Red wished he had an answer. He held his uncle’s gaze. “What do you think?”
Uncle Velder stood, walked out of the room toward his office, and returned moments later. “We keep a few untraceable cell phones. Do it.” He offered it to Emma. “On speaker, please.”
She accepted it. Red noticed her hands trembled as she figured out how to operate the phone and dialed. She hit speaker. They heard it ring, then a computerized message played and Emma punched in numbers. It beeped and gave her options. One message had been left.
He saw dread and fear flash across her features as it started to play.
“Emma,” a male voice said clearly. “The council left and I’ve killed Eduardo. He’ll never be a problem again. As soon as you get this message, you need to return home. Everything is fine. I miss you, Princess. Come home as soon as you can. I love you.”
The message ended.
Red watched Emma turn off the phone, tears spilling over her cheeks.
“Well, it seems the situation is over.” Uncle Velder crossed his arms. “That’s good.”
Emma violently shook her head and more tears slid down her face. “No, it’s not. Shit!” She stared up at Red. “He’s in trouble.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Where do I start?” She sat the phone on the coffee table. “He called me Emma.”
“That’s your name, isn’t it?” Drantos asked.
“Yes, it is. We have code words, though. Using my name means it was a forced call. He’d have used one of his pet names for me if he wasn’t under duress.”
“He called you princess,” Kraven pointed out.
“Princess is code for ‘prisoner.’ He also called Eduardo by his name. If he’d said, ‘I killed that annoying asshole,’ well…you get the point.” She wiped at her tears, focusing on Red. “They have him at the house. They’re keeping him against his will and forced him to make that call. Everything in that message meant the exact opposite. He’s telling me they want me, and to stay away. And the council is there too. Otherwise, he’d have referred to them as ‘those interfering asswipes,’ or something along those lines. He hates the council. And he said goodbye… He thinks they’ll kill him. I have to do something!” Panic sounded in her voice and he could see it in her eyes.
“I’m curious about something,” Aunt Crayla murmured. “I believe you…but why does princess mean prisoner?”
Emma turned to his aunt and sniffed. “Grandpa used to read me fairy tales. We used to joke that every princess was always kept prisoner. It seemed like a running theme. I never wanted to be a princess growing up. It meant being locked up.”
“Ah. I didn’t know that. I only had boys. They weren’t into fairy tales.”
Emma sniffed again and turned to Red. “I have to go to Oregon. I can’t just let them kill him!”
Terror instantly hit. “No fucking way. That’s what they want.”
“They’re going to kill him!” She clutched his hand. “Grandpa would do anything to save me. I have to do the same. I could go in around noon. Most of them aren’t strong enough to wake while the sun is up. Eduardo isn’t, at least not when he was in Grandpa’s nest. Before I fled, Grandpa said the ones from the council were young. I might have to deal with any humans they forced to defend them during the day but I’m faster than they are. Stronger. My fighting skills are good enough, and we have weapons stashed on the property. I’ll go in armed. I could get Grandpa out by wrapping him in blankets and lead him to the garage. He’ll fit in the trunk of the car I left behind, and I’ll drive him out of there. We’d be long gone before they wake and try to come after us.”
Red shook his head. “No. He wanted you to stay away.”
“I know,” she pleaded. “But how can I just leave him? No one will help him if I don’t. I’m all he has.”
“It would be suicide if you went alone.” Uncle Velder glanced at his sons before smiling at Red. “We owe Malachi. I have a plan. Are you thinking what I am, Glacier? Mandy?”
A couple came out of the hallway that led to the office. Red frowned at the GarLycan and his mate. “What are they doing here?”
“Listening at my request in case they were needed, since this mess involves the Vampire Council.” Uncle Velder cleared his throat. “Mandy, tell her why she’s wrong about the Vampires the council sent, please.”
Mandy nodded. “Those Vamps that showed up at your place may have been young, but they have the ability to move during daytime under the cover of a building. You’d walk inside and get the shock of your life when you came face to face with them. The council only sends assassins…and they’re fed blood from the masters to give them that ability. They’d be too easy to kill if sun put them out of commission all day.”
