The Vampire's Fake Fiancée (Nocturne Falls Book 5) (33 page)

“That would help immensely.” She smiled at him and answered Elenora. “I will absolutely do it. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that.”

Elenora put her hand to her chest and gave Tessa a short bow from her seat. “Thank you. I understand that this will not be easy, but as a family, we will be there to support you.”

Delaney leaned forward. “You’re so brave.”

“Agreed,” Julian added. “Who knew Sebastian was capable of finding such a remarkable woman? Now let’s see if he can keep you.”

Tessa lifted her chin. “Your brother is an equally remarkable man.”

Then Sebastian spoke up. “What would you know about keeping a woman, Julian? For more than twenty-four hours, that is.”

“Touché,” Hugh said. “Until you can manage a lasting relationship, Julian, your opinion on Sebastian’s love life carries very little weight.”

Elenora cleared her throat. “That’s enough, boys. Let’s focus on the task at hand, shall we? As I’m the most senior vampire here, I will contact the council about our issue. I don’t know if they’ll send someone for Evangeline or require us to transport her but either way we have work ahead of us.”

Alice’s small voice spoke from the back of the room. “Are you sure she was only after the secret for herself?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Alice is right. Evangeline could have been working with someone,” Sebastian said.

They all turned to look at him.

He held out a hand. “She was going to
great
lengths to find out what enabled me to daywalk. I know Evangeline better than any of you and for her to put that much effort into something, her motivation could have come from something more than her own desire to see the sun rise again. Losing that ability wasn’t something she ever seemed to regret.”

The thought cast a visual pall over the people in the room. Both Hugh and Julian muttered curses.

Tessa straightened, knowing immediately how to fix the problem. “Let me talk to her. I’ll know whether she’s lying or telling the truth, either way. So no matter what she says, we’ll know if there’s someone else involved.” She glanced at the others in the room and answered the unspoken question. “Valkyries can read a person’s intent. It’s our gift.”

Elenora’s eyebrows rose and she gave Sebastian a pleased look. “I may buy her an island after all.” She shifted her gaze to Tessa. “We should do this immediately. This isn’t something we can wait to find out.”

Tessa stood. “Take me to her. Right now.”

Sebastian hadn’t been down to the Basement of Nocturne Falls in so long that Julian accompanied them. Only town employees with approved access could enter, which of course Sebastian was, but he rarely carried his keycard. This was more Julian’s territory anyway, being the vast array of underground passageways that allowed much of the behind-the-scenes activities in town to take place.

And unlike Sebastian, Julian, always had his keycard on him.

He led them down the steps from one of several secret entrances tucked here and there around town. When they reached the bottom, Julian spread his arms wide. “Welcome to Nocturne Falls’ best kept secret, Tessa.”

“Wow.” She glanced down both sides of the hall. “You could drive a truck through here.”

“You can and we have.” Julian smiled proudly as he took off to the left. “This way to the detention center.”

Tessa and Sebastian fell into step behind him. She looked at Sebastian. “What else goes on down here?”

“Through a room off one of these enormous tunnel the gargoyles who entertain the tourists at the fountain are hydraulically lifted into place.” He looked over his shoulder. “I believe that’s in the other direction. Also, many of the supernaturals who walk the streets posing for pictures and giving the town color use the passageways to come and go without fear of being followed by overeager tourists.”

She nodded. “I think Disney uses tunnels like these.”

“That’s where we got the idea,” Julian called back. “Although I don’t think Disney has special holding cells built to accommodate supernaturals of any variety.”

“No, probably not,” she answered.

They turned a corner. Deputy Cruz was standing guard outside the locked door that led into the cells. Julian pulled out his keycard again.

Sebastian gave the man a nod. Cruz was a solid deputy and a panther shifter, but Sebastian didn’t know much more than that about him. “All quiet?”

Cruz shook his head. “It was. Then she woke up.” He grinned at Tessa. “I understand you were responsible for that. Nice work, valkyrie. Wait until your sister hears.”

“I can only imagine.”

“Here you go.” Julian pushed the door open and held it for her.

Sebastian wished he and Julian could go in with Tessa, but she’d said the best result would come from one-on-one interaction so that no one else’s emotions would interfere with sensing Evangeline’s true motives.

“Who’s there?” Evangeline called out.

They ignored the question. Sebastian squeezed Tessa’s hand. “You won’t have to get close to her to talk to her. When you’re done, knock on the door and Julian will open it again.”

