Page 79 of Love Bites
If I had been one to believe in destiny…
I stared at Aldrich. "He got his scars for saving me," I said, more to myself than to him.
"Andthenhe became my partner." Aldrich nodded. "Moving up the ladder to the kill squad."
"Why would they put him on the kill squad for sparing a child?"
"To make sure it wouldn't happen again," Aldrich said easily. "Clean-up works alone, we work in teams. It's set up so we can help each other, but also so we can watch each other, really. Have no illusions about that."
"I have no illusions at all." Quite the opposite. I was finally beginning to understand. Talon wasn't like the vampires who'd killed my parents. He'd been morphed into this person by the man who'd turned him. That despicable vampire I'd seen in his memories. He hadn't wanted this job, this life. Hell, even the vampires who'd killed my parents probably hadn't wanted to be killers. They were all just pawns on a chessboard. That didn't absolve them of their sins, but I clung to this new revelation, anyway.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket again. Now that it was night, maybe Talon would finally pick up.
"What are you doing?" Aldrich asked, a little too casually.
I glanced at him. "I gotta tell Talon what you told me, that I understand now. I gotta tell him that—"
Before I could finish speaking, Aldrich snatched my phone out of my hand. "Yeah, sorry, I really can't let you do that." He sighed.
"What? Why?" I took a step back, away from the vampire who was acting so strangely all of a sudden.
Aldrich studied me quietly for a second. "You won't listen if I ask you to come along quietly and not ask any questions, right?"
I shook my head. "What are you on about?" I glanced down the street, mapping out my escape route, but before I could take so much as a step, Aldrich grabbed my arm, holding me so tightly it was almost painful.
"Believe me when I say I really wish I didn't have to do this."
"Do wha—"
I couldn't get the question out. Aldrich snapped his fingers in front of my face again and my world went dark.
"Sleep tight," I heard him say, and then I didn't hear anything at all anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Talon tried to return Collin's calls, Collin wouldn't answer his phone. Talon tried again, with no better results. He cursed himself for having missed the calls in the first place. He'd been dying to speak to Collin, to receive any kind of sign from him after the way he'd left the hotel room. He'd known he needed to give him time, but he didn't have a whole lot of that.
He was going to see his sire tonight.
Talon rubbed the scar on his cheek, wishing he hadn't been so wrapped up in his research. He'd been on one of the computers at the public library when Collin called, searching the Google for any signs of what might have become of his daughter. Aldrich had mentioned once that you could find absolutely everything on the computer. Talon wasn't sure if that was wrong or if he was just very bad at 'googling,' but he hadn't found anything.
He'd left the library feeling a little deflated but also feeling like maybe it was for the better that he didn't know. The life that Collin had helped him remember… he'd left it behind a long time ago, whether he'd wanted to or not. His daughter wasn't a child anymore. She didn't need him now. In fact, she would be better off if she never knew what her father had become. Talon had been curious, but then he'd seen the missed calls on his phone and remembered what he really needed to concern himself with now. Not the family he'd lost but the one he was in the process of building.
If Collin still wanted him.
Something hurt in his chest area as he tried once more to call him. Talon had realized what it was as soon as he'd regained his memories. He wasn't 'oddly fascinated with' or 'weirdly attached' to Collin. He was in love with him.
But Collin didn't pick up the phone and it was time for Talon to go meet his maker.
* * *
"How have you been doing, my child?" Zenon started his meeting with Talon the same way he did every time. Talon had long since given up showing disdain for the way the man addressed him. There was no point. Zenon didn't care what he thought, not truly. He sat in his large chair behind his massive black desk and looked at Talon as if Talon should be grateful to be blessed with his attention while he kneeled before him.
But all that could end tonight.Wouldend tonight, one way or the other. Talon's attention shifted to the weight of the stake in his pocket. There were other vampires in the building, some of them loyal to Zenon, but more of them caught in the same trap Talon was... Talon couldn't say for certain how things would shake out if he managed to kill his sire, but he liked his chances for escape.
He was not sure how much he liked his chances of being able to pull this off successfully. Even if regaining his memories helped him escape Zenon's control, the other vampire was much older than him, and more skilled.
Talon would need to take him off guard
