Fate of a Blood Moon (The Hades Blood Moon #2)

Chapter 19

Andrei

M y back pressed against the wall of my dimly lit office, blackout curtains drawn tight. With my legs extended on the plush green carpet, I closed my eyes and took a long steady breath. Part of me wanted to smash all the furniture into pieces, but I had just renovated it after the last time I wrecked my home office, and I didn’t want to shell out more money so soon.

The small bronze hourglass clock chimed four p.m., and I looked up, irritated. I debated crushing the clock to cease the incessant noise but stayed seated.

I was sure I had been sitting here for hours.

“Drei?” Jackson called my name as he opened the office door. I looked up at him. Despite the absolute nightmare we’d been dealing with, including Meredith’s murder, Jackson still held his head high. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes fixed on me.

I knew I looked like hell—nothing like the calm and collected vampire boss he’d known since the ’80s.

He saw a disaster sitting on this carpet: my disheveled dark hair reeking of smoke, dark circles under my eyes from not feeding since last night, and the pale, cracked skin of a monster. My torn jacket lay next to me, forgotten, and my dirty white shirt remained unbuttoned at the top.

If I saw myself, I would be unrecognizable.

I caught a glimpse of my hands in my lap, still coated in ash from the fire, and my skin prickled. It was a brutal reminder of last night—the look of terror in Meredith’s eyes before she was decapitated and set off the explosives in the club.

Clenching my fists, I tried to recall all the information my clan had gathered about the people responsible. We knew three things: the Bayou Perot Pack was behind the club’s destruction and stealing all the files from the safe. As for why, I wasn’t sure. It couldn’t have just been payback for Alana’s death. They would’ve just taken the contracts that the Moon Stone signed to orchestrate the killing. Instead, the wolves stole every contract I had.

It would stand to reason that the pack intended to expose all the sins of New Orleans and destroy the Accord once and for all. The truth in those documents would tear everyone apart, human and supernatural alike. Bayou Perot was making a power play in which they would come out on top, possibly ousting my clan as the ruling class.

They wanted to own the city, and this was their first move.

When those secrets came to light, the Five-Point Order and the human government would come down on my clan hard. The Four-Fold Accord was a flimsy treaty broken a hundred times over. I was just the assassin who kept their hands clean. Everything I had built over the past century was about to be destroyed.

The wolves wanted to start a war in my city.

They’re about to get one.

Second, they knew how to get inside the club and take out the security guards without triggering the alarms. Only Jackson, Meredith, and I knew the codes to enter the building, the office upstairs … and my safe.

They must have tortured Meredith for that code before strapping a bomb to her. There was no way they pulled this off alone.

And I knew exactly who helped them.

Jase.

And now he was missing.

How convenient.

The Bayou Perot wolves destroyed my club and killed my closest friend, and it was my own fucking brother who gave them the information to do it.

“Have you found Lucy yet?” My expression was neutral as I asked, but beneath the surface, rage burned like the very fires of Hell. It was a ticking time bomb in my head, ready to detonate, and no one could stop it.

“Both Lucy and Tony are no longer in New Orleans. Right before midnight last night, someone spotted Jase and Tony at the Ruby Rose. A witness saw Lucy leave with them,” Jackson replied, confirming what I had suspected. There was only one place those three would go.

It was a good thing I still had the leash on my little pet. They might be able to get to Rachel before I did, but I had the power to trap her in her mind.

She would never be free of me unless I allowed it, and I had no intention of letting Rachel go. Never. The guardian bond kept us tethered, and I’d be damned if I severed it.

And I always get what I want.

“I’ve arranged flights to Venice,” Jackson said. “The last thing the Italian government needs is a vampire clan coming into their city and causing chaos. Which is why I booked just us, as well as Liam.”

I nodded, rubbing a sore spot on my shoulder. “I agree. We have to be as discreet as possible. You’ll have to inform Alexei that he’ll be in charge of clan operations for now. Have him send all updates directly to me. If Five-Point moves before we return, Black Blood Diamond will need to prepare for retaliation.”

I needed to keep my head clear for everything to go perfectly.

What is Jase up to?

With a groan, I climbed to my feet, picking up my jacket and putting it back on. After adjusting the black diamond cufflinks and smoothing my hair, I walked to Jackson. My legs wobbled a bit, and my throat burned viciously.

I need blood.

As if he could read my mind, Jackson said, “Nadia is waiting for you in the library. I’ll have Joanna and Wyatt pack our bags and put them in the limo. We’re leaving later tonight.”

“What time?”

“Ten o’clock. We’re taking the red-eye with two stops. We should reach Venice by nine p.m. tomorrow night.”

“Beautiful. That gives you and me plenty of time to take a detour before.”

Jackson grinned. “What sort of harrowing trip are you planning?”

I matched his grin. “Well, before we leave, I think punishing some naughty dogs is only fair.”

“Huh,” Jackson said as we walked along the dock in Bayou Perot. “I guess we should have expected this.”

The pack had completely cleared out the homes lining the swamps, leaving only a couple of small motorboats bobbing in the black water. Something stirred within me—an itch of death. We walked toward the Alpha’s house, and I sniffed the air, searching for any sign of a dirty wolf. The slightly open door and the overall state of the room suggested Hendrick left in haste. Only one lingering scent remained, and I growled low and deep in my chest.

Not everyone turned tail and ran.

“Let’s check to see if they left behind anything we could use, and then torch the houses,” Jackson said. “What do you think?”

Something faint pricked my ears, and I closed my eyes, homing in on the sound coming from the dock around the back of the row of houses.

Footsteps.

