Den of Sorrows

by Quinn Loftis

  “How long is the incubation period of the virus?” Sally asked.

  “It takes six days for the virus to fully infect the host,” Alston answered.

  “So basically they could start making vamps as fast as we can kill them,” Jacque said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

  Peri understood Jacques worries; she had thought of the same things.

  “I don’t have the perfect solution for you,” Peri admitted. “I’m trying to keep from getting every wolfpack in North America involved, and I have other wolfpacks dealing with the whole Volcan crap. I could see if the elves would be willing to help—”

  Peri’s words were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Cyn.

  “Speak of the devil,” Jen said with a grin.

  “I am not an elf,” Cyn told her in her usual matter-of-fact, no-nonsense way.

  “No, but you’re doin—OW!” Jen lifted the foot that Peri had just stomped on.

  Peri stepped away from Jen just in case the she-wolf decided to retaliate. “Cyn, glad you could join us,” Peri said with a small amount of bite in her voice. She’d expected the fae warrior two days ago.

  Cyn met Peri’s eyes and, because Peri knew her, she saw the pain there.

  “What’s wrong?” Peri asked, stepping toward her.

  “I was delayed in coming because, before I was about to flash to Romania to join you, I decided to check in on the pixies who have been monitoring Canada. It took me awhile to track them down. I picked up their trail of magic on the outskirts of Toronto. But they weren’t alone. Someone was following them.”

  “Please don’t tell me what I think you are about to tell me,” Peri said in a deadly whisper. “Please, Cyn.”

  “I am sorry, Perizada. The vampires got to them before I could get there.”

  “They killed the little pixies?” Decebel asked through gritted teeth.

  Peri felt as though she couldn't breathe. She tried to suck air into her lungs but her throat was so constricted that none could get through. Why the hell couldn’t she keep her people safe? Why, at every turn, did it feel like she was failing?

  “What about children?” Vasile spoke up. “Have there been any more children missing or killed?”

  “I honestly don’t know. The pixies that were helping in the United States have fled after finding out their kin were murdered,” responded Cyn.

  “Now we have no way to monitor the kidnappings or deaths,” Peri spat.

  “I do have an idea about that,” Cyn explained. “We are going to need to start monitoring the humans’ police force.”

  "Perizada." Her mate’s voice rushed into her mind and the concern, urgency, and love that came with it eased her enough that she could breathe again. "Are you alright? Do you need me?"

  "I always need you." She paused and considered Cyn's news and then swallowed her pride as she turned to her mate. She told him about all of their concerns regarding the sheer number of covens and how quickly the vamps could multiply. She told him about the pixies and how that they now had no real way to monitor the abductions and deaths without going through the human police. She explained that every time they took out a coven all of the death and horror was hurting Sally and that the residual magic left after the vamps were killed was causing some intense emotions for them all. "I don't know what to do. We can't just do nothing, even though the problem seems so much bigger than our little band of heroes. What do I do?"

  Peri listened to the group milling around her, talking quietly amongst themselves as she had stepped to the side to converse with her mate through their bond. She could feel his mind at work and knew that he was attempting to see things from multiple angles, not just the ‘kill all vamps’ angle that she seemed to have latched onto.

  "Get in contact with Tayna and have her wolves deal with the coven in Colorado and any that you know about that are nearby. There is no reason they can't help. Also get in contact with Tyler, the Springfield Alpha, and have him deal with the coven in his territory and any other covens nearby. You don't have to do it all, love. Lean on those willing to help."

  "Tyler owes us anyway after hesitating to give up the cabin where Jacque was taken after being kidnapped," Peri said, getting angry at the stupid Alpha despite the fact that she hadn't even been there. The girls had been happy to share with her in grave detail everything that had happened to them up until the point when Peri entered the picture.

  "No wolf would let the death of innocent children lie. As soon as those wolves hear about what's going on, they will be more than happy to help. What about the pack in Coldspring, the one with the Alpha that Fane had to kill? Any covens near them could be their responsibility."

  "Thank you," she said when she realized his matter-of-fact thinking was exactly what she needed.

  "I am always here. I love you."

