“How are you feeling? Can you stand?”
She licked her chapped lips. “I have a headache, but I can stand.”
“Good.” My eyes shifted back to the door. I had no idea how long we’d have before the guard circled back to collect us, but we had to be ready.
I unsheathed my fangs and curled my fingers inward, ready for whatever fight we were about to find.
The door opened and a hulking man stepped into the sliver of light. It wasn’t Jerrod. In fact, I didn’t recognize him at all. I looked at Jupiter, and she shrank back against the wall. Glaring at the man, I planted myself between him and Jupiter. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me where we are,” I said.
The man laughed, as if I were nothing more than a confused child. He grabbed for my arm and I twisted away. His smirk shifted into a snarl and he lunged again. “I’m under orders not to hurt you,” he said through clenched teeth, then jerked his head over my shoulder. “But there’s no rules when it comes to her.”
I dropped my fists and turned to look at Jupiter. She was terrified, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. “If I go with you, she’ll be safe?”
The man grunted his agreement.
“Fine.” I exchanged a look with Jupiter. “It’s going to be okay.”
She nodded, but her wide eyes revealed nothing but fear. I couldn’t blame her. If the tabled were turned, and I’d been the one to witness Ivan’s grisly death and then thrown into a cage, I wasn’t sure I’d have much confidence in her either.
Clenching my jaw, I met the guard’s eyes and nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”
He grabbed my upper arm and yanked me out of the cell. I winced when the heavy door slammed behind us. As we walked down the hall, I still couldn’t figure out where we were. The rooms we passed were evenly spaced, with solid metal doors. Were we in a prison? We rounded a corner and a bank of windows lined one side of the hallway. The grounds below were lit with industrial floodlights and I could see people milling around in groups. Who were they? Why were they here? Who was behind all of this?
I didn’t have to wait long to get the answer to at least one of those questions. Within minutes, I was pushed through another door and found myself at the end of a long, conference-style table. At the opposite end, her face wearing a slight smile, was a woman I hadn’t seen in five years.
“Melanie?”
Chapter 21
Confusion and anger warred together in my chest, each fighting for control over my next words. The man at my back gave me a shove forward and Melanie rose. “Lacey!” she whispered, her smile growing. Seeing her was like something from a memory. Even as I took in her angular face, soft brown curls, and the bright blue eyes our father had bestowed to us both, I couldn’t reconcile her presence with reality. It had to be a dream. A really, really sick dream.
“What—how—Melanie, what are you doing here? Where is here?” I stuttered, frozen in place.
My sister rounded her end of the table and came toward me, her arms outstretched. She enveloped me in a hug, squeezing tight enough to cut off my air supply. “I can’t believe you’re really here. You have no idea how long I’ve spent looking for you! When they told me you’d come back to the haven, I didn’t believe them, but here you are! It’s really you.”
As she released me, I glanced over my shoulder. The man who’d brought me into the room had taken a position on one side of the door. Another man, of similar height and build, stood at the other. Were they keeping others out, or keeping me in?
“So, what was this? Some kind of rescue mission?” I asked, swinging back around to face my sister. She’d backed off a step, but still stood within arm’s length.
“Something like that.”
“Well, next time, send an invitation. I could do without the goon squad and the cold, dank cell treatment.” I narrowed my eyes at her, another wave of anger taking over. “And what are you doing with Jupiter? She’s half-starved and there are burn marks on her skin from where the sunlight comes in during the day! It’s sickening! You have to let her go home.”
Melanie’s expression soured. “Jupiter will remain here.”
“Why?” I demanded.
Melanie drew in a long breath and coolly walked back to her place at the table. She waved a hand. “Please sit, Lacey. We have a lot to discuss.”
“Where is Matthias?” I asked, ignoring her request. “Whoever it was you sent to get me zapped him with a Taser. Is he here too, now?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she leveled me with a glance and then once again indicated the chair. “Sit.”
I ground my teeth but did as she asked, flopping into the chair with a huff. “There. Now start talking. You can’t expect me to just go la-la-la and be happy you’re back when you’ve apparently kidnapped my best friend and zapped my—” I stopped, tripping over the next word.
Melanie raised an eyebrow.
I frowned. “My other friend.”
“Hmm.” She steepled her fingers together on the table and I wanted to tell her she looked just like Father. “I didn’t realize you and Lord Hartford were so well acquainted. He’s perfectly safe, I assure you.”
I didn’t respond.
After a beat, she said, “I’ll start at the beginning.”
“Great idea.”
Her eyes flickered but she continued, “I’m not sure how much you know about what’s been going on in the Eastern Court, but things haven’t been going well for some time. House Vaughn is losing its grip on the territories. It’s only a matter of time before one court, or perhaps multiple ones, come in and try to take power. They’ve already swayed some of the old families away. Promising them wealth and power, and perhaps most convincing, the chance to get out from under Father’s thumb and move into a more modern era of vampirism.”
“Modern how?” I asked.
She flashed a dark smile. “One that doesn’t involve hiding in the shadows anymore.”
“What?”
“The Haven Council has oppressed us for far too long. They want to keep their secrets, and that’s fine, but we are going public.”
“That’s insane,” I scoffed. “You’ll just be opening all of us up to being hunted.”
“Not all humans fear us,” she said, her voice calm. “Some of them want to join us. Not by becoming undead themselves, but by forming a new community. They want the power and wealth we can command. In exchange, they will help protect us and serve us … in other ways, as well.”
Blood. She had to mean blood.
A chill rattled down my spine. “It will never work,” I told her. “Besides, in case you’ve forgotten, Father isn’t going to let someone else walk in and take over. Especially not you. The entire Court thinks you’re a blood traitor because of—”
“Damon,” she said.
I nodded. “Is he here too?”
Something else flashed in her eyes and she gave a terse shake of her head. “Damon wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
My eyes widened. “I’m sorry, Mel.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s been years.”
From the harsh snap to her voice, it did still matter. Deeply.
I considered her for a long moment, wondering if I should tell her that our father was already well aware of the threat to his position as the Baron of the East. Thanks to Jerrod, I also knew exactly how he planned to take his power back. But the pit in my stomach held me back.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “If Jupiter is here, does that mean that you were also responsible for Ivan’s murder?”
Melanie remained silent for a moment and then inclined her head. “It was a necessary evil,” she said. “Ivan had accidentally stumbled onto our plans and was prepared to go public. He had to be eliminated. Jupiter, on the other hand, appears to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We brought her here to see what Ivan told her, if anything, and to keep her quiet about the events of that night, but I swear to you, I have no plans to harm her.”