“Shall we fetch Mercy first?” Beck asks.
“I said—” I snap but then fall silent when I realize there’s a note on my door from Edna.
I know you said he wasn’t allowed to get her, but he told me he’d call the police if I didn’t allow him to take her home and watch over her until you got there. I tried to text you. I’m too old for prison. My sincerest apologies.
Terror consumes me and Laurent growls. No longer concerned about two hungry vampires at my back, I shove my way into my apartment, anger fueling me. Once again, Griffin sits in the window, waiting for me.
“About time—who the fuck are they?” Griffin demands, stalking my way.
Laurent steps in front of me, his body tensed for a fight.
“They’re my friends,” I snap. “I told you you’re not allowed to take Mercy.”
“She’s my goddamn daughter,” Griffin growls. “I can do whatever I want where it concerns her.”
Beck rushes forward with inhuman speed, clutching the front of Griffin’s shirt. His voice is low and seductive as he speaks to Griffin, his face inches from his. “You were just leaving. You never saw us. You’ll find someone else to bother tonight.”
Griffin nods, clearly consumed by Beck’s glamour ability. Without another word, Griffin walks out and closes the door behind him.
“Thanks,” I grumble and mean it. “Have a seat. I need to check on Mercy.”
I leave the vampires to sneak into Mercy’s room. She’s asleep, but her bat rustles around in his box. His wing is damaged beyond repair, so he’ll never fly again. The poor little thing—Dracula—relies on my daughter for food and water. Thank goodness she’s a whiz on her tablet and found all sorts of information online to help her care for her bat.
I’m just pressing a kiss to her forehead when I feel an imposing presence. It’s unnerving to see Laurent in my daughter’s room. His brows are furled as he takes in her sleeping body.
“Swear on your life you’ll never hurt her,” I whisper. “Right now.”
Laurent’s crimson eyes lock onto mine. “I swear it. I won’t hurt you either.”
His words, though probably a lie, wrap around my heart like a noose. I don’t like the way it warms me inside. Reminds me of a simpler, happier time when I was a girl. Before my world went to hell.
I walk right up to him, tilting my head up so I can see his eyes up close. His palm rises to my cheek and he delicately caresses my warm flesh with his cool hand.
“It’s hard seeing you again,” I admit, my voice barely audible.
“Likewise, little one.”
A tremor of—something—rumbles through me. I grip his wrist and pull him from my daughter’s room before closing the door behind us. Beck is sitting prim and proper in an armchair, an expectant look on his pale, boyish face.
“Speak,” I grumble, making my way over to the window seat. “I’m tired and want to go to bed. Let’s get this over with.”
Laurent doesn’t sit, but edges closer to me, his crimson eyes burning into me.
“My name is Beck Zargonian,” Beck says, running his fingers through his blond hair. “I am from The Pale Province.”
“The pale-haired twins are your family?”
“Weston and Wynona are my blood, yes,” Beck agrees. “I’ve been searching for them for nearly sixty years.”
“You had them,” I snap, a surge of anger bursting up inside of me. “Instead, you interrupted me and took him.” I thrust my thumb toward Laurent, who has prowled closer.
“You were going to kill them.” Beck shrugs. “I couldn’t let you do that.”
“But they killed my mother and baby brother,” I hiss, my body trembling with fury. “They turned the man I adored into this.” Tears threaten as I meet Laurent’s gaze. “How is that the same agenda? I want them gone from this planet.”
“Which aligns with my agenda, I assure you,” Beck says. “I’ve been asked by their father, Marlon, to retrieve them. He thinks he can heal his children from the blood plague. Because of my obligation to my familial lineage, I must oblige.”
“They won’t go willingly through the realms,” I grumble. “They’re feral.”
“Feral indeed. Mad with disease. They’re unaware of what runs through them. With a concoction Marlon has created, I believe the injection could immobilize them long enough for Laurent and me to carry them back.” Beck leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “They will be out of your hair and back where they belong.”
“They belong in Hell,” I snarl.
“We both know Hell can barely keep the gate closed. Our demon population on Earth is proof of that. No, the mad twins belong back with their family so that if they can’t treat them, they can end them according to The Pale Province’s royal authority.”
“So you want me to agree to help you capture and inject those bastards who tore my family from me?” I demand. “To give them a free pass?”