All Just Glass - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [11]
Zachary shrugged. “We can get information from her. And even if we can’t, Kaleo will probably come for her; he’s had her too long to abandon her without it looking like weakness. Even if he’s not directly part of our current target, I wouldn’t mind having a shot at that sadist.”
Adia was occasionally worried that Zachary, so far as she could tell, wouldn’t mind “having a shot at” a bunny if it were sufficiently connected to vampires. She didn’t speak the thought out loud, though; about Kaleo, they were in agreement.
Zachary was the perfect Vida: a cool, controlled hunter who never let himself be distracted in a fight and never let emotion get in the way. Dominique should have put him in charge of hunting down Sarah—Sarah’s killers. But Adia suspected that Dominique hadn’t chosen her for her skills, but to clearly determine her loyalty. No one would ever doubt Zachary that way.
Adia resisted the urge to floor the accelerator as she merged onto the highway. Zachary couldn’t know she was torn inside. He couldn’t know that Adianna Vida, oldest and now only daughter of Dominique Vida, wasn’t what she appeared.
He couldn’t know she was scared—no, terrified.
You would really kill your own sister?
Nissa’s accusation echoed through her thoughts.
Failure in this hunt would likely mean the end of their line. The notion of putting a blade between Sarah’s ribs made Adia’s stomach twist, but Dominique was right that they couldn’t continue this way. The Vida line had survived since the dawn of the human species, despite eras of famine, Inquisition and war. If their generation was going to be the last, so be it. She wouldn’t shame thirty thousand years of ancestors by putting down her blade and hiding her head in the sand.
CHAPTER 4
SATURDAY, 6:13 A.M.
CARYN SMOKE, THE youngest daughter of the Smoke line, walked into the meeting room where Sarah waited. Her face was perfectly composed despite the rapid pounding of her heart, which echoed in Sarah’s ears. Sarah had never realized that the young healer had such self-control.
“You have to leave,” Caryn said. “I’m sorry, but you do. Now. SingleEarth can’t give you anything. You have to get out of here, before they come back and look for you.”
“What?” Sarah had never liked SingleEarth, but they had welcomed some of the vilest creatures in history, provided they had agreed to reform. How could they turn her away?
Caryn shoved a duffel bag at Sarah. “Here’s what I could swipe while they were arguing. I know it isn’t much, but it’s all I could do.” Caryn was pale, and now she balled one hand in her black hair. “I’m sorry I can’t help more, but my mother says if I cross them, it could endanger everyone at SingleEarth. You and I weren’t close, but I know you can take care of yourself. You’ve got strong friends now. You’ll be okay, if you just go.”
Sarah disappeared without even the sense to demand an explanation. She wasn’t sure where she was going; instant transportation was a vampiric trick she used by instinct instead of intent, and the extra effort of bringing the bag with her made her head spin. She nearly fell as she reappeared, before she was caught and pulled into an embrace.
“Sarah, thank god.”
She could feel the wash of emotion that accompanied the words, and knew as she leaned on him that this was Kristopher. When she had first woken as a vampire, he had given her his blood so she would not need to hunt and kill an innocent human. Doing so had opened his mind to her.
She closed her eyes and let him hold her for a moment, while simultaneously trying to shield her mind from his thoughts.
Kristopher had flirted with her before he had known she was a witch; she had allowed it because she could sense in his aura that it had been a long time since he had killed, and because she had assumed he was allied with SingleEarth … and because it had been nice to have a friend. She didn’t know what