Across the room, Matt looked up but said nothing. Nearby, Melina smiled at her and blew her a kiss. Alex blushed and quickly turned her attention back to Matt. There were a group of men surrounding him that she didn’t know. They sat by themselves, looking rather cross. These were probably the wolves everyone had been searching for.
Dante stepped in from a side room and called everyone to attention. He proceeded toward the fireplace and then stopped dead. He’d seen Michelle. Relief spread over his face, but he stood fast, unmoving, perhaps unsure of what to do. Michelle saved him the trouble, running to him and flinging her arms around his neck.
Dante let her hang on for a good few seconds, before easing her down, indicating for her to sit. Now was not the time, Alex figured, and sat down next to her, opposite Matt and the wolves.
“I know it is not easy for you all to be here, so firstly, thank you for taking the time and having the patience. I asked you here to tell you about the latest developments, so that together we can come up with the best course of action. By my calculations, Damien Creed, the UK’s acting Alpha wolf, is just hours away. He comes for blood, and unless we come up with some sort of strategy, he will succeed. Thanks to the efforts of Clive and Lauren—” Dante indicated toward the far side of the room. “—we have managed to delay them somewhat, and we have a trace program that will tell us when they arrive.”
Alex froze when she spotted her once best friend for the first time in over a year. The last time she’d seen her, Lauren had broken Matt’s back and nearly torn Dante to pieces. Alex could never forget that night, could maybe never quite forgive her friend that betrayal, the horrific things Lauren had said and done. But looking at her now, Alex saw in Lauren an almost radiant beauty she didn’t think she’d ever properly seen before.
Dante’s speech had continued. “…also know that they have Julian and his newborn working with and waiting for them. I have spread the ashes of the Waratah around the outer perimeter of the mansion, plus along the doors of the dungeons inside, just in case Vincent had some secret entryway I’m not aware of. It should keep Julian from teleporting in, which in turn makes a full on assault more likely.”
“So you’re saying we should prepare for war?” Melina asked.
“We’re already at war. But we’ll need to be prepared for an invasion,” Dante said.
“So let us meet him head on at the airport and be done with it,” one of the wolves spoke up, crossing his arms.
“No,” Dante looked at him before addressing the room. “I will not endanger innocent civilians in open combat. Julian will no doubt lead them here. And here is where we will make our stand. They can only approach from the north as we have miles of water behind us. They would not risk swimming across from the airport for hours when the journey on foot takes less than thirty minutes. This serves as a bottleneck we should be able to use to our advantage.”
“You do not speak for us, vampire, and you most certainly would not presume to order us,” Calibos spat. “I follow these four men alone and my men follow me.”
“You think Creed or Julian care which of us they kill? All of us in this room are enemies. They are coming for everyone.” Dante corrected. “Wolf and vampire must stand united against a common enemy. Let bygones be bygones and focus to take down a greater threat than any of our species alone could be.”
“I have heard enough.” One of the wolves stood up. “My name is Nathan Stryker, and I speak for all the hostages when I say we will not fight for or alongside vampires.” He kept his eyes locked on Dante. “Wilson Slade was our Alpha.”
“So wouldn’t Nick be the Alpha now?” Alex asked, but recoiled at the death-gaze Stryker shot at her.
“The son of Slade is no Alpha of ours. He has won no victories, shed no blood and earned no respect for his pack.”
“Very well!” Dante cut in, frustrated. “Your Alpha is dead, and if you will not listen to his next of kin, someone has to make a choice. We offer our strength and our cooperation. Will you stand with us or will you flee?”
“There is such a thing called respect, blood drinker. I would not presume to make a stance that would threaten the lives of these men. Lives which I hold dear. You may view death with a carefree outlook, but we have families. None of us will die for you, or for a city full of strangers that would hate and fear us.”
“What about Alicia? Does she have your respect?” Alex asked.
Stryker puffed his chest with a heavy breath. “I would die for Alicia Slade. She has been a mother to us all.”
“Well…she’s here in Sydney. I could try calling her?” Alex pulled out her phone.
“She’s alive?” Calibos bent forward, eyes as eager as a child waiting for a treat.
“You’d better be telling the truth,” Stryker took a step forward.
“I’ve seen her with my own eyes at the hospital. She was with Nick, who saved Michelle from the Dream State coma using his blood. If Alicia wants you to stay and fight, will you?”
Stryker looked from wolf to wolf, and to Calibos, all of which gave small gestures with their heads. “Yes.”
Alex looked questioningly at Dante, who made an identical movement. Alex hoped her fear couldn’t be seen through as she clicked Nick’s number. The fact Alicia would be with her son was the only thing Alex was sure about.
The brief moments she had seen Alicia had told Alex that the last thing her cousin wanted to do was stay in Sydney. While she didn’t blame her for wanting to get Nick out and to safety, if she didn’t tell the wolves to stay and fight, they were all doomed.
Chapter 44
There Can Be Only One
Alicia stood over Nick’s sleeping form, struggling to get his phone out of his pocket without waking him. She’d managed by the third ring. They had gone back to Alex’s apartment, the only place she could think of to provide him the shelter he needed to recover. He had only just fallen asleep.
