“Good to see you, boss,” a tinny female voice rang out from across the room.
“Good to see who’s with you, boss.” The masculine voice lowered to a purr. “Mmm. Me likey.”
“I caught you humping a light post once,” another woman countered. “You don’t set a high bar.”
“I can’t tell if I’m supposed to be insulted,” I muttered to Linus.
“I hope not.” A tall man rounded the corner with a steaming mug cupped between his palms. His hair was the bright white of fallen snow, and his eyes were pure titanium. “Wilting violets don’t last long around here.” He stuck out his hand, warmed from the ceramic. “I’m Bishop.”
The scent of copper hit my nose, but no shiver coasted down my spine. “You’re a vampire?”
His smile revealed even, white teeth. Nary a fang in sight. “Can’t a man enjoy a mug of hot O negative without being judged?”
“Grier has earned her reservations about vampires.” Linus clasped hands with him. “She’ll behave if you do.”
“Are you dangerous then?” Interest sparkled in his eyes when he looked at me. “You must be, if you’re with him.”
“I’m a violet, remember?” I tried my best to look unassuming. “What harm could I possibly do?”
“My mistake,” he murmured. “I never make the same one twice.”
“Why should you?” I chuckled. “There are so many new experiences out there.”
“Stop flirting with her, Bish,” one of the women called. “Bring her over here. I wanna see.”
“Come and meet the team.” Linus cupped my elbow and walked me to a bank of monitors that belonged in a superhero flick mounted on a wall painted black. The layout reminded me, on a much grander scale, of the teleconferencing suites he had designed for the Society. This must have been his inspiration. Outlines of men and women filled the screens, but filters shadowed their features. He gestured to each one in turn. “Lisbeth, Reece, Anca, Milo, this is my fiancée, Grier Woolworth.”
“You just love saying that, don’t you?” Lisbeth chortled. “He only called you his fiancée like five times when he called control earlier.”
“Five?” Milo scoffed. “I counted ten, and I wasn’t half listening. I was watching those surveillance tapes.” His jaw cracked on a yawn. “Riveting stuff.”
“You were dozing off,” Reece accused, his accent pure Good Ol’ Boy.
“I was zoning in,” Milo countered. “Big difference.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Anca interrupted. “I can see your influence in Linus’s work.”
Surprised by the comment, I paid her closer attention. “You’ve seen his paintings?”
“Paintings? No. I haven’t had that particular honor.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Our lives intersect very little offscreen.” An embarrassed chuckle escaped her. “But I must confess, a job brought me to the Mad Tatter once, some years ago, and I couldn’t resist the temptation of touring his workstation. You’re the little girl from the mural. I recognized you at once.”
“Ah.” Much to my shame, I realized I had been jealous to think he had shared such an intimate piece of our history with another woman. Silly to let it cramp my gut, but there you go. As much as Linus was still learning to trust us, I must be too. “I haven’t decided yet if his memory is just that good, or if he borrowed a photo album from his aunt to get the small details so perfect.”
“You knew each other as children?”
“Yes,” Linus answered for me, saving me from admitting how I had ignored him when we were kids in favor of Boaz. “Grier was my muse from the start.”
The ping of an incoming text had me searching for my cell. “Midas says their ETA is thirty minutes.”
And then he would hand Taz off to us, and we would hope no one saw through her glamour.
“We better get this meeting started then.” Bishop sank into a chair in front of the monitors. Until he woke them, I hadn’t noticed other screens winking to life below the main displays. This was more than a teleconferencing suite, it was a first-class control room worthy of the name. “First order of business… There’s a ghoul, maybe two, terrorizing Ben’s Fried Chicken customers.”
While Linus and the others decided on a plan of action, I stood against the far wall, marveling at the seamless way his team coordinated their efforts so that he wasn’t spread thin across the city but sent only where there was a critical need. As I listened, I came to understand three of them weren’t only techs but deputized to patrol the streets in black garb reminiscent of his tattered wraith’s cloak. The overall effect was of him being omnipresent. It was a brilliant strategy, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised he had implemented it during his reign as potentate.
A flicker on my periphery alerted me to Cletus’s presence, and I dared to hope. “Do you have news?”
