Hupotasso (Vampire Bachelor Games #2)

66

66

I sit at the table morosely picking at my food and watch Viper tucking into his as though he’s never eaten in his life.

The queen’s edict that I need to find Angie is weighing heavily on my mind. I’ve already killed all the staff again. None had confessed, even under torture, to telling anyone that my wife had left the castle. That left just Asumpta, Viper and Jag. Of the three, Jag is above suspicion and Asumpta has never bothered herself with any affairs of the family. Clearly then, the one who let the cat out of the bag is Viper — but he claims he told no one, and he’s certainly been acting as though he has nothing to hide.

Either way, I’m deep in the shit if I don’t get her back soon. The Queen won’t take lightly any more indiscretions on my behalf, and losing a wife I’d won so publicly is not something she’ll countenance. The fact that she knows I’m searching for her means my time as the lord of this house is running out. She’s not known for her patience. As for her assertion Father had killed Spider’s mother, I’ve been through every family record I can find, but I don’t see any evidence of this anywhere.

The only one who might know, who knew my father better than anyone, is dead.

I look up now as Viper makes a grunting noise — he’s always eaten like a pig. No amount of correction as a child had ever worked to train him to do otherwise. In food, as in most other things, he’s completely hedonistic.

“Nothing bothers you, does it, brother?” I sigh.

“Why would it?” He shrugs.

“My lost wife aside, Mother’s dead,” I murmur. “Doesn’t that cause you any grief?”

“You were always her favourite. Besides, I’m getting more grief from the incessant phone calls I’m receiving about her at the moment,” he snorts.

“The least you can do is take the calls. Mother was very well known and had a great many connections at court. It’s to be expected most will phone to give their sympathy. That’s why I had my secretary route those calls to you. You said you wanted to shoulder some of my burden, and I don’t have time to play niceties.”

“Yes, I suppose,” he looks away quickly, and I immediately get suspicious. As Jag so often reiterates, Viper is always up to something, and I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been keeping an eye on him.

“That is the kind of calls you mean, is it not, brother?”

He begins to eat faster, a sure sign he’s up to something, and I put my fork down carefully and lean forward, staring at his unconcerned expression as he continues shovelling food into his mouth.

“Viper,” I growl, “what calls?”

“Just bullshit,” he snorts. “Calls purporting to be from The Free Men saying they’ll free Mother if we give them back some Spaniards or other. I mean, we buried her weeks ago.”

He looks up, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline when he sees my expression.

“Now what have I done?”

“That,” I snarl, “is yet to be determined. Why didn’t you tell me about these calls?”

“I disregarded them as lunacy,” he rolls his eyes.

“When did they start?”

“The week Mother died.”

“Are you telling me,” I feel my fangs descend, but try to reign in my temper, “that The Free Men have been calling telling you they will give back Mother’s body for a ransom, and you didn’t think to share that with me?”

“You never said her body was missing,” he slams down his glass.

“For fuck’s sake,” I groan, “didn’t you think the calls bizarre enough to share with me?”

“Now who’s talking about sharing?” He snorts. “My own dear mother’s body is snatched and you don’t even tell me?”

“Viper,” I grit my teeth and enunciate every word precisely, “tell me exactly, word for word, what you were told about trading mother’s body. Leave nothing out.”

“Not her body,” he snorts. “They’re saying she’s alive. I told you, it's total bullshit. I don’t know why we’re even talking about it. We both know she’s rotting as we speak; if not underground then certainly somewhere. Who cares if they have her corpse? It makes no difference.”

“Viper,” I place my fingers over the bridge of my nose and close my eyes, holding out one hand. “Give me your phone.”

“No.”

“Viper.”

“Why should I trust you with my device? You clearly don’t trust me.”

My tight hold on my temper snaps and I launch myself across the table at him.

He screams and falls backwards to the floor, and I straddle his chest, gasping as he reaches up and stabs me in the cheek with his fork. Pulling the fork out I stab it down into his shoulder and push it into the bone as he continues to yell, swear, and thrash under me.

“Keep still you dirty-fighting little bastard,” I snarl, “you know you had that coming.”

I don’t regret stabbing him, he’s been asking for it for months, he’s just lucky I’m the one who snapped first, not Jag or Wolf. But I do regret telling him Mother’s body had been stolen. Jag and I were the only ones privy to that, and given that I suspect Viper can’t keep his mouth shut about anything, he’s the last person I want to know. And I definitely don’t want to give him any further information, like the fact we’re hunting The Free Men who stole her not just to get her back, but to find out where they’re hiding Angie. But perhaps had I done so, I could have saved months of fruitless searching.

‘The cat’s out of the bag now.’

“I need your phone, you fucking moron,” I shake him violently and slap him to stop his screeching, my blood splattering all over his face where it pours from the wound in my cheek. “The Free Men may also have my wife . If they’re offering a ransom, it’s most likely to be over her, and you’ve misunderstood.”

“No,” he shakes his head, still now, his eyes deadly. “They definitely said Mother. But either way, what do you care? They’re just humans. Worthless humans.”

“GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!”

Sneering, he reaches into his pocket with his good hand and passes me his mobile.

Jumping up I stride from the room to redial the most common number that had called his phone since Mother died.

They’d called every single day for months, and he hadn’t thought to mention it, not once.

When I get off the phone, I’m ashen.