‘Let’s get out of here now,” Mikar said, walking quickly toward the huntsmen’s quarters. “This is bad news. Has anyone been bitten?’
There were noes all around.
‘Good. Let’s go in.’
‘What were those things?’ Chloe asked.
‘Ferals. Vampires affected by a blood sickness that makes them insane. They’re insatiable and incapable of thinking very much. Seeing this many in one place can only mean one thing: they were ordered here. Spelled, or mind controlled. Faster,’ Mikar admonished, although they were already practically jogging.
He was really freaked out, she could tell. Chloe quickened her pace, and in no time, they’d arrived in front of the huntsmen’s house.
Jack stopped in front of Mikar, sizing him up. His jaw tight, he said, ‘You helped tonight.’
Mikar gave no reply.
‘I know you were told to protect her, but you helped us too. You may stay with us if you’d like. Both of you.’
The vampires looked taken aback. Chloe guessed they weren’t often invited inside huntsmen’s quarters.
‘Appreciated. But someone has to watch the house from the outside.’
‘Chloe was attacked inside, too,’ Cat argued. ‘I’ll stay with her. If that’s all right with you,’ she added, to no one in particular.
Mikar looked like it definitely wasn’t all right with him. Before he could protest, Chloe said, ‘Sounds great. Thank you. After last night, I’ll sleep better with you here.’
Reluctantly, the other vampire nodded. ‘All right. I’ll call Levi with an update.’
That was either a warning or a reminder for Cat, Chloe guessed. She shot a glare at Mikar. She’d never judge someone because of their family—not after what had happened with her father.
‘Wait a minute,’ Jack called to Mikar as he retreated. ‘Bounty hunters, witches, and now feral vamps all going for Chloe? And you guys, the upper crust of vampire society, watching her back? If we hadn’t been here, she would have been dead by the time you arrived. If we’re her first line of defense, we need to know what’s going on. So we can be prepared.’
Chloe already knew Mikar’s answer before he said it. ‘I don’t have the clearance to get into it. Let’s just get through this trip. Then I will personally ask Levi to bring you up to speed.’ He swept all of them in one glance. ‘All of you.’
Her included, then.
She held on to that.
The night wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, partially because Blair was traveling with the entirety of the GV catalogue in her bag, which included a sleeping draught almost as efficient as Alexius’s, and partially because Cat was sleeping in the next room. After seeing her in action, Chloe had never felt safer.
She woke up to her phone vibrating on her bedside table. Chloe looked at the screen and frowned in confusion. Not only was the call coming from an unknown number, but it was also requesting a video feed.
Yawning, she pressed the green button. If the caller turned out to be a creep, hanging up would be easy enough.
On the screen, an all too familiar face wearing a smug grin appeared. She groaned.
‘Did I wake you up?’
‘It’s…’ She glanced at the time on her phone. ‘Six in the morning on a Sunday, so yes.’
‘My apologies.’
Why did everything he say sound so sarcastic? To her surprise, she didn’t feel the need to push, irritate, and question everything he said today.
‘I hear you’ve had quite the trip so far.’
He said it carefully, as if wondering whether mentioning her trials might make her break. But she wasn’t breaking. She wasn’t afraid—not anymore. Fear had given way to determination.
Chloe didn’t know what made her tell him, but she said, ‘I want to train. I want to be able to hold my own if something like that happens again. I don’t want to freeze or feel hopeless.’
If he’d laughed, she might have truly hated him. But Levi’s smile broadened.
‘Excellent,’ he said.
‘And I want you to tell me who’s after me. And why. It makes no sense. It’s not about my dad, is it?’
The human attackers in NOLA had made sense. But the magic and the feral vampires really didn’t.
‘And don’t just threaten to kill me to shut me up. I know you won’t.’
‘You’ve never been more mistaken,’ Levi said, a hint of fangs flashing. ‘I’ll tell you who’s after you—if only so you know what you’re up against. The reason why isn’t something I will divulge quite yet.’
That was something—a huge leap compared to where they’d been just two days ago.
‘Well?’
His grin disappeared. “You’ve been told about the seven, the families that rule our kind. While those behind the attacks on you have done their best to remain in the shadows, it is quite clear that they have resources. The power to control ferals, the money to hire bounty hunters. At first, they were human, and if that scheme had worked out, no one would have suspected the source of the attack. But Mikar and the rest of my guard have stopped over a dozen killers—some well-renowned and expensive.”
The truth was even worse than her suspicions.
“Not many have the power to go to those lengths. I fear you’re targeted by one of us. A royal. An old and powerful creature.”
“But why?” she asked, almost pleading.
Levi hesitated. “An interesting question. Some among our kind can see the future. Perhaps you may become a threat to our kind someday.’
Definitely not what she’d imagined.
‘That literally makes no sense. I’m just…me.’
Chloe Miller. Twenty-Five. Good with numbers and with ravens. Unless he was hiding money and she ended up figuring it out while working for the taxman, she didn’t see how she could ever threaten an ancient vampire.
‘I’m just human.’
‘So were the creatures that cornered you yesterday. Once, long ago, they were just human.’
Chloe winced. ‘You’re saying I could become gross and crazy.’
‘I’m saying some people evolve.’
She wasn’t quite done with him yet.
‘So why are you helping me if I could be dangerous?’ She couldn’t say that with a straight face.
Levi laughed. ‘You asked. I answered. I never promised explanations.’
She glared. ‘You’re incredibly irritating, you know that?’
Levi held his hands to his heart, pretending to be hurt. ‘It wounds me. Truly.’
She had to roll her eyes.
‘Are you coming back today?’ he asked her.
She nodded. ‘That’s the plan.’
‘Good. Training tonight. On the hill.’
Chloe opened her mouth, then closed it again. ‘No, I meant I’d train with…Jack. Or Mikar. Or maybe I could ask Professor Anika.’
Literally anyone but him.
He grinned. ‘Oh no, fledgling. You’ll train with the only one who can prepare you to face an ancient vampire. Me.’
Damn him.
If he was right about the elder royals being after her, then it made sense that she should learn from the best. But…
‘No way. Besides, you tend to piss me off.’
‘Which is exactly why you’ll work twice as hard at punching me as you would with anyone else. If you’re to have a chance—’
‘I have no chance against an ancient vamp. None.’
His hand moved toward the screen. ‘We’ll see,’ he said, before ending the call.
Damn him! Even on video, he had to make a dramatic exit.
