A Visitor’s Guide to Guarded Vampires
Page 97
“Nothing. He went in, never came out. Nobody else did either.”
It’s been two days since we saw him at the nightclub, and we’re no closer to connecting him to any of the other missing people.
Nick’s in the shower. I’m at the breakfast nook with coffee, scrolling through news websites and police social media pages, when I see her. The same woman who left the Aurora Room on Dominic’s arm. Jessica Stephens, twenty-six, last seen Thursday.
She didn’t come home that night.
“Nick!”
He arrives dripping, a towel around his waist. Luca comes running in a moment later, covered in grease. I show them my phone, and Nick’s expression darkens.
“Who’s that?” Luca asks, leaning in for a closer look.
“The woman we saw leaving the club with Dominic,” I say. “We might be the last people to have seen her.”
Nick reaches for his phone, dialing. “Anna. We need to talk. At Mom’s. In one hour.”
Chapter 39
Nick
Anna’s Jeep comes up Mom’s driveway too fast, and she knocks on the front door a second later.
I could take this to the council. If I’m wrong about Dominic, I’ve accused a clan in front of the room that’s about to rule on Ellery. So it’s Anna first. She argued for Ellery to stay in the room, and she did it to her father’s face. That’s the most she’s given this family in four years.
“Thanks for coming.”
She stops on the step, shifting warily. She hasn’t set foot in this house since Sebastian left, and she doesn’t come in until I’ve stopped holding the door for her. I lead her to the kitchen where Mom, Ellery, and Luca wait.
“Would you like a drink, honey?” Mom asks.
Anna shakes her head, standing as far from my family as possible, hovering near the entryway. Mom felt the hole Anna left the hardest. No matter how many times I swore to Anna we hadn’t known Sebastian was going to bail, she never believed me.
I get straight to the point.
“We think Dominic could be turning or killing humans, and we have enough evidence to link him to multiple missing persons. I’d like your help.”
“Dominic?” She snorts. “He’s got one brain cell, and he shares it with his dog.”
“A dumb idiot is just as dangerous as a smart one.”
“No. You don’t get to pin this on my family.” She squares her shoulders. “Turning humans without approval would end the Pact. Dominic’s a fool, but he’s not suicidal. He loves his life too much. And he’s certainly not clever enough to hide it from me.”
“Take a look for yourself.” Ellery hands over the folder she’s compiled, cross-referencing Dominic’s social posts and locations with the missing people.
Anna takes it by the corner with two fingers, arm half-extended, ready to give it back. She’s restless, like she doesn’t have time for any of this. Whatever she sees there makes her read the first page. Then read it again.
Her face is blank, but her hand tightens around the edge of the folder.
“Fuck,” she says flatly, tossing the papers on the table. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.” She turns to leave.
“We’ll take care of it.” There’s no way I’m leaving this to the Renards to clean up unsupervised. Constantin is just as likely to dismiss Dominic’s actions with a slap on the wrist as he is to stake the guy, and neither of those outcomes work for me. He needs a fair trial and punishment under the laws of the Pact.
“Fine. But we’ll have to find him first. He’s out hunting with my father.” She’s already halfway to the door.
“Nick,” Ellery says.
“I’ll meet you outside,” I say to Anna as she leaves.