She gave his hand a squeeze back. “I won’t be long.”

She slipped inside.

Tessa had expected a dark, dank cell. Why she’d pictured something that skewed medieval dungeon, she had no idea.

The room before her was bright white and more space ship than jail. Evangeline reclined on a wide molded bench on the other side of the thick glass that separated the free space from the confined. Small round holes perforated the wall at eye level. More for sound than air, Tessa guessed, seeing as how vampires didn’t need to breathe.

Evangeline scowled at her. “What do you want?”

Tessa walked to the halfway point between the door and the glass wall. “Just to ask you some questions.”

Evangeline snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Anger washed off her in waves. “It could make a difference with the council.”

Evangeline gave Tessa the side eye. “What do you know about the council?”

“Enough.” The woman’s curiosity rose a notch. “Why did you want Sebastian’s ability to walk in the sun?”

The question earned Tessa an eye roll. “I’m a vampire, you twit. We all want to walk in the sun again.” Evangeline shifted, swinging her feet onto the floor. “Can you imagine what it would be like to give that up? When I saw Sebastian in the papers and realized he was out in the sun…” She shook her head. “I was his wife. He should have shared that ability with me.”

“You knew losing the sun was the price to pay for being a vampire. But you also should have understood that Sebastian didn’t owe you anything.”

Evangeline barked out a laugh. “He’s been giving me everything I wanted since we married. Why should his daywalking ability be any different?”

“You could have asked him.”

She huffed out a sigh. “Once I figured out all of the Ellinghams could daywalk I knew that option was out. You don’t know what a tight grip Elenora keeps on that family. And she hates me. There was no way she’d agree to sharing that with me.”

“So you assumed she was the one behind it?”

“Elenora controls everything that family does.”

Tessa had yet to see evidence of that. She crossed her arms. “Did you miss the sun so badly you actually would have killed Sebastian for his secret?”

Evangeline glared at her, then turned away. “I’m not answering that.”

But she already had. Indecision had whirled off her, finally solidifying into a positive. Tessa ground her teeth together to keep from lashing out as anger heated her belly. How dare this woman put her own happiness above the price of Sebastian’s life? “One more question and I’ll leave you alone.” Unless she had been working with someone. Then Tessa would have to do her best to pull that information out as well.

Evangeline shifted toward the wall, putting her back to Tessa, and said nothing.

Tessa lifted her chin. “Were you trying to get his secret for yourself?”

Evangeline remained quiet, but her intentions were clear. She’d been after Sebastian’s amulet because of her own desires.

“That’s what I thought,” Tessa said.

Evangeline shifted. “I didn’t say anything.”

Tessa walked toward the door. “You didn’t have to.”

Julian shut the door and leaned against it. “So what’s your gut say? You think Evangeline is working with someone?”

Sebastian wanted to pace but made himself be still. “I don’t know. Maybe. But who would have the patience to work with her? Although she claimed to have a lover who was teaching her self-defense or some such thing.”

Which meant the possibility existed that she’d been doing this for reasons beyond her own desires. Evangeline could have promised another, more powerful vampire that she could provide him with the ability to daywalk in an attempt to curry favor or protection. Or money.

Or maybe she owed a more powerful vampire money and this was her way of repaying it.

If that was true, it would explain why she hadn’t asked Sebastian for any cash in a long time. And her lifestyle required great sums of the stuff.

It was starting to make sense now. Someone else had to be bankrolling her. How else did she afford her life? He doubted she had the wherewithal to invest and plan like most vampires, learning to play the markets to increase their wealth to unimaginable heights.

No, Evangeline was the sort to rely on the kindness of strangers. Strangers she probably seduced and entertained until she grew tired of them. Or more likely, they grew tired of her. Perhaps she’d overstayed her welcome and had been forced to come up with something to repay the largess she’d been shown.

The secret of daywalking would be just the thing. Most vampires would give their right fang for that sort of knowledge. To be free of the one restriction of their kind would be monumental. Life changing. That kind of knowledge could shift the balance of power in the world if dropped into the wrong hands.

He’d about convinced himself that a horde of vampires were moments from descending upon them when Tessa’s sturdy knock sounded on the door.

Julian whisked it open and she stepped out.

“Well?” Sebastian could barely contain himself.

She shook her head. “Just her. And it’s exactly what we thought it was. She saw those pictures of you in the paper, realized what time of day it was when they were taken and wanted the ability for herself.”