Embracing Winter (Lords of Discord 4)

In all of this crowd, Fox couldn’t guess at where Winter was. Had he followed the vampire who went in search of Luke? Was he scouting out the rest of the house? Or was he right there in the living room with Fox, protecting him? He liked the latter thought best, but he figured it was safest to figure that Winter was searching the rest of the house. Fox needed to focus on possible escape routes if he needed to make a run for it on his own.

The plan was simple.

Get information about Damon’s plans.

When Winter gave the signal, which would be some kind of distraction, Fox was to run to the car.

A key to the SUV was hidden in the rear passenger-side wheel well.

He would drive to Rafe’s penthouse and wait for Winter to retrieve him.

The last bit was the real shit part. Fox hated the idea of leaving Winter behind. He wanted to fight with Winter, to protect the vampire’s back. But Fox couldn’t risk having a weapon on his body, and he didn’t know a single spell that could help protect Winter. His use went no further than bait or a distraction.

The vampire hideout was relatively quiet except for the sounds of footsteps. No sounds from a TV or music. No one seemed to be talking either. Just lots of staring.

Dear God, he was already missing the Variks.

Those people never stopped talking.

Or bickering.

Or teasing.

Or laughing.

Yeah, Damon had to be a real asshole to want to kill the Variks. They were wonderful, loving, compassionate people who actually cared about each other. Even when they thought he was going to kill them all, they still made sure he was comfortable and treated him with respect.

One of the silent vampires looked down at his leg and it was only then that he realized it was nervously bouncing. The longer he had to wait, the harder it was to sit still. What if they knew it was all a ruse? What if they saw him with Winter in the parking lot?

“Can he find me here?” Fox asked, trying to infuse as much fear as possible into his voice.

“Who?” a blond vampire who’d been watching him too closely asked.

“Winter Varik. He’s the one who kidnapped me from Damon’s. Do you think he’ll be able to find me here?”

“What? Did you lead him here?” Blondie surged forward, his plain face twisted with lines of fear.

“No. I mean, I don’t think so. He-he was still sleeping when I sneaked out.”

It was like watching terror form a wave and wash through the assembled vampires. Winter’s name was repeated over and over again in frightened whispers. Someone said, “Winter is coming” and it was like Game of Thrones had become infested with bloodsuckers rather than white walkers. It was both funny and creepy.

Were all those stories about Winter true?

They couldn’t be. He’d been sure Damon and his goons were just trying to scare him. This wasn’t the same man who held him when he slept and talked trash while they were playing video games. The man who’d kissed him so tenderly and frotted with him against the goddamn refrigerator couldn’t be the same one who terrorized his own kind.

“What the hell is going on?” a new voice thundered as someone descended from the second floor. The vampires huddled near the entrance to the living room parted to reveal a tall, lanky creature with deep auburn hair and thin, arched brows that slashed across his forehead. This was Luke. Winter had given him a bare-bones description of the vampire.

The guard who’d brought Fox into the house hurried over to Luke’s side and quickly whispered something into his ear. His expression did not improve, which was not a good sign. He’d been sure Damon would be eagerly searching for him, anxious to get him back under lock and key.

Luke looked horrified that he was there.

Tearing his deep russet brown eyes from Fox, he looked around at the gathered vampires. “Go! Double-check the premises to make sure a Varik didn’t follow him.” He swung to the guard who’d brought him the news. “Check the perimeter now!”

The guard hurried away, looking relieved that he didn’t have to deal with this new mess any further.

When the immediate area was finally cleared out, Luke turned his full attention on Fox. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“What?” Fox gasped, his brain locking up for a second. This was not the reaction he’d been expecting at all. Maybe he was just misunderstanding. “I’m trying to get to Damon. Winter Varik kidnapped me and brought me to his place. Damon says I’m the key to the prophecy.”

“Yes, the key to destroying the Variks!”

“I…I don’t understand.”

Luke clenched his fists in front of him and stomped over to Fox. He leaned down so that their noses nearly touched. “You’re supposed to destroy the Variks from the inside.”