CHAPTER ONE
Stories had been passed down from each generation to the next, legends about mystical and dangerous beasts known only as the Others. Of course, no one had ever seen one of these creatures, but many theories existed about them. In one version, they were said to dwell high in the mountains. In another, they favored the sea. Yet, many believed these magical being walked among them, hidden, masquerading as werewolves, vampires, or even humans.
With each retelling, the details changed. To the werewolves, they were demons, raised from hell to punish the wicked. Vampire lore claimed them to be the origination of the species, who came into existence fully grown with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Shifters thought them to be god-like creatures—fiery and avenging with unlimited power.
No one could agree on what made them so dangerous. They were simply monsters to be feared, to be spoken of around campfires, or whispered about during the darkest of nights. Everything from thunderstorms to death had been blamed on the Others, a collective boogeyman for all things that went bump in the night.
Prince Nikolai Diavolos didn’t put much faith in fairy tales. A very real threat stalked the earth, a flesh and blood, breath and bone, cruel, merciless tyrant.
Nikolai called him father.
Staring through the big bay windows of the gaudy mansion in Valley Falls, Kansas, Nikolai sighed. It was a beautiful day, marred only by the coldness that swept through the state. Sunlight gleamed off the gazing ball in the center of the rear garden, and despite the encroaching winter, a single, colorful bird tweeted merrily from its perch atop the iron fence that surrounded the estate.
It pained him to know the world had changed, and not so much for the better. Of course, it had never been perfect, but he still believed it would have been better if the humans had never learned of the existence of paranormal beings. Gemini, they called them. The werewolves and shifters, the vampires, the monsters with two faces. It was an apt description, and he couldn’t fault them for their negative views.
While some—like the Revenant members currently conducting a meeting behind him in the swank office of Captain Cameron Dresden—lived harmoniously with the humans, protected them even, others were not so kind. After the Purge, when the PN2 virus had swept across the planet and decimated the human population, the various races came together after centuries of fighting, declaring a new order, a new law of the land. So, the Allied Races Coalition had been formed, and what followed would forever be a black stain on their history.
The shifters wanted more hunting lands. The werewolves simply wanted retribution for the humans’ attempt to kill them, and the vampires wanted what they’d always wanted—power. They doctored it, wrapped in a lovely package, and presented it as a need for survival. The reality, however, was that while vampires preferred human blood for its sweetness, they could just as easily feed on another Gemini. Declaring sovereignty over vast territories and enslaving hordes of humans in the name of resource procurement was a gross discredit to their race, and none had been greedier than Elias Diavolos.
As the oldest line of vampires in North America, the name Diavolos afforded respect from Nikolai’s peers and incited fear in his enemies. Much of this was due to his father’s mistreatment of everyone under his rule—Gemini and human alike. It had been that way for as long as Nikolai could remember, but his father hadn’t shown the true evil that lurked in his heart until after the Purge.
Of the seven original bloodlines, only three remained apart from his own—The Verrano and Lucern families in Europe, and the Zhangs in Asia—but it had been only the Diavolos clan who had proclaimed themselves royalty. The first recordings of Nikolai’s ancestors dated back to Rome in the year AD 56, and from what he’d read, each successor had proved to be more avaricious than the last. It was that greed and lust for power that had eventually led the Diavolos bloodline to New Orleans in the early eighteenth century.
It was so cliché it almost hurt.
For over three centuries, Nikolai’s family had presided over the vampires in North America. Nothing happened without their knowledge. No one broke their rules without swift and brutal consequence. And so it had continued until the inevitable fall of their so-called dynasty.
The world had grown, and in doing so, had left them behind. Once feared, vampires had become nothing more than myths and legends, romanticized in books and movies, a creature to be pitied, and yet, coveted. If only humans knew the depths of cruelty exhibited by these monsters they so exuberantly fawned over, they’d have run screaming into the night.
