Page 67 of Tainted Blood

“A high dose of hemorrhagic toxin that you shouldn’t witness,” Isaiah explained, dragging me away through the door back to the basement. “Did he tell you anything about where the blood is or who it’s with?”

I didn’t fight, deciding he was right. I didn’t need to watch that. I needed to focus on the cambion blood that was in play.

“No, but I got to thinking that the staff has been allowed in and out of the building. There might have been a hand-off.”

“Impossible. My staff has been keeping a close eye on the rest of them,” Isaiah growled.

“What if someone was paid off or betrayed you?” I asked, not believing he would ignore this.

“Then they’ll be smart to die before I get to them,” Isaiah snarled, slamming his hand on the wall as he descended the stairs. “I dealt with watching their staff after the initial incident. There’s been no time that any single one of their humans has been unaccounted for. Not a single minute, even a second.”

Reaching the bottom, Isaiah shoved the doors open to the lounge so hard, they slammed against the walls, and one fell off its hinges. The room was silent, mouths open as they had all stopped mid-sentence at Isaiah’s arrival.

“Theron!” he roared. “Your brother is in my custody for treason. You’ll bring all of your vampires and humans into this room this instant.”

“Excuse me?” Theron, Master of Athens, stood and walked toward us. He looked offended and confused, but I didn’t buy it. I would never trust any of the damn Athenians again.

“He just attempted to kill Everly Abbott. He is trying to poison another vampire in the building with the blood that transformed Samas. He has accomplices, one of them certainly human. You will bring all of your people here now,” Isaiah snarled. “Eumelia and Kallias are both your offspring. Order them here.Now.”

“Kallias… has never been mine,” Theron said softly, going to one knee in the center of the room. “Isaiah, he has always been Solon’s son.”

30

“Everly, go back to my quarters andstaythere,” Isaiah snarled at me.

I nodded, moving on autopilot as I tried to figure out what we were missing.

“Marcus! Sweep the building for Kallias! Who saw him last? He was just in here!”

The others piped up to reply, everyone now scrambling around me as I ran to get out of the room. I left the lounge through its broken door and reached the door to the family wing.

How did the blood get back into the building? That felt like the answer to all of this, but it was too late to find an answer. We knew Kallias was probably out there with the blood, but we didn’t know where.

As I reached the door, I heard a soft pop and frowned as I opened the door to the suite. Immediately, I was hit with the scent of blood. Other vampires caught it as well, too fresh to ignore, but the death in it was repulsive… and just as fresh. I stepped into the hall, seeing the body first because I was instinctively drawn by the blood, needing to find its source. A human had put a gun to his own head, and his fingers were still half wrapped around it, even in death. Looking farther down the hall, I had a feeling I knew why.

My eyes first caught the bottle on the floor, then went up further to see the transforming vampire I was certain was Kallias. At the end of the family wing near the staff door and the door to Isaiah’s personal quarters, he continued to change.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled. His head jerked up, and his black and red eyes seemed to bore through me.

“Everly, hide!” Isaiah roared, grabbing me as he came into the hall. He tossed me back into the lounge through other vampires. I hit the floor and slid, but I was up quickly once I considered exactly where Kallias was.

If anyone knows Alexius is hurt, they’ll try to kill him.

If anyone knows…

“Alexius!” I started running, weaving through the ancient vampires to get back into the hall. Someone tried to grab me, but I evaded the hand and kept running. Kallias roared as I got closer.

“Let’s go! Follow me, asshole!” I screamed at him as I skidded to a stop right in front of him.

He did, diving for me. I turned and ran back toward the lounge.

“Isaiah! Get out of the way!” I yelled as he watched me, his eyes wide in disbelief.

I hoped to get back into the lounge, into an open space to let the others fight him and keep the wounded safe. I had to keep Alexius safe. There was nothing else I could think of.

I was nearly there. I saw how they were preparing for him when my ankle was clipped by one of his razor-sharp claws. At the speed we were going, it was enough to send me into a wall. The next thing I saw was a hand reaching for me, and I darted away, wincing at the pain in my ankle, trying to get behind him since getting out of the hall didn’t seem possible now, not with him looming over me. I tried to stay behind him, not wanting him to get his hands on me. I knew I was going to end up in at least two pieces the moment that happened.

While I dodged each attempt to grab me, some of the other vampires started trying to get his attention, distracting him further, making each moment a fraction easier. When someone threw a makeshift spear, a wooden piece of debris, and hit his back, he roared, looking over at them. I stopped for only a second, a mistake I couldn’t afford. He swiped out the moment he noticed me still and sent me down the hall, tumbling in circles as I bounced across the floor. I looked down to see blood on my thigh. I got up, hissing in pain as my pants scraped over the long, deep scratches. I didn’t bother trying to go back into the fight, grabbing the door to Isaiah’s personal suite to get out of sight.

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