by Bianca D'Arc
“Is that why you sent us after the chalice?” Kate asked quietly. “Because you wanted her to attack us?”
Abrahamson’s eyes narrowed as he looked over at Kate. “I just didn’t want her to have it.”
“The bloodletter?” Slade asked, surprised. From what he’d seen, the vampire had wanted nothing to do with the evil cup that had held her own blood.
“Her?” Abrahamson looked confused for a moment. “No. She couldn’t do anything with it. I meant Sheila. I don’t want her to have it.”
“Is Sheila the sorceress who killed the cougar matriarch with you?” Slade asked smoothly.
“I didn’t kill the cougar. I told you. Sheila did. She did the blade work. She took the fur. I was just along for the ride. Like I always am with her. She’s a bitch.” Abrahamson’s expression was disgusted. “A bitch with too much power for her own good.”
“And that’s why you didn’t want her to have the chalice,” Kate concluded. “You didn’t want her to have all that power.”
“You should be thanking me,” Abrahamson declared. “You have no idea what that bitch is capable of. Or what she’s planning.”
“Why don’t you tell us?” Slade put in, leaning back against the wall as if making himself comfortable.
In reality, he was anything but relaxed. This was information they needed to know. With Kate’s influence, he knew they were hearing the truth, and it wasn’t good. Even so, they needed to hear it.
Kate might not be aware of it, but there were recording devices cleverly hidden in this room. Slade could hear the slight mechanical hum of them behind the walls. No doubt the cougars upstairs were watching and listening to this interrogation, live, as it happened.
“Sheila wants to expose shifters. She wants humans to know about you animals and join in the hunt. She wants to make your lives hell.” The venom in Abrahamson’s voice was hard to endure, but Slade made himself listen and not react.
“Is this something the Venifucus, as a group, is plotting?” Kate asked, her tone sounding worried to Slade’s ears.
“Nah,” Abrahamson laughed. “She went rogue. She’s not listening to them anymore. She doesn’t want to wait for the second coming of Elspeth. She wants the power now. For herself. Sheila is planning a ritual of her own making, and has been gathering the things she needs for weeks now. The pelt was the second-to-last item. There’s just one more thing she needs, and then she’ll be able to do the ritual—or she would have been able to, if she still had access to my chalice and the blood I was feeding it.” Abrahamson cackled then, his laugh sounding eerily through the small room.
“What are the other items she’s gathered?” Kate asked, bringing Abrahamson back to the point.
“She wanted something from each of the shifter races living here. We got the blood of a werewolf by paying a biker to pick a bar fight with one, then we scraped some of the shifter’s blood off the guy’s knuckles while he was out cold. That was the easiest,” Abrahamson said with a hint of pride in his actions. “She settled on gathering the scat of a bear shifter since they’re too hard to face straight on. We had to hunt in the woods for a long time before we found the right kind of feces. The magical kind.” Abrahamson chuckled. “That was a shitty job.”
“I bet,” Slade agreed, to keep the man talking.
“Actually, that was the part I liked best. I liked seeing Sheila poking around in shit and imagining pushing her face into a big, steaming pile—”
“What else did she need for her plan?” Slade interrupted, not wanting to hear about his sadistic fantasies.
“Well, she tracked the old lady cougar for a week or two and finally arrived at the idea of subduing her in the back garden while her guard was down. It was risky, but between the two of us, we had the magic to pull it off. I didn’t know Sheila meant to kill the old gal. Honestly. Until we were there, doing it, I don’t think Sheila even realized how easily she could kill her. And once the lady went furry on us, Sheila wanted the pelt. There was no stopping her.”
“Not that you even tried,” Slade put in, disgusted by what he was hearing, but needing to hear it all.
“No,” Abrahamson looked up, meeting Slade’s eyes. “Not that I even tried.”
“Is that it?” Kate said after a long moment of silence had passed. “Those three items, plus the blood of the magical familiars and the vampire you were collecting in your chalice?”
“The magical blood—and especially the vampire’s—was used to make that chalice into something Sheila could use to focus all the items she’d gathered. It’s a vessel for the ritual. The only vessel of power available to her in this area. Without it, she won’t have nearly as much chance of accomplishing her goal, but she doesn’t know you have it yet,” Abrahamson said with a crafty smile that sickened Slade. “She’ll still be looking for the last item to complete her set.”
“And that is?” Slade asked quickly, wanting to be done with this. The guy made his skin crawl.
“She needs something from a raptor. A feather, if possible,” Abrahamson said slowly. “And she knows where the raptors who work for Redstone hang out. She knows they walk the iron at night. She intends to knock one down, forcing him to shift, and then capture him in bird form.”
“Capture… or kill?” Kate insisted.
Abrahamson shrugged. “Either will work. As long as she gets the feather. But I wouldn’t put it past her to want blood too. She liked killing the old lady. I could tell, Sheila really got off on it.”
None of this was good news to Slade. Not that he’d expected to hear anything positive from the prisoner. Still, he knew it was time to make a few calls. He just might need some of that backup the Lords had promised was available.