  "I love you too, fleas and all." He chuckled at her and then left her to do what she needed to do. Peri could only do what she was doing because she knew Lucian was protecting the healers they still had in their care and waiting and watching to see if Volcan made a move. If he weren't there taking care of those things, her mind wouldn't be in the game where it needed to be.

  She turned to face the group feeling more grounded and less frantic. Thank you for that, mate, she thought to herself. "Okay, I've got a plan," she spouted to those around her.

  Vasile stood silent, his arms folded in front of him, as he considered the things his brother had suggested to Peri.

  "I understand why you didn't want to get the other wolves involved, Peri," Vasile said.

  "Would someone please enlighten the little people?" Jen spoke up as she looked from Vasile to Peri.

  It was her mate who answered. "You know of the darkness that lives in the males of our race," Decebel began.

  Jen nodded.

  "It's one thing to speak of the darkness, to simply acknowledge that it's there. It is a whole other thing to be the one living with it. When we are without our true mate we battle it hourly. So take a male already dealing with that, throw him into a den of vampires, have him kill them, and then be surrounded by the dark magic in them."

  "But why don’t the mated ones just do the fighting?" Jen asked.

  Vasile watched as his longtime friend’s eyes softened at his mate. "Jennifer, I know you, Sally and Jacque have only experienced this" —he motioned to the group— "for the most part. Over the past year, half a dozen in our packs have found their true mates. That's more than has been found in decades in all of the packs."

  Her eyes widened when she finally understood.

  Vasile took over. "The majority of the pack members in any pack are unmated males," he said just to be clear. "There just aren’t enough mated wolves to fight this threat. But we have to weigh the options. If we don't ask for the other packs to help, we have to do it all on our own. Which, as Jacque pointed out, would be futile if the vampires began making more of their kind. So instead, in order to protect the greater good, we must have our unmated males fight."

  "Will they be willing?" Sally asked.

  The men in the group, including Vasile, scoffed. He looked at the healer and nodded. "We protect what is ours and we protect the innocents. They will be more than happy to hunt."

  The Romanian Alpha turned back to Peri. "So how will you divide the few among them? Your power will be needed to deal with the aftermath and any survivors that might need to be helped."

  Peri glanced at Alston and Nissa and then Cyn. "Yes, each pack will need the assistance of a fae. Nissa," —she said looking at the high fae woman— “you will go to Coldspring. Cyn, you will go help Tanya in Colorado. Alston," —she paused, seemed to consider something and then continued— “you will stay with this group. You aren't as well known among the other packs. Nissa isn't either, but she isn't an ass like you. So it would be better if I dealt with the Missouri pack."

  The group tried to bite back its laughter. Well, some of them did, Vasile conceded as he looked at the three American female
who were chuckling outright. The sparkle he saw in Peri's eye told him she'd meant for the comment to lighten the mood.

  "So where is the fellowship headed next?" Jen asked once everyone had gathered themselves.

  "Washington," Peri answered.

  Vasile's brow furrowed when Jen, Jacque, and Sally's eyes all lit up.

  "Forks?" they all said at the same time.

  Chapter 12

  "It is amazing to me the things we forget. At the time of their happening, they seem so important, so devastating, or so grand. But then, years later, we can scarcely remember what we were even wearing that day." ~ Alston

  Drake was on autopilot. He was obeying his Alpha’s instructions; he was listening to every word said, and yet his wolf and soul seemed to be somewhere else. He could feel them searching for something. Drake kept forcing down the need of his wolf to run, to hunt, and to ferret out whatever it was that had him so focused, but the pull was getting harder to ignore. And the more he ignored this pull, the stronger another pull—the pull of the darkness—became. It whispered to him to come and get lost in the chaos and blood. It whispered that only the darkness could save him now.

  "This is not Forks," Jen said, her hands on her hips and her foot tapping restlessly as she glared at the White House as if it had somehow offended her.

  "It's your own fault for getting your hopes up," Jacque pointed out. "Peri never agreed with us. She just grinned."

  "Yep, and we lapped it up like kittens slurping up cream," Sally agreed.

  Jacque and Jen turned to look at her. "Kittens slurping up," Jen began.

  "Cream?" Jacque finished.

  Sally rolled her eyes. "We can't all be as eloquent as you two poets."

  Jen inclined her head. "Can't disagree with you there, kitten." She winked at the now scowling Sally.

