Circles appeared under Aiyanna’s eyes, but Cael could sense the remaining energy in her. It buzzed, vibrating against his skin where he held her cheek in his palm. He held her for a moment. He had to, to convince himself she was still hale and whole despite a monster possibly moving about the house they stood in.
“It was Oren,” Charlie cried over the sound of her rustling clothes. “He jumped me in the shower. I—I tried to clean up the blood, because I didn’t want to stain the bathtub.” There were no more audible movements now, only the sound of withheld sobs.
Aiyanna went to her, holding the vampire as she cried. Cael watched the door.
“I wanted this to be home so badly.” Charlie buried her face in her hands. “I needed a real home, you know? Somewhere I didn’t have to lock my bedroom door.”
“We’ll help you get there,” Aiyanna promised.
Cael nodded. No one deserved to live on the run, looking over their shoulders, fear dictating every direction they took. The world could handle all types of creatures, but not ones who brought only the destruction of life.
Pureblood had to be stopped, and not only in New Orleans.
“Aiyanna! We need you,” Sophia called from down the hall.
Cael’s phone rang, and Raphael told him he and Mary found Christian in the same state downstairs. He filled his Alpha in on the situation he’d witnessed. Before he hung up, he heard Sebastian’s voice. The other werewolf and Cassidy had arrived.
Aiyanna ran to the next bedroom and healed Porter, whose cuts were in almost the exact places Charlie’s had been. By the time she lifted her hands from the vampire’s wrists she had paled, looking exactly as she had before she passed out mere days ago, when she’d been healing the humans. Where were the humans?
He stopped her when she moved to help the next vampire, Ira. Sophia shouted for Aiyanna to hurry, but Cael wouldn’t budge. The vibrations inside her diminished, and even her movements were slow.
“Wait a moment,” he whispered.
Footsteps came up the stairs, followed by everyone who’d been on the lower level. Christian sprinted for Porter and Charlie, who stood in the hall, their shaking hands linked.
Cassidy followed Sophia’s curses into Ira’s bedroom, saving Aiyanna from having to use the remainder of her energies. Or so Cael thought until Heath emerged from the last room on the left, shaking his head.
“Sebastian!” The were could energize others’ powers, something Cael suspected involved his affinity for electricity. “Help Aiyanna.”
She’d already followed Heath back inside the room, where she kneeled beside Oren, who was sprawled on the floor beside his bed. His wounds were the worst, surprising Cael. He’d expected to find one of the humans injured, not Oren. He’s the one who did this to his friends. Had he harmed himself, or did someone else do this to him?
There was a hole in his throat, and Cael knew at least ninety percent of his blood soaked the carpet around them. He was almost certainly dead. Except Aiyanna poured her magic into him, growling under her breath.
“You don’t get off this easy, you asshole. You can’t just die.”
Oren seemed to disagree.
Heath, who was monitoring the man’s pulse with his fingers, shook his head. “Give it up. He’s dead, probably has been for a while now.”
Aiyanna cursed darkly, pounding her fist into the bedframe. Silently, Sebastian approached her and took her hand. Almost instantly, her coloring came back, and her breathing became smoother.
“Thanks,” she murmured. It wasn’t often Sebastian could help her when she was drained, as he couldn’t travel through the air and was usually at Full Moon all day. Now that Cael could use air that way, he planned to take Aiyanna to Sebastian whenever this happened. Helping her didn’t drain Sebastian in the least, and it would greatly ease Cael’s concerns about her overworking herself.
Sebastian inclined his head to Aiyanna and made for his mate. Briony stood in the doorway clutching her stomach. She wore the distinct expression of someone about to vomit. Not long after Sebastian went to her, the sounds of throwing up emanated from one of the nearby bathrooms.
“We need to find the humans.” Cael wrapped an arm around Aiyanna and squeezed.
