“She was in on the whole thing?”
He nodded. “It was only with the both of us that we had a chance to take him down. So I told him I could give him his fugitive and the Alpha wolf, but only on my terms.”
“Which were?”
“That no vampire besides himself, be in the mansion. That the Elements of Night would collect them at my house, and that I would be the one to handle the termination of the wolf.”
“Why would he agree to something like that? It doesn’t seem very like Vincent to allow himself to be so vulnerable.”
“Firstly, because he thought that capturing the wolf and killing it would end the death curse the Messengers of Osiris had placed on him. Little did he know, he was bringing the curse into his home. Secondly, I had something he didn’t have: an actual means to kill Nick.”
“I don’t— What did you have?”
“Nicole.”
“What? How…”
“Vincent has always been cruel. He adored the idea that Nick’s lover would have to kill him, with the threat of being eaten alive as a consequence. But I trusted that wouldn’t happen.”
“That was pretty risky. How did you know for sure Nick wouldn’t hurt her when he changed?”
“To be honest, I couldn’t be certain of that. But I was certain of her. I knew she wouldn’t shoot him because of the way she answered me at the dinner table. It was all down to whether she could just handle the sight of the change. If that didn’t terrify her into shooting him, she would be fine.”
Alex shifted gears and launched the car onto the highway. Dante calculated Michelle’s house at about ten minutes away.
“Thank you for protecting him.”
“I didn’t do this for him.”
“What do you mean?”
Dante looked at Alex pointedly.
“Me?”
“I had one day to organise a plan that would save both of your lives. Once Nick’s identity was known, what do you think Vincent would’ve done to you once he’d captured Nick? Vincent wouldn’t have cared whether or not you knew Nick was a werewolf. And even though Vincent is dead now, that doesn’t stop the problems, or the enemies. In fact, it may increase them. We are all in great danger. As hard as it is to accept, it would be more convenient for me in many ways if Nick was put down. But I know what that would do to you, especially if there was something I could do about it and didn’t.”
Alex stopped at a red light, and began slapping her thigh agitatedly, waiting for the light to turn green again. “Dante…we have a long, hard road ahead of us. I don’t know what we do or where we go from here. Everything will change. But…” She reached over and clasped Dante’s trembling hand, sticky from congealing blood. “I meant what I said. But I will ask this one more time. No more lies, no more deceptions. I want to be there. I want to help. Whatever it takes. But—” Alex turned to Dante and held her gaze. “Don’t you ever use my nephew like that again. Ever.”
Dante eyed her back and gave a brief nod, before leaning his head back. “Please just hurry.”
*
The wolf raced along, using an abandoned bridge as overhead cover. It headed towards a football field a few metres ahead. The wolf sensed the other change course, coming from the right, set to meet the wolf head on. Perfect.
The wolf leapt high and landed on the crossbar of the goal posts. Sniffing…listening. A rustling behind. The wolf whisked around to see the unknown pursuer leap from the trees and bolt forward, on all fours. The wolf snarled and jumped to the ground, ready to charge. The other’s scent filled the air now. A female. She slowed her pace and began walking forward on two legs.
Her eyes were silver, her features had changed, but the wolf would recognise its own mother anywhere. Alicia Slade stood tall, taking in the sight that met her eyes. And then, in a slow movement, Alicia got down on one knee, bowing her head.
The wolf touched her chin lightly with his fingernails, raising her just as slowly. It would not have its mother remain on her knees.
Mother embraced pup. She smelt his hair, lightly licked his ears, scraped her cheek against his and tightened her arms around him. She had found her pup. The wolf spotted tears in her eyes and a dull whimpering from her throat. So much the wolf wanted to say, but nothing compared to wanting to hear its mother’s voice again.
But in the end, the moon, which robbed both of speech when full, showed that sometimes words were not necessary as it gleamed high above their continuous embrace.
Chapter 39
Did You Lose Something?
Dante and Alex burst through the door of Michelle’s apartment. There was no time to knock, Dante was frantic. Usually he would need an invitation to enter a mortal’s home. But he had been invited before, many times. He had cooked dinner for Michelle in this apartment, he’d made love to her here. Endured her god awful reality tv shows here, on her ‘couch snuggle fest’ nights she loved so much.
The lights were all out, bits and pieces of clothes were everywhere, the place looking unkempt. That was not like Michelle. They both called out to her yet no sound was returned. But Dante knew she was here. He followed his nose, locating her scent.
He knocked down the door that led to her bedroom, Alex shot in after him.
“Michelle!” Dante yelled.
“Oh god, no,” Alex moaned.
Michelle lay face up on her bed, vary pale, with her eyes glossy and open. Alex pressed her fingers against Michelle’s throat, feeling for a pulse. She gulped and shook her head. “I think she’s—”
“No, I hear her heartbeat, but it is irregular. We need to get her to a hospital fast.” He moved to lift her when he spotted a shoebox filled with vials containing the tell-tale blue glowing liquid along with syringe. In a rage, he thrust the box to the floor and stomped down on it. Glass crunched and the floor was flooded with Dream State, which evaporated in a puff of smoke.
