“Fuck that,” he swore.
“Darling, you aren’t in any condition to attempt a rescue, not yet.”Jaks tried to soothe Quentin with a kiss to his hand.
Quentin snatched his hand away and turned to his father.“What about you?”
Lars shrugged.“If I weren’t king, it would be one thing, but if I were to enter a vampire’s territory without permission…”
“It could be seen as an act of war between species,” Quentin finished.“Fuck.”
He wanted to rush in and rip them all apart for daring to touch his mother, but right now, he could barely breathe without triggering spikes of pain in his chest.“What are our options?”
Surely they had some.
“What about Brenton?”he asked, not waiting for their input.
“Call him,” Lars demanded.
“Who’s Brenton?”Jaks growled.
Quentin frowned.It took him a minute to realize Jaks wasn’t there when he and his father talked to the bounty hunter.“A bounty hunter I definitely didn’t hire to investigate Nikko.”He nodded, careful of his pounding head.
“Drink this,” Lars handed him a glass.
The cool liquid eased his sore throat and miraculously cleared his headache.“I probably should’ve asked what that was before drinking.”
“It’s only fruit juice.”His father’s smirk didn’t reassure him at all.
“What kind of fruit?”he asked suspiciously.
“None you would’ve heard of before.”
He scowled at the grinning fae, then turned back to Jaks, deciding it wasn’t worth complaining about his father’s games, especially since his head was much clearer.
“Do you feel better?”Jaks asked.
“Yes.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could supply us with some of that juice to keep on hand.Quentin is always getting into situations.”
Lars didn’t miss a beat.“I’ll have some delivered.”
“Hey!I’m feeling ganged up on.”
Jaks grinned.“Only in the best way, darling.I’m thinking of your health.”
“And implying I get in trouble all the time.”
Jaks’s unimpressed expression didn’t help.“Can you tell me you don’t?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it.He really couldn’t.Instead, he deflected and called the agency.
The extension he dialed got him voicemail.“Hey, Brenton, this is Quentin Heart.I was hoping to talk to you about our vampire problem.Please give me a call back.”He left his number in case the service didn’t record it, then hung up.
“Not there?”Jaks ran a hand over Quentin’s hair in a gentle pet.He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.
“No.It went to voicemail.I’m hoping that doesn’t mean he was captured.”They had sent Brenton to investigate an unhinged vampire after all.As competent as the bounty hunter appeared, anything could’ve happened.“What now?”
“Now you rest and let me talk to the council.Maybe I can bring them around.”
