I got up and squeezed next to Christian in his chair. When joining Keystone, I never imagined the continual effort needed to protect our organization. The old me wanted to kick in Lenore’s door and toss her off the balcony, but we had to be careful. It still wasn’t clear if Viktor was ready to go after the woman he’d been recently involved with.
“I’ve known Lenore a long time,” Christian said, his gaze distant. “She’s a crafty woman, but she’s also paranoid. She doesn’t like loose ends, and that’s what we are and will always be in her eyes.”
Viktor drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. “Perhaps I will arrange to see her once more. She may be tempted to flaunt this man around me, and Christian can follow as my guard. You have my permission to charm him. Get as much information as you can but quickly. Then carefully erase his memory of your interaction. If Lenore is charming him to make sure he is loyal, I would not want anything suspicious left behind. I will speak to Wyatt. He is my computer genius, so I have to entrust him with information. Tell no one until I have decided. I still want to think more on this new information.”
“I don’t like that idea.” I shook my head, realizing how quickly our plan could unravel. “First of all, her condo isn’t soundproof. They’d have to leave the premises. To do what? Have a drink in the bar and leave you two alone? She wouldn’t go for that. She knows Christian would never voluntarily ask to hang out with Ronald. And if you’re left alone with her and there’s a confrontation, we won’t be there to jump in and help, and you won’t be able to escape since she has a guard who’s a Mage.”
Christian put his arm around me. “Raven’s right. Perhaps invite them to lunch. Somewhere public. I can discreetly follow and get a gander at what car he drives. Then later, I’ll find his car in the garage of the high-rise and wait for him to come out.”
“How many years might that take?” I asked. “You forget one thing: Lenore has a driver. They might take one of her cars to the restaurant, and then what? We’ve wasted time, and we can’t keep scheduling more dates with her. Do we need proof he’s involved? Li Han confessed, and I doubt a man facing his death would throw an innocent person under the bus. Ronald Frazier offered us a job to murder, not capture, three very rich men. What wedon’tknow is Lenore’s involvement. Let’s just confront them and see what happens. She won’t be expecting that.”
Viktor sat back. “If we are wrong, we have committed slander.”
I leaned forward. “It’s only slander if someone else knows about it. We’re not making the accusation public. Accusing someone privately without any witnesses doesn’t count. And Ronald especially doesn’t count. That little goon is neck-deep in this.”
Viktor nodded. “That is an interesting approach. If she is innocent, she will not want this scandal on her doorstep and will agree to any request we make, including keeping the matter private. Lying with a criminal would imply guilt, so despite if she is upset, she would not make this public.”
Christian stood up and gave me the rest of the chair. “And if she’s guilty? You know what it would mean to turn her in, Viktor. That will crack this scandal wide open, and we’ll have every crazed fanatic showing up on our doorstep because we killed someone they worshipped. You need to be ready for what must be done.” Christian folded his arms, staring down at our leader. “The only way to find out the truth is to charm her. I can do it, but it won’t be easy. Lenore won’t have someone poking around in her head. She’s stronger than I am, so we’ll have to restrain her with impalement wood first. Once I charm her to comply, we can remove the stake. She won’t take kindly to us after that, regardless of her guilt or innocence.”
Viktor tipped his head to the side. “If Lenore played a part, I will be left with little choice but to erase her memories. A full memory wipe is best.”
Christian jerked his head back. “And you wouldn’t see her dead? There’s always a chance the wipe will fade over time and she’ll regain fragments of her memories. She’ll go mad, to be sure, especially if one of her many friends finds her. We can fly her to a remote part of the world, but it’s only a matter of time before she meets someone she knows. She’s immortal, Viktor. I can’t erase the fact she’s a Vampire. If this were anyone else, what would you do?”