“Wow,” breathed Alex. “What’s in that stuff?”
Dante gritted his teeth and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He picked up Michelle and carried her out, struggling with his newfound weakness..
*
“NO!” Julian screamed. “No no no! How many times do you have to be told, drink slowly! The fear makes the blood taste better”
“Fuck that. I want more.” Miller licked his greedy lips.
He had just finished off the second human. At this rate, Julian was going to be out of targets much sooner than he’d expected. When his father asked him to take his new protégé and train tonight, Julian knew it was best to obey.
He had meticulously shown the kid how to plan and strategize his attacks, explained when and where to hunt, demonstrated the best way to feed, but it was all like talking to a brick wall. At one point, they were hidden in a copse of trees, watching people, waiting for appropriate prey when Miller jumped out and ravaged the first woman he saw. Her husband tried to attack him, but Julian belted him unconscious. Miller fed wastefully, spilling more blood than he consumed. Within seconds, the woman was dead, and the idiot kid had only ingested a quarter of what he should have. Before Julian could stop him, Miller had snapped the neck of the husband just as he was trying to get a decent feeding grip on his neck. Julian admitted that Miller was extraordinarily strong, even for a newborn, but that strength was wasted.
“You are too impatient. Even your mother learnt that steady wins the race.” Julian gestured to Lauren, who had appeared behind Miller.
The kid flinched, startled. “I hate it when you do that invisibility thing. That shit freaks me out.”
“It’s called camouflage, and it’s very useful when you’re hunting. And you should begin practicing using your own power,” Julian said.
“Whatever. Woo, I can manipulate shadows,” Miller moaned. “Hold me while I think about how shitty that is.”
“Every power is useful, everyone has a purpose and you would not be who you are without it. Do you not agree, Lauren?”
“Mm-hmm,” she replied in a
bored tone. She then perked up with a much happier and far more sarcastic. “I mean, yes indeed, Sir Julian, sir.”
“Good, then we are done here.”
“What? Already? Oh come on, just a few more. I’m starving. Hey you…” he said, looking at Lauren. “Aren’t you like our bar wench? Can’t you get us some food or something?”
Lauren glared at him, Julian burst out laughing. “I knew I chose right. Keep the women in line so they never forget their place. And you, my boy, never forget that they crave being dominated.”
He placed an arm over Miller’s shoulder and looked back at Lauren. “Go back to the mansion and wait there. We shall save you an artery.”
*
Dante pulled up outside the mansion. He had dropped Michelle off at the hospital and the news wasn’t good. She was in a waking coma, completely unresponsive to any stimulation, awake but not aware. The Dream State had eroded her brain to the point where she couldn’t fall asleep or wake up. The doctor had only been marginally helpful. “Mr Delavega, I’m sorry… Just like the other cases… Nothing we can do… Can make her comfortable… Won’t be long…”
Dante got out of the car and took the porch steps two at a time, but paused with his hand on the doorknob. He wasn’t ready to enter the mansion, to walk into what awaited him inside, both literally and figuratively. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, when Melina opened the door.
“What’s the news?”
Dante shook his head. Alex followed up the stairs. “There’s nothing we can do but wait. And even that doesn’t seem hopeful,” she said.
Dante changed the subject. “What was so important that you needed us back here so quickly?”
Melina led him into the lounge where they found Calibos and Matt surrounded by four Elements of Night, guns at the ready.
“What is going on?”
“They’re gone,” Melina replied.
“What?”
“The rest of the wolf pack. I knew where Vincent had been holding them, using them for the production of Dream State. The tubes, the cots, all there, but the vat was gone, and the pack was gone, though they must have left quite recently.”
“Convenient that you were so willing to allow us to take something that was no longer here.” Calibos glared at Dante.
Dante ignored him. “Vincent must have moved them after getting his letter. He didn’t want his cash cow scheme to come undone, so relocated it.”
Melina looked doubtful. “I don’t think so. No one knew anything about it—not even within the mansion. That’s why it was so…successful. Anyway, where could he take a production like that?”
“Wait a minute. There was at least one other person who knew about Dream State, that blue stuff. Dante, when you smashed it, I recognised the colour. I’ve seen it before, being made. In the lab…” Alex looked into the fireplace, forlorn.
“Of course…”
“Who made Dream State? I thought Vincent did?”
“Vincent was no chemist. There was no way he could have done it himself. I’d just suspected he’d brought someone in here. But he wouldn’t need to if Hershel Rasmussen was helping him.”
“That Nazi scientist?” Melina asked. “Where is he?”
“Raven Apartments,” Dante answered.
Melina snorted. “So you want to attack the one place containing heaps of our kind and guarded by a crack security firm that are probably going to be prepared and waiting for us? What do you plan to use? Sub-machine guns, rifles and the like?”
“That’s about it,” Dante replied.
“Sounds like fun.” Melina grinned.
Dante turned to address the Elements of Night, as well as Calibos and Matt. “I would not advise anyone to stay here. Julian may be back at any moment with that teleportation of his.”
They did as he asked, moving swiftly.
Alex looked up at him, shook her head at whatever she was about to say, kissed him quickly and hugged him. “Be safe and good luck. I love Michelle too, you know.”
