“You recently put in a request for a background check to be done on a vampire living there on campus.”
“Yes?” I answered, trying to keep the eagerness out of my voice.
There was some clacking on his keyboard before Tristen finally told me. “It was good instincts on your part to ask about this one. Kyren O’Brian. Born in the 1800s, he became a vampire during the Spanish American war by a vampire named Kleon.”
My brows furrowed. That name was so familiar. Then my eyes widened.
The world narrowed down to that one singular name. Kleon.
“That’s…”
“Yes,” Tristen breathed out, the one word sounded painful even through the phone. “That’s the vampire Jack’s mother killed back when Jack was little.”
“The vampire who kidnapped her.” The words barely came out of my mouth before I was standing, shoving my chair back against the wall. “Permission to kill him, sir.”
Tristen chuckled sadly. “I wish I could let you, but just because his sire hurt our girl doesn’t mean this Kyren will do the same. But I do want you to keep an eye on him. If possible, keep him away from Jack, this would just…” He trailed off, emotion filling his voice. “Let’s just say it would bring up unfond memories for her.”
“I understand, sir.” My voice was hard, barely restrained in my rage.
Tristen sighed. “I look forward to hearing some good news soon, Fawley.”
“Of course.” I hung up the phone and stared hard at my desk, my phone tight in my grip.
Saying that Jack would be upset was putting it lightly. While Kyren hadn’t been the one who had orchestrated her kidnapping when she was ten, the mere fact he was related to the vampire who did would send Jack into a panic.
Knowing what I knew of Jack and Kyren, this information wouldn’t just upset her — it would devastate her. Not only was the fledgling of the vampire who caused her so much trauma in the school, but she wasdatinghim.
Kissing him.
Fucking him.
The first instinct about this information was to bury it. Pretend I never learned it.
What good would telling her be? She’d freak out. Shut down. Blame me for telling her in the first place.
My foot tapped a restless rhythm. I paced back and forth across my office. My emotions swirled and twisted in my gut.
Telling her would do more harm than good. And yet, my job was to guide her and protect her. But which category did this fall into?
Learning this information would destroy her, and that was the last thing I ever wanted to do.
Frustration and indecision tore at me. Tension pulled at my neck as I fought with what to do. The phone in my hand weighed heavy in my hand, like the decision I had to make.
“Fuck!” The word ripped through my throat, raw and visceral. The phone smashed against the stone wall of my office.
I dragged a hand through my hair, breath shaking.
I had to tell her. If it was me, I’d want to know. Protecting her from this information would only make it hurt more later, when she found out from someone else. Even more so if she found out that I knew and didn’t tell her.
As I knelt and picked up the pieces of my phone, I prayed to whatever deity out there that this wouldn’t be the end of us.
Chapter thirty-two
Jack
SinceTateandKyrenfound me in the shower, they had become protective. Almost annoyingly so.
“Here let me.” Tate held the door open for me, glaring at a handful of vampires who were getting too close.