Viktor launched out of his chair. “And if one day someone charms me and discovers I plotted the murder of a higher authority member? How will I recover my reputation? The courts would execute me and the person who carried out the murder. Ronald will be long gone by then, and we will have no proof other than our word. That will not be enough. I cannot justify murdering someone who is not a declared outlaw, especially if the courts would never execute them for these crimes. There is no guarantee they would. What right do I have? It is a selfish choice to protect ourselves. That is not who we are.”
“Then let’s not plan her murder just yet,” I said. “Staking her seems pretty chancy if things go wrong. Maybe we should just focus on Ronald. A human is easier to subdue. We need to come up with a solid plan.” I cursed under my breath, hating that Lenore might skate out of this one. “If Ronald really is going after their money, what do we do about it? Maybe that’s why she got him involved in the first place since it would be difficult for Breed to get their hands on anything tied up in the human world.”
Viktor gazed up at the stained glass window of wolves on the far wall. “I like Raven’s idea of inviting them here. We will have more control. But I do not wish to startle her with a confrontation until after Christian has looked inside Ronald’s mind. We must plan a way to lure him away from Lenore without her growing suspicious. If he implicates her, we will stake her and decide how to handle. As for the money, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”
* * *
Blue wantednothing more than to let her falcon fly for a few hours. Because of the unpredictable nature of this job, she had to stay ready. The last remaining oligarch was a Vampire, so she likely wouldn’t be needed for this one unless Viktor wanted a scout. After an impromptu team meeting that afternoon, all plans changed.
Viktor had called everyone into a soundproof room. His worry lines seemed deeper as he disclosed shocking details to the team regarding the possibility that Ronald and Lenore were using them to commit a crime. He hadn’t planned on telling the whole team at first. After considerable thought, Viktor decided it would put them in grave danger if they weren’t made aware.
Truth be told, Blue wasn’t surprised to hear that Lenore might be conspiring to steal money. Something about that woman had always rubbed her the wrong way, but it could have easily been the fact that she was a Vampire. Or maybe it was Viktor wooing a Vampire. Where had Lenore gone when she left the hotel? Blue felt protective of Viktor, and seeing him rejected like that left her with hateful thoughts for that woman. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
Blue had never trusted Vampires for the obvious reasons: they were notorious secret stealers, memory erasers, and manipulators. Though Christian and Raven had proved themselves valuable assets to the team, she still had reservations. That just seemed like too much power for any one Breed.
Viktor ordered them not to discuss the information with anyone outside the house and to be careful where Kira and Switch were concerned. Viktor was still contemplating how to handle Lenore if it proved true, especially considering they couldn’t turn her in like they normally would with criminals. Ronald could easily get a memory wipe, but Lenore? Blue wondered if Viktor might take extreme measures to bury their secret, and that bothered her. Viktor was a man of integrity, and a devious plan like that would change her opinion of him.
Blue entered the kitchen for a glass of milk. After gulping it down, she rinsed the glass and put it away. The dirty plate in the sink irritated her. Wyatt loved a late-night snack and would often come down for fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, nachos—basically any hot snack that wasn’t real food. The least he could do was rinse his plate.
When she turned out the light and entered the dining area, she noticed glowing embers in the gathering room. Usually they put out the fire when leaving a room to prevent an accident, so she grabbed a box of baking soda and went to smother it.
Blue approached the hearth and moved the screen aside.
“You can let it burn,” Viktor said.
Startled, she turned around. “Sorry. I thought you went to sleep.”
Viktor was sitting in his chair, his profile revealing a contemplative look. Though his head was reclined, his eyes weren’t closed. He must have so much on his mind and no one he could talk to.
After setting the baking soda off to the side, she stole the chair next to his that faced the multiple archways. Blue had many questions, yet only one seemed to matter. “You hardly ate anything at dinner tonight. Can I bring you something? A plate of cheese with fruit—maybe a glass of wine?”
He looked away and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are too good to me.”
Blue leaned in. “Is there anything I can do for you? Are you okay?”
