Page 65 of House of Crimson Kisses
“So you’re going to cure every vampire in the city, even if they refuse?” I ask, my voice quiet.
“I think we will need to create a persuasive campaign to convince the vampires so that we don’t have to force them. But, before we get to any of that, finding the dhampir is first. It’s why finding them is so important, because without them, there is no cure. No opening the door. And on that note, any updates? Have you found anything out by being in close proximity to the vampires? What about speaking to the other hunters?”
“Yes, in fact, that’s why I came back. I can’t stay long. But I wanted to tell you that we captured the vampire who tried to attack me while I was in Castle Beaumont.”
“And?” she says, suddenly brighter and more alert than I’ve seen her all afternoon.
“And we… It wasn’t pretty. We had to push him pretty hard to get even a shred of information.”
“What did you discover?”
“That, in truth, he didn’t know who had hired him. A proxy, no doubt covering for whoever, actually commissioned him. But he was fairly sure they had come from Castle St Clair.”
That makes her stop dead. Her face pales.
“Cordelia?” she whispers.
“We can’t be certain of that. It could be anyone in Castle St Clair, but it would certainly suggest her as the most likely candidate.”
“Then why did she bother setting up the trials in the first place? Why not let the boundary swallow the door and take the cure with it?”
“I have no idea, but whatever is going on isn’t going to spell good news for us,” I say as we round another corner on the field and have to duck under a few tree branches that are hanging low. I make a mental note to tell security to get the groundskeepers out to trim them.
The Chief scratches her head. “Why send other vampires to attack? She’s the oldest and strongest of them all. Why not do it herself?”
“She’s far too well known. Someone would identify her. That’s a suicide mission and one that will wreck her reputation. But if she looks like she’s trying to be supportive…”
The puzzle pieces lock into place and this suddenly feels like exactly what she’s doing. I continue. “If she publicly appears to support the cure and work with the hunters, then she’ll be buying in the human vote, swaying them to her way of thinking. And then no one will question that it’s her trying to stop it.”
“You don’t think she wants to retire any more than I do?” the Chief asks.
“You said it yourself last time we spoke. What do leaders on the way out do?”
The Chief’s lips part. “They burn it all down.”
“Exactly. If there’s a threat to her position of power, then either she secures her place as leader of the city, or she burns it all to the ground.”
We walk in silence for a while, both of us mulling over all the things we said, the options for how we progress, the security threats we’re under.
I’m not sure if it’s the tension rising off the Chief or if it’s actually a chilly afternoon, but the air around us cools. The Chief halts.
“We need to find the dhampir,” she says.
I go rigid. Stress leaks through my shoulders, stiffening my spine. I try to force myself to relax, but the Chief must notice because she turns to me. Her eyes narrow.
“It’s important. Whoever it is, is one of us. It’s our job to protect them. It’s literally your job as head of security to keep them safe.”
My eyes drop to the floor. Because I do carry a secret and it is heavy. But I am trying to protect the dhampir—to protect me.
“Oh, Red…You know something, don’t you, sweetie?”
“No. I?—”
She rounds on me, her face soft. Despite her gentle tone, her warm ocean-coloured eyes, there’s something uneasy nestled in my gut. A gnawing I can’t get rid of.
“Well, even if you haven’t identified who the dhampir is, I know you well enough to recognise when there’s something you’re not telling me… is everything okay?”
She slings her arm over my shoulder and rubs my back. It reminds me of when I was young and training and the way she always cared for all the trainees. It was instinctive mothering. She was always there when we needed geeing up, a cuddle and a cry, or the praise we hungered after. She knew what to do as if she were our mother.
