Caster tried to restrain his anger. “The witch is out there somewhere.” He held up a hand to forestall his brother’s argument. “Think of what it would do to Mother if something happened to you. What it would do to me.”
He hated himself for using their mother to win an argument, but he wasn’t about to lose his baby brother.
Ben groaned. “You let Cy go…”
Their brother Cyrus was a world traveler and, unlike Ben, well capable of taking care of himself. He also traveled with a contingent of Born-Vampire guards. Ben hated the idea of being followed and pulled every trick to lose his bodyguard.
Caster leaned back into his seat, his muscles begging him for nourishment. “Where do you need to go?”
Ben’s face brightened. “A party at Cole’s house. We won’t even leave the country.”
“Does Riley know about this?”
Ben frowned. “I don’t need his permission.”
Caster had long learned not to touch the subject of Riley and Ben’s contentious relationship with a ten-foot pole. Still, theonly way he’d let his brother go is if he had protection. “Take Kyle.”
“What? No. He’ll just ruin—”
“You’re not going without Kyle. If something happens to you or the Prime Alpha’s baby brother, I’ll have a big mess I don’t need right now. You take Kyle, or you don’t go.” His long-serving bodyguard was the only other person he could trust to keep his brother safe.
Ben huffed. “Fine.”
“And, be back today. No partying for days. If Cole keeps you longer than twenty-four hours, I will rip him to shreds.”
Ben laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“Riley said the same thing.”
“So, you did ask him?”
Ben rolled his eyes and turned to leave. “Caster?”
“Yes…”
“You don’t look so good.” Then he was gone, leaving the sound of the heavy door closing to punctuate his accurate assessment.
Caster didn’t need to look in the mirror to know he looked terrible. Vampires didn’t need much sleep. A few hours did the trick, but in the past three days, he hadn’t had a chance to get a minute of rest. It had been almost a week since his last intake of fresh blood, and his body craved it.
Sleep he could do nothing about, but nourishmentwas within reach. He notified Kyle of his new assignment. His younger brother would find it hard to pull his usual disappearing act on a more experienced Kyle.
Certain his brother would be as safe as can be with a rogue, unstable witch on the loose, Caster reached out to Damien.
Are you done with the Council?
You do know that leaving your Council alone is not what your father had in mind, right?Damien’s demeanor through the telepathic communication was calmer than the chaos he’d walked out on.
Anything new happen while I was gone?
No. What do you need?
Leave it to his cousin to always get to the point. Damien and his two brothers had grown up in his father’s house. Their father and the King were twins, but their striking resemblance was the only thing they had in common. Uncle Lucien was a terrible parent, neglecting his three boys after their mother’s death. Caster’s mother had taken them in, raising them as her own.
Nourishment.
Give me a moment. I’ll meet you there?”