Free Blood Entangled by Amber Belldene Page B

neutrality of Andre’s tone betrayed his worry.
    Pedro’s mouth went dry. Shit. His little blue-balls stunt with Lucas foreshadowed every meal he would ever have. What the hell had he been thinking? Andre had warned him not to kill his food. But apparently he needed to be told not to taunt or otherwise torment Lucas either. They were stuck together until they found a solution. Pedro could either play nice, or force Lucas. Lucas whom he hated, Lucas who had saved his life—
    Over the speaker, Bel’s tinny voice sounded. “Still no luck with other blood, then?”
    Pedro peeled his tongue from the roof of his mouth and croaked. “ Nada .”
    Three worried faces turned toward him, no doubt hearing his fear.
    “That’s the best reason I can think of to get back to work, friend.” With a click on Bel’s end, the line went dead.
    Pedro glanced from face to face. “There’s something else I need to tell you all. When I went to feed from Lucas earlier, he was on the phone with Ethan.”
    “ Davo.” Andre slammed his fist into Kos’s desk, making the stapler bounce. “Did he call him?”
    “No, absolutely not. He was freaked—actually shaking when he hung up.”
    “Shaking? What do you make of that?” Andre straightened the papers he’d disturbed on Kos’s desk.
    “Hell, I don’t know. I didn’t ask him to lie down on a couch and tell me about his feelings.”
    “But what did you overhear?” Ever patient, Kos’s gentle tone soothed Pedro.
    “Basically, Lucas said his brother is a sadistic sociopath.”
    An unnaturally high laugh came from Zoey.
    Andre pulled her closer. “Your words?”
    “Yes,” Pedro said, “but Lucas wouldn’t hesitate to use them. He was so not on board with what they did to me. Even before he rescued me, I could see his fear, and revulsion. I don’t know how the dude faked it with them for so long.”
    He shivered. The icy fear triggered by Ethan’s voice jolted through him, freezing him from remembered wounds to brittle brain. He sank into a chair and squeezed his eyes closed.
    He was safe. He was whole. He was a badass vampire.
    Slowly, he thawed and regained control. He opened his eyes to find everyone watching him. Kos handed him a full glass of Blood Vine. At four in the afternoon? Why not? Vampires had no five-o-clock rule.
    Andre opened his mouth, but Pedro cut him off. “Ethan said he knows Lucas better than Lucas knows himself.” He tightened every muscle to keep from shivering again. A sip of the wine sent heat down his esophagus. “Creep could mean anything with a statement like that. It’s sort of like his torture technique—get into your head, use your own fear and doubt against you.”
    “So he’s trying to psych Lucas out over something?” Kos dropped into his chair and stroked his chin, looking professorial.
    Pedro’s fingers curled with fury at Ethan, and he wished he possessed Kos’s characteristic calm. In the chair across the desk from Kos, Pedro sat on his hands. “Exactly.”
    “But you trust that Lucas isn’t spying for him?” Andre took the third chair, and pulled Zoey onto his lap.
    True, Lucas had seemed too interested in the carpet when they talked about his blood, but Pedro was certain about one thing. “I do. He’s hiding something from us, but he isn’t trying to help the Hunters.”
    Andre shook his head. “I’m not convinced. I want to question him.”
    Question? The ice prickled through Pedro’s veins again. Oh hell no. He owed Lucas. Andre was no sadist, but he was ruthless when it came to Hunters. Pedro would not let him question Lucas the way Ethan had questioned Pedro. Slowly, he leaned forward in his chair.
    “No. Fucking. Way.”
    Andre ground his teeth in reply.
    Kos leaned forward, straightening the stapler, the phone, the stacks of papers on his desk. “Will he talk to you?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, can we use you as a carrot, since you don’t want Andre to be the stick?”
    “Unfortunately, I was