“Casey is still looking for Damaris to bring him back to face justice for what he did. Knowing Casey, she won’t stop until this is solved, which could lead her to us. Going after our henchmen is one thing, but we can’t have her coming after us before everything is in place. We’ve just had word from our source that she’s met with Kane and the others at the SIA headquarters. They don’t know what’s going on but thinks it’s something big to do with Damaris.”
I look at them. “Tell me why we haven’t taken care of Damaris already? Why he is still walking around?” I know deep in my heart my plan is best for all of us, and for those that think I’m crazy.
“We need him for his connections in the vampire community. He’s under Donovan’s watch at the moment. He and his mate have orders that if Damaris is taken, to go for the kill.”
I rub my temple. I’ve planned everything, but relying on others to put the plan in place causes headaches. “Fine, you know how to deal with it, Steve. If not, I will have your head.” I start to pace, which helps me to think. All of them are looking at me, waiting. “We need to take things a step further. In other businesses, how are we going gathering the magical objects to help us in our quest?”
A woman approaches. “It’s going well. We’ve got teams all around the globe tracking the objects we need.”
I look at the maps. “And the warrior witches, Selena?”
She sighs. “They are there. Some of them are stopping us, but they can’t be everywhere at once. Some of the warrior witches have joined us though and are helping us to find the objects.”
I smile, pleased. “We need to rush the plan a little. Can our witches stop the calling?”
“We don’t know for sure. We know we can put those objects elsewhere if something like that happens. We don’t want them to find our location. They have enough on their plates at the moment, and I don’t think they will come for those we were able to bring back.”
I look at Selena, the fire witch. “You’re sure?”
She smiles at me. “Yes, I am. From what I’ve heard, not many of the warrior witches are in a coven right now. It’s only a select few that have the talent. That could work for us and against them.”
“Maybe, but I want to be sure. How many are currently students at Paranormal University?” I need to know how many warrior witches we’ll have to deal with within a couple of years.
“We don’t know for sure. My contact said the Director is keeping key information private and being more secretive than usual. Helping Gorad in that area gave us more freedom since the SIA has to split their resources.”
I’m able to go to different planes, which is how I met the dark wizard. He’s stuck in his bindings, but when I told him about my idea, he agreed to help us. I smile, remembering our meeting.
“Tell me, Gorad, how are you going to help me, considering you’re stuck in this dimension?”
He smiles, his dark eyes on me. “Easy, we need to divide the SIA to succeed. I need to kill people who have magic, especially witches. I have my people with me, but I need to release my bindings to send them to Earth to kill more and give me more magical energy.”
“That’s good. I’m preparing for a revolution. I want to reverse the paranormal community as we know it now. I want to bring a new order to this world. I need humans to understand we’re at the top of the food chain, and they are slaves to us.”
He chuckles. “I want the same thing, except I want it for myself.”
I always knew the wizard existed, but I’d never thought I’d be able to find him. I smirk at him. “Not anymore. We are a group. You may be a powerful wizard, but you know the people that put you here can do it again.”
“I know. So what’s your plan?”
“It’s simple. You keep the Paranormal University on edge, and the Supernatural Intelligence Agency will have to send one of their teams to the university. You keep them busy there. Oh, and can you kill a warrior witch student for me? That will help me a lot.”
“Maybe but they’re hard to kill. I need element witches and any half-breeds that have energy, even if they don’t know it, to help me free myself.”
“Fine, it will be a plus if you can kill a warrior witch for me.”
“What will you do to help me?”
“Simple. I think you need a sacrifice, right?”
He nods at me.
“I’ll corrupt a human to kill one witch, but you’ll need to be the one to contact him. Nobody needs to know my involvement in all this. For your first sacrifice, what type will help you to release one of your goons?”
“An elemental witch, she could be half-breed. That would also work.”
I nod. “That will be done. I’ll tell him the secret incantation so he will be able to prevent her from casting a spell to stop him and what he’ll see is you. I’ll take your form for that.”
He smiles. “That’s fine, but he needs to open the portal with that sacrifice, and I will need him for my pet on the other side. That’s the only way I can send one of my henchmen to Earth, one for one.”
“What’s our next step?” Selena asks me.
“Gorad is helping us. He wants revenge, and I promised him a portion of the land for himself.”
My second looks at me. “Are you sure the wizard is going to help us?”
I smile. “I put a spell on him. He may be powerful, but I’m more so, being cross-species help. He’s taking care of the witches at the university. That’s why I need to know if numbers start to go down. Especially in the warrior witch group.”
She nods and leaves me.
It took me years to prepare for this, and now it’s time. All the pieces are in place, and I’m ready to checkmate!
“My Lady?” Someone new enters the room.
“Come in, Donovan. What news do you bring me?”
He comes to stand next to me. “It’s good news. You were right. We’re working as a group, and it’s showing. The way our community works now is obsolete. Not all of them will jump on the opportunity, though.” He takes a breath. “Oh, and Damaris is asking for you.”
I’d almost forgotten about him. “I guess his plan didn’t work then?”
