Page 31 of The Vampire Always Rises
If the pig head fits, wear it,I said stormily, and pushed by him to enter the house and call out, “Cousin Carlo? I’m back. I went off with a friend for a little bit, but we’re back now, and I want to introduce you.”
Silence, thick and heavy, was the only answer.
“Cousin Carlo? Giovanni? Hello?”
“We will search,” Merrick said, and went to the nearest door. We looked through every room on the ground floor, including the library where I’d first seen Carlo. The desk was still littered with papers, and both Merrick and I had a quick look at them. They appeared to be financial portfolio statements, as well as some prospectuses for a variety of investment opportunities.
“Bedrooms upstairs?” Merrick asked when we exhausted the possibilities downstairs. It certainly seemed like Carlo and Giovanni were gone, but the lights were all on, the front door was unlocked, and the gate had been left open.
“Yes. Mine is, at least,” I said, leading him up the curving stairs. “What do you think has happened to them?”
“I don’t know. If we find a laptop or a safe, perhaps we can determine what your cousin has been up to.”
“You’re assuming he’s been up to anything suspicious,” I pointed out. We started the search of the second floor, and after glancing into my room, Merrick opened the door to a small room at the back of the house. It was clearly a bedroom, but I didn’t see anything exciting in it. “Probably Giovanni’s room,” I said, leaving the room after a quick glance around it. I opened another door, finding a desk in front of a wall with three large monitors.
When I turned around to tell Merrick about my find, I saw him hauling Giovanni’s bed into the middle of the room.
“What on earth are you doing?” I asked, returning to the room.
“Finding this.” Merrick pointed to the floor.
A black panel sat flush in the floor, the door of it open.
“Is that a safe? Wow. I didn’t know people really had them put into floors. And Giovanni slept over it?”
“What better way to ensure it was guarded?” Merrick asked, kneeling and reaching down into the safe. “Looks like they took the contents. Which means your cousin isn’t the innocent you believe.”
I stared down at the empty black safe, and shifted my mental picture of Carlo. “I guess not. I found a sort of office, if you want to have a look there.”
Merrick followed me to the small room and glanced around it. “Ah. I wondered where the security cameras fed to. This is clearly where your cousin monitored the property.”
“Recognize someone?” I asked, pointing to the monitors.
He did a double take at one, then slid a look toward me. “You know what that means, I assume.”
“The fact that a close-up of you standing with me next to your car is frozen on the screen? Yes, I assume that, coupled with my cousin’s obvious hasty departure, is proof that he is the guy you’re looking for.” I sat down in a chair for a moment, trying to process the information that my cousin was clearly not what I thought he was.
“Or if not, he knows who Victor is,” Merrick said grimly, and quickly searched the room.
“This just leaves me feeling ... I don’t know. Disappointed. Kind of scared that I can be so misled. And really, really wondering if all of Papa’s side of the family are off their rockers. Do you think this proves my cousin is Victor? Because I might just scream and burst into tears if it turns out I’m related to a world-class villain.”
Merrick was silent for a few moments. “It’s not definitive proof, no, but it’s not an indicator of a selfless and altruistic nature.” He stood next to me and looked down at where I sniffled back the start of a couple of tears. “You are hurt by this knowledge. I can feel the pain within you. I dislike you feeling this way. It will do no good, and will not help catch Victor. You will stop feeling bad now.”
I hiccuped a little weak laugh. “I wish emotions were that easy to cope with. But I know what you mean, although you said it badly and super bossy. Crying isn’t going to help, and neither is feeling betrayed. Cousin Carlo is what he is, just as Papa was what he was. I’m going to focus my emotions on helping you find Carlo so we can know for certain if he is guilty or not.”
“I do not need your help finding him. It’s not safe for you to do so,” Merrick announced, and, without another word, left the room and headed downstairs.
“I’m seriously getting tired of you making obnoxious statements like that just like you’re the king of the world. Hey, Merrick, wait up. What are you going to do now?” I asked, following him, the dog on my heels.
“Try to pick up his trail before it gets cold.”
I grabbed his arm when he was obviously going to leave. “Hang on. Let me get my things. It won’t take me but a minute, since I didn’t really unpack.”
He looked down at my hand on his arm, his eyes icy blue. “You aren’t coming with me.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course I am.”
He took a deep, outraged breath. “There are times when I wonder if I’m just talking to amuse myself. I’ve told you who I am and what I do. I’ve told you that mortals and immortals fear me, and that you are not my Beloved. Since your cousin is not here, I will arrange to have you picked up shortly and taken to a hotel where you will be safe.”
