Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
“Why should we calm down?” one of the Reapers demands.
He’s holding a knife at his side, and I can tell from the sheen of the blade that it’s pure silver.
A common misconception, even among hunters, is that silver is required to kill a werewolf.
It isn’t. Wolves, like humans, can die from plenty of things.
“They killed nearly an entire sector of our club.”
What? I know I heard him correctly, but I stay quiet and watch the exchange.
“We didn’t kill anyone!” one of the wolves shouts back, still in human form. “Why the hell would we have anything to do with your motorcycle-trash gang?”
“You think it’s just a fucking coincidence that a whole other pack of you shows up and then we find Johnny chewed to pieces on your territory?”
My eyes shift sideways toward Zeke. He’s standing protectively in front of me, which I’m sure Xavier instructed him to do. This whole thing was carefully orchestrated from the start. I’m almost certain of it.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Xavier says calmly.
The Reaper looks at him like he’s only just realized who he’s standing a few feet away from.
Xavier Malus. His entire posture changes.
He drops to his knees, holding up one hand as he starts pleading for Xavier’s forgiveness.
His voice is too low, and he’s far enough away that I can’t make out everything he says.
I lean forward slightly, my breath catching.
One of the werewolves who shifted earlier slinks back out from the shadows, still snarling.
“Shift back,” Xavier orders. The wolf freezes.
“Abide by the rules, and maybe we can limit the amount of bloodshed tonight.” For a second, no one moves.
Then the wolf backs into the shadows again and shifts into a man I don’t recognize.
The Charlotte pack is large enough that there are members I’ve never met, and I have no idea what anyone from the Raleigh pack looks like.
The sudden roar of motorcycle engines sounds behind us.
I turn. Dozens of Reapers pull in, one after another, headlights cutting across the dark. Several are visibly armed.
Theo looks like Christmas came early. That makes one of us. The rest of us are considerably more disposable when bullets start flying. A pickup truck follows the motorcycles.
Several club members are riding in the bed. They jump out and drag down a body wrapped in a tarp.
“Blood demands blood,” one of them says.
His voice carries over everyone else. “I want the wolf responsible for this.” He yanks the tarp back.
I suck in a breath. The dead man’s face is partially mauled away.
I’ve seen enough demon attacks and animal wounds to know what can be mistaken for what.
This isn’t demonic. The guy was attacked by some kind of dog. Or something made to look like one.
How the hell did Xavier pull this off?
A few hours ago, I was spiraling over Claire. Meanwhile, he somehow organized all of this. And I’m equal parts impressed and terrified. He fixed the coalition problem. Not morally. Not permanently.
But politically?
He shifted everything back into his favor. The wolves now need him to protect them from the Reapers. The Reapers are probably about to turn around and pay him even more to protect them from the wolves. And somehow he managed to drag an entirely different pack into the middle of it.
He took what looked like an impossible situation and made himself necessary again. No wonder he’s been running the supernatural mafia for centuries.
“Blood will be paid in blood,” Xavier says, his voice carrying over the crowd. “As it always has been.” Everyone quiets. “But the rules of this alliance have always been clear. There is a way these matters are handled.”
“You okay?” Zeke asks quietly, turning toward me.
“I’m stunned,” I admit. “But yeah. I’m okay.”
I genuinely had no idea what I expected from tonight.
This definitely wasn’t it.
He nudges me lightly with his elbow. “After a century or so, you learn to expect this from him.” He says it without thinking. Then immediately looks away.
I’m not going to live for another century. And even if I somehow make it to a hundred, I’ll be a frail old woman in a wheelchair. Not Xavier’s strong, sharp, dangerous demon-hunting witch of a wife. I shove the thought away.
Zeke keeps me safely off to the side while Xavier and Theo handle the rest. Within minutes, the shouting starts to die down.
Fewer weapons are visible. Eventually, everyone moves inside.
I stay toward the back with Zeke. Two human bodyguards in bulletproof vests take up positions nearby, both carrying large rifles.
Three vampires I’ve never met flank the other side.
I can tell by their energy that they’re young.
A few years old at most. They’ve very clearly been assigned to protect me with their lives.
It’s all a show. And it seems to be working.
