“There’s a caribou over there.” I pointed to the east where I’d seen one briefly come out of the trees. “You can kill it for food.”
Kerbasi scoffed. “That’s barbaric.”
“Says the man whose torture methods still give me nightmares.”
I’d never experienced them firsthand, but I’d had to watch in my dreams as he did horrible things to Lucas—the man I loved. Kerbasi could make medieval torturers look kind in comparison to his inventiveness and ability to draw out pain.
“I do not do those things anymore,” he defended.
“Only because I’m here to shoot you if you try.” I got on the snowmobile.
“Do not go more than a half-mile. I’m in no mood to be dragged tonight.”
“And I’m in no mood to listen to you whining.” I took off across the field.
Derrick and Paula were close enough that the distance limit wasn’t going to be a problem. They must have parked their vehicle just off the nearest navigable road. From there, my senses could detect them moving preternaturally fast through the woods on foot. I might have waited for them in the clearing if not for my concern over Derrick possibly passing the virus on to his pack. Who knew what it was capable of beyond the magic spells I sensed from it?
I met them after traveling no more than a quarter of a mile. The vampire and werewolf skidded to a halt in the snow in front of me, showing no signs of being winded. It had finally stopped snowing and the moon peeked from the clouds to light up the ground where we met.
Paula had her shoulder-length brown hair pulled back in a bun, revealing her pale face and dark eyes. No one would describe her as beautiful, but she carried herself with confidence. She held a black bag in her hand that must have contained her medical implements.
Derrick took a step closer and attempted to meet my gaze, which I avoided. He had hair a similar shade to hers, but he’d left his to hang down his back. He looked the part of a tough alpha ready to take on any enemy. I wouldn’t have described him as handsome, but being big and intimidating was enough to attract many women.
“Did you explain the disease is contagious to werewolves?” I asked Paula, focusing all my attention on her.
“Yes.” She nodded. “But I examined the alpha thoroughly after he drank the daimoun blood. He’s still a werewolf, but he’s also immortal. There’s no risk of him becoming sick. Like you, disease can’t infiltrate his body.”
I once asked her to explain what that meant and got so much medical terminology shoved at me my eyes began to cross. It was best just to take her word for it. In the time I’d known her, she’d proven more than competent in her chosen profession as a doctor for supernaturals.
“Okay, well, if you’re sure then follow me.” I revved up the engine.
Derrick opened his mouth to say something, but I was gone before I could hear the words. I couldn’t deal with talking to him yet. When he’d battled Nik for power, he’d taken Felisha’s life instead. She had been my boss at the herb shop where we worked and a close friend. He hadn’t meant to kill her. She’d put herself in the way of his sword at the last second, sacrificing herself, but the vision of his blade slicing through her throat might never leave me. Losing someone you cared about was tough enough without watching them die horrifically.
I shook off the depressing memories and slowed the snow machine down to let the vampire and werewolf catch up. It had taken less than two minutes to reach the clearing. If not for all the trees in the way it might have gone faster.
Kerbasi was pacing back and forth in front of the woods where I’d left him. The guardian looked up as we approached. I parked in front of him and got off.
“He’s still alive, but he’s no longer talking,” the guardian reported.
I could still sense Galvin’s presence, so I knew that much already.
“Did you try speaking to him?” I asked.
We began walking into the woods with Paula and Derrick following.
“Yes,” Kerbasi replied. “I wanted to know if he could see a very bright light or a very dark one.”
“You’re an ass.” I gave him a scathing look.
“It was a reasonable question.”
“Is that him?” Paula pointed to the dark lump ahead. We’d just made it past the twin trees.
“Yes,” I answered.
“All of you should stay back until I’ve finished examining him.”
I nodded and watched her go kneel next to the werewolf in the snow.
“Did he give you a name?” Derrick asked.
Damn. No excuse not to talk to him now.
“Yes.” I continued to watch Paula. “It’s Galvin.”
The alpha shifted closer to me. “I saw him a few days ago when he reported in after returning from Chicago. He looked a little off, but not like he was dyin’. Any idea what he might have?”
“Kerbasi said he didn’t recognize the disease so it’s probably rare.”
The guardian had been studying human illnesses lately since performing his one big miracle. He’d decided learning about diseases was an intriguing way to spend his time. I even had to take him to the hospital once so he could see a few cases firsthand. The only reason I’d gone along with it was it might come in handy someday.
Kerbasi stirred. “I’d actually like to meet the man who spread this disease and congratulate him. Wish I’d thought of it myself.”
Maybe it was time to put a stop to his studies.
“Don’t make me shoot you,” I warned.
He stiffened. “You’ve refrained from using it for a month now. I believe you’ve grown tired of shooting me and won’t do it again.”
“Try me.”
“Master Derrick, if you could come,” Paula called, putting a vial of blood she’d collected into her bag.
It was a sign of respect that she referred to him by that term. I never used master for any of the supernatural leaders since I technically didn’t fall under their command. Being mated to a nephilim gave me a certain degree of independence.
Paula and Derrick whispered back and forth to each other. I listened to them discuss the pain Galvin was experiencing and how there was nothing she could do to save him. She still wasn’t sure what the werewolf had and would need to run more tests. The alpha asked a few more questions before silence fell.
He leaned over Galvin. “Rest in peace, brother wolf.”
Then he reached down and snapped his neck. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t have been enough to kill him, but his body was too weak to come back from it now. I felt Galvin’s life force float away as if a gentle breeze had picked it up.
