Page 70 of Blood Magic

“I can’t hide while this shit is going on,” Zach said, and I saw the man he’d been before Axton had taken him. The man he still was. “The human may already be dead. But that’s not a chance we can take. We protect the humans.”

“You’re human,” I pointed out. “And I’m not giving in to the demands of a fucking…monster. I’m not doing it,” I said loudly, overriding his protests. I wanted him to stop arguing because it wouldn’t take much for me to agree, and that was not me. It wasn’t smart, and I wasn’t going to do it. “So shut the fuck up,” I added, and he blew out a hard breath and closed his mouth.

“Help me figure out where he is,” I said. “Please.”

Finally, he nodded. And maybe the darkness in his eyes retreated just a little. “I’m going with you when you find out where he is.”

I dropped back into my chair. “No. With your blood ties to Axton…”

He stopped arguing. He knew what would happen if he got near the master.

I needed to concentrate on Rick. And then after dark, I’d see what I could do for Bastien and Farrow. If I found them alive, those two were going to have to get out of their clan. Bastien needed to give up his plans to become County Master and take Farrow and run. Because if he survived the damage from the sun, Axton was just going to find another way to kill him.

As if he knew what I was thinking, Zach said, “Bastien is Frederick Axton’s half-brother. In their human lives, before they turned, they were close.”

“And now they hate each other.”

“Yeah. Bastien thinks of the clan as his, Axton wants the power…”

“So Axton tortures and tries to kill him constantly.”

“But not as hard as he could, because in spite of everything, he needs Bastien. His brother is his only link with the way it was.”

Max knocked on the door—unusual for him—and stuck his head inside. “I rescheduled the people you were supposed to see tonight, Kait, and I’m thinking you might need to either hire another ghost assassin or make enough time to actually do your job here?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at ghost assassin. “Thanks, Max. What’d you find?” He wouldn’t have come in just to tell me he’d rescheduled my clients.

He nodded. “I know where the two vampires are, but those pictures? I don’t think they survived that.”

“Still.”

“Yes. So…I’ve sent the location of the graveyard to your phone, as well as directions to the tombstone you see in the image.”

I picked up my cell. “And the detective?”

“I don’t think he’s in a basement. Not a normal one, anyway. In one of the images Joe captured, there’s the edge of a gilded mirror. In another, I saw part of a red…mattress, I think, and the leg of a bondage table. I think he’s in a club, Kait.”

I leaped to my feet, and Zach and I said at the same time, “Scarlett’s.” It was Axton’s favorite club, and it had that freaky private lower level that Bastien had taken me to. “How the hell can I get down there without Bastien?”

“You can’t,” Zach said. “You’ll have to wait for the sun to go down and hope you can save Bastien. There’s not another vampire in the city who will escort you into that club.”

He was right. Taking some muscle with me to kick ass and force my way into the club still wouldn’t get me past thick metal doors and keypads that secured the private part of the club.

I could do nothing but wait.

And hope.