Page 66 of Always Eros

I can see the stress all over Syn’s face, only mildly soothed by his mate’s fingers carding through his hair. The two of them nuzzle and trade kisses, and the growing pit of loneliness and longing sits heavy in my chest.

“Eros,” Raphael says. “Why are you down?”

“Have you considered that I have no desire to discuss with the entire group?” I snap.

“It’s about Justice,” Thorn says in a bored voice. “Duh.”

I growl in his direction, which doesn’t faze him in the slightest. Fortunately, Yves and Hale enter the room, both choosing to sit on the love seat. Yves nods at me, but Hale stares at the floor, clearly still unbalanced by recent events.

“Dimas should be here soon,” Yves says. “He said he didn’t want to wait to tell us what he learned.”

“Well that’s concerning,” Syn says.

“Indeed. Hence the early morning meeting when we should be sleeping.”

I scoff, sipping my blood. As if I’ll ever sleep again. I notice Yves’s concerned expression, but I wave it off.

I can smell more than hear the moment Dimas arrives. Yves leaves to let him into our building, and all of us tense. Something about Dimas bothers me, but it could just be the way we met him. Disrespect for territory lines is cause for suspicion.

Dimas returns with Yves alone, which settles my nerves. If he were up to no good, he would’ve brought his people with him. He nods, sitting in the chair Yves set out for him.

“Thank you for meeting so quickly,” Dimas says, his nearly white eyes scanning the room. “Just about two hours ago, we witnessed something highly unusual just outside New Onyx, heading north to Sable Cove.”

“Go on,” Yves says.

“As we discussed before, there are concerns with this new gang that it includes at least some vampires. Dread has intentions of infiltrating the entire Eastern Seaboard. Not terribly alarming until tonight.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“There’s an abandoned farm out there off the freeway.”

“The old Shackleton dairy farm?” Syn asks.

“That’s the one,” Dimas confirms. “We were passing through there returning to Sable Cove from a rendezvous in Ravenbrook.”

“What could be of interest to vampires in Ravenbrook?” Midnight asks, with narrowed eyes.

I’m just as interested in the answer. Ravenbrook is barely a blip on the map.

“There’s a magic lady there who provides glamour to us at times,” Dimas explains. “Anyway, the scent of our kind was strong in the air, so we turned off the freeway and decided to investigate. Turns out there is quite a bit of nighttime activity at the farm.” He focuses his intense gaze on Yves. “Not only is it the official headquarters of Dread, it’s teeming with vampires.”

Yves pulls his head back. “So the gang…”

“Is a nest,” Dimas says. “Not a gang.”

“Well fuck,” Midnight murmurs.

“What’s the difference between a coven and a nest of vampires?” Bowie asks.

“Yeah,” Tru mirrors.

“A nest tends to be more nefarious,” Yves explains. “They feed off each other’s negative energy, whereas covens form out of camaraderie. We keep each other’s humanity intact.”

“You don’t want to fuck with a nest of vampires any more than you want to walk into a nest of wasps,” Raphael explains.

“So what do we do?” Tru asks. “Are they a problem for us?”

I turn to look at Hale, who is clearly very aware of why they are a problem for us.

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