Chapter Twenty
Elias
This whole thing was a mistake. Jonas was the leader of the Clover Coven and with his protection, we’d be fine here. But without him, these feral vampires were dangerous. And they were far more likely to ask for forgiveness than bother holding back.
“Where is Jonas?” I asked.
“He’s gone.” The crowd parted and a tall, muscular vampire with fair hair and a neck tattoo walked forward.
He stopped in front of me, his dark eyes moving from me to Skylar. Everything inside me started to feel like it was boiling over. I took a step to the side, moving in front of Skylar. I wasn’t going to let this asshole threaten her even if it wasn’t going to amount to anything.
“Where did he go?” I asked, trying to maintain my cool.
A few of the vampires stifled laughter and when I risked a glance around, I noticed that some of them had their eyes lowered. Their body language was screaming at me. They weren’t happy with this and some even looked downright heartbroken.
“You killed him.” I turned back to the vampire with the neck tattoo, meeting his dark eyes. I had no fondness for Jonas. He was the kind of vampire that gave all vampires a bad name. He was scum who would work for the highest bidder without any moral obligations. The coven he operated didn’t care who they took down as long as their needs were met.
Which meant he attracted like types.
It was a matter of time before one of his ranks rose up and took him out. When you associate with liars and thieves, they’ll turn on you for the highest bidder.
My chest tightened. “Who paid you to off him?”
His smile told me I was right. He hadn’t made the decision on his own. Someone else had a hand in this.David. It had to be my brother. He must have arrived here first.
While he might not have been the one who took out Lola, he probably paid someone here to do it. And even Jonas wasn’t stupid enough to take out a shifter princess. If he found out who Lola was, he’d have backed out.
Then David would need a new vampire to pin this on.
“I had an arrangement with Jonas and I’m happy to extend those same terms to the new leader of the Clover Coven,” I said.
“I’m aware of your arrangement,” Neck Tattoo said. “But I don’t play well with others.”
“You’re going to need protection from time to time,” I said. “Or money.”
“I have both of those things and they come from a higher power than you,” he said, taking a step to the side. His eyes weren’t on me anymore.
Once again, the vampire’s attention was on Skylar. “You smell scrumptious, sweetheart. Ever experienced a vampire kiss? I think you might enjoy it. You seem like the kinky type.”
Skylar took a step forward, stake raised in front of her. “Go ahead and try me, darling. Find out just how kinky I can get.”
I fought back the smile. As much as I was driven to protect Skylar, I knew she could handle herself. Despite the fact we were surrounded by more than a dozen vampires, I was pretty sure she’d find a way out of something like this unscathed without my assistance. Not that I was going to chance it, but it was oddly reassuring knowing she could take that asshole out.
“Look, I just need to know if it was one of your guys who took out Lola Vega,” I said. “Yes or no, that’s all I need. Then we’ll be on our way.”
“The wolf princess?” Neck Tattoo drawled. “I heard she squirmed when they put the pins in. Wish I had been there to taste her myself.”
In a blur, Skylar charged forward, landing a kick square in the vampire’s chest. He went down with a surprised grunt and Skylar climbed on top of him, stake raised. “You fucker! I’m going to kill you slowly you piece of shit.”
Just as a group of vampires closed in on Skylar, I lost sight of her as someone landed a punch in my face.
I reeled, nearly falling back from the surprise. I was so focused on Skylar, I hadn’t noticed the vamps were surrounding me. I pulled my arm back and landed a punch square in the face of my assailant. He flew backward from me, not able to handle the strength of my blow.
While the others closed in, I risked a look at Skylar. She was on her feet, her knife and her stake out now and was surrounded on all sides but holding her own. If I didn’t take care of the vampires trying to get a piece of me, I wasn’t going to be able to help her.
Three vampires closed in on me. Two females and a male. All with rainbow colored hair and black outfits covered in chains and metal hoops. They were clearly embracing the fact that eternity meant exploring whatever the fuck you wanted in terms of fashion. The male snapped his jaw at me while the females bared their teeth. They grinned as they closed in on me, confident that they had me outnumbered.
Whoever had hired them and taken out Jonas didn’t warn them about me. I got the distinct impression that the lack of advance notice was on purpose. There was no way they’d crowd around me like this if they knew what I was capable of. A sounder strategy would be to come at me one at a time, which was what anyone who knew what I could do would attempt. Not that it would save them, but it would delay the inevitable.