Black Werewolves: Books 1–4

by Gaja J. Kos

  The Koldun licked his lips. “I just may have a game changer for you, zmajček.”

  The location used to host larger meetings wasn’t nearly as posh as the Upir’s apartment. It was, however, one of those hiding-in-plain-sight lairs.

  After securing the date with Jürgen at the town hall, Katja had spent almost the entire afternoon on the phone with Tomo, gathering as much details on the people from Rose’s list as she could. Though her head had been blissfully dazed by the idea of becoming Mrs. Freundenberger in less than three weeks, she had managed to store the rushing river of emotions for a later time and gave herself fully to the problem at hand.

  She had spent hours cross-referencing the vampires’ names, their employment, their everything, to give her a better sense of where such a diverse group of individuals might meet. She took a chance, narrowing it down to places the traditionals would feel comfortable traveling to during the hours of night. Perhaps Veles would have better luck tracking down the twentyfourhourly-only lairs since he had been the one to uncover the warehouse, whereas they had stumbled upon it by chance.

  Still, even with the additional restrictions taken into account, the end result had left Katja with more ground to cover than the pack had time.

  However, Dragan had some more luck placing covert questions as he toured his circles. Katja couldn’t have been more grateful for the vampire’s past life as a social butterfly—theater, fashion shows, and gallery openings had left him with more than enough people to turn to. The vamp had pieced together just as many bits of scattered facts as she had in the past few days.

  Though his partner’s death had alienated Dragan from his acquaintances for a while, there wasn’t a single one of them who hadn’t been happy to see the vampire engaged in the bubbling chatter of society once again. And it had been that joy that unlocked their lips.

  Still, not all of it had been pleasant. Dragan had been somewhat shocked to discover that the number of those sharing the rogues’ line of thought wasn’t particularly small. Even if they hadn’t joined the enemy ranks exactly, their silent support nevertheless made his stomach churn. But instead of shying away, he had used every bit of that repulsive revelation to push his inquiry further.

  By now, Katja knew that if he chose, the thin vampire could be just as vicious as her. However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t not worry about him. Just like she couldn’t not worry about Jürgen or anybody else from the pack, for that matter.

  There was no clear reason as to why the vamp had grown on her so much. Perhaps it was the fact that she saw a piece of herself in him—in the fight to mend what had been broken. But the one thing she couldn’t deny was that without Dragan’s help, she would never have found the lair this quickly.

  “I don’t doubt your viciousness,” the thin vampire whispered from her left as they crouched behind some greasy dumpsters, “but there must be at least eighty of them inside.”

  Katja exhaled. He was right. She’d sensed them from three blocks away, hoping her radar, as Jürgen liked to call it, was malfunctioning.

  There was no way the two of them could come out of that building victorious. Even if the vamps in there were lesser in skill and strength, eighty against two were odds they simply couldn’t beat.

  Besides, without having ample opportunity to scout the surroundings beforehand, she didn’t dare do anything but observe. The lack of action made her fangs want to shoot out, the urge to barge inside and rip them all to pieces nearly overwhelming. Reluctantly, she put a lid on her bloodlust and focused on her radar instead.

  All vampires.

  She let out a groan. “If the Upir is inside, she isn’t in her true form.”

  She could never forget the odd, skin-crawling experience of sensing Vaclav once he had let his ordinary vampire skin slip. It was an experience that would undoubtedly stick with her, no matter how many centuries passed. The otherness of it still made her hairs stand on end.

  “I thought you said Zarja was trailing her?” Dragan asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  Katja shook her head. “I pulled her off surveillance. After the Vedmak… We know where she lives, and by the looks of it, she isn’t going anywhere. I didn’t want to risk Zarja getting exposed for nothing. To the two-souled fucker or the damned warlock.”

  Dragan didn’t reply, he merely turned his gaze back on the large, two-story complex that would pass for a slightly rundown rural home with laughable ease. Katja followed his lead.

