Caught in Darkness (24 page)

That was entirely the problem, of
course. He was incapable of doing what he knew he should. “Let me worry about
that,” he grumbled, attempting to return his focus to the papers he was still
holding.

Jasen
didn’t say another word as he closed the final cupboard and started down the
hall.

Seth set down the papers, pushed to
his feet, and froze when he heard his phone start buzzing in his pocket. Somehow
he just knew that this was not going to be a good call. And when he read
Veronica’s name on the Caller ID his stomach clenched a little tighter. “Veronica?”

“Not exactly,” a faintly-familiar
male voice replied. “I’ll give you a hint: you do at least know your blood.”

Seth scowled for an instant before
it dawned on him and his stomach sank to his feet.
“Claypool.
Where’s Veronica?”

“Ah, so she was right,” Claypool
said, his tone taunting. “You do care. Well, then I’ll tell you: she’s at home.
And if you want to see her again before the funeral then I suggest you get here
before sunset.” The line clicked a beat later.

It took an effort to keep from
crushing his phone as his free hand tightened into a fist.
So
much for making progress on his hunt.

“Could’ve sworn I just heard you
talking to the Slayer,”
Jasen
declared from the
entrance to the hall.

Seth dropped his phone back into
his pocket, body tense, and nodded sharply. “He’s given up trying to recruit
his niece, so now he’s holding her hostage.”

“He’s using her as bait,”
Jasen
clarified shortly. “Good to know family doesn’t mean
anything to them.”

Meeting
Jasen’s
unreadable expression, Seth said, “Bait or not, I have to go. He’ll kill her if
I don’t show.”

A slow, small smirk tipped
Jasen’s
lips and he replied, “Even the best bait doesn’t
guarantee he’ll catch what he wants. All we have to do is kill him first.”

“You’re coming with me?”
Seth asked, eyes slightly widened.
He knew
Jasen
wouldn’t mind a shot at the Slayer, but he also suspected
that
Jasen
would prefer to leave Veronica’s situation
to him. Not to mention that dealing with this was taking them away from their
main goal.

“Of course,”
Jasen
said. “You did say we were dealing with the last Claypool, didn’t you?”

Releasing a breath, Seth nodded and
turned. “We are.” And though he wasn’t sure how Veronica would feel about it,
chances were high that the Claypool line was about to become extinct.

Knowing that Claypool was only
expecting him, Seth had suggested that he and
Jasen
split up. Surprisingly,
Jasen
had easily agreed, and
Seth let him out several blocks down from Veronica’s house. Ever the one for
subtlety,
Jasen
dashed off in the direction of the
house as soon as his feet touched the ground. But Seth put the thought from his
mind, trusting
Jasen
to have his back when it
counted, and pulled into the driveway. He parked behind Veronica’s car,
unsurprised to note that Claypool’s vehicle wasn’t there. The man had probably
parked farther away and walked the distance.

Chest tight, Seth climbed from his
car and strode to the front door. He would have to be careful if he wanted to
avoid taking a stake to the heart before he’d successfully rescued Veronica,
but he knew he could do it. This wasn’t nearly the first time he’d been forced into
a corner with a reckless Slayer. Still, he knew better than to barge in without
having at least an idea of what was going on
on
the
other side of the door, so he stopped and closed his eyes—listening.

He heard two different heartbeats—both
human—one seemingly at rest and the other slowly building with anticipation. Claypool
knew he was there, but that was to be expected. There was a shifting sound—fabric
on fabric—and Seth imagined Claypool was probably sitting on the couch. At the
right angle it would give him a perfect line of sight to the front door.

Have to assume he’s got a crossbow
loaded and aimed. He would have to move quickly.

Taking a deep breath, Seth moved
backwards two steps, paused, offered up a silent apology, and dashed forward. He
crashed into—and through—the front door just as he’d intended and, as he’d
anticipated, he only barely dodged a flying stake as it sailed through the
entry. By the time it embedded itself into the now-broken door Seth was far out
of range. He’d spotted Veronica, slumped in and tied to her own kitchen chair,
her right cheek starting to swell from a recent backhand, and his blood burned
a little hotter.

