by K. N. Banet
I couldn’t argue with both of them, so I didn’t bother trying. I stood in the middle, and that was that. I held the bag because it was less likely to get stolen from me than it was from them.
The door creaked open, and a beautiful man smiled at us.
“Jabari and Jacqueline, children of Hasan and Heath Everson, Alpha?” he asked politely.
“That’s us,” I said brightly. “I’m Jacqueline, and this is Jabari.” I gestured to the very tall werecat on my left. Then I moved my hand to the very tall werewolf on my right. “This is Alpha Everson. You are?”
“You may call me Kevin. I will be escorting you to the Master of the Nest. He’s been waiting for you.”
“Thank you.”
Kevin ushered us in, and I went to follow first until Heath stepped in front of me, looking around. Jabari held me back for a moment until the werewolf seemed pleased and nodded. I was allowed to enter, then my brother.
We followed, ignoring the large double staircase that looked like it belonged in a palace in front of us and went for the doors underneath them. Everything was dark wood with dark fabrics and low light. It would have been sensual if it wasn’t the home of vampires. That fact only made it reminiscent of several horror movies I had seen in my lifetime.
Kevin pushed the doors open and paused in the center of the doorway.
“Presenting Jabari, son of Hasan. Presenting Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan. Presenting Heath Everson, Alpha.” Like any good movie, he spoke so loudly he echoed back, and everyone in the room was very aware of who was waiting behind him to enter. Around the room, I could see vampires feeding on humans, licking their necks as blood dripped down.
There was a smell that couldn’t be ignored. Some of the humans were close to death. Many were much too pale. The vampires fed hard and well, taking their meals to the very edge. I didn’t know if it was allowed, but I had a suspicion it was the reason four death-addicted vampires had come out of the nest. It seemed like it was all too easy to kill one of the humans and begin a terrible addiction.
“Thank you, Kevin,” someone said in a whispered voice, seemingly weak, but I found the one who spoke and knew he was anything but. He exuded power and was definitely in charge of the room.
The Master sat at the center of a long table in the back of the room, directed at the door we walked through. Vampires parted in front of us, and Kevin led us to him. As we drew closer, I could see he had the same blood-red eyes as every vampire in the room. His skin was too pale, and his fingers were too long as he steepled them in front of his chest and waited on us. His dark hair was past his shoulders.
I realized what I didn’t like about him.
He was a clichéd motherfucker.
“What important task has brought you to my home this evening?” he asked, not bothering to stand on our arrival. Jabari had told me he would stand due to our positions in the werecat world. Was this an offense I should be paying attention to?
Neither of the men with me spoke, so I went for it, quickly throwing together an idea based on Jabari’s suggestions.
“We’ve come to discuss with you a problem we recently encountered in the Cascades and possible reparations between your nest, the Seattle pack, and the family of Hasan.” I swung the bag off my shoulder and unzipped it as I began to walk up to his table.
“Why would I owe the werewolves or werecats reparations?” he demanded.
I didn’t stop walking forward. We weren’t offered seats to speak to him as equals, and he didn’t stand, putting us in a position of lesser power. I pulled out one of the heads at random and put it on the table. Several vampires hissed.
“Do any of these belong to you?” I asked, reaching in for the second head. When it was placed on the table, I noticed the Master’s still face twitched. With the third head, he couldn’t stop his lip from curling up ever so slightly. With the last head, he was glaring at me. “They killed two werecats, three werewolves, and tortured a fourth werewolf for a month.”
“No. None of them belong to me,” he answered, a noticeable tension in his words.
“Are you sure?” I asked, pretending to be confused.
“They don’t belong to me because they left of their own free will. What they did with their time after leaving here isn’t my concern.” He didn’t move, didn’t lean forward, didn’t do anything. His gaze was blazing hot, though. I could tell he was pissed.