  Green fields stretched behind the building. More houses scattered throughout the area, but none of them seemed particularly empty… The vampires must have designed some underground passage to come and go unnoticed.

  Though the lair was sitting on the northern outskirts of Ljubljana, it was still a fairly populated area. Katja couldn’t imagine hordes of vampires walking down the gravel along the road… At least not without leaving heaps of bodies in their wake.

  She closed her eyes, her heartbeat raging.

  She hadn’t told Dragan of Veles’ ability to snuff out vampiric souls. Though she believed Dragan would understand why such dire measures were necessary, she wasn’t certain just how difficult it might be for him to come face to face with the same force that had nearly taken his own life. What Rose had done hadn’t been deliberate. Veles, on the other hand, had turned his power into a weapon of mass destruction.

  From what little she had spoken to the god, it had been clear the decision had cost him. His easy words failed to hide the strain beneath, the self-judgment lurking in the shadowed depths.

  But Katja understood his choice. And in this moment, she couldn’t help but wish Veles was with them.

  Even if his dark power couldn’t destroy the Upirs, it would still clear the path for her to sweep in and finish the bastards off.

  She exhaled.

  They were playing with fire. All of them. But with the alternative being wiped out by zealots, driven by Vaclav’s twisted vision of a bloody future, whatever consequences might befall them failed to seem quite as grim.

  The smell of freshly brewed coffee weaved into the living room, dark and strong. Rafael, in his wolf form, was curled in Evelin’s lap, his muzzle resting on her thigh. She marveled at the warmth, at the smooth structure of his fur as she stroked it time and time again, remembering every fine detail to carry with her in the days to come.

  She couldn’t help missing him every moment she was away. But what she had told herself so many times that the words had become almost a kind of second nature was true.

  It was for the best.

  Visiting too often could give away the cub’s location, and even with all the precautions Evelin took, there were traces she couldn’t erase. Anybody who knew her scent could pick it up at the edge of the woods where she had left her car. She had dashed through the undergrowth for an hour straight, planting false leads. Leads that would make a tracker with moderate experience run in circles, but an expert… He’d reach the house eventually.

  She sighed. She hated weakness, the mistakes people did because of it. And yet she was following the exact same pattern.

  It had been foolish to drive all the way up here with Tim the day she brought Rafael to Pia’s—cars were even easier to trail if you knew what you were looking for. Just as it was foolish to come here now.

  But not being able to hold her cub… She couldn’t do it. Damn the weakness, but she couldn’t.

  Not when he was growing up so fast. Not when every day she didn’t see those lively eyes was torture.

  The way things may have soon turned out made it all even harder. If Sander came through, she would have her hands full, trying to coordinate with the Perelesnyks. Rose was doing her own hunt for the Vedmaks, and the rest of the pack needed to tear apart the vamp-Upir alliance. They couldn’t spare more of their already small numbers working on something that wasn’t even set in stone.

  Evelin’s established connection with Sander had singled her out as the wisest choice for recruiting the incubi dragons. But u
ntil she was certain they truly were on the same side, she wouldn’t risk leading one of them to Rafael.

  This had to be the last time she came here. The last chance to cuddle her boy.

  Pia walked into the living room, placing two aromatic cups of coffee on the club table. Rafael stirred at the sound, releasing a high-pitched yawn, and fell back to sleep almost instantly. Evelin chuckled, trailing her finger from the ridge of his muzzle and up the white fur of his forehead.

  She noticed Pia observe her with soft eyes, the love she had for Rafael likely written in the gentle curve of her mouth.

  “He’s a sweet cub.”

  Evelin smiled. “Thank you again for taking him in.”

  Pia waved her hand. “It’s nice having someone around. My grandsons visit me when they can, but with Tim in your pack and Nathaniel always at work, those times are fewer than I’d like.”

