Page 77 of A Touch of Crimson
“Who’s Torque?” Lindsay asked, her gaze darting from one face to another.
Your brother. Your twin.
Adrian looked at Jason, whose brows were raised in a look that asked, How much are you going to tell her?
Elijah replied. “Syre’s son.”
“And Syre is…?” she prodded.
“The leader of the vampires,” Adrian said, with an evenness that belied the twisting of his gut.
She wasn’t ready to hear everything yet. He would prefer that she never hear it. If the Creator were kind, Adrian would succeed in killing Syre. Then Lindsay would be freed from Shadoe’s naphil gifts, Shadoe’s soul would be freed from purgatory, and Adrian would be recalled for disobeying the standing order to keep the Fallen alive. It was the closest he could come to rectifying his mistake.
“The Watcher whose fall got you those crimson tips on your wings?” Lindsay asked.
He gave a brisk nod.
“All right. Before we move on… What’s up with the superhero names? Syre, Torque, Vash, Raze…”
“Most of the Fallen gave up their angelic names when they fell. Syre was once known as Samyaza. Raze was once Ertael. As vampires, they have a proliferation of legal names they switch out every now and then as time passes, so they’ve established a culture in which there’s almost a competition for the most outrageous handles.”
“O-kay… To be clear, Vash—an important vampire—is involved because the gal who was abducted was important, because she’s related by marriage to the leader of the vampires. Am I following so far?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t they just call you and ask what the ransom terms are? It’s not like they can’t find you.”
“They did.”
“And they didn’t believe you’re innocent?”
“I killed her. I told Syre that.” Adrian met her gaze unflinchingly, knowing she would understand such a brutal admission of murder.
Lindsay blinked in surprise. “When?”
He descended into the living room. “When did I tell him? In Phoenix. In the airport, right after I met you.”
“So Vash knows this isn’t a rescue mission. She’s out for blood in retaliation for a death. She managed to corner Aaron and his two lycans. But instead of holding Aaron for ransom or targeting him because he’s higher up the food chain than the lycans, she lets him go. I’m confused as to why a vamp who usually only hunts big fish would toss the biggest fish back.” She looked at Elijah. “No offense to your friend.”
The lycan met her gaze. “None taken.”
Jason crossed his arms. “Killing a Sentinel would escalate the situation beyond what Syre would condone.”
“His son’s wife is dead, thanks to Adrian, but he balks at taking out one of the Sentinels?”
Damien looked at Adrian. “Go on, Lindsay. This is getting interesting.”
Lindsay twisted on the sofa, bringing him more fully into the conversation. “I’m just trying to understand what’s going on here. The vampire head honcho’s daughter-in-law gets nabbed by Elijah. Allegedly,” she qualified when Elijah opened his mouth. “Vamp dude calls Adrian to ask for her return, and Adrian says he killed her. Yet Vash remains focused on the lycan involved rather than on the Sentinels. How come?”
Adrian’s wings unfurled. “I accused Syre of sending Nikki to attack me. He didn’t respond to the accusation as I would’ve expected, nor to my mention of Phineas, which led me to wonder whether he was losing control of his vamps.”
“Is it possible that he thinks you’re losing control of the lycans? I mean, the reverse is true. You probably didn’t respond the way he expected. He called you because he was worried about his daughter-in-law, and you didn’t even know who she was. You didn’t recognize her. But the lycans who took her knew her identity—assuming she wasn’t sick at the time. He’s got to be thinking that the lycans made a pretty bold move taking someone so valuable to him without you knowing about it.”
“Told you,” Jason said, looking at Adrian.
“Where are you all going with this?” Aaron asked.
Jason’s brow arched. “It’s possible the lycans are working on their own.”
