“And what did he want?” Seth asks. “Does his father know he’s here?”
I nod. “I slipped Victorian the message, but Valerian doesn’t know that. Anyway, when I threatened to tell his dad, he didn’t seem overly concerned. He basically told me that Eli was far gone—too far for help. And that I needed to kill him before he killed me.”
“Did he mention the female?” Noah asks.
Again, I nod. “Said she’s just some female latched on to Eli. But I think he knows a lot more than what he’s letting on. Carrine told me at Eastgate that her savior had freed her of her prison. That she was basically under his command. Could be Valerian.”
“But we know she’s a witchpire,” Rhine adds. He looks at Seth. “Witch. Vampire. Old as bloody hell.”
“I think Valerian wanted his presence known,” I say. “He claims he’s killed only one innocent here in Inverness.” I look at Seth. “So far there’ve been five. And that’s not including the newbloods.”
“So what are you doing?” Seth asks. “To keep the city safe?”
I glance at Rhine and Noah, then at my brother. “Same thing we were doing in Savannah. Run the streets.”
“Only the lot of us, we’re human,” Rhine says. “I’m the only one wi’ any tendencies, and they’re mild compared to your sister’s abilities.”
Noah’s pacing now, and pulling on a white T-shirt over his head. “I don’t like it.” He ties his dreads back with a leather band. “There’s more to Arcos’s appearance than to simply tell you how much he doesn’t want you to die. He’s full of shit. He knows something.”
“Och, that’s no’ all he said,” Rhine offers. “He fancies Riley here.” He looks at me. “A lot.”
Noah makes a sound, almost a swear, in his throat. “I can only imagine. Still,” he says, “there’s something else going on.”
“He left,” I tell him. “I can sense his absence. He’s gone from Inverness.”
“Well, unfortunately, Eli is still here,” Noah says. “And Carrine. And they have to be stopped.”
“Why don’t we just capture Eli and bind him?” Seth asks. “Take him back to Savannah so Preacher can take him to Da Island for detox.” He looks at me. “Like we did with Ri?”
“What if it’s not Eli?” I offer. I walk to the window and pull the drapes. The city is ablaze with streetlights. The castle is illuminated on the hill. “What if the killings continue, even without Eli as a factor?”
“We’ll kill Carrine, too,” Noah offers. “I’ll make a call to Andorra.”
“Meanwhile,” says Rhine, “we’ll be hittin’ the streets tonight.” He looks at Seth. “You hungry?”
“Starved,” Seth admits.
“Well, let’s go get some grub.” Rhine inclines his head to the door. “Riley?”
“I’ll be down in a sec,” I say, and look at my brother.
He reads my mind because he comes straight to me, pulls me into another embrace.
“It’ll be okay, sis,” he says into my hair. “Whatever it takes, we’ll get Eli home and Preacher will make all of this right.”
“I hope so, bro,” I say. I squeeze him around his middle, locking my hands together. “God, I hope so.” I pull back. “Go. Eat. I’ll be down in just a bit.”
“Okay,” Seth says, and leaves with Rhine.
“I have to admit, Riley,” Noah says. He’s kicked off his black workout pants and is pulling on a pair of dark jeans. “Something doesn’t sit right with me about Arcos.” He buttons his fly, his stare remaining on mine. “There’s just more to it than him slipping into your dreams, then telling you to kill Eli. That’s just . . . too simple.”
“I don’t know,” I answer. “What motive would he have? Why doesn’t he just kill Eli himself? Why go through all this?”
Noah’s standing in front of me now, and he taps me on the nose with a forefinger. “Because, darlin’,” he says. His mercury eyes all but are illuminated. “That would be a big fucking no-no, now, wouldn’t it?” A smile lifts his mouth. “He can’t touch Eli Dupré. The Gullah, not to mention Eli’s entire family, would storm Romania and the House of Arcos would become a bloody vampire battleground. Senior Arcos knows it. And so does Valerian.”
I laugh. It’s almost too stupid to say out loud. “So Valerian seriously thinks he can simply put the Arcos whammy on me and make me kill my own fiancé?”
Noah shrugs and pulls on his boots. “Maybe.”
Maybe, indeed.
“Well,” I say, grabbing Noah’s leather jacket off the foot of the bed. I watch as he sheathes a few silver blades in the holster he’s now strapping on over his shoulders. “Whether Carrine is commanding the rogues, Eli, or Valerian . . .” I shake my head. “Either way, they have to be stopped. Maybe Eli doesn’t have to die.
“Why the rogues? What’s the—I don’t know—rationale? If Valerian in fact set free, resurrected, whatever—Carrine, why?” I ask.
Noah strokes his chin. “Maybe Valerian doesn’t have as much control as he thinks. Or,” he says, meeting my gaze, “maybe he does, and he’s just a sick bastard who gets off on the chase. The killing of innocents. And it’s no secret he loathes Eli.”
“Maybe he set Carrine free in order to use her for her witch powers?” I muse. “Valerian mentioned that could be how Vic disappeared and made it back to Romania.”
“Could be,” Noah answers.
I move to stand directly in front of Noah. I look up. “If there’s even a slight chance of capturing Eli and getting him back to Da Island, we gotta make it happen.”
“It’s going to take more than just us to subdue him,” Noah says. “He’s . . . full-on rabid, Riley. You were bad enough as a human with tendencies.” Noah takes the jacket from my hands and eases into it. His eyes never leave mine. “When we took you to Romania? God Almighty Damn, girl.” He chuckles. “You nearly tore the plane’s wiring out of the walls. You were some kind of out of control. Can you imagine what a full-blooded, blood-lusted two-hundred-plus-year-old vampire would be like?”
“I can imagine.”
“He’s strong, Riley. Damn strong,” he says.
I head to the door and stop, and Noah’s right behind me. I look up. “You scared?”
He smiles. “Hell yeah, I’m scared.” He shoves his hands into his jacket pocket and spreads it out like a cape, exposing the leather holster, sheaths, and blade hilts. “Just as I’m scared as hell that I’m gonna poke myself with one of these goddamn silver blades and turn to dust.”
“You’re not going to turn to dust, Noah,” I answer, and we both step out of the room. He closes the door and locks it, and we start up the corridor. Suddenly, I stop.
“Hey, I’ll meet you downstairs,” I say, and turn back to my room. “I need to change.”
“Why?” Noah asks, and starts up the hall. He throws a grin over his shoulder. “Can’t you run in them things?”
I take a look at the high-leather heeled boots I’m wearing, and shrug. “I can. For a while.”
Noah waves and hits the staircase. I turn and hurry into my room. I shut the door behind me and walk toward the bedside table. The moment my fingers graze the knob, I freeze. It’s dark, with only a small haze of streetlight shining in through the cracked drapes. The window is open, and cold November Highland air rushes in.
I’m not alone.
A sensation washes over me, and slowly, I scan the shadows. I search the other side of the room, and I turn back.
I gasp.
Eli is standing in front of me. A foot—twelve inches—is all the space that’s between us. His body is tense—so much I can feel the power rolling off him—and every muscle is rigid, hard. His eyes are red—not the beautiful cerulean I’m used to. But he’s not morphed into his vampirism. Only his eyes are different.