Rare Vigilance (Whitethorn Agency)

“Father’s on edge and talking about this around him wouldn’t be wise.”

“But you did talk to him?”

“Oh, yes. I told him something was hunting vampires in his territory, but when he found out who was being hunted, he told me he had bigger problems to focus on first.” Cristian didn’t bother to hide his resentment of Decebal’s dismissive attitude. “Compassion costs capital, it seems.”

“Maybe he’ll come around,” Atlas said.

Cristian traced the top of the cardboard sleeve. “When I told him what I thought was hunting our people, he told me it was impossible. That I was imagining things that didn’t exist.”

The sharp smile twisting Atlas’s mouth was involuntary, and he tried to hide it with a sip of his drink. “Sounds about right.”

“He has to be lying,” Cristian said incredulously.

“Maybe, but if he doesn’t want to give you answers, you’re shit out of luck.”

Cristian took a slow sip of his drink before glancing away and muttering, “Not quite.”

“What did you do?”

“I might have reached out to a few other people. One of them wants to meet to talk about it. She said it was something she couldn’t discuss over the phone. There’s just one problem.”

Atlas closed his eyes and prayed for patience. “Which is?”

“Father can’t know. He doesn’t like her, so we can’t meet anywhere nearby.”

“Where would we be meeting her?” Atlas asked.

Cristian winced. “The Mollycoddle. A pub outside Desolation House.”

It was a confirmation of his suspicions, but he balked at the answer anyway. “Wait, Desolation House...that town by the wilderness area?” It was a long drive, far longer than anything they’d done before, including their ill-fated trip to Hahn Lake. “When?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Impossible.”

Cristian’s mouth set in a stubborn line. God, he was digging in for a fight, which was never a good sign. “Father’s got a donor’s dinner and then has to finish up work at the clinic. He’ll be gone all night. I got his schedule from Helias. If we leave right when you get here, we’ll have plenty of time to get back before anyone knows we were gone.”

That wasn’t his concern. He was more concerned about their attending a strange meeting in a quiet rural town far away from Decebal and any backup they might need. “Why there?”

“Neutral territory.” Cristian nudged at the grass with the toe of his shoe. “It’s in the no-man’s-land between Father’s boundaries and some others’ territories. We’re less likely to run into anyone who could cause problems.”

“This is a terrible plan,” Atlas warned. Cristian nodded, but it wasn’t enough. Atlas needed to see him, to read his face and expressions, to make sure he knew the truth, not the pretty stories Cristian told everyone else. “Well, Mr. Slava?”

Cristian huffed, but finally looked up, flushed with embarrassment or irritation. “Yes,” he admitted. “But it’s the best I could come up with.”

“If I refused to drive you there, what would you do?” Atlas asked him. His eyes flicked to the side and Atlas hummed low in his throat. “Eyes front, Cristian.”

He obeyed beautifully. His relieved exhalation at the command, the tightness that fell away from the corners of his eyes and mouth, even his relaxed stance as he faced Atlas now, all involuntary reactions. A moment later, Cristian realized what he’d done, but it was too late to deny it. There was no way Atlas would make him try to deny it. No, such trust deserved to be protected, not mocked. The more he learned what Cristian did for those in his care, the more he understood its value.

“Good,” Atlas murmured and he swore Cristian’s pupils dilated even more, until his irises were thin rings of color barely visible from the distant lights of the house. “Now, answer my question. If I didn’t drive you to this meeting, what would you do?”

“Find someone else to help me get there,” he said.

“Who?”

His free hand—the one not clutched around his coffee—clenched into a fist and released. He smelled of peppermint and coffee and cream and desperation. “Probably Andrei. He’s offered to drive me anywhere you won’t.”

Of course Andrei would make such an offer. He didn’t like or trust Atlas, and this was an easy way to earn Cristian’s favor. “Will you go with me?” Cristian asked when the silence had stretched too long.