Chapter 15

“ N o,” Hemlock said. “It’s too dangerous.” His silver coin skated over the knuckles of his right hand while he gripped a mug of tea in his left.

“She can handle it,” Ordell said.

“It’s not her I’m worried about, it’s him.” Hemlock set his mug down, the coin moving faster across his fingers.

“She needs to spend time with him if she’s going to help him find his humanity,” Ordell pointed out.

“Yes, but not in a remote location filled with other ancient vampires. Remember what happened at the Exciatio?”

Ordell’s heavy sigh illustrated just how well he recalled it. “I do, and I’m sure Ezekiel does too. He won’t let her out of his sight, and Laudon will be there too.”

“I’m not on board with this,” Hemlock said.

Seriously? The trip wasn’t up for debate. “Hello? This isn’t your decision to make. I’m going. End of.”

They both turned to me in surprise as if they’d forgotten I was in the room.

I looked over at Ingrid. “Can you believe these two?”

She bit back a smile. “How about a spot of tea to settle the nerves?”

Hemlock glared at me, hard and probing. “This is dangerous, Orina. Tell him you’re not going.”

“I can’t do that. I’m his watcher. I need to be with him in case someone tries to hurt him again. We need him in his full mind, at full capacity if we have any hope of nurturing his humanity.”

His jaw ticked, but the coin he was flipping slowed its pace. There was no argument to this, and he knew it. Someone had already tried to poison Ezekiel using dead man’s blood and it had almost put him into a state of decay. We had no idea who’d done it. It could be any of a host of suspects. He’d need backup at this summit.

“What if he needs blood?” Hemlock said softly. “Human blood.” There was conflict in his eyes. Concern for me that made my stomach warm.

“Master has summoned the bloods,” Ingrid said.

Ordell’s head snapped up. “He has?”

“They’ll be waiting for him at the summit.”

I was lost. “Who are the bloods?”

Hemlock answered. “Chosen veins from three noble bloodlines who’ve served Ezekiel for centuries. He hasn’t called on them for two cycles.”

“The families probably thought he’d forgotten about their contract,” Hemlock said. “Perfect, there’ll be three na?ve veins for you to protect too now.” He made a sound of exasperation and stormed out of the kitchen.

Ordell remained seated, his half-eaten breakfast going cold in front of him. “I’ll speak to Ezekiel and see if there’s any way we can come. Even if we camp on the grounds. At least we can be close if needed.”

I had to admit it would make me feel better to have them close by. “Fine. But you’ll have to do it last minute. We leave at sunset, and I doubt Ezekiel will surface before then.”

He ran a hand down his face. “I wish you’d spoken to me about this last night.”

“Did you want me to come to your bedroom last night?” It was meant to come out lightly, a joke between friends who’d set boundaries, but the husky timbre of my tone didn’t match the vibe I was going for.

I pressed my lips together, swallowing a curse as his eyes lit up for a moment in affirmation before he dropped his gaze.

“Let me heat that up for you.” Ingrid made to take Ordell’s plate.

“I’m not hungry.” He shoved his chair back and left the room.

“It will be all right,” Ingrid said. “Eventually. You’ll both be all right.”

“You know?”

She took Ordell’s plate. “It’s my job to know. Now how about some eggs?”

“Just heat up Ordell’s leftovers. No point wasting them.”

She gave me a strange look.

“What?”

“Nothing, dear.” She carried the plate to the oven, and I poured myself a cup of tea.

I had a feeling that sunset would be arriving much too soon.

I dropped Kaster a text letting him know that I wouldn’t be able to make our date. He texted back asking when I’d be free, and I said I’d let him know next week. Now that I’d committed to being Ezekiel’s shadow on his nightly jaunts, I’d need to know his schedule before making personal plans.

I went to drop my phone in my drawer, and the grimy teapot I’d placed in there glared up at me accusingly from its plastic wrapping. I’d forgotten it was there.

“Padma, what’s the status on the cleaning stuff for the teapot?”

“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed about cleaning that thing,” Padma muttered as she tapped something into her computer. “Well, that figures.”

“What?”

“It says the package was delivered.”

“No it wasn’t.”

“I know.”

“Fucksake. Email them.”

“Already on it. Bloody useless…” She shook her head, clicking away. “Done. I’ve asked for a refund, but I’m going to order more from a different place.”

“Can’t we just go pick some up?”

“You want to leave Dracul territory to pick up special cleaning supplies for a teapot?” She arched a brow.

When she put it that way. “No.” I shoved the teapot back in the drawer. “I’m going to make coffee.”

“Make me one!” Padma called after me.

The others were out tracking Lomax’s signature. The ghoul hadn’t been missing as long as the wendigo, so they were hopeful they’d get a lead, but it had been almost two hours, and we hadn’t heard anything. Maybe we should call them.

The bell above the door jangled as I was about to duck back into the office.

“We’re back!” Merry called.

“How’d it go?” Padma appeared in the office doorway and took her mug off me. “Any luck?”

“No,” Edwin said. “In fact, we lost the trail in the exact same spot as Diago’s.”

“Outside the park?”

“Yeah,” Holly said. “And we were unable to pick it back up.”

“So all we know is they were both in that area?”

“It’s more than that,” Edwin said. “According to Holly, they both took exactly the same route too.”

Now that was strange. “What are the odds of that?”

“Slim to none,” Padma said. “I’ll do some digging, see if there is any connection between the two of them."

"I’ll go to the cemetery and let Alice know what we’ve found,” Merry said. “Or not found.”

“What now?” Edwin asked the question we were all thinking.

