The flight attendants moved to the door, both of them covered head to toe in black. Only the oldest and most powerful vampires—and vampires who had ingested my blood—could walk in the sun. One of them opened the door, tossing the set of steps down, hissing. They both retreated quickly.
I had no idea what to expect once we got outside.
Tyler deplaned first, then Kayla, followed by Nick, then James and Marcy. Rourke took my hand, and we went together. Ray brought up the rear, and Eudoxia, who was busying herself with some task, would come when she was good and ready and not one second before.
“Is that the son of Callum McClain I see?” The accented voice erupted from the small group of wolves situated a few feet away from the plane. “The Northern Territory Alpha in training? Or, should I amend that to the U.S. Territory Alpha in training?” Julian referred to the fact that my father had fought, and killed, Redman Martin, the former Alpha of the Southern Territories, effectively joining the Packs together as one.
The comment was meant to let us know that the Mediterranean Pack was well aware of what had happened in our neck of the woods—or, more precisely, our neck of the swamp—since my father had defeated Redman in the Everglades while we’d been down there trying to deal with the Made wolves and a possessed bokor.
“Hello, Julian,” my brother answered graciously. “It’s good to see you again.” They clasped hands.
Julian de Rossi looked exactly the same as when I’d last seen him, around eight years ago. His jet-black hair was slicked back in his signature style. His expensive button-up shirt was popped open at the top, and a gold chain hung loosely amidst a thick nestle of dark chest hair. He affected a casual stance, looking every bit the debonair Italian he was, but I detected a slight change of expression as he took in the rest of the group as we proceeded down the steps.
Apparently, my father hadn’t informed him about the motley crew who would be accompanying me. Wolves were devoted pack animals, and they rarely interacted with other Sects. It was highly unusual for a wolf to travel with so many different supernaturals.
Julian recovered himself quickly, reaching his hand out to James. “It’s good to see you, James,” he said. “I’ve never seen Callum travel without his second, but times in our world are changing.”
“Indeed, they are,” James replied. James was indeed my father’s second-in-command, but since he’d found his pairing with my friend Marcy, and considering all of the dangers I’d faced over the last few months, it’d made sense for James to travel with us. It was risky for my father to be without his second, in case a challenge arose, but for now the wolves were occupied with the common threat to Pack, so it was safe enough. “I’d like to introduce you to my mate. This is Marcy Talbot.” James steered her toward Julian, grinning at her with a pride that made my heart swell.
They were a perfect match.
Marcy stuck her hand out. “Pleased to meetcha,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about the Mediterranean Pack over the years. Nice to finally meet the wolf in charge.”
“Well, I hope for my sake what you’ve heard has been favorable,” Julian replied with a grin.
“Yes and no,” she deadpanned. She paused just long enough to make it awkward and then expertly followed with, “I’m just joking. Honestly, I know next to nothing about you or your wolves, but I’m sure things run like a top around here. What I’m really hoping is that you’re in contact with other supernaturals in the area. My aunt is missing, and my first priority is to find her, hopefully with your help.”
Julian recovered nicely, smiling to reveal a set of perfectly straight teeth. “Of course.” He bowed. “I am at your service. Callum informed me that someone close to you was missing.” He glanced over Marcy’s shoulder at me. “Or more than a few, from what I gathered. I have many contacts. I’m happy to share them with you.”
I walked forward, extending my hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Julian. Thank you for meeting us here. Sorry if this put you out because it was so last minute. And, yes, you are correct. We are here to track down a few of our friends who are missing. That’s our top priority.” I left out the Enid hunting us part. I didn’t know how much my father had shared with the European Alpha, but it was best to be strategic and keep as much information as we could to ourselves, releasing it only if we were forced to.
Julian’s gaze flicked past me, landing on Rourke, who stood behind me.
The two Alphas held eye contact, and I felt Rourke tense.
If he wants a fight, he’s got one. Rourke’s words filtered through my brain.
