A Break of Day (A Shade of Vampire #7)(33)

Sofia didn’t manage to finish her sentence. We were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“Stay here, I’ll get it,” I said, grabbing a spare sheet and wrapping it around my waist.

I looked through the peephole and saw Gavin and Zinnia. As soon as I opened the door, the flustered pair barged in.

“It’s just Zinnia and Gavin,” I called to Sofia, warning her to cover up so she wouldn’t get the same shock I had given Zinnia earlier that morning.

“No, wait, keep the door open,” Zinnia panted. “There’s Craig too. He’s slower and just fell a bit behind us.”

I poked my head out of the door and sure enough, Craig was limping toward me on crutches. His right leg was wrapped in a thick cast.

“Whatever happened to you?” I asked.

“Just let me sit down first,” he said, wincing.

I beckoned them all through to the sitting room before going into the bedroom to find something more suitable to cover myself with. Sofia was already pulling on a dressing gown. We both went next door and they all gasped on seeing Sofia.

“Well, at least you found Sofia, Derek," Gavin said. "We got news on the others, but not Sofia, so I was really starting to worry. Whatever happened to you, girl?”

“Her story can come later,” I interrupted. “What news on the others?”

“Well,” Zinnia began, “after we suspected Arron might have been involved in their disappearance, that kind of switched a lightbulb on in my head.” I held my breath, fearing the worst. “I knew from experience that Arron nearly always uses Craig here to carry out his dirty jobs, the ones that aren’t made common knowledge among the community of hunters. Ain’t that right, Craig?”

Craig grimaced.

“So,” Zinnia continued, “I went to his apartment and when he opened the door with his broken leg, it was kinda obvious something was up. I managed to figure out a way to manipulate him for information…”

“You make what you did sound skillful,” Craig interrupted with a scowl. “Threatened an invalid was all she did. Put a knife to my goddamn throat.”

“Well, anyway, Craig, come on,” Zinnia said nonchalantly. “Tell them what happened to the vampires.”

Craig cleared his throat and said, “Orders came from Arron to sneak into the vampires’ rooms and paralyze them. Then he wanted us to transport them all to one of the boats and ship them off. He didn’t want them at Headquarters any more.”

At least they haven’t been taken to Aviary. But this alternative didn’t sound too appealing either.

“Ship them off where?” I asked.

“Now listen here.” Craig’s eyes narrowed on me. “If Arron ever finds out that I’m the one who told you…”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Arron’s gone. All the Guardians have left this place. The gates between this realm and Aviary are all destroyed. Now tell me, where did you ship them off to?”

“We just took them a few miles out to sea and dropped anchor. I honestly don’t know what he was planning to do with them after that, or why he wanted them gone in the first place…. but damn, it was hard work gathering up that feisty one. Your sister, Vivienne.” He let out a dry chuckle. “She ripped her claws right through my leg just as I was injecting her.”

His mention of my sister sent an urge rushing through me to finish the job, but I couldn’t injure him further. He had to be our guide.

“All right,” I said. “Now that we have Sofia, the first thing we need to do is find the other vampires. You, Craig, are going to help us to the shore and navigate a boat for us. I’m sure Zinnia will happily volunteer to make sure you cooperate.”

“Sure, Derek.” She flashed a sideways grin at Craig and half withdrew a dagger strapped to her belt.

“Gavin, where are Yuri and Liana?” I asked.

“They’re still at my place. They’re fine, don’t worry. I even found some animal blood for them,” Gavin replied. Sofia relaxed a little beside me at his assurance.

“Go fetch them now. My room is nearest to the back exit of the building. We’ll leave together.”

Once Gavin had left, I began to think out loud. “I want all of us out of Headquarters. The Hawks may be gone, but we’re still surrounded by people like Craig who hate vampires. Not all seem to have had such a drastic change of heart as Zinnia here. And now Aiden is gone too, it’s just not safe for us any longer.”

“But where, Derek? Where can we possibly go?” Sofia asked.

“Zinnia, take Craig into the bedroom,” I said. “I don’t want him to hear this discussion.”

Craig jumped up to his feet before Zinnia could brandish her knife at him. He walked obediently into the next room.

I walked over to the sofa where I had dumped my jeans, reached into their pockets, and drew out the keys and the business card Arron had handed me before his departure.

“Remember that beach house we visited together in California? I’d mentioned it in passing to Aiden. I thought it odd he asked me for the exact address of the place, but I didn’t expect him to just go ahead and buy it.” I rattled the keys in front of her and she clasped a hand to her mouth. “Well, he did. And he’s left it in our names along with the rest of his fortune. Aiden loved you more than you could ever imagine, Sofia.”