“It’s a lemon-lavendermocktail,” he said, as if he found the term novel. “No booze.”
Joseph also asked about the baby, and I told him the pregnancy was going as planned—or, at least, was running the course of a typical pregnancy. Joseph, Robert, and Liz acted as if I was made of glass because I was carrying a baby that was first of its kind: conceived by a human female and a human male that had once been vampire and had now become vampire again. It sounded wild when put that way, which I supposed it was.
With pleasantries out of the way, Joseph wasted no time getting down to business. “As I’ve said, we’ve located your great-grandparents, as well as their hired muscle. It was actually Jason we captured first. Our IT department came through once again, flagging the Hawaii-bound flight he’d tried to board at LAX lastweek. Amateurish criminal that he was, he’d foolishly believed he could fly under the radar if he hopped a flight leaving from Los Angeles instead of San Francisco. Clearly, he had no idea who he was dealing with. We have eyes everywhere, as you know.”
That surprised me. I’d been under the impression that everything had happened within the previous day or two. “Last week? Where have you been keeping him?”
Joseph shrugged. “Ihaven’t been keeping him anywhere. We have a team of collection specialists who handle all that. I did, however, watch footage of the interrogations.”
Interrogations. Right. That was VGO speak for torturing a captive until they got the information they needed. The worst I could imagine still probably wasn’t as bad as what Jason had endured. Joseph was mentioning him in the past tense, so I assumed he was dead.
But, hey, not my circus, not my monkeys.
“Anyway,” Joseph continued, “after Jason was detained, it didn’t take long for him to betray his employers. He had no loyalty to anyone but himself. He wasn’t a ruthless fanatic like Richard and Maxine, looking to be martyred for his cause. Jason’s only cause was making money. It sounded as if he didn’t even know vampires existed prior to his capture, so imagine his surprise.”
“What did you learn from him?” Robert asked.
“Where Richard and Maxine were hiding, for starters. New York, in case you’re wondering. Jason knew he was doomed, so he struck a bargain with the VGO. He’d give up the Nolans whereabouts if, in return, the VGO promised to pay his wife and child the money the Nolans owed him.”
Liz said, “That was bold. It wasn’t as if he was in any position to bargain.”
He wasn’t, I thought, but hehadthrown me those fortunecookies so I wouldn’t starve. I hoped Jason’s family would get their money, even though I was still pissed that he’d tried to kill me. “Will they be paid?”
“It’s already been done,” Joseph said. It wasn’t surprising the VGO had paid Jason’s family after they killed him, given their arbitrary principals. They probably saw it as adequate compensation for his death and the income he was no longer bringing in. “He also wasn’t made to suffer—once he started talking. It took little time to locate Richard and Maxine after that.”
Who were now also dead, I assumed.
“Here’s where things take a dark turn,” Joseph said with an ominous scowl. “I hope you don’t mind my saying this, Olivia, but your great-grandparents are positively insane.”
“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know.”
“Unlike Jason, they didn’t try to bargain their way out of their predicament once they were caught. Richard especially.”
“Hewasancient,” I pointed out. Then, I amended, “For a human. He probably figured he’d done enough living.”
“Richard and Maxine are unwavering in their beliefs. I’ll give them that. Richard says his only regret about being captured is that he and his wife now can’t witness vampire suffering firsthand—if you can believe their audacity. He’s been going out of his way to antagonize us. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve never seen anyone behave so fiercely in the face of death,” Joseph mused, sounding as if he was impressed by Richard.
“You’re speaking about them as if they’re still alive. Are they?” I asked.
“Aye. Though not everyone agrees with me at the VGO, I feel it would be hasty to take any permanent measures against the Nolans at this time, as their plans have yet to come to fruition.”
“What plans are those?” asked Liz.
Joseph shook his head. “That’s the issue; we’re not sure. Based on what they told Olivia, we know they’re aiming to replicateLeopold’s serum and then covertly distribute it to vampires on a large scale. If or when it’s going to happen, we don’t know. The Nolans are refusing to talk, and my associates have done everything to loosen their tongues.”
I shuddered. I could only imagine.
“We’re hoping we’ve caught them before their plan was set in motion, but for all we know, we’re too late.”
“That’s alarming,” Liz said.
Robert cursed Leopold under his breath, verbalizing what we were all probably thinking. All of this could have been avoided had his maker not created that stupid serum. It was pointless to mention it now. The damage had already been done.
“It’s come down to a waiting game, I’m afraid. The Nolans said it’s only a matter of time before the world witnesses the destruction.” Joseph paused. “Of course, it has crossed our minds that they’re lying. Some think the Nolans are spouting baseless threats so we think twice about executing them in case they might hold some cure.”
Robert asked, “Is that whatyouthink—that they’re lying?”
Joseph shook his head. “No, I don’t believe that’s the case.
