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  I cracked my knuckles and followed his scent to a closed door. Behind it was a set of stairs and I sprinted down them, Nicholas close behind me. We both stood back to back in the middle of the unfinished room as we looked around.

  “There’s another door over there,” he said.

  I nodded and headed that way. It looked like it might have been a wine cellar, because there was a control panel right outside.

  I threw open the door and found a small room, filled with wine bottles and the stench of those assholes.

  “Massimo’s scent is strong,” Nicholas said.

  “He must have spent the day in here.”

  Nicholas took a step away from me before turning. “Let’s check upstairs.”

  We climbed back up to the main floor before taking the stairs to the second story. Charlotte’s scent was so strong, I had no trouble following it right to one of the doors in the hall. I turned the handle and stepped inside, but what I found almost knocked me back out of the room.

  Blood covered the walls, big pools of crimson littered the floor, and most of the furniture in the room was broken. I inhaled deeply, but it wasn’t Charlotte’s blood everywhere.

  Nicholas slowly walked past me, his hands noticeably shaking. “It’s Adrienne’s,” he whispered.

  I watched as his eyes moved around the room, from splatter to puddle to smear. He took it all in, cataloguing every bit of his mate’s blood that painted the walls.

  “She had Charlotte,” I said quietly. “I’m sure she fed her, so she could heal from this.”

  Nicholas nodded slowly, but his eyes were still distant, and I figured he could use a moment alone. I turned to follow Charlotte’s scent through the room, and it led me to a walk-in closet.

  In it, I found myself living the nightmare that Nicholas was stuck in.

  Charlotte’s scent was so strong there because her blood had been spilled. There were stains and smudges all over the floor, making it clear there’d been a struggle. I carefully searched for every bit of her blood I could find and only breathed a sigh of relief when I was confident it wasn’t enough to kill her.

  “Alexander, look at this.”

  I left the closet to find Nicholas crouched beside a large dresser. “Look over there,” he said, pointing behind him. “I think this dresser was originally along that wall.”

  I found the scrapes in the hardwood floor that meant something heavy had been dragged across it. “Why would they move this here?”

  Nicholas stood up and dusted off his hands, eyes bright with anger. “My guess was it had been shoved up against this closet door during the daylight hours.”

  Realization dawned on me slowly. “So Charlotte couldn’t escape.”

  Nicholas nodded. “That would be my guess.”

  I looked back at the closet as my stomach twisted with more understanding. “That’s where her blood came from,” I muttered to myself, as I finally untangled the mess in my head.

  “What’s that?”

  The anger was clogging my throat, and I had to clear it in order to speak. “I believe he beat Adrienne and then left her and Charlotte in that closet in the hopes Adrienne would kill her when she woke, injured and starving.”

  Nicholas’ eyes widened slowly as the truth sank in for him. His hands fisted at his sides as he nodded once. “We need to get back to the city. Now.”

  Chapter 13

  Nicholas

  “Why are we taking the fucking Throggs Neck?”

  I ignored Alexander and his foul mouth as I sailed through a toll and drove onto the lengthy suspension bridge. I should have known that wouldn’t be the end of it, though.

  “Talbot. We’re supposed to be going to Manhattan. What the fuck are we doing heading toward Queens?”

  I grit my teeth and decided to answer him. I knew he wouldn’t shut up if I didn’t. “We’re going to the prison.”

  “Why the hell are we going there? Massimo won’t go anywhere near that place.”

  “We need to investigate.”

  Alexander’s sigh was almost a growl as he twisted in his seat to face me. “Why the fuck are we investigating the prison? Don’t you have people to do that for you? We need to get to Manhattan where we know Massimo is bringing our mates.”

  I shook my head slowly. “I want to see it for myself.”

  Alexander sighed again as he tossed himself backward in the seat. “Then you should have dropped my ass off in the city first. I don’t need to go to the fucking prison.”

  My temper got the best of me in that moment as I turned to spear him with a look. “And what would you do if I dropped you off in the city? Walk the streets looking for them? Pass out flyers? Do you think any of that would actually be helpful?”

  “At least we’d be in the same goddamn borough!”

  Why had I never noticed before how trying this man could be?

  “If we want to find them, we have to learn more about Massimo. We need to figure out what his endgame is, or we’ll never catch up.” I turned to shoot Alexander another scathing look. “Running around Manhattan isn’t going to get us anywhere, and I’m not willing to waste time on a fool’s errand. We’re doing things my way.”

  He slumped in his seat and snorted. “Like I have a fucking choice.”

  I decided to ignore his last statement and instead concentrate on the road. New Yorkers were notorious for being reckless drivers, and that night was no different. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic to contend with though, and we arrived at the prison a short time later.

  Matthew Garza, the warden of the prison, was already outside waiting for us when I opened the door.

  “Mr. Talbot, allow me to express my deepest apologies. I don’t know how this happened, but we’re doing everything in our power to figure it out and prevent something like this in the future.”

  I held up a hand to prevent any further useless words from tumbling from his mouth. To say I was furious this happened would be an understatement, but I’d have time to clean house later. Once my mate was returned to me.

