“We … uh … we just got attacked by a vampire, and I think it’s safe to say that homeboy was sent by Big, Bad Damien. Valen says we need you to help interrogate him since you can probe his mind.”
“Probe,” Levi chuckles. “Sure. We’ll be there as quick as we can, but please tell Uncle Valentine to never call it probing again.”
Before I can reply, he hangs up.
“They’ll be here,” I tell Valen.
He nods, hands on his hips as he stares down at the vampire. I wonder if he’s trying to figure out if he knows him.
“Good.”
Twenty minutes later, Levi and Luna let themselves into the apartment.
“What the hell?” Luna mutters, taking in the busted down door.
Levi waves his hand behind him and the open doorway glimmers a deep shade of purple. At my speculative look, he explains, “It’s a glamour. Any humans passing by will see a closed door.”
“Makes sense,” I mutter. It also makes me wonder what other powers he might be hiding. I don’t know much at all about the demon at this point.
Levi takes in the vampire who’s knocked out once more. The second he started stirring, Valen struck him across the face and knocked him out again.
Rolling up the sleeves of his gauzy black shirt, he sighs. “Let’s get to it.” He grabs the vampire’s head between his huge hands and murmurs something I can’t hear.
Nothing seems to happen at first, but then the vampire’s head raises and his eyes pop wide open. The orbs are glassy and out of it, which I take to mean Levi has infiltrated his mind.
“You attacked my uncle and future aunt. That’s not very nice, is it?” Levi croons and I shiver at his words. Yes, I’m mated to Valen, and I assume we’ll get married, but to hear those words from someone who looks to be my age is odd. “Tell me, what are you doing here?”
The vampire jolts in his hold, like he’s fighting theprobing, but soon settles.
“I’m here for the vampire. He made the boss angry, and he wanted me to snatch him and kill the pink-haired girl,” his deep voice replies.
Off to the side, I cross my arms and watch the whole thingwith Luna, who is in a similar position. I’m probably far too calm, considering this vampire just admitted that he came to kill me, but it looks like someone wanting me dead is becoming a regular thing.
“Why is this particular vampire so important?” Levi prompts, asking the question we’re all wondering.
“He’s the beginning of it all. As a fallen angel turned vampire, his blood is the most powerful. The purest.”
“Most powerful for what?” Valen interjects.
“Making vampires,” the vampire replies but twitches in an odd way.
“What’s wrong with him?” Luna asks, cringing.
“Besides the obvious beating he took?” Levi tilts his head over his shoulder to make eye contact while continuing to hold the guy’s head. “I can only do this for so long before he expires, so you better ask any other burning questions you have.”
“Making vampires?” Valen hums in thought. “Why would he need my blood for that?”
“The boss has created vampires for centuries, dating back to almost the dawn of modern humanity. He’s used different covers over the years to hide his tracks—such as operating as a government research program.”
I stiffen hearing that and wonder back to Zav and what Celine told me about his backstory. Is this vampire saying this whole time it was Damien behind the creation of vampires, including Zav? Those “experiments” by the government were a front?
“Continue,” Levi commands, his voice deep and booming.
“The boss has mastered various mutations and powers from the blood he’s collected and experimented with to create the kind of vampire he needs. Any iterations before then, he’s taken to eliminating whenhe can.”
His soulless eyes zero in on Luna and she grabs my arm for support. Levi growls and squeezes harder.
“Why is he creating vampires? What do you mean by the kind of vampire he needs?” Valen asks as the vampire starts to seize up. Shit, time is of the essence.
