“Joyce is mine,” I growl out.
“Fine. She’s been haunting earth long enough, anyway.”
“What of the others?” I ask.
“They’re bored to madness. If they become a threat then we’ll handle it,” Sebastian says easily.
Samantha grins. “You’re like a million times hotter when you’re not wearing business casual clothes and talking about murdering people.”
Sebastian smiles back, a stupid fucking dimple showing up on his face, and I grimace.
“Knock it off. Where are we headed?” I complain.
“It looks like they’re headed to New Orleans,” Sebastian says, holding up his phone and I swallow as we drive back to where it all began.
The sun is falling as we approach the ancient warehouse. It’s been converted to a distillery of some sort. The type of place where they make beer that tastes like raspberries and all the pretentious dicks that run it have mustaches.
They market the place for being a prohibition hot spot, not having a single clue how much bloodshed has happened here.
I stare at the building confronted with my harrowed past and the bright future that was just within reach.
Sebastian is right. I’d feel it if she’s gone, but I can’t sense her pain. I have no idea what Joyce is doing to her and I’m shaking with anger and fear. I knew Joyce was a bitch, but I didn’t think she’d take it this far, her motive makes no sense.
“Here,” Samantha says, handing me a few silver stakes. They’re easier to throw than wooden ones, easier to aim too. “She’s going to be fine, War.”
I nod sharply and look at the three vampires around me. Samantha and Achille who have been by my side through it all. Then there’s Sebastian, the wild card.
“If you betray us,” I say, pointing a stake at him.
“Yup, slayers, ripping out hearts, stepping into the sun, got it,” he says with an eye roll.
The sun is finally behind the building as we get out of the vehicle, trying to not make much noise. The only upside of the new age distillery is that it’s loud. Our cover might not be completely blown.
I take the front as the rest follow. There are muffled voices in the distance. We have stakes drawn as we walk down the steps, trying to not make much noise.
“How kind of you to finally join us,” Joyce’s voice calls out, and it feels like I’m dying as I approach the middle of the warehouse.
It looks nothing like when I was turned, but I know that it’s the exact spot where Oz made me a vampire. It’s curious she chose this spot to bring Ember. Why does she want me to be haunted by this place forever?
Ember is tied to the chair, her head lulled to the side, her pink hair covering her face.
“What the fuck, Joyce?” Sebastian says behind me.
“Oh great, I was hoping you’d be here,” Joyce says, coming to stand in front of Ember.
“Seriously? Why? Because you’re jealous?” I ask.
Joyce laughs, throwing her head back, her throat fully exposed, and all I want to do is rip it out.
“Please. You think this is all over her? Over you?” she says, looking me up and down like I’m irrelevant. “This is about loyalty. You were always the favorite, always so pretty, the thing he couldn’t have. But me? I’ve been loyal for over a century. I’ve passed the tests, I’ll be rewarded,” she says, like some sort of maniac.
“What are you even talking about? Have you succumbed to madness?” I ask, my gaze going back to a passed out Ember. Her heart is still beating. I just need to keep Joyce busy enough so that I can formulate a plan. She has a few human guards, all of them with modified cross bows with stakes attached.
Joyce laughs again. “God, you didn’t even wait for his blood to dry on the pavement before trying to destroy his empire, did you?”
I tilt my head. “This is about Oz? Oz was your sire?” I’m confused as hell, I thought Joyce turned around the same time as I was, at least that’s what she’s said. Oz said none of his other progenies worked out, that’s why he usually had his henchmen change humans to vampires.
Joyce’s smile is feral as the clacking of expensive leather shoes slap against the ground. His bigger than life frame coming into the warehouse. If I could breathe, I wouldn’t be able to any longer.
