The six male Vampires looked startled when three GarLycans flew from the sky and landed on the building’s roof. The lone female Vampire, Olivia, not so much. Glacier saw fear in all their gazes, though. That didn’t come as a surprise. GarLycans tended to have that effect on all races.
The Vamps took up defensive stances, looking tense and ready to attack. Glacier crossed his arms over his chest and allowed his wings to spread outward as he glared at them.
“I see that you got my message.” Glacier purposely made his voice deeper than normal. It was meant to intimidate. He slightly shelled his body until his skin turned ashen gray. It might remind the Vamps how easily they could be turned gray, too, as they died. “I’m guessing the female is Olivia. Step forward, assassin. I met your partner.”
Olivia came forward a few feet and glared at him. “Are you the one who murdered Mandy?”
He smothered a smile. She was a good actress. He gave her a slight nod. “You say murder. I call it self-defense. I wouldn’t attack just yet, little Vampire. You’ll want to hear what I have to say. That will be difficult if you force me to kill you. I’m not here for that…unless you leave us with no other option. This is to be a friendly discussion. Understand?”
“Bastard,” she hissed, and backed up.
Pest snorted. “Are you certain we can’t kill her just for the hell of it? I don’t like being called names.”
Glacier wanted to shoot a warning glare at his brother for that remark. Olivia honestly appeared frightened now. He hoped she realized Pest was bluffing. She would be the only Vampire to survive on the roof if shit went down. He always kept his word, especially to his mate.
Neb withdrew his sword and pointed it downward. “We came to talk—and you will listen. That’s not up for debate. Don’t contemplate jumping off the roof, assassins. There are no balconies on this building and you wouldn’t fair well with a sixteen-story drop.”
“Splat,” Pest muttered. “And forget the roof-access door you came through. You’d lose your head before you even got it open. Just stay where you are and do what you’re told.”
Glacier drew the Vampires’ attention by stepping closer. “I want to speak to your council. I’ll assume Vampires have phones. There are seven of you. That means at least one of you can place a call to them.” Glacier studied each one. “Who can make that happen?”
None of the Vampires spoke.
“The only reason you get to live is to be useful to us,” he added. “Now, I’ll ask again—who can contact your council right now? Someone speak.”
A dark-haired male Vamp flashed his fangs. “I can.”
Glacier had a feeling this one must be Vasquez. He seemed utterly cold and there was a look in his dead eyes that said he had seen a lot of death. He instantly took a disliking to the Vamp, with his leering expression and obvious disdain he didn’t bother to hide.
The Vampire removed his phone. “You want me to call the council?”
“Yes. I’d like them to see me. I want you to use your camera for a live feed and have them all join in as a conference call.”
The male hesitated.
“We don’t have to see them. You just point the damn camera at me and keep the screen your way. Is that simple enough? Let them know you’re surrounded by three GarLycans who are demanding to speak to them. Otherwise, they will be declaring war. Then put it on speakerphone, so I may hear their voices and know they can see me.”
The Vamp nodded once and placed a call. Glacier waited while the Vampire connected to someone and whispered quietly. It didn’t take more than a few sentences before the Vamp paused, staring at him. “They’re conferencing the call and darkening their screens.”
“Cowardly,” Pest sighed. “But not surprising that they would hide their faces.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Neb reminded him.
A good three to four minutes passed before the Vamp holding the phone lifted it, staring at Glacier. “Where do you want it pointed?”
Glacier strode forward, keeping his wings extended. He stopped ten feet away. “Can they see me?”
The Vamp nodded and touched the screen. “Yes, and now it’s on speaker.”
Glacier focused on where the camera would be. He gripped his sword in one, fisted the other. “Hello, Vampire Council. You may call me Glacier. I’m with two of my GarLycan brothers. I have a message from Lord Aveoth. He’d have been happy to speak to you himself, but you’re difficult to get ahold of. You really should change that policy of yours. I wouldn’t be holding seven of your assassins on this roof with the threat of death if we could have contacted you otherwise. Now, assure me I’m actually speaking to the council.”
“We’re listening, GarLycan,” a female voice stated.
“Are you a council of one?” He knew better.
“No,” a male denied. “We keep ourselves hidden to protect our identities. Reprisals are something we’re wary of. You are speaking to all members of the council. I myself linked this phone to my computer and set up this conference call. You have my assurances.”
Glacier wanted to snort but he was willing to give whoever spoke the benefit of the doubt. There were at least two Vampires listening. A female and male. Still…he decided to try something. “Are you Corski?”
