Pack Master (Undeadly Secrets Book 4)

by Aaron L Speer

  Dante paused then as she broke down. Who was he really angry at? He was just as responsible as she was. Dante had been warned that something would happen, but he ignored it. He was selfish. Just like she was. Who was really responsible here?

  He let her go and looked down. But he had paid his price. He lost Alex. She…had not lost anything.

  He launched himself at her so fast the blood splattered the glass behind her. He drained her a great deal faster than four minutes. He threw her to the ground, rasping, retching for air. He gazed down at her and with one move brought his foot down directly over her chest, smashing her ribs to bits. Dante picked up his phone after it pinged a message.

  We found him

  *

  Dante moved forward in the dark alley a few blocks from T. He spotted the riot squad of Sovereign and saw they had pointed their rifles at a target just in front of them. Julian sat on his haunches.

  “I’m glad this wasn’t drawn out,” Dante said, staring at the street.

  "That’s it? No threats? No ‘I will kill you’ for an old friend?" Julian mocked.

  "No," Dante replied, calm. Still. The face that Dante hated appeared even more sallow than usual. The ground under Julian shone in the almost complete darkness with blood.

  “I’m shocked you didn’t get your gang of street thugs to gun me down, now I can’t escape.”

  “It was severely tempting,” Dante admitted. “But Melina would still be forced to fight over your sorry carcass. An entire squad of heavily armed, trained vampire killers.”

  “Ah Delavega…still so concerned about the woman that broke your heart. Is your legacy truly nothing but pathetic failure?”

  “Perhaps but that’s neither here nor there.”

  "Well, come, come. Speak now or forever hold that thing you call a cock," Julian sneered.

  "I'm tired..."

  "Uh. What?"

  "I want to end this."

  "End what?"

  "You and I. This hatred. The rivalry. It has gone on far too long. I have taken from you. You have taken from me. I realised I have never attempted to broker peace.”

  “You partnered with these armoured blood hounds to track me down to…make peace?”

  “It was only when I lost Alexandra I knew I had to try."

  "My father is dead. She isn't. It isn't exactly the same thing."

  "Neither of us can ever see them again. You forced me to use the only means available to save her, and that was the cost. Look at you. You’re not healing. The cloud is preventing it. You can’t teleport anymore. I could leave you here. I could ask these men to kill you. But I know you always have a back-up plan. I am asking you, please, stop this. Leave my friends alone. You go your way and I'll go mine. I no longer want to interfere in anything you do."

  "How could you possibly live with yourself? You and I are completely different in our thinking and our tastes. How could you sit and watch the innocents you know I will feed off?"

  "Your scheme worked. You broke me. I now understand that no one is innocent. We all make choices which lead us to be where we are meant to be."

  "Even your blonde human?" Dante looked down as the Night Mother’s words crept over him. Alex had accepted death by sleeping with him. It wasn't her fault but it was her choice. Just like it was his to murder the couple that infected her, and the woman tonight. Dante had headed down a slippery slope of murder and revenge. How long could this go on? How long would the ripple effect continue? More death. More misery.

  "Yes. Even her."

  "Well, well, Delavega, I must say I'm intrigued. While I do enjoy your pain, believe me I do, I want something from you. An insurance policy. An act of good faith if you will."

  "What?" Dante asked. “The points I just made aren’t enough for you?”

  "Don’t pretend Delavega. The world is based on give to get. We have no reason to trust each other, but you’ve no doubt seen the same thing I have. The weather…it’s changing us. We need the sun to heal. Our abilities are failing. Humans are staying indoors and more of us are going hungry. I know nothing about how to change it back. I wish I did…”

  Julian’s voice failed. His altercation at the Police Station had very much left him the worse for wear. He certainly couldn’t be accused of faking this.

  “Undeadly Desires has had security problems of late, so I’m told,” Dante said. “T thankfully is laced with waratah. But I heard there had been attacks around it. I assume coming from you. I used that assumption to find you. That is the end of my care factor on the matter. I wanted to find you and face you. Do we have an agreement?”