Together, they searched the rest of the house while Sophia and Heath questioned the vampires. There was no one else to be found. Frustrated, they followed voices of an intense discussion until they met up with everyone in the kitchen. Briony was whipping up something in the blender, still looking a little green, while Heath helped himself to some leftover pizza he found in the fridge.
None of the vampires seemed keen on eating, but Heath and Sophia happily ate the pizza cold, shrugging when the rest of the pack turned down their offers for a slice.
“We were telling them we think we were drugged. Oren was strong, but he wouldn’t have been able to incapacitate all of us without some help.”
“I knew I felt funny last night,” Porter murmured, clutching his head. “Whatever he gave us brings a bitch of a hangover. Can we dim the lights?”
Mary acquiesced from her spot leaning against the far wall. The lighting taken care of, all the vampires seemed a little more comfortable; although, Charlie kept her arms wrapped around her middle, and the hollows of Ira’s cheeks made him actually look undead. Usually, vampires didn’t look much different from humans. Only pale, since they couldn’t go out in the sun.
“He told me everything,” Charlie said, thankfully taking the cup Briony brought her. “I think I made myself forget, but I know why he did it.” She took a fortifying sip of her drink and visibly brightened. It did nothing to lessen the tears welling in her eyes. “He said it was a mercy killing. It would be more painless for him to slit our wrists than whatever Pureblood planned for us. He wanted nothing to do with Pureblood, but he kept saying they knew where we lived, that they’d find us.” She stifled a sob with the back of her hand pressed against her eyes. “He kept apologizing, saying this was the only way to right his wrong.”
“He was your traitor,” Cael said. It made sense, especially given that Pureblood had attacked him in a grocery store and didn’t kill him. Cael should have known simply from that, but he’d been too wrapped up in his changed fate and Aiyanna. That mistake almost cost all these vampires their lives, and may have done so for their human friends.
“Where are Jen, Lena, and Bradley? Did Oren say?” The humans would be so much easier to kill than the rest of Christian’s group.
“He said he freed them,” Charlie answered quietly. She made a face. “They weren’t here against their will or anything. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I’ll call Jen if you’ll call the others.” Christian dialed, and moments later a phone rang somewhere in the kitchen. A moment later two different tones sounded, all of them coming from the cabinet nearest Heath.
He pulled it open, took out the trashcan behind the small door, and dumped three cellphones onto the tile floor, two obviously belonging to women, and the other covered in a black case. “Are these their phones?”
“Yes.” Christian ran a hand down his drawn face. “They could be anywhere, and we have no way to find them.”
“They can find a phone and call us. If they’re safe, they’ll let us know,” Ira said.
“And what if they aren’t? What if Pureblood took them?” Porter snapped.
“I don’t think Phoenix is interested in them.” Charlie drained her cup and stood, her face a mask of anger. “But the sooner we find the Purebloods after us, the sooner we’ll know whether they have them or not.”
“Then we might as well help Katarina and Vale.” Heath polished off his last piece of pizza and wiped his hands together. “They’ve been moving around the city since sunrise, looking for Pureblood.”
“That would’ve been nice to know,” Raphael said dryly.
“You ignored my call.” Heath raised his eyebrow.
Raphael clenched his fists, and Mary looked
between her husband and Heath, something like guilt crossing her face.
“It won’t happen again.” His dark eyes narrowed, Raphael nodded to Heath. “Do you know where they’ve been already?”
Ten minutes later they were broken up into groups. Mary and Raphael would travel by car, while Heath, Sophia, Aiyanna, and Cael would move through the air in pairs. Cassidy wanted to be taken home, and Sebastian immediately offered to take her, to Briony’s apparent relief. The two women made no commitments to join the search, but no one seemed to care.
Cael preferred to have someone watching the firehouse anyway, in case Pureblood showed up there. It wasn’t a secret that’s where the city’s only werewolf pack lived, and it was only a matter of time until the group learned of the werewolves’ involvement with Christian and his friends, if Oren hadn’t already told them.
