by Petra Landon
“I can’t say the pleasure’s mine” Tasia countered steadily, meeting the Vampire’s eyes flush on. “This encounter is likely to be as much a fiasco for you as the last one.”
Bianchi’s smile vanished abruptly, his dark eyes narrowing on Tasia. “Watch your mouth, little witch” he warned.
But Tasia was past being frightened by the Vampire, her fury overriding her usual caution. She’d been running, in one form or another, since the night she’d climbed a tree and hopped through a window to free Hawk from his cage. It was time to stop.
“Why should I?” she retorted, any trace of fear banished by a cloud of fury. “Our last meeting ended in spectacular failure for you, and so will this one.”
Sara and Caro glanced at their friend, identical expressions of astonishment on their faces. They had never seen Tasia like this. After the first shock, Caro exchanged a pregnant glance with Sara, looking away to hide her amusement.
An ugly expression flitted across the Vampire’s face as he glared down at a calm and collected Tasia, who returned his stare with composure.
“What do you want?” Sara asked abruptly, distracting the Vampire from his focus on Tasia. Infinitely amused by her friend’s defiance, Sara thought it prudent to distract the leech.
The dark eyes moved to peruse her. “You, Sara Manotti” the Vampire responded smoothly, his good humor seemingly restored. “I came here to talk to you.”
Sara leant back against her chair. She was not a Shifter for nothing. She might not be typical of her kind, but she was a Shifter nevertheless. “What about?” she asked disinterestedly, her attitude one of boredom.
Bianchi pulled out the spare chair to seat himself without permission, seemingly unfazed by the lukewarm welcome. “I’ve a message for your Alpha.”
“What’s stopping you from delivering it to him?” Sara’s tone was blunt to the point of rudeness.
The Italian Vampire laughed lightly, as if the query was amusing. “Tell him that I’ve no beef with him, as you Americans say. I just need a word with Sienna in private.”
“Is that it?” Sara arched her eyebrow fluidly. “This is why you barged in here to interrupt my lunch with my friends?”
“More or less” Bianchi shrugged elegantly. “Of course, if he won’t allow me access to Sienna, then I might have to get more strident.”
“Strident” Caro muttered under her breath, just as Tasia piped up “We’re talking about Raoul Merceau, right?”
The hint of amusement in the Wizard’s voice had the Vampire scowling in reaction.
“Yes” Bianchi said shortly, without glancing at her.
“Are you sure it’s wise to challenge the Alpha?” Tasia inquired silkily. “He outsmarted you easily in Chicago. What makes you think he’ll be easier to manipulate on his own turf?”
Bianchi turned wrathful eyes on Tasia but before he could say anything, Evgeny and Joaquim came striding to a stop by the table. Evgeny’s eyes shot immediately to Tasia — she was their responsibility, entrusted to them by both his Were-Alpha and the Alpha Protector.
“What do you want, leech?” Joaquim demanded.
“Nothing that’s your business, Shifter” Bianchi retorted.
Sara ignored the Vampire to turn to Joaquim, her eyes signaling a silent message to her were-pack mate. “He says he came here with a message for the Alpha.”
“Why the cavalry?” Bianchi queried. “If I had intentions to harm anyone, I’d have done so already. This is just a friendly visit — a reminder to the Alpha, if you will, that we come in peace.”
“You’re obviously new to town, leech. Our Alpha has punished men for lesser crimes” Joaquim said calmly, as the others stared at the Vampire with varying degrees of hostility, distaste, anger and disbelief.
“I can see that I’ve overstayed my welcome here” the Vampire said lightly, standing up. “Until we meet again, Sara Manotti.” He took his leave of the Shifter, ignoring everyone else to stride over and join three other Vampires at a distant table.
“Duncan knows” Sara informed Joaquim promptly. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Good. Until then, we’ll stay put. If you ladies don’t have any objections, Evgeny and I will join you.”
“Please” Caro invited the two male Shifters. As the men busied themselves hunting for a chair, Caro glanced incredulously at her two friends.
“I don’t like the look of that one” she whispered, her gaze on the table where Bianchi sat with his entourage.
