Thus, she’d gotten this office chair…and so what if her heart was broken every once in a while.
It wasn’t like she felt.
On that note, there was another blessing right afterward, this time of an infant newly born, and following that, a palate cleanser—at least for her—in the form of a dispute between two cousins over a snowblower. When that last appointment left, Beth got stiffly out of her chair, both of her knees cracking like sticks snapped underfoot.
Across the way, she was vaguely aware of V and Rhage talking back and forth and sharing the screens of their cell phones. For a split second, she got scared someone had been hurt in the field, but then Hollywood smirked and started jabbing his finger at what V was holding in his gloved hand. Probably something about food. Or movie night.
Meanwhile, over at the armchairs, Rahvyn likewise rose to the shitkickers on her not-really-hers feet. But as always, it was best not to look in that direction—
“I beg your pardons.”
Everyone looked to the doorway. Saxton was leaning in from the public access hall, and his composure was so professional, it was as if his face would shatter if he were forced to smile. Worse, his perfectly styled blond hair was displaced out of its wave like he’d pulled a hand through it and…oh, crap, he’d even freed the two buttons on his double-breasted suit jacket, something he only did when he was especially tense.
“There is another party who has presently arrived.” He cleared his throat and pushed at his pink and white bow tie. “Forgive my temerity,however I believe he and his brother should be given time. His son…is missing.”
“Bring them in,” Rahvyn said in Wrath’s voice as she sat back down.
The stillness that came over the room was one Beth was well familiar with. And the sound of footfalls out in the hall was like a countdown.
She sank into her cheap chair once again and found herself putting her hands in her lap and her feet together.
Ah, yes. Posture yet again.
The two males who entered with Saxton both had dark hair and were wearing plain button-down shirts and pressed khakis as if they were working class and had done what they could to present themselves well. One was standing slightly behind the other, with his hand on the former’s shoulder. Though they were somewhere in middle age—and could have been anywhere from fifty to two hundred years old—there were lines in their faces that spoke of lives lived doing physical labor and worrying about the future.
“May I present Garr and Troy, blooded sons of Ralhap,” Saxton announced. “It is Garr who is seeking this audience, and his brother has come to support him.”
“My Lord,” the male in the back said hoarsely as they both bowed. “Our Queen.”
She nodded at them, and for once, spoke up. “What may we do for you?”
When the males straightened, they glanced at each other. Then Garr cleared his throat. “My son, Rosh, is missing. Since last night when he left home around eight p.m. He was going out with his cousin, but he never showed up at the club downtown.”
“My son,” Troy added with a hitch in his voice, “was the one he was meeting. Rallie waited for a half hour and called. Texted. Nothing.”
The father let out a choking sound. “I told Rosh not to go out. Hismahmen…did the same. He wouldn’t listen to her, either. We’ve heard about the attacks downtown lately, and we just thought it was too dangerous.”
The Brotherhood had been talking about the surge in violence, as well. There’d been an influx of new slayers, andthough the Brothers were out in the field every night, hunting them and taking those soulless bastards down, it seemed like Lash had been turning humans left and right since the early spring.
“We all went out and looked for him downtown,” Troy continued. “Called his friends. Went to the gym he always uses, his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, the other clubs. And then the sun began to rise and there was nothing we could do until it set.” The father passed a calloused hand over his face and looked around the room. “We can’t find him anywhere. We need your help. We need the Brotherhood. I can’t…have hismahmenwith nothing to bury, and if that’s the way it’s going to be, can I at least…have a sense of what happened to him?”
Beth glanced across the room as a series of pops sounded out. It was Rhage, cracking his knuckles one by one. Next to him, V was already on his phone, no doubt teeing up his team at Four Toys, HQ.
Then she shifted her eyes to the mirror that had been mounted directly opposite her on the wall. Staring at the reflection of the image of Wrath, she did not blink. But like she had to use their signal system? Like they weren’t going to help?
“We will find out what happened to your son,” Wrath’s voice vowed. “But no more looking for you. Your mate and your family need you. And tell his friends to stay out of downtown, too.”
Garr caved in on himself, his shoulders sloping forward, his chest collapsing. Immediately, his brother stepped in, putting an arm around his waist to keep him from hitting the floor.
“Rosh is all we have. Hismahmen…” There was a sniffle and a wipe of the eyes. “She was so worried about his transition. When he made it through the change, she was so relieved. We both were. We thought that we didn’t have any more risks to get through with him.”
A cold wash went through Beth, and she was only dimly aware of the missing male’s last known destination being shared and the contact names given over.
The transition was another thing that, as a parent, she feared.
Time was ticking for L.W. on that front. He’d turned twenty-five a couple of months ago, and soon, his scrawny body was going to go through a violent metamorphosis. She and Doc Jane had put all the pieces in place, the most critical of which was Salima, the Chosen. With her pure blood, they’d have the best chance for L. W. to make it, but nothing was guaranteed. Outside of that, and having medical aid on standby, she was just going to try to support him as best she could. As best as he’d let her. He was such an island all to himself, standing apart not just from her, but everybody.
She was hopeful for his chances because maybe her human mother, his grandmother, helped a little. But with Wrath’s pure-blooded lineage? The vampire DNA was going to be so strong, and that put you at an even greater risk during the change. Especially if you were a male.
