“That’s not why we’re here. Step back into formation or face a formal reprimand.” His glare effortlessly cowed them and they moved to their original positions. When whispers started up again, Markus silenced them with a single glance.
Damn, he was a scary son of a bitch. Elites didn’t take orders from Enforcers, only the Coterie. And even they didn’t want to tangle with him.
The other Elite Enforcers in the room scarcely gave Julia a second glance. None of them had any ties to her as Enforcers seldom interacted with each other unless an investigation required it.
All heads swiveled towards Markus as he strode over to the entertainment system. While he brought the computer out of sleep, he attached a USB key to the machine. Browsing through the folders, he found the one he wanted and double clicked on it. The large TV flickered to life as the video played.
No sound accompanied the security footage, just three second bursts of video.
A summoning.
A down and dirty summoning of a demon improperly chained.
Jackson could tell within seconds they’d drawn several of the symbols incorrectly and the holding circle had a minuscule break in the line. Energy leaked from it. A demon would break this binding without exerting itself, even a common imp would slip this lease.
Even more fascinating, he recognized the ritual. The one they accused him of casting. Several details were different, such as the sloppy ritual, the poorly drawn circle and, most important of all, the lack of Jackson.
No trace of him at all in this video. Nada, zip, zilch.
What in the nine hells? Not that he was complaining. While nice not to see “himself” releasing a demon that slaughtered several people, it made no damn sense.
Once he moved past his confusion, he scrutinized the unfolding events and the key players. Two unknown mages were the focus of the circle and the energy. They chanted, or he assumed they did, and poured their energy into the symbols. Neither seemed to notice the gradual, but steady, leak of magic. Standing behind them were three familiar werewolves, Logan and two of his personal Elite Enforcers. Jackson had seen them around before, always with the Coterie leader.
What were they called again? Demons his specialty, not werewolves, so he didn’t attach too much importance to their names. He cared about Sylvia and her pack and ignored the rest.
He did remember their names rhymed. Terry and Larry? No. Shawn and Don? Nope, not that either. Oh yes, that’s right, Kim and Jim. Habit had him snapping his fingers with that thought. Except the finger cuffs held them firm. Damn restraints.
Smaller of the other two, Kim was leaner though no less muscled. His bright blonde hair gave him a surfer appearance, although the cruel glint in his eye belied the innocent act. Jim was more in line with a football player. Everything about him solid and heavy. His bald head and soul patch coupled with his fake tattoos glorifying death made him thuggish.
All three stood outside the circle, taking no part in the summoning. Without magical abilities, they would’ve caused complications to the spell. Not that they could’ve messed it up any more than these two simpleton mages. They had no business working a ritual.
A portal opened to the demon’s plane of existence, causing a few shocked mutterings from those familiar with summonings. The idiots’ skill level nowhere near proficient enough, and yet somehow they succeeded.
They opened a door when it should’ve sucked them in, devouring their energy as punishment.
The demon they called forth was an ugly, dark grey creature, a horrifying nightmare from the sea. Tentacles instead of arms, sharp looking frills on both sides of its head, soulless black eyes and several rows of pointed teeth in its elongated mouth. It stood on four squat legs, each one ending oddly in cloven hoofs. When summoned, demons came without their “civilized” clothing. Their true faces staring back at the mage crazy enough disturb them.
Scanning the room, he gauged everyone’s reaction. Julia recognized the video, the tiny furrow between her brows giving away her confusion. Gavin glared at Logan, ignoring the video. Logan, however, appeared to be inching his way towards the exit with his two Elites in tow. Markus caught the stealthy attempt at a getaway and signaled for several Mage Elites to block their path. Logan glowered at them, but settled down.
His partner, Victor, also figured out the same mistakes he did and intently watched. His partner’s lips moving along with the mages on the screen. Victor shook his head in disbelief. Great, so the mages were also screwing up the words. Truly a wonder they succeeded.
