“I’ll call the police and the group leaders. You take care of my boy.” His voice is tight and hard.
“I will.”
“And then, when it’s cleaned up, we’re going to make somebody pay.”
“I’m with you on that.”
After ending the call, I set the phone on the step above us and move closer to Jay. “Cody is going to make some calls. Jay, who else knew about these meetings?”
“A lot of people,” he says helplessly. “Once you’re turned, you get access to the website with the group calendar and other info.”
“Could someone have hacked into your website? Or faked the credentials? Maybe stolen log-in information from another vampire? Or—”
He stares at me with red-rimmed eyes.
“I’m sorry. Too many questions.” My fingers tangle together, knuckles grinding hard and painful as I try to keep myself split, to keep the calm, logical Daisy at the surface, unaffected, while terrified, weeping Daisy stays deep inside. I have to be strong, for Jay. He’s been through so much in his twenty-four years—so much terror and pain. I want to soak all his grief and agony into myself so he doesn’t have to feel any more.
“My people,” he whispers.
These weren’t just clients to him. They were members of a family, a community he was building.
I cup his shoulder with my hand. “It’s Wolfsheim, isn’t it?” I murmur.
“No, he wouldn’t go this far. He wouldn’t resort to such drastic measures. Killing our own… It’s beyond anything I—” He shakes his head. “He would have come to me first. Confronted me in person, talked to me.”
“Really? Hasn’t he been confronting you and talking to you and Cody for weeks? Maybe he figured this was the next step. An unmistakable message.”
“That’s not a message,” he says through gritted teeth. “It’s terrorism.”
“I agree.”
“It can’t go unanswered. If it’s really him, we have to retaliate.”
We have to retaliate. He means himself and the other vampires. At least Cody is on the same page about that. They can rally their remaining vampires and—
A cold finger of dread runs the length of my spine.
“Jay,” I whisper. “Were any other support groups meeting tonight?”
“One, I think. Ewing’s group.”
“Call them.” I rise from the steps. “Call them now.”
Horror pools in his eyes. “You think—”
“Just call, Jay.”
He leaps up, too. “They aren’t due to meet for another half hour. We’re going there, right now.”
We race for his car and fling ourselves in. Jay tears down the mountain at a terrifying speed, his jaw rock-hard with tension. He uses hands-free mode to call the number of the support group leader, but no one answers.
“There must be someone else you can call,” I urge.
“The group we’re going to… Jordan was assigned to it.”
My stomach drops. I jab my thumb at her name on my screen and hold the phone to my ear, aching for her voice. Please, please pick up…
“Hey, babe,” she answers.
“Jordan! Thank god. Are you at your vampire support group thing?”
“Um, right. Like I’d go to that. You know support groups aren’t my jam.”
“Good! Don’t go. And stay inside tonight. Are you inside? Lock your doors, maybe have a weapon handy. Ugh, I wish you could keep them out by not inviting them in!”
“Girl, you’re not making any sense,” she says, yawning.
“Jay and I were just at one of the support groups—”
“Seriously? Why? You’re not even a vampire. Oh, is it because you’re considering membership in the Vamp Club? You should totally be one of us. It’s so freeing, not having to worry about death.”
“Jordan!” I shriek. “Shut up for a second.”
She goes quiet instantly.
“Everyone at the meeting was murdered. Their heads were gone. Completely gone. Sliced off by something sharp, and then taken away.”
“What?”
