Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Alek nods.
“Speaking of missing persons of interest,” Luna draws the attention of the room. “We still believe that Samuel is being sheltered by the Greenbriars,” she says, referencing a traitorous witch clan she has since disowned. “But I think we have a new player on the board. There's an older scent with these newly turned vampires. One that doesn't match Samuel’s,” she continues.
I nod, knowing we'd given her and the rest of them enough of Samuel’s things to be able to identify his scent whenever needed, all of us collectively trying to find and eliminate the biggest threat to us all.
And yet there’s a new scent? That adds more problems to an already messy mission.
“Was this older scent in any way familiar?” Alek asks.
“No,” she answers.
“We couldn't identify it either,” Fenrir adds. “We checked out the bodies your hunters left behind before they burned them.”
The President of the Human Consortium remains quiet.
Alek’s eyes fall on Xavier, who's playing with that damn coin again.
“A name comes to mind,” Xavier says, a slight smirk shaping his lips.
“And who would that name belong to?” Alek asks through gritted teeth.
“Such valuable information certainly can't be freely given,” Xavier says, not bothering to look away from the silver coin to Alek.
Alek sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What do you want?” he asks as though it's physically painful to say the words.
“How is Daphne's first semester going at Edgemont University?” Xavier asks, gripping the coin and finally looking at Alek. “Midterms yet?”
Alek hesitates, like giving the demon king any information, no matter how innocent, is a bad idea. Especially when it comes to Valor’s eighteen-year-old human cousin.
“She just finished midterms,” Alek answers. “And from the way Valor tells it, she's thriving at Edgemont.”
Xavier gives the slightest of shrugs, a low hum behind his closed lips. He pockets the coin, standing up in one smooth move. “The old scent belongs to Conrad Gladstone,” he says, glancing down at Alek before moving those eyes to me.
The name sends a bolt of shock straight down my spine.
Conrad? I knew him centuries ago, when I’d been courting Talia. He’s from a noble vampire line as well, and had affections for Talia before her father chose me, and then fate chose me as her mate.
“I believe someone close to you is looking for the same someone,” Xavier continues. “Have fun with that.” He winks and disappears in a blink of shadows, Conclave apparently concluded for him.
I daresay the room breathes easier upon his exit.
“That's all for tonight,” Alek says, and the other territory leaders shuffle out of their chairs, discussing things quietly with those they brought with them.
Alek stands, turning toward me. “Do you think that's who Talia was hunting?”
“I recognize the name.” I nod. “Unless the demon king is playing games, but it didn't feel like he was. It would make sense she was on his trail. Killing bloodmad vampires is something a huntress is trained to do as much as we are. If Conrad is creating them as often as Samuel is, then she would’ve wanted to cut off the source.”
“It’s now our mission too.” Alek flashes me a sympathetic smile as we head out of Conclave. “Looks like you have a new partner,” he says. “And from what I can tell, you're going to need all the help you can get.”
CHAPTER 4
Talia
Exhaustion clings to my bones, but I've gone on plenty of hunts with little sleep before. I can't let a little thing like tossing and turning throughout the day yesterday deter me from my mission.
Because it’s the mission that’s important, right?
The one I've been on for the past six months.
More important than agonizing over every detail and memory that assaulted my mind while I begged for sleep.
Memories like the way Zachariah’s laugh could lighten even the most gloomy of situations. The way it felt when his mating mark appeared on my skin—the profound sense of completion and exhilaration that chased away all previous fears when my father declared the match.
Things were so different all those years ago. Getting his mating mark didn't mean we immediately got to be together in every sense of the mating bond. We were to be wed, a traditional, boisterous ceremony to celebrate fate pairing the two of us together. I’d never known excitement like that, nor had I ever felt such heartbreak when he called it off.
I swallow the tangle of emotions clogging my throat as I slide back into my fighting leathers and armored corset, shoving my arms through my jacket with much more force than necessary.
God help any bloodmad vampire that got in my way tonight. I had a wealth of pent-up energy brewing beneath my skin, my fingers itching for the hilt of my daggers and my blood thirsty for release.
Maybe tonight I'd actually catch my target.
When I’d caught onto the scent of my old acquaintance Conrad months ago, I’d never imagined he would be behind the across-the-globe bloodmad creation. He’d been abrasive centuries ago, especially when I’d denied his courting intentions, stating we were better as friends, but he’d never been violent. Though, we’d lost touch centuries ago, and that amount of time can do strange things to a person.