by Deanna Chase
“Why don’t you two discuss that while Bella and I have a chat,” Dax said, pushing himself off the bar and moving to Bella’s side.
“Oh, I’d be happy to,” Cassie said with a grin.
“Um, Dax? I think… I think I should…” Leo stammered.
“You’ll be fine. Just go easy on the booze.” Dax flashed him a shit-eating grin and pressed his hand to the small of Bella’s back as they walked down the hall and into her office.
“Have a seat,” she said, waving to a pair of pale blue velvet armchairs.
Dax sat in one while she sat in the other. He turned to the vampire, a woman he’d come to respect over the past six months. She was a levelheaded, steady force who seemed to mostly keep her staff in line. And she’d come to trust Dax herself, often passing along intel on dirty vampires. Though Dax had to admit that none of them ever worked for Cryrique.
“How are you holding up, Bella?”
“As well as to be expected. You? How come you’re here and not out hunting the vampires who took Rhoswen and her husband?” She blinked then sucked in a sharp breath. “Wait, you don’t think Cryrique had anything to do with that, do you?”
“No, but if I find out they did, I’ll rain hellfire down on y’all,” he said conversationally.
“Rightly so.”
Her conviction made him remember why he’d always liked her. “I’m here trying to work out a hunch.”
“Interesting.” She perched on the edge of her seat and leaned in closer. “How can I help?”
“First, I have to ask about Lacy Wallace. Do you remember her?”
“The human?” Bella asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Yes, why?”
Dax tapped his fingers on his thigh. “She’s filing a formal complaint against you.”
“For what?” The look on Bella’s face made it clear she had no idea what this was about.
“Says you repeatedly pressured her to turn vampire, and when she finally said no, you attacked her. Fed from her without permission.”
Bella stood abruptly, her expression incredulous. “You’re joking, right? Lacy Wallace said I pressured her to turn?”
“I’m not.” Dax frowned. “Want to tell me what happened there?”
Bella let out a huff of irritation. “That little piece of work. Total trash is what she is. A trust fund baby who is obsessed with eternal youth. I wouldn’t turn her even if she was on her death bed and it was her only chance of survival. That woman would be a nightmare as a vampire. If someone did turn her, I bet she’d be in the Arcane jail the first week for attacking someone. It’s all she knows how to do.”
“Whoa. No love lost there then,” Dax said.
“None at all.” Bella shook her head and sat back down. “When Eadric finds out she lodged a complaint, there’s going to be hell to pay.”
Dax sat up straighter, concerned with what that might mean. “How so? You do realize intimidation will only make this worse, right?”
Bella scoffed. “Not intimidation. She’ll get slapped with a lawsuit. She was given a year’s severance and signed a nondisclosure. And she only got that because she—” Bella raised her hands and made air quotes as she continued, “—‘slipped and cut her arm’ in the store room. Only problem was Cassie saw Lacy slice her arm herself. Lacy apparently thought she’d drive one of us crazy with the smell of her blood and was trying to manipulate us. Eadric got her a healer and put her on leave that night. She was let go a week later.”
“And the severance was because… Why?” Dax asked.
“To get her to go away quietly. Guess that backfired.” Bella shrugged. “Let her file her complaint. We have plenty against her from patrons complaining about her asking them to turn her or hook up with her after work.”
“I see.” Dax nodded, knowing in his gut Bella was telling the truth. “So I’m guessing you never fed from her either?”
She snorted out an incredulous laugh. “Me, feed on Lacy Wallace? I’d rather drink rat blood.”
“That’s what I thought.” Dax scribbled a couple of notes, completely convinced the report was false. He just wondered if the other two were as well, and if so, was Bandu actively recruiting former employees to lodge bogus complaints to bolster support for his vigilante pack? He was leaning toward yes. “Okay. If the complaint makes it up the chain of command, I’ll make sure whoever ends up with it gets my notes. Thanks, Bella.”
“Sure.” She smiled warmly at him. “But I still don’t quite understand why you’re here instead of out looking for your fae friends.”
