Wining Celeste (Book 4) Jacobs Broken Mercenaries

chapter 10

Grayson

“I told you never trust a witch!” Elliot barks in outrage. I massage my temples, grasping for patience. We’re all in the kitchen as the video plays on a repetitive reel. I can’t deny the betrayal cuts deep, but even I can see the reasoning behind it.
“I say we kill him for what he did to Jace!” Tally exclaims in a shaky voice. Jacob comes up behind her and rubs her shoulders. 
“You know as well as I do. We can’t. both physically and lawfully.” He tells her gently, but she shrugs him off, regardless.
“I can’t believe she lied to all of us. I was just with her the other day. How could she be so deceitful?” This comes from a shocked Jolene.
“I never trusted her. She’s too uptight to be trustworthy.”
I snap my attention to Amanda, whose expression is loathsome. That’s it. I can’t take everyone condemning her for one simple mistake that was made for all the right reasons. Austin starts, and I snap.
“ENOUGH!” 
I’m out of breath, and my chest is heaving with anger. I look around at their shocked faces and try to speak calmly.
“You’re all so damn quick to judge. What if you were in her shoes? So, she saw an opportunity and took it. Can you blame her? All she wants is her sister... if it was one of us, tell me any of you wouldn’t have done the same or worse. She’s out there right now, probably being tortured or used in the worst possible way, and you’re all standing here, taking turns bashing her... She’s my goddamn mate! Okay? If she dies... I die, too.” 
I leave the kitchen with the laptop as everyone silently stares after me. I can’t stand waiting. Every minute lost is another risk to my mate. I know what I have to do and I don’t need their help...
“Your early today, miss me already?” 
Lucifer lies on a cot in the corner of a center cell, completely at ease. 
“This is a cakewalk compared to what I can do to you.”
My voice jars him. He gets up, grasping the bars.
“Grayson! Get me out of here.” he growls, the demand putting me even further on edge. 
“You know the only person who can reverse the hold on this is the one who created it.”
I watch his expressions carefully.
“Then get her and bring her here. I don’t care what you have to do to her, but make her free me.”
He’s earnest in his request, which means he doesn’t know.
“I would if I knew where he took her.”
I wait for my words to sink in.
“What do you mean? Someone took her? She was here just hours ago.”
Grabbing a nearby stool, I place it in front of his cell, playing it cool and collected. 
“Ever hear of a vampire named V?”
He chuckles, and I have to fight the urge to punch him in the face.
“No, I would have remembered such a creative name.”
His sarcasm hits a nerve, and I meet his face at the bars as I hear the stool clatter to the floor behind me.
“It’s not a laughing matter... if you ever want to get out of here, you’re going to need Celeste, and right now she’s being held by a vampire that goes by the name V. He reeks of age, just like you. Cut the bullshit and start thinking.”
There’s a long pause. I feel like he’s fighting the urge to still hold some shred of control or giving into general worry.
“A name is nothing. What does he look like?”
I think back to the night at her house. I remember his eyes they haunt me. 
“He’s blood touched, his eyes glow red. About six-foot, porcelain skin. He wears a cliché leather trench.”
“Stop, I already know who he is. Mica. Him and his brother Lakusta made a name for themselves for the better part of the late eighteen hundreds. They wanted to turn the world into vampires simply for control. They took a quarter of the world down before Lakusta took a railroad tie to the heart. His brother gathered his ashes and was working on a way to get him back when he, too, was put to rest by an angel. Someone had to have woken him. He couldn’t have done it himself.”
That’s not good news. The older the vampire, the harder to kill. My only hope is he’s risen recently and hasn’t fully recuperated. 
“What would he want with Celeste?” I ask out loud in a hypothetical sense, but Lucifer replies anyway. 
“Well, did you see another vampire with him?”
I move my head right to left in answer.
“She’s a witch with a name for herself. What do you think he wants?”
Shit! He wants his brother back. 
“How do I find him?”
Lucifer tosses his hands up, rolling his eyes.
“Can’t you think of someplace he would be? Any past rumors? You were both alive in that era.”
He frowns, looking offended.
“I was a Phoenix. Our crowd didn’t comprise vampires, but I recall his fondness for cemeteries and caves. Every story about them started in either a cave or in a mausoleum.”
Seriously, that’s disturbing. I turn to leave, but Lucifer protests.
“How is Jolene?”
I don’t have time for this, and I tell him as much, but I’ve got a soft spot for struggling relationships. Being in one myself. Turning back, I give him a little advice.
“Jolene is conflicted. Right now, she’s caught between doing the right thing and for those around her and herself. You made those two things complete opposites. She craves a relationship with you, but she doesn’t want to be like you... My advice; show her only good things. If she sees any bad in you, she’s likely to drop any hope she has of a relationship.” 
Lucifer swallows, giving me a nod of thanks...
I check every cemetery in and out of town with no luck. This takes the greater part of my day, and I stop at a gas station to refuel me and the truck. When I check my phone, there’s thirteen missed calls, all from Jacob. I click on the last call and dial him back.
“It’s about time. Where have you been?”
“Looking for Celeste, where do you think.” I sneer over the line, recalling the morning.
“Yeah, we figured as much when we saw Lucifer. You won’t find her that easily, Grayson. You need to come back and listen to what Estevan has to say.”
Shit! Why didn’t I think of that? My anger is at the forefront, and it could cost Celeste her life. I’ve got to get it together.
“I’ll be right there.”