Holding out his phone, Cael looked at the bit of the map Vale had circled. He and Aiyanna had been given the area around Tulane’s campus, around Broadway Street. It was the last place he expected to find a group of evil vampires, but that fact may have driven Pureblood to hide there.
“Do not leave here,” Heath commanded, pointing to Christian. The vampires all wanted to search, but even they had to agree it was dangling bait in front of Pureblood, which might result not only in their capture, but the loss of human life. Chances were, Pureblood wouldn’t travel during the day anyway. They should be safe until nightfall.
“We’ll wait,” Christian promised, ignoring the glare Porter shot him. Ira and Charlie seemed agreeable to staying, but it was obvious they wanted to do something.
Sitting and waiting would have driven Cael crazy as well.
“Let us know if you have any ideas where Pureblood would be,” Aiyanna told them, not unkindly.
Charlie lit up at the prospect of being useful. “We’ll brainstorm, and I’ll text you.”
Aiyanna took Cael’s hand and looked down at her phone. “Where do you want to go first?”
“Somewhere I can get coffee.” She offered him a smile. “It’s going to be a long day.”
Cael barely suppressed a groan. They were searching for the needle in the haystack, and if they didn’t find it in time, people would die. He decided he’d benefit from some coffee too.
Chapter 16
“WHY would they be in the Irish Channel? Pureblood seems Garden District-y to me.” Katarina squinted at the paper map spread between them and frowned. They’d covered every inch of the Garden District they could without popping in on innocent humans’ Monday mornings. It hadn’t been too difficult, really—if a house was partially boarded up, they checked it out. If every window allowed light inside, they knew Pureblood couldn’t be there.
As she could attest after two hours of looking in that area, there were a lot of homes with drawn curtains. Luckily, no one seemed to be awake in any of them, likely a result of staying out to watch Bacchus late last night. School was out for children and older students until Wednesday, so entire families still slept.
It wouldn’t last long. After ten, activity was rapidly picking up in the streets and, it seemed, inside the homes.
“I don’t know this city,” Vale admitted with a sigh. “I’m from somewhere much smaller and less complicated than here.”
“I’d like to visit,” Katarina blurted. The moment she realized what she said she went red, horrified. Vale might not want her in Asheville, where he was a head soldier for his pack. Even if he did, he should’ve been the one to invite her, rather than her inviting herself.
She wanted to take the map and hide underneath it. As detailed as it was, the paper was certainly large enough.
“How about we go next weekend?” Vale asked. “The Avett Brothers will be playing, and I bet I can get us some tickets.”
Relief flooded Katarina, making her weak in the knees. She’d never heard of the band Vale mentioned, but couldn’t have cared less. “That sounds great.”
He smiled briefly, pressed a kiss to her hand and immediately went back down to business. She’d quickly learned he wasn’t one to waste time or ever lose his focus, tenets that likely helped him with duties for his own pack.
“If not the Irish Channel, then where? Aiyanna and Cael have the university area, Heath and Sophia are checking out by the lake, and Raphael and Mary have Gentilly.”
If I were an evil vampire, where would I be? Where would I live? An idea came to her, and it was one she really, really didn’t like.
“It’s so much harder to find them because it’s Mardi Gras,” she murmured. There were so many more people in the city that it made their search a lot more difficult. If Pureblood were to play that to their advantage, there’s one place they’d be.
She groaned. “The Quarter, damn it. They’re in the Quarter.” She would have rather had a tooth pulled than frequent that part of town this time of year, but it was their only option. Hell, if she wanted to hide now, that’s exactly where she’d be, with a drink in her hand and a ridiculous mask on her face.
Vale watched her curiously. “What’s wrong with the Quarter?”
Katarina grimaced. “You’ll see.”
They started by Jax square, and the increase in volume was so dramatic Katarina reached up to cover her ears before she could think about it. She imagined glitter from her cast landing on her face and hair, and she had to keep herself from covering her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Vale moved his grip from her shoulder to her fingers and gave her a comforting squeeze.