“I have a hunch that all of this is part of the bigger picture. That’s all.”
“You think Lacy Wallace is involved?” she asked, her expression dubious.
“No, not directly. I’m thinking someone is pulling her strings.” Dax put the notebook down and met Bella’s gaze. “And that brings me to my next question. Were you at the gala last night?”
“Sure. Everyone was.”
“Okay, good,” he said. “I know at least a few of the guests saw Pandora’s abduction or glimpsed it. Were you one of them?”
“Actually yes, I couldn’t tell you who they were. They were wearing hoodies and had their faces covered, so I’m useless in that sense.”
Dax flipped his notebook open to a blank page. “Tell me everything you saw.”
“Before or after those vampires antagonized that poor boy out there?” She jerked her head, indicating the front of house.
“You saw that? How they baited Leo and Dali?”
“Sure. Then you jumped in and defused the situation. Kept them from giving their control over to their wolves. I was impressed.”
“Did you recognize those vamps?”
“Nope. No idea who they were. Never seen them in here before, that’s for sure. I can tell you this though; that kind of bullshit wouldn’t fly in here. Not that we get many shifters besides your fine ass.” She winked.
Dax let out a small chuckle. “Too much fang for most.”
She nodded her agreement then turned serious. “Now those shifters that took Pandora? I know I recognized one of them from somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on it. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure it out, but dammit, the memory won’t surface.”
“What do you mean the shifters who took Pandora?” he asked, eyeing her carefully. Allcot had claimed the same thing, but Dax hadn’t believed it. It might’ve had something to do with the fact the vampire leader had been trying to rip Dax’s head off. But if Bella was saying the same thing, and he’d always known her as being forthright, then he’d have to give the information serious consideration.
“Exactly what I said. As far as I know, no one here actually saw the moment they managed to subdue her.” She met Dax’s gaze, her expressive eyes stone-cold serious. “Can you imagine the fight that must’ve gone down? Pandora’s not someone I’d want to contend with when she’s pissed off. She’s crazier than Allcot.”
“You’ve got that right.” Dax had seen Pandora out of control exactly once—when the Crimson Valley pack had tried to abduct Allcot. She and Phoebe had tracked them down fairly easily. And while Phoebe had done her best to defuse the situation, Pandora had taken matters into her own hands and drained four shifters in the time it took Phoebe to fight off one. She was savage. “Now, how do you know shifters took her if you didn’t see them snatch her?”
“Oh, yes, well, I was headed out to my car in the parking garage to retrieve my phone when an SUV nearly ran me over. Thanks to my quick reflexes, I was able to jump out of the way in time, but I got an up-close-and-personal look inside that car. Pandora was slumped against the far window, obviously tranq’d. And there were two wolves in the back seat in the process of shifting.”
There it was. The proof that shifters had taken her. But why? And why had Phoebe been lured away and set up by a vampire? The idea that vampires and shifters were working together to abducted Willow and Talisen and Pandora was insane, wasn’t it? Why would a vampire h
elp the shifters abduct Pandora? And why would the shifters help anyone, let alone a vampire, abduct the fae?
Unless… Asier.
What was it Phoebe had said about it? A ritual to save supernatural souls. Had a group of shifters and vampires teamed up to form some sort of cult? It was a strong possibility. In normal situations, vampires and shifters just didn’t work together on that level. But if they were cooperating for a common goal and they were crazy enough to believe that sacrificing a fairy would save their souls then they were stupid enough to trust one another.
“I just wish I could place that wolf. I know I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Bella continued.
“Can you describe him to me?”
“Sure. Dark gray, one black-tipped ear, one white-tipped ear. Blue eyes and white on the end of his tail. Know him?”
Dax shook his head. He didn’t know anyone with one white ear and one black one. “I’ll keep an eye out though.”
Bella patted his arm. “I know you will, Dax. You’re decent like that.” She got up and stretched her arms over her head. “Looks like it’s time to get to work.”
