“Damn him, where is the car?” Dominik grumbles.
“Looks like there’s a bit of traffic,” I respond, pulling my coat a little tighter around me.
One of the waiters from the cafe opens the door and calls out to Dominik. He snorts in exasperation, and at that moment, the sun decides to shine through a gap in the clouds. He might be a daywalker, but he still isn’t that happy in direct sun.
“I’ll be right back,” he says. “The car will be here,” he adds with a growl, as if he can make the thing materialize out of thin air, before he goes back through the doors.
There are some tourists milling around nearby, staring at the menu on the wall and sadly at the closed sign in the window. I don’t blame them, after stuffing my face with all the cakes I could manage in such beautiful surroundings. The café has tobe a destination. Knowing what I know of Dominik’s operations, I’m sure it will be up and running again very soon and turning an impressive profit.
Whilst he might also dabble in the darker side of commerce, most of what keeps Dominik’s empire afloat these days is legitimate business.
I check the group chat on my phone again.It’s died down a little. I press on the microphone to leave a voice note, given now is as good a time to do it as any other.
“Hi, you horrible lot,” I say into my phone. “I really need to see all of you but…”
A car slides up to the curb. I lift my head to look at it, thinking it has to be Dominik’s Rolls, but instead I find a large, black SUV.
As I take a step back, I run into something big behind me.
“You’re coming with us, Miss,” a deep Scottish voice says in my ear as my left arm is grabbed and pulled up my back.
“You can have my phone,” I say rapidly. “Here.” I wave it around.
“I’ll take that,” a familiar voice says. “Thank you so much, Lucy.” The phone is plucked from my hand. “But you’re still coming with us.”
My uncle stands in front of me, long black military style greatcoat neatly buttoned. His greying hair is slicked back against his head, and his glasses glitter in the sun.
“It’ll be great to welcome you back into the family.” He grins a rictus grin at me as his gaze descends to my swollen stomach. “Both of you.”
“Don’t do this,” I say, testing the strength of the Scotsman who has hold of me but without appearing to struggle.
“Why, because it might anger yourvampire scumboyfriend?” Uncle says, spitting out the words as if they pain him. “I’m counting on it.”
The door to the SUV swings open, and I’m propelled into the back of the car. The door shuts behind us, and it speeds away from the curb.
As I look back, I see Dominik burst from the doors, but before I can say anything, a needle slides into my flesh and oblivion beckons.
“You’ll see him again soon,” my uncle says from a long way away. “Just before I stake him in the heart and cut off his head.”
Dominik
“What the fuck is going on?”I bellow at Attila as he comes down the side of the café and the Rolls pulls up at the curbside. “Where is Lucy?”
Attila looks confused.
“She didn’t come this way, boss. I thought she was with you.”
I release a significant number of curses from under my breath, wrenching the car door open and glaring at my thrall driver.
“Did you see her?” I growl.
“The traffic, my lord,” he responds.
The clouds are disappearing, and the sun is getting stronger. I can see Attila starting to smoke slightly from under the hood he has up to protect him. For all my second in command is resistant to the sun, unlike me, he cannot withstand its full rays.
“Get in the car,” I snarl at him, pulling out my phone and dialing Lucy’s number.
It rings. I half expect her to answer and tell me she’s in a nearby store charging obscene amounts to my credit cards.