The alpha looked at me.
“He’s gone,” I confirmed.
Derrick stood up. “Paula and I’ll take care of this. You and the guardian should head home.”
“What if this isn’t an isolated case?” I asked.
“That’s for me to worry about. You don’t need to get involved any further.” He spoke in an even tone, but there was a warning underneath.
Derrick was frustrated and I’d made myself a target. Tonight he’d had to put one of his wolves out of his misery because of some mysterious disease. That wasn’t easy and my standoffish attitude toward him wasn’t helping. I needed to get past Felisha’s death and forgive him. I knew that, but it wasn’t as easy as flipping a switch.
“Fine.” I took a deep breath. “But if you need anything let me know.”
He nodded. It was the best olive branch I could give him.
Kerbasi and I started back toward the snow machine.
“Melena, wait,” Paula called out.
I turned.
“You need to sanitize everything you’re wearing and wash with an antibacterial soap as soon as you get home. Until I study this further, I can’t be sure if the disease can be carried to others just by our exposure to it.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed. Heck, I’d probably get Emily to bring us trash bags to the door and we’d strip before going inside. The demon magic involved gave me a bad feeling.
“You might want to contact Lucas as well and let him know about this. Find out if he’s seen any cases like it during his travels recently. We need to know if this is going to become an epidemic.”
“Let’s hope not.” I grimaced. “Lucas said he’d be busy this morning, but I’ll try calling him later today.”
“Good.” She returned her attention to the body.
Chapter Three
Lucas
Screams tore through the empty office building, but no one could hear them.
“Stop! I don’t know anything.”
Lucas withdrew the soldering iron a few inches. “I doubt that. What was in the shipping container you received three days ago?”
“What shipping container?” The master vampire pulled his head back as far from Lucas as he could. It wasn’t that far with the chains holding him suspended from nearby pillars.
“Do not pretend you don’t know,” Lucas growled.
He was losing patience quickly. Not a good thing for the man before him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He grabbed Bron’s jaw and twisted it around to face him. With his free hand he brought the soldering iron forward, pressing it into the vampire’s remaining eye. The hot metal burned his cornea and kept going deeper. Bron fought it, twisting back and forth, but it did him no good. Only the deafening screams and an acrid stench irritating his nose tempted Lucas to stop.
The vampire’s mewling echoed off the unfinished walls and filled the darkness. No construction workers were around at this time of the morning, but even if they were the silencing spell he’d put in place would prevent anyone from overhearing.
Bron deserved this whether he hid something from Lucas or not. The man with fire red hair who’d ruled the supernatural population of Portland for over a century wouldn’t be in charge for much longer. Lucas would make sure of that.
“My informant tells me Micah may have been transported to your city in a shipping container. One that you received personally, but has since disappeared. Was he in it?”
His brother had to be close. Day after day, month after month, Lucas had searched for him in dozens of cities. He’d followed every lead until this was all he had left. A shady vampire and a shipping container that might or might not have had Micah in it.
Lucas was tired. Nearly all he’d done since Melena freed him from Purgatory last spring was look for Micah. He wanted it to be over and to begin his life with his mate. Melena had been remarkably patient while he left her for weeks at a time, but for how long would she stay that way? He could see the despair in her eyes every time he visited her only to leave again hours later.
“Tell me the truth!” he demanded.
Bron sucked in a breath to speak—the only reason a vampire needed air. “It wasn’t your brother. You have it all wrong.”
Zoe had caused this. The older nephilim had kidnapped Micah and put him under a sleep spell, rendering him defenseless. They’d since captured and interrogated her, but nothing he’d tried would get her to reveal Micah’s location or who might have him. Lucas would find his brother if he had to kill half the supernatural population to do it.
“Where would Zoe’s people hide him in this city?” Lucas asked, leaning close to Bron’s mangled body.
It would have saved time to compel the master vampire, but he was too strong. Even a nephilim as old as Lucas couldn’t manipulate the mind of an immortal who’d lived nearly a millennia. At least, not without a lot of sensor blood to weaken him first and he didn’t want Melena involved in this. She’d seen enough of the dark side of him. He’d lose her for certain if she saw how brutal he truly could be. Lucas would never risk that.
“I wouldn’t allow them to hide him in my territory.” Bron’s empty eye sockets stared back at him. “Everyone knows you’ve been searching for your brother. It would be suicide to hide him.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Lucas grabbed the vampire’s right hand and dug the hot iron through his fingers, burning them off one at a time.
“No, please, stop!” Bron’s body jerked in the chains. “I swear I haven’t seen Micah in more than a century. It wasn’t him in the container.”
Lucas grabbed the left hand. “Then who?”
“No one.”
“I don’t believe you.” He took off two fingers.
Bron’s body began to shake. “There were some illegals in there. Humans. No one important.”
Lucas paused. He’d done enough research to know the master vampire had been using immigrant children to do his dirty work. Kids no one would miss who could conduct illegal activities on Bron’s behalf during the daytime. He preferred them because they could be compelled to carry out his orders and not cheat him—unlike some of his own people.
“Were they children?” Lucas asked.
“What does that…” he screamed as he lost another finger.
Lucas knew his eyes must have been glowing gold with his anger, though the vamp couldn’t have seen them. “Were they?”
“Okay, yes, they were. Since when do you care what happens to humans?”
It wasn’t an unusual question. The supernatural world knew Lucas hated humans more than anyone, but they didn’t know he had a soft spot for vulnerable children. He’d been one himself a very long time ago.