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“Take this. I might not be part of the St. Draqial clan anymore, but my loyalty still lies with you. If you need anything, call me.” Marissa reached into her bag and scribbled her number on a piece of paper.

“Thank you, and I appreciate your loyalty.” He accepted the piece of paper. “I’ll let you get back to enjoying the festival with your boys, and take these. Aerin says there is no better cure for a good spook than something sweet,” he said, taking the small pouches of salted caramels from inside the fish cages by the door.

“The boys will love them; they have a terrible sweet tooth. I hope you find your peace too, whether it’s here or with the clan,” she said, getting up. “You aren’t going to do anything drastic, are you?” Marissa hesitated on the porch. “I know how the desire for revenge can be as corrupting as bloodlust.”

“Enjoy the rest of the festival with your family,” Gideon said, unwilling to burden her with his plans. It was never her job to protect the crew, but his. He watched Marissa leave and looked between the house and the cliffs. Aerin’s voice told him to go back inside and help her, as he had promised. But her sweet words were nothing compared to the screams of his crew.

Gideon broke in through the back door of the blood bank; the loud music from the festivities masked the sound of him kicking in the emergency door. In the clinic, he searched the cold storage for the blood Aerin donated last week.

A few pints of her blood should be enough to kill the Kraken that slaughtered my crew. Their fear echoed in the memories he’d witnessed, and he refused to let anyone else die in such pain and terror. Aerin will never forgive me for this, he thought, holding the blood bags. Either way, I’m betraying someone. At least with the Kraken dead, no one else will suffer its wrath.

By the door, Gideon put the glittering blue blood in an ice box to keep it fresh. He left enough blood in case of an emergency, because the only suffering he wanted to inflict was on the Kraken.

Chapter Nineteen

Aerin

Aerin watched Gideon leave the house. They were supposed to be open until 11 p.m., so they still had an hour before closing. She wanted to leave and follow him, but she forced herself to wait until the last guests had a good fright.

Did he recognize the tourist? Aerin had seen her children in the throne room; they were vampires, like him. What if Miranda had been wrong and he did have a family? But there was no way they were his sons, they couldn’t be more than ten. Still, what could have made him run off?

Her curiosity ate away at her as the minutes ticked down. The haunted Manor was a big hit. It helped that people were already frightened of the house, so they didn’t have to do much. She guessed the visitors were curious to finally see what lay inside the Manor on the cliff.

“Aerin!” Shelby panted, running up the trail as Aerin put up the closed sign on the engraved rock and blew out the jack-o-lanterns. “It’s Gideon, he stole a boat.”

“He what?” Aerin gasped, hoping she’d heard her wrong.

“He stole Kennie’s tour boat! Sandy and I were swimming; don’t lecture about night swimming during the festival. I tried to call after him, but he didn’t even look back.”

Dread snaked down her spine as Shelby followed her back to the house.

“He drove right past us, nearly crushed us. It was like he was lost in a trance,” Shelby said, holding her waist to catch her breath.

“Which direction did he go in?”

“Toward the lighthouse, but why would he be so anxious to see the lighthouse?” Shelby asked.

“He isn’t going to the lighthouse. He’s going to the den. Not a word of this to anyone, and until I say otherwise, stay out of the damn water,” Aerin barked, heading to the cliffs.

“One other thing!” Shelby called out before Aerin dove into the dark waters below.

“Sandy thought he had your blood.”

“My blood? Are you sure?” Aerin paused, wondering how he got his hands on her blood. The blood bank; he broke into the blood bank. How many promises was he going to break in one night?

“She must’ve seen wrong. He’s a vampire, so it’s not strange for him to have blood with him,” Aerin lied, figuring out what he was planning.

“What about the night tour? We haven’t got a boat?”

“Tell the tourists it’s canceled! Not a word about Gideon or the blood to anyone,” she said. “If you have to, use your song to pass the message.”

“You’re telling us to use our songs on tourists?” Shelby’s eyes widened.

“Damnit Shelby, I don’t have time for this. Just do what I tell you.” Aerin didn’t mean to take her anger out on her, but she didn’t have time to argue if she was going to make it to Kennie’s den before Gideon got himself killed.

“I’ll bring the boat back as soon as I can, and by the first morning tour everything will be back to normal,” Aerin said calmly. “Thank you for coming to me with this. I’m not mad at you, but you need to help me, and I’ll make sure to help you and your sister with your song.”

“Really?” Shelby beamed.