Captivated (Deep in Your Veins 6)

Sam frowned. “And, what, he didn’t like Chanel or something?”

“On the contrary, he adored her,” replied Dion. “He thought her ‘different’ from the women in his past—all of whom had betrayed him in some sense. He wanted to Bind himself to her. She promised it would happen one day. Others could see she was toying with him, but Castor was blind to it. Until he caught her in bed with another man. It took a few more betrayals on her part before he left her. He found another woman. A good one. But, as Chanel did not like to share her toys, she had his woman killed. In short, Chanel ruined him. She ruined many vampires in such a way, so it was no surprise that one eventually turned on her. Castor mourned her even while he hated her.”

“And when he looks at Lexi, he remembers a woman who put him through hell?” asked Sam.

“A woman who never saw his worth, who didn’t see him as good enough to rule the nest alongside her, who—with the exception of the time she Turned him—never allowed him to feed from her.”

Which might shed some light on the situation, but … “It doesn’t excuse that he’s been treating Lexi like a piece of shit,” I cut in. “He’s essentially making her pay for what another woman did to him.” I hissed out a breath. “I should have done worse than slap him around a little last night.”

“Slap him around a little?” echoed Sam, her mouth curved, her voice ringing with disbelief. “From what I heard, you broke four of his ribs and dislocated his jaw.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t say they were light slaps.”

Dion blinked at me. “You did what?”

Rather than answer his question, I fired one of my own at him. “Where would Castor go?”

Dion thought on it for long moments and then shrugged. “I am not sure where he will choose to lay low. I only know that you will find it difficult to locate him. He is most adept at hiding.”

“But not as adept as our trackers are at hunting,” Jared pointed out.

Dion sighed. “No, not that adept.”

The Grand High Pair asked him a few more questions before we filed out of the apartment.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of Dion,” Jared began. “But Evan telepathed me a minute ago. He found evidence of a trail on the eastern side of the rainforest. The trail stops near a river that isn’t far from the edge of a cliff. It seems likely that Castor swam across the river, jumped over the cliff, and hightailed it to the nearest island.”

“Likely, yes,” said Sam. “Even probable. But not for certain. And that bugs me.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “We need to talk with Lexi.”

Um, we did?

“She’s probably at work,” Sam mused. She turned to Jared. “Can you bring her to our office at the Command Centre?”

“Sure,” replied Jared, who then teleported away.

Before I could ask Sam why she wanted to speak with Lexi, she was rushing off in a blur. Knowing where she was heading, I followed her to the Command Centre at vampire momentum. Fletcher usually sat outside the office, but his desk was currently empty. Sam didn’t comment on it, so I guessed that his shift hadn’t yet began.

Following her into the office after she’d unlocked the door, I asked, “Why are you summoning Lexi?”

“I would have thought it was obvious. We have to warn her what’s happening.”

I felt my brows dip. “She probably already knows that Castor’s gone. News travels fast on the island and …” I squinted as realisation dawned on me. “Wait, you think he might come for her, don’t you?”

Sam gave me a grim look. “It’s a possibility.”

It hadn’t occurred to me until then, but Sam was right. Motherfucker.

Just then, Jared appeared in the middle of the room with Lexi. Just looking at her made my chest tighten. I wanted to yank her to me, hold her tight, and kiss the breath from her lungs.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in the shit,” Sam assured her, taking the seat behind her desk. “We just need to talk to you.”

“Should I take it that you haven’t found Castor yet?” asked Lexi. “Because you don’t appear happy.”

“A trail was found, but it ended near a river that’s pretty close to a cliff-face,” Sam told her. “It looks like Castor did one of two things. Either he crossed the river, went over the cliff, and then swam off. Or he used the river to help hide his tracks and is still on the island somewhere. The first scenario seems the likeliest, so we’ll be sending trackers to find and retrieve him. But we need to be prepared for both possibilities. He’d be a fool to stick around but, well, Castor’s kind of a fool. We’d like you to agree to a twenty-four/seven guard until we can confirm Castor is gone.”