  “I want to see his cell.”

  Garza nodded as he ushered us ahead of him. “Of course. It’s this way.”

  “I know where it is,” I said between gritted teeth. “Maybe your time would be better spent trying to figure out how this was allowed to happen in your prison instead of kissing my ass.”

  Garza’s eyes widened as he nodded again. “Of course, Mr. Talbot. We’re already working on that.”

  “See that you figure it out or I’ll find a new warden who isn’t so incompetent.”

  His pale face blanched as I stormed past him.

  “That was harsh, Talbot,” Alexander hissed from beside me.

  I shook my head. “His oversight led to the abduction of my mate by one of the most dangerous criminals they’ve ever housed in this prison. My reaction was justified.”

  “Oh, I completely agree. And I probably would have put my fist through his face if I were you. I just didn’t expect that coming from the always-stoic-Talbot.”

  I turned to glare at him, but he was just smiling back, and that annoyed me further. I was absolutely aware that Alexander enjoyed getting under my skin, but now was not the time to let him.

  We made it to the sub-level that housed most of the inmates. Unfortunately, this prison wasn’t set up to separate the criminals by their crimes. Another oversight I had every intention of fixing once this mess was over.

  As soon as Adrienne was back where she belonged.

  I nodded to the warden who’d followed us down here. “Have them open Massimo Romano’s cell.”

  He nodded as we continued down the corridor past other prisoners behind UV lights. Some called out to us, but I ignored them all. My only focus was learning everything I could about Massimo.

  When we arrived at his cell, the bars were disabled so we were able to enter. It had a standard issue bed and a sink, and that was about it. The mattress was already tossed onto the floor, likely done when thi
s cell was searched the first time, but I still flipped it over to check for myself.

  “What are we looking for exactly?” Alexander asked.

  I got down on my hands and knees to peer under the metal bed frame. “Anything that can help.”

  He sighed loudly, but I ignored that too. Instead, I stayed on the ground and crawled around the perimeter, making sure I examined every inch of his space.

  “Talbot, you look ridiculous.”

  “I don’t give a damn.”

  “You know you have vampire sight, right? You don’t have to crawl around on the floor like a dog to get a better view.”

  I turned to glare at him. “Will you shut up?”

  He shrugged and turned away. He might have been outwardly protesting about searching this cell, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted over every inch of the place. I knew he was looking just as hard as I was, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

  I’d seen almost everything I could see and was just about to climb to my feet when something caught my eye. I crawled to the front of the cell and leaned in closer.

  The heavy scent of blood hit my nose before I recognized what I was looking at. “Hausle, come here.”

  Alexander’s heavy boots crossed the space toward me. “Yeah?”

  “This is blood.”

  He was quiet as he crouched beside me. “It’s old,” he said.

  I nodded. “At least a week.”

  “But what the fuck is it doing inside the cell of a prisoner who’s supposed to be dry?”

  I looked up at him before glancing toward the warden heading our way. “Good goddamn question,” I muttered. “Garza,” I called as I stood. “How did your men miss the blood on the floor over here?”

  He rushed to my side and dropped to his knees to get a better look at what I was pointing at. “I… don’t know,” he said slowly. “This must be the prisoner’s blood. Perhaps he hurt himself on the UV bars?”

  I almost couldn’t contain the eye roll. “First of all, that’s not Romano’s blood. Second, the UV lights wouldn’t make him bleed, they’d make him burn.”

  I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath in through my mouth and let it out slowly through my nose. “Garza, do you know what this tells me?”

  I opened my lids again to see the prison warden visibly sweating.

  “No, Mr. Talbot. I don’t know.”

  My jaw was clenched so tight, I was surprised the words even made it through my teeth. “This tells me that one of your employees was feeding one of your inmates right under your nose.”

  Garza’s eyes widened. “Sir, I have no idea how that would have happened. The blood bags are under lock and key at all times, and we’re very regimented about how they’re handed out. I don’t know how an inmate who was supposed to be dry could have gotten ahold of one.”

  Now, my jaw was aching. “Garza,” I barked. “The blood is Ivan Van der Waal’s. He didn’t give Massimo blood from the bank, he fed him himself! How did they get away with that in your prison?”

  The warden shook his head slowly, eyes darting from side to side. “I don’t know, sir. But I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  I pushed past him as I stormed out of the cell. “No need. I’ll do it myself.”

  I heard Alexander following me as I stormed over to the elevator.

  “I think he just wet himself,” he muttered once we were inside, heading upstairs.

  My lips twitched with a reluctant smirk. “Did you think you were the only one who could be scary?”

  Alexander grinned. “I’m a hundred times scarier than you, Talbot.”

  I shrugged. “I have the power of Parliament behind me.”

  Alexander’s grin turned feral. “Yeah, and I have a reputation for ripping off heads behind me.”

  This time I did laugh. “You know, I should have fired you for killing Webber.”

  It was his turn to shrug. “Yeah, but the board didn’t even find me guilty of killing that asshole.” He slammed one fist against the opposite palm as he looked away. “Bastard should have known better than to fuck with a claimed human.”

