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.”
“What?” Fox whispered.
A loud groan left Luke and he paced away, shoving both hands into his hair. “This is a disaster. I need to call Paavo and tell him about this fuckup. We have to figure out a way to get you into Winter’s hands without him losing his shit and killing you.”
“Wait! None of this is making sense.” He jumped to his feet and took a couple of steps closer to Luke. This…this felt so much worse, and it just couldn’t be true. “Damon was protecting me in his mansion. He said I’m the key to this prophecy that would change the world.”
Luke spun around and shoved Fox hard enough to send him stumbling into the chair he’d just left. He and the chair tipped backward, balanced on two of the four legs for just a moment before crashing down again. “Stupid fucking witch! It was all part of Damon’s plan. Winter was supposed to kidnap you and hold you prisoner. You’re supposed to destroy the entire Varik clan from within.”
“How?” Fox asked in a broken voice. He needed to know. While it might be Damon’s plan, Fox had no desire to hurt any of the Variks, particularly Winter. They had to tell him how he was going to hurt this family.
Luke threw his arms up in the air, glaring at Fox. “How the hell should I know? You’re the witch. Maybe it’s a spell. Maybe just being held within their clan will pull them apart. Maybe you trigger some event. I don’t know. The point is that you need to get into Winter’s fucking lair.”
“But…I don’t know where he lives. I ran here. I don’t remember…”
Luke sighed heavily and reached into the pocket of