Dax sat, drumming his fingers on his leg as he impatiently waited outside Bandu’s private office. The leader of the pack had been holed up on the phone for over an hour, and Dax had just about lost patience. He stood and started to pace, his inner wolf antsy.

“You should go for a run, man.”

Dax jerked his head up and nodded to Leo. The young shifter had just appeared from the adjoining kitchen and was leaning against the doorframe. He had an apple in one hand and a hunk of jerky in the other.

“Maybe later,” Dax said. “How was the rest of the search? Any leads?”

Leo shook his head. “Nope. It’s strange too. I don’t think we’ve ever been out canvassing before when we didn’t run into some bullshit revolving around the vampires. Even in the daylight, there’s always chatter about the night before or a daywalker causing trouble. It’s like we’re in the eye of the storm.”

“Or the calm before the storm,” Dax said, his fingers itching to text Phoebe. He hated the way they’d left things back at the safe house. He wanted to discuss his sudden promotion within the pack, wanted to ask her about the notebook and Seth Kilsen. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the man shared her last name. What was he to her? A brother? Cousin? Husband?

He shook his head. No. Not husband. She would’ve told him, right?

“Dude, relax. You look like you’re going to come right out of your skin.” The young shifter gave Dax a lopsided grin. “What is it? Woman problems?”

Dax stretched his neck but didn’t answer.

Leo laughed. “It is woman problems. Well, in that case, a run is definitely in order. Your head will be clearer after you blow off some steam.”

“I can’t. I need to talk to Bandu.” He needed to find out what the leader knew about Carter Voelkel and Asier. As far as Dax was concerned, the redheaded vampire was at the center of the abductions. If he could find him, he’d have a lead.

Leo brushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes and frowned. “Is that what you’re doing in here?”

Dax nodded. “It’s important. So thanks, but—”

“Dax, Bandu left twenty minutes ago. He said you were in charge until he gets back.”

“You’re kidding me.” Dax turned abruptly and knocked on Bandu’s office door. When no one answered, he cracked the door open and peeked in. Sure enough, the office was empty. He strode in and glanced around. “What the fuck? I was sitting here the entire time waiting for him.”

Leo, who’d followed him into the office, shrugged. “Maybe he was just messing with you?”

Or maybe he didn’t want Dax to know he’d left. An uneasy feeling coiled in Dax’s gut. Something wasn’t right. Ever since Bandu had made Dax his second, he’d been holed up and unavailable, almost as if he was avoiding his new beta.

Dax walked over to the desk, scanned the stack of paperwork separated into three piles. More victims. At least these weren’t dead. But they did all have something in common—each one was an allegation against the Cryrique for feeding on humans without consent. Another sheet of paper sat off to the side. Dax picked it up and felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realized it was a formal complaint to be lodged with the city against Allcot and his vampires. Dax had been worried that since the shifters had appointed themselves protectors of the city that they’d start to take matters into their own hands. The complaint proved Bandu was still following protocol.

“This looks promising,” Dax said.

“What does?” Leo asked, moving to look over Dax’s shoulder.

“Oh, that.” He made a disgusted face. “The city won’t do anything. Bandu just files those to prove a point. No one ever takes action.”

Dax frowned. “They don’t? You sure? They’re supposed to forward them to the Arcane.”

Leo shook his head. “Nope. They only forward the worst ones. These? The victims usually see a healer and then can barely remember what happened. And because they don’t make waves, the city ignores them, pretends the problem isn’t that bad. Bandu says it’s because the city wants to keep the Cryrique happy. Likes the millions in tax revenue they generate every year.”

That niggling feeling that something was off flared to life again as Dax listened to Leo. His explanation wasn’t what Dax had experienced while working for the Void. The investigative agency had people in city government who were extremely vigilant about paranormal complaints, transferring all but the most minor ones to the Void. As far as Dax knew, actual vampire attacks on humans were down significantly.

