Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  “Yes, but are we quick enough?” Dante wasn’t sure, and Angel didn’t look sure either. Beings like darklings only got more dangerous with age.

  “You’ll just have to be especially convincing at this council meeting,” Angel said finally.

  Nothing like pressure to settle a male’s nerves, he thought, glaring across the plane. At least when it came to the gathering, he wouldn’t have to do much. He could let Angel take the lead as top alpha of the States. He had no delusions; this was more of a learning experience than anything else. The list of things Victor never had time to teach him was still pretty long, but he was trying to learn them all as fast as possible.

  Times like this he really missed Victor. He had no one to ask if he was going down the right path or making the right decisions, no one to show him a better way. There were so many other problems he had when he joined Victor’s pack that some of the how-to-be-an-alpha things fell a little short. He was making sure that didn’t happen with River. Luckily she didn’t have the issues he had when he came into the pack. She would take to it all easier than he did when the time came.

  The plane bounced again, and he fought to keep from clawing into the armrests. They were going to drive to Paris from London, or take a train, anything but another damn plane. He didn’t care if it took them a half year to do it.

  “You might want to strap in. We’ll be landing soon,” Angel said.

  Dante got up and buckled in beside River. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth and tried to keep from crawling out of his skin as the plane started its descent.

  Creation, he really hoped he didn’t fuck this up.

  ODIN CURSED as claws ripped across his ribs. Distraction was going to get him killed. He grabbed the nearest beast and slung him across the alley and into the wall. The attacker hit with a crunch as the next one dove in. Another set of claws dug into his back, and he snarled with pain. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the beast by the scruff and sent him flying into the other. The fourth beast hesitated, and Odin snatched him up. Instinct kicked in before rational thought and bones crunched under his grip before he tossed it aside.

  He scanned the alley and the four heavies. Nothing moved. Even the air had gone still. He leaned heavily against the alley wall to catch his breath. The four pack heavies who attacked him lay in heaps on the ground. He was pretty sure he killed at least two.

  “Fuck,” he grumbled and limped across the alley to get a better look. Three dead and one unconscious survivor littered the backstreet.

  He glanced around. It was a prime ambush spot. A narrow alley with plenty of clutter to hide behind, the place reeked of garbage and rotting food. At least the pools of blood weren’t likely to be noticed. If he weren’t so distracted, he would have seen it long before the attack came. He only had his own stupidity to blame for the injuries he sustained.

  Odin stared at the dead before turning his attention to the unconscious one. If he didn’t kill the survivor now, the alpha would come and blame him for the murder of his people. This whole mess reeked of a political play to keep the clans and packs from trying to get along for once. He hoped by the time the bodies were found, faint traces of his scent would be gone. Gods, he hated politics.

  Kneeling down beside the survivor, he snapped his neck and scooped the four bodies up one at a time and tucked them into a dumpster. The alpha would find them and take care of his own. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to wait and see which pack they belonged to. He had an hour to clean up, meet Dante at the airport, and take his group to the clan house. This meeting had to happen. The best way to do that was to pretend the attack hadn’t.

  “Fuck,” he cursed again.

  He pulled his jacket tight to cover most of the blood and wounds and checked into the nearest cheap motel.

  Leaning heavily against the doorframe, he fumbled with the lock. His hands trembled as he tried to slide the key in, and it took him a few attempts before he finally unlocked the door.

  He sighed with relief and stepped inside, locking the door behind him.

  He closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath, grabbed his phone from his pocket, and called his youngest son.

  “I’m on my way,” Velasco said.

  “No,” Odin said quickly. “Get to the airport. I’ll be fine.”

  “You won’t be fine. What the hell happened?”

  Odin winced and touched his ribs. His hand came away bloody. He would heal, but he hadn’t fed in a couple of days. “Oh, a little trouble, nothing I can’t handle. Go meet Alpha Dante and company at the airport. I’ll meet you there. I might run a little late, but make sure nothing happens to them. Call Aalise first. She’s in London somewhere. She hasn’t checked in yet. Have her help you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. No matter what happens, get them to the clan meeting on time and unharmed. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Father,” Velasco said.

  “All right. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  He glanced down at his tattered clothes and stripped out of his jacket and shirt. The sound of a car pulling up in the parking lot caught his attention, and he peered outside. A lone plump man carried a suitcase to the room beside his.

  He made a mental note of him and stripped before stepping into the shower. He scrubbed the blood from his skin and clothes and could hear the TV in the next room through the paper-thin walls.

  Wrapping a towel around his waist, he stepped out into the hall and knocked on the neighbor’s door. Closing his eyes a moment, he drew in the air around him and pumped it full of pheromones. He didn’t usually like to do this. There were so many other options these days, but he was very short on time.

  The plump man opened the door and blinked at him in surprise. “Um… uh, good evening. Can I help you?”

  Odin flashed his best smile. “I really do hope so.”

  He had lost a lot of blood. He wasn’t sure how much of a glamour he could pull out without a meal. If he hadn’t been so careless, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He was stupid for not having foreseen trouble within the packs as well. Of course they would be skeptical and suspicious. He couldn’t blame them.

