Page 16 of Feathers From the Sky

A vampire, sick at the sight of blood. Fucking imagine.

“She tasted like apples. Mom’s apple pie,” I say quietly.

“Oh, shit. Roman…”

“Yeah. But that’s gotta be because she’s a hunter, right? She’sdesignedto taste like the best fucking thing on the planet.”

“But that’s only going to make it harder on you than it’s already going to be.”

“Make what harder?” I grit out, having a feeling about where this is going.

“You know, the heart thing. Killing her—all that,” Margot says.

“She’s a hunter, Margot. She’s a means to an end. I get the information I need, and I put her down. Björn can get off my ass about it.” Margot says nothing, and I wish I didn’t need to charge my phone so I could pace. “You know, I don’t think he gives a fuck about Remy. He’s more concerned with her heart.”

“I think your father wrote him off the minute he exiled Remy,” Margot replies.

“Which is such bullshit. It wasn’t his fault—what happened.”

“I know.”

“Fuck,” I murmur, not meaning to get worked up over my father. His lack of grief for his son pisses me off more than I care to think about. Would he have cared if it had been me? “I’m going to drain her of every last bit of information she can give me about Bill Parsons, then I’ll bring Björn her heart. Maybe then he’ll think I’ve proven myself enough.” I don’t miss my friend’s quick intake of breath. “Look, Margot, I know you think it’s a mistake, but—”

“No, that’s not why I made that sound. He’s sending Emile.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I pull out a barstool, slamming my elbow on the counter as I collapse into it. I sigh, rubbing my forehead. “When?”

“His plane landed a little while ago.” She snorts, and I can hear her typing in the background. “A fledgling apparently saw the photo shoot. That’s why he’s sending Emile.”

“Which one?” I ask, knowing I’ve done little to gain the new vampires’ loyalty, but I intend to change that when I return to the coven. Loyalty or fear—whichever one they want to give me—will suit my purpose.

“The guy. Hayden? Brayden? Fuck, I forget his name.”

I hear a vehicle pull up outside the apartment, and I tune my hearing as the car door shuts. When I hear the heavy gait of his footsteps and an unnaturally slow heartbeat to confirm the nature of my guest, I hang up with Margot and open my front door to the man on the other side.

“Uncle.”

“Mon grand,” he says, smile lighting up his wide-set blue eyes. I haven’t seen him in nearly five months, but he is as unchanging as he has always been. Though he has been known as Emile for as long as I’ve been alive, I know he has had many names in his millennium here on Earth. Born brother to my deceased mother, he is the only blood family I have aside from my father and my brother.

Not my brother. Remy is dead.

“What brings you here to see me?” I smile as I open the door wide. Though he is an enforcer, he is the closest I’ve had to a father my entire life. “Does Björn not keep you busy enough?”

“Oh, I am plenty busy, but I will always make time for my favorite nephew,” he says without a trace of a French accent. He’s had quite some time to perfect it. “Especially if he is getting into trouble.”

I laugh as I lead him to the couch. He sits down, reclining back and crossing one leg over the other.

“I’m not getting into trouble.”

“A little picture I was shown seems to indicate otherwise.” A nod of his head accompanies a raise of a brow. Before I can refute this, he continues. “Björn grows impatient. He has waited a long time to see the end of this.”

“Then he can wait a little while longer,” I retort, sitting down and leaning forward over my knees. “This is about Remy. She has information, connections. I’m not going to throw that away.”

Emile’s face grows tight when I mention my brother. “I’m just as devastated as you are, Roman. But surely you don’t think her father is responsible from beyond the grave? Parsons is six months gone—thank Ansi and her progeny.”

I shudder, thinking of Agnarr who rests deep below the compound, his immortality gifted by cursed Ansi.

Exhaling, I answer him. “I’m not sure. I’m considering the potential of some sort of fail-safe. Something to protect her should he not be able to. There’s a storage unit full of his personal effects I’d like to get into, and I have a lead on someone named Charlie.”

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