Was he wrong about that? Was there a massive, city-wide government cover-up that had caused Bandu and the pack to turn into a watchdog group? That was entirely possible. Dax picked up one of the reports on the desk and read the complaint. Twenty-two-year-old woman, recent college graduate, worked at the Red Door.

The Red Door? That was Allcot’s place down on Frenchmen Street. Very few humans worked there, and the ones who did were trusted members of the inner circle, usually waiting to be turned. It wasn’t easy for a human to get a job there. Dax moved on to the complaint.

Lacy Wallace claims she worked at the Red Door for thirteen months. During that time, she was continually pressured to seek vampirism. When it became clear Miss Wallace had no interest in turning vampire, her direct supervisor, Bella Jaxon, attacked her and fed from her until Miss Wallace passed out. She was fired two days later and told she was let go due to her refusal to turn vampire.

Dax frowned and picked up the other two complaints. The stories were similar except the women worked at the corporate offices, but they also each accused their direct supervisors. The Cryrique did employ plenty of humans in their offices. They had to in order to keep the organization running. There weren’t enough vampires to sustain such a force.

But the clubs? That was a different story. And Lacy Wallace didn’t pass the smell test. At least not with Dax. He knew Bella Jaxon, and to his knowledge she’d only turned two vampires in her years, and both of them were her flesh-and-blood sisters.

All of Allcot’s vampires were extremely selective in who they chose to become part of the hive. The act of turning a vampire was highly personal and intimate, and not a venture vampires took lightly. When a newbie was turned, the vampire who brought them over was then responsible for the fledgling in every way, emotionally, physically, financially. Unless Lacy Wallace had some sort of close relationship with Bella, it was hard to imagine she’d have been pressured to turn. It just wasn’t Bella’s or the other Cryrique vampires’ modus operandi.

“Leo,” Dax said, “do you have plans this afternoon?”

“No. I was going to do more canvassing with Dali, but he’s out getting food with his girl. Why?”

“I want to check something out. I could use backup.” It was never a good idea to go into vampire territory without a partner, and while Leo wasn’t his first choice, he was a good fighter. He’d do if things got out of hand for some reason.

The younger shifter’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “You mean something for the Arcane?”

Dax paused for a moment, wondering how to answer. Was this for the Arcane? He didn’t exactly know. But he just couldn’t shake his gut feeling that the complaints were bogus. And if they were, he needed to get to the bottom of why. “Yeah. But unofficial for the moment. Just following up on a hunch.”

“Absolutely! Let me just text Dali.”

“No.” Dax shook his head. “Let’s keep this quiet for now. At least until we know if we have anything worth talking about.

“Okay, sure. Yeah. I can do that. Should I arm myself?” The excitement in the kid’s eyes only fed Dax’s unease. He was far too willing to do whatever Dax asked of him just to get a taste of the action.

“No, kid. Not this time. Where we’re going, you’ll be lucky if they even let you in the door. If they find out you’re armed, you’ll never make it past the bouncer.”

“Oh.” His excitement vanished, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Okay, but where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

---

“Marrok. What the hell are you doing here?” Branson, the bouncer at the Red Door asked. “I thought you were out with Kilsen, hunting down Pandora and those two fae.”

“Kilsen is with Allcot,” Dax said, as if that in any way explained why he was at the club at four in the afternoon. He and Leo were just inside the entrance of the club in a small holding area, waiting to see if Branson was going to let them through the security check.

“I see. That’s too bad for you,” he said with a sleazy leer. “You know Allcot’s always had a thing for that hot piece of ass, right?”

A growl rumbled from Dax’s throat.

The tall bouncer threw his head back and laughed. “I knew you had a thing for her. Poor bastard.”

“Phoebe’s hot,” Leo said from behind Dax. “But Dax doesn’t have anything to worry about. She’d never let a vampire get his fangs into her. She doesn’t swing that way.”

Branson sneered at Leo. “Who the fuck is this?”

“He’s my shadow for the day. Considering a career with the Arcane,” Dax said offhandedly. “Which brings me to why we’re here. I need to talk to Bella Jaxon. Is she around?”