  He poured on the glamour and watched the man’s eyes turn glassy and his cheeks flush. “It seems the phone in my room is broken. Could I possibly use yours?”

  The man shook his head as if trying to throw back the growing fog and cleared his throat. “Um… I suppose,” he said and stepped back to let Odin in.

  Odin smiled again, slipped into the room and then closed the door behind him. “You look tired.”

  “Yes, long day,” the man said.

  He stared long and hard at the man, willing the scent in the room to change. “You can sit down. I’ll only be a minute.”

  The man plopped down on the bed and blinked with surprise. He started blinking rapidly with confusion, but Odin captured his attention again.

  “You’re okay. You’re just very tired. A long day, right?” Odin said.

  The man nodded. “Yes.”

  “Maybe you should lie back on the bed. How very tired you look. Exhausted, really,” Odin soothed and moved toward the phone. He picked it up and watched as the man sat back on the bed.

  He called the front desk and had them hold all calls to his room before hanging up. He moved back toward the man as he drifted in and out of a half sleep.

  “Thank you for helping me. You’ve been very kind. You rest and everything will be fine when you wake up. I promise,” Odin told him and sat on the edge of the bed.

  The man drifted deeper into sleep, and Odin took his arm and drank, just enough to help him heal and not nearly enough to harm the poor man. He licked the small wound clean and watched the mark heal over. He’d have a small, mostly healed cut when he woke, but he’d be fine.

  He grabbed some of the man’s clothes, just sweats and a T-shirt, and went back to his room. Writing a brief note, he tucked a few pounds in the fold, slid it under the man’s door, and he
aded back out into the city.

  He tossed his wet and ruined clothes in a dumpster and went to the nearest store to buy something much more presentable. He considered returning the clothes, but he was running short on time and needed to get to the airport.

  A short, lean Asian young man pulled a car over in front of him as he walked toward the rent-a-car place. Kiyoshi, his eldest son, smirked at him. His hair was slicked back, and his dark brown eyes filled with concern.

  “Hey, Old Man, you need a lift?”

  Odin slid into the car and sank into the plush leather seat. “When did you get in?”

  “About two hours ago. You look like hell. Where’s Velasco?”

  “Meeting the alphas at the airport.”

  “What happened?”

  Odin shook his head. “We’ll talk about it later. We need to get the pack to the meeting and make sure not one hair on their furry little tails is harmed getting there.”

  Kiyoshi frowned at him. “You need to feed.”

  “I did.”

  “Not enough, apparently.”

  He was right. It wasn’t enough, but it was all he was willing to take. He tried to avoid live prey whenever possible. The stuff was rich and so very warm to the palate; it made everything else taste weak in comparison. It was best not to get too used to it. Like the difference between instant and brewed coffee, once you tasted the good stuff, you didn’t want the cheap substitute anymore.

  His hair was still wet when he made it to the airport about ten minutes late. Velasco was talking with the alphas and shot him a worried look. Aalise, his oldest daughter, rushed toward him happily and threw her arms around his neck.

  Odin hugged her gently and kissed her forehead before turning to the group. “I’m sorry I’m late. Ran into a spot of trouble, but it’s handled for the moment.” He motioned to Kiyoshi. “I see you met two of my children. This is my eldest son, Kiyoshi.”

  “A pleasure,” Dante said, smiling, and introduced his group. “I wouldn’t have thought you the fatherly type.”

  Odin shrugged. “I’ve had my moments. Life is very long without company.” He glanced around the terminal with a critical eye. “We should go. We don’t want you to be late.”

  “All right, then. Lead the way,” Dante said, and they left the airport and piled into the van Velasco had rented, heading for the clan house.

  7. The Elders

  ODIN LOOKED tired and worried. There were more lines in his face than Dante remembered, and his eyes scanned the streets as they drove with an extra degree of caution. The worried looks his children exchanged were telling. Something had happened.

  “So how is this going to work?” Angel asked.

  “I’ll be taking you to the estate. You have to stay very close. There’s no telling what might happen before we reach the actual meeting hall. Pack hasn’t been inside the estate since the end of the war. It’s likely to shock and upset a few people.”

  “Upset your people? We were the slaves,” Angel snipped.

  Odin looked him over carefully. “It was war, Alpha Angel. Do you think your side is the only side that suffered losses? The difference being that the sisters, brothers, mothers, and fathers of those who died are still very much alive and remember it all very clearly.”

  Angel frowned but kept his mouth shut.

  “Look, it was Eveline who caused the problems between our people to begin with. The clans were worried problems would start all over again. Both the packs and the clans had been reduced to a very small number by the time we got Eveline to sleep. The worry was that the packs would rise up with another alpha just as strong, only this time whole packs instead of these hybrids.

  “At the time it was just a careful scanning of alpha born. A couple of generations passed, and what started out as a careful eye turned controlling and manipulative.

  “I make no excuses for my people, but many new children were made around the same time, and when you give someone so young so much power over another life, or set of lives, it can turn dark very quickly.”