Donovan sighs. “No. Now Lizbeth is mated to the half-demon that works with the Investigation Team they are also on the case. Between them and Casey, Damaris’s plan had no chance.”
I look at him. His mate is lucky, if he were single I’d have him in my bed. “Casey is a bitch and stubborn but we knew something like this would happen. Damaris is a weak link in our group. Vampires are not easy to convince, as they’re tight with their history and they think they’re above everyone. They think vampires are pure, which we know from history they aren’t.”I frown as a thought occurs to me. “Were you able to corrupt her boss?”
He grins at me. “We did, but she’d already made contact with Kane and he has put all his resources at her disposal.”
I pace. “She’s the best they have, you know. When she gets a job, she never gives up. That could be a problem.”
“What are we going to do?” Donovan asks me.
“Simple, we keep a team on her, monitor her, and we screw with her investigation if possible, but if worst comes to worst—”
“Yes?”
“She’ll capture Damaris, and we better hope she never finds out what’s happening inside her Internal Affairs. We have to keep that part of the equation from her. If she suspects anything, not only will she hunt down Damaris but also anyone corrupt within Internal Affairs. I want to keep the second part of her mind. Let her concentrate on Damaris, let her think he’s the only piece on the chessboard.”
Donovan chuckles. “Damaris thinks he’s at the top of this organization.”
I laugh. “He can think what he wants. His hatred of his brother pushes him to make wrong decisions, which serves our cause. He’s disposable and only thinks of himself. If he really were part of the cause, he’d never have gotten himself in the situation he’s in. He’s weak, but for now, he ser
ves a purpose. I do need more high-ranking vampires in our group though so they can convince others to join us.”
“I agree.”
“Go, Donovan, keep him busy and make him think he’s in charge. We know the truth. Give your mate my blessing.”
Donovan smiles. “I will. I’ll get back to him. He can’t go outside at the moment. We’ve hidden him, but some of his goons have something for him, so we’ll have to let him out tonight so he can pick it up.”
“Good, remind him he needs to convince another vampire to join us. We need more than just the ones that are working for him.”
He nods and leaves. We have to rush the plan, but we’ll make it work. We will have a revolution and blood will be shed, but in the end, everything will go back to normal, and we’ll be closer. No more factions, only us ruling at the top and humans at the bottom.
5. Casey
KANE LEADS THE WAY AS we enter the conference room and Lizbeth screams and rushes toward me. “You’re here.”
I smile. “Yep, so I hope you’re good. Do you need more blood and sleep than Kane can provide?”
I’m teasing her, and her cheeks start to color. She’s over a hundred years old, but per what’s standard behavior when a vampire falls in love, she’s acting more like a human teenager.
“Stop! I’m not talking about that. So, do you have news on Damaris?”
“Not yet. I’m following some of his goons, and I’m sure they’ll be meeting at a club. They have something to give Damaris.”
“That’s not good. Does Alto know?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
I take a chair and wait for the rest of the team to arrive. Once they do and everyone is seated, Kane starts the meeting. “What do you need and what can we do to help?”
“I have two cases I need help with. Damaris has to be brought in alive so we can interrogate him and find out what’s going on in the community for one. The other is not official, but I need to investigate my boss. I’m pretty sure something is up in Internal Affairs. Corruption is generally minimal because we’re not blood-related to any of the factions and although He’s a full vampire, his maker has been dead for a century so He’s as close to being a daywalker as a full vampire can get.”
“You mean with his maker dead, the blood call isn’t as strong?” Kane asks me.
“Yes, well, that’s what we thought, but I’m not sure anymore.”
Lizbeth speaks up. “What makes you think something’s happening?”
“Since I’ve been working for Internal Affairs, which as you know is a long time, my boss has never tried to stop an investigation. Now it’s like he doesn’t want me to find something. I need to contact someone inside. My closet colleagues can help if they haven’t been corrupted, which I doubt they have.”
“What makes you think that?” Kane asks.
“Daywalkers don’t want power, we want justice. That’s part of our blood. Usually, when we have a mission, we stick to it until we succeed or we die trying. My boss knows that he’s been there longer than I have. That’s why I don’t understand why he wants me to quit this mission.”
“Who are you going to contact?”
While we don’t generally make friends or become close to each other because we never know if we’ll die during a mission, I do have one friend there. “I think Jade will help if I ask her. I need a secure line to call her though. I don’t want to be traced here. I can’t guarantee she’ll do it, but it’s worth a shot.”
Lizbeth looks into my eyes as if she’s trying to see inside my soul. “I agree. It’s worth a try. Don’t worry, we’ll meet with Greg, and he’ll be able to help you.”
I nod. I hope I’m wrong about what’s happening at Internal Affairs, but my gut tells me otherwise. I follow Kane to a door that’s further away from all the others and He knocks.
“What?” a voice yells at us.
Kane chuckles and opens it. “We have a visitor, you know that, right? I hope you read the memo.”
I’m surprised as I see Greg for the first time. I didn’t think someone who was as big a geek as he was would be packed with muscle like he is. I think need to change my image of what a geek looks like.
