He considered ignoring the call, but that wouldn’t achieve anything.
Though this would be awkward since he’d just killed her son.
Nix answered with no shake or softness in his voice.“Hello.”
She took a second to register he wasn’t Scott.“What have you done with Scott?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t have done to me.”Nix leaned on the sliding door frame.The dark no longer hid the body, and the sun was a sliver of gold in the sky.He willed it to hurry up.
“You listen, Hadley?—”
“No, you listen, Mirabella.”Hate and fear and exhaustion tied him in tighter knots with every passing minute.“I am done with being hunted.If you’d agreed to the peace deal, you could’ve run Melbourne’s underground on your own.”
“And let your family become honest?So they could stare down their noses and bare their fangs in contempt?Never.Your mother sought to end the feud by walking away, and her blood is thick in your veins.”
He took the compliment that was intended as a barb and hugged it close.His mother had been many things, and their relationship had been strained after he was turned, but she’d wanted peace between the families, and for that, she should be honored.
“You ruined the peace talks so you’d have a partner in crime?You’re sick.”She didn’t care how many were hurt or killed.To her it was a game and she’d keep changing the rules so only she could win.“I swear, every Orlan I see will find peace in the sunrise.If you stop sending them after me, I will start hunting them.”His voice became a cold thing as he pulled on the old armor that he’d worn whenever he was sent out to do a job.This wasn’t new.He was just picking up the old feud right where he’d left off.There was no new start or second chance for people like him.As long as Mirabella Orlan was jerking the strings, no vampire was safe.“When I return to Melbourne, there’ll be a reckoning for the murder of my family.This blood feud ends with me, but not with my death.”
He hung up.He’d promised the Reids that he wouldn’t kill any humans, but vampires, even unblooded ones, were fair game.Since they saw fit to let more Orlans in, it was clear that this area wasn’t the safe haven he’d hoped for.
The sunlight crested the trees and hit Scott’s toes.They flashed bright for a moment, then turned to powder.
Nix watched grimly as the body was destroyed.
Scott wouldn’t have been as generous.He’d already be in the boot of a car heading home to face Mirabella.
With a final glance around, he slung his old backpack over his shoulder and picked up the rubbish bag full of evidence.Scott’s gun rig was awkward beneath his coat, but by the end of the day, he’d be as used to wearing the gun as he was to wearing sunscreen when he went out.
He put on his sunglasses and walked out.
ChapterTwenty-Five
“Scott is dead.”His aunt’s voice was tight.“That cursed Hadley has vowed to spill our blood.”
“What do you mean Scott is dead?Has Zinnia started attacking?”He kept his eyes on the road even though panic wrapped around his chest.
“Nixon killed him.”Mirabella paused.“Where are you?How did Scott find him where you have failed?Or did you get close enough to let him ensorcell you?”
Lance frowned.He wasn’t ensorcelled, despite Nix’s half-hearted attempt.But he remembered the first time Nix had smiled at him, that moment before they’d realized they were enemies by some old feud that no one remembered the cause of.The battle Nix no longer wanted to fight.“How did Nix…on”—he caught himself—“kill him.Isn’t Scott in Melbourne?”
“Don’t be a fool.He’s been in Western Australia monitoring you for the last few weeks.You could’ve finished the job, but you’re stalling, using my time and money to have a holiday.”She drew in a breath.“And now my son is dead.”
Lance pulled over to the side of the road.He’d packed up everything into the fancy backpack and taken out cash and was on his way to Nix’s.Ready to run.But Scott had attacked Nix.His heartbeat fast.Scott was dead.Nix had to be alive…didn’t he?
“You shouldn’t have sent him.I had the situation under control.”
“If you don’t bring Nixon Hadley in before my back-up does, you will not be blooded, and you will join him at my feet.”
The line went dead.
Lance was still processing what his aunt had claimed.If they had sent Scott after him, they no longer trusted Lance.Another would come and another after that.They wouldn’t stop until he returned to Melbourne with Nix bound.Even then, he was sure they’d share the same fate.
He couldn’t bring himself to feel sad Scott was gone, only that he didn’t know what Scott had told his aunt.Nothing good from her threats.
His resolve to run solidified.
Even though he knew Nix wouldn’t be there, Lance parked and walked up the driveway, dreading the mess he’d find.The door of the granny flat wasn’t locked.The place smelled like bleach.He took a few steps in, but there was no blood and no body.The bed was tidy as though it hadn’t been slept in.
