Page 69 of Immortal By Morning
“She is a friend to no one,” Lucian assured Abril solemnly as he sat back in his seat, the concentrated expression leaving his face.
“The control thing?” Abril guessed and when he nodded, she felt anger well up in her at the thought of this woman controlling Kim. She hadn’t had much interaction with her herself, but Gina had said she’d met the wife and mother at the street party and that she was very nice.
“Your neighbor Kim has been under her control since the morning you saw them together here,” Lucian told her. “As has the rest of Kim’s family. She has been living in their home to keep an eye on this house.”
Abril’s eyes widened in alarm. “Are they all okay?”
She knew she wasn’t going to like the answer when Lucian hesitated before giving it. She suspected he did not often hesitate about anything.
Finally, he said, “They are presently tied up in the basement of their home. She has been keeping them as cattle for blood until she got her husband’s body back. Her intention then was to finish them off, place them in their beds, and set the house on fire to hide how they really died.”
Abril’s mouth opened slightly on a gasp of horror and she turned to stare at the monster before her before bursting out, “What the hell is wrong with you? Killing your husband, an immortal, and the twelve other victims in the garden wasn’t enough? You had to add to their number?”
“There have been far more victims over the years than the ones we found here,” Lucian told her solemnly while the woman just stared through Abril coldly. “Fortunately, not as many as there could have been. But only because she learned that overfeeding just causes pain, and so reduced the amount of blood she took in. She also started keeping her prey chained up in her basement like Kim’s family is now. She kept several at a time that she could feed off of as needed. They eventually died due to her not feeding or caring for them properly, but then she just replaced them with someone new. Usually someone from Toronto or other nearby cities that she visited to be sure there were not too many missing persons cases here.”
Abril was still reeling over what he’d just said when Lucian ordered, “Roberts, Decker, go to the neighbor’s house and take care of Kim and her family.”
The two men nodded and immediately headed out of the kitchen.
Lucian then turned to gaze over the remaining men before saying, “Anders and Bricker, I need you to go to the rogue’s house to see to the victims chained up in her basement there.”
“She has victims there too?” Abril asked with surprise. She’d have thought one houseful at a time would be sufficient.
“Yes,” Lucian said solemnly. “Including someonenamed William who is apparently somehow connected to you?”
“William?” Abril’s eyes widened. “Not me. Gina. He’s her boyfriend. Or was until he left one day for milk and never came ba—Oh my God, you bitch!” she snapped at the woman. “You took William? Gina thought he left her. She was crushed! Why the hell would you do that?”
“She saw the construction company trucks here during the interior work and wanted to know what renos were taking place. She could have simply read his mind or that of one of the construction crew, but found William attractive and wanted to play with him... whether he wanted to play or not.”
“Oh my God,” Abril breathed unhappily. She’d been cursing poor William for the last two weeks since he’d disappeared so abruptly. She’d even told Gina that he wasn’t smart enough for her along with other insults to the man’s character and intelligence in an effort to ease the blow of what she’d thought was his rejection of her boss. Meanwhile, the whole time he’d been kidnapped and held against his will to be this woman’s... What? Was she feeding on him? Torturing him? What? Sighing, she asked, “Is he okay?”
Lucian was silent for a moment, and then said carefully, “He was alive the last she saw him.”
He raised his hand in front of Abril’s face when she started to speak and despite herself, she obediently went silent. The moment she did, Lucian finished addressing the two men. “You know where her house is? You read it from her mind?”
Anders nodded. “It is the first one when you turn leftoff this crescent. The big white one with the woods surrounding it.”
Lucian grunted an acknowledgment. “You will need to call Dani or Rachel in to help the people chained up there. Possibly both. It would be a good idea if one of them checked over this Kim and her family as well.”
When Anders and Bricker immediately left the kitchen, Cassius asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“You and Crispin are going to guard this creature while I call Mortimer, and then we shall wait until backup arrives to take her away,” Lucian announced and pulled out his phone as he stood up.
Abril sensed movement behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Crispin stepping out of the mouth of the hallway now wearing his dress slacks and shirt. He’d left the tie and suit jacket behind. Their gazes met as he approached, and he offered a crooked smile and a soft touch on her arm that she suspected was meant to reassure her. But then he was past her and taking up position where Bricker had been on one side of the intruder. Obviously, he’d heard everything and knew he was to guard her. Now he was doing the concentrated look thing on the dark-haired woman.
Her gaze shifted from him to Cassius, who had already moved to take Decker’s spot.
The woman now had a guard on either side of her again, but Lucian was no longer in front of her. Instead, Abril stood there, her hand resting on the back of the chair Lucian had been occupying. Feeling uncomfortable, she took in the woman’s gaze, noting that a cruel smile had begun to pull at her lips as she peered back.
Suspecting she was trying to freak her out, Abril raised her chin and said calmly, “Damn, those nanosdo good work.” She let her gaze scrape with distaste over the other woman’s young and healthy appearance. “It’s just a shame the scientists didn’t upload the meaning and value of morality to the nanos alongside those maps of the female and male body at their peak. They could have programmed them to destroy monsters like you if you became their host.”
Abril saw the confusion that crossed the woman’s face in response to her words, and her eyebrows rose slightly. “You have no idea what I’m talking about when I say nanos, do you?”
The woman glanced sharply at her, and then away, her expression angry.
“Not feeling like talking?” Abril asked.
“Just get your stakes and crosses and get it over with,” she growled, vibrating with fury.
