by Flynn Eire
I rattled that one around in my brain but came up with nothing. Gary rejoined us and rambled happily about the camp, giving his mom the abbreviated tour, basically pointing out the ops center on the way to the clinic and some of the other rooms that weren’t all that exciting. I mean, he pointed out the damn supply closet like he was showing her Atlantis.
He waved goodbye to us before coming back and giving me a quick kiss on the lips and his mom one on the cheek.
“He’s so fucking adorable and sweet, I just want to eat him up,” I mumbled, my cheeks heating as I remembered who I was around. She simply chuckled and led the way to the exam room we could use, having brought her wheeled luggage with us.
And yes, I offered to take it, but she wouldn’t hear of it, “quite capable of pulling the handle on her own.”
“What is your coven leader doing that he shouldn’t be?” I asked her once we were alone with the door closed. “Withholding blood for favors? Overcharging?”
“Neither, but those in his good graces never have to go without, as he’s stockpiling for the end of the world,” she answered as she knelt down to her case and opened it. “I wasn’t kidding, I thought he’d have me clean his toilets until I finally gave in to his constant requests.”
I groaned. She was gorgeous. “To be his mate?”
“Something like that. The humans call them ‘mistresses.’ He’s mated to a daughter of an East Coast councilman.” I groaned again. “Yes, so sending Gary to that camp meant he would be able to reach him. But here, he was free of that shit and not leverage. I easily deflected his advances before when I had a son always around that he wouldn’t want to be seen spending much time with me in front of.
“Now Gary’s gone, and it has been made quite clear that he expects me to do my duty to my coven leader after keeping me and Gary safe for so many years. Those who are of benefit to the coven get the limited blood available, even though we still have to pay for it.” She selected what she wanted and stood. “He’s not the only unscrupulous coven leader. I’ve talked to several friends in other covens on the East Coast.
“If Gary wasn’t here and I didn’t have his first-hand knowledge of the attack, I would have thought it was a ploy to have a lot of the little dictators get more power. More are going to order their covens into the estates and seal us off. I understand it’s for protection, but it also draws eyes to us and keeps us completely reliant on the coven and whatever idiot is in charge.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” I didn’t mean it to sound as harsh as it came out. More “what are you asking me to do about it,” as I wasn’t the boss.
“Because you’re falling for my son and you won’t betray him, which means you won’t betray me. If my coven leader finds out I was truthful at what he’s doing, I bet ‘mistress’ won’t be what he wants of me but dead. He would never have allowed me to visit here, still pissed I got Gary sent here without him being aware. That’s why I hurried and caught a flight. You won’t betray me, but you’ll also know who to tell this to, as I don’t.”
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but the door opened, and Sam slipped inside with several bags of blood. He simply shrugged. “I can feel people’s pain. I know how depleted she is, and I caught the tail end of what she was saying. Call Evan.”
“Smart,” I agreed, bobbing my head. “Why not just call Ashton? You’re tight with him because of…” I nodded against, answering my own question. “That would draw attention to your connection, and you’re keeping that on the down low.”
“I knew you were more than a pretty face and useful for heavy lifting,” he teased before handing the bags to Marissa. “No more than one an hour. I know you’re depleted, but you cannot chug them without getting sick.”
“Thank you. I’ve never been this low before.” She cleared her throat as she set them on the side. “I almost bit the human next to me on the flight. I’ve never slipped like that, not even just after my transition.”
“Call Evan,” Sam told me, worry in his tone. “The last thing we need is somewhere like fucking New York having people bite humans, because I doubt he’s only doing this to her.”
“Yeah, I hear you,” I sighed, shooting her an apologetic look. I waited until Sam left to explain. “Our friend Evan mated the new Councilman Ashton, and he’s starting a lot of trouble because of what he’s learned, and he was at the center of cleaning up his father’s corruption, including the blood supply company that feeds us all. We’re worried about his safety every other day.”
“It’s never easy being the adult, is it?” she said gently, and I knew she could feel my worry.
I pulled out my phone and connected the call, ready to get a chance to talk to my old friend.
“Lynx, it’s not a good time, man,” Evan muttered quietly by way of greeting. “Theo’s got another death threat and a fucking bomb mailed to the house.”
“Get him out of there, Evan,” I snarled, scrubbing my hand over my hair. “I get he doesn’t like to look like he will run, but there’s a difference between being chicken shit and being alive to fight another day.”
“I hear you, believe me, I do. He’s my fucking mate, but he’s a stubborn ass.”
I glanced at Marissa and smiled at her. “We have a situation here with the parent of a post-trans. That’s why I was calling. I was going to tell you to come and get filled in, because there could be a big problem at a large estate and soon.”
“Vague, serious—perfect. We’ll be there by lunch. I’m sorry for the parent, I am, but shit, this is awesome timing to get him out of here.”
“He’s little. Just throw him over your shoulder and hike it out of there when there’s a problem.”
“Yeah, I’d never get sex again if I pulled that shit,” Evan drawled, his tone tired.
“See you soon, man. It’ll be okay.”
“I wish.” He hung up, and I sighed.
