“I apologize for Ezra,” Philippe started, but Rafe was already waving off his words.
“The Variks are a bit of an acquired taste,” Rafe said as he turned toward Philippe.
“Maybe, but he should still appreciate that you’re risking your life to help us.”
“Which brings us to why you’ve brought me here in the first place. What exactly am I risking my life for? I thought it was for your Piper.”
Philippe motioned for Rafe to take a seat on the sofa, while fighting his own urge to pace. Rafe raised an eyebrow at him as he took a seat.
Philippe’s heart raced in his chest, and he fought the urge to wipe his sweaty palms off on his jeans. Now that he had Rafe in his home, Philippe couldn’t find the words. He didn’t know where to start. It wasn’t that he’d told Rafe lies to get his assistance, but he had left a lot of details out of the situation that could have an impact.
And when he found out about the Arsenault clan…
“Have you been making deals with the old members of the Black Wolf clan?” Rafe asked.
“No!” Philippe said on a gasp.
“Or the Humans Protecting Humans League?”
“Of course not.”
“Have you argued for the destruction of my brother before the Ministry?”
“No!”
Rafe relaxed against the cushions and spread his hands in front of him. “Then I don’t see how you have anything to be worried about.”
“Piper wasn’t the first of my clan to disappear,” Philippe blurted out, and he hated how good it felt to finally release those words.
A small frown toyed with Rafe’s lips, and he seemed to hesitate. Not a muscle moved for a couple of seconds, as if he were using all his energy to turn over those words. But to Philippe’s surprise, Rafe patted the cushion beside him, his face relaxing. “Sit. Tell me what’s going on.”
Philippe opened and closed his fists at his side for a moment, then joined Rafe on the sofa. “Piper wasn’t the first to disappear. She was the third.”
“The other two?”
“Discovered dead about a week after they were taken. Their bodies were dumped in the woods not far from Arsenault Manor.”
“Then Piper…”
“Yes, if this is the same person, if she was taken, then she could very well be dead already.”
“Is there something that links Piper to the other two victims? Same maker, possibly?”
Philippe shook his head. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands. Everything felt balanced on his next words and he was afraid, afraid that Rafe would disappoint him. He didn’t want to believe it was possible, but so few within their world would understand what Philippe was doing.
“Philippe,” Rafe whispered. There was something so gentle and tender in the sound of his own name that he had no choice but to look up. Rafe’s head was cocked slightly to the side as he tried to look into Philippe’s eyes. “You have chosen a vampire who is loathed by the Ministry, because I refuse to skulk and hide. Do you truly think I’m not going to understand what you have to tell me?”
“Piper…was different but the same as Erik and Sarah, who were taken and killed,” Philippe slowly ventured.
“Tell me about Piper.”
“She was only twelve years old as a vampire, but she’d been seventy-two when she was turned. When she was human, she had no family left and had suffered a couple of strokes, which forced her to live in a nursing home. One very similar to the home we saw while walking her hunting grounds. Her turning had been a joke for her maker. He abandoned her shortly after making her. When I found Piper, she was still struggling to adjust. She hadn’t been given enough blood when she was made to fully rejuvenate her.”
“So she wasn’t the lethal predator that we all are?”
Philippe shook his head. “Not even close. She didn’t want to be a vampire. She’d already lived too much of her life alone, and now she felt that she was looking at eternity alone. She hadn’t been with us long before she disappeared. She was still coming around to the idea of seeing the clan as her family.”
“She was an easy target, then. Slower. Less likely to recognize when she was being stalked.”
“Yes.”
“What about the others? Erik and Sarah. Were they both older humans when they were turned?”
“No. The opposite. They were both in their thirties as vampires, but…Erik was turned when he was only seven. Sarah was ten.”
“Children?” Rafe said on a gasp.
Rafe knew the rule as well as Philippe. It was illegal to turn a human child into a vampire. Because their bodies would never grow older, the vampire children wouldn’t be able to easily survive on their own. They would be dependent upon others. These poor creatures also risked drawing the attention of humans, which was strictly forbidden, even if Rafe liked to skirt along that particular rule.