Changes (Belle Morte Book 4)

Chapter One

Jason

When Jason woke up, he knew the other side of the bed was empty, but he found himself rolling over to check anyway.

No Roux.

It was silly, really – they'd only shared her bed for a few days while Renie struggled through the turn – but he'd grown used to the sight of her head on the pillow next to his. He'd grown used to the comfort of having his best friend snuggled up with him, and he missed that.

Now both Roux and Renie had hot vampires to snuggle with instead.

Lucky cows.

Jason sat up, running his hands through his hair.

Roux and Renie's old room stared back at him: the flocked gold wallpaper, soft cream carpet, and lavish curtains more familiar to him than the room he had been allocated when he arrived at Belle Morte.

That felt like forever ago.

After Renie had been turned into a vampire, in the aftermath of the first brutal attack on the mansion, Jason had promptly moved in with Roux and he'd stayed there until she left on a mission with Ludovic.

A mission that had resulted in her becoming a vampire, too.

Perhaps he should have returned to his own room, but this one made him feel closer to his girls somehow. It wasn't like he didn't see them anymore – they all lived under the same roof – but he doubted he'd ever share a bed with them again.

He reached for his phone.

Technically, donors weren't supposed to have them, but Jason had long since moved beyond being a mere donor. When Roux and Ludovic left for their mission, Seamus had been in charge of getting them a phone. After much begging on Jason's part, Seamus had got one for him too. At the time, Jason hadn't thought that Ysanne knew about it. But of course she had. She'd only mentioned it once – to tell him that she trusted him to use it responsibly.

From someone else, Jason might have felt patronised.

From Ysanne, he took it very seriously.

"Okay, world," he said, bracing himself. "What do you have for me today?"

In the days that had passed since Belle Morte went public with the awful news that Roger DeSanti, paedophile-turned-vampire, had killed and turned nine kids so he could keep them as his playthings forever, the public backlash against vampires had been grim. Newpapers and tabloids were calling for vampires to be evicted from the Houses, for the complete abolition of the donor system. They were calling for all vampires to be punished for every tragedy that had occurred thanks to Etienne and Jemima's grab for power. And they were calling for the release of the nine vampire kids currently living at Belle Morte, as if Ysanne was holding them hostage rather than trying to keep them safe.

Jason had spent the last few days going through various social media sites, trying to get a feel for how the outside world currently viewed the inhabitants of Belle Morte. It wasn't easy. All the anger and hatred – that was directed at his friends. It hurt to read about people calling for their punishment, or even their execution in some cases. It was like they'd forgotten that these were actual people they were talking about.

And it wasn't just talk, either.

While Roux and Ludovic had been out on their mission, a vampire-hating fanatic called Iain Johnson had tried to kill them. More than once. Not everyone would go that far but...he had far too many supporters. Iain was still on the run, but just yesterday Jason had read an article called Justice for Johnson, which claimed that Ludovic had started every fight with Iain, and that Iain had simply been defending himself. Never mind that there was video evidence of Iain and his thugs burning down the hotel Roux and Ludovic had been staying in, killing an innocent woman in the process.