Harvey smiled. “That’s why we love you, Coach.” He blew her a kiss…and then jerked as an electrical charge from Jared zapped his chest.

“Back to the matter of our upcoming trip to France…Ava, I’m sure you’ve figured out that you’re here because I want you to come along.” Sam gave Salem a ‘don’t interfere’ look.

After a stare-out with Sam that almost had me laughing, he grunted, resigned. “She stays with me every second,” he stated, his tone non-negotiable.

Jared struggled to hide his smile. “Fine.”

“When are we leaving?” I asked.

“As soon as Sam and I have talked to the squad who will be checking out Diane’s Manhattan apartment.” Jared got to his feet. “All of you expect a call within the next hour. And be ready.”

(Salem)

“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting this.” Stuart’s words penetrated the silence that had fallen the moment Jared had teleported us to France, only to find the sight in front of us.

“Maybe we should have, considering what Evan told us earlier,” said David, which was a valid point.

I grunted. “The demons seem to be ahead of the race.” Why else would the house be nothing more than a heap of ashes – ashes that contained red residue?

Jared tapped his temple. “I just heard from Evan. The interior of Diane’s apartment has been destroyed by what could be mistaken for an average fire, if it wasn’t for the red residue in the ashes.”

“Hey, do you think someone’s leaking information out of The Hollow?” Max asked Sam as we circled the scorched ground where the house had once stood.

Her brows drew together. “Leaking info?”

“Think about it,” pressed Max. “The demons didn’t seem to be on track. Then suddenly, they’re going after the same people as us, and they’ve even beaten us here.”

“As Thorne said, demons have their ways of finding things out,” said Ava, who was walking in front of me; edging away from a large mound of debris.

Max looked at her. “Yeah, and one of those ways could be by corrupting one of our own.”

Sam puffed out a long breath. “I hate to say this, but you could be right, Max.”

Satisfied by that, Max continued. “It could even be that they’ve possessed the mind of one of the legion.”

Jared turned to Ava. “Are demons capable of possession? Or is that a myth?”

“From what I’ve heard, it’s rare,” she replied. “Only enormously powerful demons can do it.”

“Demons like Knox Thorne,” reflected Jared, shooting her a meaningful glance. Ava shrugged.

“You could have Ryder search the mind of every legion member,” suggested Damien. “He’d find the taint, right?”

“Yeah,” allowed Sam, “but we’re talking a lot of people. It could take days for him to find out whether our suspicions are right.”

Jared squatted and scooped up a little of the red powder with his finger. “A better question would be: was Diane inside the house when the demons destroyed it?”

Sam halted next to him. “And we need an answer fast.”

Butch stared at the remains of the house with an agitated glint in his eyes. “So how do we find out if she’s alive or if she’s part of the ashes we see here?”

Jared stood upright. “We visit her Sire. He’ll know if she’s dead, because their blood-link will have severed if that’s the case. And if she is alive, he could lead us to her.”

Denny grimaced. “I doubt he’ll give her up easily.”

“Of course he won’t,” said Sam. “She’s part of his nest, and a blood-link has a strong effect on the mind. His loyalty will be to his nest, first and foremost, whether we like it or not.”

“What we need to know is how far he’ll be willing to go to protect her.” Jared glanced at the cloudy sky. “It’s one thing to be reluctant to hand Diane over; it’s another thing altogether if he’s prepared to hide her. He might even be prepared to fight us.”

“You really think he might fight you?” Harvey sounded surprised.

“As the Grand High Pair, we’re due respect and obedience. But it doesn’t always work that way.” Sam toed a small scorched rock. “There’ll always be people eager to overthrow us, for one thing. And no leader of a nest is going to appreciate being ordered to do anything by anyone – especially to give up one of his own, thereby sentencing her to death. As such, there’s a huge chance Diane’s Sire won’t help. That’s assuming, of course, that she isn’t already dead.”

“You could speak to the vampires she created, too,” Ava suggested. “They each have blood-links with her, they’ll know if she’s alive.”

“I’ll assign one of the squads to the task.”

“In the meantime, we’ll have our researchers dig up everything about Diane’s Sire,” declared Jared. “Then tomorrow night, we pay him a visit.”

Butch arched a brow. “And if he doesn’t do what you ask?”

It was Sam who responded, her expression blank. “He dies.”

CHAPTER TEN

(Salem)

Conscious that we would be going on an assignment in a few hours’ time, I went to pick up some NSTs at dusk, since our stock had ran low. I wanted Ava at top strength when we paid Diane’s Sire a visit, particularly since there was a chance that a fight might break out.

It was as I was retrieving a crate of bottles from the walk-in refrigerator at the store that I heard people coming up behind me. The familiar scents told me exactly who it was. Ignoring their presence, I rounded Will and Gina and went to the counter. Annoyingly, they trailed after me.

Gina did her best to make eye contact, but I refused to look at her. “You’re not angry that I hurt your little Sventé’s feelings, are you, Salem?” Like that would make me not only childish but touchy.

“I think he must be,” said Will.

“Didn’t I say we were done?” I muttered, dismissive.

“I’m your Sire, Salem. We’ll never be ‘done’.” Will’s smug tone made me want to smash my elbow into his throat.

Instead, I paid for the crate and then left the store. The fuckers continued to follow me.