Someone gasped.
“No, I am,” a third voice answered. “How in the hell do you know my name?” He sounded outraged more than afraid.
“I captured an assassin. You missed that part of the conversation. She tried to kill me. So I felt it was only fair to gain information from her before I ended her life. She said you were the head of her house. But you’ll be gratified to know it took quite a lot of pain for her to break. I’m content now that I have your attention.”
“Why in the hell did you kill one of our Vamps?” Corski raged.
“You sent two of your assassins to take out the person responsible for killing off members of a nest. Marco was—past tense—the master of that nest. I’m the one who put his ass down.” He smiled coldly. “I will say the assassin I met in that alley a few nights ago had excellent training, but she really never stood a chance against me. My wings? They become razor-blade sharp when need be. They can slice right through a Vamp body if I want them to. And I did. I’m not sorry to inform you that you’re one assassin less now.” He hoped they believed he’d killed Mandy.
The wind blew, and no one said a word as Glacier took a deep breath. “Your assassin informed me it wasn’t my place to take out the nest, that you police your own.” He allowed anger to show in his face and his own fangs dropped. “Yet you didn’t. You sent them after me, instead. Do you want to explain that decision?”
“You killed off Marco and his nest?” Surprise sounded in another unidentified male’s voice.
“Yes, I did. Do you want to know why? That sick bastard and his nest were kidnapping Lycan children, forcing them to fight to the death against each other—and for what? To get their dicks hard. You bet your ass I wiped them off this planet. That’s some sick shit right there. Cruel. Children are off limits. You fucking know that. So much for policing your own.”
The woman spoke next. “That’s not true.”
“Bullshit. I arrived in this area to investigate after Lycan children began disappearing. It’s what we do. I located a building where Lycan kids had been locked in animal cages. Their little bodies were left in trash bags in the basement, tossed there as if they were garbage. The Vampires had left some of their clothing behind, were probably staying there to guard their captives while they still lived. I tracked the fuckers down and killed them. Do you wish me to fly one of your assassins to that building? They can view the same evidence. The local nest stole those Lycan children and killed them. I’m also willing to have them interview the grieving parents.”
No one on the council said a word.
“Are you so gullible that you’ll believe whatever a nest master tells you without confirmation?”
Still no one spoke.
“That sounds like utter stupidity to me, and something you need to change. You see, we look into every situation when we are called for help. We make damn sure the guilty party is at the end of our blades before we start taking heads. We don’t pick sides until we’re certain who the bad and good guys are. Maybe that makes us and the VampLycans smarter than your council. The point is, you’ve already lost one assassin who tried to kill me because of your negligence in allowing Marco to go after pack children. You sent her after the wrong guilty party. I was protecting kids from your Vamps. That’s something you should have done.”
“We didn’t know,” the woman stated. “At least, I didn’t. We’ll get to the bottom of this confusion, GarLycan Glacier. You have my word on that.”
“Did you send someone to investigate Marco’s lies when I’ll assume he claimed an enforcer was killing his nest without cause?”
The woman remained silent a moment, but then spoke. “We had it on good authority that Marco wasn’t at fault in any way, and had followed our laws. We originally voted to send two assassins to take out whoever was hunting the nest, clearly based on misinformation. After one of our assassins went missing, we were told by that same authority that the local pack hated all Vampires and wanted them dead. That’s why we sent in the team you see before you. Their orders were to make certain no more innocent Vampires were killed because of hatred for our race.”
“Well, I’d kill your so-called ‘authority,’ since they either lied or were incompetent as fuck,” he snarled. “I took out Marco and his nest. They were child murderers. Kids are off limits. Human ones. Lycan ones. GarLycan and VampLycan. Maybe since Vamps don’t have children, you’re oblivious to the fallout. Marco risked exposing all of us with those deaths. That’s not even touching on the absolute emotional devastation it causes all involved with the loss of those innocent lives. Children of any race never just disappear or die without it drawing attention. Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” a few voices on the phone confirmed.
“I believe we all have a common goal in keeping humans in the dark about our existence. Be wiser about who you choose to lead your investigations, and be damn certain before you send out your assassins that they’re going after the correct targets.
“There’s one more thing you should know. I interrogated a member of that nest. He wasn’t very forthcoming before he died, but I did get one thing from him. It didn’t make sense to me, but I have a feeling it might to you. They were taking videos of the fighting children…and implied there was money to be made in it.”
