Page 25 of Redeemed
The bearded vampire’s gaze is hot enough to burn holes in the tablecloth, but he doesn’t otherwise respond.
David clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “So, if Trajan creates another vampire, he’ll be free of Jacques?”
Madame Packard’s eyes flick over David, her smile growing. “It’s not quite that easy, but it will help. Otherwise, you’ll just have to kill him. If that’s what you want, I mean.”
A heavy silence descends. The odds that rumors will spread about this meeting are astronomically high unless Madame Packard has complete control over her scions.
And her grin hints that she wouldn’t stop them from talking, even if she could.
Which means that we’ve walked into a trap. Madame Packard must have known what we want and now she’s made sure Jacques will know, too.
Fuck.
“I appreciate your willingness to meet with us, but we won’t disturb you any longer.” I take hold of David’s arm, easing us toward the door.
“But wait.” Madame Packard leans forward. “Gillian.” She raises a finger, and the woman on her left stands. “My daughter has a favor to ask.”
The woman Gillian approaches. She’s the curvy maternal sort and she’s got her hands clasped tight in front of her belly. “Madame Packard says if she turns my lover, we’ll end up hating each other because vampire siblings never get along. Would you please? Dominic is a good man, and he’ll make a good vampire.”
“I meant to approach Betancourt directly to ask for your services,” Madame Packard says, “but since you asked to see me, the timing seemed fortuitous.”
I honestly don’t know what to say. In all my long years, no one has ever made such a request of me. Creating a vampire child means I’ll have an eternity of responsibility, and I have no idea if I’m strong enough to do it. If I’m not strong enough, I’ll destroy both of us.
And if I am successful, Jacques won’t tolerate the threat. He’ll see to it that both the child and I die.
Madame Packard’s bitter sidekick will make sure to spread the word of our visit and her offer to turn a human is the definition of a double-edged sword.
She’s playing a game and I need to get David out of here before we both lose.
Chapter Nine
Connor
“OKAY, SO WHAT have you got?” Brodie asks. He’s driving and I’m playing copilot.
His ride is a 1970 Malibu sedan with a V8 engine and no airbags. I wouldn’t miss them except he drives like a damned maniac.
“I’m not sure.” I scroll through the addresses on my list and the one thing they all have in common is their location. They might be on the beach, but my maps app says they all sit elbow to elbow with their neighbors. “If you’re a vampire planning something nefarious, you wouldn’t do it in front of an audience.”
Bodie nods, his aura glowing green with streaks of silver. He’d been the closest thing I had to a friend on the Elites, and while the guy could drive me crazy, tonight he’s behaving.
“What about some of the non-beach addresses?”
“But the Princess said…” I let the thought trail. Yeah, maybe I’d had a spiritual interaction with the Princess Tatiana, or maybe it was a lie like all the other lies we’d heard at the viscount’s place.
We’d wasted time driving past one of the houses in Redondo Beach, which made the error in our thinking obvious. The address was on a stretch of road where a person could stand between any two houses and touch them both at the same time. Jacques may own the place, but he’s not hiding the Princess there.
I go back to the maps app and see what else I can come up with. “Hey, there’s a house up in the hills over Malibu that looks like it doesn’t have any close neighbors.”
“That sounds more like it.”
I plug the address into the GPS and suppress a groan when it says it’s going to take an hour and a half to get there. It’s a little after three a.m., and while neither Brodie nor I have the sunrise hard stop a vampire does, I’d still like to be home before Trajan retires.
I want to see him, to know he’s okay, even if I can’t touch him.
We’re on surface streets for the time being, which gives us even more opportunity to get bored with each other.
“Just like old times, yeah Mack?”