“One of them claimed her Master in Seattle didn’t want to kill her, so he threw her and the rest of the gang out, along with the ringleader.” I gestured to all the heads then pointed at the one that died with a serene face, the one Jabari had questioned. “This one said it.” I frowned at him.
“What else did that one say?” he asked softly, his eyes narrowing. “She was always unstable.”
I pondered, not taking him or his anger seriously. “That her Master told her no one would miss some campers, but that Seattle wasn’t safe for her anymore.”
“And you say they killed five supernaturals and kept another hostage to torture?”
“Well, they were using him as a feeding source after all the other wolves were dead. You know the penalty for these things, of course. Decapitation by sun burning and brought back to their nest of origin. Reparations are to be paid if the Master is found to be negligent in his duties.” I leaned in close. “And you were.”
“You have no right to say that to me!” he snapped. Still, he didn’t bother standing up for me. “You have the word of a dead vampire who was known to be—”
“Master, I know someone who can perform the ritual to reanimate those heads and make them talk in front of the Tribunal,” Jabari called out from his place behind me. “Do not push me to it. Reparations for the wolves lost and injured will be paid to the Seattle pack. Reparations for the two werecats, Gaia and Titan, will be paid to Hasan directly, and he will make sure it is delivered to any family they might have.”
“Why should I? You don’t have a case.” He reached out to grab the head I pointed out. Before he could reach it, I snatched his wrist and snarled viciously.
“That belongs to me,” I warned him. “Heath, Jabari, come put these away.”
Both men rushed up and quickly stored the heads again.
“If they used to belong to me, they belong to me in death to make proper arrangements for their disposal,” the Master hissed. “Unhand me.”
“No.” I yanked him, forcing him from his seat onto his feet. “And while I have your attention, when guests of equal rank walk into your home, you fucking stand up and greet them. Now, I might be a rough American, but I am a daughter of Hasan, a member of the Tribunal and leader of the werecats. Jabari is his oldest son and heir. We aren’t equal to your rank, we’re above it. Alpha Heath Everson is an Alpha who once served on the werewolf Council in North America. He is equal to your rank if not higher.”
Words I never thought would come out of my mouth. Social ranking was something I had avoided and run from for years. Now it served me. If it meant getting what was due for the deaths of several innocents minding their own business, I was going to wield it like a sword.
“You’re an upstart who hasn’t earned her place,” the Master retorted. “Everyone knows you should be without your head and would be if not for your father.”
“She might not have earned her place yet, but I have,” Jabari growled, leaning over me. “You will pay reparations. These heads shall be sent to the fae Tribunal members, an uninterested and unbiased party, for their interrogations.”
“The fae aren’t unbiased!” He tried to yank his hand from me, but I squeezed, my grip growing tighter and tighter.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been so callous with your creations,” I hissed. “You might have still had an ally at the end of this. As it stands, your Master and Mistress of the Tribunal are going to have to smooth over your mess. Pay the reparations.”
“Screw you,” he growled.
I shoved him away. “Jabari?”
�
�That’s his only chance of smoothing things over before they get worse. If he doesn’t want to, the Tribunal will make him. Let’s go. We’re done here.” He turned and held out an arm for me. I rolled my eyes and walked past him. When I reached Heath, who had backed off a few steps, I gestured for him to keep moving with me.
We walked out of the ballroom and the mansion together.
As we loaded the bag into the back, all staying together, I heard rustling in the woods. I wasn’t the only one. All three of us snapped to attention and stared at the woods to find several vampires with sickening red eyes. One hissed as I made eye contact with it.
They drew closer, some skittering across the ground on all fours, some walking slowly.
“Halt,” Jabari snarled.
I went for something a bit more intimidating.
“If you start this fight, we’re going to kill as many of you as we can before we fall. You won’t win in the end, though. Kill two of Hasan’s children and their ally, and he will bring the entire weight of our family down on your head and every werecat that respects and follows him. You will be dust. Your Master will be dust. Everything to do with you, including your home, will be dust. Then our family will build a mansion in its place and eat holiday meals together, knowing they earned the spoils of war, not ever giving you a second thought.”
