Chapter 27 EVAN
EVAN
Kaine’s question lingers in the air. I don’t know what to say, or even think.
I mean, who the fuck does this guy think he is?
He trespassed on pack land. That can’t be ignored, even if he reminds of a slithering, fae prince.
I’ve never met any fae, but everything I’ve heard about them makes me want to keep it that way.
Keeping my gun aimed at Kaine, I risk a glance at Jericho. He looks menacing with his fangs exposed and back taught, like a viper ready to strike.
“Tell us what you know about the coven,” Grant says with a note of authority. “If any of your information matches what we know, then we’ll know you aren’t just fucking around.”
Kaine shifts from foot to foot, keeping his arms folded.
He exudes confidence, despite having a gun aimed at him and three wolves ready to strike.
“Alright. I can tell you that Alexander Foxx was turned three years, ten months, and… roughly four days ago. His sire is a guy named Dimitri Benevicci, but that doesn’t matter because he’s dead.
Foxx killed him the day he rose as a vamp.
From what I know, he baited and used Dimitri to become what he is.
“Foxx has, or rather had, three main leaders. Ripley, Breckley, and… until recently, Alden. Alden was a living lie detector, a radar. He could smell the truth on people. Rip is a mimic, which means he can copy gifts of those he touches. His twin, Breck, is a chameleon. He can change appearances on a whim. There are two women in his coven.” He holds up each finger as he says their names.
“Trivanka, who can grow wings since she was poisoned by pixie blood before she was turned.”
I shudder at the thought. Poisoned by pixie blood? Possibly one of Foxx’s sick monstrosities?
“Then there’s Rachel,” Kaine continues, “who used to work in the morgue. She’s a vessel. Speaks to the dead. There are three more in his coven, not counting the mage they have working for them. Should I go on?”
So there is a mage. Great. Forest had been right about that.
Grant nods, even though everything he’s said so far matches what we know.
Kaine rolls his eyes, but he obliges. “Connor has a gift of sight, which means he can see through buildings. Pretty handy trick when you want to know when people are coming. Amir has the gift of speed. And there’s one other guy, I don’t know his name, but I believe he has the gift of voice altering.
He’s new, though, so I’m not sure about him.
Oh, and Foxx is trying to turn shifters. ”
Sage growls and snaps his fangs, taking a step closer to Kaine.
“I take it you knew this?”
“What about the mage?” Jericho asks. “How did he get involved in all this?”
Kaine huffs in annoyance. “Are you kidding? The mage isn’t just involved. He’s the bread and butter of the group. Or at least, he’s becoming it. Haven’t you wondered how Foxx is getting away with all this shit? It’s because of him. Orem Gravestone.”
Jericho waits for him to continue, but he doesn’t. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”
Kaine stomps a boot into the dirt. “Oh, for fuck’s…
You really don’t know who Orem is? He was released from Irongate Prison about two years ago.
He’s extremely gifted in memory charms and mind control.
There’s even a conspiracy going around that he charmed his own way out of prison by playing with the guards’ minds.
But no one can prove it, of course, so he’s still walking around. A free agent.”
Jericho hesitates. “Why is he working with Foxx?”
“Foxx hired him to protect the place,” Kaine says.
“But why? What does a mage get out of protecting a group of vampires? And why is Foxx doing all of this in the first place? What’s the fucking point?”
Kaine raises a hand in an are you kidding me gesture.
“Isn’t it obvious? He wants the power. That’s all.
That’s why he turned himself. He wants to create the strongest coven in the area, or the state, or goddamn country for all I know.
So, he’s being meticulous in who he lets in.
Which, if you look at his history as a human, is no surprise. ”
Grant tilts his head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Foxx was a serial rapist before he was turned. He chose his victims deliberately. Stalked them for weeks before making a move.” He lowers his gaze.
“He stalked my mom for weeks! She went to the police, of course, but they said she didn’t have enough evidence.
They blamed her for not being more careful. Two days later, she was dead.”
Kaine’s anger penetrates my heart. I’d felt the same anger when Jericho first told me what happened to him. I’d asked him to go to the police, but he didn’t see the point. He was convinced they’d say he put himself in that position, then lock him away for being a new vampire.