“I’ve never met him before.” Sara shot a glance at Tasia. “But the Alpha’s going to be furious about this.”
“I have” Tasia said firmly in a low voice. “He’s dangerous. I’m glad you called Duncan.”
“Hmm … I’ve never seen you like this, Tas.” Caro looked curious.
Tasia took a deep breath. “He got me hopping mad by teasing me about our last encounter. It’s where he gave the order to kill me.”
“What!” Caro exclaimed. Sara looked shocked.
“Long story” Tasia admitted. “I don’t want to get into it with the Clan listening in.”
Duncan strode in fifteen minutes later with a contingent of Shifters. He glanced around the busy restaurant to zero in on them. The other Shifters parked themselves unobtrusively by the door while Duncan strode to the table.
“Everyone okay?” he inquired in his unhurried way, his eyes roving over the three ladies and the two male Shifters.
“Yes” Sara spoke for all of them.
“It’s Rafaelo Bianchi” Tasia said to the English Shifter. “He’s at that table with some of his men.”
Duncan shot a look at the table, where the four Vampires pretended to ignore his presence and that of the Shifters who’d accompanied him into the restaurant.
Duncan turned to them. “Joaquim and Evgeny will escort everyone out to the waiting cars. We’ve friends at the door standing by to assist.”
“Caroline, we’ll be happy to give you a ride wherever you’re going. I’m sorry you got caught up in Pack business, but I don’t think it advisable for you to make your way back by yourself” he said to the Wizard.
“Thank you, Duncan” Caro said promptly. “No apologies necessary — I enjoyed the spectacle.” She shot a mischievous glance at Tasia. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Caro was bursting with questions for her friends — questions she had to hold off due to the presence of the other Shifters and the Clan, two Chosen with extraordinary auditory abilities.
“I’m going to have a chat with Bianchi” Duncan said purposefully.
He shot a final glance at Joaquim before striding away.
“You’re one of Merceau’s, aren’t you?” Bianchi greeted him confidently.
Duncan contemplated the Vampire. “You’ve made a big mistake, Bianchi” he warned softly. “This is not an Alpha you want to mess with.”
“I know his reputation.” Bianchi smiled. “I would never mess with him.”
Duncan’s expression hardened. “You accosted a Shifter on Pack turf. Raoul doesn’t tolerate transgressions like this.”
“I didn’t accost anyone. I merely want to deliver a message to the Alpha.”
“Let’s hope he sees it that way. We both know there are other ways of communicating with him.”
“This was more fun though” the Vampire pointed out mildly.
“Was it? You’ve tweaked the wrong tiger’s tail here, Bianchi.” Duncan shook his head, the expression on his face causing the Vampire’s companions to glance uneasily at their leader. “I’d ask Mistress Franciszka what Raoul did to her the last time she displeased him. And she had an army of her leeches guarding her. You have …” Duncan’s eyes wandered dismissively over Bianchi’s companions, “these.”
“Bianchi approached Sara at lunch today” Duncan announced, striding into the Alpha’s Room.
Raoul’s eyes snapped up from the document he was perusing. “Is she hurt?”
“She’s fine. She was asked t
o deliver a message to you.”
“He wants Sienna” Raoul interjected, his expression grim.
“He wants Sienna” Duncan acknowledged. “The big surprise is he approached Sara while she was at lunch with her friends — Tasia and Caroline Hamilton.”
Raoul straightened slowly in his chair. He had expected the Vampire to be more subtle in his approach.
“Everyone’s fine” Duncan assured him. “By all accounts, it was Sara the leech wanted, although he did greet both Caroline and Tasia by name. That tells me he’s been keeping tabs on her. He knew about her lunch appointment today.”
“How would he know that?” The Alpha looked curious.
“Sara’s been having lunch with both Tasia and Caroline regularly for weeks. Bianchi’s probably had someone keeping tabs on her for a while.”
Raoul contemplated his friend as Franciszka’s warning rang in his head. She had warned him to keep vulnerable Pack members close to home while Bianchi was in town.
“Franciszka was right” he remarked.
