Energy unfurled from inside me, lashing out at everyone near us and probably anyone in the house, but there was no noticeable intent behind my push of power.
I wanted to prove Maciah right and give the traitor a sense of false hope. If one really was in the house and passing information off to Viktor who already knew I was an heir, then it was best to give them every reason to underestimate us.
On top of that, this pretend spat would make it seem as if the foundations of our group weren’t as solid as they once were. That was a weakness Viktor could exploit, making him more confident in getting what he wanted.
Even though we’d tried and failed to use this same tactic against Silas, I was growing more confident by the minute that the outcome wouldn’t be the same a second time.
Maciah stood and met my fiery gaze. “You can’t even keep me down. What makes you think you can control someone like Viktor?”
“I’ll figure it out,” I snapped.
He raised a brow. “Will you? Do you really think you can do this on your own? You need to listen to me, Amersyn. I know what I’m talking about, and I can keep you safe.”
I called my energy back to me. “Maybe, maybe not. I guess we’ll find out.”
“If you’re not going to work as a team, then we need to know right now,” Maciah said as he took his seat again.
I huffed and turned for the window. The vehicles Simon arrived with were gone from the driveway, so all of our vampires should have been back inside the house already. Which hopefully meant that the little show we were putting on wasn’t for nothing.
“I’m not going anywhere, but I don’t like being talked down to. I can, and will, figure out the power inside me,” I said without turning back to face them.
Maciah was behind me in the next second. “I hope you can, because there’s nowhere else that I’d rather you be than by my side.”
And just like that, we had made up. Well, enough that it wouldn’t be suspicious for us to hold a civil conversation or be alone together.
“I need some air,” I said, moving out of Maciah’s hold and out the door without waiting for a response.
Sure enough, Eddie, Nick, and Jazz were standing in the kitchen, which was the closest room to the one I’d just stormed out of.
“Everything get cleaned up?” I asked them curtly.
All three of them avoided my intense stare, but Eddie finally nodded. “Yes. We put the vehicles in the garage as requested and took care of the hunter.”
I moved my gaze over them, suddenly suspicious of everyone even though I’d already known that having a traitor among us was a real possibility. Maciah’s show and words were merely a reminder that several things had happened around us that weren’t right. Things that should have been bigger red flags than we’d made them out to be previously because too many other things were happening at once.
For one, Viktor finding us so quickly the night before was odd. Dante said he was an excellent tracker, but maybe he’d also had a push in the right direction. Along with knowing exactly when to send the drones in to blow up the nest and Dmitri being able to take me unaware at Viktor’s instruction.
Not for the first time, I thought back to that day, trying to recall any identifying details about the guards, but I had nothing.
Before things could get awkward, I left the three vampires in the kitchen and headed outside for the air I’d mentioned I needed.
Eddie seemed trustworthy. He’d been helping with things like Dave and organizing the attack on Silas and never pushed back when he was told to do something. There were no red flags for me about him, but maybe that was exactly why we should be looking at him.
Then, there was Jazz who was hardly ever around and hardly ever spoke to the rest of us. That made him suspicious, but did it make him a traitor?
Nick and Gabe were the ones that I knew the least about, but they were also right there in the middle of skepticism. Around enough, but never really doing anything to stand out. Perfect traits for a spy.
As I exited the house, my frustration only grew more. We didn’t have time for traitors, and I wished Maciah would have been able to warn me before throwing the idea out there. Though, I assumed it wasn’t something he’d really thought about until just before our impromptu meeting.
I pulled my replacement phone from my back pocket—thankful I’d been able to salvage phone numbers from my cloud backups—and decided to take things into my own hands while I waited for him to find me.
Cait had texted me the night we met at Nyx. It was time I responded.
Me: It’s Amersyn. I had to get a new phone. Things haven’t gone as we hoped around here. Are you busy?
While I waited for her response, I found myself at the front of the property, standing as close to the barrier as I could get without touching it.
The neighborhood was spread out, and I could only see one house down the street. Far enough away that I hoped they hadn’t seen the fight this morning.
Rays of sunlight soaked into my skin, re-energizing me and calming my rapid thoughts. With deep breaths, I focused on the things we did know.
Viktor wanted me dead.
We had a traitor in the house, but not one willing to kill me himself.
I was stronger than I’d ever been.
The latter was something I hadn’t really had time to process since leaving Beatrix’s house. Between Bennett showing up, followed by Simon, plus my time with Maciah, I hadn’t had a moment to myself to just feel.
Now that I had a moment…there were several subtle differences I could feel. Once I took the time to notice, there was no denying the power that I held.
I remembered running faster when I’d gone around to the back of the house the night before. When I’d used my ability against the vampire in the fight, the ease of use was similar to blinking.
Whatever Beatrix had done amplified the power inside me and gave me control like I’d never known before.
I held my hands out in front of me, pushing the original energy to the surface. Tingles pricked at my skin, but instead of biting, they were soothing. My heart rate increased, but I didn’t feel panicked. I was calmer.
