22. Zan
Chapter 22
Zan
“ W hat do you think they’re talking about?” Viggo asked before taking a drag of his cigarette.
I sat on top of one of the long tables, resting my feet on the bench seat. “No idea. Keeva probably has a thousand questions. Kali knows more about their past than she does. They’ll probably go talk to Gia at some point, since she knew their mother.”
My brothers and I were still in the cafeteria while Kali and Keeva were in the smaller room I’d shown Kali earlier. Meaning I couldn’t eavesdrop on their conversation since that room was soundproofed. Gia had wandered somewhere and taken Warner with her so I could talk to my brothers alone.
“We’re going to need to find blood soon,” Pax said with a sigh.
“We brought two coolers of blood bags and one human from the property.” Viggo paced in front of me. “But nowhere near enough to quench the thirst of hundreds of Shadows. We’ll have to hunt.”
I nearly laughed. Hunt. Something we knew how to do by instinct but never needed to. Not while we’d been by our father’s side. I couldn’t think of one time there wasn’t a human within reach to feed from. That was one reason most vampires fell in line. There was never a worry about their next meal.
“There are humans outside the safe cities,” Pax stated. “But yes, we’ll have to hunt. The Shadows can go in small groups.”
“Pax and I will go with Warner to talk to the Clovers.” Viggo scowled. “I still think it will be a shit show. But I’m guessing you don’t want to leave Kali after just getting back.”
“I can go if needed,” I forced out. There was no part of me that wanted to leave her side again. But it was out of the question to let her go talk to the Clovers. She had to stay here.
“We can handle it.” Pax chuckled. “You were unbearable when we were gone. I’m not dealing with that again. Viggo will come with me.”
“Bring some Shadows for backup,” I ordered.
“Right,” Viggo muttered. “Like they’d listen to us.”
“They’ll listen to Kali. She can talk to them before you leave.”
Pax stared at the door, looking troubled. “It’ll be…interesting to see how they take to Keeva.”
“Why so worried?” Viggo tilted his head, staring at his twin. “It sounds like you have an issue with her.”
“Not an issue,” Pax ground out. “But I don’t think we can trust her. She’s been with PARA her whole life. What if they got in her head?”
“They did,” Viggo drawled. “She hates them. I don’t even want to think of the hell they put her through.”
“I don’t know.” Pax’s words were hesitant. “I just think we need to be careful until we know more about her.”
“She won’t be going anywhere alone,” I said, trying to pacify him. “It’s clear she’s not comfortable, but it’s because she doesn’t trust us. I’m sure that’ll change with time.”
“Maybe,” he muttered.
I tapped my foot, impatience flaring through me. I’d only gotten a few minutes alone with Kali since coming back. While I knew it was important for her and Keeva to talk, I was being selfish. I fucking wanted to be alone with her.
“We need to talk about Dad,” Viggo said, his eyes bouncing between me and Pax.
My stomach flipped. “What about him?”
“We all have to be in agreement about him.” His jaw clenched. “Because if we fight alongside the Shadows, then we have to be ready to try to kill him if we get the chance.”
A sliver of guilt climbed through me. It would probably never go away, but it wasn’t enough. I would do anything to protect Kali. That meant going up against my father and making sure he could never touch her. His entrancement only further proved that this war was more important to him than I was.
“I’ll do what needs to be done for Kali,” I stated gruffly. “Pax?”
Regret swarmed his eyes. “If he’s alive, then the humans will fall. And Kali will never be free from him. Neither will we.”
“So it’s decided?” Viggo asked quietly. “If we have a chance to kill him, we do it.”
I nodded. “It’s decided.”
“I don’t know how the hell that will happen,” Viggo grumbled. “We might be Shadows, but he’s stronger than us. We know that.”
“Kali and Keeva have strength we can’t touch.” Pax sounded sure of his words. “We might not know what those strengths are yet, but there’s a reason he wants both of them under his control. It won’t be us killing him. It’ll be them.”
“No,” I snarled, my chest tightening. “Kali will not be going anywhere near him.”
“We started a war, Zan.” A tinge of annoyance filtered through Viggo’s voice. “You can’t expect her to hide the entire time.”
“We’re not talking about this. She doesn’t go anywhere without me, and that’s it.”
“Fine, fine.” Viggo raised his arms in surrender. “But please have some realistic expectations. Kali isn’t going to let you hide her away while we fight.”
I ground my teeth, knowing he was right. But I didn’t want to think about that. More than anything, I just wanted to spend time with her before shit began going down.
“We’ll leave at nightfall,” Pax said, glancing at Viggo. “I don’t want the Clovers knowing we can walk in the day. Depending how far their camp is, we might be gone a while. Warner will come, and a few Shadows if they agree.”
“If something happens and we’re not here, we can meet in Deadwood.” I jumped to my feet. “By now, I’m sure PARA has already raided it. If they think it’s empty, they’ll leave it alone. They don’t have the manpower to keep watch there constantly.”
“We also need to steal some gas from one of their warehouses,” Viggo added. “What we brought from the property will only last so long.”
“I’m going to get some fresh air,” I told them as I strode toward the exit.
“It must be killing you to stay away from Kali,” Viggo called out with a laugh. “Now you have to share her time with Keeva and Warner.”
I didn’t respond, acting like his words weren’t getting under my skin. It was taking everything to leave Kali alone while she talked to Keeva. I just had to keep myself busy until they were done.