  Evelin had expected the confession to be lined with sorrow but instead, all she found was acceptance for things as they were. No judgment. No resentment.

  Pia was a rock, carved from the harsh chisels of life, but unyielding. Her love for her grandsons wasn’t conditioned by what she received in return. It was simply there. A fact that couldn’t be changed by even the harshest of forces.

  Evelin understood now why the werewolf had taken in the cub when most people would have turned him away without blinking. It was the same inkling that had led her to bring Rafael home—only the circumstances were much graver this time around.

  “I can tell that he likes it here,” she said, looking up at the were again. “That he likes you.”

  The smile that stretched across Pia’s lips was pure warmth. “He reminds me of my Benjamin. He was such a funny child. Inquisitive and cuddly at the same time; playful, yet always ready to take a nap.” She huffed, her gaze becoming distant. The ghost of her smile still remained, but it had lost that spark of life Evelin had witnessed moments before. “And then, almost overnight, he grew up into a caring young man, a good pack member. And I was so happy to see him find his place in this world without losing who he was. I couldn’t have wished for anything more for him.

  “When he brought Adriana home for the first time, I could see they belonged with each other. That spark of fresh love was there, but also something deeper. The kind of connection my generation had been taught didn’t exist. It didn’t bother me that she was human—didn’t even know why Benjamin thought I would mind. My husband was the one that couldn’t overcome all the prejudice his parents had drilled into him, but he was already long gone when Adriana came here. Gods, was she a good woman. Always stood by his side. She didn’t have claws or canines, but she knew how to snarl at anybody who wanted to harm her love.”

  Pia let out a little laugh, and Evelin smiled. She knew Tim’s parents had died when he was young, but the were rarely spoke of them. Until today, she hadn’t even known his mother’s name.

  But Evelin didn’t blame him for his silence. Not when she had kept her past to herself for so long that the very idea of sharing it with someone shook her to the core. If it weren’t for the bond, for the slaughter in Mračaj, and for Mark’s patient presence, perhaps the pack would never have known the whole story.

  Just as they didn’t know Tim’s.

  Maybe when things calmed down, she would take her pack mate out for a beer and tell him, without any strings or pressure, that if he ever wished to speak of his parents, she was there for him. Sometimes, knowing you had support was enough. Though that was a lesson she had learned the hard way.

  She placed a kiss on the top of Rafael’s head, right between his perky white ears, and allowed the sweet scent of her cub to fill her.

  “Letting go of a child is difficult, Evelin,” Pia said, her voice soft. “But it’s nothing compared to losing him… Keep that in mind when you think the separation becomes too difficult for you to stand. He won’t resent you for this, but you might never forgive yourself if something you could have prevented were to happen to him.”

  The words were gentle, yet they cut into Evelin, pushing the jagged shards of truth deeper inside her. She sniffed, blinking away the tears.

  She met Pia’s eyes and nodded. “Thank you. For everything. I—I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

  The older were shook her head, smiling. “You are family to my boys, so you are family to me. And if I can spare you from the pain I wasn’t fortunate enough to avoid, that will be more than enough.”

  Silently, Evelin got up and placed Rafael in Pia’s lap. She drained the whole cup of coffee in one large gulp and set towards the door, each step harder than the last.

  Fingers digging into the wooden frame, she turned around.

  It would be easier to go without saying goodbye, but that wasn’t who she was. She couldn’t leave without those final words, that final image of her child, sleeping so beautifully in Pia’s lap.

  “He will be all right,” the old were assured her while she ran her hand down the length of Rafael’s spine, coaxing a light purr from the cub. “And he won’t hold it against you. I promise.”

  Exhaling, Evelin nodded.

  Even if the deal with the Perelesnyks fell through, she didn’t know when she would get to see her cub again. But Pia’s warning resonated in her mind, filling Evelin with strength she hadn’t been aware of having.

