by Kim Schubert
“Certain of what?” Hudson asked.
“That your intel needs to be exceptionally fantastic for you to be so late,” Logan growled.
“Easy, cousin,” Hudson teased. Logan glared at him as they walked to the SUV, Logan sliding into the front seat. Mark was driving and Jerry was in the backseat, completing his final preparations as Hudson hopped in next to him.
“What’s that smell?” Hudson asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Hex bags,” Jerry answered with an evil grin.
“What are hex bags?” Logan asked.
Mark groaned.
“Hex bags are old magic. It takes time for them to work, but they cause bleeding from the eyes, electrical shortages, and double vision,” Jerry stated gleefully.
“Don’t forget itching, uncontrollable itching,” Mark added.
Jerry laughed, “I almost forgot about that one.”
Mark shivered and Logan cracked a small smile.
“Hudson, what is this intel you seem so proud of?” Logan demanded again. He didn’t enjoy repeating himself.
“I found Raphael.”
Logan turned in his seat to see Hudson’s smiling face.
“How?” Mark asked.
Hudson shrugged. “Let’s just say Olivia isn’t the only one who has tech geniuses working for her.”
Jerry laughed, “Well, she’s the only one who has a fifteen-year-old tech genius working for her.”
Hudson cut a glance to Jerry. “Fifteen? That seems a little young for this line of work.”
Jerry shook his head. “He’s an old soul.”
Logan cleared his throat, not wanting to get into it. “What did Raphael say? And if I have to keep prompting you, it’s going to hurt.”
Hudson leaned forward. “First off, that he was very sorry to hear about Olivia. Second, that he will be keeping in touch from now on and third, he doesn’t think the attack on your life was vampire related. He does think that the vampires will try and eliminate her now that she is injured.”
Logan growled, “Olivia is well guarded. Does he have any idea who is after me?”
Hudson shifted in his seat. “Yeah, and you are going to be pissed.”
Logan turned, piercing Hudson with his gaze. Hudson quickly took an interest in the passing scenery, avoiding eye contact.
“Hudson,” Logan growled.
“I’ve been having an uprising, a small issue in Idaho.” Hudson pulled on his t-shirt collar. “It hasn’t caused much trouble.”
Logan groaned, turning back around. “Hudson,” he warned.
“Right, well apparently, I should have been paying more attention to them. Raphael was pretty convinced that is where the attack originated from.”
Logan leaned his head back, taking a deep breath. “Hudson, I should kill you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Hudson reluctantly agreed, his good humor gone.
“If you weren’t related to me, I would.” Hudson breathed a sigh of relief. “But don’t think for a second this is over. I will think of a fitting punishment for your lies.”
“I didn’t technically lie,” Hudson tried.
“I’d stop talking now,” Jerry warned, next to him in the backseat.
Hudson grunted, taking the hint.
Logan drummed his fingers against his knee.
“How do you want to handle the guard gate?” Mark asked.
“Can we run it?”
Tommy’s voice came on over the speakers. “I wouldn’t recommend it. They have a shoot first, ask questions later policy. Not to mention the tire spikes will ruin a quick getaway if you need it.”
“Tommy,” Logan began.
“I can override most of the tech, but I’d suggest not getting violent at the gate,” Tommy continued.
“Tommy,” Logan tried again.
“Plus, I have located Tate and Mal, and you told them Mal is off limits, right?” Tommy steamrolled over him.
“TOMMY!” Logan bellowed.
“What?”
“How long have you been listening?”
“Since you left he manor,” Tommy answered.
“Do you see a problem with that?” Logan tried.
“Nope,” Tommy answered.
“Oh, and Hudson, I’m pulling satellite photos now, so if you can narrow down where the rebels are, I’d appreciate it,” Tommy added.
“It’s not a town, but I think I have coordinates I can send you,” Hudson answered, shifting in the backseat for his phone.
“Wonderful. Alright gents, be nice,” Tommy warned as they approached the gate.
Logan growled, looking over to Mark. “I had no idea,” Mark said, not meeting his gaze.
The guard at the gate was a vampire, as Logan expected at this late hour.
“Alpha, what can we do for you?”
Vampires, always politically correct. “We are here to see Tate and Mal.”
The guard nodded. “Did you have an appointment?”
Logan just stared at the guard.
“Let me just make a few calls.” The guard pulled the thick glass closed.
“Who is Mal?” Hudson asked softly from the backseat. Based on the fact Logan couldn’t hear the guard, he thought they were safe to speak.
“Olie granted her protection for saving Ginny,” Logan replied. “That protection extends to the shifters as well.”
Hudson whistled. “That is one well protected vampire.”
The guard opened the thick glass. “Mal will meet you at the front door.”
The wooden guard gate slid up smoothly and they parked without incident.
Mal was anxious, pacing on the front steps of the Centennial Compound, with black clad security behind her.
Seeing Logan moving toward her, she broke away from the guards on the steps, running into his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Logan,” she whispered. “I swear, I haven’t heard anything. I didn’t know,” she pleaded rapidly with him.