The Coterie alternately appeared bored or disinterested. The Fae rarely cared for mortal intrigue unless they had a hand in it. Titania and Una had lifted their veils to watch the video and talked quietly to each other while shooting poisonous glares at Mab and Duessa. Both of the Dark Fay Coterie seemed oblivious and quite indifferent to the whole processing.
Augustus and Leonora stood as still and lifeless as statues. It was downright creepy when vampires forgot to pretend to be human, or didn’t care to put on the pretense. No blinking, no breathing, no nervous twitching, nothing at all. Jackson hastily averted his eyes from them. He already knew they had nothing to do with this and would have enough to say once they found out about the vampire blood.
While Mara and Roan stood next to Felix and Paige, they exchanged no words. In silence they watched events unfold on the screen. He caught a flicker of interest from both the mage councilors although it passed too swiftly for him to understand why. The human councilors appeared as bored as the Fae. None of their people involved with this fiasco, they had little say in the outcome. They too would have a stronger opinion once they found out about the hunts.
Oonis, well, it was hard to predict his thoughts. He didn’t react in a conventional manner and, even after so many years hunting demons, Jackson still didn’t have a solid grasp on their facial expressions. Unless they were baring their teeth. He usually took that as a sign they wanted to rip him apart and for the most part he was correct.
Aaron was the only one with a visible reaction to the video, a tightening of the jaw and a small facial tick. Was he involved in this nasty business, disgusted by the whole thing or just angry he needed to do damage control? Werewolves were big on power and appearing strong at all times. This would be a huge blow to the control of their territory if news leaked. Alphas could be challenged at any time and, more often than not, to the death.
Challenging a Coterie Alpha was rare though and the werewolves voted their leaders in since they governed the entire globe. The Alphas below them, however, were fair game and needed to rule with an iron fist. Show no mercy, show no weakness.
Jackson turned back to the video in time to see the demon break free. No one in the room reacted, this moment expected from the beginning. The inept mages, however, shouted in horror. Perhaps they shrieked like small children, hard to tell without any sound. Their fear palpable when the demon attacked, assaulting both of them, wrapping its tentacles around their throats. Mere seconds was all it took, from one breath to the next and the mages were dead.
With horrifying glee, the demon devoured them, splattering gore and blood all over the circle with some gobs of goo landing on the werewolves. They never flinched. In fact, they seemed to enjoy the carnage.
Once the demon finished its meal, it stared at the werewolves before disappearing into the night. The mages were sacrifices, unknowing and unwilling ones at that. A glance at Gavin confirmed his thoughts. This demon had supplied the werewolves with the blood. They must have found a way to bind it through the blood sacrifice. A rarity for a non-magic user to do.
The bond meant they could call the demon with minimum effort even after the Mage Enforcers banished it.
Reaching over to remove the ball gag and restraints, Markus took charge immediately. “Jackson didn’t summon and release the demon. He’s innocent. Logan, however, is not. He had those mages summon the demon.”
He paused as this new information sunk into the minds of the Coterie
. Jackson saw the small flicker of satisfaction cross Markus’ face before it disappeared.
Logan instantly protested, “No, that’s a lie! This video's doctored. We’ve all seen the original and it clearly shows Jackson as the summoner. I had nothing to do with this!”
He thumped a fist on the back of the couch and a sharp crack echoed in the air as the wood broke under his rage. Angry he took a step toward Markus, forgetting about the Elites blocking his path. Bumping into them, he growled deep from his throat, not once revealing any fear or guilt through body language.
Not a one moved from his path. While he was physically larger than the Elites, they had more power combined, had spent years training for situations such as this.
“Oh?” Markus raised an eyebrow, a distinct chill emanating from him. “I’m the one who reconstructed the video. Heavily edited and well done. Once I stripped away the false video, it shows you and your Elites, not Jackson.”
