Page 83 of Betrayed in Blood
They all stared at me with a mixture of hope and downright terror at this new Cressa. If they only knew the truth, as I walked out feeling my dagger snug in my pocket, they’d all piss their pants.
When I strode out of the restaurant, feeling more confident than when I went in, the SUV pulled up as if it had been sitting outside the door all that time. The valet opened my door, I got in, and we were out of the lot and on our way home. The second SUV, which had been waiting down the street, pulled in behind us.
“Well?” Sergi asked.
“I need you to find a Jasper Hunnicutt. Also, I want you to check the video you have from when April and a vamp went into my old apartment. Let’s find out if that vamp is our mysterious Jasper. I think April and my mom have been mesmerized.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
I paced backand forth in Devon’s office, staring at the clock then at the door. It was five minutes to four. When Sergi and I returned from our afternoon excursion, Devon was nowhere to be found. From what Sergi said, the only message that had been left was the time of the meeting.
On the way home, I’d explained to Sergi everything Veronica, Agnes, and Monique had shared with me. Afterward, all I wanted to do was punch something.
Mesmerized.
Venizi had my family mesmerized. Okay. There wasn’t proof—yet. But that would explain so much. They probably started with April. The question was whether it began before or after Christopher’s death.
Had they mesmerized Christopher? It was a reasonable question, but I didn’t think so. He’d been running with bad crowds since I could remember. Didn’t want to remember. At some point, after my services had been traded to Devon for a debt and Christopher began searching for my medallion, April had stopped talking to me. That could have been Christopher’s influence winning her over, or one of his new vamp buddies had gotten April in line. Hell, Christopher might not have known, too ecstatic that she found an interest in the family business to look any further.
I glanced at the door and clock again. Three minutes until four. Where was everyone?
Ginger had been locked in a meeting with Lucas and Colantha when I’d gotten home. I found Lyra in her room painting a bold floral landscape.
“Hey, what’s going on? I can’t seem to find anyone in the manor.” I’d plopped onto a nearby sofa and watched her mix paint with her brush before she dabbed a few spots on the canvas.
Her musical laughter filled the room. “You found me.”
“Does that mean you know where everyone else is?”
She was too cheerful, and when she turned around to glance at me, I could tell she’d taken blood, and for the first time, I noticed she wasn’t as rail thin as she had been. But there was more to her glow than that.
She mixed black in with her paint mixture as she spoke. “Colantha has completed her final version of the codex, though she claims there could be a second edition after Philipe and Fiona use it to transcribe another document they have. They’ve recently discovered two other books that might have been written by dreamwalkers, and they’re being flown over from the old country.”
“Wow, that’s great news.”
She nodded. “She’s asked Lucas and Ginger to help her with updating theDe første dagebased on the latest version of the codex. They’ll be busy until Devon’s meeting.”
“And where is Devon?”
She had returned to her painting, and I had to ask a second time. “Hmm.” She glanced upward as if the ceiling held the answer. “I don’t think I’ve seen him since this morning. I have to admit, I just finished a dreamwalk with Hamilton, and I can’t seem to think of anything else.” She added a few more dabs to a flower, the color a bare shade darker than what was already there, before turning to mix more paint on her palette.
She’d just dreamwalked with Hamilton. That explained her inability to focus on the conversation. And by her glow, they did more than talk. I snorted. It was none of my business, and they had a lot of time to make up for. I doubt she heard me leave.
My next search focused on Bella and Jacques, who had returned with us in the motorcade. I even checked her sparse office, remembering Lucas’s insight that the two vamps used it as a lounge. Bella never seemed to be in one spot. She appeared and disappeared as if she could magically transport herself to wherever she needed to be. She’d always been the most elusive of Devon’s cadre.
Cook didn’t know where Devon had gone, and after checking every room in the manor and the widow’s walk, I finally pulled out my phone and texted him. No response.
Sergi was in his office, and when I tried to enter found the door locked. Before I walked away, he called out through the door, “Go train, Cressa. I need to prepare for the meeting.”
That was always his answer. If he wasn’t worried about his missing House leader, then I wouldn’t be, either. I had two hours to kill, and after an hour in the training room, a soak in the pool, and then a shower, I was ready for the meeting. Yet, here I was pacing the office—alone.
At four o’clock on the dot, Sergi popped his head in. He had one of his shit-eating grins on. “Devon’s guests have arrived. He’s changed the location of the meeting to the solarium. You might want to join us there.”
I stared at him, and his grin widened.
“You knew all along the meeting would be in the solarium.” I planted my hands on my hips and gave him my best evil glare.
As usual, it had no impact on the vamp. “Yes.” Then he turned and disappeared.
