Drake?
One wrong move and everything could fall apart. I have to make the right decision.
You’ve built Sanguis from the ground up. Trust your instincts. You haven’t lived this long based on luck. You’re the king for a reason.
I wasn’t sure if there was anything out there that could truly take Drake out. I knew from a slayer standpoint that no one had ever been successful in assassination attempts or reconnaissance missions to try to glean insight on the inner workings of the board.
The only thing that could destroy me is if you walked away from us, Comoara.
He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead before his attention bounced to Andrei, giving me little time to dwell on his sweet sentiment. “Do you really think he would kill Serena, or do you believe it’s just a calculated ploy?”
Andrei’s throat bobbed as he considered the question for a moment. “I’ve asked myself the same question over and over, and I always come to the same conclusion. Yes, I do think he would. Without hesitation.”
“The fact that he hasn’t killed her, but left a trail of blood, feels purposeful,” Lo murmured, rubbing her chin in thought as she paced,. “I think he’s full of shit for saying she was dispensable. He’s using her as leverage, like a shield.”
Drake grunted, “Agreed, but that’s a good thing for us.” I could feel my face screwing up in confusion, but he was quick to elaborate. “If he thinks keeping her alive gives him leverage, he won’t kill her. I do agree with Andrei that hewouldkill her, but I don’t think he will while she’s still of value to him. In his current position, he needs everything he can get to try to survive.”
“That gives us time to find them,” I murmured, drawing the conclusion between what they were saying. “But how will we do that without tipping off the rest of the board members?”
Lincoln cut in, pulling my gaze to him. “It doesn’t matter if they know. We have to assume Jeoffrey already knows that we know everything from Andrei. He would have alerted anyone on his side to this and given instructions on how to proceed if that was the case. Just because he tucked tail and ran doesn’t mean he’s going to give up. He’s going to make bold moves now because what does he have to lose? This is when we need to be on high alert.”
“Spoken just like your father,” Drake praised, “he was unrivaled in strategy. It’s why I’ve never filled his spot since we lost him. No one has ever come close to comparing.”
My breath caught in my throat as I waited for Lincoln’s response to that. The mention of his father on the board was undoubtedly a touchy subject, considering the outcome of them leaving. Not to mention Drake’s dismissal of him as a kid when he lost his parents.
One day, when we didn’t have all of this on our plate, I wanted to know that story from Drake’s point of view. Knowing him as I do now, I couldn’t picture him turning away a child like that. There had to be more to it.
Grief flashed through Lincoln, cutting into my chest sharply, but quickly fleeting in the bond before he gave Drake a single nod. “Thank you. That’s high praise. My father was a brilliant man.”
Relief poured through me at the respectful handling of the sensitive topic on each of their parts.
The relief was short lived, though, as a question scratched at my brain, so intensely that I couldn’t get rid of it. I fidgeted uncomfortably for a second, almost scared to ask, before deciding to spit it out. “We know that Jeoffrey holds a lot more power than we thought, but does he have enough to have orchestrated the attack on my family? We still need to find the person responsible for that, and I can’t shake the thought that someone with enough power on their side to consider staging a coup could be the primary suspect.”
Nodding his head, a thoughtful look creasing his brows, Lincoln said, “Don’t forget that they would have had enough power and money to get in contact with a witch to help with the ward. Jeoffrey has more than enough of both to achieve that.”
Drake directed his next question at Andrei. “Have you ever heard him mention anything about the slaughter of the Van Helsings?”
Slaughter of the Van Helsings.
Despite trying to find my peace in order to continue to live and bring justice to them, hearing those words felt like a bulldozer tossing me on my ass. My chest burned.
In a heartbeat, I was surrounded by Andrei, Lincoln, and Drake.
Concern bled through each of my bonds to them, and I rushed to reassure them, “I’m okay. It’s just a fresh and painful topic. Let’s continue, okay?”
The truth was that all of us had tough shit to deal with. I wasn’t going to make this about me. It wouldn’t change what had been done, and it wouldn’t get justice for them. Only action would.
With unsure looks on their faces, Lincoln and Andrei finally nodded but didn’t move from my side. Thankfully, Lo did as I asked, continuing on seemingly unperturbed.
“I think the best course of action would be for all of you to move into the castle with us until we know that the threat has been taken care of. We don’t know who is on Jeoffrey’s side. It could even be a kid at the school or a teacher.
While I agreed with her for the sake of our safety, it wasn’t my home to agree to take people into. I turned toward Drake, quirking a brow.
What do you think?
I think that my bed is about to be filled with two other men who refuse to be separated from you at night.
His tone was one of humorous annoyance, and I whacked him lightly on the arm.