  Angel stared hard at Odin a long moment. “Let’s try to ensure the same mistakes don’t happen this time. Agreed?”

  Odin nodded. “Agreed.”

  A thoughtful silence filled the van for a long moment before Dante brought the subject back to the topic at hand. “What do you expect to happen during the meeting?”

  “It’s difficult to say. Many will be scared. Eveline is very dangerous, not just to your people, but to ours as well. The only man who actually can bring this to an end refused to do it ages ago, and I don’t think his mind will change. He will not kill his children. It’s the one thing he has always refused to do.”

  “Will I be able to speak with him?” Dante asked.

  The van went very still, and Odin’s children exchanged nervous glances.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, and I don’t think he’ll be at the meeting. But if he is, feel free to make your case. Just don’t expect him to listen. His name is Shimon. He is one of the Ancients, and he’s been a semifunctional madman for eons,” Odin said. “Remember to address the Elders as such, and if we have the displeasure of having an Ancient in our presence, they should be addressed as Ancient. No one else needs a title.”

  Dante nodded. “Anything else we should know to keep any offense to a bare minimum?”

  “Try not to speak over anyone. Let Aalise and me do it for you. We are the only ones with enough weight to our words to make most of the young ones still their idiot tongues.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head, and Aalise smiled, but her eyes were troubled.

  Odin looked tired again, and Dante was starting to worry about him. His daughter seemed worried as well. She whispered something to him in another language and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. He pulled away and seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts.

  River clung to Dante’s hand as she stared out the window, trying to see outside. She pursed her lips into a little frown at the trees and grasslands that covered both sides of the highway.

  “Your first time in England?” Aalise asked her.

  River forced a stiff smile. “Yes.”

  “You should take the time to visit the sights. I’ve been here dozens of times and never do get around to playing tourist,” Aalise said.

  Dante let them talk while he briefed Odin on the hunter and the wayward hybrid they found.

  “It looks like they were doing their damnedest to kill him,” Dante said. “It was not a fight for dominance. He was running.”

  “You say that as if it were a good thing. I thought we wanted all the hybrids dead,” Odin said.

  “Well, we do. It’s a good thing because it means August doesn’t have as much control over them as we feared. Our first suspicion was that he held them like he would a pack. But that’s obviously not the case.”

  “Because the creature was running?” Odin looked confused.

  Dante nodded. “Why run? Under a properly woven weave, an alpha can find his people anywhere. Not that he would have let it get that far out of control. Even the most brutal alpha could sense something as extreme as wanting to leave and take steps to prevent it before it happened.”

  Odin looked him over a moment. “Take steps to keep your people from leaving? Is that done?”

  Dante turned to stare out the window. “There have been a few extreme cases in the past. Not all people are good people, no matter the breed.”

  The quiet English countryside swept past. Lots of grass and hills, but the greens were vibrant, and the farther they got from the city, the fresher the air smelled.

  He tried to let the quiet view settle his growing nerves, but the scents were too different and only enhanced the fact he was not at home. He doubted he would ever get used to being physically away from his pack.

  His thoughts drifted to Jesse, and he felt the caress of his pet’s sense reach for him. The contact settled his nerves and made him wish Jesse were with him. It was safer where he was, but it didn’t s
top Dante from missing his presence.

  “We’re almost there,” Velasco called from the front seat.

  Odin nodded. “Keep your heavies in check. The last thing we need is blood spilled here.”

  “We are here to protect our alphas,” Trevor spoke up suddenly.

  “And if you want to do that, keep your claws sheathed,” Odin told him.

  Dante reached out and soothed Trevor with a gentle stroke to his arm. His heavy relaxed a notch but was still wired tight. He reached through the weave to help settle Trevor and Evan despite his own growing nerves. He wasn’t sure if it was helping much. They tended to take their cue from him, and right now he wasn’t the best example of calm.

  A few minutes later, the van passed through heavy metal gates and came to a stop outside a large mansion. Torches lined the long drive up to the house and flickered on either side of the double doors leading inside. Several Nephilim milled around outside and stopped to stare at them. Cars were parked three deep along one side of the yard. He spotted over a dozen Nephilim just outside the building. Trevor and Evan closed in tight, keeping River between them all, and Odin’s children were around them. Dante walked beside Odin with Angel slightly behind them.

  Odin paused, lit his pipe, and took a deep drag before leading them through the doors into the estate. More Nephilim were in the main room to the right.

  A youth appeared through the crowd and looked them over with interest. Dante had never seen such a young one made before.

  “This is Baardsen,” Odin introduced and tossed the youth a smirk. “He’s older than he looks. Baard, this is Alpha Dante, his heavies and sister, River, and the surly one over there is Alpha Angel.”

  Dante inclined his head, distinctly uneasy about Baardsen’s apparent youth. It just seemed wrong. “How do you do?”

  “Better than most,” Baardsen said. “They’re almost ready. Give the Council a minute.”

  The crowd was dense, and Dante fought to stay relaxed as they waited in the massive common room. Odin’s children were between them and the crowd, but the whole scene was growing claustrophobic.