In the hour or so before, she had been both furious and proud of him. “What were you thinking? What were you playing at? You know that could’ve killed you, and her?”
“I had to try.” His voice had sounded like a croak, and his skin was the colour of a marshmallow.
“Why? Just for Alex? What good would you be to her dead?”
“I had to show I’m not a mistake!”
The response faltered her for a moment. “Excuse me? How could you think you’re a mistake. You’re my son—”
“And ever since you knew I was on the way, your life has been shit. I’ve heard it all my life, even when you thought I couldn’t hear the two of you arguing. My parents have been in one fight after another. Hell, you’ve been fighting for me since before I was born.”
“I’ve never regretted a single moment of it.”
“But when does it stop? When does it end? How many more people have to die or suffer just so I can go on? Dad is dead because of me. I know I didn’t kill him, but he was the only one that believed. He forced his views on me and I hated him for it. And now I have to live the rest of my life knowing that he was right, and that my last words to him were spoken in anger because of my lack of faith. I can never take them back.”
“Darling, he loved you and he never doubted you loved him. You have to know that.”
“That won’t bring him back. And it’s not just his death on my hands. All those people…I didn’t know them, but it all leads to me. The only reason the vampires got access to wolf blood is because you sent them here.”
“So by that logic it should be my fault. Why are you blaming yourself?”
“Because you sent them to protect me. Margaret was right. I should’ve said something. They would’ve died too had it not been for Dante, and again, because of me. I’ve killed! When is it my time to say enough? I am not a fair maiden in need of constant rescue, I am the beast that others need rescuing from! So with Alex, I saw one chance to actually do something right for someone else. I didn’t know if it would work, but I remembered dad saying something abou
t how we can heal. I had to try. Had to prove that I’m more than just what Margaret said.”
Alicia had choked back her emotions and quickly cleared her throat. Kneeling down, she’d cupped his face. “You listen to me, Nicholas Slade, and listen carefully. I would do exactly the same things over and over again if it meant I still had the privilege to bring you into this world. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and my greatest accomplishment. There is only one person’s thoughts and actions you have to concern yourself with, and that’s yours. You saved that woman’s life and I am so proud of you. But you did not owe her or Alex anything. You are not responsible for anyone else, you hear me? I know you feel guilty because of your enormous heart, but part of growing up, whether an Alpha or not, is accepting the things you cannot change or control.” She had placed her palm on his chest. Thick, warm and powerful under her touch. “This is what you can control. Live the life you want, not what others expect. Be true to you.”
She’d repeated the last line before Nick hugged her. She laid him gently down, the colour having somewhat returned to his face. Alicia felt confident he would be all right again if he just got a good night’s sleep.
And then his phone had begun ringing.
Alicia had initially thought to just ignore the call, but when she glanced at the screen, she tapped the answer button. She would always take a call from Alex.
“Hey,” Alicia whispered, stepping out onto the balcony. “He’s ok. Just resting.”
“Oh thank god. Michelle’s ok too, I think. But that’s not why I’m calling. I hesitate to bother you, but I really need your help.”
“Well, I’d say you’ve more than earned a return favour from me. What can I do?”
“I need you to come to the mansion.”
“The vampire mansion? You have to be joking.”
“I wish I was. I have your mates here, the guys you sent.”
“What? They are alive? I had given up hope. Are they still hostages?”
“What? Oh, no no. They are free. In fact, that’s kinda the problem. Dante needs their help and they won’t do anything without your say-so.”
“Dante? He’s your vampire friend, isn’t he? Alex, I’m sorry. I know this sounds so unfair based on what I’ve asked of you, and what you have done for me and Nick, but I cannot, I will not help a vampire. Even if he’s a friend of yours.”
“Wait! Before you decide, please hear me out. This isn’t just about Dante. The entire city is under threat. Vincent’s son wants revenge.”
“Dream State may have been made with werewolf blood, but it’s a vampire invention and a vampire problem. I feel for the victims and their families, really I do. But I can’t ask those men to lay down their lives because of Vincent’s greed having predictably nasty overflow.”
“There’s more, though, Alicia. Vincent’s son is working with a werewolf who is on his way to the country right now.”
“What? Who?”
“Someone named Damien Creed. Do you know him?”
The words might as well have jumped through the phone and down her throat, for they wound themselves up into a painful ball in the very pit of her stomach. So, Creed was coming here. Maybe he was chasing her, or Nick, or both. Maybe he was coming over for the hunt, seeing as though Vincent was no longer in charge. But there was no escaping him. Nick would always be in danger as long as Creed was alive. Nick might be potentially more powerful, but right now, Creed had twenty years of training on him. Alicia needed to know more. She left Nick where he was. Sleeping, warm and safe.
“I’ll be there soon.”
*
Nick awoke to a buzzing. Short, two-burst buzzing. His phone. His temples ached as he blindly groped in the semi darkness. His fingers found the hard surface of the phone in the bed covers beside him and he clutched it and brought it to his face. 2% battery, two missed calls and a voicemail from Nicole.
