Page 27 of Addicted in Blood
“This is Asher and Maya Boretsky.”Lyra lifted the wine bottle sitting on the coffee table and refilled the Boretskys’ glasses before pouring one for Simone and a small glass for herself.
Simone took the time to consider the implication of members of the Boretsky House, the leader that Devon was supposed to have killed, sitting in this office.And again, she came up blank.
“This is Simone.She’s first in Devon’s cadre.”Lyra hesitated, then shook her head with a soft, tinkling laugh.“I suppose my cadre for now.”Then she introduced the rest of the cadre.“Sergi, our security expert, is on another assignment.Simone is leading our investigation into your father’s murder.”
The woman, Maya, held a hand to her chest.“I’m so grateful.”She looked to the man next to her.“My brother is the eldest and now the leader of House Boretsky.”
“But you haven’t taken the Council seat yet.”Simone still couldn’t put the pieces together, then realized she’d spoken out of turn and glanced to Lyra, but she’d already turned back to their guests.
“And I won’t until the matter of our Father’s murder has been resolved.”Asher gave his sister’s arm a gentle squeeze.“We don’t believe the Council is interested in investigating.They’ve been handed their perpetrator without questioning how easy it all was.”
“Why would you believe Devon to be guiltless in this?”Simone asked and nodded to Lucas, who moved closer to the conversation.He was better than most at sussing out a lie.
Asher glanced at his sister, who seemed to have withdrawn from the conversation, but she gave his arm a reassuring return squeeze.“I need to give you a bit of background first.The House Boretsky has always been a divided House.Our Father’s younger brother is considered a rebel.A risk taker.He believed in the future and what we could make of it rather than grasp for the past.Our Father, of course, felt different, wanting to hold onto the old ways, which is why he typically sided with the House Venizi.”
“But not in all things from what little I’ve heard of the Council meetings.”Lucas leaned against the bar, his arms folded, appearing indifferent to Boretsky’s response.
“No.”Maya spoke this time.Her smile was endearing, as if she was remembering a favored memory.“Father loved Uncle Noah.While they differed on many topics, there were one or two areas where they found common ground.When the Council’s oversight involved one of those areas, Father always listened to Noah’s recommendation.”
“But over the last ten years or so,” Asher took over, “Father had become enamored by Venizi.None of us were happy with how it looked to our old allies, and quite frankly, most of the Family disagreed with his alignment with Venizi.”He stopped to take a long drink of wine then closed his eyes for a moment before running a hand through his hair.His gaze appeared haunted.“A week ago, Father came home terrified.I’m two hundred years old, and not once in all that time have I seen fear in his eyes as I did that day.He wouldn’t tell me what happened other than he’d been duped.They’d all been duped.”
“He never said what scared him?”Lucas looked to Simone, but she didn’t have anything better to ask.His thoughts were her own.
Asher fell back against the sofa, almost caving in upon himself.A vampire who was feeling the weight of the Family on his back, trying to make sense of his Father’s murder while balancing the good of the House.Simone understood quiet well.So did Lyra.
“Perhaps someone can make espresso for our friends.”Lyra reached out a hand to Asher, who took it.“Take your time.”
The hum of the espresso machine made the Boretskys jump, and Bella yelled, “Sorry for the noise.”
Maya held a hand to her throat and laughed.“Father keeps a machine in his office as well.”She shifted in her seat and pulled on an earlobe.“All Father would say was that he’d overheard something.A conversation he wished he could forget, but others needed to know.But he wasn’t sure who to trust.He wanted to protect us.His cadre suggested reaching out to someone who wouldn’t be observed by other Council members.That’s why he reached out to Devon.Long ago, Father had been good friends with Guildford, but after his death and then Devon’s censure, he began listening to Venizi, who wasn’t as influential at the time.”
“We believe someone had been following Father.”Asher took the cup of espresso, savoring the first sip, and perhaps it helped clear his head.“The cadre suggested a private meeting in a neutral place.When we learned what happened and that Devon was the prime suspect—that Magic Poppy was involved—” He set down the cup, and his sister rubbed his shoulder.
Maya glanced around the room.Simone didn’t have to follow her gaze to know the woman held everyone’s rapt attention.“We immediately suspected foul play.Oh, we were aware of Devon’s issue with the Poppy.Everyone on the Council would have known the reason for Devon’s censure, although we guessed it wasn’t the only reason.But we know Devon.”She turned away.
“Wait.”Lucas stepped closer.“You don’t mean you knew him from long ago, you mean recently.”
Simone wasn’t expecting that.When her gaze shot to Lyra, she lifted a shoulder.This was news to her as well.
Asher nodded.“I ran into him a few years ago at my Father’s club.He’d been there for a meeting with one of the shifters.Not The Wolf, maybe it was his second.I’m afraid I don’t know the shifters well.Devon noticed me before he left and came over to say hello.I asked him about the shifters, not meaning anything more than general conversation.But then Devon explained the meeting, or more accurately the business dealings he had with the shifters.When I appeared interested, one thing led to another.”
“When Asher told me, it was opposite of everything Father had been preaching.Vile from Venizi about the shifters being a lesser species.They weren’t intelligent enough, were only good for labor.You know the stories as well as I.”
“Devon introduced me to one of the smaller packs over in Chico.”Asher drained the last of the espresso and stared into the empty cup.His brow wrinkled as he recalled the event.“He said the pack might be small, but they had a solid business network.We’ve been in business with that pack since our first meeting.Father never knew.”
“And this is why you don’t believe Devon would be on the Poppy?”Simone kept her tone even, but it seemed a stretch.It was impossible to know everything about a business partner, no matter how friendly they became.
Both siblings nodded.If they picked up on Simone’s doubt, they didn’t show it.Asher set down the cup, the espresso seeming to spur him on.“I suppose none of us truly knows another vampire—what they’re going through, what secrets they hold.We were at the first Council meeting yesterday and were shocked by the immediacy of the sanction.We knew through Father of Venizi’s hatred for everything House Trelane.Then to watch him sway the Council to make such unprecedented rulings.”He shook his head.His faced reddened, and he clenched his fists.“After we discussed the meeting with the cadre, we suspected foul play.We were deciding what to do when we heard another Council meeting had been called.We weren’t invited, since we haven’t officially taken the House seat, but we wanted to see who showed up.When Lyra spotted us, she came over to offer her condolences and one thing led to another.”
“We appreciate your support of the House, but what can we do for you?”Simone found the information interesting but not much to go on.They already knew Venizi was most likely pulling the strings in Boretsky’s murder, but without anything more substantial, it didn’t move the needle on the investigation.
Maya opened her purse and pulled out a leather-covered book.She ran her hand over it.“This is Father’s most recent journal.He didn’t write every day, and it’s mostly musings of an elder, but it’s possible something in here might help you.”
Lyra took the journal and held it to her chest.“We’ll take good care of it while it’s in our possession and will return it as soon as possible.”
“Do you need extra security?”Simone asked.
“Father’s businesses are scattered, as is most of our security.”Asher held his sister’s hand.“We have the cadre.”