My muscles coiled, ready for action, needing the release of adrenaline a fight would provide, but it wasn’t just my physical body that yearned for release. My mind pulsed with need as well.
I closed my eyes and pushed the power beyond my skin, testing its strength and ability. The energy stretched and moved within the confines of Beatrix’s shield, moving mostly behind me where there was nothing blocking it.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I already felt better. Drawing the power back toward me, I decided I needed to find Rachel and Nikki to really practice since Maciah was immune to my abilities as my protector. Plus, given Maciah had just made me sound weak to the potential traitor, it wasn’t wise to unleash everything I had as soon as I was alone.
When I turned around, I saw Maciah coming toward me. He didn’t seem upset or happy. His lips were flat, and his suit jacket was buttoned, but he was sans tie—my favorite look on him.
I kept my face neutral as well. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to still technically be annoyed with each other.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said first, keeping his voice low when he stopped right in front of me.
I raised a brow. “A heads up would have been nice.”
He glanced back at the house. “We don’t have any privacy here. We have to be careful.”
“Then, let’s go for a walk without telling anyone,” I suggested.
Maciah took another look around, then picked me up and sped off through the shield and toward the forest area beyond the small neighborhood on our right.
“I’d have preferred to run myself,” I said, half-jokingly, as he deposited me back on the ground, several miles from the house.
He smirked, cupping his hands around my cheeks. “I know.” His lips pressed to mine, and I gripped his suit.
Before we could ge
t off track, I pulled back. “Tell me what triggered that scene in the house.”
“The fight with Simon. I’ve known all along we had a problem, but I thought it had either been taken care of with the fire, or the fight with Silas, or maybe they’d fled on their own. Anything could have been possible depending on how deep they are with Viktor.”
“What did I miss in the fight? Nothing stood out to me,” I said while taking in the large fir trees and bright blue sky above us.
“There was something forced about the interaction. The vampires seemed ready to die, and that’s not a normal trait of someone trying to get in good with Viktor. Then, I got to thinking and once I started, I couldn’t stop. We’re too close to finishing this to ignore the problem I hoped was already taken care of.”
I agreed with him. “Do we set the traitor up? Or do we question the vampires like I mentioned?”
My vote was setting the bastard up, but this was Maciah’s nest. His people. I would follow his lead.
“I’m not sure yet. I need to call Roman and a few vampires to see how much help we can get and how quickly. Once I know that, then we can decide what to do. If I think we can get the help we’ll need, then we’ll begin talking about what to do when support arrives. We can overexaggerate on how many that includes with the hope of making Viktor act sooner than he normally would. In the meantime, we’ll need to be careful with what we say and do around anyone outside of that office.”
I hated to say it, but someone had to. “What about Bennett? Do you know where he’s been since he left your nest?”
“He told me a few things. Enough that I believe he’s on our team. He wouldn’t turn on us and hurt Nikki like that. Not again,” Maciah answered, voice full of confidence.
Then, I remembered what I’d been doing before Maciah showed up. “I already texted Cait.”
I pulled out my phone, disappointed she still hadn’t responded. “I guess they’re busy. She hasn’t replied yet.”
Maciah had his phone out as well, and I saw him scroll to Roman’s name. When he pressed call, it went straight to voicemail.
“Let me try Sam,” he said.
“Speak,” a woman’s snarky voice sounded after the second ring.
“Sam, it’s Maciah.”
She paused. “What happened? Is Zeke okay?”
“Zeke is fine, but I need to talk with Roman,” Maciah answered.
Sam chuckled. “He’s going to be busy for the next several days.”
“So busy that he can’t answer the phone?” Maciah pressed.
“Have you ever seen a female wolf shifter in heat for the first time?” Sam asked with amusement in her voice.
Maciah had no response for that, so I took the phone. “Hi, Sam. This is Amersyn. I met Cait and Roman when they came through Portland.”
“Ah, yeah. She told me about you.”
When Sam said nothing else, I wasn’t sure if that was good or not, but I added, “They offered us help if we needed it and we do. Is there anyone else who might be able to step in while Roman and Cait are otherwise occupied?”
“Hmmm,” was all she said at first.
Maciah had recovered from his uncomfortableness. “Zeke is fine now, but he almost died, Sam. There are only ten of us left from my nest and one of them is working against us behind the scenes. I wouldn’t have called if we had any other options.”
“Shit,” she muttered. “Are you in Portland still?”
“No, we’re in LA,” Maciah said, and I could hear papers moving around in the background.
“I’ll be there tomorrow morning. I don’t know how many I can bring with me, but I’ll have at least three wolves with me.”
Maciah sighed with relief. “That’s appreciated, Sam. When you arrive, we might mention more wolves coming than there really are as a setup. If you can go along with the plan, it would be easier for us all.”
“Yep. I’ll send you our flight details,” she said, then hung up.
Maciah tucked his phone away as his shoulders lightly shuddered. “I wouldn’t ever want to be a wolf shifter.”
I laughed at the fact that he was so clearly traumatized by knowing Roman and Cait were locked up somewhere having the time of their life.