I was about to answer my mate when Julian broke contact first, pretending to hear something over his shoulder. That was big in the Alpha world. Breaking eye contact first was akin to giving up.
In order to allow him to save face, and to keep the peace, I said, “Julian, thank you for being such a gracious host. We’ve clearly invaded your turf uninvited. We are happy to defer to your lead while we’re here.”
No, we won’t, Rourke growled in my mind.
Be nice, I warned. We’re here to retrieve Tally, and find Danny, Naomi, and Jax. We’re not here to war with the Mediterranean Pack. Plus, he just dropped eye contact. That was a willing submission.
He’s dangerous, Rourke said. I can smell it. We can’t trust him.
Luckily for us, Julian’s attention was diverted as Eudoxia made her grand exit, striding down the short set of steps like she owned Florence and everyone in it. “I forget how much Europe smells like the backwoods,” she sniffed. “It’s not pleasing at all.”
Julian brushed by me. “Ah, Vampire Queen, I am delighted you have graced us with your presence. It’s been far too long between visits. You look ravishing, as usual.” He swept her hand up to his mouth, kissing the back of it reverently, his head bowed.
I had no idea if it was an act, or just how people did things in Europe, even if they were from opposing supernatural Sects. I desperately hoped it was a show for our eyes only and that when he’d mentioned the word ravishing, he’d meant good enough to eat—as in ripped apart by a wolf.
Wolves and vampires notoriously did not get along. I was curious what their background together was, because it was apparent Julian and Eudoxia had a past.
For once, I was glad Eudoxia had monopolized the situation.
It had diffused the incident with Rourke.
Julian turned back to the group, Eudoxia’s small hand tucked under his elbow. “We have a few cars waiting.” He gestured toward two SUVs parked at the edge of the field. “If you will follow me, we will be on our way.”
Ray met my gaze. I nodded. He stepped back from the group.
He would follow us by air and make sure Julian delivered us to our destination as planned. Rourke was right that we didn’t know Julian, or what his agenda was. We had to stay vigilant.
As we made our way to the waiting cars, I said to my mate, We don’t have to trust him to take advantage of his resources. He and my father have always been on good terms, but they run their Packs differently. It’s been a lot of years since they’ve seen each other in person.
They ran them very differently.
Over the years, stories had trickled in about torture and forced submission. The Mediterranean Pack had the highest number of defectors, contributing to a rampant Stray problem. A wolf had to be part of a Pack. It wasn’t okay to be a lone wolf. It led to issues, and eventually mania, as wolves were meant to be social animals, not loners.
If he tries anything, it’ll be the last breath he takes, Rourke replied.
What exactly do you think he’s going to do? I asked. My father’s on his way. I can’t believe Julian would be stupid enough to jeopardize his life by crossing us. He already brought up Redman. He’s well aware of what happened. In a wolf-to-wolf Alpha challenge, my father had Julian, and they both knew it. That’s why they didn’t come in contact very often. It was risky. If Julian’s wolves felt that my father was the superior Alpha, it could cause more chaos than it wa
s worth.
I have no idea what he’ll do, Rourke said as he opened the door, ushering me inside. But my guess is he’ll do whatever serves his own needs. And if that means selling you to the highest bidder, he wouldn’t blink twice. Plus, he has to feel your power. It’s off the charts. A guy like that will be threatened by it.
You may be right, I said. But I’d like to believe that wolves have some loyalty to each other. We are a common race, after all.
Well, he’s no cat. I owe him no loyalty.
Nick climbed in after Rourke. Tyler and Kayla were already in the backseat. Marcy, James, and Eudoxia had entered the other SUV. Julian walked up to our door, and Nick rolled down the window. “The Compound is only a short distance from here,” he told us. “You will be safe there, and we can talk more. I will ride with the others.”
I nodded as Nick brought the window up. I was a little puzzled as to why he thought I was in danger. I’d mentioned nothing of the sort, but I let it go. My father might’ve said something to him when they talked.