She sighed as well. “As I said, being an adult is never easy, though I respect a councilman who doesn’t just turn tail every time he’s threatened.”
“Yeah, but a damn bomb being sent is time to run, because what else was sent? You can’t assume it was just one ever. There are more secured housing than a damn ranch in South Dakota. It’s time for Theo to reassess. He doesn’t want to move to somewhere more populated because it puts people at risk, innocents. But not moving among them makes it too easy for every crazy to act.”
“Because some who would act when it’s him and a security team might not when they could take out a whole building somewhere busy,” she muttered before biting into the first blood bag. I watched her drink it like we did after an injury and winced at how fast it went down.
“Sorry,” I apologized when I realized how I’d been staring.
“It’s okay. I feel how upset you are at the state I’m in. It’s not your fault.”
“Our job is to protect our people, all our people,” I growled, yanking off my shirt hard enough I heard some seams tear. “I’m getting tired of all the fronts and areas to battle. I’m tired of seeing the toll it takes on my friends and even the post-trans like Gary who transitioned early. So much is changing and showing how much our system is broken after centuries and centuries of it being one way.”
“And here all you do is fix the camp’s vehicles,” she said gently as she moved the exam table to where she wanted it, already having thrown out the blood bag. “They need to be fixed, Lynx. There’s no shame in not have the fanciest job. You still fought bravely when you were attacked. Gary said the way you all charged out into the chaos to buy time until help came was magnificent from where he was sitting and reloading.”
“The amount of zakasacs that attacked was terrifying, and not the numbers, but that there are that many banding together.” I laid down where she gestured, scooting around and moving my hands under my chin. “What if it wasn’t just that one big group? What if they’re all over like that and just waiting?
“How can there even be that many? H
ow could we lose that many to the darkness? I mean, and not know we’ve lost that many? Isn’t our technology better than that?”
“Yes, but registering with covens and covens keeping actual tabs on those in their area is a new thing, as before no one wanted the potential paper trail,” she answered as she squirted oil on my back. “If someone was implicated and found on the same list as others, a whole coven could be implicated and maybe wiped out. There’s no easy answer.”
“No, I know, it’s just, my heart hurt to see so many red eyes that night. What are we doing so wrong as a society that so many would switch to killing humans?”
“You’ve been a warrior since you were young, so you get a bit removed from some of it, but there is a reason lots don’t like to live in the coven estates. They become nests, callous to humans and vicious to everyone. It’s how Charlotte’s coven switched.” I flinched, and she sighed. “People cover up too much from one council to another instead of warning each other that it could happen.
“Yes, about a decade ago, a whole coven turned zakasacs. They pulled their people into the estate, and to the outside, the humans, they became a cult. It’s not far off from what they did, as the coven leader turned first by all accounts. For years all they did was make more and more babies to bring up their numbers, and then before they could be caught or someone put together the jump in murders in Charlotte, they vanished.”
“The whole coven just up and left?” I asked, not hiding the disbelief out of my tone.
“One woman fled with her daughter and made it to the council to tell someone. They had to know what would happen when she escaped. The council sent warriors, and the coven estate was stripped bare, nothing left behind. Just abandoned. I talked to one of the female warriors who was on the raid.
“She said it was eerie, like those stories of whole colonies that disappeared long ago. And there’s also a theory among the female warriors about how the numbers are so high and completely unknown. Who says zakasacs can’t have children?”
“What?” I gasped, turning my head to look at her with wide eyes.
She shrugged and kept massaging. “They take life. They become monsters and animals, but animals can have offspring. We’re monsters to humans, and we can. Who ever said zakasacs can’t? And what would those children be like growing up in that environment? Do you think they kill before their transition or how many times before that?”
“My gods, there could be armies and armies of them then,” I whispered, moving my face between my hands as tears burned my eyes. We could be fighting battles in a war we never had a chance in hell to win, and it would kill us all.
4
Mom and Lynx’s mood was morose when I met up with them for an early lunch. I wasn’t happy about that, but she assured me it wasn’t about anything between them but other stuff. It was the “stuff” I didn’t like, as she wasn’t big on keeping secrets from me, so when she told me she couldn’t have lunch with me because of some meeting, I told her there was no fucking way I was not being there.
“You’re still a wittle baby almost warrior, and this is for the adults,” she teased me, acting like it was no big deal.
“Cut the shit, Mom. I know you needed blood when you got here. If Sam hadn’t known through his gift, I would have asked him for you. I know the people of our coven too, and whatever’s going on, whatever involves you, I’m still your son. Not being a warrior yet has nothing to do with it. I’m your family.”
“Well, you sound like an adult,” she sighed, nodding I could come, since Lynx was going to be there too.
And I almost shit my pants over who was there. London had demanded to be there, as he was son of a councilwoman and Mom said she was going to adopt him. Dimitri, since he was in charge with Alexander gone. The warrior who mated the new Councilman Ashton, Evan was his name, and a friend of Lynx’s from the way they hugged. And finally, Helios, who Mom was careful not to sit near. He didn’t take offense.
