I thought that was quite clever of Jared. Vampires could be quite protective of those they had Turned. Therefore, if Jared had said that he wanted to punish any of them, Orrin would most likely have concealed their location.
Orrin scratched his nape. “I don’t have a vampire with a gift that strong. However…put him and his brother together and you have a force powerful enough to achieve that.”
“It requires two of them?”
“Yes. Quinn can manipulate DNA, and Wyatt has the capability to freeze and unfreeze things. Vampires are physically frozen in their development, but if Wyatt can very slightly affect that, it enables his brother to play with DNA.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Where can we find them?”
Orrin’s expression was sheepish. “I’m afraid that’s something I can’t help you with. Once the Trent brothers realised how strong they were, they felt that they didn’t need their Sire or anyone else. They felt that they were quite capable of starting their own line. I heard that they were seen in Vegas a few days ago. I doubt it was really them, though. They prefer solitude.”
I strongly suspected that it had been them and that they were trying the trick of hiding in plain sight.
“Do you want me to have a few of my guys search for them?” Orrin seemed keen to help, clearly wanting to impress the Heir.
Jared waved a hand. “That’s not necessary. There are other vampires on the list that we can approach.” Very smart of Jared to not seem desperate. Besides, now that we knew their names and a little more about them – including where they were last seen – it was very possible that Sebastian could track them much faster than Orrin ever could. “Thanks for your time.”
Back at The Hollow, Jared and I relayed all of the information to Antonio. Going by the strain in his expression, I suspected that he was sincerely looking forward to getting a grip of the Trent brothers and making them pay for what they had done. Well he’d better get in line.
“Sebastian, I do not need to stress to you the importance of the brothers being found,” said Antonio. “Track them as best and as fast as you can, but do not act when you finally find them. Simply report back to me with their location.”
With a nod, the tracker left.
Antonio looked between Jared and I. “You should both go and get ready for tonight’s entertainment. We shall see you soon.”
Ah, yes, the Opera. So not my thing, but I was willing to keep an open mind.
I had expected to find Fletcher waiting outside my apartment with a shopping bag containing a revealing dress, as he normally was. Instead, I found Evan, smiling like the cat that got the cream. Nope, that wasn’t good.
CHAPTER EIGHT
(Sam)
I’d never liked those ‘I know something you don’t’ smiles, and I especially never liked them when they belonged to Evan. He was a great bloke and all that, but he was also a sneaky bugger. I immediately narrowed my eyes.
Jared, who knew his brother well enough to know what that look meant, groaned. “Okay, what did you do?”
Evan shrugged innocently. “Who says I’ve done anything?”
“Spill it.”
“Bro,” whined Evan, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt that you’re so suspicious. Secrets aren’t always bad secrets.” He looked to me for some kind of character back-up.
“Yeah, I’m with Jared on this one, Ev. It’s never good when you’re smiling like that.”
He seemed delighted rather than offended. “Ready for your Binding gift?” he asked me.
“Should I be worried about what it is?”
“You’re going to love it.”
Jared shook his head at his twin. “Do I at least get to come and see this gift that’s supposed to be for both of us?”
A little patronisingly, Evan patted him on the back. “Sure. You’ll love it too, because it’s work-related. But it’s mainly for Sam.” He peered down at my feet. “Oh good, you’re wearing cross trainers.”
I frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
That smile was back. “You’ll see.”
Excited in spite of myself, I followed him down the hallway where we came across Fletcher. He was holding a shopping bag, surprise, surprise.
Evan spoke to Fletcher. “If anyone asks, they’ll be gone most of the evening. And they’ll be having way more fun than they would have at the opera-thing that Antonio’s got planned.”
Jared exchanged a baffled look with me before asking his brother, “Gone where all evening? And why will we be gone all evening?” His twin merely winked in response.
Fletcher put his hands on his hips, studying Evan over the rim of his glasses. “Hang on a minute, why are you smirking like that? What have you done?”
“I’m only taking Sam to see her Binding gift from me.”
My best friend’s expression morphed into one of intense curiosity. “Don’t think you’re leaving me behind.”
To my surprise, Evan’s smile faltered a little. “Are you sure you’re not too busy, Fletch?”
“When there’s a gift involved? Not at all.”
A very impish grin spread across Evan’s face. “Okay then, if you want to come, by all means come.”
Now I was even more suspicious…but I was also more intrigued. Curiosity won over, and I followed Evan out of the building. When he led us into the rainforest, I went from curious to ‘what the f**k?’ Still, I remained silent as he took us deep into the rainforest, in the direction of what the legion immaturely called ‘the four tits’ – basically, they were four mountains clustered together, surrounding a huge stretch of land.
Evan came to an abrupt halt when we neared the narrow opening that lay between two of the mountains, leading to the land nestled between all four. The excitement on his face made me smile, despite my impatience. “You ready?”
I shoved him. “Move out of my way so I can get through and see what it is.”
“No. You have to close your eyes.”
“Ev, don’t take the piss. I don’t have much patience left.”
“Just do it.”
Releasing a put-out sigh, I nonetheless did as he asked.
“Bro, Fletch – both of you stay quiet until I’ve told her to open her eyes.” He took my hand and guided me through the narrow opening. I heard Fletcher gasp and sensed Jared’s surprise and…awe? That made me even more desperate to look. Finally, Evan brought us to a halt. “Now, Sam, do you remember a month ago you told me how you thought the legion would benefit from having a tactical field to train in? Look.”