Cletus had been dispatched to watch over Corbin, who Lacroix had detained in his clan home. So far, the reports had been more of the same. Nothing. The house had been warded against wraiths, which meant Cletus could no longer pop in and out to pass messages between Corbin and me.
Corbin, who came from vampire hunter stock, was continuing the family tradition of protecting humans in his own fangy way. He had volunteered to infiltrate Lacroix’s organization to help us dismantle it, but he got caught relaying a sensitive message to us via Cletus that brought Lacroix’s wrath down upon him.
Progeny or not, I owed him. His intel had saved lives. Dozens, if not hundreds, of them.
One way or another, we were getting him back.
Linus spared us a concerned glance, and Bishop frowned our way, but Cletus behaved himself and let me follow the safety procedures we had put in place before imparting his message.
Sitting on the poured concrete floor, I wedged my back into a corner then gave Linus, who acted as my spotter, a thumbs-up.
“Okay, Cletus.” I braced my palms to either side of me. “I’m ready.”
The wraith rushed me, dunking me in its cowl, and I spun out into a darkness so vast there was no beginning or end. And then Corbin was there, his mouth pressed against a two-inch high crack at the bottom of a window in what must be the room where Lacroix ordered him to be detained until Savannah was his.
From firsthand experience, I knew Lacroix opted for plush suites over actual cells with bars on the windows for his guests, but a cage was a cage was a cage in my opinion. All the gild in the world couldn’t change that basic fact.
“I finally made enough noise about the heat that they cracked a window so I don’t suffocate,” he rasped. “There’s no AC in the attic where they moved me after my last escape attempt, but they’ll figure out what I’m up to soon enough.”
The sawing breaths spoke of more than heat exhaustion. Corbin was hurt. Bad.
“This might be my last report unless I can trick them into giving me access to your wraith again.” He wiped sweat from his brow. “From what I’ve overheard, there are about fifteen vampires in residence. They’re all loyal to Lacroix, not compelled, which means they need to be dealt with.” A pained laugh escaped him. “You can take out the trash after you pick me up, huh?”
Hearing he still trusted me after all this tightened my throat until swallowing hurt.
“I haven’t eaten in a few days,” he admitted. “I need to…sit down now.”
Bruised eyes closing, he sank onto the floor to rest.
The image swirled, draining away, until the room came back into reluctant focus.
Linus knelt in front of me, waiting on an update as my vision cleared fully.
Cletus, waiting on a return message, hovered at my shoulder.
After relaying the information to Linus, I waved Cletus closer to record what I said next.
“Take care of yourself, Corbin. You’ve done enough. More than enough. Don’t take more risks. We have your location. Cletus will remain on watch and check in regularly. You are not alone.” I gave that time to sink in. “We’re coming for you the second Lacroix is out of power, sooner if we can spare the manpower to extract you safely.”
Nodding to Cletus that I was done, he stroked bony fingers down my cheek then vanished in a swirl of black mist.
“We need to get you back to our suite so you can rest.” Linus straightened. “Can you stand?”
“Just give me a minute.”
Wraith vision always left me disoriented afterward.
“Hold up.” Reece tapped a few keys on his end that seized control of one of the lower monitors. “Before you go, look.”
“Gwyllgi.” Linus leaned in to examine individual faces. “These are all dominants in the Atlanta pack.”
“They’re swarming the city.” Bishop flattened his lips into a thin line. “You know what isn’t?”
Linus unfurled to his full height. “Submissives.”
“What does this mean?” Slowly, I got to my feet. “The dominants are the protectors, like Lethe, right?”
“And the fighters,” Milo added. “Usually we see submissives out and about too. They tend to run errands, like buying groceries and paying bills. Taking the pups to school, that sort of thing. Dominants tend to work alone, but we see them in pairs often enough. But in these numbers? Never. Not unless the alpha is on the move, and she rarely leaves the den.”
“They’re hiding their vulnerable and putting on a show of force,” I said, grasping the situation. “Do they expect the fighting to spread this far?”
“This might all be a show for your benefit,” Anca murmured. “You two have an upcoming meeting with the alpha. Perhaps she’s employing intimidation tactics?”
“Tisdale is a good alpha,” Linus said. “I don’t see her dragging her people out of bed to patrol the streets without good reason.”