As the SUVs pulled out, my wolf sent power out ahead of us to see if anything was amiss, which had become second nature to us both.
After a mile on the road, it pinged back with something strange.
“Stop the car,” I ordered the driver, one of Julian’s wolves we hadn’t been introduced to. He glanced in the rearview mirror, a questioning look on his face.
Rourke didn’t need me to explain anything. He already had his window down, his nose angled out the window.
The wolf sitting in the passenger side turned. “We haven’t arrived at our destination yet. It’s a few more miles down the road. It won’t be long.”
“No, stop the car right now,” I insisted, this time more firmly. “Pull over here.” Once the driver complied, I looked out the back window. Our vehicle had been in the lead, and as it’d pulled over, the other had pulled in line behind us.
Tyler sat up, using his nose along with Rourke’s to see what they could identify from the air. My brother had awesome scenting capabilities. “I know you picked up on something, but I don’t scent anything, Jess,” he said. “Nothing’s coming back as a red flag.”
“It’s not a threat,” I assured him. “The power signature was aimed specifically at me. It’s odd, almost cloaked, yet not. Just enough to let me know it’s there.” My wolf barked and then flashed me a picture. I smiled. “I know who it is.”
“Who?” my brother asked.
“Jebediah Amel, High Ambassador of the Coalition,” I said. “He must have some news for me.” I reached for the door handle.
Rourke growled, “I’m coming with you.”
6
Rourke and I stepped out of the SUV. Julian was already out of the second vehicle, coming toward us. “Why did you stop? This is my land, and it’s well protected. You are safe here. If there was a threat in my inner sanctum, I would know about it.” He made a show of scenting the air to prove his point.
“This isn’t a threat,” I assured him. “Someone has come to see me. If it’s okay with you, Rourke and I will meet him, and then we’ll head to the Compound.”
“I don’t understand,” Julian said. “I just told you that no one can access this land without me knowing about it.” He narrowed his gaze, consternation on his face.
“This is no ordinary someone,” I replied, trying for a casual tone. “He’s a very powerful warlock and very old. He’s my assistant, of sorts, and he can cloak himself really well. If he didn’t want anybody to detect him, they wouldn’t be able to.” I didn’t want to divulge too much. This wasn’t the time or the place to talk about the Coalition with Julian. To put his mind further at ease, I added, “He likely just arrived. He can materialize at will.” I said it like it was commonplace that everybody could pop in and out of time and space. In reality, very few supes could achieve such a feat. I actually knew of no other.
Rourke crossed his arms. He had nothing to add, but was showing the Alpha of the Mediterranean Pack that if he didn’t grant us our wish for a private meeting with Jeb, there would be a fight.
Julian’s gaze was intense as he looked between us. Finally, he bowed his head. “Very well,” he said. “I will send a car back to pick you up. I will instruct them to stay on the road and wait for your arrival.”
“Thank you,” I said. “We appreciate your willingness to help. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Like I said, this is no ordinary supe. And please don’t blame any of your wolves for the intrusion. There’s no way to guard against someone who can beam themselves into the middle of a forest.”
Julian’s grin faded. “I see we have much to discuss. I’ll leave you to your meeting, and we will talk later.” He turned back to his waiting SUV. Once he was inside, the vehicle pulled forward, stopping beside us.
Marcy rolled down her window. “You got this? Or do you want us to stay? You know, because mayhem follows you like a vulture to roadkill.”
“No, we’re good. We’ll handle this ourselves,” I told her. “You guys go on to the Compound and get settled. We shouldn’t be too long.” I had no idea how long Jeb would keep us, but I couldn’t imagine he’d stick around for any length of time.
Eudoxia sniffed from inside, “We’ve been on Italian soil for less than ten minutes. Leave it to you to find something wrong.” I hadn’t told the Vampire Queen about Jeb yet. I wondered for a moment if he would want us to bring her along. He was the High Ambassador of the Coalition, after all, and Eudoxia had a place on it.