“Bella? What do you want to talk to her for?”

“Just need to ask her some questions. I’m trying to corroborate a story,” Dax said, doing his best to not raise the bouncer’s suspicions. If he thought Bella was in any kind of trouble, Dax would never get through those doors. “Nothing to worry about.”

The bouncer shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “This is what you’re doing while those two fae are missing? I thought they were friends of yours, man. Jesus.” He laughed. “And they say vampires are coldhearted.”

Dax didn’t take the bait. He just stood there, waiting.

“Whatever.” Branson waved a hand. “Talk to Bella if you want, but I’d be careful if I were you. She’s pissed as hell about Pandora, and I don’t know how she’s going to take talking to a couple of mutts.”

“What did you say, bloodsucker?” Leo spat out from behind Dax.

Branson glared at the kid then shifted his dangerous gaze back to Dax. “Control your pup, or I’ll do it for you.”

Leo stepped around Dax, his fists clenched and muscles straining as he got in Branson’s face. “Bring it on, asshole. I’ll rip you—”

“Enough.” Dax grabbed Leo by his shirt collar and hauled him back before Branson took it upon himself to break the kid’s neck.

“Hey!” Leo flailed, trying to squirm out of Dax’s hold. “Let me go. I can’t let that vamp get away with speaking to me like that. Did you hear what he said? He called me a fucking mutt! That piece of—”

“I said enough!” Dax roared as he slammed Leo up against the wall, holding him in place. “Didn’t you hear me, Leo? You will control yourself, or this is the last time you’ll ride with me, got it?”

“Fuck, Dax. Let me down. I thought we were pack. I thought we—”

Dax leaned in close, pressing his forearm against the young shifter’s throat. Then he lowered his voice and in a harsh whisper said, “We’re in vampire territory. Do you understand that?”

Leo didn’t move, just stared at Dax, his eyes wide.

“I said do you understand that?”

“Yeah,” he croaked out.

“That means we play by their rules. If you want inside their private club, then if they want to insult you, they can and will. It’s their way of getting under your skin and rattling you.”

“It’s bullshit,” Leo rasped.

“So fucking what? They have something we want. We can either put up with it or not. But if we choose not, it just means we’ll leave empty-handed. So for today, what do you think we’re going to do?”

Leo closed his eyes, looking pained.

“That’s right, kid. We’re going to take it, because we don’t have a choice. If you want to throw down with Branson when you meet him out on the streets, then be my guest. But for today, if you’re with me, you’ll take his bullshit and swallow it until we get what we came for. Tuck your ego and pride away, son. Neither will help you in this game. Understand me?”

Leo opened his pale blue eyes and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Dax pulled his arm away and raised his eyebrows in a question. Leo cleared his throat and said, “I understand.”

“Good.” Dax released the shifter and smoothed his shirt. “Now we can get back to business.” He turned back to Branson. “I apologize for my apprentice. He hasn’t quite learned his place in this world yet.”

Branson eyed Leo. “Why should I let you in my club after that outburst?”

Leo stared at the bouncer for a moment then shifted his gaze to Dax.

“He probably wants an apology,” Dax said with an amused half smile.

“Yeah. An apology would be nice. And a twenty. I want to take my girl somewhere nice after work,” Branson said.

“With just a twenty?” Dax scoffed. “What are you gonna do, take her to the park and open up a box or two of wine?”

“Marrok is right,” Branson said with a nod. “Better make it a fifty.”

“Fuck,” Leo said, grimacing.

“Expensive lesson, kid,” Dax said.

“No fucking kidding.” Leo dug in his pocket and came up with thirty-two dollars. He held the bills out to Branson. “It’s all I got. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it.” Branson turned to Dax and grinned. “Thanks, Marrok. Now I can upgrade to something with a cork.”

“Good for you, dude.” Dax glanced over his shoulder. “Come on, Leo. And keep your temper in check. You can’t afford to piss off another vamp.”

Leo shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders, looking every bit like a sullen teenager.