Consumed (Blood Ties Book 9)

“It’s not the video.” Riven turned around as he lowered the cell in his hand. “Tobias is willing to bet Benjamin has no idea it even exists.”

I took a step closer, waiting for him to continue. He closed his eyes for a second and exhaled hard, his brow furrowing before he opened his eyes. “He said something else is going on with the Rossis and it has to do with Kat and the baby.”

“Kat and the baby?” I whispered. “What are you talking about? What does Kat have to do with any of this?”

“I don’t know.” He strode closer, those dark eyes boring into mine. “But we need to figure it out.”

My mind raced, trying to find a connection. Knowing how secretive the Rossis were, there’d be no paper trail, nothing that could lead us to the information we needed. So that left me with one other choice…my sister.

“Ryth,” I whispered.

“She’s as close to Kat and Laz as anyone. So if anyone was going to know what this is all about, it’d be her.”

Memories invaded my mind. Kat, holding their baby girl as she paced the hallway outside Ryth’s hospital room after the attack at Coulter’s mansion. She was panicked and desperate then, clutching her dark-haired daughter tight to her chest.

I’d never really had any cause to delve into who Katerina VanHalen was apart from what I’d seen in the news. She was rich, the daughter of one of the most influential men in the country. But Sebastian VanHalen had died suddenly in the months just after Kat left the VanHalen name behind and became a Rossi, exchanging diamonds and the celebrity lifestyle for guns and war.

I tried to make a connection. Money, maybe? I pressed the button and listened to Ryth’s cell ring.

“Hey. Riven just called,” she said carefully. “Is everything okay?”

“I need to know what’s going on with the Rossis,” I said, not as carefully. “In particular, Kat. Something is happening here and I need to figure it out.”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

“Helene, I can’t⁠—”

“You know I wouldn’t ask,” I pushed. “You’re my sister and the last thing I’d ever do is ask you to betray your friend. But I have a bad feeling about this, Ryth, and right now, I’m betting you do, too. Just tell me what you can…and I’ll figure out the rest.”

There was silence for a very long time until slowly… “I don’t know what is happening. Benjamin called Tobias and told him we needed to go underground, so that’s what we’re doing. We left the Parkland house behind, we’re ditching the cells, and activating the burners. Ben said he’s doing the same for Kat and her babies.”

“There has to be some kind of connection here. Please, Ryth.”

“Kat met Laz on some kind of island purposely built by and for the Cosa Nostra. Her father was rich and powerful and extremely influential. He had a lot of connections⁠—”

I could hear Tobias in the background, warning her.

Please, just tell me.

“One of her father’s very close friends was Haelstrom Hale. He and Kat were engaged for a while…until Laz came on the scene.”

I stilled, my blood running cold.

“That’s all I can tell you,” Ryth said deliberately before she whispered. “The rest you’ll have to figure out yourself.”

The rest?

Oh, God. Oh…God.

A shiver raced through me as I lifted my gaze to Riven’s.

“I have to go,” Ryth added. “I’ll contact you as soon as we’re safe.”

“Okay.” I said automatically as Riven’s brow creased. “Stay safe. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Then the call was silent.

“What is it?” Riven urged.

My mind was spinning, my stomach churning so hard I thought I was going to throw up. “I…I…” The bedroom darkened, snatching all the color until there was nothing but gray.

“Trouble?” Riven caught me as I swayed, pulling me against him. “Talk to me. Tell me what it was.”

I lifted my head. “Did you know Hale was engaged?”

He scowled. “Engaged? No.”

“Well, he was.” I slowed my breaths until slowly the colored hues inside the bedroom returned. “And you’ll never guess who he was engaged to.”

Riven stiffened, his eyes widening as he whispered. “No.”

“Yes.” I moved with him as he turned. “Kat VanHalen.”

“Holy fuck.” He ran his fingers through his hair, pacing the bedroom floor until he turned.

