Page 31 of Bonded By Blood
Trista pushed to her feet and walked up to them, up to him, scrutinizing him blatantly. “So this is the boy who’s friends with the werewolves.” It was a statement, not a question.
Joe refrained from arguing the “boy” part. Rationally he was basically a fetus in comparison, but they both knew the phraseology was designed to demean him. This just wasn’t the time, or place, to speak up. Instead, he simply replied, “I am.”
She narrowed her sharp gaze at him. “I didn’t give you permission to speak.”
“Mother,” Brianna said on a sigh. “Can we focus on the problem at hand? Joe’s friendships are hardly relevant.”
Trista’s stare shifted to Brianna briefly. “We’ll see about that.” She turned and retraced her steps, waving one hand in a classically dismissive gesture. “But you’re at least partially right. Troy Wilson’s escape is our current priority.” She settled again in her chair. “You say this one was with you when you heard, but what about when it happened?”
Brianna glanced to Joe and motioned toward a small sofa. “You can sit.” Then she turned and claimed a seat in a chair similar to Trista’s. “Yes, Mother. He was with me the entire time. Whoever helped Troy escape, it wasn’t Joe.”
“Hmm.” The lack of belief in that response was inspiring.
“For what it’s worth, my Queen,” one of the men who’d been quietly seated along the far wall said, standing and stepping forward slowly. “This was the first day Mr. Pearce left his room. For him to have snuck down to the dungeon and successfully freed Mr. Wilson unseen, let alone to then make it back to Lady Brianna’s side before the escape was detected, is highly improbable.”
Also, I wouldn’t set free a guy who wanted me dead. But Joe didn’t say that. He didn’t say anything. He did appreciate the man speaking up, even if he resented the necessity of it.
“Yes, yes,” Trista said on a sigh. “You’re right.” She leaned her head back against the headrest. “Still, it would be much easier for a simple answer.”
“Which was my concern,” Brianna said. “What we need is the real answer.” She waited a couple of seconds, long enough for her mother to look at her. “I assume the traitor is also the one who attacked Garvin. I want them found as much as you do.”
“Yes, I heard your blood slave was injured. He’d better recover quickly. I’d like to know what he was doing in that area.”
Joe nearly blanched. Blood slave? That wasn’t remotely how Brianna had explained the situation.
“You mean in the area near the front door?” Brianna asked, a bit of incredulity coloring her voice. “I can’t imagine what any employee was doing in one of the main pathways of the house.”
“If he was an innocent victim it will all be cleared up as soon as he’s stable,” Trista replied.
“Maybe we should start with looking at who was on guard duty?” Brianna suggested.
“The guards are dead. Seth is due home within the hour, he’ll be questioning their closer associates, as well as the previous shift.”
Joe frowned. He supposed it wasn’t too shocking to hear the guards had died in Troy’s escape. But the other thing Trista had said stuck with him. Seth. The name rang a bell. He vaguely remembered meeting a vampire named Seth two years prior, in the aftermath of his first attack.
“Seth?” Brianna asked after a couple of seconds. “Why not Jasen?”
“They’ll be expecting Jasen,” Trista said. “Seth was already returning to assist with the hunt for Tobias. Now he’ll be starting with this.” Her expression hardened, but it didn’t linger on Joe long enough for him to take what she said next personally. “His only job will be to flush out whoever’s betrayed us, so I can watch as that traitor’s head is removed from their shoulders as slowly as inhumanly possible.”
Joe looked over in time to see Brianna close her eyes. Her lips were pressed tightly together, as if some part of her wanted to speak up, but she didn’t. Because she didn’t dare or because she didn’t wholly disagree, he couldn’t tell. In truth, he wasn’t sure which was more accurate for himself, either.
When the room fell into strained silence, Joe glance toward the pair of seated men along the far wall. Everything about them, including their chairs, was unassuming. Designed to blend in and be out of the way. Seated, it was hard to tell their height, though Joe recalled the one who’d earlier spoken up had seemed a little shorter than average. Below six foot, at least. Both appeared middle-aged, for whatever that was actually worth, and wore nice but neutral, classically dark clothing. One dressed in dark gray and rich brown, the other in a blue so dark it could easily pass as black in the wrong lighting. They kept their hair neat. One sported a shadow of a beard along the bottom of his jaw, and they sat with almost identically stiff postures. The one who’d spoken on Joe’s behalf before frowned, his eyes crinkling, as if he were struggling with his emotions. But he didn’t make a sound.
Joe tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. Of course there was another breathtaking crystal chandelier overhead. This one was larger than most of the ones he’d seen on the tour. It was on, providing most of the light in the room since the curtains were drawn, so looking directly at it for more than a few seconds sort of burned. He shifted his gaze past it, staring at nothing, trying to convince himself the weight in the room was in his head. Of course it was a tense situation, and of course everyone was upset on at least some level, but the silence was so oppressive he felt as if it were nearly crushing him.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Trista said without warning. There was an annoyed tone in her voice that prevented Joe from relaxing after the initial jolt that had shot through him at the intrusion of sound.
He glanced around the room, noted a lifted eyebrow on Brianna’s face, and returned his attention to Trista.
The Queen of Vampires crossed a leg over her knee. “It’s so stuffy in here I could actually die. Don’t tell me you’re allergic to conversation?”
Brianna sighed audibly. “Mother.”
“What?” Trista matched the tone with a raised brow. “I’m playing along with this lockdown for everyone’s peace of mind. So, if I’m stuck in this little room until the macho men declare my home safe once more, the least the rest of you can do is entertain me.”
Joe nearly choked.
“M-my Queen,” the bearded man said, his tone indicating surprise. “Please, I implore you to take this threat more seriously.”