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“The wedding will take place on land. Shall we jointhem?” Together, we jump from the deck to the shore edge where a group of vampires is beginning to gather.
“Where is the treasure?” I ask, looking around.
“That is none of your concern.”
I pull away from his hold. “Thatismy concern. Where is the treasure?”
“They’re over there,” Gordon answers, nodding his head toward a portable storage building that wasn’t there earlier. He giggles as he nods. “This is going to be so much fun. A wedding and a hunt. All the makings of a perfect evening.”
Several minutes pass before the remaining vampires join us. With the addition of the French crew, I count twenty-four. Shit. That’s too many.
The moment I see Bertram, my heart stops. I’m willing to sacrifice my life for these humans, but I won’t allow him to do the same.
“Oh, look. Your family’s here,” Kragen says, seeing Bert. “He’s going to walk you down the aisle.”
“There isn’t an aisle.”
“Semantics,” he repeats my words from earlier.
“What a lovely bride,” the shorter French vampire says. “A vision of beauty.”
“I want to speak to my brother,” I announce to the small group. “We need time to catch up.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Kragen snaps his fingers, and three vampires I don’t recognize come from the wooded area, carrying the bodies of three others. They throw the bodies in a heap not far away. “Are these the men you are hoping to speak to Bertram about?”
My eyes grow large at the understanding of who the bodies are. The three vampires Bert mentioned during our conversation. Bert’s eyes close in recognition of what’s happened. “What did you do?” I ask, staring at the two of them.
“I would think that is obvious.” Kragen straightens the flowery cuffs of his shirt. “But since it’s your wedding day, I will indulge you.” He kicks the legs of one of the men. “I had them killed. The mere fact that your brother is still alive is due to his help in identifying these traitors.”
“Bertram?”
“Aye,” he answers.
“You told him?”
“I had no choice.”
My mind reels through the information I shared with him. I told him about Thorne. Dammit. My brother betrayed me.
“You always have a choice,” I spew. “After everything?”
“What everything? You’re the reason I’m a vampire in the first place. If I hadn’t gone looking for you, none of this would’ve ever happened. I would’ve married a voluptuous young American woman and had a brood of children. Now, what do I have to look forward to? Eating rodents, chasing terrified humans? What kind oflife is that, Bethie?”
“You don’t get to call me that,” I spew, anger filling me. “I trusted you.” I fight the tears from escaping.
“That was your fault,” he answers. “I’m sorry I wasn’t as good as the perfect Charles. I was never able to fill his shoes. Nothing I did was ever good enough for anyone.”
“You did this because of some deep-seated childhood trauma? We all have fucking trauma, Bert. It’s how we use that trauma that makes us into the people we are today. If you want to sit around and feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your life, then so be it. That’s not me.”
“I didn’t do this to hurt you. It’s me I want to hurt,” he argues.
“What are you talking about?”
“I want to die, Elsie.”
Kragen claps his hands loudly. “I can make that happen.”
“No.” I move between my brother and Kragen. “Leave him alone.”