He picked up the sound of a few gasps and muttered curses.
“Police your own and deal with this shit. It’s possible one of you was involved. You’d better clean your fucking houses—or we will. This shit won’t be tolerated. I was told you didn’t think we ever leave Alaska. Clearly we do, and have many times before. You don’t want us policing your Vamps? Then fucking make sure we don’t have reason to. Lord Aveoth and all four VampLycan clan leaders will put together teams and send them to problem areas if this happens again. We work well together to keep our existence a secret. We’re willing to work with you, too. Do you understand?”
It was the woman who answered. “We do.”
Glacier walked closer, glaring into the camera. “Nobody wants a war in the States, but we won’t shy away from it. We can work together to keep the peace or a lot of blood will be shed. It’s your choice. Make it.”
He glanced at the Vampires around him then focused on Olivia. “You. Get over here.” He pointed at her.
Olivia hesitated but came forward. He hated the fear in her eyes but she approached him bravely. It put her with him in front of the camera when she stopped where he directed.
“I’m making you our contact. Give me your phone.” He held out his hand.
She turned, glancing warily at the camera.
“Do it,” a male voice ordered. It sounded like Corski.
Olivia removed her phone, handing it to him.
He glanced down, seeing she’d unlocked it. He typed in the number Kelzeb had given him and returned it to her. “You are the only one to use that number, Olivia. Congratulations. You’ve officially become the go-between for your council and Lord Aveoth. Now return to where you were.”
Her features softened and her eyes widened. It must have sunk in that he’d just made her too important to kill. The council would need her alive if they really wanted to avoid a war with the GarLycans and VampLycans. She turned from the camera fully and winked before masking her features. She hurried back to her spot on the roof.
Glacier stared at the camera. “We’re done for now. Have Olivia contact us with her number so Lord Aveoth can reach you if a need arises.”
He strode forward and grabbed the phone the dark-haired Vampire held, crushing it in his hand and effectively ending the meeting. He tossed it aside and backed away.
“You destroyed my phone?” The Vamp hissed, flashing fangs.
“I’m going to reach into my pocket and give each of you a card. It’s got a special number on it. Share it with your fellow assassins.” He withdrew the cards, approaching the Vamp he suspected was . He still appeared furious over his lost phone. Glacier didn’t give a damn. “Take one.”
The Vamp hesitated but then accepted it. “What’s this number to?”
He backed away and let his gaze go from one Vamp to the next. “It’s your way to contact us if you’re ever given orders you know are wrong. Innocents are always off limits. I was informed by the assassin I killed that you aren’t given choices on your targets…but decide now who you fear more. Us or your council. And by the way, just because we might receive a tracking kit, doesn’t mean we’ll come after you. We investigate when we’re asked to kill. I’m not saying we’d offer sanctuary with our clans, but I will point out that Alaska is a big damn state, and if someone decided to move there, we wouldn’t come after them unless they gave us a good reason. Call that number if you ever feel like relocating, and you’ll get some suggestions on where law-abiding Vamps would be safe.”
He saw a few of the Vamps grin but their smiles disappeared fast. Glacier walked to each one, giving them a card. Most of them quickly pocketed them. Two stared at the card, as if memorizing the number printed there.
He backed away to the edge of the roof. “You are free to go. I suggest you get out of this city. The Lycan pack here is under our protection. They’ve suffered enough loss because of Marco and his nest. You will not punish them for the justice I served.”
Glacier nodded at his brothers and waited for each of them fly away first. He flapped his wings and tensed, preparing to take flight.
“GarLycan.”
He paused, staring at the Vamp who spoke. Again, it was the one he assumed to be Vasquez. “What?”
“We’ll never make that call. We’re loyal to our council. I will personally burn every card you just passed out. No assassins will ever call you.”
“Suit yourself.”
The Vamp suddenly lunged forward in a blur with a dagger in his hand.
Glacier braced his legs, shelling his skin a little harder, but otherwise didn’t move.
The bastard tried to stab him in the throat. The tip of the blade hit his hard skin, sliding off. Glacier reached up as the Vamp lost his balance and shoved him hard. It caused the man to fly back and land on his ass.
“Don’t, Vasquez!” Olivia hissed.
Vasquez didn’t listen, but instead flipped up, landed on his feet, and dropped the knife. He reached inside a pocket, withdrawing a gun.