There was only one thing we could do. “We have more missing case files. More missing people to try and find.”

“Grab the oldest case and the newest,” Holly said to Merry. “If I can get samples, I can make more tracker tincture.”

“Give me a list of what ingredients you need,” Edwin said. “I’ll go shopping.”

We may have struck out on tracking Lomax and Diago, but there had to be someone who’d seen them in the Brimswood Park area that day. “Get photographs of them or see if we can have sketches made. I say we knock on doors and start interviewing people.”

“Great idea,” Padma said. “I’ll get on it this weekend.” She glanced over at me, the same look of concern crossing her features as earlier when I’d told the team where I’d be for the next two nights.

And then everyone was looking at me with varying degrees of concern.

“I’ll be fine.” I sipped my coffee to show just how chill I was about the whole thing, while my stomach churned. “I’m sure Ordell and Hemlock will figure out a way to come with us.”

I hoped.

I should have known that the carriage taking Ezekiel to the summit would be something special. Red cherrywood and gilded, it had a plush velvet interior with seats large enough to be used as beds. There were thick drapes on the windows as well as shutters and a small table with a recess beneath to store stuff. A thick knitted blanket had been placed inside, probably for me. Because I doubted that Ezekiel got cold.

Godor was in the driver’s seat with another two bat boys perched on top. Our escort to the summit.

Gravel crunched outside. The others were coming. I quickly stowed my blade under the seat and climbed out.

Ezekiel strode toward me, his calf-length, felt-lined cloak flapping in the breeze. I caught a glimpse of his crimson waistcoat and the gold chain of his pocket watch. Ordell and Hemlock hurried close behind, but from the looks on their faces, their attempt at convincing Ezekiel to let them come with us had failed.

My heart sank. It would have been good to have them as backup.

“You might need us,” Ordell said.

“Need you?” Ezekiel let out a bark of laughter. “And what do you two intend to do against a group of ancient vampires?” He stopped at the carriage doors and turned to face them.

“We’re hunters,” Hemlock bit out. “What do you think?”

“I don’t want my enemies dead. I want them alive so I can torture them. Believe me”—he adjusted his cuffs—“if this summit turns out to be some kind of coup, I will be more than prepared.”

“And what about Orina?” Ordell demanded. “Can you guarantee her safety?”

“Yes,” Ezekiel said. “I can.” Ordell took a breath to argue, but Ezekiel cut in. “This discussion is over. The terms of the summit are clear. No outsiders. Miss Lighthart is being permitted to attend because she is my official watcher. You have no authority to be there.”

“We know that,” Ordell said. “We’ll stay out of sight, just off the grounds. No one has to know.”

“I’ll know.”

“Oh, the integrity,” Hemlock muttered sarcastically.

Ezekiel held his hand out to me. “Shall we?”

I took his hand.

“This could be a trap,” Hemlock said. “A summit in the farthest reaches of Dracul territory in a location cut off by mountains? Don’t you think it?—”

“I don’t need you to explain it to me, Mr. Singer,” Ezekiel snapped, his fingers tightening around mine. “I am aware of the risks, and like I said, I will be prepared. I formed this government of houses, and it is my duty as their king to be present when they air their grievances.”

“Which they could do here at Branwood,” Ordell pointed out.

“Dracmore is neutral ground,” Ezekiel said. “Chosen by us all to be the home of such meetings. But Miss Lighthart is free to remain here if she wishes. It was not my decision to take her with me.”

Hemlock tensed, his neck stiff as he turned to look at me. “You asked to go?”

I didn’t like the accusation in his tone. “Yes. I asked . It’s my job.”

He threw up his hands. “Great. Just fucking?—”

“It’s fine,” Ordell said. “I’m sure Ezekiel has it under control.” His gaze dropped to our hands, still joined.

I was holding hands with the vampire king. Yuck.

I tried to pull free, but Ezekiel held fast.

One of the horses huffed. “We should leave, Miss Lighthart. If you’re still coming with me?”

There was a soft vulnerability in the question that threw me off guard for a moment. “Yeah, I’m coming.” My bag was already loaded, packed by Ingrid with appropriate clothing. But no way was I traveling in a dress.

He helped me into the carriage then closed the door before striding out of view.

Ordell and Hemlock stood side by side like summer and winter, so different, yet in that moment with their wind-tossed hair and stormy gazes, they looked every bit the brothers that they were.

Ezekiel climbed into the carriage and took the seat opposite me. He rapped on the roof, and we lurched into motion.

I craned my neck to watch the guys for as long as I could.

“Do you want to get out?” Ezekiel asked.

“No.”

“Then sit back and enjoy the ride. The scenery will be beautiful.”

“It’s nighttime. How much of it will we be able to see?”

“Close your eyes and sleep, then. I’ll wake you when we’re almost there.”

The idea of sleeping in a carriage alone with him made my scalp tight. “I’ll check out the scenery.”

His smile said that he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Very well.” He pulled a small volume from his pocket, flipped it open, and began to read.

Was that it? He was going to read all the way there?

“The scenery is outside of the window, Miss Lighthart,” he said, never taking his eyes off the page. “Unless the scenery within is more captivating to you.” That smug self-satisfied smile again.

Urgh. I turned to the window and the silhouette of mountains in the distance. “How long before we get there?”

“We’ll be there before dawn.”

“Wait, what? That’s like…ten hours?”

“I’m well aware. But you have a bed and a blanket. Would you like to use my lap as a pillow?” He turned a page.

“No.”

“Very well, then hush.”

Ten fucking hours trapped in a carriage with him? What the heck had I signed up for?