“Wait, one more question,” Dax said, standing to look her in the eye. “Does the term Asier mean anything to you?”
Bella jerked back as if she’d been slapped. “Where did you hear that word?”
“I can’t really say.”
“Is it part of this investigation?”
Dax nodded. He’d already brought it up, so it wasn’t as if he could deny it. But he didn’t want to tell her what he knew, which admittedly, wasn’t much.
Bella got up and walked over to her desk. She eyed the calendar off to the side and gasped. “It’s tomorrow night.”
“You know what is it then?” Dax asked.
“Yes,” she said, her body tense and her expression haunted. “It’s pure evil.”
17
Dax walked out of Bella’s office sick to his stomach. The vampire had filled him in on the ritual of Asier and what they could expect to find should no one stop it in time. Willow and Talisen would be virtually unidentifiable.
The fact that it appeared the events of the night before were a coordinated effort by both shifters and vampires, with Pandora being abducted by shifters and Willow and Tal by vampires, pretty much confirmed for Dax that a cult had indeed formed and the fae were in serious danger.
Carter Voelkel had shown up to lure Phoebe away from the gala and abducted Pandora to keep Allcot distracted. Did that mean the shifter-vampire altercation had been a setup too? It had been the perfect distraction right before the fae and Pandora had been taken.
“Fuck!” Dax said. They’d been played. All of them.
He strode over to the bar and let out another curse. Leo was sitting on the stool, his legs spread with Cassie standing between them. She had her hands in his hair while she kissed her way down his neck, her lips lingering over his pulse. The young shifter had his head tilted back and his eyes closed, a stupid-as-fuck grin on his face.
“Leo!” Dax snapped. “Remove the vampire from your neck before she fangs you.”
His head snapped up and he slid his hands down to her hips, jerking her off him.
“Hey, baby,” Cassie said, her lips in that perfect pout again. “We were just getting started.”
“Cass, let it be. We’re done here,” Dax said and jerked his head, indicating Leo should follow him.
“Um, sorry,” Leo said and hastily scrambled to catch up with Dax.
“No tip?” Cassie called after them.
Leo paused and glanced back, but Dax grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him out of the club.
“She’s fucking with you, man,” Dax said. “Do not pay her anything. She’s not a whore.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Leo said indignantly.
“Sure.” Dax pushed open the front door and was surprised to find the sun had already set. He strode quickly to his Trooper and jumped in. As soon as Leo was in the passenger seat, he slammed the truck in gear and took off.
“Damn, what’s the hurry, man?” Leo asked.
“We need to find Bandu. Now. Any ideas?”
“No. Not really.” Leo pulled out his phone. “Dali might know though.”
“Dali? Why would he know? Aren’t you both relatively new to the pack?” Which would’ve been about a year ago, right after the pack showed up in New Orleans.
“Oh, no. Dali’s Bandu’s nephew. Didn’t you know that?”
“Nope.” Dax sped through a yellow light, heading back toward the plantation house.
“Yeah. Dali and I met at the restaurant we both worked at. He pulled me into the pack. He’s been running with Bandu for years. Since right after his fifteenth birthday.”
Perfect. “Okay. Give him a call. Let him know it’s an emergency.”
“On it.” Leo whipped out his phone. A few texts later, he said, “Sorry, Dax. Bandu is out of pocket for the next few days. He has a thing tomorrow night.”
Fuck. Tomorrow night? That was when the ritual was supposed to happen. Bile rose in the back of this throat. Had he thrown in with a pack that was involved in sacrifice rituals? It was starting to look that way. He swallowed hard.
“Dali says he can gather the pack if you need ’em. What’s the emergency?”
Dax tightened his grip on the wheel.
“Dax? You okay? You look like you’re going to vomit,” Leo said, scooting to the far side of the seat.
“I’m fine. Tell Dali we’re on the lookout for a gray wolf with one black- and one white-tipped ear who also has a white-tipped tail.”
Leo sat there staring at Dax but didn’t type in the message. Then he cleared his throat. “Why?”