“I would like to start by addressing your concerns, Ms. Neal,” Helios said heavily. “The vampire you spoke of, the one who terrorized your coven centuries ago before you were even born and killed your grandmother, did escape our custody, killing the two vampires on his detail, one Wyrok and who should have been able to handle him, and turned zakasac. I did not know, and it was a mistake that was hushed and shouldn’t have been.”
“Thank you for telling me and acknowledging it shouldn’t have been kept quiet, as it would make sense he could return to his home coven or fixate on those of us who were related to his victims. He didn’t turn zakasac when he killed my grandmother, as it wasn’t sucking someone dry, but a blow to the head, which falls under battle. It’s how many can get away with their misdeeds until that final step to become monsters.”
Lynx nodded for her to go ahead, and I listened in horror as she told the true story of the Charlotte coven and how they had all turned zakasac. Once she gave a chance for that to sink in, she focused on Theo specifically.
“Councilman, I apologize for not going through my direct chain of command for what I’m about to tell you, and I hope you know I do so at great cost to myself and my son and pray for your protection, but I fear the same might happen to the New York coven now that we’ve been ordered to move into the coven estate.”
I blinked at Mom, never having heard her speak with such meekness and being so humble with someone, even dipping her head to him.
“Gary is a post-trans training at the camp in my jurisdiction, so it does fall within the bounds of telling me, and I thank you for your bravery. You both have my protection if I have to move you into my home.”
“You mean bulls eye out in the middle of nowhere that gets bombs sent to it,” Evan grumbled, shooting his mate a frustrated look.
“If we move to any of my other houses, you’ll be too far away from all of your friends to visit as often as we do,” the councilman snapped, and then his face fell as he realized what he admitted.
“I’m going to beat your ass,” Evan growled, storming over to his mate and dragging him to his feet. “I love you. Everyone at the ranch could have died, including Dottie. I know you don’t want to leave her, and she’ll want to stay close to her family, but the threat is now. We can go back. I never said sell the property and be done with it. For now and the near future until things settle better and we cut out more of the bad. I can’t lose you, Theo.”
“Okay, I’m sorry,” he rasped, hugging Evan. “Okay, we can move to wherever you think is best. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s just whichever way I turn I put people in danger, and I hate that it always includes you.”
“I would die a million times to protect you and the good you do for our people, but what I can’t handle is losing you.”
“I can’t lose you either.”
“Then let me protect us better.”
“Okay, okay, I—whatever you want.”
“Well, that worked out well, because I was about to meddle all over them with what I was feeling from them,” Mom confessed to me quietly, and I leaned in and bumped her shoulder. “Don’t get mad at me for what I’m going to tell them. You might not be a boy anymore, but you’ll always be my boy.”
“I know,” I sighed, hating—and respecting—how much she took on herself without ever asking for help. It was why I was so scared. It had to be pretty bad for her to actually admit help was needed.
My heart ached as I listened to her tell them what our coven leader had been up to and especially after I had left all the dirty shit he’d pulled to get what he wanted. Most of it skirted what could be proven or what many people would take notice of… Which really just made him an evil Bond villain in plain sight.
“That’s someone I worry about becoming a zakasac when he gets more control over us and less chances for any of us to figure out a way for help or to get away,” she finished as everyone sat there and digested all she had unloaded.
“You can’t go back to that coven,” Councilman Ashton stated, recovering first.<
br />
“I know. Even once he’s dealt with, however, I snitched to outsiders, going around him and even our council.”
“Mom, you love that coven,” I rasped, realizing the depth of what she was going to go through to do the right thing.
“No, I loved New York. I loved our life in New York, the people—including the humans—and the life of living there. I loved my shop, which I can’t keep now anyways. I believe you, my son, have given me a chance to find a better life than what I had. Certainly it gave me a chance to find the help the coven needs without risking my life or who to trust, as you trust all these people here.”
I flinched, and she frowned. “I don’t know all of them, Mom. I trust Helios and Dimitri. Lynx. All the guys trust Evan and Councilman Aston. And London’s really awesome to the post-trans, but his mom’s a councilwoman and I—”
“My mother is a horrible mother and not the best woman, but she is a good councilwoman,” London assured us. “She takes her responsibility to her people above all others, which is part of why she was a shit mother. She also takes the family name too seriously, but always, always does her duty to her people come first. I might not always agree with her rulings, as is life, but this would disgust and concern her. I need to call her.”
“You want to get the West Coast council involved in this?” Councilman Ashton asked, his disapproval clear in his tone.
London shot him a hard look. “We might never be besties because of the shit you pulled and the way you’ve pissed people off, including my mother, but we land on the same side of issues, and so does she. You will need help to make this an issue across all the councils and covens, not just handling New York.
“Ms. Neal is right that this is the symptom of a larger problem that could be disastrous. Or my greatest fear is this has been the plan all along. What if this is what the zakasacs have been working for? Pushing and pulling us around a game board we don’t know we’re on so they can get massive covens like New York, L.A., or Chicago to become like Charlotte? They’d blow the lid off all of us and overrun America.”