But it also annoyed the shit out of me. I stepped away from Eloise. “Not a f**king chance.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t deterred by my irritability. “But Jared, you”
Sam, cool and business-like, interrupted, “Let’s remember that you and Mr Collins are here to observe, not to give advice.” Eloise clenched her fists but said nothing.
“Ava and Cristiano will want to talk to Quentin,” David pointed out, dismissing the presence of Eloise and Collins. He was right; the siblings would want to find out what had happened to the vampires from their nest.
“We’ll take them with us,” I said.
“You cannot.” At Collins’ words, everyone slowly spun on their heel as one to look at him with their brows arched. The sight might have been funny under other circumstances. Clearly nervous – most likely because the entire squad was sneering at him – he stammered, “I-it is against p-protocol as they are not part o-of the squad.”
Sam made a contemplative sound. “You are right, Mr Collins. I suppose this means that you have changed your mind and that both you and Miss Montana will be staying behind? After all, neither of you are part of the squad, are you?”
Collins and Eloise exchanged a frustrated look. They understood the message – if Ava and Cristiano didn’t go, neither did they. He lifted a shoulder. “I suppose there are circumstances in which allowances can be made.” How freaking kind of him.
“Yes,” Eloise begrudgingly agreed through her teeth.
Sam joined her hands, faking a smile of pure delight. “Excellent. Glad that’s all cleared up.”
As she intended, her enthusiasm nettled Eloise, who then turned to me so fast that her hair swished around her face. Tossing it over her shoulder, she snapped, “Jared, I have to once again object to Commander Parker accompanying you. There has been a public appeal for information about her”
“In London,” Sam inserted pleasantly, holding up her index finger. “We’ll be in New Zealand.”
“which means it is important that she maintains a low profile for a while. I have to stress the importance of her remaining concealed.”
“And I have to stress that I don’t give a f**k.”
Sam shot me a smile that told me I was so getting lucky later.
Quentin Foy was a tall, thin vampire with wise eyes. He was also damn fast. The second we burst into his hotel room and he spotted me, he sped through the suite so quickly that he actually managed to dodge Sam’s whip as it attempted to trap him. But there was no avoiding Harvey’s gift. He telekinetically dragged Quentin to an armchair, and – a trick that Sam had recently taught him – then used his gift to actually pin Quentin in place.
As Quentin’s eyes swallowed the sight of me, Sam, David, Denny, Butch, Harvey, Salem, Ava, Dickhead, and – unfortunately – Collins and Eloise surrounding him in a semi-circle, he looked ready to hyperventilate. Who could blame him?
“We’re not here to kill you.” I took a non-threatening step forward. Sam mirrored my move so that we presented a united front.
Unconvinced, Quentin snorted. “Right. That’s why Antonio put a bounty on my head. Where are my vampires?”
“If you mean the ones in the neighbouring suite, they’re perfectly fine. Other than having been shot with poisonous thorns to make them sleep for a while, that is. Three of my squad members are watching over them.” Chico, Reuben, and Damien were under strict orders not to hurt them unless it was totally necessary.
“Is it typical for your commanders to request for some of you to disable a suspect’s companions like that?” Collins asked Salem. His response was a growl that made Collins edge away from him and involuntarily bump into Butch, who snarled at him.
Admirably ignoring the prick’s presence, Sam spoke to Quentin. “Antonio put a price on your head so that you would be found – and found fast. That’s all.” Her tone was reassuring but grave. “We have questions that only you can answer.”
Quentin’s expression went from panicked to wary. “Questions?”
“About the nest of tainted vampires you left behind in your tunnels,” I explained.
He sighed heavily, suddenly looking defeated. “You killed them,” he surmised. He didn’t sound judgemental, just sad.
I might have felt bad if Evan, Max, and Stuart weren’t now dying after being attacked by them. “We had no choice. If you agree to answer our questions and don’t try to run again, we can free you from the telekinetic hold. Your choice.” When Quentin nodded his agreement, I signalled at Harvey to release him.
Once he did so, Quentin rolled his shoulders and shifted in the seat. “Thank you.”
Hearing the sound of paper flicking, I turned my head to see that Collins was scribbling his observations down in a notepad. “Was the telekinetic hold uncomfortable?” Collins then asked Quentin. Un-fucking-real. The guy just stared at Collins blankly. I had yet to meet anyone who hadn’t taken an instant dislike to the ass**le. Coming up behind Collins, Eloise gave Quentin an encouraging smile, urging him to answer the question. He didn’t.
“Why didn’t you kill your tainted vampires yourself?” Sam asked Quentin, still ignoring her ‘observers’. I honestly didn’t know how she did it. “Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why you would find that hard – it would be the very last thing I’d want to do in your shoes. But if you were going to give up on them, why not save them weeks of suffering?”
“I didn’t trap them there to die,” snapped Quentin, offended. “I didn’t give up on them. I left them there hoping I could find some sort of cure that I could take back to save them.”
I arched a brow when he didn’t elaborate. “And?”
His shoulders fell; he was the image of hopelessness. “And nothing. What everybody says is true – you can’t stop The Call.”
That was not what I’d hoped to hear. More of the little optimism I had left began to fizzle away.
“When did your vampires become tainted?” At least Sam was staying focused. Right then, my spirits were plummeting so fast I could hardly think straight. Most likely sensing that, she reached out and briefly clasped my hand. The energy clinging to her skin buzzed against mine. It was strangely comforting. Using that to centre myself, I swiftly pushed down the dark feelings of anger, pain, and fear that were trying to surface. The last thing I wanted was for Sam to sense them.