"After what he did to Piper? You can't be serious!"
"He'd more likely feed us to them than help us find them."
"Enough." The single word from Antoine quieted the whole limo. "This is not up for discussion. We do what we have to for our brother." His eyes locked on Wynn. "We agreed together when we fled Boris's that none of us would be left behind, ever."
A mumble of agreement ran through the limo.
"Fine. Then let's hope that Piper and Darren know something. Or there’s at least a hunter around I can pound into." Drake smacked his fist against the palm of his other hand.
I knew how he felt. I could do with a good fight myself. Some way to blow off this growing ball of tension in my chest.
The limo pulled up to the house Darren and Piper had been living in. Or as Wynn told it, Piper owned. Something that didn't really surprise me. That woman had more drive in her than people gave her credit for. If she set her mind to it, then she could do anything.
Even in the moonlight, the house could only be described as cute. Definitely something Piper would pick out. Darren would have gone for something more modern and durable. Not something with red shingles and white shutters. All it needed was a white picket fence and it would be the typical cliché of human homes.
A single light shined in the window, the curtains hiding the darkened figured moving inside of the house.
"Maybe only one of us should go?" I glanced toward my brothers, all of them restless to get out of the limo. Their gazes turned to me. I lifted my shoulders. "I'm just saying. If all of us go in there now, she's going to think something is wrong and it might be easier to break the news if only one of us goes inside."
Before my brothers could protest, Antoine announced, "Rayne's right. I'll go. Wait here."
None of us had the chance to argue before Antoine was out of the car and halfway up the brick walkway. Little lanterns lit the path and cast shadows where Antoine moved. I tuned out my brothers and reached my mind toward the house. There was low murmuring and then...
Rayne. Get everyone the fuck in here.
If Antoine was cursing, then it had to be bad. I jolted up in my seat and reached for the door handle. "Come on, Antoine needs us now."
No one argued as we piled out of the limo and hurried up the front walkway. The door was unlocked, but Drake practically broke the door down trying to get inside first. However, he stopped in the entryway, making his brother run into the back of him. Wynn and I barely had time to stop ourselves from doing the same.
"Where's Piper?" Drake gaped at something in the living room. Allister pushed past him, giving us room to file in behind him. Sitting in an armchair with knitting needles in her hand was not Piper, but Gretchen, our cook.
"I'm confused." Allister stepped forward to Antoine, who stared down at the older woman. "I thought you were watching the house? Where are Piper and Darren?"
Antoine crossed his arms and glared down at Gretchen hard. "That is exactly what I'd like to know."
Had it been any other human, they would have been quaking in their seat from having a lethal vampire like Antoine scowling at them. Gretchen either was used to putting up with our shit or just was so old she didn't give a crap anymore.
Setting aside her knitting, Gretchen picked up the teacup and saucer on the end table. She took a long sip before sighing. "You weren't supposed to find out like this."
Dear Lord, did they really run off together after all?
The thought came from Wynn, and it made me wonder what exactly had gone on when he visited last.
"What?" Drake snapped. "What weren't we supposed to find out?"
"Darren and Piper ran off together, isn't it obvious?" Wynn sagged into the nearby couch, sadness coating his form. A mixture of thoughts swirled through his head—elation, disappointment, and regret.
Gretchen's brows rose. "Well, I don't know anything about that. They certainly went together, but if breaking into the vampire hunter's base counted as a lover's rendezvous, I've been doing it wrong." She chuckled to herself as the rest of us froze in terror.
"I'm sorry, Gretchen. I must have wax in my ear." Allister wiggled a finger in his ear and smiled. "But I thought you said that Piper and Darren went to infiltrate the hunter's base?"
Gretchen nodded matter-of-factly, sipping slowly from her cup. "Precisely."
Antoine didn't yell. He didn't scream or threaten to rip her head off. He simply closed his eyes and seemed to count to ten before opening them again and asking, "Gretchen, dear, how did they even find the hunter's base? We've been searching for months and have found nothing."
Her lips curled into a wicked grin. Disturbing to see on a woman of her age. "Why, I told them.”
Everyone but Antoine balked at her words. Was Gretchen a hunter?