Chapter Eleven
Slade made his calls quickly and set about pre-positioning some of the guys from the Wyoming Spec Ops group. He knew their leader, a former Army Special Operator named Jesse Moore. Jesse’s little brother, Jason, was the Pack Alpha for one of the more influential wolf Packs in the country, thanks in part to the elite group of men who congregated around Jesse.
When shifter warriors retired from the service, quite a few of them found their way to Jesse’s mountain in Wyoming. From that home base, Jesse Moore ran an outfit that could be hired by the right people or used to help shifters anywhere in the world, at the Lords’ command.
Slade had been told that Jesse was away on a mission of his own at the moment, but one of the more senior guys was authorized to send anyone and everyone they needed to Nevada. Slade spent a very lucrative twenty minutes on the phone, going through the lists of who was available and deciding just who he might need.
Moore’s group wasn’t solely made up of wolves. There were cats of all kinds, raptors, and even a few bears—black, brown, and even a grizzly with more kills to his credit than all the other bears combined. Slade picked men he knew from prior experience or by reputation. He could rely on Moore’s people to get themselves to Nevada as quickly as possible.
It didn’t take much to figure out the sorceress’s target location. Grif told Slade there was only one site Redstone Construction was involved in at the moment that involved iron work. In fact, according to the Clan Alpha, all the raptors who worked for Redstone were on that project, and had been for the past few weeks.
“Any of your guys have military experience?” Slade asked as they were planning their next moves.
Once again, the group had gathered in the Redstone living room to discuss what they had learned from questioning Abrahamson. As Slade had guessed, the Redstone brothers had been watching and listening via hidden cameras while the interrogation had been taking place.
What they didn’t know, and couldn’t find out from simply watching or listening, was Slade and Kate’s impressions of the truthfulness of Abrahamson’s statements.
“A few,” Grif answered. “Some of the hawks were in the service but didn’t want to continue that life when they got out. Same goes for a few of the wolves. And the Esteban bro
thers were a sniper-spotter team. They’re coyote.”
“Bill the tiger was in Viet Nam,” Steve added. “And the new bear, Vinnie Maldonado, served in the Gulf.”
“Are they on the night shift?” Slade asked pointedly.
“If they aren’t, they are now,” Grif answered with grim determination, directing his brother Robert to make note of all the names.
“Good.” Slade looked around, wondering how his next revelation would be taken. “I’ve called in the cavalry. They’ll be here in a couple of hours and will pre-position themselves out of sight for the most part. I would like to bring a few of them inside the perimeter, disguised as workers. I’d rather have trained soldiers in place on the ground than some of the younger and more inexperienced members of your crew.”
Everyone looked at Grif to see what his reaction would be.
“Who did you call?” Grif seemed to be withholding judgment.
“The Ghost Squad.” Slade used one of the more popular nicknames Jesse’s group had earned with their covert activities.
“Moore’s guys?” Grif’s eyebrows rose as he considered. Then he nodded. “Good. I served with some of them. So did Steve.” Grif looked over at his brother and they both seemed pleased in a determined sort of way.
“That’ll work,” Steve agreed. “And it’ll get some of our people who don’t know how to handle themselves in a firefight, out of the way. Not that I’m expecting a conventional firefight, but we really don’t know what kind of attack this woman will mount. For all we know, she could have hired a team of mercs.”
“Or she could lob a couple of magical fireballs,” Kate put in. “She probably has that kind of power, judging by what she’s done so far. At least trained soldiers will know how to duck at appropriate times, right?”
Her observation brought a small moment of humor to the otherwise very serious meeting of minds. Slade was intrigued to see the way she handled herself around Steve after their encounter this morning. Outwardly, she was calm and professional. Her magic had spiked a little when she’d first seen Steve, but other than that, both her magic and her casual touches were Slade’s alone.
Every time their hands touched, her magic reached out toward him in the most delicious way. He didn’t see a single tendril of her power reaching toward Steve, much to his satisfaction. She was attracted to Steve, but not half as much as she wanted to be with Slade. That made him want to pound his chest and howl in pleasure.
Steve was more talkative than he had been before around Kate. He seemed more at ease with her, but still very respectful—just friendlier—which Slade figured was a good thing. It was clear Steve knew the score. He was a cat after all. He was just as frisky as Slade—maybe more so. He wouldn’t trespass on Slade’s budding relationship with Kate, but he might make a good third from time to time. Slade tucked that thought away and turned his attention back to the problem at hand.
They spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon working on their defense plan. Lunch was spent eating and making calls.
Everyone seemed to agree that the sorceress would attack at night, when her power was strongest. Women ruled the night and dark magic enjoyed the darkest hours of the night. Kate had agreed. The woman would make her move in the dark, but exactly what night she would choose, nobody knew.
Slade chose to act as if tonight was the night. If nothing happened, so much the better. They’d be doubly prepared for tomorrow night. But if, by chance, she showed up this evening, they’d be ready.
The building site was down near the famous Las Vegas strip. It was a new mega hotel complex. The tallest of the planned buildings was going up first, and was already well over two dozen stories, with more being added each day. Work on the remaining buildings in the complex was slated to begin in the coming months, according to a schedule that would bring them all into working order around the same time, for a grand opening.