“I need to think,” I murmured, focusing on the far wall. “And plan. I need to…”

I turned around and started walking.

“Where are you going?”

“To the command center!” I called over my shoulder as I raced down the stairs.

Hale was engaged to Kat?

Jesus…that changed everything.

I ran down the stairs and slammed through the door, racing for the stand-alone building that was an armory and a command center all in one.

“Helene, for Christ’s sake!” Riven roared as I barrelled through the entrance and up the narrow flight of stairs to the room with the bank of monitors.

But it wasn’t the computers I was interested in. I turned around, finding the wall that was crammed with names and pictures as they connected to The Order. That fever which burned inside me took hold as I stepped closer, pulled the pictures of Ryth, Vivienne, and me free, then took a step backwards and laid them on the floor.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Riven snapped.

But I didn’t answer. I placed my picture down and surged forward again to pull Hale’s free, ignoring the major players of The Order. My gaze skimmed Coulter’s face. Get her on the table…I shook my head, pushing the horror away.

I was so close to figuring this out.

The Order.

I strode forward, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled the words The Order. But I stopped as I finished the r. It wasn’t quite right. I reached up, grabbed another piece of paper and wrote the real monster behind this. Haelstrom Hale.

Whichever way you looked at this, it all came down to one person. The single driving force of one man. I placed the note in the middle, then moved to the board, pulled the image of my father from the wall, and placed it alongside Hale’s.

The three of us surrounded my father. There was still a connection between them, one I couldn’t quite work out. Glioblastoma Multiforme is a fast growing and aggressive brain tumor. The diagnosis said six months and that was six months ago.

The urgency to crack this was overwhelming, making my head throb at the base of my neck. I rubbed the tight muscle, until strong hands replaced mine.

“Talk to me.” Riven’s thumbs pushed into the points at the base of my skull, making me close my eyes with relief

“I don’t understand the connection between my dad and Hale. I know about the fact that Hale was searching for our DNA and my father kept it safe…he kept us safe, but there has to be more to them. There has to be a darker connection.”

“Then leave it. Move on to what we do know.”

I opened my eyes and shifted my gaze to the name scribbled in black pen. Hale. “We know he was engaged to Kat.”

“And?”

I moved away, leaving his magical fingers behind. “We know she kept it a secret and so did Hale.” I picked up the pen and wrote Kat engaged?

“Keep going.”

“And now she’s having to hide.” My pulse was thrumming, triggering that constant drilling in my head. I had to keep going. I was so close. So goddamn close. In my head, all I could see was her standing outside the door to Ryth’s room, clutching her daughter tight against her chest.

The child was so beautiful, dressed in lilac that looked stunning against her jet-black hair and dark eyes.

Black hair.

Dark eyes.

Not like her mother’s…because Kat was a redhead.

Not like Laz’s either, come to think of it.

“What color eyes does Lazarus have?”

“Not really sure, never really stared longingly into them. Blue, I think?”

Blue…

Yeah, blue.

My heart was booming as it all slipped into place. A face rose inside my mind as I shifted my focus to the name Haelstrom Hale, the man with jet black hair and coal black eyes. “Oh my fucking God.”

“What is it?”

I spun around, meeting his stare. I couldn’t quite believe it.

He and Kat were engaged for a while…until Laz came on the scene.

“She isn’t Lazarus’ child,” I whispered. “She’s Hale’s.”

Riven’s eyes widened before he slowly looked back at the array of images and names. “Holy fuck.”

“They’re going to ground because Hale’s after them. He’s going to take back what’s his…right before he disappears for good.”

“Jesus.” Riven’s voice shook. “You know what that means, right?”

“It means the Rossis are about to go to war.”

“Grab your jacket.” Riven barked as he turned and raced for the stairs. “You’re going to need it.”

“Where are we going?” I yelled as he hit the bottom.

“To the bastard who knew this all along. London fucking St. James.”

Holy shit. This was a goddamn mess…and I just blew it all to hell.