CHAPTER TEN
Tucker picked them up outside the back entrance of P. Lynn, both vampires flanking her and scanning the moonlit rooftops as they hustled her into the back seat. She was already nervous just knowing some otherworldly being wanted her dead, but Tucker and Jonas’s overprotective nature really brought it home.
Someone wants me dead.
They could accomplish it and she might never know the reason.
Sure, they couldn’t kill her outright, but the best case scenario was being dropped into a perilous location and being required to use her wits to survive—and that wasn’t a best case anything. It was terrifying.
Jonas must have sensed she’d been spooked, because he pulled her into his side and rocked her gently, his mouth ghosting over her hair. They rode in silence for a moment, before Jonas sighed and took the blindfold out of his pocket, tying it across her eyes.
“For your protection,” he murmured near her ear.
Ginny didn’t answer.
To be honest, she believed him this time. There was an unusual tension in among Jonas and Tucker, an almost predatory stillness, as if they were preparing for an upcoming battle. A battle on her behalf.
What if something happened to them while protecting her?
The car stopped, interrupting her worry and tensing her muscles. The front passenger side door opened, the vehicle sagging under the weight of a fourth occupant.
“Elias,” Jonas greeted the newcomer, before lowering his voice to address her. “I have no choice but to bring you with me tonight, but you’ll be protected. You know that, right? There’s nothing to fear.”
Ginny’s pulse sprinted. “Where are we going?”
“I have a meeting with a freshly Silenced.”
“Oh.” She shifted in her seat. “Sure.”
“You’ll be alright, Ginny,” Tucker called from the front seat. “You’ve got three bad motherfuckers as bodyguards.”
“Could have been four bodyguards if Jonas hadn’t run off the slayer.”
“Her charge was dropped into the middle of a busy highway,” Jonas returned tersely. “I spoke only the truth.”
Elias didn’t respond for a beat. “If she’s gone off half-cocked to get revenge on whoever did it, I’m going to put her over my knee.”
“What did I tell you?” Tucker drawled. “Kinky as they come.”
“She’ll be back,” Jonas sighed. “She never stays away long.”
Ginny had the distinct feeling that Roksana would return thanks to the obvious connection between her and Elias, but now didn’t seem like the time to mention it. There might never be a good time, really, since she found Elias extremely intimidating and she’d never even seen his face. “How do the Freshly Silenced know to come to you, Jonas?”
“He comes highly recommended on vampire Yelp.” Tucker said.
“Really?” Ginny gasped. “Is that on the dark web or something?”
“He’s kidding,” Jonas said—and she sensed him smacking the back of Tucker’s headrest. “Newbies are easy to spot. Oftentimes one of our acquaintances puts us in contact. This time, Elias happened to…stumble across him while he was looking for Roksana.”
“He was feasting on a pigeon under the boardwalk,” Elias said. “Noisily.”
Ginny’s mouth fell open. “Poor little pigeon.” She turned in Jonas’s protective hold. “You said acquaintances sometimes put you in contact. Exactly how many vampires are there in the area?”
None of them answered.
“Wow. That many, huh?”
Jonas swiped a thumb over the back of her hand. “They can be somewhat…rowdy, so I’ll have you stay in the car. It’s somewhat confusing for them in the beginning.”
“Yeah,” Tucker agree. “Suddenly you’re catching on fire on your way to get the newspaper and your morning beer tastes like piss.”
“Yes, the quintessential experience,” Elias said dryly. “I assume we’re waiting in the car with the human? After all, it wouldn’t be wise for a vampire outside of our immediate circle to know we’re fraternizing with her. That information could be used against us with the High Order.”
Seconds ticked past. “I’m finding it difficult to have her out of my sight,” Jonas said unevenly.
Tucker whistled through his teeth.
Elias said nothing, but Ginny could sense his…dread, perhaps?
She couldn’t relate. Maybe she should be experiencing dread, but Jonas’s admission only made her feel as light and fluttery as a hummingbird. “I don’t like having you out of my sight, either,” she whispered.
“Well it’s a damn good thing she’ll be forgetting you shortly.” The front passenger seat creaked. “Isn’t it, Jonas?”
“We’re here,” Jonas said abruptly. “If any harm comes to her…”
“On my word, she’ll still be as cute as a button when you return,” Tucker called over his shoulder.
“It’s beyond me why you continue to take these clandestine meetings,” Elias groused. “The Freshly Silenced are not your responsibility.”
“Someone has to take responsibility for them,” Jonas said calmly. “Otherwise the cycle continues. Innocent people are turned. Without any official guidance or somewhere to turn, they kill a human in a blind bloodlust and they’re put to death by the High Order.”
“Like we’ve been telling you for years,” Tucker started, sounding serious for once. “You’re the only one in a position to challenge the King—”