was the first out of the car. We had beaten Sinclair to the place, and I was fucking glad to have a chance to look over the area, though it didn’t prove to be much. In snake form, there were tons of options to hide and get out of the way of anything, but I couldn’t do an entire fight in snake form, and the amount of cover we had for a fire fight was abysmal.
“He picked a good location,” Cassius said, getting out of the SUV. “Sparse and away from any potential problems.”
“Yeah, I think I hate it,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Agreed.” Cassius was frowning.
Raphael was the last out and stood next to me, looking over the desert, probably trying to scope out what he could kill someone with.
“What’s so bad about it?” he asked.
“There’s nothing here. He doesn’t have to try to hide any of his deeds. There're no witnesses unless one of us gets out alive,” I explained. “And he’s probably going to try to kill all of us except you, so…it’s bad.”
“We don’t have to do this. You could just give me to him, and I’ll find my own way out. Take your friend and go. You’ve both helped me a lot, but you don’t owe me shit.”
“Shut up,” I snapped. “We’re not giving Sinclair anything he wants. We never will. If he wants you, he’ll have to fight tooth and nail for you.”
I pulled my door open and sat down, waiting with my feet dangling out of the SUV.
When I could see headlights in the dark, I hopped out but left my door open.
You never know when you might need to make a hasty getaway. May as well keep the option open.
“Oh, one last thing,” I said as the SUV drew closer. “Don’t let Sinclair look you in the eyes. He might be able to mesmerize you, which is how vampires relax and subdue their prey. It’ll make you compliant for him to feed from. You won’t be mind controlled, but you’ll start finding good reasons to do what he asks. It doesn’t last long, but it could last long enough to do damage.”
“Oh, that’s really helpful to know since he’s nearly here,” Raphael said with a snort. “Can do. Don’t look vampires in the eye.”
In other circumstances, I would never let Raphael get close enough to Sinclair for mesmerizing to work. My plan, however, needed it.
Cassius is going to call me a fucking hypocrite after this.
27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was quiet when the new SUV cut its engine and turned its headlights off. My eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, my vision relying more on thermal input than light. I knew there were three bodies of varying warmth coming out of Sinclair’s car, meaning my old friend didn’t bring a replacement for his witch. The two cooler individuals had to be him and Carter, and the last, bouncing up and down, was the fae. I glanced to either side as Cassius and Raphael came up beside me. Perfectly for my plan, Cassius stood on my left, his body temperature also fluctuating like the other fae while Raphael was a blazing inferno compared to the rest of us.
There wasn’t anything else alive within thirty feet of us. I would have known. Everything had run off when we drove up, and the appearance of another vehicle this far out would scare off anything that was trying to come back. Wildlife was skittish like that.
I could see Sinclair holding the back of Carter’s shirt, forcing him to come forward. Carter didn’t look any worse for wear, no signs of any beatings or torture, but that only gave Sinclair so many points. He had still abducted a vampire who was a good friend of Cassius and me and a member of the Phoenix vampire nest. He’d probably starved Carter as well, and going twenty-four hours without blood at Carter’s age was like going a week without food for a human…a month for me. I had no doubt Carter was weaker than he normally was, which was saying something because he was a young vampire. He wasn’t all that strong to begin with.
“Carter!” Cassius called. “How are you?”
“I’m—”
A hand clamped over Carter’s mouth. Sinclair glared at our group while the fae, Tom Lennon, held Carter.
“Now, now. You haven’t earned the privilege to speak to him yet. You have something I want, I have something you want. You can talk to him once the exchange has happened.” Sinclair was back to