Chapter Eighty-five

Sitting in the middle of the airport, Bram was glaring at his phone. It had been three days since Izabella left. He had gotten a few leads on places he could find the Bloods, but the stupid gang either wasn’t as new and untrained as he thought, or they really weren’t part of this. None of the vampires he’d faced these last few days had any information on Tyler. Without Izabella, Tyler, or Devon to call him, his phone had been eerily quiet. He’d also completely forgotten about the fact that he had any businesses to run. He hadn’t been in touch with anyone at them since he’d been whisked away to Romania. He didn’t know what Mihaela was waiting for right now, but it was pissing him off. He wanted to move forward with this so that he could just get it over with.

Bram was also pissed at Izabella. She had promised to keep in touch, but she hadn’t called him since she left. He desperately wanted to hear her voice. He missed her so much. It was driving him crazy. He’d figured out where she was staying at least. A few times a day he would pass by the church, and usually, later at night, after the sun had gone down, he would see her in that one window. Hand pressed against the glass looking down at him. That was the most contact they’d had, and it was driving him crazy. He just wanted her to come out. So they could have a moment together.

He sighed as two women sashayed through the crowd right at him. He kept telling himself he needed to go pick up a wedding band to help deter women from coming up to him. “Hello, darling. We were hoping you might want to come have lunch with us so we can get to know each other a bit.” They were both very lovely ladies. And not long ago, he would have had a lot of fun with them. She had a deep Romanian accent, which meant that his mother’s flight had finally landed.

“Sorry, ladies.” He smiled, standing. “I’m here to pick up my mother to help me finalize the plans for my wedding. But, I’m sure it would have been fun.” He waved as he walked by them, looking for Scarlet. He could hear them talking behind his back, mostly about how all the good ones were already taken and how good his ass looked in his jeans.

Not far from where he stood now, he could see her burgundy-colored hair in the sea of people. Beelining through the crowd, Bram was at her side a moment later. “Scarlet.”

“Bram. Dear, I’m a bit surprised you’re so excited to see your old mother.” She was absolutely beaming.

“I’m going absolutely fucking mad. I need my family back and I haven’t gotten a lead in days. Have you heard from that black hearted bitch?” Bram asked, steering Scarlet toward the baggage claim.

“I haven’t. I think we messed up her plan. Either she knows we’ve figured it out and is starting to retrace her steps, or something else is holding her up.” Scarlet said, pointing at her large bag, “Will you grab that for me, dear?”

He didn’t like the fact that people were currently staring at them. What was it about them that had caught everyone’s eye? “People just like to look at those prettier than them. Don’t start getting too worked up over it.” A bright flash went off, to their left, and Bram glared. It was the paparazzi. They’d recognized him and now there would be a picture in tomorrow’s paper. Everyone would assume he had a new lover. The thought made him shiver. Gross.

“Anyway,” he turned away from the camera, giving them the finger, “I found Izabella. She’s not with Mihaela. She went to her old church and is staying there.” Scarlet scowled at him, and he held his hand up as she went to speak. “I don’t want to hear it. At least she’s safe right now.”

“Really? Don’t you know anything, Bram?” She glared as they walked out into the afternoon sun. A valet drove up with his cherry red Ferrari taking the luggage from Bram and trying to stuff the large bag into the little trunk.

“What do you mean?” He asked, sinking behind the wheel.

“Father Corvino!” Scarlet said in exasperation. “You know he’s a famous priest. Ask me what he’s famous for.” Bram did so in an unimpressed, monotone. “A famous vampire killer, Bram. He wanted your father so very badly when he was younger. I think he realized he didn’t stand a chance, but we did lose a number our own to him. He came here to find you after learning that Dracula had a son with witchy powers. He deemed you the most dangerous thing in the world. He was so good, you never even knew he was hunting you.”

Bram rolled his eyes, “Okay. Let me get this straight. You think that Izabella’s father was trying to kill me and I just never knew.”

“When I found out who she was, I was worried. But when I met her, all that flew out the window. The only thing I could feel coming off her toward you was love. For those kids too. At first, I thought she was trying to fool us, your father did too.” Her hand rolled through the air, “but in the end, especially when you showed up and threw yourself at her, it was clear you were both far too in love for there to be room in her heart for any other hidden emotion. But that doesn’t mean those in that awful church that Corvino ran aren’t still after you. It’s really an outpost for the Vatican. He’s not a pastor, but a priest, specially trained to hunt our kind. They don’t particularly like witches either.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Bram stopped in front of the church, stepping out to stand in his usual spot. “So, you’re telling me that this church is a haven for vampire hunters?” He looked up at the window. Izabella was standing there. She waived. “She’s had a lot of anxiety these last few days. I thought it was because of the separation, like mine. You don’t think they’ll hurt her, do you?” Now he really wanted to go in and get her. He cocked a finger at her, hoping she might at least come down. If he could talk to her, he’d feel better about the whole thing.

She shrugged before turning around. Bram couldn’t help but frown at the window. He didn’t know what that meant. Was she coming out or not? “If you wear your heart on your sleeve, you’re going to end up letting the entire world know what your biggest weakness is.” Scarlet scoffed at him, shaking her head.

“I don’t care. Let the world know. It will only help to protect her.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

They stood in silence for a while. Bram watching the church as his mother watched him. “I never thought I’d see the day. You know, being only a half blood, chances are pretty good that we could walk in there.” She raised a brow at him.

Bram grunted rolling his eyes, “Yes. Let us walk into a church full of vampire slayers, if what you say is true. That’s exactly what I want. The only reason she’s still in there right now is because I know she’s safer here than anywhere else in the city. It was the best place she could have come. They just better let her leave when the time comes, otherwise they’ll learn all they want about the devil they’re hunting.” The longer time spanned, the more irritated Bram became. He was really hoping she would—

The door to the side of the church burst open and Izabella bound out of it toward the road as quickly as possible. Bram’s eyes went wide as three others followed her out, rushing after her. Looking left and right, the road between them was busy and the cars were moving quickly through the streets. She wasn’t stopping. Bram’s heart dropped into his stomach as he realized she was going to run right out into the street. Leaping from the curb, she ran right into the center of the road. Bram dove in front of the car heading right toward her. The guy driving slammed his breaks, but it wasn’t enough.


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