Page 77 of Bound by Vengeance
Vicky bent to pull off her sneakers. “I’llbe home soon.”
“Will you?”
She didn’t look at her twin. Not only werethey identical, but they could read each other’s expressions likethey were reading each other’s minds.
“Of course,” Vicky replied. “I can’t stayaway forever, right?”
“I’m not sure,” Abby said, and Vicky hid herwince. “Are you going to tell us what is going on?”
“I am. Would you like a drink first?”
“Yes,” Brian said.
She poured them all a glass of whiskey andwalked over to give Abby and Brian theirs. When she handed theglass out to her sister, Abby’s eyes fell on her fingernails. Afterspeaking with Nathan, she’d cut them off and decided to keep themthat way for a while. They hadn’t been this short since her time inthe warehouse and, before that, since she was fifteen. Maybe itdidn’t match the image she portrayed to her family, but she didn’thave it in her to deal with her nails anymore.
“What happened?” Abby demanded and snatchedVicky’s hand before she could pull it away.
“A little of this and a little of that,”Vicky replied in a singsong voice. “Most of it’s rather boring, butit’s a lengthy tale, so settle in.”
Vicky tugged her hand away and bounced overto a chair with an ebullient air she didn’t feel. She ploppedherself onto the plump cushion, draped her legs over the arm, andkicked her feet in the air as she sipped her whiskey. She blithelytold them everything that happened while they were away, or atleastalmosteverything, as she kept her relationship withNathan more of a business arrangement.
She was halfway through her tale when shemet Abby’s eyes over the top of her glass and saw her sister wasn’tbuying her act.
CHAPTER 34
“Or perhaps their birth was simply biology,”Alejandro interjected in response to Enlai’s words to Nathan. “It’snot like hunter twins haveneveroccurred before.”
“We’re getting off track,” Nathan said. “IfMoscow and San Fran pulled out of our community because of myalliance with the vampires, they would still be communicating withall ofyou. It makes no sense for them to make themselvesmore vulnerable by being on their own from here on out.”
“Perhaps they are in contact with eachother,” Edward suggested.
“Perhaps,” Nathan agreed. “But until I haveproof of that, or proof this was a decision they willingly made,then I suggest you take every precaution necessary. Includingevacuating, Bhavin.”
Bhavin leaned back in his chair and foldedhis arms over his chest.
“Shit,” someone muttered from behindNathan.
Nathan turned toward Leonard. The younghunter sat before the computer replaying the footage of Moscow. Hisblue eyes were the size of saucers, and he’d gone nearly as pale ashis blond hair.
“What is it?” Nathan demanded.
Leonard glanced at him, then the screen, andback again. “At first, I thought it was a shadow or… or… anythingelse.”
Nathan walked over to stand behind Leonardas the seventeen-year-old hit a couple of keys and the videorewound. On the screen, the hunters in Moscow moved backward asNathan searched for what had caught Leonard’s attention. Then,Leonard paused the screen.
Nothing looked odd about the faces frozen onthe screen, or the houses behind them. Leonard lifted his fingerand pointed at something beyond the hunters and their homes.Nathan’s blood ran cold when, through the shadows of night, hespotted a head. The man’s head peeked over the top of the wall; hisfingers curled into it as he peered at the hunters below.
All that could be seen was the man’sforehead, eyes, and nose, but it was impossible not to notice theincredible white-blue hue of the man’s eyes. Those eyes shone fromthe sunken sockets of a face made gaunt by hunger.
He’d seen eyes that color only once before,on Kadence. All other vampires he knew had eyes that turned redwhen their emotions ran high. But his sister, the only hunter heknew who had become a vampire, had eyes that became a white-bluewhen provoked.
The sick feeling in him turned into atsunami of emotion, but he kept his voice steady and his facecomposed as he spoke. “Get me a close up of that man, and also putthe original photo up where the other leaders can see it.”
When Leonard started pecking at the keys,Roland wheeled over to help him, and less than a minute later, theoriginal photo and the close-up materialized on another screen.
“I know him,” Enlai said with horror in hiseyes. “He’s Marat’s second-in-command in Moscow. He’s lost abouttwenty pounds, but that is orwasSergei.”
Nathan tried to recall the one time he’d metMarat and Sergei in person. When Nathan was ten, his father wascalled to Moscow to confirm the nomination of Marat as commander ofthe stronghold there. Nathan had gone with him, and Sergei had beenthere too. Nathan barely remembered the man, but staring at thephoto of the starved vampire, the memory of Sergei emerged in hismind.