“I know, but I am not doing this for her only.”
“Yes you are,” Melina and Alex said together.
Melina folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at Alex. “Where’s my kiss goodbye?”
Alex smiled nervously before Melina cleared her throat. Alex realised she was serious when she stuck her cheek out. “Um…ok.”
Alex leaned in to give her a peck and Melina turned her face and kissed her full on the lips. Alex waved her hands in the air, just beginning to close them over Melina’s shoulders when Melina broke off the kiss. “Yummy.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “For god’s sake, leave the poor girl alone.” He gently grabbed Alex’s arm and took her the few steps she needed to get her bearings back. She mumbled something and pointed to the car they had driven back in before turning and leaving.
“Did you have to?” Dante said.
“Of course. She has a really soft mouth. Like yours if I remember correctly. Anyway, what’s good enough for you is good enough for me.” Melina walked forward slowly and folded her hands behind her back, looking up at him. “What are your orders for me?” she asked, her voice soft and kind.
It was hard for Dante to know if it was an act. It was harder still for him to see her behave the way he remembered. Apart from her fire, the gentleness underneath it was one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her so long ago.
“I would not think to give you orders.”
“Because I’m special to you?”
Dante made to touch her lips with his thumb but dropped his hand. “Because it’s a waste of time and you would do your own thing anyway.”
Melina followed Dante out, chanting. “Let’s go and be the good guys. Let’s go fight the good fight and all that jazz.”
“Let’s just survive,” Dante muttered.
*
Behind them, back inside the mansion. Lauren shimmered into view, head cocked to one side, and watched them walk away.
Chapter 40
Welcome to Raven Apartments
The moon was the only light shining on Raven Apartments. The complete absence of stars mirrored the atmosphere below. Tense and very dark. Yet Dante viewed the structure with equal amounts of hope and fear. If he could have guaranteed the wolves were here, he could’ve just told Calibos to “go fetch” them. But retaliation from Calibos and his pups wasn’t the only reason Dante felt apprehensive. He needed to find out from Herschel whether there was a cure for Dream State. Dante was not going to let anything happen to Michelle. Anything else, he muttered and cursed himself. The wolves were Calibos’s problem. Herschel was Dante’s.
It looked like every agent ever employed to guard the premises was on duty, giving Dante more reason to believe the wolves were here. Vincent would’ve increased the security to maximum after receiving his Messengers of Osiris threat. Every floor was covered; from bulky silhouettes obviously clad in riot gear to more tidy figures in suits and ear pieces patrolling the grounds, there was a distinct feel of government protection at Raven Apartments tonight.
Dante could hear them counting off position and clearance checks every five minutes, starting from the roof down. He presumed if any guard failed to report, the place would go into lockdown.
They were good. He could admit that. These guards were well trained and well prepared. But they weren’t vampires, at least not all of them. Dante stood with the rest of the group out of range of them and studied their movements, running through a number of scenarios until one stuck out in his mind. Dante eyed the building’s employee car park and turned to Calibos. “I don’t suppose you have another of those fancy bombs, do you?”
*
Julian teleported into the mansion and knew instantly something was wrong. The house was empty and the air smelt of familiar blood, gasoline and smoke. Julian ducked to look out the window and saw the remnants of the car. Father! Then he shouted it. “Father? Where are you?”
Julian teleported in a panic. First to the coffin ch
amber. Empty. The Hall of Relics. The viewing room. He could see the chains ripped from the walls, the moon shining through, the steel entrance crumpled and tossed to the side like cardboard. Julian flashed to Vincent’s chambers. He walked forward with shaky steps and then sunk to his knees. He reached out and hovered his hand over his father’s pale, dry scalp. “You fool,” he whispered through gritted teeth. “Why did you send me away? Is that what he asked? You played into his hands. He was always your favourite. I could’ve saved you, father!”
Julian pulled drawers out, looking for anything he could find that would piece together what had happened. The scent of Dante and Melina lingered, but they had existed in an uneasy peace with Vincent for so long, there was obviously some reason. He caught sight of a crumpled up piece of paper beneath one corner of the desk. Kneeling, he snatched it up and realised it looked familiar. The heavy paper stock, the texture and colour, he had seen this stationery before when the Messengers of Osiris had commanded him to retake control of what would become the Eureka Stockade.
Julian smoothed the paper, read.
Miller sprinted up to the door. “There you are…whoa. What the hell happened here?”
Julian flicked up a hand as he finished. “So, we got caught. Still doesn’t explain why father even got fucking Dante involved. It was done, there was nothing… What is that?”
Miller had produced another piece of wadded up paper and was reading it. “Another note, I guess?”
Julian held out a hand. Miller continued to read. “Give it here now,” Julian demanded, and this time it was presented to him. He would have to teach this boy some respect, but there was no time for that now. Julian placed the two letters side by side on the desk and looked from one to the other. “Very interesting. Dante, what were you up to?”
“Are they supposed to be different?” Miller asked. “This one’s a lighter shade.”
Day Dreamer (Undeadly Secrets Book 2) Page 32
