Chapter Twenty-TwoDevon glanced at Macy as Charity made her way out of the room.
“Follow her,” he said. “She’s weak, though she won’t admit it.”
“Admitting it would be overkill,” Macy muttered as she got up.
Dillon balanced his elbows on his knees. Quietly, he asked, “Is she for real? Did she really chase off an elder?”
Devon gave a condensed version of the story, not leaving out Charity’s heroics. Or the fact that the vampire had propositioned her. When he’d finished, Dillon leaned back in his seat. Andy blew out a breath as Rod stood and started to pace.
“What’s the big deal?” Yasmine asked. “I get propositioned by vamps all the time. Tonight, for example.”
Devon ran his hand over his face, biting back a harsh reprimand for the juvenile question. Some alphas didn’t share details with their subordinates.
“Newbies and lower-level vamps easily give in to their baser desires. They need blood more often, and blood and sex go hand in hand. A pretty girl is extremely pleasing to a new vamp, if he used to be a straight male. Anything that bleeds becomes pretty to a mid-level vamp. But an elder doesn’t feed often. It doesn’t need to. Which means it doesn’t care as much about sex. They live for politics and business. Making money in the Brink and navigating around the elves in the Realm. It eases their boredom.
“But Vlad’s actions tonight were strange. He recognized her, which means she made a lasting impression on him the first time they met. He must’ve smelled us, yet he left his child unchecked and in danger so he could frolic with a human. That isn’t done.”
“He doesn’t think she’s human anymore, I guarantee it,” Rod muttered, looking out the window, probably in hopes the pizza man had snuck up on them.
“Good or bad?” Devon whispered.
“Way bad, bro,” Andy answered. “Way bad. She made sunlight…stuff in the middle of the night. That has got to be abnormal, right? I’ve never even heard of that!”
“You wouldn’t have heard of cutting your toenails, either, if Macy didn’t harp on you about it.” Rod snickered.
“Think Roger knows she can do that?” Dillon asked Devon.
“Knows I can do what?” Charity entered the living room, holding a steaming plate. The simple task looked to be too much for her. Macy trailed her with a concerned expression, carrying two more plates. “Or were you talking about another freak of nature?”
“Make sunlight at night,” Dillon answered.
Charity wobbled as she set her food on the coffee table. Andy hopped up and steadied her.
“I’m good.” She waved him away, and then sighed as he helped her into the recliner. “I’m not sure if Roger knows,” she answered once she was settled. “I did it when I came out of the mansion in a blind panic. He was charging me…or maybe the creature behind me, so he must’ve seen it then. I know it was him because of the eyes. He might not have realized I was the one throwing the magical sunshine, though.”
“He knows,” Devon said. “He doesn’t miss much. If he didn’t understand it at the time, he’s figured it out since.”
“What have we here?” Rod asked, surveying the plates. Andy was doing the same thing.
“Frozen food delight.” Charity closed her eyes and leaned back against the leather. “I just heated up a few things and put them on plates. It tastes like ass, but it’s better than moldy bread and cheese.”
“Anything at all is good for me.” Andy snatched a frozen burrito off the plate. “This’ll be a nice little snack until the pizza comes. I’m famished!”
“Are you going to call Roger tonight?” Dillon asked.
Devon didn’t need to ask him what was on his mind. That elder wasn’t acting normally, and if Charity had thwarted him twice, he’d want to settle the score. Devon’s pack would see him again. It was only a question of when.Chapter Twenty-Three“Sir, we’ve got a visitor.”
Roger glanced up from his desk in the castle, finding Beazie in the doorway with a concerned expression.
“Who is it?” he asked.
She twisted her apron. “Lycus, sir. He’s on official business.”
Roger tensed. Did Lycus ever stop by when it wasn’t official business? The centaur wasn’t known for his friendliness with other magical races. “Did he say what it was regarding?”
“No, sir. But…there’s been some talk about a strange woman that was roaming around here the other day. Bain, that surly minotaur, said he’s never felt so much power from a human. Thinks something is fishy. Like maybe we are engineering magical people somehow.” Beazie huffed. “He was drinking, of course. But he isn’t the only one asking questions.”
“I’ll be right down,” he told her.
“Yes, alpha.”
Roger ran his fingers through his hair. After hearing Devon’s report from the night before, it was clear they wouldn’t keep Charity’s magic undercover for long. If the most cunning elder vampire in known existence was interested in her, he must’ve recognized the same things Roger had from the turning party. He must know what her magic meant. But Roger had hoped to keep knowledge of her away from the Realm and the elves, something Vlad could be counted on to do as well. He didn’t want any more interest from the elves than Roger did.