  Julian smiled. “I’m going to need an act of good faith on your part as I said.”

  “What?”

  “As you know, there is a new vampire in town. Recently returned from a stint in the dungeons. Leeson Amadeus Nightingale."

  Dante rolled his eyes. "What about him?"

  "I want him dead."

  "So do these men but no one can take him. I won’t stop you. There are many that would push you aside for their slice."

  "Ah that's where things get tricky. His healing and strength are too much even for me. But if this weather affects us all, this may be the way to end him. As King, no matter how tainted your position, you have access to things I don't.” Julian nodded to the men behind Dante. “Resources to take him down."

  "Nothing I know of will work unless you can tell me how you captured him in the first place?"

  "Strangely enough you and Melina killed the only person who knew. My father organised his capture and told not one soul how. At the time I didn't care, happy I had a self-healing specimen to play with. But time does make one grow curious with hindsight. They say he can't be killed, but we both know everything can be. How’s this for a deal. Bring me his head and I'll accommodate your request."

  “You…fear him, don’t you?” Dante asked.

  “As should you. The strongest vampire I have ever encountered. A rabid dog that must be put down. He harbours ill will towards me, and in my current predicament I could not even flee. If he kills me, Melina will have to face him and you know what the outcome of the will be. Who would you rather make accords with, me or him? Who would listen to reason?”

  “I’m going on your word alone?" Dante scoffed.

  Julian looked straight at Dante as he raised his palm to his mouth and bit. He then held it out to face Dante. "You came to me first, remember? I'll make a blood oath. Do this, and let there be peace between us. Bring him to me and your request is granted. I will release Melina from her oath and I will never hunt down her or your blonde or your brunette ex-lovers. Even through another party."

  Dante thought about his wording, and could see no out for Julian to manipulate. He pressed his hand into Julian’s and realised no matter what the dangerous situation he was putting himself in, if it ensured Alex and Michelle’s safety and Melina’s freedom, it was more than worth it. Wherever the former two were.

  *

  Gavin moved calmly through the hospital hallway. Thanks to Sovereign’s database, he knew who he was looking for and where. He rounded the corner, allowing a woman and her daughter to pass him. The wife and child. Good. That meant he would be alone.

  Gavin walked inside the room, taking note of the various bandages adorning the wounds. “Mr Crane…I trust I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”

  Crane blinked and gave a small twitch of his eyebrows. “Who are you…” he croaked.

  “I’m not surprised you don’t remember after your ordeal. Such terrible business. Gavin Mcveigh, from Sovereign.”

  Crane adjusted his position. “I have nothing to say to you…”

  “Good, I’ll do all the talking. I would, however, like to invite you to our offices when you’re ready. To discuss the attack and what you saw.”

  “I didn’t see anything.”

  Gavin smiled. “I understand you had to shield yourself from questioning and that’s fine for others. But please don’t insult my intellig
ence. I know what school your daughter goes to. I know how long you and your wife have been married. I know you still owe over four hundred thousand dollars on your mortgage. I know you handed in your resignation to the Police force and I know what you saw that night.”

  Silence confirmed to Gavin that he could go on. “You’ve been closing in on this secret for so long. You’ve only scratched the surface. There are all manner of things out there, aren’t you curious?”

  “I was before I got my throat hacked. I just want my family safe. This isn’t for me.”

  “Very well, but if it were me, I’d want to know what was waiting for me out there as to better protect my loved ones…here,” he said, placing his business card on the tray, heading for the door. “If you change your mind, give me a call.”

  “Wait…” Solomon called. “What else is out there?”

