CHAPTER 429: CARE

"Anxious, are we?"

In his hand, Darrick Dragomir whirled the wine glass that held the crimson beverage he sipped at his leisure.

Reubon spared him not a glance, eyes on his contracting then relaxing hand, "Something isn’t right," he muttered under his breath.

The advantages of vampire hearing made sure Dragomir received every bit of it, "And according to you, what isn’t?" he raised an eyebrow.

"That brat Cedric...," Reubon popped his tongue against his palate.

"I wouldn’t be this careless if I were you," Dragomir commented, "In Umbraria, walls have ears,"

"Tell me something I don’t already know, Darrick," the man grunted.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about or do I need to pry it out of you?"

"While I’d love to see you try, I will pass on that offer," Reubon’s eyes finally snapped out of a daze they seemed to have spiraled into and leaned forward to pick his own wine glass off the nearest table, "As of the recent weeks, all communication with the royal abode has gone through the crown prince. I have not heard a single peep from the king himself since I left Lustris,"

"Come now, if anything were to happen to the king, the news would have reached us by now," Darrick, on the other hand, leaned back against his chair.

"I know, but his kid has always been... Volatile and lacked limits,"

"So do we, Reubon. Get to the point already,"

Reubon did not get to the point or more accurately, he was not given the opportunity to as Darrick’s full attention turned towards the door.

Lauden who’d stood silent in the background of their conversation caught the hasty pair of feet heading their way.

"What is it, my darling rose? Is it the child?"

Darrick stood to greet his wife who appeared... Troubled by something, to put it mildly.

"No, rest easy on that front," her eyebrows remained a tad furrowed, "It’s just that, there’s been a change in plans for tonight and the reason is quite upsetting, unfortunately,"

"So, we aren’t seeing Persephone tonight," he half asked.

Lauden fought the smile that threatened to creep across his features for he knew all too well of the unfortunate reason Lady Anastasia was about to mention.

"No... It’s one of her daughters, the adoptive ones. She seems to have vanished into thin air," Anastasia’s shoulders shrugged to further put emphasis on her words.

"Which one?" Darrick stood to his feet. Not too suddenly, something on his face had shifted.

"That pretty redhead one. She worked as an entertainer during Persephone’s gatherings, but I can’t seem to recall her name,"

"Allegra," he said calmly, his eyes on nothing in particular.

"Right! That was her name!" she chirped.

"It still is her name. She isn’t dead yet, is she?" his tone came a tad too firm for his wife and everyone in the room.

Reubon raised an eyebrow while Anatasia’s eyes narrowed, "Who said anything about death, darling? I was merely utilizing the correct grammar to express myself,"

"No, of course, my love," he quickly shook that grim look off, "I don’t know what came over me all of the sudden,"

"No," she walked closer to her husband and cupped his cheeks, "I understand that you spent quite a bit of time with the girl during the gatherings. It is perfectly alright to feel protective over her," Anastasia smiled sweetly.

It was sweet. A little too sweet for Lauden’s taste who merely glared at the couple.

"What say you, my rose?" he looked into his wife’s eyes, "I believe our friend can use our help with the search," he suggested.

"Yes! My dear Persephone has always had her heart in the right place. I can’t fathom not standing with her during such times," Anastasia shook her head.

Lauden reveled in that look... That glint that lived in Darrick’s eyes. It was a sliver of hope. One that would no doubt shrink and fade every minute his daughter remained in the wind.

"Will you handle communication, Lauden? I am sure Persephone is out there somewhere looking for the girl, but I know one member of their family who won’t risk leaving the property," Darrick’s eyes landed on Reubon who glared back silently.

His Lord’s voice brought him out of his own bubble, "Yes, my Lord. I will do," he bowed respectfully before exiting the room.

The girl, he said, sounding as though the appellation would choke his windpipes. As it turned out, he did care a bit for her, but still... Why let her be in his enemy’s lair? Why use her as a communication post knowing full well the consequences it could yield for her?

The answers to those questions mattered less than the brewing hunger for blood that boiled under Lauden’s skin.

Years of servitude and he was ready to throw it all away for... For what, exactly?

Well, not for what but for who?

For the one he had so carelessly used as fodder. Lauden would show his Lord exactly what the meaning of the term expendable was.

"You heard it in his voice too, didn’t you?"

Caught in a hallway, right as he’d mailed the letter to the Eleazars’.

Reubon stood at a distance, still in his motions.

"What did I hear?" Lauden practically hissed.

It was what he didn’t hear that bothered him the most. Reubon had somehow managed to keep stealthy and surprise him.

"The concern he had for that servant girl," hand in his pocket, Reubon pushed his figure off the wall he’d been leaning upon.

"She is an entertainer,"

"She still serves and therefore she is a servant," Reubon pressed on.

"In any case," the vampire cleared his throat, "And not that it is any of your business, but Lord Darrick isn’t the heartless husk you believe he is. He does care for the people he finds interesting,"

"Well, he also described my daughter as very interesting," the smirk on Reubon’s face irked Lauden more than he cared to admit.

"He does care when no conflict of interest arises,"