For right now, though, there was only the giant iron skeleton of the tall building at the heart of the construction site.
And lots of space around it where the sorceress could hide.
“I called the site manager,” Grif reported as he met them at the construction site. They’d taken separate vehicles, Slade following the Alpha and two of his brothers.
Slade had wanted everyone to stay back at the Redstone home and let him handle the situation, but Grif—predictably—had insisted on coming along. So had Kate, and Slade agreed reluctantly, knowing her magic could be of great help. The sorceress they were going up against had already proven herself to be both powerful and cunning.
“Our man hasn’t seen anything yet,” Grif reported. “He’s already sent home anyone who didn’t get the message earlier and arranged for one of the critical pieces of equipment to break down so he could reasonably cancel some of the higher risk work tonight. The largest and most skilled of the raptors are up on the beams and some of Moore’s guys have started arriving. They’re setting themselves up around the site.”
“Sounds good. Did anyone get hold of the raptor Alpha?” Slade asked.
While the Redstones had been interfacing with their Clan, Slade had been delivering a status update to the Lords via his cell phone during the drive here. That, and getting input from Allie and Betina. He’d used the speaker in his rented SUV so Kate could be part of the strategy session for how to deal with the magical side of things.
Slade had also gotten a status update from the Ghost Squad. They had arrived in Nevada and were already on the move. Grif’s site manager only confirmed what Slade had known. The Spec Ops guys were good to go and already taking up their positions.
Normally, Slade would have preferred to take care of everything himself, but Kate was a very necessary part of this mission. He hated putting her in danger, but in this case, he knew it was necessary—even vital. She could be of great help, as she had been with Abrahamson. She too, had an important role to play, he suspected.
There was far more on the line here than just the few shifters involved, or even just those many shifters who worked for Redstone Construction. The fate of all shifters, everywhere, could be in question here tonight. If the sorceress succeeded in revealing the existence of the were, the fallout could be astronomical. And very, very deadly.
Slade thought it oddly poetic that he’d been sent here to prevent the Redstones from unintentionally revealing themselves out of grief. In reality, the task was much more complicated. The sorceress not only wanted shifters to be outed, but was doing all in her vast power to make it happen.
Grif cleared his throat and recaptured Slade’s attention. “Rick Blackwing is the highest ranking raptor here tonight. His father is still the official Alpha, but Pablo retired from the work crews and is away, visiting his new granddaughter in Phoenix right now. So Rick is handling things here,” Grif said as he stowed his denim jacket in the back of his truck. His brothers, Steve and Robert, were doing the same, eliminating as much fabric as possible in case they wanted to shift form. “When on the ground, they’re going to gather in one trailer and keep track of everyone. I don’t want too many raptors running around where the sorceress might be able to corner someone.”
Grif had led their little convoy past the gates and into a large temporary building that was used as a private garage of sorts on the vast property. Slade understood the need for a windowless space that backed up to a spot of dense vegetation. Were could shift in here and go out the back in their animal forms.
“How about the perimeter?” Slade asked.
He was talking across the hoods of the two vehicles as Kate moved slightly away, trying to concentrate on the magic they both felt at the site. It would take a few minutes to separate out the different strands of shifter magic to be able to see if there was some kind of infiltration. Maybe. There was no guarantee that tactic would work, which was why Slade wanted to do a visual inspection. And his leopard form was best for that.
“We’ll check it now,” Steve volunteered, already shucking his shirt.
“I noticed several dark areas as we came in, where you guys will stand out. How about you take the dim areas where the brown of your fur will blend, and leave the dark spots to me?” Slade suggested.
“Sounds like a plan. Meet back here in ten?” Steve asked, including his brother Robert in the query. Nods all around firmed the decision.
A moment later, two sand-colored cougars prowled out the back of the big, steel garage.
Kate came to Slade, delaying his shift. There were still a few magical things to settle before he changed.
“Anything yet?” he asked, taking her shoulders in his hands because he just couldn’t resist touching her.
“No.” She scowled, clearly still concentrating and annoyed she hadn’t been able to find the sorceress’s trail yet.
“Keep trying, but don’t strain too much. I’ll help you when I get back. Stay with Grif and help him coordinate things. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
He leaned in and kissed her briefly before placing her away from him.
“Be careful, Slade,” she whispered.
He looked at her as the change took him and spared a moment to rub his black fur up against her legs and hip before bounding off after the two cougars, out the hidden back door of the garage.
Seeing Slade’s panther form was impressive to say the least. He was so casual about his ability to shapeshift, but it was still a miracle to her. Even living among the Redstones and the large collection of shifters they’d gathered around them, she still found it amazing, what these people could do.
Unlike the others, Slade hadn’t needed to undress before shifting. Whatever he was allowed his clothing to go into shift with him. They simply disappeared when he took his animal form. That wasn’t like any shifter she’d ever heard of or seen. She’d been told—and had witnessed since joining the Redstone’s group—that they had to undress first or risk destroying all their clothing. It simply didn’t shift with them. Not the way Slade’s seemed to.