Nodding, she uncovered her ears, cringed at the shouts she heard, and scanned the apartments over the shops on North Peters Street. From what she could see, all but one had their blinds or drapes closed, if the apartments had windows to begin with.
The Quarter was so dangerous, all anyone could see into most houses was an iron fence, a brick wall and a door. Their work was cut out for them.
“We’re going to have to use my talisman,” she murmured, taking the piece from her jacket pocket. It was a small, old mirror that housed a single conduit. She didn’t believe the energy came from a sentient being—those were usually much flashier and volatile, and would have broken the glass—but a plant of some sort. Maybe a witch was buried near the tree this power came from, or spelled it to become extraordinary. Either way, the energy was now in the palm of her hand. There was only a finite amount of it left, and she had no way of knowing how long that was.
Since she’d only ever used it in two relatively short fights a couple of months ago, there had to be enough left for at least a few hours of searching. It was the only thing they could do, unless Vale had some sort of Infrared goggles that could see through brick walls.
For a moment, she wondered how the others were searching, worried they might be caught in a difficult place to explain, but looking at Vale calmed her down. They were just as capable as he, and she couldn’t see him getting stuck anywhere. Truthfully, she couldn’t see him making any kind of mistakes, something that intimidated the hell out of her.
Not that she’d ever admit it.
“How do we use it?” Vale pointed to the mirror.
Katarina pulled him closer to the window of a clothing store, clutching her talisman tightly in her other hand. I need us both to be invisible.
It didn’t happen immediately. While she held the man she was beginning to really, really like as well as the mirror, both of them waiting expectantly, dust fell from her and Vale, blowing out into the chilled wind.
Vale opened his mouth and shut it, catching some of the dust in his palm. It was black, just like the color of his shirt. He caught dust falling from Katarina and held it for her to see: blue mixed with purple, the colors of her jeans and jacket.
It took almost ten minutes for the wind to take all of their color away, leaving them virtually invisible. They left no shadow, but they were as solid as ever, something she learned from their now-clasped hands, and also when a human slammed into Vale and almost wet himself. The po
or man ran off, muttering something in a language foreign to her and spitting onto the sidewalk behind him.
“Now we can go inside the houses.” Katarina kept the mirror in her hand, afraid the spell would drop if she let go. She leaned into Vale, enjoying his crisp smell and the warmth of his side. The sun wasn’t high enough yet to completely beat the winter day’s chill, and the werewolf beside her was her best bet for heat. “I don’t know how long we have before this wears off,” she told him, unwilling for the dropped spell to catch him off-guard and risk both of their safety. “I’m hoping it’ll be a gradual deal.” It was something she had no way of knowing until it happened.
I’ll take the risk. She was beginning to understand why people put themselves in dangerous places for those they loved—it was so they could have this home, a group of people who accepted them. She wasn’t sure if she could live like she had before, having no one, now that she had Vale.
If she needed help, she had a feeling not only Vale but the New Orleans pack, Emmanuel, and even Christabel, would come to her aid. The thought made her smile, absolutely justifying the breakings-and-enterings she would commit and had already committed that day.
“When the spell’s gone, I’ll get us out before anyone can hurt us.” Vale said this with a confidence that told her he’d keep her safe. In general, she didn’t want to depend on anyone for her well-being, but she didn’t mind giving Vale the job for the day.
The tender expression on his face made her stomach clench. She cupped his face with the hand holding the mirror and moved to kiss him, slowly enough for him to take a step back if he wanted to.
He didn’t. Vale kissed her back sweetly, chastely, almost as if he forgot no one could see them. Katarina didn’t care. She took her moment and cherished it; although, she wasn’t resentful a few minutes later when it became clear that they were in a rush, and wasting valuable time.
She took his smile to be a promise, and turned back to the apartments they’d been watching.
Healed Page 20