Turning away from the windows, Nikolai did his best to push away unpleasant thoughts and focus on the present. It had been less than forty-eight hours since he and his comrades had stormed into werewolf territory outside of St. Louis, Missouri to rescue their friends. It hadn’t been an easy fight, and both sides had suffered significant loss. In the end, only the Revenant had been left standing, but he wouldn’t consider it a victory.
Two of their friends had needlessly given their lives for the amusement of the pack and their sadistic alpha. He would miss Zerrik. The vampire had always been uncommonly kind, and he’d extended his friendship to Nikolai despite their uneasy past. As for their other fallen brother, he hadn’t known Brody well, but he considered any loss of life a tragedy. Yet, he knew he didn’t feel their absence even a fraction of what his gathered comrades did.
Four of their number were still missing, traded by the pack to the Abraxas coven. He didn’t want to think about the horrors they had endured in the month since they’d been taken. It was for them that the meeting had been called, though Nikolai doubted anyone would like what he had to say.
The double doors opened with a faint creak, and Corporeal Thea Mendez slid into the room with an apologetic grin. Her ebony hair was still wet, and the scent of her recent shower clung to her caramel skin. Her mate, Sergeant Rhys Lockwood, followed her into the office with more confidence and an air of indifference. There was nothing clean and floral about his scent, however. He smelled of wild, carnal delights, leaving little to the imagination about what had detained them.
Nikolai smirked.
Technically, the couple still had a few minutes before the meeting was supposed to begin, but that didn’t stop Luca from voicing his displeasure at their tardiness.
Sitting atop a gleaming mahogany desk, Captain Luca Moretti spoke with the confidence of a born leader. Despite being human—and the fact that there were two other captains in the room—everyone looked to Luca for answers and guidance. He bowed to no one, and he expected everyone to pull their weight. Since their first meeting in Kansas City, Nikolai had considered him hard but fair, efficient almost to a fault. He’d led the rescue mission into St. Louis with only a handful of soldiers, and he’d done so without any hint of fear or uncertainty.
In short, Luca had more than earned everyone’s respect, including Nikolai’s.
The only person who didn’t seem happy about the proceedings was Captain Cameron Dresden. Seated behind his extravagant desk, he’d made it clear more than once that he didn’t appreciate having his town and home invaded. He’d been wholly against bringing in the werewolves who had surrendered during the fight, and he’d spoken condescendingly about the Revenant’s desire to train them.
He was also a selfish prick and a pathetic coward, and therefore, no one paid much attention to him.
Nikolai didn’t exactly like the guy, and he had little patience for his fearmongering, but he figured being rendered useless in his own home had to sting, and for that, he pitied the lion shifter.
“Nik has some information about the Abraxas coven.” Turning just his head, Luca waved his right hand at Nikolai, giving him the floor.
Folding his hands together behind his back, Nikolai glanced around the room, briefly meeting each person’s questioning stare. They were nervous, anxious to recover their friends, but afraid of what they might find when they did. It was written as plainly in their expressions as if they’d voiced their fears aloud.
The Chambers twins—leopard shifters with quick wits and devilish smiles—leaned against a towering bookshelf, their stances as identical as their physical characteristics. Both wore the standard Coalition uniform of black shirts, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. Seemingly, neither male owned a comb, since both wore their sandy-blond hair in messy disarray. When one moved, the other did. They finished each other’s sentences. They never had a disagreement of opinion.
It was a little creepy, and it frustrated Nikolai that he still couldn’t tell which was Sean and which was Nathan.
On the beige, overpriced sofa, Captain Deke Collins wrapped his arm around his mate, pulling Roux a closer to his side. As the only other human in the room—and the only human female—if he didn’t know her, he might have expected her to appear more alarmed. Since he did know her, however, it didn’t surprise him to find her watching him, her jaw set with determination, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
Thea and Rhys remained by the double doors, their stances tense, alert. Of everyone in the room, Thea had lost the most in St. Louis, and moreover, she’d made a promise she couldn’t break. Her dark eyes watched Nikolai’s every move, her gaze wavering between desperation and impatience. Given her way, they’d already be halfway to Dallas to face the Abraxas coven. She was a good friend and a better soldier, but in this situation, she was too ruled by her emotions.
