Crimson Truth (Onyx Assassins 4)

Alek ignored my mother’s insult, too busy doling out more orders to his servant, who’d appeared through one of the many doorways into this dining room.

“Serge will prepare a room for you,” Alek said as his servant bowed his head. “I’d like you to stay close in case you remember anything else.”

“Make up the room next to mine,” Benedict added toward the servant who was already halfway out the door. He bowed again before disappearing.

I arched a brow at Benedict. “Don’t trust me, Bennyben?”

“Stop calling me that.” His voice was ice and silk, and the threat in it only made me rise from my seat and round the table to face him head on.

“Or what?” I challenged, enjoying sinking into this familiar battle of words between us rather than thinking about what had happened and where Avi was, and what she might be going through. Fuck, I had to find her.

Benedict parted his lips, but Alek stood up, cutting him off. “Enough,” Alek said. “We have to work together on this. I need to find Avianna, at all costs. Lachlan already has the war room prepped, Benedict. We need to move.”

I swallowed hard, nodding. “I can help,” I said. “Maybe.” I looked between the two assassins, wondering how mother would feel about me offering my tracking services to them. She’d found out about me helping Valor escape the highlander’s grasp for months on end and had publicly punished me for it. I still had the magical marks on my back to prove it.

“We’re listening,” Benedict hissed.

“I can run a location spell on her,” I said. “I know her essence pretty well. I’ll do my best to see if I can trace it. But,” I said, sighing as I ran my fingers through my long lavender hair. Goddess, I needed a shower.

“Speak, witch,” Benedict snapped, and I raised my brows at the slip in his usual reserved calm.

I stepped closer to him, challenge lighting up my eyes. “There’s only one place I like to be ordered around, Benedict,” I said, accentuating his name with as much lust and heat as I could, just to get a rise out of him. And it worked, if the way his throat bobbed up and down was any indication. I licked my lips, flashing him a teasing smile. “And that’s the bedroom.”

Alek let out a low growl, and I took a step away from a still fuming Benedict.

“But,” Alek urged, pretending like I hadn’t said anything to his lie detector at all.

“But,” I continued. “With the ancient power the Hunters have, I’m not sure if my spells will work. I’ll have to try several, I’m sure. But I will do everything and anything to help you get her back.”

Something loosened in Benedict’s eyes, and Alek actually dipped his head. “Thank you,” he said, and my mouth dropped open in shock.

Becoming friends with Avi had been easy, but I was damn well close to making best buds with the fucking vampire king. Not to mention his unnerving as hell lie detector assassin.

“Tell Benedict what you need,” Alek said. “He’ll make sure you have it. I’ll need you to retire to your room while we question the remaining Hunters.”

On a normal night, I might’ve pushed back at the way he’d said retire like it wasn’t an actual order, but tonight wasn’t a normal night. Not after what happened, and definitely not with that still-cold terror clinging to my skin.

It wasn’t often I was surprised or bested, and I didn’t fucking like it.

I nodded to Alek, walking toward the servant who waited patiently in the doorway to take me to my room. I hated that I couldn’t help but look back, locking with the cool eyes of Benedict, who silently screamed he’d be watching me even when I didn’t know it.

I hurried out of the room, suddenly grateful I was being shown to a more private space. I needed time to think, time to sort my mind out, but most of all I needed time to plot. Because those assholes had taken my friend, and I was one witch they shouldn’t have fucked with.

3

Benedict

“I’m telling you that he would never do this,” Dagon snapped, his eyes sliding into a darker, navy-blue color than his usual hazel. Being around the hunter took a little getting used to, especially since his elemental powers manifested in his eyes whenever his temper flared.

“Is blue bad?” I asked Ajax under my breath as we sat around the onyx table of the war room.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of the Aquaman-doppelganger's lips. “Better than yellow.”

But never red. Red was the color of bloodmadness, the only affliction that scared the shit out of every vampire with half a brain.

“Half hour,” Lachlan warned.

In thirty minutes, we’d be in Conclave with the other supernaturals, and Alek would be forced into a position of weakness by admitting that two days had passed and we were no closer to finding Avianna or the twins.