“He’s been waiting and watching for a lot longer than we knew, Raoul.” Duncan’s eyes narrowed. “He zeroed in on Sara soon enough.”
“He’s tweaking my tail, to test how far I’m willing to go for Sienna. Did he alarm anyone?”
Duncan shook his head. “They were in a crowded restaurant when Sara smelt the leeches. Tasia called Evgeny and Joaquim, who were ten minutes away. When she detected the presence of a dozen leeches, Sara called me, realizing that Joaquim and Evgeny might be outnumbered. Sara assumed that Tasia was their target because of that early business with Franciszka’s leeches. Bianchi delivered his message to Sara, staying to banter a little with the ladies. When Joaquim and Evgeny made their presence felt, Bianchi retired to another table, ostensibly to keep an eye on everyone. Joaquim correctly decided to wait until more Shifter reinforcements could arrive to extricate them.” Duncan gave a succinct account of the encounter, pulled together from his conversations with all the five involved.
Raoul’s expression hardened. “It’s time I had a chat with Bianchi. Skulking here is one thing but when he tries a stunt like this, he’s crossed the line. Find out where he’s putting up, Duncan. I’ll pay him a visit.”
“On it, Raoul” Duncan assured him, having anticipated the reaction. Bianchi hounding Sara on her Pack’s turf was bad form.
“Where’s Sara now?”
“Back at work.” Duncan paused. “I’ve got it covered, Raoul. She won’t be vulnerable to Bianchi again. Hawk and I are reviewing all Shifters who might become the leeches’ next target.”
The other Were-Alphas would need go through a similar exercise, once warned of the threat Bianchi’s presence in the city posed to the more vulnerable members of the Pack.
“I want to talk to Sara when she’s done tonight” the Alpha directed.
Duncan nodded.
“And the witchling, too” Raoul added. “She’s grounded at the Lair, for the time being. No more venturing out with just Evgeny and Joaquim for protection. Bianchi is way too dangerous for her.”
“I’ll let her know.”
“Call the Council in as soon as possible. Now that Bianchi has made his move, the sooner we cover our flanks the better. I want our vulnerable Shifters guarded night and day.”
“I’ll make the calls, Raoul.”
The Alpha’s cell trilled loudly and he glanced at the display.
“David Hamilton” he murmured.
“Probably heard what transpired this afternoon. I gave Caroline a ride back to work after her exciting lunch.”
“I’d better take this.” Raoul excused himself to answer the call.
“David, what can I do for you?”
“I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, Raoul” David Hamilton said in his slow, methodical way. “I wanted you to hear this from me first. The GCW has directed me to release Ted Anderson into their custody.”
Ted Anderson was the Guardian who’d hired mercenary Shifters to assault female Wizards in San Francisco. The reign of terror had eventually culminated in him holding Tasia hostage in the local Registry. The Pack had besieged the Wizard Registry and the Alpha had handed the Guardian over to the local Wizards to stand trial for his crimes against them. Raoul had even allowed Hamilton’s men access to the rogue Shifters in Pack custody to gather evidence against Anderson.
“This is not entirely unexpected” Hamilton sighed, as the Alpha remained silent. “I didn’t expect the Guardians to allow us to hold one of their own for long. But what concerns me is what my sources within the GCW are saying — they don’t plan to prosecute Anderson.”
“I see” Raoul said quietly. He’d not really expected anything else. Although considering the Guardian’s crimes had been against Wizards, the very Chosen he was sworn to protect, Raoul had assumed that the GCW would at least hold an in-house trial, even if just for show.
“I’ve registered an official protest with both the GCW and the Office of First Wizard, but I’m not expecting much to come of it” David continued. “Thanks to the testimony of the mercenaries you gave us access to, we have documented evidence against Anderson. Unfortunately, the GCW doesn’t seem interested in even taking a look at what we have.”
“What do you think is going on here, David?” Raoul inquired. Usually, he would never ask David about Wizard business, but this matter was different. The Pack had captured and delivered the Guardian into David Hamilton’s custody.
