by R. E. Butler
Damn, this was not how he wanted the night to go.
The family surrounded them as they hurried through the employee entrance and went directly to the War Room. Mishka and Harmony were there already, the security footage from outside the club on the large screen on the wall.
“She all but disappeared,” Mishka said as he used a remote to slow the footage.
Avery sat in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands, and Traz stood behind her, one hand on her shoulder for comfort. He stared at the video, watching frame by frame as first the sniper hit the ground, and then Daria lunged to try to harm Avery.
When the light went off, Harmony winced. “Shit, that’s bright even on video. What was it?”
“Some kind of flash bomb,” Traz said.
Rage walked into the room. “The guards lost her.”
“She ran faster than the guards?” Avery asked, lifting her head. “That’s not possible. Even the fastest human couldn’t run faster than a vampire.”
Rage shook his head and took the remote from Mishka, queuing up the different cameras on the street. Traz watched himself get blinded and Daria take off. She ran a block, looked over her shoulder, and then continued on another half block before simply disappearing.
“What the hell?” Traz asked.
Rage reversed the footage and slowed it down. Daria was on the sidewalk one moment and gone the next.
“Do that again,” Arissa said from the back of the room. She walked forward and stood in front of the screen. They watched the footage. “One more time.”
As the footage moved, Arissa studied it. Then said, “Stop!” She pointed to Daria’s image.
“It looks shimmery,” Avery said.
“That’s some kind of spell,” Arissa said.
“A disappearing spell?”
Arissa hummed and asked Rage to move the footage forward frame by frame. When she told him to stop again, Daria’s image was nearly gone like someone was erasing her.
“It’s not a disappearing spell. There’s no such thing. More like a cloaking spell.” Arissa frowned and turned to look at Mishka. “That’s not good news.”
“Why?” Mishka asked.
“Because that kind of spell is dark magic. Which means that the church is once more using someone who’s tapped into the dark arts to help them.”
“Dark magic?” Avery asked. “I don’t understand any of this. I thought the church didn’t like supernatural creatures?”
“They don’t as a rule,” Rage said. “But they will use them for their purposes. They came after Arissa with a Wiccan tapped into dark magic. They’re not above using anyone and everyone to go after us. We’re the ones Jason and the church hate the most.”
“Does this mean my sister is under some kind of spell or something?” Avery asked.
“No, it just means that Jason found someone willing to help him. It could be a Wiccan, but this cloaking spell is really powerful. If we hadn’t slowed down the footage, we wouldn’t have seen it at all. And I believe that means he’s working with a wizard now.”
Traz let out a snarl. They’d already tangled with a wizard when Bellamin’s mate Kelly was attacked at the bear shifter den. Those males were bad news on a hundred different levels.
“We have to get the coven together,” Traz said. “We need to issue a coven-wide alert and reinforce the importance of our safety rules.”
Since the church had begun attacking their people in earnest a few years ago, Mishka had set rules in place to ensure their safety. Among them, coven members weren’t allowed to go anywhere alone.
“Agreed,” Mishka said. He looked at Arissa. “If the church has a wizard working for them, what does that mean for your protection spells?”
“It worked for me,” Avery said. “I felt Daria planning to do something harmful. Traz caught her before she put her gloved hands on me, but I could feel the menace.”
“That’s a different kind of protection spell than the bespelled bracelets I use for the coven members. If there’s a wizard working with the church, I don’t believe I’m powerful enough to counteract everything he might do. Dark magic is dark because it’s dangerous. It goes to places where good, light magic won’t go. I won’t purposely harm someone without cause. People tapping into dark magic won’t hesitate. It corrupts them from the inside out until they don’t know right from wrong. They just want more power.”
Brone strode into the room, and pulled Arissa into his arms, whispering in her ear.
She patted his shoulder with a smile. “I’m perfectly fine, beloved, I promise.”
Brone nodded and then turned his purple gaze to Traz and Avery. “You are both well?”
“Yes,” Traz said. “Thank you for your help.”
“It is what we do in this family.”
Mishka let out a growling sigh. “Suggestions for next steps?”
“After a reminder to the coven about staying safe, what else can we do when the church always seems to be one step ahead of us?” Vex asked.
There was a knock on the War Room door. Mishka called out, “Enter.”
In walked the two dragons who had protected them from above, Dae and his son, Sang.
“Arissa!” Sang said, running to her with his arms wide.
She caught him in a hug and laughed. “You get a foot taller every time I see you, I swear.”
“Did you see what Papa did?” Sang asked. “That man was bad.”
Traz introduced the dragons to his beloved. Dae nodded solemnly. “We regret the circumstances of our meeting, Avery, but we’re thankful we were able to stop the male from killing you or anyone else.”
“Thank you,” Avery said. She shivered, and Traz wondered if she was remembering the male’s fall from the roof. He didn’t think he’d ever forget that scream or the thud as he hit the car.
Then he realized something. “Brone? We’ve got security in place for all the buildings we own, right?”
“Yes.”
“We weren’t alerted there was someone on the roof across the street. How the hell did he get up there without any of the security systems picking up his presence?”