Larkin catches my eye as I take my carefully guarded seat near the back. I can’t quite read her expression. There are too many hostile emotions swirling through the room for me to separate hers from everyone else’s. But unless I’m imagining it, she almost looks impressed.
Xavier moves to the center of the room and starts talking.
Almost immediately, another argument breaks out.
At least this time, it’s verbal. I lean back, trying to piece together what happened.
Apparently, within hours of the Raleigh pack arriving, two members of the 409 Reapers were abducted from one of their shops.
They were later found mauled to death inside wolf territory.
Naturally, the fact that Reapers crossed into wolf territory to recover the bodies created another problem.
The wolves insist they had nothing to do with the murders.
The Reapers have now shifted their theory about the original ritual too.
They’re claiming the wolves somehow orchestrated it to frame the vampires.
The whole thing is such an intricate web of lies that it’s getting hard to remember who believes what.
Which is probably exactly what Xavier wanted. Keep everyone confused. Keep everyone angry. Just make sure none of that anger is pointed at him.
“Hey,” Zeke says quietly.
He leans toward me. He’s been sitting beside me almost completely still throughout the meeting.
“The Reapers are saying you can choose one of them to shoot.”
I turn toward him. “What?”
“Point blank,” he clarifies. “Since that’s what one of theirs tried to do to you.”
I stare at him. “Do I have to?” I try to keep the disgust off my face. I’m no stranger to violence.
But I’ve never executed a human being.
Zeke shrugs.
“Probably not. But it would make them feel better.”
“Yeah, that somehow does not convince me.” I shake my head. “They fucked up. They can deal with the consequences. Me shooting somebody execution-style isn’t going to make Xavier any less pissed.”
“Oh, you and I both know that.” He glances toward the front. “It’s the symbolism of it.”
“My answer is still no.”
“I can respect that.”
I remain tense for the rest of the meeting. Partly because I’m still in complete disbelief that Xavier and Theo managed to pull this off so quickly. And partly because there’s a very real chance somebody loses their temper and the entire thing turns into a bloodbath.
Just like Xavier said, my appearance was necessary, strategic. I showed up. Sat here visibly protected but not hidden. Looked mostly unbothered. And that was enough.
Eventually, I’m allowed to leave with Zeke while Xavier and Theo stay behind to finish sorting through the rest of the mess.
“Everything okay?” Antonio asks when I walk into the family room. He, Devon, and Leo are all playing Mario Kart. The contrast between what I just left and the completely normal scene in front of me makes my brain short-circuit for a second.
“Yeah.” I flop onto the couch beside them. “I think everything is okay.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” Devon starts. Then he suddenly leans forward. “Oh, come on!” He glares at the TV. “Fucking blue shells get me every time.”
“Want to play?” Leo asks.
“No, I’m good.” I rub my eyes. “I’m just gonna shower and try to lie down.” None of them tries too hard to convince me otherwise. On my way upstairs, I pass Mabel and Zeke’s room.
“Oh!” Mabel practically launches herself off the bed and hurries toward me. “I have something for you!” She holds out a small Ziploc bag filled with white pills. “It’s Xanax!”
I stare at the bag. “I think it’s probably better if I don’t ask where you got this.” I take it anyway.“But thank you.”
“Of course.” She beams. “The guy said they’re two milligrams each, so you might want to break one in half.”
“That is very useful information.” I’m already planning to Google the numbers stamped into the pills before I take anything.
Hopefully, they really are Xanax because all I want right now is to relax and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I shower, change into pajamas, and eventually convince myself the pill probably isn’t poison.
I take half of one, crawl under the covers, and open my laptop. Trying hard not to think about Claire, Vaelric, wolves, Reapers, Vivian, or literally anything else happening in my life, I log into Netflix and put on a comedy.
About an hour later, I finally fall asleep. And for the first half of the night, I sleep hard.
Then I dream. It’s strange enough, vivid enough, that I wake with my heart pounding. It isn’t the first time I’ve dreamed about my mother. But this time, she isn’t simply there. She’s warning me.
I have to get to Claire before Vivian does.
Not only to save Claire’s life.
But to keep Vaelric from gaining access to a power he was never meant to wield.