Leon's hand came up, tattoos starting to pulse when Ben stepped closer and the spirits hedged closer still, skirting the boundaries of Leon's protective ward with eager expressions, like this may be their moment. Leon straightened up and took a step back, prepared to use one of the spells in his arsenal to send this vampire away with his tail between his legs when Ben started talking.
Though he didn't move any closer to the baby vampire, Leon listened, his piercing regard pinned on Ben. Mad at Andrei, taking it out on Andrei's human to teach Andrei a lesson. Typical childish behavior. But then Ben continued and Leon felt his stomach knot up and grow cold. A drug. A drug? The coffee, James had put something in the coffee that was fast acting and had him, what? Pass out?
And Ben thought so little of him as a person that he went along with this, violated him, stripped him of his free will and his consciousness and stole his sacred life blood from him. Just to get back at Andrei.
It had to have been James' motivation, too. That encounter on the lawn, it was payback for that. A warning. Leon had to assume Andrei knew all of this by now and that it was why he hadn't told him the details. He knew what he would do.
Leveling a look at Ben, Leon deliberately unhooked the doll of Ben from his bag and held it up as though he was comparing the features, checking their accuracy against his memory. He didn't outwardly react to what Ben told him, realizing now that Ben was just a lackey, a minion, and a failed one at that to have spilled all the secrets of his mission and his co-villains involvement with their victim. James was that kind of guy. Maybe he'd even known Ben would do it. Andrei was right. He needed to stay away from James.
But a voodoo priest didn't need to be near someone to hurt them.
Nodding his head with satisfaction, Leon lowered the doll and turned to walk out.