Jackson suppressed the shiver of fear crawling up his spine, schooling his features to show nothing but blankness. Glad the older mage was on his side this time, he watched the werewolf closely, searching for any chink in his armour. The Coterie learned to hide their emotions as effectively as Enforcers.
“Did you also have nothing to do with the humans hunted down for sport?” Markus slyly asked.
And there was the first chink. The loaded question visibly startled Logan. Wary, sensing the hidden noose around his neck, he glanced at his two Elites before focusing on Markus again.
“Humans? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He went on the offensive, trying to deflect from himself. “This isn’t about me. This is about Jackson. We’ve finally caught him and we can use him as an example. Show everyone no one escapes the justice of the Coterie.”
He tried to impassion the rest of the room, sway them to his side. No one took the bait. Too much doubt and unanswered questions swirled in the air.
“What are you talking about? What humans?” Felix demanded, his fingers digging into the soft fabric of the couch. Paige nodded in support, boring holes into Logan, her bright blue eyes darkened with open hostility.
“Several humans have gone missing in the area. At first, we thought runaway or the usual human on human murder. Recently, however, we found proof certain werewolves have been hunting humans for sport. They’re being starved and then released, giving them hope for survival only to be torn to bits.” Markus explained.
He paused, waiting for the outrage and he wasn’t disappointed. Page and Felix exploded in anger, demanding answers. Markus waited a few moments, letting their fury build before he cut them off.
“We have a survivor, someone who can ID the werewolves.” Markus again had to wait out the eruption of voices.
The loudest was Logan claiming it impossible. Jackson resisted the urge to laugh. He never thought this would clear his name. Soon, they’d have Logan in custody and he would be free with all charges dropped against him.
“Gavin, please step forward. Explain to the Coterie what you’ve told us.” There was no disobeying the hard command in Markus’ voice.
Hesitant, he stepped forward. Jackson couldn’t imagine the fear and pain of facing his captors again so soon after his escape. Gavin’s voice shook and broke a few times as he gave a brief overview of the hell he went through.
“They abducted me off the streets on my way home and held me captive in a small cage with several other humans. Starved and tortured for several days. I think. I lost track of time. Many times, two werewolves came and dragged out a human, releasing them only to hunt them down. They were kind enough,” he spat out, “to give them a head start, laughing the entire time. I heard them joking fear made the meat taste better. After several minutes, the third werewolf would join them and they’d all change so they could hunt the human.”
How many times did he wake screaming in the night?
“Are those werewolves in this room right now?” Gavin nodded in response to Markus’ question. “Please point them out.”
Slowly, Gavin raised his hand and pointed to Logan and then his two personal Elite Enforcers.
“Those three. They’re the ones who held us captive. The two in the back did most of the torturing while the other one watched.”
The shouts louder this time as everyone tried to talk over each other. Summoning and losing control of a demon was one thing, but kidnapping, torturing and hunting other races, especially the weakest one, was a death sentence.
From the corner of his eye, Jackson saw a mountain of a man barrel into the room. Silver earrings glinted from his ears and eyebrow, brilliant against his black skin. A silver stud flashed in his lower lip. Normal earrings failed to remain in his body due to the accelerated healing of his kind. Silver interfered with the healing process and werewolves used them to keep the holes open. It also hurt like hell and proved who had a high threshold for pain. As one of the Top Alphas for Canada, Derek showed he had a large set of balls, willing and able to take on challengers, simply by the amount of silver on his face.
Of course, it helped he was well over six feet tall, muscular and just plain mean looking. Jackson had yet to meet an Alpha who appeared cuddly and nice. Derek’s short black mohawk absorbed the light and emphasized his thick neck. He looked like a linebacker, ready to break any opposition and Jackson was damn glad he wasn’t the reason for the angry, hateful look on Derek’s face.
