by Art DeForest
“It’s unseemly to ask a lady to explain things that allude to her age, dear.” She said, raising her nose in the air slightly.
“Cut the crap Sara.” I said with a chuckle. “We all know that you’re positively ancient after all.”
She raised a severe eyebrow at me for a moment before joining the general chuckle that my remark had provoked. Finally, she conceded the point. “Well, it was well before 1876.” She replied. “As a matter of fact, it was well before the white man made his presence known in the region.
“Wow,” I said in wonder. So this guy didn’t come out with the european settlers?”
“At the time, I suspected that he’d come out with one of the spanish explorers, but he may have been there much longer than that.” She said speculatively. “There are petroglyphs in what is now, eastern Utah that depict a bipedal, fanged creature that predates even my existence.”
“So was he something like you then?” Asked Trish quietly.
“I don’t know.” She said, staring off into nothing. “I never caught him. He just...disappeared.”
We sat quietly for a moment pondering the idea of a vampire or whatever that existed back during an age when indigenous peoples still did petroglyphs before Sara cleared her throat once more. “That’s really beside the point however.” She said getting back to business. “The fact is, I know the area and can be of assistance in accomplishing the task at hand. I don’t believe that the Council will have a major problem with that.”
I nodded along. It wasn’t like the Council could give her orders after all. My eyebrows drew together in concern however, as I came to the realization that they could give me orders now. Crap. “Well, I hope the Council will let Deacon and I go too.” I said consideringly. “They may have a different agenda.”
“Surely they won’t break up such a successful team, will they?” Asked Marcus.
“I just don’t know.” I said with concern. “Up till now, they’ve let Deacon and I go where the situation leads us, but we’re getting past the initial surge of action precipitated by the defection of the Abandonados. They may start issuing orders of their own as they settle down after the shock of it all.”
Putting my thoughts into action, I stood up. “Well, no time like the present to find out.” I said, turning to head for the door. I paused when I reached it and turned to look at Fangs. “You coming?” I asked.
Fangs just looked at me lazily for a moment, radiating sleepy contentment from his perch on Trish’s lap.
“Well fine.” I said, with a wink to Trish. “Don’t let him monopolize your time. He’ll take up your lap all day if you let him.”
“We’ll be fine.” she said, stroking his head softly. “He deserves the attention.”
Nodding to everyone, I headed out to find Viktor and Deacon.
12
I asked Simon, Deacon’s butler and a hell of a good guy with a katana, where I could find Deacon and Viktor. He accompanied me down the hall in the direction of Deacon’s office.
“How are you holding up miss?” He asked politely “If you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m fine.” I replied. “A little tired, but that’s to be expected I suppose. How are things around here?” I haven’t had the chance to hang around much lately.”
“You have certainly been busy.” He said with a chuckle. “Things are quiet and the addition of the lycans to our security lets me sleep better…”
“But?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.
He sighed softly. “I just feel like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far we’ve been on the attack against Antonella’s facilities. It’s only a matter of time before she reciprocates.”
“Well, hopefully we have her off balance and seeking to shore up her own defenses at this point.” I said as we reached the office door. “But stay on your toes. “Who knows how long it will last?”
Simon nodded as he opened the door for me. “We’ll do that miss.” he replied as he ushered me through.
“Do what?” asked Deacon as Simon quietly withdrew and closed the door behind him.
“Keep vigilant for Antonella’s next attack.” I said as I walked over to the desk where Deacon and Viktor had their heads together, looking at a computer screen.
“Without a doubt.” Said Viktor, raising his head to look at me. “We were just conferring with the Council on how best to proceed from here.”
“Sara has received a directive from her own Pack leader. He wants us to go and try to find the lab in Colorado.”
“Us?” Said Viktor in a questioning tone.
“You know.” I said, waving a hand in Deacon’s direction. “The team.”
Viktor’s face grew serious as he pondered the implications. “I wasn’t aware that the group who hit the lab was classified formally as a team.” He said, a little grumpily.
Viktor was a natural leader and he was used to giving orders. We had kind of been making up our own rules since the Council split and I could see it was getting to him. I wasn’t going to let that dissuade me though. “We work well together.” I said seriously. “Why break up a winning combination?” I concluded.
Viktors expression didn’t change as he considered what I’d said. “The lycans have proven to be able allies. That is true, but we may have a slight divergence in our individual priority lists.”
“Really, how so?” I asked, not willing to back down.
Viktor drew himself up sternly. “For starters, the existence of these laboratories, situated near lycan cities seems to be the lycans number one concern, and rightly so. However, it may not be the top priority of the Council?” He replied.
“How can stopping the formation of a mutant army not be the Council’s number one priority?” I asked in exasperation. “Hello? Mutant Army!” I concluded.
Deacon cleared his throat and raised a hand placatingly in my direction as my glare landed on him. “Several of the Council members seem to be of the opinion that we should be shoring up our own defenses, much like the lycans are doing.”
I stared at them both incredulously for a moment. “Did the esteemed council, in all their glory forget that we are using Lycans to shore up those defenses? What happens if they feel threatened enough by those labs, that they pull the people we are currently counting on.” I said sarcastically.
Viktor looked at the desk with a troubled expression on his face. “That is the argument we’ve made to them but so far, it has gained little traction. They feel that you and Deacon are best utilized in spearheading our defense and trying to figure out the Abandonados’ next move.” He concluded.
“We already have top notch security in place, thanks to the lycan reinforcements.” Said Deacon, focusing his attention on Viktor once more. “We also have the superior intelligence apparatus in place.”
“I agree.” Viktor said with a sigh. Marissa has done admirably as our head of intelligence and the lycan’s help has been invaluable. There are still a substantial amount of Council members however, who are still concerned for our safety.”
“We can’t have a bunker mentality here.” I said. “That will simply give the Abandonados a chance to build up their forces and strike at a time and place of their own choosing. As you said, we have the superior intelligence apparatus in place. Let’s use it to keep Antonella off base and shoring up her own defenses. To do anything less is to allow her to set the tune for this dance.”
Viktor sat back in his chair in contemplation. After a few moments he nodded his head. “Very well.” He said finally. “You can accompany the lycans on this mission. However,” he continued after a moment. “Be prepared to be recalled at a moment’s notice should the situation change.
I nodded as I rose from my chair. My mind was already starting to focus on the mission ahead. One more piece of payback, coming up.
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Books by Art DeForest
Kaitlyn Strong
I Love the Shadows
Stalking the Shadows
Savage Shadows
Kaitlyn Strong, Books 1-3
Hunter’s Saga
Hunter’s Game
Hunter’s Chase
Hunter’s Vengeance
Hunter’s Home, Books 1-3
