Daniel stared at him for a long time. He cleared his throat. “Are you saying you know there are other hunters out there?”
Tariq didn’t answer the question. Instead he skirted the issue. “I’m saying that if there is one, there must be the other, and if you belong to the society, you should know that particular group, while started for a good purpose, does not discriminate before it chooses to make a kill. It has a bad reputation.”
Daniel blinked several times, trying to digest what Tariq was telling him. Tariq didn’t wait to see if his little chat did any good. “I can keep Charlotte and Genevieve safer than you can. You’re risking your lives trying to go up against Fridrick and his playmates. They have a small army and Fridrick is by no means the worst of them. Stay out of this.”
“They’ve killed. Brutally killed. They won’t stop until someone steps in. The law can’t get them. No one would believe us if we told them what Fridrick is.”
“I’m saying walk away and be glad you have your lives. You don’t want to be on their radar. They have spies, and they’re watching my property. If I knew you were here, then they know as well. Get out of the city and stay low for a while. Fridrick won’t follow you, because he wants Charlotte and Genevieve.”
For some insane reason, Tariq felt a kinship with Daniel Forester. The man sincerely believed in his cause and his cause was no different from Tariq’s.
“I can’t just walk away when I know that thing is targeting two innocent women.” Daniel looked around and then lowered his voice. “I think they’ve infiltrated our ranks as well. Some of the commands coming out of headquarters don’t make any sense.”
Tariq paused in the act of turning away from them. He’d intended to read their purpose and then leave them to their fate, but Forester and his friends were trying to save Charlotte’s life and that earned them a warning or two.
“They have,” he confirmed. “You can’t trust anyone at this point. And you can’t kill a vampire in the way of the movies. The heart has to be removed and incinerated. If you’re staking them and not following through, they can come back again and again.”
“How do you know that?” Daniel asked, suspicion creeping into his tone.
Tariq shrugged. “I like research. I spend a lot of time up at night because of the club. If I can’t sleep during the day, I research anything that interests me. Legends and myths interest me.” If they could lie, so could he, and his mixture of truth and fiction carried conviction. His tone was pitched perfectly for anyone hearing him to believe everything he said without a “push” to get them to listen.
“Wait,” Daniel called as Tariq turned away from them and began to walk back toward the compound.
Tariq shook his head. “I’m trying to help you out, Forester. It’s on you if you don’t choose to listen, but Fridrick’s spies will report back to him that you’re here. He’ll want to know why. He’ll kill you the moment he realizes you can’t help him acquire the women. And if he captures you and tries to use you as bait by torturing you, that won’t save you, either, because Charlotte and Genevieve will never know about it. I’ll see to that.”
Tariq would hate it. He’d seen the torture vampires inflicted on their victims. The more fear-based adrenaline in the blood, the higher the rush the vampire got. Tariq would hate to see that happen to Forester and his friends, but he couldn’t save everyone, and Charlotte, Genevieve and his children were the most important to him.
The muscle in Daniel’s jaw jerked again. “I wouldn’t want them to know,” he agreed. “I would do the same, not let either of the women know what was happening in order to save them. But we made a pact.” He swept his hand back toward the two other men. They stepped up to his side, looking every bit as determined as Daniel. “We’re not going to allow those monsters to get either of those women if we can help it.”
Tariq paused in the act of walking away from them. For a moment he closed his eyes. So many other human males over the centuries had been worth his respect – and they’d died hard. He didn’t want to see these men go that same way. “If you really want to help me guard them, then you have to realize that either any knowledge you gain of hunters of the vampire must be removed from you or safeguards have to be put in place.”
Daniel started to say something, but Tariq held up his hand. “You need to think about what that could mean. Go away from here. If you still insist that you really want to hunt vampires and destroy them, come to my club tomorrow night. We’ll work something out, but your answer will be a permanent one. There will be no going back either way. Now go, before Fridrick’s spies report that you were more than paparazzi trying to get a photograph of my fiancée.”
“One more thing, Asenguard,” Daniel said. “Charlotte Vintage has another friend, Grace. She hangs with Genevieve and Charlotte a lot. She didn’t go to Paris and she’s never been tested for psychic ability, but they’re interested in her as well and they have been watching her. We don’t trust any of the other members and we have to stick together in order to be safe. We try to look out for her, but she doesn’t make it easy.”
Tariq studied the man for a long moment. Grace had packed up some of Charlotte’s and Genevieve’s things and driven them over to the house, but she left immediately. He hadn’t met her, but Maksim said she was very distracted and wanted to leave as soon as she had delivered the clothes and made certain Lourdes was safe. He nodded at the three men. “I’ll look into it.” This time he turned and walked away without looking back. The three men would have to decide for themselves, but he hoped they left the state and forgot all about vampire hunting.
Charlotte finally managed to introduce herself to the older couple living on Tariq’s property. Donald and Mary were clearly in love. They’d been together thirty years and still held hands and exchanged secretive, loving glances. She really liked them and was happy to spend half an hour getting to know them.
Donald liked helping out with Tariq’s books, and clearly it made him feel as if he had a purpose, making certain no one cheated his benefactor. Mary liked looking after the children. She had begun to develop a good friendship with them. So much so that Charlotte was fairly certain Tariq was influencing the children to accept the older couple. The children were still enthralled with their stone dragons so she left them with Donald and Mary while she paid a visit to Emeline.