Before he could open his mouth to tell her, someone pounded on her door. “Farren! Eli! Get downstairs,” Cade called. “Peter’s back.”
* * *
Farren
They scrambled for their clothes, almost tripping over one another more than once, and every time they touched, the cracks in Farren’s heart opened a little wider. He cared for her. That she knew. He might even be on his way to loving her.
She was over the moon for him.
Which was why she reached for his hand before they reached the living room. Her past failures played on a loop in her head, as did Paddy’s words. She wouldn’t push him away. No matter the number and epic size of her past failures, this…she wouldn’t screw this up.
Peter’s brows shot halfway up his forehead at the sight. “I wasn’t gone that long.”
“Shut it. Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are ya’ back?” Farren asked. “I thought ya’ were goin’ to find a vampire in Dublin. They don’t show themselves to just anyone, ya’ know.”
“I’m not ‘just anyone,’” the scarred werewolf growled. “Regulus and I have history.”
“And that would be?”
Her wolf growled, but for once, the beast wasn’t demanding to be let loose or even seconding Farren’s own anger. No. If the animal had a voice, she’d be telling Farren to stop giving Peter such a hard time for no good reason.
With a wave of her hand, she continued, “Sorry. That’s none of my business. If ya’ trust him, and Cade trusts him…”
“I don’t know the man.” Cade shrugged.
“I do.” Liam stood and joined Peter in front of the hearth. “He helped us when we first landed in Dublin after…after we gave up searchin’ for Cade. Regulus used histalentsto convince the O’Sullivan Foundation’s Board of Directors to pull my family estate off the market so we had a place to live. For two months, he or one of his long line of progeny patrolled the grounds every night until we were satisfied no one was comin’ after us.”
“Talents?” Farren knew little to nothing about the creatures. Only that they survived on human blood—but blood from a creature of theotherwould also sate them.
“Vampires can, under the right circumstances,push their own desiresinto their target’s thoughts,” Peter said.
“Ya’ mean mind control. Are ya’ daft? After what the Thirteen did to Fergus? What Fergus did to Colin—and tried to do to me? Eli’s father…” Farren glanced over at her mate, and the pain in his eyes? Fuck.
“Regulus owes me his life.” Peter’s quiet words shut down all argument. “Vampires can be evil as fuck, but they’re also unfailingly honorable where a life debt is concerned. He’ll never stop trying to repay me, and he’ll never feel that he’s been successful no matter what he does for me.”
“Never?” Farren asked.
“Vampires are immortal. The rest of us? Not so much. So, he has to save my life thousands of times to repay me for what I did for him.”
“Fine. Whatever. It’s a damn good thing we don’t take transcripts at pack meetings. We’d be on the third page already. What did he tell ya’?” She ran a hand through her hair, equal parts frustrated and intrigued.
“He’s met the Thirteen. More than once. Says they’re the most batshit extremist sect of practitioners he’s ever met.”
“That isn’t news,” Cade said. “What else?”
“They came—originally—from the Inverness Coven. That’s the largest coven of practitioners in Europe. Thirteen members who all believed in the existence of the spirit element split off from the rest. They thought they could use spirit for good. Or...at least some of them did. Ten years later, four members had either left or had been killed. Regulus believes the remaining members—as well as their new recruits—hunted down the deserters and killed them. Or tried to. He’d heard rumors that two—Diedre and a man named Paulo—managed to escape.”
Eli squeezed her hand tightly, his breath stuttering in his chest. “Paulo?”
“Yes. That name mean something—?”
“My father.”
The challenge in Peter’s gaze faded away, and he stared down at the floor, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know.”
“Did Regulus say anythin’ else about Paulo?” Farren asked.
“No. I was more concerned with how to stop the Thirteen than asking about the ones that got away. He didn’t know where Diedre was or offer up any information about Paulo, but he’s on his way here. He had to wait until sunset to leave Dublin. You can ask him in a couple of hours.”