Glacier spun, bringing up one wing to protect his eyes without making it obvious, and plowed the other into the bastard before he could pull the trigger. It sent the Vamp flying again, this time into a blond male in head-to-toe black leather. That male caught Vasquez but quickly shoved him forward.
Glacier hadn’t planned on killing any of them, but he changed his mind, debating briefly if he should just behead Vasquez or make him suffer first.
He didn’t get the chance to do either.
The blond behind Vasquez abruptly surged forward and a steel blade flashed.
Glacier watched in silence as the dark-haired Vampire was swiftly beheaded.
The blond responsible spun on the other Vamps, as if expecting to be attacked. None came at him. They appeared stunned by his actions but no one protested.
The Vampire put away his bloody knife. “Vasquez didn’t speak for all of us. His brother is a council member and he volunteered to be an assassin. The rest of us didn’t. We can handle our own problems. I just did.”
Glacier was impressed.
The blond turned, facing the other Vamps again. “Vasquez boasted about not having a tracker in his body since he was too loyal to ever attempt escape. We’ll tell the council he died in a tragic accident on the way home. The fucker loved to live dangerously. Too bad he took too many risks. Agreed?”
Each Vampire nodded, some of them voicing agreement. Another blond male stared at Glacier. “Was that offer to find sanctuary in Alaska sincere?”
“Yes. You have a way out if you ever need it.”
The blond who’d killed Vasquez gave him a curt bow. “We’ll only share the number with others we know who aren’t absolutely blind to the council’s flaws. Some of us are still redeemable.”
The man came forward a few feet then stopped. “Thank you.”
Olivia stood behind all the Vamps. She mouthed the same two words silently when he glanced at her.
Glacier nodded and took flight, soaring away from the building. His brothers waited for him a few miles away on another rooftop. He landed beside them.
“That seemed to go well, bro.” Pest patted him on the shoulder. “What do you think?”
“The blond Vamp in the leather killed Vasquez after you two flew off.”
Neb’s eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
“He made it clear he’d take back the cards I passed out, and that no one would be given the number. Blond Vamp disagreed with his plan.”
Pest whistled. “Vasquez sounded like an asshole anyway. Good riddance. Are we ready to fly back to your mate now?”
“Yes.”
Neb hesitated. “I’m going to stick around for a bit.”
Glacier narrowed his gaze at his oldest brother. “Why?”
“Someone needs to deal with Kevin.”
“I should do it.” Glacier sighed. “He threatened my mate and put those bombs on the building I’d claimed as my territory.”
“I already came up with a plan with Kelzeb. Go to your mate, Glacier. This is my pleasure.” Neb grinned.
Pest grinned too. “What’s the plan? You only look that happy if it’s two-for-one hooker night, so it must be good.”
Neb shot him a dirty look. “You’re confusing me with yourself. I don’t do hookers.”
“Okay. Maybe. I do do hookers sometimes.”
Glacier shook his head. “What’s the plan, Neb?”
“Kevin isn’t fit to lead. I’m going to fly in, kill his ass, and tell his enforcers to work out who becomes alpha. That’s a pack issue for them to resolve. Kevin overstepped his authority by pissing off Lord Aveoth when he went after you. I’ll make that clear. It shouldn’t take me long. I’ll see you before dawn. It’s early enough that I’ll be able to fly to you tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out where you and your mate are going to live.”
Glacier nodded. “Thanks.”
“We’re family.” Neb gave him a hug. “I might not be overjoyed that your mate is a Vamp, but I accept her.”
Pest wrapped his arms around both of them, going for a group hug. “In other words, he’s nothing like our bastard of a father. I so don’t miss him. We really owe Creed another thank you for taking his ass out.”
Glacier chuckled. “True.”
Neb let them go, backing away. “I’m off now. See you both soon.” He turned, ran at the edge of the building and took flight toward the Lycan territory.
Pest grinned. “Let’s go. I’ll follow you. That is, if your mate instincts have kicked in. Have they? Can you track short stack?”
Glacier closed his eyes and focused on Mandy. Something inside had him turning slightly to the left, and he could almost feel her. “Yes.”
“I’m calling you pussy homing pigeon from now on.”
“Fuck you.” Glacier chuckled as he opened his eyes.
“Hey, it’s a bitch to use our phones while flying places to get to the right address. No GPS tonight. You just have to sense your mate. After you, bro.”
“Never call me that nickname.”
Pest just chuckled.
Glacier ran at the edge of the roof and flew high. Pest followed.