“He’s a suspect in the abduction of Pandora. He was spotted in the getaway car.” When Leo didn’t respond, Dax eyed him, noting the worry swimming in his dark gaze. “What is it? Do you recognize that description?” The shifter in question certainly wasn’t Leo. Leo shifted into a pure black wolf with white paws. But it could actually be any number of wolves in the Crimson Valley pack as far as Dax knew. He had only run with Bandu and Leo. Dax didn’t spend a lot of time in wolf form. Once a month was usually his limit unless he had to shift for work. A lot of the Crimson Valley wolves shifted daily and ran for pleasure. Dax was far too busy working.
Dax turned into the dirt driveway of the pack’s main house. He stopped the Trooper but didn’t kill the engine. “Well? Yes or no? Do you recognize that description?”
“Yeah, I do.” Leo fidgeted and cut his gaze to the side of the large plantation home. “He’s right there.”
Dax peered through the windshield of the Trooper and spotted the wolf in question right away—dark gray, one white-tipped ear, one black-tipped, and a white-tipped tail. Dax ground his teeth together with the knowledge that his suspicion of the pack had just been confirmed.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Who is it?”
Leo grimaced and said, “Dali.”
“You’re sure?” Dax asked, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead.
“Positive. Those markings are far too distinct.” He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “But why would he take Pandora?”
“I’m sure Bandu ordered it.” No one did anything in the pack without Bandu’s go-ahead.
“But—” Leo punched the dash and let out a cry of frustration. Then he punched it again and sat there breathing heavily.
“Is there something else you want to tell me?” Dax asked.
“Cocksuckers!” Leo buried his face in his hands and shook his head. When he finally sat up and looked at Dax, he had a tortured expression on his face. “I signed up to help people. Not be complicit in abductions. I thought we were doing something good here. Are you sure about this? That Bandu ordered it?”
“About eighty percent. All the facts line up,” Dax said. “What do you think? You know Dali better than I do. Can you picture him abducting a vampire for no concrete reason?”
“Yes.” His response
was immediate. “Dali hates vamps just as much at Bandu does. If his uncle ordered it, he’d do it no questions asked.”
“That’s what I thought. What about you, Leo? Would you take orders without question?”
The younger shifter was silent for a few beats. Then he gritted his teeth. “I guess the answer to that is yes. Because I have. I trusted Dali. It’s why when he asked me to start something with those vamps at the gala, I didn’t hesitate. He said it was to show them we wouldn’t put up with their bullshit. Wanted to show dominance or some fucked-up shit like that. I just went along with it, thinking he wanted them to be wary of us if shit went down out on the streets. Then after things started to get real, I looked to him for backup and he was gone. But you stepped in, so I forgot all about it.”
Dax recalled that Dali had just vanished into the crowd, but everything had been so chaotic, he hadn’t given it much thought. But Leo was right, Dali had set him up. Probably even told the vampires all that personal stuff about Leo’s life to keep him off his game. “Son of a bitch.”
“You can say that again. And speaking of the bitch, there he goes.” Leo pointed at a silver Jeep that was pulling out of the driveway. Dali had shifted back into human form and was headed out of the compound by himself.
“Looks like we’ve got a shifter to tail,” Dax said. “Ready to find out where he’s headed and what exactly he’s up to?” With any luck, he’d lead them to Bandu. Or better yet Pandora or Willow and Talisen.
“I’m a thousand percent ready.”
Dax grinned at him. “I like your enthusiasm, kid.”
18
Eadric and I crouched in the brushes, staking out the three-story Gothic-style house that looked like it had walked right off the pages of an Anne Rice novel. Link was beside me, already in wolf form, just waiting for my instructions. We’d arrived in the English Turn neighborhood well over two hours ago, and despite Allcot’s desire to fly inside, ready to tear limb from limb, I’d persuaded him to do a little reconnaissance first. We’d circled the property a number of times, careful to keep our distance, and I’d noted every window and external door, making sure I had a decent lay of the land.