  Gavin smiled. “Oh, my word, Mr Crane. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The Walls Are Closing In

  Alex rolled over in a state of just waking. Dreams of golden flames woke her. The strangest thing. Also a voice. Speaking to her through the flames. She saw the flames evaporate and she was then standing in a hallway of rock. Walking down a dark flight of steps, towards a light at the bottom. The light stretched out, coming from a room she couldn’t she yet. A tapping sound could be heard. Like a dripping tap falling into a pool of water. She was in a cave. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs she could’ve sworn she saw a shadow of a figure appear in the light, but then she woke up.

  She yawned and sat up, pressing her fingers into the back of her neck as she checked the time on the alarm clock by her bed. 3 am. She groaned.

  She and Michelle had been dropped off at Central, but all trains had been stopped. The weather had covered the lights of the tracks so it had been decided buses would replace trains. The station ticket office was packed with angry, confused passengers and their families. Michelle had managed to snare two of the last tickets on the final Greyhound of the night. They rode it until the very last stop at Katoomba and found a nearby motel. The journey wasn’t long but with the packed buses and eerily quiet streets it felt stretched and tense. Always looking over their shoulders. Wondering if they were being watched or followed. This was their second night here, but truthfully, the days were starting to blend together. Alex could see and feel a misery in the air, evidenced by the receptionist that handed over their keys.

  “Alex…”

  The word wasn’t spoken harshly. Hell, it was barely above a whisper. But she jumped all the same. She hadn’t imagined it. She had heard her name. Yet again she heard it, the same soft tone. It was coming from the drawer under the TV.

  “You are close, but you still have ways to go. The Caves. Find me, Alex…”

  She hoped it was not a morbid sense of curiosity that made her rise and walk over to the drawer and open it, but she did.

  Something was leading her eyes. She could feel it. For she looked down to the bottom drawer and seemed to know it was in there. But was it? How do you know where something is when you have no idea what you’re looking for?

  Alex pulled an old shoe box out to find it was as light as a feather, yet a rattle of metal could be heard upon shaking it. Popping the lid, she found what she assumed was a toy. A necklace with a shining pendant. No, a glowing pendant. The pendant was a red V, pulsing a searing crimson colour in the box. It was beautiful.

  She flicked her gaze from the pendant to the TV screen. She stared at her own reflection. She recognised all but one aspect of herself. Her eyes were coloured a rich, liquid gold. The effect was startling, but strangely Alex did not feel fear.

  A bright flash of lightning, just outside her window, made Alex jump again.

  “Alex…”

  She froze. The voice didn’t come from the pendant. It came from behind her, yet Alex could see no one. “Alex, please. Come to the caves. We don’t have much time.”

  Just as she turned, she found herself jolting awake. Back on the bed. She had been dreaming. Of course she had been.

  Alex quietly moved into the bathroom for a shower. The pipes in the wall rumbled before the water spat out of the shower head with the consistency and colour of mud. It left a sticky, dark residue on Alex’s fingers when she tested it. She grimaced and dressed in fresh clothes. After making herself a coffee from water they had placed in the kettle earlier, she moved outside. The air was crisp and Alex was thankful she had an extra cardigan. She spotted an SUV out front and a man stepped out. He went to look at the front of the car. Apparently there was some engine trouble. He had to use a small flashlight to see the engine. Perhaps one with a very dull battery perhaps.

  Alex looked up. The streetlights were out along the whole strip. But when she focused, she noticed they weren’t out. The black cloud had covered them in its thick fog as it hung suspended roughly twelve feet from the ground. It wasn’t her imagination. They just couldn’t be seen.

  Alex looked to her left and right. The area she sat in was bathed in crisp white light from the overhead bulbs illuminating the pathway from door to door. Beyond that, in the parking area, the entrance and the road were covered in blackness. It was a strange feeling to think she was protected somehow by the light and moving not three feet in front of her was seeped with lurking danger. Alex leaned forward in her chair. As she stared out along the light reflected on the asphalt she noticed it was diminishing. Little by little. Centimetre by centimetre. The shadow was shortening it, almost as if consuming it. Closing in on her.