“A fang playing the hero,” Claypool
called mockingly, “it’s almost funny. But go
ahead,
stand there long enough to untie her.
Saves me the trouble.”
As he spoke he raised his already-reloaded crossbow, aimed in Veronica’s
direction. They both knew that, in order for Seth to successfully untie her
from the chair, he would be vulnerable. But Claypool was slipping. He hadn’t
registered the presence of the other vampire in the vicinity—the one standing
just to the side of Veronica’s back door.

Seth came to a stop between
Veronica and Claypool, knowing full-well that the Slayer wouldn’t hesitate to
fire if she was in the way. “What kind of an uncle uses his own niece as bait?”
The answer didn’t really matter he supposed, but he couldn’t stop himself from
asking. He’d never understood a man who could raise his hand—or his weapon—on
his own blood.

Claypool scoffed, eyes narrowing,
and replied, “She’s the one who chose monsters over family; ask her.” He
shifted the crossbow, squeezing the trigger as soon as Seth was in his
crosshairs, but it was already too late.

Seth dashed to the side, letting
the stake sail over his shoulder—and over Veronica—to crash into the far wall. He
turned his back to Claypool then, having more important things to do. He didn’t
want to get so lost in his anger that he forgot to tend to Veronica.

In the same instant that the stake
tore free of the crossbow the back door flew open, slamming into the wall and
denting it, as
Jasen
made his arrival. The crossbow
was torn from Claypool’s hand before the Slayer even realized what was going
on.

“What the hell?” Claypool
exclaimed, wide-eyed as he took a half-step backwards. His expression returned
to angry and determined as he reached back to tug his machete from his coat. “Missed
your chance, fang,” he grunted as he swung the blade out and up.

Seth kept one eye on the fight as
he worked to tear off the ropes holding Veronica to her chair without hurting
her. His more primal instincts were begging him to push
Jasen
aside and tear Claypool to shreds with his bare hands, but he was just as
desperate to get Veronica out of this dangerous situation before it got worse. He
couldn’t do both, so he held his position and told himself to trust that
Jasen
wouldn’t be merciful.

“Your reputation is slipping,
Claypool,”
Jasen
taunted as he stepped just out of
reach of the swinging machete. He stepped slightly to the side, subtly turning
the Slayer’s focus away from Seth and Veronica while Seth worked.

“Let’s see how well you say that
when your head’s not connected to your shoulders,” Claypool growled, following
Jasen’s
turn and lunging in again with his blade.

Veronica groaned, drawing Seth’s
attention from the fight and stilling his hands over the ropes. Her heart rate
was picking up and her breathing shifted, indicating that she was waking up. Not
wanting her to wake up with cords of ropes wrapped around her, Seth gave a sharp
tug, snapping two more. But it wasn’t enough.

As consciousness returned to her
Veronica jerked upright, gasping and straining against the two cords still
tight around her stomach.

“Try to stay still,” Seth called
gently, reaching over and covering one of her hands with his. “I’ll have you
out in a minute.”

“…Seth?” Veronica groaned, blinking
her eyes several times before slowly looking around. Her breathing changed
again and something between fear and anger began boiling to the surface in her
eyes. Her gaze landed on Claypool and
Jasen
—who were
parallel to them now—and the anger took over. She struggled for a second,
trying and failing to get up, before her eyes finally fell to the ropes still
around her.

Seth reached up, placing the tips
of his fingers to her shoulder, and lightly guided her back until she was
leaning into the chair. “You have to hold still,” he reminded.

She swallowed and nodded as she
pulled in a deep breath.

Without another word Seth returned
his hands back to the ropes, grabbed the remaining cords, and pulled. The ropes
snapped at the same time as Claypool’s machete buried itself in the wall almost
directly between the living room and kitchen.

Claypool cried out in pain as
Veronica reached over to rub at her upper arm and she returned her gaze to the
fight near the back door of her house, calling, “Wait!” Her voice was a little
off, more because of the swollen cheek than her recent return to consciousness,
but the word was clear all the same.

