“I have to ask about a former resident of yours. Lawrence Weston. According to one of his creations, he lived in Plymouth in the nineties.”
There was a beat of silence before Richard spoke again. “That bastard causing you trouble, Lynette?”
Kit snorted, and Shaun covered his mouth to stop from laughing at the unimpressed look Boris shot Kit.
Lynette was quick to correct Richard. “Nothing I cannot handle,” she said. “But we have a situation. Weston has accused another of his creations of trying to kill a human I’d taken an interest in. We’ve taken Weston’s creation into custody, but their stories aren’t lining up. Can you shed any light on the situation?”
“I can’t speak to your specific circumstances, but if you suspect Weston of being the one to attack your human, it wouldn’t be the first occasion. He’s been accused of such a thing before.”
A tendril of hope bloomed in Shaun’s chest as Lynette asked her next question. “What happened?”
“Some humans favoured by my creations went missing,” Richard explained. “Three in all. My creations were rather devastated by their losses. This was perhaps only a couple of months after Weston arrived.”
“We’ve got two of Weston’s creations here in the room. You might recall Kit—Christopher?”
Kit pursed his lips, his nose wrinkling. Shaun guessed he didn’t like being called by his full name.
“I do,” Richard said.
“Did you ever suspect Kit of being behind the disappearances?” Lynette asked. Shaun looked at Kit in alarm, but Kit remained composed.
“He wasn’t around much. Weston, on the other hand, stuck around like a bad penny. He didn’t get on with the rest of us.”
“Wouldn’t that make it easier to point the finger at him for the disappearances?”
“Perhaps,” Richard conceded. “But I can confirm he was in the area, and once I’d asked him to move on, no more of our humans went missing.”
“Why did you not inform the other territory leaders of your suspicions?” Lynette asked sharply.
“You’re aware we cannot condemn our kind without the burden of proof. With the number of grudges we hold? We’d end up with daily banishments and hourly blood feuds if we relied on only word of mouth and accusations.”
“You suspected he killed three human associates of those in your city. Forgive me if I find it odd you wouldn’t tell us what we might get into by allowing him to reside within our territory.”
“We told him to leave. And quite frankly, we simply wanted him gone. Weston is an odious vampire with delusions of grandeur. His creation surprised me when we met. How such a lovely creature was swayed by the words of a pretender like Weston, I’ll never understand.”
Shaun was pretty sure that Richard was trying to flirt withKit over the phone. For his part, Kit pressed his lips together as if to physically stop himself from speaking. Lynette must have noticed too, as she nodded. “Go ahead, Kit.”
“Lawrence takes by coercion and force. Neither of us wanted to become his creations,” Kit said, then casually clasped his hands behind his back, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell.
Neither Richard and Lynette responded at first, until Lynette asked, “You didn’t want to become one of us?”
“I was seventeen for most of the time I spoke with Lawrence,” Shaun said, his words coming slowly. “I didn’t understand all it would entail. He…” Shaun closed his eyes. Telling these vampires about his past was different to when he told Rake and DJ. He steeled his nerve. “Lawrence recreated me by force on my eighteenth birthday. He’s spent every moment since then doing whatever he wants to me. I didn’t choose this existence. He decided for me.”
Lynette’s mask of stoicism faltered as Shaun spoke, surprise and disbelief crossing her face. “We have strict rules on who we create,” she stated. “Least of all that you must be at least eighteen years of age, and willing.”
“Lawrence cares for none of those rules,” Kit spat. “He believes himself to be above them.”
“Why have neither of you come to the territory leaders before?” Lynette asked.
Kit gestured to Shaun. “He told you who Lawrence was. Shaun came to you and asked for help, and instead you locked him up in a tiny cage, just like Lawrence would. You older vampires trust your own first. We newer creations are forced to fend for ourselves.” Kit’s anger was a wild thing,written all across his face.
Richard’s voice came through the phone again. “He isolated you, Chris-er-Kit? Created you and held you against your will, too?”
Kit’s anger dissolved as he met Shaun’s eyes. “I only got away because he found someone who he wanted more than he wanted me.”
“You didn’t think at that point to tell the rest of us that Lawrence was recreating vampires against their wishes?” Lynette asked.
Kit’s fangs jutted out from under his top lip. “You try spending over two decades with someone who rapes and abuses you daily and see how confident you are in having to face them afterwards. Lawrence is bigger and stronger and faster and older than me. I didn’t have anyone to turn to but myself.”