Emma sagged against Red. “Are you sure?”
“You could say I’m an expert on the council and how they work.” Mandy glanced at her mate. He gave a slight shake of his head. Red knew why. Glacier didn’t want his mate to admit she used to be one of those very assassins.
Mandy faced Emma again. “I’ve dealt with them before. The real question is, why do they want you, Emma? You’re part human and VampLycan, right? Do you have any special abilities?”
“No. My mom was VampLycan, my father human. I heal faster than a human, don’t age the way they do, have heightened senses. Hearing and smell. No shifting abilities at all or Vampire traits. I’m stronger and faster than a human but would get my butt handed to me in a fist fight with a Vampire or Lycan.” Emma wiggled her hand. “I have no claws.”
“Give me your best guess, Mandy.” Uncle Velder stood, passing out drinks. “Let’s hear it.”
Mandy didn’t take a glass. “She doesn’t belong to one of your clans.”
“She does,” Uncle Velder corrected. “But the council wouldn’t know that. She didn’t either, until I told Red her mother was one of ours before she left Alaska with her parents. That makes her one of mine, since she’s here. I accept her.”
Mandy nodded. “Okay. They think she’s without a clan, therefore they’d believe she has no protection, and she’s weak enough for them to control.” Mandy frowned at Emma, seeming to study her. “She’s attractive. Two things come to mind. One, someone is thinking of breeding her to see what the result would be, or two, they plan to use her as leverage after that little meeting on the roof they had with my mate. They can offer her up as a peace offering if they fuck up again to avoid bringing the wrath of GarLycans down on their asses.”
Red snarled, enraged. “They aren’t touching her.”
Mandy pressed against her mate. “Calm down, Red. Don’t get mad at me for saying it aloud. I’m with you all the way. I’m just tossing out ideas on why they’d bother to help this Eduardo asshole to go after her and his master. Then again, the council might want her to control Malachi. I don’t know why though. He’s what? Four hundred? I could see it if he were a few thousand years old. They’d cream their jeans to get control over an ancient, and definitely use Emma to make him do what they want.”
Emma stilled. “His master was thousands of years old.”
Mandy cocked her head, regarding Emma with a frown. “What was his position in the nest with his master?”
“He was second-in-command.” Emma lowered her gaze.
Red picked up on her pounding heart and the faint scent of fear came off her. He held her tighter, glancing around. Everyone in the room seemed to pick it up too. They all knew she was hiding something.
“Emma, you need to tell me everything,” Mandy coaxed. “I can’t help you figure this out if you don’t. What was his real position in the nest? Was he their historian? Perhaps he has information they want to force out of him.”
Red growled. “Leave it be.”
Uncle Velder snarled. “Shut up, Red. The council wants something from Malachi, and we need to figure out what that is. Those bastards don’t do anything without a motive that usually means trouble for others.”
He nodded and took a deep bre
ath. “Trust us, Emma. Tell them.”
She turned her head and stared at him. “I don’t want to get him in trouble.”
“Your grandfather?”
She gave a sharp nod.
“Trust our clan,” Red begged. “Please?”
“It’s important,” Mandy urged. “Is this related to the original Vampire and Lycan war? We recently got word that they were going after a Vamp associated with it. Does he know something that could do harm to the VampLycans?”
Emma blinked away tears and broke eye contact with Red, turning her attention on Mandy. “Grandpa did become second-in-command. He did anything he could to gain the trust of his master, to get Palao to feed him a lot of his blood. It was the only way to get strong enough to survive him in a fight for more than a minute or two. My grandpa drained his ass when he had a chance…and then he ashed Palao by taking his head.
“It’s against the law to kill your maker. It wasn’t back then, but it’s a death sentence now.” Emma sucked in a breath. “Palao was a vicious, vile son of a bitch who got off on killing and tormenting people. His own and humans. Maybe he had friends or something that now sit on the council. Maybe they just don’t like it that my grandfather refuses to deal with them. He’s anti council.”