Logan stopped moving but watched the guards carefully as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I know, Mal.” He could scent the truth in her words and it eased his worry slightly. “What you did I can never repay,” he assured her, his voice soft against her ear. “You have the protection of the packs as well.”
Mal’s body sagged against him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
That deep relief had him questioning what was really going on inside these walls.
Mal pulled back smiling, before she turned to embrace Jerry and Mark. Hudson extended his hand with a charming smile.
“I can’t believe we haven’t met before,” he oozed, bringing her hand to his lips.
Mal raised an eyebrow at him before looking at Logan. He just shrugged. Internally, he questioned if he was making the right decision letting his cousin keep his head. Once it got out that Hudson’s incompetence had resulted in the Mate being shot, others would question Logan’s strength for not taking care of the problem.
He was going to have to remove him from the job of Compass Alpha, that much he knew. Wonderful, now he had another spot to fill.
Mal disengaged from Hudson. “Come on, Tate wants to see you guys.”
Logan followed Mal through the twelve-foot-tall solid oak doors. Inside, the sconces gave off limited lighting. Logan didn’t need it.
Jerry stubbed his foot.
“Damn lighting,” he cursed under his breath.
“Here, take my hand,” Mark offered behind Logan.
Mal led them up a grand staircase, carpeted in black, with an iron handrail. The pillars were twisted metal, jagged points jutting out between them, perfect for staking vampires. Logan turned his gaze, taking in the painted portraits of Centennial House’s past. Vampires sat poised, looking out from cold, vicious eyes.
Logan turned his attention to Mal and the head of the staircase. Vampires watched them with hunger, their eyes sunken in, their faces drawn, their clothing hanging loosely on sickly bodies. Low growls issued from their throats.
Logan stopped at the top of the stairs.
“What is going on here?” he demanded.
“We are starving,” a blond vampire said, stepping forward.
“Why?” Logan asked.
They all cast furtive looks at Mal, who, for the record, was not starving.
“Come Logan, let us talk with Tate.” Mal tried reaching out to him.
Logan stilled. Mal didn’t look malnourished, but she also had the succubi to feed off of.
Logan turned to the blond. “Stay here. If Tate doesn’t give me the answers I want, I’ll feed you my blood to know what is going on.”
The entire vampire population surged forward slightly, the blond bobbing her head in rapid agreement.
Mal swallowed, a gesture she didn’t need to do anymore, before continuing to walk, her posture stiff.
“You sure that’s the best idea?” Hudson whispered.
“It’s what Olivia would have done.”
Mark laughed. “She would have demanded answers before moving on. She could get shit done.”
“And turn everything on its head,” Mal said with warmth.
Mal opened a black door, carved with tightly woven details Logan didn’t bother to look at before following her in.
The door closed solidly behind them. Logan had no doubt it was soundproofed. If not, Tate should have been looking a fair bit more upset.
“You have our deepest condolences for Olivia,” Tate began, bowing his head slightly.
“Save it, she’s not dead. I can’t say the same for your House,” Logan snapped out.
Tate’s eyes widened before he looked over at Mal. She shrugged, tactfully looking away.
“What concern is that of yours?” Tate questioned.
Logan scoffed, “It shouldn’t fucking be any, but both our species are out of the closet. I don’t need your entire House starving and waiting to kill humans.”
Tate slammed his fist down on the black desk with carvings matching the door. “None of my people have killed any humans.”
“They will,” Logan answered with absolute certainty. “If you think your House will choose death before killing a human, you are delusional. You have a ticking time bomb on your hands.”
Tate turned away, facing his bookcase with the same black artwork. Fucking vampires and their love of black and blood red.
“The situation is far more complicated—“
“Save it,” Logan interrupted. “If I have learned one thing from Olivia, it is that shit is never that fucking complicated.”
“And a healthy love of swear words,” Mal added with a smirk.
Logan gave her an answering grin. “Secondly, if you cannot take care of your own, I will.”
He turned his laser focus back to Tate. “So Tate, let’s try this again. What the fuck is going on?” Logan demanded.
Tate slammed both his fists against the bookcase before turning back to Logan.
“Zachariah is decimating my House.” Tate’s voice broke and Mal moved to him. He stopped her with a hand.
“Kill him,” Hudson suggested.
Tate laughed. “Kill a Master European vampire, who is older and stronger than me? Aside from the repercussions from the other Houses, how do you expect me to defeat him?”
“Olivia could do it,” Jerry whispered.
Everyone turned to him. Logan’s heart constricted painfully. She would have figured it out with a straightforward approach that left everyone impressed.
Jerry looked up, blinking rapidly.
“I had planned on approaching her when she got back in town after The Conferences,” Tate admitted, his hands braced on the back of his black chair, head bowed.
Logan rubbed a hand over his forehead. “How is he stopping your house from feeding?”
Mal answered for Tate, “The blood bank driver won’t deliver here anymore after the last three were killed brutally, even with our armed guards on high alert. We’ve hunted at Halfling, but no bloodletting is allowed on the property. When we try to take our snack home, both the vampire and the human are killed. Our families, who we went to as a last resort, have been brutally destroyed.” Mal’s voice broke on the last word.