Surrounded by shifters, werewolves, and humans, Nikolai sought out the only other vampire in the room. Lieutenant Miles Irati stood just beyond the sun’s rays that shone through the windows, his arms folded over his broad chest, his casual expression belied by the tightness in his neck and shoulders.
Everyone was on edge, eager to be doing something, anything besides sitting in that office. Nikolai wished he had better news for them.
“As most of you know, the Abraxas coven spans a territory from Texas to Georgia. They’re the largest coven in the country, and certainly the most powerful. Their numbers alone are overwhelming.”
His family may be the oldest bloodline on the continent, but over time, “old” had ceased to be synonymous with “powerful.”
For years, the Abraxas coven had held that coveted title. With the spread of the PN2 virus, their numbers had only grown. With their preferred food source diminished, vampires across the regions eagerly pledged their allegiance to those who could promise safety, shelter, and sustenance. All of which, the Abraxas family generously provided…for a price.
What the Abraxas family had built was impressive considering the coven was still navigating its infancy. It had been barely a decade since Nikolai’s father had turned Morgan and Nigel Abraxas, and only five years since the two had denounced their allegiance to King Elias Diavolos. Despite their shifting loyalties, the three had parted amicably, or so it had been thought.
Nikolai knew better. His father had a long memory, and he didn’t forgive easily.
The Abraxas brothers had amassed a remarkable following in a short amount of time, gaining influence throughout the paranormal world. So, when the Purge struck, it hadn’t been difficult for them to negotiate for a sizeable territory from the Coalition—a region much larger and more fruitful than Elias’s kingdom in the northeast.
Tonguing the tip of his right fang where it had just started to grow back, Nikolai winced. His father had never been generous with his affections, not even to his children, but after the Purge, he’d no longer tried to hide his cruelty. Hence, Nikolai’s missing fangs, his punishment for trying to help Roux escape from his father’s dungeon. He’d never felt pain like that, and he hoped never to again. Beyond even the physical infliction, the humiliation had nearly undone him. Then, he’d been beaten soundly and left to die, and for a while, he wished he had.
Six months later, he still had moments when he thought a quick death might have been more merciful.
“Big, scary vampires.” Thea’s voice cut through the sordid memory, her sarcasm the perfect balm. “Lots and lots of big, scary vampires. Got it. Get to the good stuff, Nik.”
Those gathered seemed cautiously amused by Thea’s attitude, while Deke and Rhys laughed openly. Luca glared, his arms folded formidably across his chest, but the twitch of his lips betrayed his ire. Nikolai only dipped his head in acknowledgment. The shifter had fire, and she didn’t mince words. He liked that about her.
“The Abraxas family has a residence just outside of Dallas, Texas,” he continued, “and they began…procuring humans about a year ago.”
In actuality, the Abraxas brothers had been in Texas for much longer, gaining allies and influence across the South. By the time the virus had spread, they’d been well-prepared to step in and take over the region.
Everyone in the room nodded as if this was to be expected, but it was Rhys Lockwood who spoke first.
“Why are wolves kidnapping these people for the coven? What do the packs get out of it?”
“They get to keep their lands.” Nikolai sighed. It was a valid question, but one with a complicated answer. “My sources say the Abraxas coven is looking to expand their already vast territory. Packs up and down Demon Alley have been making deals with them.”
The Abraxas coven controlled what had come to be known as Deadman’s Bend, which included more land than any other coven or pack. In their quest for power, they now sought ownership of Demon Alley, a stretch of werewolf-controlled Deadlands that extended from central Missouri to western Colorado. It was a dark and desolate trek of territory made even more lethal by the Ravagers who roamed the highways and beyond.