I decided not to extend that offer just yet.
But I was curious about what the warlock had to say. I’d left him only a short time ago, so something interesting must’ve been written in that big ol’ book of his to warrant contacting us so soon. “It’s nice you have my back, Eudoxia,” I told her. “You make the world a safer place.”
“If you get yourself in trouble, keep me out of it,” she warned. “I don’t have the time or energy to bail you out again.” She was referring to the fact that she had traveled to the Underworld to help rescue me. Something she was loath to do. “I swear I will leave you to rot if you dig up something disastrous right now.”
“That’s reassuring,” I said, refraining from making a comment about her having absolutely zero things to do in the next few hours, except drink my blood. I knew she hadn’t forgotten about the feeding. It was a top priority for her, but she wouldn’t speak about it in front of Julian, which was smart. “I’ll be sure to take care of myself. I’m also taking a big cat with me, so have no fear. I’m certain we won’t be needing your stellar rescue services.” Rourke growled his agreement that one big cat was more than enough to protect me from danger, as Marcy winked and pointed upward. I gave her a slight nod. She was not-so-subtly letting me know she knew Ray was there, or she would’ve stayed. “We’ll see you at the Compound.”
Once both vehicles drove away, it didn’t take long for Ray to make his landing.
This time I was ready.
“What’s up?” he asked. “Why’d you get out?”
“Did you notice anything strange from up there?” I asked. He shook his head. “No weird colors or auras or magic signatures?”
“No. Should I have?”
“Jeb’s out here somewhere,” I told him, turning in a circle. “I was just wondering if you detected anything. If he leaves any kind of magical imprint, we might be able to spot him sooner than later next time.”
“Are you talking about that short dude with a porcupine hairdo?” Ray mused. “He’s powerful as hell. Last time, his magic damn near burned my skin. I don’t think anybody would detect him if he didn’t want them to. I’m good, but not that good.”
“What he says is correct.” The sharp voice sounded from the base of a small junction of trees not twenty feet away. “If I had wanted it, no one would have ever known I was here.”
Jeb hadn’t worried himself with trying to appear normal this time. He wore a long, flowing white robe, which dragged comicall
y behind him as he paced toward us. He was even shorter than I remembered—four and a half feet at most. He held the same golden leather-bound book in his arms, which looked enormous, his brown hair still spiked at attention all over his head. His bushy eyebrows and beard completed the confusing look. I imagined that under the sleeves of the robe his arm hair was carpet-thick. I suppressed a giggle.
“I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon,” I told him. We’d parted ways not more than a day ago. “You could’ve given me a heads-up that we’d be meeting here.”
He sniffed, “Well, I couldn’t very well predict our next meeting, as I wasn’t sure you were going to make it through the cemetery ordeal. But once you did, it was written that you would arrive here, at this time.” One of his thick fingers began to trace over a page. “Since we last saw each other, you have increased your odds of survival by fifty-three-point-four percent. That’s fairly impressive, especially in such a short amount of time.” He nodded approvingly, eyeing me over the massive tome in his arms. “But we must do better. As you know, your survival is imperative. With your death would come great loss. The supernatural world would be unable to recover itself for a millennium. We must not allow that to happen.”
No pressure. “Yes, you’ve told me.” I moved closer to the strange little man who’d declared himself my assistant the last time we’d met. Rourke and Ray followed. “Juanita wants me to survive as well. She arranged a meeting after you and I saw each other and told me that finding Ajax would lead to my destiny.”
“She is mostly correct.” He nodded, his spiky hair not moving an inch. “But there are other things that must be completed before you are able to find your way back to your true path. We will get to that in a moment. But first, according to what’s written here, if you follow Enid’s instructions blindly, you will not survive. So you mustn’t do that. She is shrewd and knows that you will risk much for the people you love. You have to outsmart her without her knowing, which will be tricky.”
Blue Blooded Page 4