  He wasn’t wrong, but he’d also been ripping a lot of heads off lately and starting to set a bad example. Maybe when all of this was over, I’d send him on a month-long vacation and call it a suspension.

  Hell, maybe I’d join him.

  “Where are we going now?” Alexander asked as the elevator doors opened.

  “Blood bank. I want to know more about Van der Waal.”

  There was a soft, feminine gasp from down the hall, and I turned to find a young vampire with dark curly hair hurrying toward us. “Are you talking about Ivan? Do you know where he is?”

  I frowned. “No. I don’t. Who are you?”

  “I’m Charlene. I’m Ivan’s girlfriend and I’m worried because he hasn’t been home in two nights.”

  Alexander stepped in front of me before I could answer her. “Charlene, let’s go have a chat.” He ushered her down the hallway toward the break room as I hurried after them.

  “I’ve called him a hundred times, and it goes right to voicemail. He hasn’t returned my texts or emails either. I’m starting to worry something bad happened to him,” Charlene continued to prattle as she sat down in an old wooden chair, and we took seats opposite her.

  “When is the last time you saw him?” I asked.

  Charlene fiddled with her hands in her lap as she answered. “Saturday, here at the prison. He was supposed to come right home after his shift. When the sun rose and he still wasn’t back, I assumed he got stuck at work and spent the day here. But that was Saturday night and now it’s Monday and I still haven’t heard from him.”

  “How long have you and Van der Waal been dating?” Alexander asked next.

  “Only a few months, but things were getting serious. He even moved in with me a few weeks ago.”

  That would explain why he hadn’t been home to his apartment in all that time. It was clear Charlene had played a part in this plot, even if it was without her knowledge. But the question remained, how big of a role did she have?

  “So, he kept personal items at your place?” Alexander asked.

  Charlene nodded. “Of course. He has all his things there.”

  My heart leapt in my chest as I realized this might be the break we needed. This might be the thing that helped me find Adrienne.

  “We need to search your apartment.”

  Charlene turned to me with a frown. “Why? Do you think that’ll help find him?”

  I had a feeling she didn’t knowingly participate in this plan between Massimo and Ivan, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Which meant I needed to lie. Even if I found it distasteful.

  “Yes, we believe it could help.”

  She nodded again, slower this time. “Okay, I can bring you there as soon as I’m off.”

  Alexander and I both stood at the same time as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “You’re off now,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  We followed Charlene home, which thankfully wasn’t too far away. When she pulled up to an apartment building in Brooklyn, I recognized it as one of the few entirely vampire safe dwellings in this part of the city. She led us up a dark stairwell to her third-floor apartment.

  As soon as she unlocked the door, we hurried past her. “Is there anything I can help you find?” she called after us.

  I stopped in the middle of the living room, my eyes assessing every inch of the place. “Where did Ivan keep his things?”

  She waved a hand. “All over, kind of. Oh, and he has a bunch of stuff in the spare room. He doesn’t like me to go in there though because he’s afraid I’ll mess something up,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Which one is the spare room?” Alexander asked.

  She pointed down the hall. “Third door on the left.”

  He disappeared as I turned back to her. “What about the bedroom? Did he keep personal items in there as well?”

  Charlen
e shrugged. “Of course. You can go look if you want. It’s the last door on the right.”

  I hurried to the bedroom, using my exceptional speed to search through the dresser drawers and closet shelves, but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

  “Talbot! You need to see this,” Alexander called.

  I raced toward his voice but came to a screeching halt in the doorway. With slower steps, I twisted my head back and forth as I tried to take everything in.

  The walls were covered in pictures, some far away, some close up, but all of them candid and obviously taken without the subject’s knowledge. And I recognized every face.

  Every single picture in that room was of a member of the Parliament board. Me included. I swallowed past the dry lump in my throat as I found pictures of me and Adrienne pinned to the wall as well.

  “What the hell is all this?” I muttered, not expecting an answer in return.

  “The endgame,” Alexander said anyway.

  I turned to find him staring at a stack of papers. When I made my way over, I saw it was an invoice. For a shipping container.

  “It’s headed to Italy in two days,” he said.

  My stomach dropped as I realized how close I’d come to losing my mate for good. I was sure once Massimo got to Italy, he’d have a hundred more resources. He’d have no problem disappearing for however long he wanted, and I’d never see her again.

  Which was unacceptable.

  I reached for my phone, just as it rang. “Talbot.”

  “Sir, it’s Sutherland.”

  I frowned as I wondered what the head of this branch of Parliament had anything to do with the mess I was in. “Yes. What is it?”

  “We found his body in his apartment and his head staked to the roof. We tried to revive him, but he’s dead.”

  My heart sank as the news slowly settled in my brain. It would mean a huge upheaval at Parliament, but I hardly had time to think about that right now. “What does this have to do with me?”

  “Sir, Romano and Van der Waal’s scents were all over that apartment. We’re confident they’re responsible.”

  Son of a bitch.