  These visits served only to soothe her soul for the brief time she cradled the cub in her arms. These moments of fleeting serenity weren’t worth putting Rafael’s life in danger. With Pia, he had everything in abundance. Comfort, affection, and attention. He had a good life.

  It was only Evelin that needed to get a grip on hers.

  “Until we can have a proper coffee together.” She forced herself to smile and set out of the house.

  Chapter 36

  The back roads were empty, and Evelin cherished every moment of losing herself in the nearly automated mechanics of driving. She followed the curves, avoiding chunks of time-worn pavement, and listened to the steady purr of the engine. No music. No voices.

  The route she had chosen took longer to reach Croatia’s border than simply speeding down the highway, but she had time to spare. Sander wouldn’t make it to their meeting point on the outskirts of Zagreb until evening, and Evelin preferred to watch the countryside slowly roll by than loiter around, waiting for the hour to come.

  The Koldun had led on that his contact was interested in her proposal; however, there were no guarantees he’d accept it in the end. Or that his kind would—provided the meeting went well, and he decided to reach out to them. However, even a single Perelesnyk fighting alongside them might change the tide.

  Though they didn’t possess the chaotic magic of the Upirs, they were primal creatures. Their sexual nature made them immune to the living vampires’ power, and their ability to shift into dragon form set them up as a very formidable opponent.

  Evelin still couldn’t fathom how Dragan came up with the idea of turning to the Perelesnyks for help. Katja had only said that one of his friend’s friends had supposedly crossed paths with one. Evelin didn’t need details to know just which path that must have been, but that still left a huge gap from seeing the incubi as a fabulous one-night stand to regarding them as possible allies in battle.

  Whatever the connection Dragan’s mind had made between the two, she was glad for it.

  Even with Veles on their side, even with his slightly horrifying ability to simply snuff out so many lives at once, they were at a disadvantage. If the Upirs were rounding up vampires who shared their vision of a world without Rose, attracting Vedmaks to their cause…

  The news was spreading too quickly.

  With the pack walking a thin line with the Keepers already, simply because they had ascended to The Dark Ones by some odd design of fate, with that damned line being made even thinner by Rafael’s existence…

  Nausea rolled over Evelin, and she bared her teeth at the steering wheel in response.

  A dragon was ju
st what they needed.

  Jens’ teeth ripped into the pulsing vein in the vampire’s neck, tearing it out along with a fair chunk of flesh. He was less than pleased that he wasn’t invited to scout out the main lair Katja had set her sights on, but if she didn’t ask Jürgen to come with her, Jens didn’t think he had the right to be pissed.

  His twin, however, had been optimistic from the very start.

  Jens threw his massive wolf body at two attacking vamps.

  Now, he could see why.

  Reports of missing people from this area had been piling up in the past few weeks—a green light, telling the werewolves they were free to engage. Though Jens had learned of the fact only a few minutes ago, Tomo himself had called beforehand, letting the pack know the police were intending to turn a blind eye.

  He clawed at one, biting off half the face of the other. The vampire shrieked, his cry lost as Jens clamped his teeth down on him.

  Not that Jürgen had said a word to him or Tim about any of this as they drove up to the district. There had been only a light buzz of excitement seeping from his twin the entire time it took them to arrive in the area.

  Sneaky bastard.

  Of course with Katja’s intel at his disposal, scouting out the area in advance must have been a breeze, and it allowed him to make sure there were no pitfalls waiting for them once they arrived. Jürgen had patiently listened to Jens’ snarls, bluntly disobeying the orders to park somewhere further along the road and tackle this as they should—with a whole lot of precaution. The sneaky sonovabitch had practically driven them to the entrance.

  Then again, it had been Jens’ own fault to fall for his twin’s game. The lack of a good fight had gotten him riled up, cranky like an old lady fighting for a seat on the bus.

  He had practically set himself up for Jürgen’s teasing.

  Jens grinned, savoring the blood that dripped down his chin. His brother did know him well.