Yasmine Galenorn - Night Seeker

“We’re okay. We survived to fight another day.” I frowned, feeling useless.

Peyton clapped me on the shoulder. “At least you weren’t tied up with a grenade strapped to your chest.” She tried to force a laugh, but her eyes told me just how drained she was from the experience. Rex came up behind her and led her to a chair, stroking her hair with an unexpectedly gentle hand. I glanced at him and he gave me a soft smile. Right then, I knew that he would love Peyton more than her mother had ever professed to.

“Yeah…that was…unexpected.” I cleared a space on the table and pulled up a chair, looking at our prisoner.

Rhiannon turned then, and her eyes lit up when saw him. “Erik!”

I stared at her, openmouthed. “You know him?”

“Know him? Leo and I double-dated with him and his girlfriend several times.” She suddenly dropped to a chair. “What the hell was going on out there?”

There was no way to avoid telling her. “This guy and three others came to kidnap the two of us. I’m not sure who the hell sent them-”

Rhiannon paled. “Erik is a day-runner for Geoffrey, just like Leo.”

Erik snorted. “Leo ain’t no day-runner anymore.”

A knot in the pit of my stomach churned. “What do you mean?”

“Geoffrey turned Leo. He’s one of the vamps now.”

“Vampire?” Rhiannon deflated, a look of horror on her face. “You mean…”

“I mean, Geoffrey gave him what he wanted.” Erik spit on the floor, then shivered. “It’s cold, can you give me a blanket or something?”

“You tried to kill us, and you want a blanket because you’re cold?” He had balls, that much I’d say for him.

He shrugged. “Believe what you want. I wasn’t sent here to kill you. I was sent here to take you and Rio back to the boss men.”

“Rio?” Now I was confused.

Rhiannon bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. But she left them unshed. “That’s what my nickname was among Leo’s friends.” She examined him, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. Leo’s really a vampire now?”

Erik let out a little sigh. He sounded almost disappointed. “Yeah. Geoffrey turned him yesterday. And that means, no more hanging out together. Leo already thinks he’s better than us. Geoffrey promised him that if he served him faithfully, he’d turn him, and now that it’s happened Leo’s already flying high on the pig.”

I smelled sour grapes. Maybe we could turn this to our advantage. “What happens to you if you go back without us? Geoffrey was smart enough to outfit you with grenades. Obviously he knew we wouldn’t go without a fight.”

Erik shivered. “The Master’s not going to be pleased.”

I motioned to Kaylin. “Get a blanket, would you?” Then, casually, I turned back to Erik. “Maybe he won’t do a thing. Or maybe…he’ll give you to Leo to play with. How is Leo handling the whole vampire thing, so far? He thirsty? I hear newborn vamps have an incredible thirst and they don’t care who they suckle from.”

Erik nodded, paling. “Yeah, he’s been working Geoffrey’s stable, all right.” He turned to where he must have guessed Rhiannon stood. “Honestly, I didn’t want to bring you in. Leo’s pissed at you right now, but he said he’s willing to take you back if you apologize. And you”-he looked in the direction of my voice-“he hates. He told me…Never mind.”

I could just imagine what Leo had said about me. I’d rather be locked in a room with Lannan any day now that I knew Leo had gone over to the Crimson Court. He wouldn’t last long, though, if he kept up his snotty attitude.

“Yeah, I know what he thinks of me. What does Geoffrey want with me?” As if I didn’t know. I had the feeling that our prestigious Regent was looking to turn me as per his original plan.

“He doesn’t tell his day-runners all his plans.” He squirmed a little as Kaylin dropped the blanket over him, but then his teeth stopped chattering. “What are you going to do with me? You going to kill me, too?”

“See, we have a problem here, Erik. We can’t really let you go back to Geoffrey now, can we? Or maybe…maybe we can.” I circled him, longing to give him a punch or to twist his hair or pinch him-anything to pay back what he’d threatened to do to Peyton.

“Send him back as a messenger?” Kaylin wasn’t as hesitant as I was. He reached out and gave Erik a sharp slap on the cheek. “Buck up, old boy. Maybe you won’t die after all. At least not until Leo gets his fangs in you.”

“Yeah, maybe he won’t die right away.” I nodded. “Erik, listen to me.” I leaned down and spoke gently into his left ear. “Does Lainule know that Geoffrey sent you here?” I watched him squirm as he tried to avoid my breath hovering around his neck. I reached out and played with the jugular vein. “My lover Grieve could easily take a nip out of you. Or Lannan, perhaps. You know we have Lannan Altos on our side?”

“Please, not that freak. Though I don’t know if Leo’s going to be much better.” Erik fidgeted and then his head lolled forward and his voice was soft but clear. “No, the Summer Queen doesn’t know about this. Geoffrey told me to keep it all on the down-low. That we weren’t to let anybody know what we were doing. She-they-had a big argument the other night. I heard them. She threatened to stake him and he ordered her out of his mansion.”

So there was trouble in paradise.

“Do you know why they were fighting?”

“Not really, but it was about you. She was saying they’d made a huge mistake. Geoffrey was yelling at her, saying that if she had let him take you by force, the plan would have gone off without a hitch.” He stopped, then breathed very slowly. “Are you going to kill me? You might as well. Geoffrey will know I talked, and he’ll punish me. Or he’ll give me to Leo, who’s going to be pissed out of his mind that I’m coming back without Rio.”

“You’re quite the loyalist.” Rhiannon walked over and gave his leg a sharp nudge with her toe. “I’m disappointed in you, Erik. I thought we were friends.”

Erik shrugged. “Day-runners have no friends. You should have figured that out by now. We’re bound to our masters and there’s no getting away. The only way out is either to become a vampire, if they’ll agree to it, or a bloodwhore, or die.”

Rhia knelt by his side and lightly put her hand on his knee. “Leo always planned on this, didn’t he? He wasn’t doing it just for the money.” Her voice sounded strained, and I realized that all her illusions about Leo were crashing to the floor. Even if he wasn’t her true love, she had loved him. And betrayal hurt.

Erik hung his head again and when he spoke, I had the feeling he genuinely regretted what he was saying. “Yeah…he told me when he first started that he wanted to be a vamp. He told me he wanted the power and money and respect that came with it. When he met you, he started talking about how he planned on first becoming a vampire and then bringing you over to be with him.” He coughed, adding, “Rio, he really does love you…in his own way.”

“You mean he’s wants to possess me. He doesn’t give a damn about what I think. He wants me under his control. I’ll bet…you said he’s going through Geoffrey’s stable. You don’t just mean he’s drinking from the bloodwhores, do you? He’s fucking every woman he can, isn’t he? Am I wrong?”

After a pause, Erik shook his head. “No. You’ve got him pegged.”

I motioned to the others and we moved away where he couldn’t hear us. Being a yummanii, he wouldn’t have exceptional hearing. As we gathered in the far end of the room, I glanced back at our bound, blindfolded prisoner.

“What do we do with him? We have two choices. Kill him or send him back. Ten to one, if we set him free he’s going to bolt, try to run. Geoffrey and Leo will kill him.” For the first time, I actually wished Lannan was awake. We could use a vampire’s input on this. “We could keep him till Lannan wakes and ask him, but Geoffrey will know something’s wrong.”