Heath and Jabari turned to me, both surprised by my words. Maybe I was being a little too dramatic…it was possible.
The vampires didn’t continue their approach, several hissing viciously at my threat. We hurried into our SUV, and Jabari hit the gas, screaming down the driveway like it was a racetrack.
After the mansion disappeared behind us, I breathed again. Once we made it out of the gates, officially off the driveway, I relaxed completely.
“They outnumbered us bad enough, we could have gotten killed,” I said softly.
“The Master was considering his options. If he killed us and destroyed the heads, there would be nothing for the Tribunal to use against him, even our deaths. We would be unfortunate accidents, or he could say we threatened him unduly, and no one could say otherwise. He plays a dangerous game inside his nest and doesn’t want anyone to know it.” Jabari’s voice was tight.
“You noticed that?”
“I noticed it,” Heath said softly, looking out his window with a frown. “He lets them nearly kill humans. I bet many die after those sorts of parties, and he just disposes of the bodies. I’m going to call Geoffrey and fill him in as we head back.”
“I’m thinking the same thing. I’ll report it to Hasan, then we shall go home,” Jabari said. “We’re done here. The rest is up to the Tribunal.”
“That it is,” I whispered, looking at the trees as we drove. I could hear Heath already on the phone, rattling off the meeting as I considered Jabari’s words.
Home sounded good.
Then our ride flipped as something slammed into the side of it.
31
Chapter Thirty-One
I couldn’t think. This was my second time in a flipping vehicle, and even as a werecat, it wasn’t a pleasant sensation, fear pumping through my veins. My head hit the ceiling, the door, and other parts of the car, rattling painfully as it still remembered being hit with a rock only a couple of nights prior. I heard the crunch of metal and the groans and yells of pain from the men in the car with me.
I couldn’t think. I barely registered that I needed to protect my head, finally trying to wrap my arms around it, hoping I broke an arm before I cracked my skull.
It was all too similar, all too much.
It settled after three rolls, rocking as it rested upside down, skidding a little further.
I couldn’t think.
Outside the car, other sounds could be heard—rustling in the bushes and trees, a wind blowing hard.
A small part of me wasn’t in rainy Washington anymore. Part of me was on that little tropical island with the rain coming down, hoping I would be able to get out of the car.
“Shane?” I whispered. “Shane, are you okay?” He had to be okay.
A groan was all I heard in response.
Not again. No. This can’t happen again. Not this. Anything but this.
I fought to free my legs from between the seat and the dashboard. The airbag had gone off, and I fought against it as well. I snarled as I finally freed my first leg.
“Shane?” I called again, my voice not as loud as I wanted it to be. Then my brain started to function again, thanks to my nose. Werewolf and werecat, both male and bleeding. Not Shane. This wasn’t Shane. He was dead already. Dread made my throat grow tight. Not Shane, but two other very important people. “Heath? Jabari?”
A louder groan.
More rustling outside the car. Something or someone trying to pry one of the doors open. Talking, but my ears were ringing, and I couldn’t make out any words. Something about that made me desperate to get moving. The impact had been on the driver’s side, where Jabari and Heath were, which meant I had more space. I didn’t take the brunt of the accident, which meant I had to get moving. They could be dying for all I knew. Desperation made me fumble with the seat belt, finally getting it to release as the door behind me flew open.
I fell to the ceiling and growled, trying to turn to see what was in the back.
I could barely think, but I could feel. I could feel the pain of the accident, the need to defend the others, and the need to figure out what had just happened.
A blur was all I saw in the backseat, and I tried to grab for it, fumbling as my vision spun, and my coordination made me fall onto my belly. Something dripped down on me, and I looked up slowly to see Heath’s grey-blue eyes. He was conscious, and I was in the way. Blood was dripping off his left arm, but I didn’t see any other injuries.