I patted his shoulder and gave him a kiss. “Don’t worry. That will be us. Just as soon as Viktor is dead.”
CHAPTER 18
The rest of the day had turned into an awkward mess that extended to the next day. Everyone was too on edge to speak about anything helpful, and the vampires who hadn’t been present in our little meeting had made themselves scarce, which made it much harder to figure out who we could and couldn’t trust.
“We’re headed to pick up Sam,” Zeke said as he and Rachel entered the living room where Maciah and I had been hanging out most of the early morning.
“Do you want help?” I asked.
Rachel laughed. “Someone’s bored.”
“Deathly,” I groaned.
“We don’t have room for anyone else. Wolf shifters like their space,” Zeke said.
Yet, they were coming to stay in a house with a bunch of vampires. Good to know.
Then, something occurred to me that we should have thought of earlier. “How are they going to get through Beatrix’s shield?” I asked.
“I already have that taken care of. We’re going to have other guests arriving soon as well,” Maciah said.
My eyes glared at him, and I pulled my legs off his lap. “You’re getting pretty good at keeping things to yourself lately.”
“On that note, we’re leaving,” Zeke said, tugging Rachel toward the door.
She frowned at me before disappearing outside, then I moved my attention back to Maciah. “Who else is coming?”
“It’s a secret,” he said with a smirk.
“You know I haven’t called you a prick in a while. Have you missed the pet name? Is that why you’re being a pain in my side?”
Maciah’s hands wrapped around my ribs, and he pulled me against his chest before grabbing his phone to turn on music much louder than it needed to be.
His lips pressed against my ear as he whispered, “We’re taking down the shield when the wolves get here. Other vampires are arriving, including the ones Bennett mentioned. Most of them will stay in the forest we were at yesterday and only a few will come here. For the rest of the day, we’re going to appear annoyed with each other and unprepared and make mistakes that aren’t really mistakes. I want Viktor here tonight.”
“I don’t like all of these games. Someone is going to trip up,” I murmured.
“It will be over tonight. I promise you.”
I nodded, hoping he was right. “I need to work on my abilities with someone not immune to them.”
When we’d come back, Zeke had already begun questioning everyone in the house. A stupid choice that should have involved me, not only to get the truth out of the vampires faster, but so I could practice. Except Maciah had insisted that I needed to stay out of it.
What was the point of me having the ability to pull the truth from lesser vampires if I didn’t get to use it? Apparently, it was more important to let the information we were purposely giving get back to Viktor, than figure out exactly who we couldn’t trust.
As frustrated as I’d been, it made sense and would also help confuse Viktor as to what I was actually capable of. Not many, including those in the house, knew I’d inherited all of the mind control traits, but they’d do me no good if I didn’t understand which powers to use and when.
“Go find Nikki. I need to chat with Bennett and remind him who’s in charge around here anyway,” Maciah said after turning the music off, so anyone wanting to listen could hear.
“Perfect. You have fun with your pissing contest. I’ll see you later.” I moved to get up, but he jerked me back down on top of his lap.
“I love you,” he nearly growled against my lips before nipping the lower one.
“Love you, too.” I bit him back, drawing the smallest
amount of blood before darting out of his grasp and toward the stairs. Another second longer and we’d have ended up in the bedroom, getting nothing accomplished.
I ran into Jazz at the top of the stairs. “Hey,” I said casually.
He forced a smile to his freckled face. “Hi.”
I was pretty sure that was the first time he’d ever spoken directly to me, so I tried to keep the conversation going. “Everything good up here?”
He glanced around. “As far as I’m aware. Did you get the answers you guys were looking for yesterday?”
I nodded. “We did.”
Jazz’s eyes widened slightly. “Well, that’s good.”
“Very good indeed.” I grinned at him and pushed a bit of power out.
“Amersyn,” Maciah warned from downstairs.
I grinned once more at Jazz. “Gotta go.”
Without waiting for a reply, I headed toward Nikki’s room just in time to see Bennett opening the door and tucking his collared shirt into his jeans.
He froze when he saw me, then cleared all emotion from his face before brushing past me. He and Maciah were entirely too much alike.
Nikki was laying on her bed, hair in a messy bun and wearing only an oversized shirt. “Good morning,” she said.
“Yeah, I can see that,” I replied with a chuckle, then added, “I’m going to stay away from the bed and sit right over here.”
There was a small table and two chairs that would work just fine for me.
Nikki grimaced. “That’s probably no safer than sitting on the bed.”
“Savages,” I muttered jokingly before throwing a towel over the chair and sitting anyway.
“What’s going on?” she asked, getting out of bed and reaching for some pants.
Instead of answering her, I mentally commanded one of my best friends to spin in a circle while patting her head and rubbing circles over her stomach.
It was as hilarious as it was effortless.
“What the hell, Am?” she screeched, tripping over the pants she hadn’t quite pulled up all the way and ending up in a tangled mess on the floor. Though, the command hadn’t ceased once she was on the ground. When I walked over to help her, she was rolling in circles and still attempting the arm movements.
Vampire Vow (Scorned by Blood Book 3) Page 12