Mandy grimaced. “I can see them being petty enough to do that just out of revenge for Malachi being on the VampLycan side of the war. What I don’t understand is how they even got Malachi if he drained his master. He’d be pretty damn strong and fast if he drank that much from a master who was thousands of years old. A team of assassins should be no problem.”
“I don’t know.”
The sadness in Emma’s voice hurt Red to hear. He reached out and scooped her up, setting her on his lap. “We’re going after Malachi, then?”
Uncle Velder nodded. “We owe him. He helped the original pack escape from the Vampires who attacked our Lycan families. My mother survived because of him, along with all the firstborns.”
“We warned the council to be choosier about who they sent their assassins after.” Glacier shrugged. “They should have listened.”
Mandy stared up at her mate. “That wasn’t the exact threat.”
“Are you defending them?” Glacier scowled at her.
“No way. I’m not a fan of theirs.”
Kraven cleared his throat. “Is it possible they know that Malachi is the only Vampire that we’d allow to walk into our territory? Perhaps they want to turn him into an assassin and use his granddaughter as leverage to force him to kill.”
Mandy faced him. “They were pissed when the GarLycans gave them a warning. They don’t like to be reminded that they aren’t at the top of the food chain. But Malachi’s association is with VampLycans. Not Lord Aveoth’s clan.” She frowned. “Then again, the two clans work together and are closely aligned. Maybe they think it will send a message to Lord Aveoth to back off. The council are such dicks sometimes.”
“It doesn’t matter what their motives are. They can’t use Malachi if we take him from them.” Uncle Velder glanced around. “VampLycans never forget a debt. He was there when we needed him. We’ll be there for him now.”
Emma turned her face against Red’s chest and he felt her warm tears seeping through his shirt. He rubbed her back and placed a kiss on her head.
“I need to go with them, Red.”
“Yes, you will,” Uncle Velder agreed.
Red snarled, glaring at his uncle. “No! Emma stays here, where she’s safe.”
“I’m sorry, but they’re expecting her, Red. They might kill Malachi if they see us instead of Emma. She needs to distract them to allow us time to surround wherever Malachi is being held. I have a plan, but she needs to be part of it.”
“No way.” Red wouldn’t allow her to be in danger.
Uncle Velder growled. “They want her alive. That means she should be safe until we can take control of the situation. We’ll send her in and while they’re focusing on her, we’ll slip in to attack.”
“I’m not willing to risk her.” And he wasn’t. He’d just found his mate. No way in hell would he lose her.
“Damn it, Red! Think with your head instead of your heart. I’m not talking as your uncle but as your clan leader. We’ll give these bastards what they want—and so much more. Emma is clan. You think I’d let her walk into a trap unless I was sure we could get her out again?”
Red’s anger boiled over into rage. He refused. No way would he allow Emma to go on this mission.
Emma sniffed and jerked her face away from Red’s chest. His eyes had turned pitch black and fur had sprouted on his face. He looked utterly out of control.
“I’m going, Red.”
“No.”
“It’s my grandpa. We have some secret passages in the house. They can sneak in before anyone inside figures out I didn’t come alone. I am going.” She wasn’t about to let him talk her out of it.
“I won’t allow you to be bait!”
She flinched at that term. “Not bait. A distraction. Listen to your uncle. He’s right. They could kill my grandpa outright if I don’t show up. They need me to use against him.”
Red picked her up and sat her on the couch next to him. He stood, snarling loudly, turning to glare down at her. “You can’t fight Vampires! What’s to say they don’t kill you once they know you aren’t alone? You just said they’ll kill Malachi if you don’t show up.”
She refused to cower, getting to her feet. “Stop trying to intimidate me. I see that you’re pissed but he’s my grandpa!”
“You’re my mate!”