“Who’s Shane?” someone asked. I turned to the open door and saw red eyes in a pale face.
“My dead fiancé,” I answered, not sure why I even wanted to answer. “He died in an accident like this one. Almost killed me too.”
“You should have died with him. Divine retribution, then.” The vampire smiled. “No one threatens our nest and Master.”
I grinned back, knowing there was blood in my mouth because I could taste the rusty thickness of it. I probably bit my inner cheek or tongue during the accident.
“I’m not going to die tonight,” I promised. Reaching up, I tore out Heath’s buckle, then dodged as he fell to the ceiling. I didn’t look back at him as I scrambled out of the open door and tackled the vampire who hadn’t thought to get away. I snarled as I got my hands on its head and twisted as hard as I could, listening to the clear and perfect snap of its neck breaking.
“Don’t stop,” Heath growled as he climbed out after me. “Tear its fucking head off and finish it.”
I obliged, using my weight to hold the limp vampire down and continued to twist. Muscles tore, blood poured, and slowly, I broke all the connecting tissue and threw the head aside. Heath stood over me, looking out into the darkness. I followed his gaze and saw red eyes growing larger.
“Fuck. He was supposed to report us dead, wasn’t he?” I asked softly.
“Yes, and this is probably the clean-up if we weren’t,” Heath muttered back. “Jabari?”
“Alive when I got a whiff of him, but I don’t know what sort of state he’s in. Can we do this?” I swallowed, hearing the running vampires speeding toward us. They wouldn’t be as strong as the ones in the park, but they were healthy. We weren’t.
“We’re going to try,” he growled. “Jacky—”
I didn’t get to hear what he said as a vampire landed on the SUV behind us. I turned and met it as it jumped for me. I landed squarely on my back and tried to roll backward, kicking up at the same time, sending the vampire flying. I went all the way over and tried to stand. One barreled into me, and I felt ribs crack. I roared and grabbed its arms and slowly pulled them off my waist, my muscles straining. I didn’t stop once I was free, breaking one of the arms at the elb
ow, listening to the resounding scream of pain in response.
I didn’t really have time to think. Going on instinct, I tossed that vampire to the ground and swung around, lifting an elbow to slam another in the jaw. When I saw one trying to crawl into the car, I reached out and grabbed it by the ankles as another jumped onto my back. I pulled with all my might, letting it drag over the broken glass and threw it away from the SUV.
I screamed as teeth hit my shoulder, and I reached up, grabbing a handful of hair. I ripped the locked jaw off my body, tearing open my shoulder, flipped the vampire over my shoulder with a roar of rage, and stomped down on its face twice.
It felt like a street fight, something I had never been a part of but had seen enough in the movies to get the gist. They wanted to dogpile me, and I kept having to toss them off, trying to keep them off me. I took a punch to the face, making my head throb, and stumbled for a second. Two tackled me together, and again, a set of fangs sank into me, this time on my arm. The second went for my neck, and I grabbed its neck before it could land the strike. I put my medical knowledge to use and squeezed tightly, putting all my werecat power into it. Everything beneath my hand crushed, and when I pulled, it all came with me. The vampire wasn’t dead, but it was completely incapacitated by the action. I threw aside the pieces of vampire in my hand, grabbed its bottom jaw, dropped open from the pain, and pulled it down further, breaking bones and causing more blood to rush out of the vampire’s mouth. It covered my face, neck, and chest now, putrid and stale, pumping out of veins it didn’t originate from.
Once that one was dead, I shoved the body away and grabbed the hair of the one chewing on my arm, taking long swallows of my blood. Pulling it off with a scream, I wrestled it to its back in the mud. Before it could attack me, I tore out a clump of its hair. While it screamed in pain, I grabbed its neck and tore it open like the previous one. I reached into its mouth and ripped out its fangs.