Using my index finger, I silently communicated to Jackson that someone was coming. He stiffened and slid out his fangs. We scanned the area outside Hendrick’s home for the enemy.

“Where are the—” Jackson started, but I silenced him, taking only a single step before a snap and a rush of wind filled my ears. There. I saw a wooden arrow hurtling toward me. Even with my speed, I wasn’t fast enough before the projectile buried itself in my chest, mere inches from my heart.

“Shit!” I fell to my knees, and Jackson quickly threw his body in front of me, potentially shielding me from more arrows.

“Jackson, run! Take cover, dammit,” I ordered, yanking the arrow out of my chest and soaking my shirt in blood. Jackson stubbornly shook his head. The sound of footsteps grew louder, and we both turned to see a woman with silver hair and purple-pink streaks round the corner of the last house. Her eyes were blazing gold, and her crossbow pointed right at us, another bolt knocked and was ready to fire.

“I’m an excellent shot, Andrei. That first one was to get your attention. The next one won’t miss. But I have orders from Hendrick not to kill you yet, as much as I’d like to.”

My smile was charming, but my eyes heated with fury. “Why spare us, dog?”

The woman cocked her head. “Because you aren’t who Hendrick wants, you pasty little bitch. We all read the contract. We know that Moon Stone ordered the hit to kill Alana and made it look like one of us did it. But what those other documents we took from your safe revealed … That was something we didn’t expect.”

My grin grew wicked and cold. As much as I expected the secrets to come to light, it was still highly amusing. The Five-Point Order was about to get a rude awakening on how little the Accord meant to anyone.

“The Incubus Clan was the one who made the payment to you. They were working alongside Moon Stone for land and power over New Orleans. Not only that, but several covens paid you to execute rival witches, creating a disruption that allowed them to swoop in and take their magic for themselves.”

A laugh rumbled in my chest. It wasn’t that I wanted the word to get out that every creature who signed that treaty was as sick and twisted as I was, but if this created a war, we at least had the backing to fight the so-called leaders of Five-Point.

“Hendrick wants you to see the consequences of your need for bloodshed. He wants Five-Point to come for you when all this becomes public knowledge. The club was just the beginning of your retribution. So, why not punish you for your crimes instead of killing you? If my pack can bring you to justice, we’ll have the city in our hands. You and your clients broke the treaty, and the Five-Point Order will thank us for handing over that evidence. Soon, this city will be ours. You forgot about that one little piece of the Accord. If it’s vampires who break it, they’ll release the hunters. They’ll no longer accept vampires into this world, and you’ll be outsiders again.”

I barked out a laugh that time. “What makes you think your pack will survive my wrath before any hunter gets to me or my clan?” I hissed, climbing to my feet. Jackson stood too, his body angled for attack. “I’ll hunt you all down and dispose of you one by one. Documents or not, you dirty dogs destroyed my club and killed Meredith Loren. We will spill blood. Let’s start with you.”

The deep burn within me intensified, filling my heart with black rage. This wolf would die at my hands, and I would enjoy every second of it. I started advancing on her, Jackson close behind.

“You think I’m afraid to die? I fucking volunteered to stay behind,” the woman replied, shouldering the crossbow. “I’ve lived long enough that death would be a welcome rest.”

Her scent caught my nose, and my eyes widened. “You’re an old one, aren’t you? Your wolf lifespan is on its last thread.”

The woman’s face hardened. “Like I said, I chose to stay behind. I was born under the moon in this bayou and will die under it. Kill me if you want, but know that everything you have yearned for is nothing but ash.”

I lunged then, fangs flashing, and the woman fired the crossbow. The bolt whizzed past my head, but I heard a grunt beside me.

“I’m fine,” Jackson shouted as he doubled over. “She hit my shoulder.”

Continuing my charge, I sped across the dock in a blur. I ripped the crossbow from the woman’s hands and hurled it into the murky water. My left hand closed around her throat, while my right plunged into her chest, tearing through bone and muscle. Her erratic heart thrashed in my grip, the pulsing muscle twitching against my palm. The stench of wet fur and iron filled my nose, and despite myself, I gagged. A wolf’s scent was never pleasant to a vampire.

“This does … fucking nothing … you little undead bitch …” she gasped, falling to her knees. “You’re marked for destruction. Your … end.”

Growling, I ripped her heart free from her mangled ribcage, gore spraying over me. With a sigh, the woman’s eyes closed, and she collapsed on the dock, silver and purple hair fanning out like a halo. The heart finally stopped beating, and I dropped it. Jackson came to my side, his right hand covering the wound in his shoulder as it slowly healed itself.

“What did she mean by ‘marked,’ Drei?” he asked worriedly. I waved a bloody hand and turned on my heel.

“It means we have to get the hell out of New Orleans before the human government sends its hunters. Come on. We need to change and get to the airport. Call Liam.”

A few hours later, Jackson, Liam, and I boarded the red-eye to Italy. After ordering a glass of white wine, I settled into my seat, replaying the events that unfolded over the last few days. My empire would survive this setback. Yes, the contracts would expose the endless crimes of New Orleans, but the city was always a little rotten at its core; what was another bit of darkness?

Rachel was all I wanted. She was mine. My possession that was taken from me, and I’d be damned if I let her slip through my fingers again.

When I find her, I will follow through on my promise and chain her to my bed … or in a little cage.

The image of her naked in my bed stirred me, and I adjusted myself. Maybe I could pay her a visit and remind her of who she belonged to. I pulled out my phone and connected to the airline’s Wi-Fi. A thrill bounced in my stomach, and my body eased into the cushioned first-class seat.

Pick up, my little dhampy. I want to play.