“Not yet. I haven’t agreed. And I won’t if you make me chose between you and Grandpa. Please don’t do that, Red. I love you…but I owe him everything. I’m alive because he saved me. My mom died for the same reason.”
“Then you should know he’d also be willing to die for you. He doesn’t want you to go near that house. You said it yourself.”
He was right. She didn’t deny it. “I was always bad at doing everything he expected of me. I’ve got to try to save him. Even if it turns to shit and I die. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try. Please understand that, Red.” She stared into his eyes and softened her voice. “I couldn’t live with it,” she repeated.
Red closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped. Then he spun, storming toward the front door. She watched as he yanked open the door and left, slamming it hard behind him.
“He’ll calm down,” Velder sighed. “Give him time.”
She turned to him, refusing to let her tears fall. “What’s the plan?”
“Send you in, let them think they’ve won, and then attack the fuckers. Simple plans are always the best, in my experience.”
She nodded. “Do you have paper? I need to draw out the house, the layout, and where the secret passages are. One runs behind the wall from the basement to the roof. There’s also a tunnel from the property next door that leads to the wine cellar in the basement. It was a bitch to dig out and you’ll have to crawl through it, but Grandpa always liked to keep our options open when we decided to settle into a home on a long-term basis.”
“That will make it easier.”
She stared at Glacier. “Are you family to Red too?”
“I’m a GarLycan.” He touched the woman next to him. “This is my mate, Mandy. We live with the VampLycans.”
“They’re part of our clan now,” Velder informed her. “Part of your clan.”
Emma tried not to stare at the GarLycan but failed.
“What?” Glacier grinned slightly, cocking an eyebrow.
“Half Gargoyle, right? I didn’t know your kind existed. You remind me of a Lycan with your size though, and with the way you move.”
“You should see him shifted. He’s got wings.” Mandy winked at her. “It’s really cool to see, yet terrifying. His body also hardens on demand until his skin becomes armor. Bullets bounce right off.”
Emma let that information sink in. “What are you? I mean, if you don
’t mind me asking. You smell like your mate.”
“You could say I’ve got a lot of GarLycan in me.” Mandy grinned. “Leave it at that.”
“Okay.” Emma knew when to stop prying. Her gaze drifted to the door. “Should I go after Red?”
“No. Give him time to calm down. He will return soon.” Velder approached her. “Let’s go in my office. You can start filling us in on the property to give us every advantage we can get. I’m glad for paranoid Vampires right now, if Malachi has an escape tunnel. That sounds better than storming it from above ground.”
Emma followed him. So did the tall GarLycan and both of Velder’s sons. The other women stayed in the living room.
Velder took a seat behind his desk and waved Emma to a chair. He opened a drawer and removed paper, passing it to her. Then a pencil. “Draw the layout of the house and land first.”
Emma got busy.
Glacier spoke next. “You can go in from the basement. I plan on coming in from the air.”
Velder turned to Glacier, frowning. “It will be daylight. We can’t risk humans seeing you.”
“We’ll figure it out. Did you think I’d sit this one out? I fucking told the council to be pickier about who they send their people after. I think it’s time to give them a reminder. VampLycans and GarLycans are allies. They want Emma.” He fished out his phone. “I bet a few of my brothers have some free time. We might as well make this a party. Fun times.”
Emotion choked Emma. “Thank you.” She took time to meet every pair of eyes in the room. “Seriously. Thank you. It’s always just been me and my grandpa. I appreciate you helping me save him. However this turns out, I want you to know that.”
Velder nodded. “You’re Red’s mate, even if you haven’t let him claim you yet. That makes you family as well as clan.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back, nodding.
Chapter Eleven
Emma felt nervous. Red wasn’t helping, sitting two rows up and on the other side of the aisle in the commercial passenger van that a Lycan named Graves had picked them up in. Their group had flown on a few small planes that dropped them off at a larger airport, where they’d boarded a private jet that had taken them to Oregon. She was bone tired and just wanted to curl up on his lap.
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