  “You ok?” Alex called to the man in the SUV, shaking her head. “There’s a phone in the office to call roadside assist if you need.”

  “No thanks,” he called with a wave. “I’m a mechanic. I’ll check under the hood and see what’s happening. Thanks all the same.”

  Alex replied with a wave of her own as the man checked on a young girl in the back. Alex saw the mist coming from his breath but found it pleasant on this dark night. She didn’t feel one bit cold. Just as she was thinking of heading in, a screeching made her stop. At the top of the street, a car was speeding down the straight, narrow strip. Alex would’ve grimaced at the hoon driving and simply shook her head but the girl inside the SUV had accidently flicked her teddy bear out the open door. It lay in the middle of the road, and she was out of the car heading towards it. The father was head first into the hood, no idea what was about to happen. Alex didn’t scream, instead she found herself hurtling towards the girl. The lights of the speeding car illuminated one side of the child who froze in place as the car came within a foot of her before the driver slammed the breaks. Alex dropped to the ground and wrapped her arms around the girl, trying to cover her as best she could when a skip and almighty crash was heard from behind and all around Alex, followed by splintering and scattering of parts. Just as she opened her eyes, the car that had been inches away from crushing the poor girl had now gone over Alex’s head and landed on its roof in front of her. The front of the car, even though upside down, had partially caved in.

  By some sheer miracle, it had ricocheted off the parked cars in the street and missed them entirely. Flipping over them even.

  The father had reached them, checking over his daughter, crying over her fear and shock, but otherwise unharmed. He asked Alex if she was ok.

  “I saw that car hit you. I could’ve sworn…”

  “Just missed,” Alex replied breathlessly.

  “No it didn’t! I saw it hit you.”

  “I’m fine. Really. Didn’t feel a thing. He missed.”

  “We have to get you an ambulance, or the police? Something!”

  “Nah, I’m good. I gotta get an ambulance for them though…” Alex gestured with her head, patting the little girl on the back who had clung to her father.

  Alex really needed to buy a lotto ticket. Two near misses was crazy, but as she ventured towards her room, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was but also how calm. As she looked at her steady h
ands, out of the corner of her eye she caught her vague reflection in the glass window. She stopped to check her back. The back of her clothes were shredded. Just as she wondered what the hell was going on, the light above her head flickered. Not only that. All the lights overhead along the walkway flickered, on off, and in perfect time with each other. Alex looked down. The shadow had completely enveloped the light reflection. It had hit the edge where the pavement met the concrete of the walkway. The lights continued to flick off and on, even more rapidly. Alex reached a hand behind her to the door handle. A sound like an earthly growl rattled around as a sense of dread came over her. Something in the darkness lurked. Something was descending…closing in.

  Just as the shadow seeped over the edge of the concrete where she stood, the lights popped and exploded, all at once, spitting glass underneath them. Alex pushed her door open and stumbled inside, closing it and holding her back to it, keeping whatever the hell was outside at bay.

  “Alex…”

  “Fuckety,” she hissed, both in surprise and worry. With everything going on, hearing voices no one else could hear was at the top of her worry list. Michelle bolted awake at the sound of her cursing. “What’s wrong?”

  “I…um…” Alex cringed.

  “Alex…you have to leave. Now.”

  “I’m ok…I just…”

  Michelle had leapt out of bed and rushed over to her, holding her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “You can feel it, can’t you. It’s closing in. Your time is now, Alex. The city needs you…”

  The room rattled like a quake. Michelle gripped her hard.

  “What?” Alex cried.

  Michelle answered first, but Alex hadn’t asked her the question. “I don’t know…”

  “Find me, Alex…”

  “We have to get out of here…” Alex said as the TV fell forward, smashing as it hit the floor.

  “Ok, let’s get outside…”

  “No! A car! We have to go. Now!”

  Alex wrenched the door open and ran outside. The few cars that were in the parking area were rocking back and forth, alarms sounding. Alex ran towards the dad and daughter who were heading towards her.