Nikolai held his right hand out, palm facing the high ceiling. “The packs kidnap humans, weed out the weak ones, then hand them over to the coven.” He repeated the same motion with his left hand. “In exchange, the coven leaves them in peace.”
He could tell by the looks on his friends’ faces they all thought the same thing—all except Miles Irati. Miles eyed him speculatively, his eyebrows drawn together and his lips pursed. The shifters and humans assumed the coven wanted humans to feed on, and partly, they’d be right.
Employing werewolf packs to procure only strong, vital humans made little sense. Blood was blood, no matter the physical wellness of its host. Moreover, if the goal was to claim the packs’ territories as their own, making deals with the werewolves didn’t fit that agenda.
Something big was happening in Deadman’s Bend. Something dangerous. Nikolai just didn’t know what.
“We can’t fight them,” Rhys said, breaking the silence to voice what everyone had been thinking. “We can’t win.”
Nikolai shook his head slowly. “No, we can’t, and it would be foolish to even try.”
“Then, that’s it?” Cheeks flushed and nostrils flared, Thea released her mate’s hand and stepped forward. “We’re not even going to try? We’re just going to leave our friends there to die?”
“It’s been more than a month,” Captain Dresden reminded her, his tone subdued. “It’s more than likely that your friends are already dead, Corporal.”
Thea clenched her fists against her thighs and leveled the captain with a scathing glare. “Fuck. You. I promised I would find them, and I will. Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter.” She seemed to struggle for every breath, every word. Her voice vibrated with righteousness, and her shoulders shook as she struggled to control herself. “Sit here and cower in your fucking mansion. I’m going to find my friends.”
Nikolai had expected as much, and he knew many others would follow, himself included. Cade and Abby were friends, and he wouldn’t leave his friends behind. The other humans, a female named Kamara and a male called Duncan, he’d never met, but he was just as dedicated to their rescue. Dead or alive, he’d do whatever it took to bring them all home.
“You know I have your back, angel.” Rhys stepped forward to stand at Thea’s side. “Tell me when, and we’ll go.”
“I’m going, too.” Dodging her mate’s reaching hand, Roux shoved up from the sofa and strode over to take her place by Thea’s side. “Abby and Cade are my friends, and I’m going to find them.” Quieter, more subdued, she added, “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
After a bit of muttering and grumbling, Deke finally stood to join his mate. “I go where the stubborn female goes.” He took Roux’s hand when she grinned at him, bringing it to his lips to brush a kiss over the knuckles. “Abby was my friend, too. If I can help bring her back, I will.”
Nikolai fought back a grin as he arched both eyebrows at those so eager to rush to their deaths.
“It’s suicide, you know?” They’d probably never make it into the compound in Texas, let alone escape with their lives. Good thing he liked a challenge. “When do we start?”
As it turned out, the answer to that question was “immediately,” and for the next two weeks, their every waking moment was consumed with preparations. Thea, Rhys, and Deke had questioned the pardoned wolves, though they’d learned little of consequence, and nothing that would help them infiltrate the compound outside of Dallas.
Lieutenant Deidra O’Malley—a pretty she-wolf with hair like a flame and a thick Irish lilt—had been recruited to train the werewolves who wanted to fight. Unfortunately, their progress had been slow, much too slow to risk bringing most of them along on the mission. Five days after their initial meeting, they’d set out for a Revenant bunker—a six-bedroom secluded cabin—forty miles south of the Oklahoma border with just three new enforcers added to their ranks.
The following week had only reaped further disappointment.
They’d broken into groups of three or four, each making the hour-long trek to a little town northeast of Dallas to scout the Abraxas facilities. Unfortunately, every group that returned to the cabin brought with them the same discouraging news. The compound was a fortress, protected by a dedicated army of highly trained guards. Any attempt to breach the perimeter with brute force would be met with lethal resistance by superior numbers.