“Word is there’s serious conflict between the Guardian Council and the First Wizard. I doubt the First Wizard would be willing to rock the boat on this matter. My sources say that the Guardians believe Anderson simply lost his way — his transgression is not severe enough to deserve any punishment. I don’t agree with that view — it was my Wizards he lost his way against. In any case, he’ll not be punished any time soon. And I don’t have the power to ensure that he is. The only thing I can do is make sure that he’s never welcome in my city again.”
Raoul pondered the matter. “Could you do me a favor, David? Don’t make Anderson unwelcome in San Francisco. I’ve a feeling he’ll be back here sooner than later.”
There was a pause before David spoke again.
“You have a plan, Raoul?”
“You might not be able to hold him accountable, David, but I certainly can. It’ll be a lot easier if he walks onto my turf on his own.”
“I see.” David wondered what the Alpha had against Anderson. The Guardian had gone after Wizards, not Shifters. And by all accounts, the Guardian had been punished enough for Tasia Armstrong.
In the end, David decided that he didn’t really care why Raoul wanted Anderson as long as the Guardian got the punishment he deserved. He knew the Alpha was more than capable of delivering that punishment.
“I can certainly rescind my orders to make him unwelcome here” David offered.
“Good. If you could let me know when Anderson sets foot here again, I’ll take over from there.”
“It’s a deal, Raoul. I don’t know what’s going on in San Diego, but it makes my blood boil to see someone like Anderson walk away scot free from this.”
“Well, if you believe the gossip, I’m always up for teaching Wizards a lesson” Raoul said blandly, completely deadpan.
David chuckled in response. Having worked with the Alpha for years now, he knew enough to separate rumors from fact.
“There’s something else” David Hamilton added. “Caro told me about her Clan encounter at lunch.”
“Aah. I hope it did not disturb her.”
“Caro’s not that easily fazed” stated her fond father. “I’m assuming these are not Franciszka’s.”
“No, they’re not. In fact, Franciszka warned me about them.”
“She did?” David was clearly surprised. The Vampires had never been known for altruism of this kind.
“She’s currently feeling a sense of solidarity with me” Raoul acknowledged wryly. “It won’t last long. These new leeches
are led by a smarmy dangerous blood sucker called Rafaelo Bianchi who owes allegiance to the Lombardi Family.”
“You’ve had run-ins with him before in Chicago, Caro tells me.”
“Yes.” Raoul was surprised at Caroline’s knowledge of that encounter. That must have been some banter between Bianchi and the others, if Caroline Hamilton had found out about Chicago.
“He wants access to Sienna McAlister, if I understand correctly” David said.
“Yes.”
“Hmm. My sources tell me that one of the reasons for the renewed tension between the First Wizard and the Guardian Council is Sienna — specifically, that her protection has been entrusted to a Shifter Pack and not the Guardians.”
The Alpha, who had already guessed this, was not surprised.
“I thought you should know that, Raoul.”
“I appreciate it, David. What I don’t understand is why the GCW would hold the First Wizard responsible for this. It was Sienna and Jason LaRue’s decision to accept my hospitality, and he is one of theirs.”
“Nothing regarding Sienna McAlister’s welfare is done without the First Wizard’s consent. This is not my secret to tell, but something I feel you should know, Raoul. Especially since your hospitality to Sienna has brought danger onto your Pack.”
Taken aback, the Alpha remained silent.
“I know Bianchi threatened your Shifters. If there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to reach out, Raoul. Sienna’s safety is a Wizard responsibility. We have abrogated our responsibility by letting you shoulder a burden that was never yours to begin with. Plus, I owe you one for Anderson — we’d never have figured out what was going on without your help.”
“I appreciate that, David.”
“Good. There’s something else I wanted to run by you.”
“Of course.”
“We’ve a decent relationship built up over the years, Raoul, don’t we?”
“We do” the Alpha acknowledged. He respected the older Wizard who led his flock fairly and was always willing to work with other Chosen.
“With all the turmoil at Headquarters in San Diego, how do you feel about creating an alliance of local Chosen to administer our affairs in San Francisco? It’ll foster greater co-operation between us and might even allow us other opportunities to celebrate our achievements together, like the one you hosted at the Lair” he added lightly.