He clicked to listen.
“Hi it’s me. I don’t know what I even want to say. Just that I’m at the airport. My flight isn’t for a while but…I dunno. I’m so sorry, Nick. I can’t even begin to describe how much you mean to me. What these last few weeks have meant… That night we had. You are incredible. I didn’t want to say goodbye without letting you kn—”
The screen went black.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding!”
He had already made up his mind, however. There was no time to charge the phone before he left. He grabbed his wallet and flung himself out the door. To a cab. To the airport. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
Chapter 45
The End is Nigh
“Hello, Mrs Slade.” The guard opened the cab door for her, paid the driver, and led her toward the mansion.
“This way, please.”
“How about you walk in front of me? I don’t like the idea of you having a semi-auto at my back, thank you.”
“As you like.”
Alicia couldn’t tell if the guard was amused or pissed, but he kept quiet and did what she asked. Stepping over the threshold, she was immediately set upon by the four men she had sent to Sydney. They knelt at once. Everyone else in the packed room she ignored for now.
“My lady,” Stryker said to the floor. “I had almost given up hope, even when they said you were here, alive and well.”
“Rise,” Alicia looked across the room, finding Dante. “And stay there.”
She moved like a bull to the vampire she had never met, yet knew very well from description. Dante Delavega was a known vampire across the world, though not with nearly as much infamy as Vincent. Dante was an anomaly. His work for human rights had made him a polarising figure, but a distant one. Australia was a very long way away from anyone who actually cared about humans enough to even consider them anything more than food. Now, though, she needed to make her point.
She lunged for his neck and lifted him as high as she could. Even the click of guns, and the snarling of her wolves and other vampires did not cause her to flinch. Surprisingly, Dante hadn’t flinched either.
“I heard about what you did, vampire.” Alicia seethed with hot anger. “I understand that you saved a lot of lives, including my son’s. For that, I am grateful. However,” she lowered him closer to her face. So close she could see her reflection in his brilliant green eyes. “If you use him for bait in an experiment again, I will eat your face. Do we understand each other?”
Delavega answered by gripping her wrist tight, making her release her hold. He dropped to his feet and kept his intense eyes fixed on hers. His strength was a little worrying. He held her arm at bay with almost casual ease. He had let her think she had him under control.
“We understand each other. As long as you know I would sacrifice any one of you to protect the people I care about. Do not think to come into my city and expect me to follow your wishes. You are a long way from home. And make no mistake, it is my severe wish to see you all go back as quickly as possible.”
He released her then. Alicia flexed her fingers, feeling no damage. “But you have a problem you need help with. Wolf help?”
“It is a wolf that comes for all of us. I am not too proud to admit we need your help. But surely you can see we can better survive together? What sort of situation will you all be going home to? Help us end this now and take back your pack.”
“Our pack was never lost, vampire,” Stryker said. “It has been tainted, yes, by an unworthy usurper. One that will be dealt with accordingly. Whether tonight or another day, makes no difference. We would be fighting from a position of weakness here, not strength. This is not our home, it is not the full moon. That is why your city is the battleground.”
“Dante!”
All heads turned to see a scrawny man with glasses stumble out of the elevator. “I just got word. They’ve landed.”
*
“Flight Slade 1, please taxi to VIP Hangar 2.”
“Roger that,” Creed said, switching off the microphone directly after. He reach
ed for his phone and clicked the number he had been told via email to enter. “We’re here. Inform your master he has roughly twenty minutes before we reach the hangar. He has until then to do whatever he has planned to get us past security.”
“Kay, hang on a sec.”
Creed turned his lip at the response. Teenagers.
“What does the plane look like?”
“The big, shiny black one. Where are you?”
“Inside the terminal, waiting for you.”
“And your master?”
“Outside, along the fence by now, I guess. Finding which plane is yours. He should be popping inside any minute.”
But Julian was not outside the fence. Creed hung up to look out of the cockpit window to find the former Sydney prince strolling casually along the tarmac towards the oncoming plane. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, only to reappear inside the cockpit.
“Welcome to Sydney, Creed.”
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast.”
“I’m teleporting you all one by one into the terminal.”
“In full view of the public, or anyone walking by?”
“Not exactly. My…son is standing guard over a secure location.”
*
“Shall we?”
Nicole smiled, trying to hide her overwhelming fear of what to expect in the next few months, hell, the rest of her life. She and Dr Sarsky were gathered in front of the departure gate of the International Airport. She was proud of herself in many ways. She had hidden the truth from everyone and made the best decision possible for herself. But why did she feel so uneasy about it? She had worried herself physically sick the last two nights. Waking and having to visit the bathroom to throw up, then crying herself back to sleep.
She had wanted this her whole life. Hadn’t she? If so, why did she have to constantly play with the strap of her carry on just to hide the trembling of her fingers. She would be getting everything she wanted, bar one. She looked around one last time, guessing there must be about fifty or more people surrounding her, and accompanied by probably the best mentor in the world, yet she had never felt more alone. It really was true, what they said about how you could be lonely in a crowded room if the one person you’re missing isn’t there.
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