He stands, and I see he’s tall too. “Sorry, I’m in the middle of something. You must be Casey.” He extends his hand, which I take, and we shake.
“Yes. I guess with the hacking thing you were able to find a picture of me.”
He seriously blushes. “Maybe. What do you need? And yes, Kane, I read the fucking memo.”
Kane laughs. I’m not sure I understand what’s happening, but I let it go. I don’t want to be involved in something I don’t understand.
“I need a secure line that can’t be traced back to here.”
He points to an old phone. “Easy, use that phone there.”
“You still have that antique?” Kane asks.
“Yes. That phone doesn’t have GPS, and it’s harder to trace.”
I take it and dial.
“Vampire Internal Affairs, how can I help you?” I know the voice. It’s Margaret, our general assistant, and receptionist.
“Can I speak to Jade, please?” I’ve known Jade since she was in what humans would call daycare.
“Yes, one moment, please.” She puts me on hold.
“Jade speaking.”
“Hey, Jade, it’s Casey.”
“Fuck, Casey. Why have you called?”
She’s whispering so things must be worse there than I thought.
“I can’t call a longtime colleague and friend?” I ask her, hoping to smooth things over a little.
“That’s not it, and I’m guessing you know it. The boss is searching for you.”
Oh, that’s not good. “Are you in charge of finding me?” I cross my fingers, hoping she’s not.
“No, none of us are. He can’t force us. You know how it works. All of us know you’re on a mission, and that’s why you haven’t been in the office.”
I breathe a little easier. “Who’s looking then?”
“We don’t know them, but something’s not right. Have you found that vampire yet?”
“No, Grant stopped me from doing any research. The SIA Investigation Team is helping me with information and resources that fucker cut me off from.”
She laughs. “He’s cut us off too, depending on which mission we’re working on. We’ve been meeting outside the office to talk about things. We’ve had lots of visits from weird men.”
“Vampires?” I ask.
“Some yes and some not. It changes every time. I could be nothing, but at the same time, it might not be. We’ve come to the conclusion the boss isn’t impartial. You know what that means.”
Fuck, that’s something I didn’t want her to confirm. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure, anything for you. You’ve saved my butt more times than I can count.”
I smile. I mentored her when she first started. “Can you spy from the inside and report to me?”
There is silence on the phone for a couple of seconds. “Sure, how?”
I think. “You know the little cafe in the Old Port?”
“Your favorite one?”
I smile. “That’s the one. Every Friday morning, we’ll meet there. It’s far enough from the office, and it’s in the neutral zone.”
“So it’s Tuesday, that means we meet Friday this week?” she asks.
“Yes, if we feel the place is compromised, we’ll find another one.” I sigh. “That cafe belongs to a witch, an old one that’s powerful enough to bring a lot of vampires to their knees and is less likely to be corrupted as well.”
She laughs. “True. She could be mad for all we know,” Jade says.
“I’ll meet you on Friday at around nine in the morning.”
“Fine, I’ll be there.”
“What’s happened?”
I turn toward Kane. “Something is fishy at the bureau. Jade told me Grant has stopped some investigations, which he’s not supp
osed to do. She will spy for us, and we’ll meet each Friday morning, at a cafe that both of us know. It’s owned by an ancient witch and she has a mind of her own.”
“Casey, what else do you need?” Greg asks me.
Where to start. “Can you try to locate my boss and see where he’s been and anyone he’s met with for the past two weeks?”
“Now you’ve given me a challenge. I was hoping you’d need more than just a phone,” Greg teases me.
I laugh at Greg, and Kane smiles at me.
“I’ll leave you both to work. If you need me, Casey, Greg knows where to reach me.” Kane heads to the door.
“Kane.” He turns when I call his name. “Thanks, it means a lot to me.”
“Don’t worry about it, Casey. You helped me with Lizbeth, and she means the world to me. Catch Damaris, and I’ll consider us even.” With that, he disappears down the corridor.
“So, sweetheart, where do you want me to start?”
“I need to see what he’s been doing outside office hours.”
He starts to tap on his keyboard. “He’s a vampire, right?”
I look on the screen and see a picture of him. “Yes, he is, but he’s not part of any faction.”
Greg doesn’t look at me but continues his work. “Our database is limited, but I can hack yours if you give me your information.” I give him my card and ID. “Don’t worry, Casey, they won’t be able to trace me.”
I laugh. “Maybe, but just to be sure, I’ll send a text to Jade. She’s the one in charge of network security.”
“You don’t trust me?” Greg seems hurt.
“It’s not that, but we don’t need any red flags right now. She’ll cover for us if needed at the network.”
I watch Greg’s fingers flying over the keyboard for a while. “Hmmm.”
I look at him. “What?”
He jumps, it’s almost as if he forgot I’m here. “Fuck, Casey, don’t scare me like that. Let me work, I’ll tell you as soon as I find something.”
“OK. Can you tell me how to find Kane?”
“He’s waiting for you outside the door. I sent him a text to pick you up.”
The door opens. “Come on, Casey, leave the master to work on his masterpiece.”
Blood Rebellion Page 3
