“It’s not the best plan in the world, but…” Miklós moved closer. “Kaj knows a couple of humans who’ve helped him out in the past. They can be here in an hour, which is a hell of a lot sooner than we can get out of here.”
“Kaj?” Eclipse frowned.
Miklós nodded. “When he didn’t come back this morning, Obsidian called him to check in. The male asked for a favor. Wants to take up residence in the old mansion. Obsidian gave him the go-ahead but told him to be expecting him to call in a favor. This is him calling it in.”
Lovely. Eclipse could only imagine what sort of humans dallied with the fucking vampires.
“It’s the only option we’ve got,” Miklós stated.
He hated that the male was right.
“Plus, I took the liberty of putting a tracker in Orianna’s cell phone.”
Eclipse’s head snapped up. “You can call her?”
“Not exactly. However, Kandarie is doing some work to get the number. In the meantime…” Miklós turned his laptop around.
“What the fuck am I looking at?” Eclipse grumbled.
“At least we know where she is. That’s a city-run hospital. My guess is, Orianna’s father convinced them to hold her for seventy-two hours. It’s not surprising that Orianna would go with her.”
Yeah, but she could’ve at least told him first.
Then again, it would’ve drawn attention to them, the police would’ve had questions, and since Elizabeth had no knowledge of them being down there … yeah, it could’ve been ugly. No wonder Orianna had caved to their request.
Eclipse managed to breathe in deeply, exhale slowly. Some of the fire in his blood simmered down, the risk of an inferno being snuffed out. At least temporarily.
The sound of a door opening overhead drew all their attention upward.
Miklós closed the computer lid at the same time Eclipse killed the lights with his mind.
“My name’s still on the deed.”
Orianna’s father. He was back.
“Yep. Free and clear.”
Eclipse had no idea who the human was talking to, but based on the muffled response, he was alone. Which meant he was on the phone.
“The house is paid for. It’s got to be a quick sell. Cash only. As-is.”
Son of a bitch. The bastard was a real tool. Selling the house right out from under his crippled wife.
“Between that and the life insurance policy I’ve got on Amber … yeah, I’ll be able to cover my debt.”
The bastard. He knew Amber was dead?
More muffled chatter ensued.
“Then we’ll be square, right? And since Amber’s no longer a problem, you’ll call off your dogs?” There was a lengthy pause, followed by, “No. Orianna’s not gonna be an issue. If she tries to interfere, I know who to call to get her out of the way.” More air. “Yeah. I know. You won’t see or hear from me again.”
No one would, Eclipse thought. He would make damn sure of it.
Eclipse glanced over at Magnar. Without saying a word or implanting any thoughts, he expressed exactly what he felt on the subject. Magnar nodded, the only response needed to confirm he’d understood what Eclipse expected once they got out of this fucking basement.
By the time the sun lowered enough Eclipse wouldn’t be turned to ash, he was hanging by a very fragile thread. Without giving a shit as to who might be waiting upstairs, he slammed his way through the door and into the kitchen.
“I want everything packed up. Fast. Get it back to the mansion,” Eclipse ordered Miklós. “And Magnar…?”