With rising frustrations and failing morale, the group had reached their breaking point by the end of the second week. While none of them were yet willing to admit defeat or abandon the undertaking, their situation was becoming more hopeless by the day.
“A fence surrounds the compound on three sides. It starts here at the interstate, runs east along this road, and ends here.” Deke pointed to the places on the hand-drawn map he’d spread out on the cabin’s scarred dining room table. “It all butts up to this lake in the back.”
“As far as we can tell,” Luca said, taking up where the shifter had left off, “this hotel is where most of the vampires stay.” He pointed to a large rectangle on the eastern edge of the compound, then slid his finger to a cluster of squares near the western fence line. “These buildings here are—or at least were—boutique shops, restaurants, a private medical practice, and so on. That big one on the end is an old movie theater.”
Nikolai scanned the map, locating each of the places Luca mentioned. He’d seen the buildings in person during surveillance, but it was different viewing the compound as a whole. It was even bigger than he’d estimated, with several additional buildings located outside of the quarantined zone.
“Do we know what’s on the other side of the lake?” He tapped at a blank corner of the map and drew his finger in a circle.
The she-wolf, Deidra, shook her head. “Just some other small town. I’ve not seen much activity.”
“I’ve seen a few patrols going through there.” Luca rubbed both hands over his face and sighed. “I think we have to assume the coven monitors the area.”
“Okay.” Nodding, Nikolai quickly thought through the web of his tangled thoughts. “Okay,” he repeated. “We agree our best option is to come in from the water, right?” He tapped his finger against the wavy blob on the back side of the compound. “The lake is approximately two miles across, maybe a little more. We can’t swim that, and boats will be too loud. They’d hear us coming before we ever reached the banks.”
Luca bobbed his head several times, shuffling closer to the table as he stared intently at the map. “I see what you’re saying. We’ll need a diversion.”
“We could blow up the hotel,” Deidra offered. “This bridge”—she jabbed the map hard enough to wrinkle the paper—“is maybe a quarter of a mile from the back of the hotel?”
“More like half a mile,” Luca corrected with a smirk. “Still, an easy swim for a werewolf.”
“Aye, it is.” Deidra popped her hip out to the right and folded her arms over her breasts. “Get a couple of us to the bridge, and we’ll make sure you have your diversion.”
“Hit up Miles. He likes blowing shit up, and he’s damn good at it.”
“That’s all well and good, but we still don’t know in which of these buildings Abby and the others being held.” Hesitating for a heartbeat, Nikolai forced himself to speak the words no one wanted to admit. “Or if they’re still alive.”
“I don’t think that matters anymore, mate.” Unfolding her arms, Deidra placed both palms flat against the tabletop and leaned forward. “We have to try. Can you live with yourself if we don’t?”
Not at all. He’d made a promise, along with the rest of the Revenant members, and despite the difficulties before them, he’d see it through. If the rescue of their friends proved unnecessary, they could still make their efforts count by saving other innocent lives.
“Okay, but we won’t have the time or the manpower to search all these buildings. We have to know where to look.”
Sadly, no one had any suggestions about how to accomplish the task, but for once, luck was on their side.
Three weeks after they’d left the little town of Valley Falls, Nikolai’s surveillance team had tracked a suspicious cargo van thirty miles from the Abraxas compound. In the back of the vehicle, they’d discovered over a dozen humans—eight females and five males—all offerings from a pack of coyote shifters traveling from Nebraska. Once they’d freed the captives, sending them on their way to the safe house in Kansas City with the werewolf enforcers as their guides, it had been a simple matter of convincing the two shifters in the van to escort them to the drop point.
Given a choice between aiding them or being beaten within an inch of their lives by Luca, both had eagerly agreed to the former.