“Everyone is terrified,” Tate said, lifting his head up. “I can’t protect my own House.”
Logan sighed, “What are you willing to give up, Tate?”
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“You heard me,” Logan answered.
Tate stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest. “What do you want?”
“The loyalty of your House to Olivia and me,” Logan stated. He knew he was asking a lot, but Olivia had asked much from him and she always delivered in return.
“So we can be your personal lap dogs?” Tate hissed.
“So you can live, idiot,” Hudson added.
Logan smiled. “He’s not wrong.”
Tate turned to Mal. “Is this your doing?” He knocked over a stack of papers on his desk. “You have all the protection, all the food you need. Are you trying to make us slaves to the shifters?”
Mal stood forward, her eyes ambering. “I did what I did to keep myself safe, which you cannot do. Take the deal, Tate. It’s the only way we avoid a mass murder.”
“NO!” Tate yelled. “This is my House. I will take care of it.”
“That’s the wrong answer,” Hudson said softly. “You are playing a dangerous hand.”
“What does Zachariah want from you?” Jerry asked. Good thinking, Jerry, Olivia’s voice whispered in Logan’s head.
“The same thing you want. My House,” Tate answered.
Logan scoffed, “You sell out to him, and we will kill all of you.”
“This conversation is over. Show them out,” Tate commanded Mal, waving a dismissive hand.
Her mouth opened and closed. “Tate,” she pleaded.
“No, I’d rather sell out to a vampire than a shifter.”
“That was the wrong decision,” Jerry echoed, sorrow lacing his words.
Logan took a deep breath. “I couldn’t agree more. You’ve made yourself a powerful enemy this day, Tate.” He turned to Mal. “Our agreement stands. If you would like to come with us now, we will protect you.”
Mal turned to Tate, searching his face, her eyes misting over. “Tate,” she whispered again.
Tate shook his head. “I’ll stay for now,” Mal whispered, turning to Logan. “But I imagine I’ll be calling in that debt soon.”
Logan nodded. “We will see ourselves out.”
Hudson opened the door and Logan walked out. The blond vampire stood there, her hunger making her drool, her eyes bright yellow.
“I don’t want to leave you like this,” he began, meeting their eyes to show his honesty. “I offered Tate a deal: he swears loyalty to Olivia and me, I make your feeding problems go away. He has decided to join with Zachariah instead. I am sorry, but to go against Tate’s wishes would only put all of us in danger.”
The blond’s lip quivered. “What do we do?” she whispered, looking back at the closed doors.
“I’d suggest finding a new Master. How does it work with the vampires, if you kill it, you keep it?” Hudson asked.
“No, House Masters are appointed,” the blond said softly.
“Can you rebel?” Hudson asked.
The blond shook her head. “They’ll send an army to destroy us all. Even if Tate had sided with you, they would have sent an army, but belonging to Zachariah...”
Logan growled, “Not if I kill him first.”
With that, they headed out. Logan had a target, actually he had two, and he was going to make sure neither of them lived to bother him again.
His group stayed silent on their march outside. Once the car doors closed, Hudson whistled. Jerry clapped and Mark just drove away.
“I hate the fucking vampires,” Logan growled.
“Are you really going after Zachariah?” Mark asked.
“Yes, Olivia thought he was going after her. She read
Nathaniel’s thoughts that Zachariah was there when I was—” He left that thought unfinished. Everyone knew, and he didn’t need to relive it. “That is enough for me. But first we deal with the uprising in Idaho,” Logan added, turning to look at Hudson.
“You going to remove me from my position?” Hudson asked, grimacing.
“I’m giving it thought,” Logan told him before turning back around. “Serious thought.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Jerry, how did it go with those hex bags?”
“I left the itching one in Tate’s office.” He laughed gleefully.
“Tommy,” Logan tried.
“Yeah boss,” he said around a mouthful of food.
“What have you found on Idaho?”
“Nothing. I’m still waiting on Hudson’s coordinates.”
“I need you to find Zachariah as well.”
“I’ve been looking for him since Olie told me he tortured you. The bastard has gone to ground,” Tommy grunted.
“Hudson will be sending those coordinates now, let me know what you find. We are headed home.” Logan ended the call; well, he hoped he had.
…
The walk back to the Aladdin-style palace was long. So freaking long. Like what the hell, why aren’t there cars here?
I was pretty sure Doyle and The Magician were done listening to me bitch. Also pretty sure that I didn’t give a shit.
“Finally.” I flopped down on the cot, ditching my pack.
My father unpacked all the griffin feathers delicately. “These will fetch quite a price.”
I pushed into a sitting position. “What else do we need?”
The sun dipped below the distant mountains, the never-ending red glowing everywhere.
“Tomorrow, daughter,” my father, The Magician, stated.
“You can’t even tell me what it is?”
He turned from the door. “So you can wander the halls again in search of it?”
I huffed, he had a point. “Don’t even think of locking that door.”
“I’d never restrain you, my daughter. You can wash up through there.” He waved a hand and a door in the stone opened.
“Neat trick,” I said. I turned back, seeing them both gone.
I went and checked the door, finding it unlocked as The Magician had promised.