“That’s something we can all relate to,” I say quietly. “Foxx has hurt all of us here, in ways very similar to yours. But how can we know we can trust you?”
Kaine’s eyes are a strange, glacier shade of blue. A cold and distant iceberg isolated in the middle of the ocean. “You can’t,” he says simply.
I turn to Jericho. Years of friendship make it easy to know what he is thinking.
He wants to trust Kaine, even if it means bringing another vampire into the mix.
But he also fears for me, and for my mom.
He fears for our friends. And so do I. We both care about these shifters now, and in a big way.
Inviting another vampire in is a huge risk.
But Kaine has also given us more information than we ever would have hoped for on our own, and he did it willingly. That needs to count for something.
“What do you know of the recent victims?” Grant asks, as if trying to get every piece of information from him before we make a decision.
“Which ones?” Kaine says simply. “There have been many.”
“We’ve noticed a pattern the last few nights where a certain number of people go in the club, but there are less that come out. Six people each night. What can you tell us about that?”
Kaine’s eyes widen a fraction. “You have someone counting their attendance? Shit, that’s smart. Why didn’t we think of that?”
“We?” Jericho asks.
Kaine hesitates. “Willow and I, which, as I’ve already said, is why I’m here. Willow was one of those taken two nights ago, and I want your help getting her back.” He narrows his eyes at Jericho. “You owe her as much.”
Jericho grinds his teeth before asking, “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. She…” Kaine sucks in a sharp breath. “Willow went in there without me knowing, trying to get some information, but something happened and now she can’t leave. They must have jinxed her or some shit, because she can’t get through the fucking door.”
Jericho snarls. “It’s like we thought. They’re keeping the humans there.”
“But why? Are they feeding from them?” Grant asks.
“Hell if I know!” Kaine says. “I haven’t heard from her in two days. I don’t even know if she’s alive.”
Jericho turns on his heel, raking a hand through his hair.
“Which is why you need to help me,” Kaine says, his voice growing frantic.
“We can’t,” Jericho says.
“What do you mean you can’t?” Kaine snarls. “I just watched you spit fire all day long. Why can’t you go after them!”
“Because I don’t know how!” Jericho roars. He lifts his hands helplessly in front of himself. “I don’t know how to do what I do, Kaine. I can create fire, but that’s it. And it’s useless against Foxx unless I learn how to strike!”
Outraged, Jericho turns to throw two balls towards the line of tin cans. One of them topples over, but more from the gust of wind as the fireball flew by than the actual fire. The bushes behind it smoke and crackle, but thankfully, it doesn’t ignite.
“If we go in there,” Jericho says, his tone grim, “we’ll be sitting ducks. I’m sorry. I’m sorry Willow is stuck there, but until I know more, we can’t do a damn thing.”
Kaine’s eyes flash dark gold. Pure hatred seeps from his pores as he stares at Jericho, and it terrifies me. This man, this vampire, is a loose cannon. He came here looking for one thing and one thing only: to get help for his friend. If we refuse him, what will he do?
Something on the ground begins to move, creeping toward Kaine in slow, steady currents. Grant notices it too, stepping back. “Kaine. Let’s talk about this.”
The movement wraps around Kaine’s ankles, working up his legs to his torso. It takes a moment for me to register that it’s water. He’s creating ribbons of water from nothing. Or from the ground? Looking around, it seems as if Kaine is pulling the water from the earth. But how?
The ribbons twirl and move, creating a twisting coil around Kaine that glitters in the evening sun. A million air bubbles move within, reminding me of the air filter in the fish tank I had as a kid.
Jericho shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Kaine. Truly. I wish there was something we could do for her, but there just isn’t. Not yet.”
Kaine laughs in a way that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Let me make this perfectly clear, vampire.”
In the blink of an eye, the tendrils of water rip out from around Kaine’s torso like violent whips, snaring me around the waist. I grunt in surprise as I’m yanked forward.
Jericho reaches for me, but it’s too late.
Kaine has already flown us fifty feet away.
When we stop, Kaine turns me around to face the group, pressing my back to his chest. I try to move, but his hold is too strong.
I kick against his leg, but I might as well be kicking a brick wall for as much good as it’s doing.
“Fucking vampire,” I mutter. I should’ve seen this coming.
Kaine raises his voice. “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you!”