadly, killed when she attempted to escape.”

“But that sure went to hell, didn’t it?” It was petty, because it wasn’t like it going bad helped me at all, but I still enjoyed pointing it out to him.

“It did. However, when you are involved, things never seem to go to plan. It was why you were never a target, why you were never supposed to be the fall person for this. Sadly, we are where we are and we can’t change a path once taken. Whether because of luck or fate or whatever power created you, you are now involved.”

“So what does that mean for me? You’ll turn me over to the Justices?” Hope bubbled inside me. Sure, being taken in by them wasn’t my favorite of ideas, but it was a hell of a lot better than staying here.

“Obviously not. You see, I prefer my enemies unable to speak. Handing you over would just let you spread whatever tales you want to tell.”

Which pretty much told me what I’d already expected. I wasn’t getting out of this one, at least not if this asshole had his way.

“So why’d you even let me wake up?”

“Because this goes above my head. I’ll get all my advantages by bringing you in, but those at the top make the final decisions. They might want to question you, they might choose to execute you publicly or they might decide that you disappearing is still our best bet. Whatever it is, it isn’t my choice to make.”

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