Fortune had continued to be their companion when they arrived at a semi-private area three miles from the coven’s compound and found only two guards waiting to greet them. Since they only needed one of them, Luca and Deke moved quickly to dispatch the spare.
“Not that one.” Nikolai didn’t know why, but there was something about the blond vampire with his gaunt, angular features that seemed familiar. “Trust me,” he added when both males looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. “He’s the one we want.”
After rendering the second guard unconscious and stuffing him into the back of the shifters’ van, Deke leaned into the driver’s window and growled.
“Drop him at least a hundred miles from here,” he instructed the coyotes. Then, with an iciness that brooked no argument, “Don’t come back.”
“They’ll be back,” Nikolai muttered, watching the red glow of the van’s rear lights fade into the distance.
“Yep,” Luca answered. “So, let’s not be here when they do.”
With little effort and no help, Luca dragged their captive into a dark, abandoned building that, according to the sign on the awning, had once been an insurance agency. Now, they just needed him to cooperate.
“I’m not telling you shit.” Tied to a folding metal chair, the male turned his head and spat on the floor. “You’re dead. All of you.”
The vampire had a haggard appearance, but it was hard to tell if it came from a hard life or just a disagreeable temperament. Still, something about him tickled at the fringes of Nikolai’s memories. He had seen this male before, several years ago, but he couldn’t put a name or situation to the face.
The snap of skin meeting skin echoed throughout the empty room as Luca drove his fist into the soldier’s jaw. The vampire’s head jerked to the side, and blood sprayed from his mouth. When he turned back to face them, he laughed.
“Why this one?” Deke looked at Nikolai with an arched brow. “He’s clearly lost his vertical hold.”
“There’s something about…” Trailing off as that statement sunk in, Nikolai cocked his head to the side and frowned. “What?”
Deke indicated their prisoner with a sharp nod. “He’s crazy as hell.”
The vampire watched them carefully, his cerulean eyes narrowed, his gaze darting back and forth between them. “You got a girl trapped in there or something?”
Luca’s upper lip curled over his straight, white teeth. “Something like that.”
“How long?”
Luca hit him again.
Once recovered, the vampire smirked, the smugness ruined by the blood that dripped down his chin. “That long, huh? You know she’s probably dead, right?”
In answer, Luca kicked the seat between the male’s thighs, toppling him onto his back. His chest heaved, and his hands curled into fists as he stood over the vampire, his booted foot pressed against the guard’s throat.
“Keep talking. Say one more fucking word.”
Not for the first time, Nikolai’s gaze strayed to the silver chain stretched around Luca’s wrist. He recognized it as Abigail Dawson’s, one of the very humans they were trying to save. Luca had never mentioned what, if any, past he shared with the female, but clearly, there was something there, something much deeper than he was willing to admit.
Whatever his reasons, Luca’s temper was getting them nowhere.
“Captain.” With a hand on Luca’s shoulder, Nikolai urged him away from the vampire on the ground. “He can’t tell us anything if you kill him.”
“He’s not going to tell us anything anyway. At least killing him would make me feel better.”
“Let me try. Five minutes, Luca.”
Righting the vampire, Nikolai circled him twice, studying him, watching the guard as the guy watched him. Up close, he realized the male was younger than he’d initially estimated, probably no more than twenty-four or –five. And he was, as Deke had said, crazy as hell. It showed in his eyes, the twitch of his jaw, and the way he rocked back and forth in the chair, pulling at his restraints.
“What’s your name?”
“Fuck you.”
It had been nighttime, and Nikolai distinctly remembered the thick scent of fresh blood. They’d met six years ago, maybe seven, he couldn’t be sure, but he knew this male.
“Tell me your name,” he commanded.
“Wesley,” the vampire answered, his tone devoid of emotion.
Like a switch being flipped, the memories came flooding back, so quickly and so violently, Nikolai flinched from the onslaught.
“Trevor Wesley.”
Luca’s head snapped up, and his eyes narrowed. “You know him?”
