Page 28 of Happily Undead in Dark River

“Did they execute her?”

He shook his head. “No. But they’ve taken her back to the Vampire Nation headquarters in New York. There’s nothing we could do. They were legally within their rights to take her, they followed the letter of the law. Nico and the Council couldn’t do anything.” He slumped into the chair. “I couldn’t do anything.”

I sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pressing his head to my chest. “I know you did everything you could. What are we going to do?” Because there was no way I was going to let Angeline die at the hands of the Vampire Nation. No. Fucking. Way.

Before he could answer, Brody and Judge strode in, looking grim. Brody kept walking until he was in front of me and Walker. He reached down and encompassed us both in his long arms. “I tried to appeal to our member of the Convocation, but he said it was Vampire business, and not worth creating an incident over.”

He looked peeved, but I understood. Kind of. The world stood in a precarious balance that I had no idea about as a mortal. Morals seem to go out of the window when it comes to maintaining power.

There was a knock at the door, and everyone tensed. “It’s not Enforcers. They left with Angeline an hour ago,” Judge said softly, and I let out a relieved sigh when I saw it was Nico. Or was it Nico?

“What’s your favorite cupcake?” I asked. The twins were exactly alike. Their tattoos were the same, their hair color. Even their haircut, which was cropped close to their head. I had to wonder if Lucius had done it on purpose to unnerve us all.

Nico gave me a sad smile. “Angeline’s unicorn poop cupcakes.”

I nodded and my eyes welled with tears. I waved him in, and he looked as defeated as Walker. “I could not prevent him from taking her. The more I protested, the more he wanted her.”

I reached out and held his hand, squeezing it tightly. “What are we going to do?”

There was silence around the room. Finally, Nico sighed. “I’m going to find Titus. Appeal to him on her behalf.” He looked between Judge and X. “One of you should come with me. He was always fond of you two. He’ll be more inclined to bend for you.” Nico frowned, and it made me wonder about this mythical Titus.

“Why would he listen to X and Judge? Isn’t he the big, big guy?”

Judge ran his hand down my hair. “Whatcha gotta remember, Sugar, is that the vampire world is like the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon, but really, there are only two degrees of Titus. Titus is Nico and Lucius’ older brother, but he’s also their maker.”

I blinked, gawping at Nico. “Your brother is your maker? That seems… wrong.”

Nico sighed. “It was a different time. Literally. I would have been considered an old man at thirty-five. He believed he was saving us, which he was. Immortality warps a person though,” he murmured softly, obviously thinking of Lucius. Would I become that unnecessarily cruel just to feel something?

I shook my head in denial. Never. “I don’t want them to go. I don’t want you to go. If everything people say about the Vampire Nation is true, you guys won’t come back.” I swallowed back the emotions threatening to bubble over. I felt callous, wanting to keep Angeline’s last hope with me, but the thought of losing Judge, or Nico, or even X made anxiety gnaw at my gut.

“We have to go,” Walker whispered in my ear. I whipped around.

“Not you too,” I said, shaking my head. Nope.

He squeezed me to his chest. “Angeline has been my friend for eighty years. I cannot leave her there. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try everything to free her. You’d never forgive yourself if you kept me here. She is innocent.”

I crumpled into his chest. I knew this. But the idea of him never returning was more than I could bear. I nodded, but I couldn’t make myself say the words.

Nico cleared his throat. “You need to leave. Tonight. With both Walker and I gone, I don’t trust Lucius not to come back and take you too, just to torment me.” His brows lowered over his eyes. “It smells like a ruse. He wants to draw me out, but I don’t know why. I don’t want to take the risk that it’s so he can take you.”

I stood, my fingers lingering on Walker’s chest. “Nico…”

He waved me away, his face more vulnerable than I’d ever seen it. “Brody, will your Pack take her in?”

Brody nodded. “Of course. Raine is always welcome in my Pack.”

Tex grunted something, but he was looking at the ground, his hair blocking his face. The weight of things unsaid hung heavy in the room. “I don’t want to run.” They all started to protest, but I lifted my hand. “But I’m not stupid enough to put everyone in town at risk because I’m stubborn.” I bit my lip, gnawing at it until it began to bleed. “I don’t want to put Brody’s Pack in danger either. Is there nowhere else I can go? Maybe I can just go and live in a cave somewhere until you guys come back and get me?”

Brody finally smiled. “You can stay with us. We are confident in our wards. Though, if you want to go full cavewoman, I know a good one up in the mountains. Might be some bearish housemates at this time of the year, but I hear they are really fluffy to spoon.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile. Walker pulled his badge off his shirt. He stood in front of Judge, who was beginning to look so panicked I was sure he was going to run. “Judge, I’m deputizing you for the time being. Keep the peace. Protect the town.”

You’d think Walker had just proposed. His mouth hung open and his eyes were comically wide. X laughed, “Looks like I’m taking a trip to New York, New York. I hear it's a hell of a town. Or the town from Hell. Congrats Judge. Or should I call you Deputy Judge now?” He started to giggle at his own joke, and my lips curled until I was laughing along with him.

Chapter Fifteen

Tex was the cleverest person I’d ever met. Or the most resilient. Brody had wanted to leave immediately for his Pack lands, not wanting to wait for Lucius to double back. He had shifters out along the road, watching the Vampire Nation’s cavalcade driving through Alberta. But it meant we had to leave in the middle of the day, and my brand new vampire eyes would have been burned out of my skull. So they dressed me up in a giant hat and bandaged my eyes tight against the sunlight. It was so dark, not even a slither of light penetrated. I was completely helpless, reliant on the people around me.

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