“He was cloaked like the female?” Arissa offered.
Temple switched the security feed from the street level to the rooftop of the building across the street. They could see nothing for the hours ahead of the attempted assassination. There was no indication that anyone was there at all. Until flames lit the rooftop and the man suddenly came into view, flailing as fire engulfed his body moments before he tumbled from the roof.
“Another cloaking spell?” Traz asked.
“It appears so,” Arissa said. “Reverse back a few seconds.”
Temple did as requested and then paused the footage. “Look at that,” Arissa said, moving to the screen and ghosting her fingers over a strange, dark image.
“What is that?” Traz asked.
“Wings,” Arissa said. “They look like the wings of a falcon shifter.”
* * *
Avery looked at Arissa in confusion. “Do you think a falcon shifter is helping the church attempt to assassinate coven members? Isn’t that like totally crazy? Don’t the falcons have an alliance with the coven?”
Arissa stared at the screen. “Someone tell me that’s not a dark colored wing then because that’s exactly what it looks like. The only bird shifters in Ohio I’m aware of are falcons. Fae have wings that are membranes, not feathers. I know there are other types of bird shifters like owls and ravens, but falcon wings tend to be reddish brown or dark brown, which is what I’m seeing.”
“She’s not wrong,” Brone said.
“Did you see someone flying around the building?” Arissa asked Dae and Sang.
Both dragon shifters shook their heads. “I saw nothing at all except the glint of the rifle when it was raised. I couldn’t tell how it was moving because I didn’t see anything, but it glinted in the moonlight and I knew what it was.”
“That’s the craziest thing I�
�ve ever heard,” Avery said.
Traz nodded. “So someone was powerful enough to cloak not only a falcon shifter but a human, and the only reason Avery or I weren’t killed on the street is because the cloaking spell didn’t cover the weapon and the dragons have good eyesight?”
“It appears so,” Arissa said. She shivered, and Brone wrapped his arms around her.
“We set the rooftop security systems for the buildings on this street to alert us if someone accesses the roof in a traditional manner, such as the door opening or a grappling hook set into the edge. It’s clear that if someone is literally dropped onto the roof that our systems don’t register that,” Rage said. “Which means that anyone who’s been using our rooftop sanctuary has potentially been in danger.”
All the males snarled and bared their fangs.
“What now?” Avery asked.
“I need to reach out to the falcon king,” Mishka said, rising slowly to his feet. It startled Avery to see his eyes were very deep gold, and the sheer menace that rolled off him was enough to make her shudder.
Mishka was the master of the coven for good reason.
He wasn’t a male to be trifled with.
He stalked from the room. Avery looked at Traz and he shook his head. “I don’t believe it’s anyone from Jes’s nest, but it’s possible Jes might know of a falcon in league with a wizard. I’m sure he’ll help Mishka get to the bottom of things.”
“Damn,” Avery said. “It’s scary as hell that they almost succeeded in taking me out.”
“Thankfully that didn’t happen,” Arissa said.
“We need to discuss security protocols for the buildings again,” Rage said.
Cella put her hand on Avery’s shoulder. “While the males are discussing work, why don’t we go have a drink in the family room.”
“Oh, count me in,” Arissa said.
“Me too,” Harmony said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Avery said.
“We’ll pick up Angie on the way,” Cella said.
While the women said goodbye to their beloveds, Avery hugged and kissed Traz. “Have fun, sweetheart,” he said.
“You too.”
“Oh sure,” he said with a chuckle, “nothing more fun than discussing safety protocols with a bunch of pissed off, overprotective males worried about their beloveds. And I’m one of them.”
She smiled. “You guys will figure it out.”
“It’ll be a long night, don’t wait up.”
She nodded. She couldn’t really stay up much past dawn because she was a newly turned vampire. It would exhaust her too much to attempt it. If he didn’t make it down to their chamber before dawn, she knew he’d make it down there as soon as he was able. She might not get to fall asleep with him, but she’d get to wake up with him, and that was one of her favorite things.
She looked at him for a long moment, tracing her fingertip down the edge of his jaw. “I don’t know if I said it or not because it was so crazy outside, but thank you for saving me. Even though her silver-coated gloves wouldn’t have harmed me, you still were fast enough to step in between us. I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”
He brushed his lips across hers. “It’s my honor, Avery. Not because we’re tied together, but because I love you all the way to the center of my being. Your safety is paramount to me.”
“I love you too.”
As she left with the women, she glanced over her shoulder at Traz who was already sitting close to the other men, their brows all furrowed, frowns marring their faces. She hated that her sister had brought something frightening and devastating to the family, but she was grateful for their support.
She wished that Daria hadn’t gotten away, that they could have compelled her to reveal information about the church’s location so they could be stopped. That hadn’t happened, but she hoped her sister wouldn’t involve herself in something so evil again, even though she didn’t hold out much hope.
Avery had Traz and the family, and if that was all she had for eternity, then she’d still count herself a very lucky girl.