Jasen
froze,
the Slayer lifted nearly a foot off the ground, and
rolled his head to the side in order to give her a vaguely irritated look. “Don’t
tell me you want me to spare him,” he said.

Veronica pushed to her feet, Seth
moving swiftly to stay at her side, and started forward after only a brief balance-check.
“I just want you to wait,” she replied. Her glare returned to Claypool and she demanded,
“Did you get a name?”

For the first time Seth felt a
flicker of confusion.
A name?
What was she asking
about?

Claypool dragged in a breath and
mustered a glare from his awkward, uncomfortable position. “Why would I tell…a
traitor like you?”

Veronica sucked in a breath and
stalked right up to him, until she was standing directly beside
Jasen
. “You don’t have the right to withhold that
information!” Her arm flew up practically before the words were out of her
mouth and the resounding echo of a slap filled the room. “You have a chance
here to do the right thing—don’t screw it up.”

“Go to hell,” Claypool replied with
a sneer.

Seth watched silently as Veronica’s
fists clenched and unclenched, his nostrils flaring when he registered the
scent of salt in the air.

“Fine,” she
said,
her voice hushed and almost eerily final. She took a step back, out of
Jasen’s
personal space, and added, “I’m glad Dad severed
his ties with you. I’d have hated to have been stuck with you my whole life.” She
turned, then, and reached out for Seth’s nearest arm as she whispered, “Can we
get out of here?”

Her hand was shaky and her voice
wavered, just a little, when her eyes met his. Salty liquid was shimmering
behind the tormented blue and he knew that whatever had been said between them
before he and
Jasen
had arrived had been difficult. His
heart ached at the look on her face. He nodded, wrapping his arm around her
back to help guide her toward the opposite doorway.

Without breaking stride Seth
glanced back, over his shoulder, and called, “You know where to find me.”

He held
Jasen’s
gaze only long enough for the other man to nod in understanding, and then he
returned his gaze forward. Veronica was walking carefully but steadily, one arm
now curled around his back as well. She was still fighting back tears and he
was desperate to know what else had happened, but he knew the time wasn’t
right. He just had to trust that she would tell him when she was able.

They stayed quiet as they made
their way to his car. She made a sound in the back of her throat that was
probably supposed to be a ‘thank you’ when he opened the passenger door for her
and he nodded silently. Once she was seated he eased the door shut, and he made
a point to keep his expression the same when the scent of freshly-spilled blood
wafted to his nose.

Chapter Fourteen

Veronica took a deep breath as
Seth’s Corvette came to a stop in the parking garage the next night. In some
ways, it felt like a lifetime had passed since Dennis had used her as bait to
lure Seth to her house, but in other ways it felt like only an hour had passed.
She’d gone over the things Dennis had said about her father a thousand times
and she just couldn’t deny the possibility that he’d been telling the truth. Fortunately,
when she’d explained everything to Seth, he’d agreed. He’d even gone so far as
to spend the evening researching her father’s case while
Jasen
focused on what was supposed to be their real hunt.

And now, just
after ten o’clock on Friday night, Veronica found herself about to come face to
face with the Head vamp—Robert.

It hadn’t been Seth’s favorite idea
when she’d first asked to go with him. He’d argued, using his logic against
hers, and when that had failed he’d tried to scare her off the idea by pointing
out that there would be a lot of potentially-dangerous vampires around. That
hadn’t worked, either. And though she knew that he was still unhappy over the
whole thing, she couldn’t help but find herself focusing on something that
shouldn’t have made a difference at all.

“Why is
Jasen
coming with us?” she asked, turning her gaze toward Seth as she unlatched her
seatbelt.

Seth spared a reflexive glance
through the windshield, noting
Jasen’s
half-shadowed
figure in front of the elevator, before replying, “Because there’s a chance
Claypool was right. And if a vamp is responsible for your father’s murder then
that vamp needs to be found and dealt with. That, technically, is
Jasen’s
job.”