Trevor Wesley had been just seventeen at the time when he’d been caught taking apples from the Diavolos’ orchard to take home to his starving family. Of course, the circumstances of the theft hadn’t swayed the king. He’d tortured the young man for three days before draining him, then dumping him in the woods to die.
Nikolai spoke with the same monotone as Trevor as he relayed the story to his peers. “I tried to turn him to save his life, but I hadn’t thought I’d been successful. I moved him to the side of the highway so he’d be found, and that was the last time I saw him.” He looked over his shoulder at Trevor. “Until now.”
What he didn’t tell them is that he’d spent those same three days locked in a steel cage the size of a dog kennel, all because he’d suggested his father be lenient with the boy.
“Your dad is fucked up,” Luca said with his usual tact.
Nikolai nodded his agreement as he returned his attention to the vampire. “Do you know who I am?”
Trevor smirked. “Prince Nikolai Diavolos, heir to the Diavolos bloodline. My sire.” He sneered the last word. “I was wondering if you’d recognize me.”
“What happened to you, Trevor?”
From his left, Luca grunted. “We don’t have time for touchy-feely reunions, Nik. You two can drink lattes and braid each other’s hair later. Right now, we need answers.”
Deke scoffed. “Dude, you’re kind of a dick.”
“No. He’s right.”
As much as Nikolai wanted to know what had happened after he’d left Trevor on the side of that highway, the answer wouldn’t help him get into the compound or find Abby and the others.
Crouching in front of Trevor, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared directly into the vampire’s eyes. “Two months ago, four humans were brought here from the St. Louis werewolf pack. Two men and two women. Do you remember them?”
“I remember,” Trevor bit out through gritted teeth.
“Are they still there?”
“The blonde female was sold last month.” His eyes narrowed, and he growled, curling his lip to reveal his pointed fangs. “I’m going to kill you, Your Highness.”
“How are you doing that?” Deke demanded. “Why is he just answering you like that?”
Nikolai didn’t take his eyes off Trevor. “Because he doesn’t have a choice. I sired him. He’s compelled to do whatever I tell him.”
“That’s a thing?” The frustration in Deke’s voice was almost comical. “How did I not know that was a thing?”
“Can we focus?” Luca interrupted. “Where did Abby go? Who bought her?”
Nikolai grinned crookedly when Trevor glared. “Answer the captain.”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in Colorado.”
Colorado was mostly shifter territory—surrounded by miles of Deadlands—and as far as Nikolai knew, there were no vampire covens that far west. If Abby had indeed been traded to a shifter pack, it couldn’t mean anything good, but alas, that was a problem for another day.
“The other three? Where are they being held? Which building?”
Trevor continued to sneer and growl, but that didn’t stop him from answering. “The old movie theater. That’s where they keep all the humans.”
“Why? What are they doing with them?”
“Nik,” Luca interrupted as he tapped his index finger against the top of his wrist. “Tick tock. It won’t be long before they realize he’s missing.”
“Right.” Nikolai inhaled deeply, held it for a moment, then released it slowly. “What about the hotel?”
“Living quarters for guards and visitors.”
“How many Coalition guards patrol the theater? Where are they located?”
“Two in front. Two in back,” Trevor replied, his answers becoming more clipped, his tone growing agitated. “Four inside.”
Nikolai glanced up at Luca. “Anything else?”
“No. We’ve been here too long already. We need to move. Can you make him keep his mouth shut?”
“I can do better than that.”
After commanding Trevor to forget their conversation and providing him with a plausible story to cover his missing time, they left him back at the drop location before beginning the six-mile walk back to their vehicle.
None of them spoke as they trekked through the trees and ducked through back alleys. They didn’t discuss what they’d learned. No one asked questions. Hell, they didn’t even look at each other, but something lingered between the three of them, something Nikolai hadn’t felt in weeks.
Hope.