Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(21)
Shepherd doused a white cloth with peroxide and wiped the dried blood from her foot. One of the nails in the crate must have cut her during transport. “It doesn’t need stitches, but it’s gonna scar a little.”
When he poured the antiseptic on it, she winced and tried to jerk her leg away.
Shepherd caught her ankle and held it tight. He met her gaze, his voice firm but gentle. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help.”
She studied him for a moment before nodding.
Gem strode over to the crate and peered inside. “Where’s her luggage?”
Viktor asked her a question in that unfamiliar language, and she gave a quick reply. “She has nothing of value.”
I thought about how Breed didn’t take photographs of themselves—a longstanding tradition to stay out of historical archives. How sad to not have a picture of her father. It suddenly made me realize how badly I wanted one of my own.
Viktor approached Blue, hands in his pockets. “She should have the first bedroom behind the stairs.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to give her a room with a window? It’s kind of small in there,” Blue remarked.
“She would feel safer without windows in a new place. If you saw where she lived, you’d understand why smaller is better. Will you draw her a bath? Perhaps lend her some clothes?”
“Sure.” Blue held his gaze for a moment and finally turned away. The sound of her footsteps echoed against the tall ceiling, which Kira gaped at.
The newcomer took a minute to soak in the grandeur of it all. By no means did we have garish décor, but the farm girl was nevertheless awestruck by the architecture and medieval beauty of our fortress. The candles burned brightly enough to reveal the ominous winged soldier by the door and the grand staircase in the middle. Little did she know how big this place really was. Not just the maze of hallways and the beautiful courtyard but also the rolling hills and expansive estate.
Then again, she might not be impressed once she began mopping.
Gem reached down and unraveled the ribbons from her tall shoes. “I’d love to stay and chat, but alas, I’m dead to the world. Kira probably wants her privacy.”
Niko finally rose to his feet and bowed. “That goes for me as well. I bid you all a good evening.”
Shepherd dropped the bloody cloth on the floor and wrapped a bandage around her foot. Kira watched silently, resting her head in her palm, eyes hooded.
I saluted Viktor and gave Christian a pointed stare before steering toward the side hall that led to the back of the mansion.
“Follow me,” I whispered.
Once I reached the second level, I headed to a study in the back. The smell of old paper hit me as soon as I entered the room, and since I didn’t have any matches on me, I grabbed a candle stub from a lantern in the hall and used the dying flame to light up a fresh candle. Occasionally at night, I’d find Niko in here, savoring his drink in front of a warm fire.
I set the candles on a long table to the right of the door and hopped up next to them. The light barely touched the other side of the room, but my Vampire eyes allowed me to see the weathered spines.
Who did all these books once belong to? I wondered. They filled the room from wall to wall, each volume covered with dust.
“How many people used to live here?” I asked.
Christian emerged from the shadowy hall. “Viktor’s never spoken about his family. And unless you have a morbid interest in tales of woe, better to not ask an immortal about his past.”
“I’ll take that into consideration. So, my fellow insomniac. Are you up for a hunt?”
His dark eyes glittered.
“Remember when I was checking messages this morning? I’ve been following a few leads, and I got an offer on a message I left a few weeks ago. This could be our guy. I think he’s surfing human websites in search of willing victims—people who don’t have family or friends to miss them. Even if he’s not behind most of the big auctions, it’ll be one less fanghole we have to worry about.”
“Don’t you mean Vamp?” He gave me an indignant look. “Is that why you’re so gung-ho about this particular case? A chance to have your vengeance against Vampires?”
“I’m almost dating a Vampire.”
“Almost?”
I slid off the table. “We haven’t gone on a real date. We’ve barely gotten past second base.”
He stepped forward with a swing in his gait. “I thought we were being unconventional. Now you want flowers and candy?”
I circled around him. “Nope. I want to hunt an outlaw and take him down.”
His fingers traced across my midsection. “How romantic, Miss Black. Shall I serve his head on a silver platter?”
I backed up against the wall. “He asked me if I’d ever heard of a club called High Jinx. I haven’t replied yet, but I was thinking we could head over there and scout it out—memorize all the exits. He obviously wants to meet in public to see if I fit the bill, and that’s why he mentioned a human club.”
Christian flattened his hand on the wall over my head and leaned in tight. “Maybe we should send in Blue.”
“Why? Because she has bigger breasts? If I attracted a Vampire the first time, there’s probably something about me that looks a little lost. Blue’s never been human. She doesn’t know how to act and talk in a way that would throw off suspicion. Why wouldn’t you want me to go?”