“His name was Sheol, but he’s been dead for over a century,” Wraith replied.
I made appropriate sympathetic noises, but in truth, I was relieved. How awkward would it have been if Wraith was part of an enemy’s line? To say vampires existed under a feudalistic system was to put it nicely. It could be better compared to the way the Mafia operated. On steroids.
“How tragic.” Ian didn’t even try to sound sympathetic, but that was par for the course with him. “Whose protection have you been under since then?”
Wraith squared his shoulders. “I’ve stayed Masterless.”
“At your power level?” Open disbelief colored Ian’s words.
My jaw dropped. I’d also noticed that Wraith’s aura didn’t mark him as particularly strong, but it was crossing a line to rub that in.
Bones agreed. “Ian,” he drew out in warning.
“Quite all right,” Wraith said, but his lips had thinned to twin slits. “I kept to myself most of the time. Might be lonely that way, but safer considering the many power struggles our kind indulges in.”
Annette elbowed Ian in the ribs. At that, he finally took his hand off her mouth.
“I’m so pleased you made it here, Wraith,” she said. Her gaze slid to Bones. “It’s not how I imagined the two of you would meet, of course . . .”
Wraith came forward to take her hand, kissing it. “You couldn’t help that terrible attack. I’m only relieved that I arrived when I did. I vow I’ll find whoever did it and repay him in kind.”
Annette didn’t refute a word, indicating that Wraith had told the truth about his actions at the inn. That meant we had another problem on our hands, but I was glad it didn’t involve the tawny-haired vampire who seemed more and more likely to be Bones’s brother.
Annette rose from the couch, her pale amber gaze meeting Bones’s dark brown eyes.
“Crispin, I assure you that I checked into Wraith’s claims when he first contacted me. I’d never have arranged to bring him here otherwise. From everything I discovered, he is exactly who he maintains himself to be—your half-brother.”
“I’ll turn the archives I mentioned over to you,” Wraith added. “They’re in my car. Modern technology could confirm it as well, if you wish to compare our DNA—”
“Excellent notion, I know a bloke who can run those tests,” Ian interrupted.
“Stop,” Bones said, holding out his hand. A smile twisted his mouth before he went on. “I’m sure tomorrow I’ll want to see everything concerning your, or our, family history, but right now, I’d like to just . . . talk for a bit. Get to know one another.”
Wraith stared at Bones, his expression mirroring the same cautious optimism I felt from Bones’s emotions.
“I’d like that,” he rasped.
Ian opened his mouth, but my hand landed on his shoulder. “Let’s go tell the others about our new guest,” I said, squeezing hard in warning. “Annette, why don’t you come with us? We’ll get your bags and you can put something else on.”
Ian glared at me, but I only smiled sweetly while tightening my grip. He could be his normal dickish self some other time. Annette needed no persuading to give Bones a little privacy with Wraith. She almost snatched at Ian’s hand to tug him away.
“Come along. If I have to wear this dreadful robe a moment longer, I’ll stake myself.”
DAWN WAS NEAR by the time Bones slipped into bed. I’d come up a couple hours ago, not to sleep, but to just mull over the evening’s surprising events. On one hand, I was thrilled at the prospect of Bones finding a member of his presumed dead family. On the other, my initial excitement over Wraith had become tempered by nagging questions. Maybe Ian’s negativity was just rubbing off on me, but why hadn’t Annette mentioned to anyone that, oh, by the way, she was bringing Bones’s long lost brother with her tonight? It was one thing to surprise Bones with the news, another to drop that bomb on everyone else, too.
And why hadn’t she mentioned Wraith when we arrived at the hotel? For God’s sake, we could have accidentally killed him while looking for her attacker! When Ian asked Annette this question, she didn’t have an answer, seeming a little baffled by her actions, too. I found it rather strange. Granted, I might have assigned a few uncharitable words to Annette over the years, but “airhead” wasn’t usually one of them.
Then there was the tidbit Fabian revealed after I excused myself to go upstairs. In his hurry to tell us that an unfamiliar vampire prowled around our property, Fabian had neglected to mention what he saw him doing. According to Fabian, Wraith had been circling the lower part of the hill while periodically cutting his hand to sprinkle blood on the ground.
Even for a vampire, that was plain weird. Wraith’s family ties to Bones so far seemed solid, but being family didn’t automatically make someone honorable. I knew that better than most people. Still, I didn’t want to immediately attack Bones with my doubts, so I rolled into his arms with only three words.