Chapter Nineteen
Traz rarely felt exhaustion. Not like he did when he was human anyway. Not in the soul-deep, want to curl up for a few days and do nothing but sleep exhaustion. But that’s what he was feeling now.
Despite the church’s plans, he and Avery had made it through the night unscathed. But they still had issues.
A shit ton of them.
Like what the church’s next plan of attack would be. He didn’t think Avery was free of trouble from her sister, but without knowing where the Cleveland branch of the church was holed up, it wasn’t as if he could simply take the whole damn place out and everyone in it. He wanted to though. The bonded male in him was feeling deadly.
Scrubbing his eyes, he felt a deep longing for his mate. It was near dawn, and he’d gotten a text from her that she was already in bed and missing him. Which made him want to run out of the room like his ass was on fire.
His phone buzzed, and he turned it over on the table, expecting it to be a text from Avery. But the name on the screen was one of the males who handled security at the SyBl factory.
Traz swiped his finger on the screen to answer the call. “This is Traz.”
“It’s Bart,” the male said. “Can you access the video cameras for the factory?”
“Sure, hold on.” Traz put the call on speaker and asked Temple to cue up the factory cameras.
All the males made sounds of surprise as the cameras revealed six bodies by the new trucks.
“What the hell happened?” Traz asked.
Temple manipulated the cameras remotely and panned across the parking lot. Bart waved at them, his phone to his ear. “The team was out patrolling and got called because a machine malfunctioned and caused a small fire. We split up, leaving a few males outside, and the rest of us went inside to help escort people out to safety if we needed to evacuate. I got a call on the walkie that there was a problem outside, and I came out to find six dead humans.”
Temple shook his head. “Someone hacked the exterior cameras. The footage stops an hour before the fire.”
“Damn it,” Brone growled. “Those cameras are supposed to be unhackable.”
“Maybe it’s not a hack so much as a spell? We know the church has a wizard now,” Ven said.
“Good point,” Traz said.
“They have burn marks on their hands,” Bart said. “And the trucks show evidence of tampering.”
Traz snorted as he realized what happened. “They tried to mess with the trucks again.”
“How do you know?” Ven asked.
“Because the last time they messed with the trucks, they drained the gas tanks and replaced the fuel with water. But we’ve got electric engines now. If they went looking for gas tanks to tamper with, they would’ve found none. Hey, Bart?”
“Yeah?”
“Are the hoods unlatched?”
They watched Bart on the screen as he moved to the closest truck and pushed on the hood. “Yeah.”
“What does that mean?” Rage asked.
“It means they tried to mess with the batteries to disable the trucks. With the voltage running through those batteries to power the trucks, when they tried to disconnect them, they fried themselves. A shocking way to go.”
“Shit, really?” Rage asked with a wry grin. “You’re making a joke right now?”
“Hey, they took themselves out of our hair,” Traz said. “We can consider it a gift.”
“Are the trucks okay?” Brone asked.
Bart got behind the wheel of one truck and it started up. Through the phone he said, “We’re good. What should I do with the bodies? It’s almost dawn, I’ve got people who need to leave.”
“Call the police and file a report, have them come take the bodies away. The day security team is on the way,” Traz said. “They’ll handle the police. Make sure we get a copy of the report and the names of everyone who was working and who was on the s
tation that caught fire. If they set the fire as a distraction, we need to turn them over to the police as well.”
“I think it was an accident,” Bart said. “The female’s been working here for years, but I’ll have the day guards do a thorough inspection and report to you.”
“Thanks,” Traz said.
Temple ran through the footage of the exterior and interior security cameras at the factory. They all concurred that it wasn’t a hacker who messed with the cameras, but most likely the wizard.
Traz sat back in his chair and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Damn wizard.”
“Can the Wiccans track dark magic?” Temple asked, looking at Brone. “Like could they cast a spell that would show them where someone with dark magic was working?”
“Not that I’m aware,” Brone said. “I’ll ask my beloved.”
He stepped into the hall to call Arissa, and when he returned a few minutes later, he shook his head. “Arissa said dark magic is all about secrecy. They don’t advertise their use of dark magic otherwise they’d get hunted down.”
“So much for that idea,” Temple said.
“We could ask Darien to look into the falcon if the nest isn’t able to tell us who it is,” Traz said.
Darien was a supernatural tracker, with the ability to find things that others couldn’t. If anyone could locate a rogue falcon helping the church, it was him.
“We should put Darien on the trail to figure out where the church is,” Ven mused, swiveling in his chair. “Why haven’t we ever done that?”
“He tried,” Brone said. “They’re too fluid.”
“I remember,” Traz said. “They hole up in the oddest places, like the males we found at the abandoned dry cleaners. Darien followed protesters, but they never went anywhere but their own homes. Jason’s nothing if not excellent at training his church members on how to avoid detection. But he might be able to find the falcon.”
“Jason is such a bastard,” Vex said.
The door opened and Mishka walked in, looking unhappy. Traz didn’t need to hear him speak to know he didn’t have good news.
“I spoke to Jes and shared the video footage,” Mishka said. “He agreed it’s a falcon but doesn’t believe it’s anyone from his nest.”