Page 152 of A Bond Beyond Blood

Lieutenant Sam strode into the foyer without a word, that sharp gaze flicking around in swift assessment before landing on the boy.He stood with his hands behind his back, always in perfect military form.I’d yet to see the vampire relax.

“Hello, Lieutenant Brighton,” Gannon said with an exaggerated wave.“Hello, Gannon.See?Easy.”He rolled his eyes, then returned to his work.We’d been at this all day, but the House of Lords would take weeks to recover.The garish decorations and macabre design covered every inch of this poor old estate.

I met Sam’s pointed stare and raised my eyebrows.

His gaze flicked to Gannon, then back to me.

With a huff, I waved toward the boy.“Gannon, excuse us for a moment, would you?”

He dropped the painting he’d been carrying out, glaring at the new head of the king’s Guard.When Sam only stared back at him, stone-faced and unreadable, he huffed.

“I need some fresh air,” He grumbled, stepping out onto the front steps and closing the door behind him.“I was friends with him first,” he mumbled on the other side of the thick wooden doors.

My lips kicked up on one side.

“The kid’s clean,” the lieutenant said, and I turned toward him.

“Well, I do believe he probably could have been privy to that little bit of information.”I chuckled, then motioned for Sam to continue.There had to be more if he wanted privacy.

He brought his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly.

In a moment, the foyer filled with the remaining guard, and a few new additions Sam had recruited.

“Clear out,” he barked.

When every member of his team, both new and old, had cleared the home and we were alone once again, he jerked his head toward the sitting room and I led the way.

“Spotless record, but there are a handful of human deaths unaccounted for around the time he was turned.”

I inclined my head.The poor lad had been wild and untethered, without anyone to guide him.Gannon had told me as much, moved to tears by his guilt over the lives lost at his hands, to his insatiable and, at the time, uncontrollable hunger.

“There’s more.”

“I figured as much.”

“Carmine Donati covered the kid’s tracks.”

I tilted my head, spinning slowly to look at the head of my guard.“Interesting.”

He gave the slightest nod.

“But no connection you could find?”

“None, sir.”

I hummed thoughtfully as I considered this.Carmine Donati would be a problem.I knew that, of course I did, from the moment I laid eyes on him—and long before that.His rise to the head of the Donati crime family had been messy.Brutal.I didn’t have to be present to know the worst of it.Bad news travels.

What connection did he have to Gannon?Why sweep the boy’s indiscretions under the rug?

“And Vincenzo?The suspense is killing me.”With my sights set on Jack—and, more importantly, my blood running through her veins—it was imperative that she remain safe.And until I could convince her to seek solace in my bed and my home, I had to know that the men she allowed to warm her bed each night would keep her safe.

A human with vampire blood was unheard of.I was quite tempted to kidnap the girl and place her in the highest tower I could build.

The front door opened slowly, a quiet displacement of air the only sound.I tilted my head, listening to the soft footprints until I realized who they belonged to.

Gannon and I would have a talk about what being ‘friends’ with a king meant.

Lieutenant Sam lifted his chin, just the slightest bit.

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