Page 15 of Love Heals
"We can defend ourselves without Vlad's help," Collin decided. Jared relaxed a little at hearing him say that. If that was Collin's stance, it would soon be Talon's too,and everyone else would likely fall in line with a little convincing.
Puck sighed. "Fine. I will tell him that you're not interested in a cooperation at this time." He rose from his chair and disappeared just as quickly as he had popped into existence.
Good riddance,Jared thought, although he didn't voice it.
"You think we made the right call?" Collin asked, looking around the table.
Luke spoke up."I still don't know what Vlad wanted with me. He said he wanted a gem from Nicolai, but he didn't need me to take Nicolai out. Not really. He could have done it by himself." He lowered his gaze again. "It just doesn't make sense, and I hate that."
"I get that you want to know," Remy said, "but I don't think that piece of knowledge is worth the asking price."
"Listen to him," Jared said. "We have enough to worry about without bringing even more vampires onto the team."
"Vampires like the one you keep babysitting?" Remy asked.
Jared opened his mouth to protest, but before he could find the words, Luke cut in. "Silas helped us."
"Maybe," Remy replied. "But we don't really know the guy." He glanced at Jared and added. "At least most of us don't."
Jared wasn't sure how to respond to that. It wasn't like he wanted to keep his connection to the vampire a secret, but he didn't exactly want to tell his siblings how they'd gotten to know each other either. Jared didn't think less of the homeless and the things they resorted to doing for a living, but he found the same couldn't often be said for the general population. As much as he loved his siblings, today was not the day he wanted to find out how they would react to the idea of teaming up with a vampire who used to sell his body on the streets.
"Silas is harmless," Talon said. "The only part about him that's worrisome is his devotion to his sire, but his sire is dead."
"You don't think he'll strike out in vengeance?" Remy asked. "I get that he saved Luke, but still..." He trailed off as if not quite sure how to end that sentence. "We don't know what he wants, or what he might be capable of."
"He's not happy that Nicolai died," Jared admitted. Across the table from him, Luke's eyes turned to steel, the way they did every time the topic was broached. "He’s confused," Jared went on. "He has a lot to process. We’re not going to throw him out, but we do have to be careful around him."
“He bit you, didn’t he?” Elena said.
Jared's eyes snapped to his sister. How did she know?
"You had a drop of blood on your neck earlier," she pointed out. "That's why I sent Crimson in there for now."
Without thinking about it, Jared touched his neck where Silas had bitten him. It was almost as if he could still feel Silas's lips on his skin. It had been such a novel sensation—and it wasn't something he should be thinking about right now. "He wanted to get out of the chains," he explained. "He didn’t mean to hurt me."
"Are you sure about that?" Collin asked.
It was almost a little funny that he would be the one to cast doubt on Silas's motives when he'd been the first in the family to fall for a vampire. Jared didn't voice that thought, though. "I trust him."
Everyone else at the table fell silent for a beat or two. It was clear that nobody knew what to say, or how exactly to proceed. Jared couldn't help but wonder how many of them were uncomfortable with the idea of holding a vampire who clearly didn't want to be here.
"Do you think we should let him go?" Elena asked after a moment.
"When he's recovered," Jared said. "We're not prison wardens. Aldrich brought him here because he helped Luke and he was hurt. Not so we could hold him captive."
"True," Elena agreed. "I'm just worried about what he might do when he rejoins the other vampires. He could rat us out, and even if he doesn’t..." She gave a half-shrug. "Who's to say they don't have some vampire who can trace his movements back to us? They have all sorts of weird magic."
"There's no one like that in the coven," Talon said.
"You could do it," Elena argued. "By reading his memories. Others could do it too."
"Sadly, I can't read other vampires' memories, or alter them in any way," Talon responded.
Remy leaned forward. "Could a vampire older than you?"
"That..." Talon paused, as if he'd never considered that possibility before. "It's doubtful," he said finally, even though he seemed none too sure.
"For now, Silas is staying here," Jared decided in his most firm tone of voice. He didn't pull it out often, but every now and then, it was helpful to remind the others who was the oldest in the room. Sure, his siblings could disagree with him, but he wasn't going to be swayed on this. They would know that too. Jared looked at each of his siblings in turn, and while Remy shot him a grim look and Elena frowned in a way that let him know she wasn't happy, none of them contradicted him. That would have to be enough for now. "When Crimson needs a break, Talon or Aldrich should watch Silas."
"You're not going back in there?" Elena asked.
Jared’s jaw clenched. "That might not be the best choice right now," he admitted. Hewantedto go back in there, but what if he lost control again? Honestly, every time the memory tugged at him, he felt disgusted with himself. He was supposed to bestraight. He wasn't supposed to be preying on young men in vulnerable positions. No matter how inviting their lips looked.
Before his siblings could ask any more questions, he got up from the table and left the room. No one stopped him.
