Page 31 of Tainted Blood

“I understand what you’re trying to do, but she didn’t seem as if she wanted to see him ever again,” Isaiah said before he reached the door to leave.

“If I find him first, he won’t be able to catch her off-guard,” Alexius reminded Isaiah. “And now I know I might need to protect her from him.”

Isaiah nodded before disappearing into the hall. Alexius locked the suite’s main door before retiring to his room. He didn’t sleep. He hadn’t slept in several days.

14

Iwoke up to a meal already sitting on the bedside table. It was still warm to the touch, probably freshly heated. Alexius likely snuck in and set it down only moments before my eyes opened. I drank it while I got dressed, remembering tonight was the hunt Isaiah had invited us to join. I went with a pair of jeans, boots, and a simple long sleeve. Thanks to the quality of the clothing Rupert had bought me, even my most casual clothing was still fancier than most things I had owned as a human. It was only ten minutes after I got out of bed when Alexius softly knocked on my door.

“We’re meeting them in twenty minutes,” he said through the door. “You’ll be fine in jeans for this. We’ll be cleaning up afterward.”

“Thanks.” Glad I had decided correctly, I opened the door. “I was just finishing up. Do you think anyone will judge me for not wearing a lot of makeup for this?”

“I couldn’t honestly tell you,” he answered with a frown. “You can’t be up before sunset like us, so it’s not like we can expect you to do the same amount of preparation and make the meeting time they wanted. However, you look fine, and I can’t imagine anyone having a complaint.”

Taking quick stock of what he was wearing, we were similar, which was a positive for me. I wasn’t going to stand out like a sore thumb being the only person in jeans.

“That’s good,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I normally don’t care this much.”

“I know. This is just the game we’re playing right now.”

Setting my glass to the side to be cleaned, we left together, heading through the mansion to meet the rest of the hunting party. Alexius led the way, seemingly going somewhere he had been before or knew about ahead of time. While we walked through the garden, I got tired of the silence.

“Let me guess. While I was asleep, some member of the staff came by and told you where we’re going?”

“They didn’t need to come by. I know where hunts meet. It’s always the same place. However, if necessary, they slide notes under the door instead of knocking and interrupting the guests during the day. Very rarely does the staff have reason to knock and verbally pass along a message. It keeps them safe and keeps our stays private. It’s because Isaiah hosts so many that aren’t part of his nest. If only his nest stayed here, things would be different, but he had to protect the privacy of many other powerful vampires.”

“I’m really grateful Jacob didn’t have guests all the time.”

“Jacob was well-liked, but not many wanted to visit his nest. Most who visited would have done so quietly to see someone they knew was staying there for Jacob’s help. It wasn’t something to be publicized. There were a few vampires who have been under Jacob’s care that no one knew about and still don’t.”

“He wouldn’t have kept notes on them?”

“He would have given those notes to someone, either the vampire themselves, their sire, or the vampire they answer to. Like… if Marcus was ever in Jacob’s nest, it would have been kept a secret, and those notes would have been given to Marcus or Isaiah to keep or destroy.”

We walked out of the garden to find a small group waiting in the open field behind it, near the edge of the trees. Isaiah was already there, talking to a member of his staff. Jamal, Kamose, and Isis were there, along with Conall, the Master of London, and the entire group from Berlin. The Berlin group was one Alexius didn’t know nearly enough about, but I at least knew their positions. Caturix was Master of Berlin, and his top two advisors were Dago and Sucaria. No relation was shared between any of them, and they didn’t seem to be in any romantic entanglements together. I had researched their names and discovered they were probably Gaulish. One thing I was beginning to realize, in large part thanks to names like theirs, was not all vampires decided to change their names in the all-encompassing way Isaiah had decided to. I knew they probably had fake, more modern names to keep up appearances, but they continued to use their ancient names with each other.

I liked it, their approach of holding on to their identities from so long ago.

Conall, the Master of London, was just as interesting. I had never known a vampire with silver hair. He had that silver fox thing going for him, looking a bit older and more distinguished than the rest of the group, but notold. The silver in his hair was most prevalent at his temples, and I had bet there would be some in his beard if he grew it out.

“Ah, the Macedonian arrives,” Caturix said, seeing us first. His accent was thick German but understandable. Dago and Sucaria gave me the impression of two generals sizing up their opponents as they studied us from either side of their ruler. Sucaria’s bright blue eyes were more intimidating than Dago’s dark ones, as though she could see through me and knew all of my weaknesses with that simple gaze. There was a sharp edge to her features, matching the steel I bet she would use to cut my head off if she had to or was given the chance. Of the three vampires from Berlin, Caturix seemed the friendliest, but all of them seemed as if they were made for war, and war was made for them.

“And he brought the Orphan.” Conall’s smile was wolf-like as he focused on me. He and Isaiah shared an accent, making me wonder if Isaiah had copied Conall originally.

“I invited them,” Jamal injected, with Kamose at his side. Isis was standing farther away, keeping at least ten feet between her and the group.

“Good. I’ll enjoy seeing how the Macedonian hunts,” Caturix said with a low chuckle, all too masculine. He looked at me, inspecting me even more obviously than his advisors had. “Have you ever hunted before?”

“No. I’m probably going to watch.”

“That’s not entirely honest,” Isaiah said suddenly, cutting off whatever he was talking to the human about.

I hadn’t been trying to listen, more focused on the vampires I didn’t know.

“Earlier this year, she and Alexius hunted down a group of new vampires who had been created and unleashed in Alaska and Canada. She was able to kill one of them before Alexius arrived on the scene. We were dealing with werewolves at the same time. It was a messy situation.” Isaiah waved a hand. “I’ll take it from here,” he said as the human nodded, then walked away at the dismissal.

“You can’t be serious,” Dago said with a huff, looking me over again. “This little thing killed someone?”

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