“Where is she, you son of a bitch? What have you done with her?” Derek yelled as he continued to push his way through the room. Fury and aggression radiated from him, causing several people to fall back. It was better to stay out of arm’s reach when confronted with a pissed off werewolf.
The Elites, however, stood their ground in front of Logan. They had their orders and would carry them out to their deaths. Or, more preferably, once their commander gave the order to stand down.
Logan looked confused, “Who are you talking about?”
“Sylvia. Where is she? I can’t link properly with her, but I know she’s in pain. If you don’t tell me what you’ve done to her, I will rip you apart with my bare hands.” As if to prove his point, his fingers changed into claws, his canine teeth elongated and his eyes turned a golden amber hue. A low growl rumbled in his chest, a warning to the Coterie leader.
“One of ours? I wouldn’t harm another werewolf, especially not an Enforcer. They’re too precious to our race. The other races; they’re just prey, to be hunted for our amusement.” Logan’s scorn hard to miss.
“You admit it then.” Gavin said in a strong voice, hatred overcoming his fear.
“I admit nothing, weak human, except I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Sylvia.” He sneered at Gavin.
“Not so weak with the vampire blood you forced into me. You wanted challenging prey, remember?” Gavin grounded out, his disgust and rage thickening his voice, a voice still raw from weeks of abuse.
The Vampire Coterie leader, Augustus, perked up at the mention of vampire blood, the first sign of life from him since the meeting started. Leonora, his counterpart, glared at Logan, her crimson lips compressed. Neither would stand for vampire blood being used on other races.
“What’s this?” Augustus demanded. He leaned on the couch, gripping the top.
“Pure, ancient vampire blood supplied by a demon. He forces humans to drink it so they can hunt them.” Gavin explained.
“That’s preposterous. That goes against both the Werewolf Treaty as well as the agreement with the vampires to leave them alone.” Aaron interjected, trying to calm a tense situation. He took a step away from Logan, separating himself from the mess.
“Oh really? Then why is his heart racing? Why can I smell his guilt and fear? The blood hasn’t worn off me yet.” Gavin gave a grim smile knowing the other vampires and werewolves could sense the same thing.
“We found the building, asshole. Thought you were clever, huh? Bringing them to an abandoned slaughter house.” Victor taunted from across the room. “
Now we have more witnesses and they all identified you and your two lackeys.”
“Is this true, Logan? Have you been hunting humans?” Aaron demanded, a low growl escaping with his words and his amber eyes shone.
Logan snarled at Gavin, "Humans are nothing but prey, cattle for us to feed on. Werewolves hunted your pathetic kind for food and sport long before the damn Treaties. You're a plague on this earth, a parasite sucking this planet dry. A culling is needed."
Augustus, beyond pissed, bellowed in rage, “Who?! Who have you stolen blood from? I will make you bleed for this insult, little dog.”
Leonora bared her fangs at Logan and his Elites, backing up Augustus’ threat. Jackson wondered if the Elites would be able to contain the Coterie if violence erupted.
Chapter Twenty-Four
THE VAMPIRE AND werewolf leaders yelled at each other, fangs bared and ready for blood. Julia leaned over to Jackson. She placed her hand on his arm, gaining his attention.
“Oh shit. That’s what the human meant.” Her skin crawled at the thought of Sylvia with those sick bastards.
“What? What do you mean?”
“The man said he hoped your other bitch would provide entertainment too. They took Sylvia. Oh shit, they took her.” Bile rose in her throat as she remembered his threats of breaking her and the twisted lust in his voice.
Derek overheard them. He shot across the room and forced his way into their conversation. “What man? When did this happen?”
Julia looked to Markus for permission. The human was his prisoner and his responsibility for interrogation. Her partner didn’t share when it came to what he considered his property. When he gave her a nod, she explained to Derek what happened the night at the gallery.
“We have him and he’s being interrogated. We haven’t forced much from him yet.” Markus interjected. Only a matter of time before the suspect cracked. No one withstood her partner for long.
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