  Decebel placed a hand on her lower back, drawing her attention away from the banter, and she looked up at him. The look in his eyes made it clear that he was happy to see the three of them going at it again. Things had not been the same since the vampire killing had begun.

  "We're going to be okay, B, promise," she reassured him.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I've no doubt of that, baby. I just hate that you are even in a situation that makes you feel as though you need to reassure me of such a thing."

  "But if we do this now, if we deal with these situations ourselves, then maybe our children won't have to. That makes it worth it," Jen told him and then glanced over at her two best friends who were nodding in agreement.

  "We can handle this," Sally agreed. "It's not pretty, it's not easy, and it's only going to get worse, but we can handle it."

  "Would it be totally inappropriate of me to tell you how incredibly hot you are right now and that I want to show you another reason dealing with these situations will be worth it?" Costin asked his mate as his hazel eyes began to glow.

  Jen held out her hand to high-five her friend’s mate. "Nicely done. Inappropriate sexual comments are by far the most flattering."

  Decebel's brow rose. But Alston interrupted whatever he had been about to say.

  "The entrance to this coven's lair is right over there." He pointed to a sewer grate.

  They all looked in that direction and then at their surroundings.

  "Is it just me, or are there about fifty too many humans walking, driving, and lollygagging about?" Jacque asked.

  "I can handle the humans," Alston countered.

  "But then who's going to help deal with the remains down there?" Jen asked.

  The high fae turned to look at Vasile and Alina, but they looked like they were having too much fun watching the girls do what they did best—pester.

  "Peri isn't the only one with power, you know," he said as he let his own power roll over him and light him up just as Peri's sometimes did.

  Jen pursed her lips at him. "She just seems so much more…bad ass than you."

  Alston glared at her. "Why do you think they call me a high fae?" he challenged.

  Jacque shook her head at the man, just as Sally snickered.

  "Couldn't possibly be because you like to smoke on some magical fae plants, could it?" Jen asked him and she could tell she was really beginning to grate on a nerve.

  Suddenly the grate to the sewer slid sideways and Alston pointed to the opening. "Just go kill the vampires, please, and then I will do my part."

  "Touchy, touchy," Jen mumbled as her mate ushered her toward the opening.

  Jacque watched as Decebel, Jen, Vasile, Alina, and Drake slid into the opening before dropping down into the darkness below. Her stomach clenched as it did every time she'd watched Jen disappear underground to fight the nasty creatures. She knew Decebel wouldn't let anything happen to her best friend, but that didn't stop her from worrying.

  She instinctively placed a protective hand on her stomach, since that seemed to be the only person she loved that she could protect.

  "Are you alright?" Fane asked as he looked from her stomach to her face.

  She gave him a reassuring smile. "No baby coming yet, daddy."

  "You will let me know?"

  She nodded and stood on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. "Of course I will."

  Jacque turned back to the sewer opening and watched it as if, by her will alone, she could keep safe the group that was disappearing into the hole. If only it were that easy, she thought.

  Sally tried to step away from Costin but he wouldn't allow it. Just as he hadn't at the last three covens they'd taken out. She was attempting to shield him from the things she was feeling, because if she didn't, he tried to take on some of the emotional anguish himself, and she couldn't bear for him to do that.

  "Stop," Costin whispered as he pulled her back against his chest. His hands were on her arms, holding her to him. "You aren't going to do this alone. You are the healer, but I am the healer’s mate. I am the one who has the privilege of tending to you. You won't take that from me, not when I have to watch you give of yourself to everyone and then feel your guilt when you think there's nothing left for me."

  Sally's head snapped around as her mouth dropped open and she looked up at him. How had he known? She'd been so careful to keep that part of her tucked away. There was no hurt in his gaze, just love, determination, and resolve. "You're mine," he whispered against her lips as he pressed a soft kiss to them. "I require nothing other than this." He wrapped his arms around her. "Let me be the one to hold you, through all of it."

  Sally closed her eyes. She knew the moment the killing began. The dark magic that was released from the dying vamps caressed her own magic, attempting to lure her to it. She shook it off and focused on Costin's warmth surrounding her. Then the emotions came. It shouldn't have been so strong, not up here on the street. She wasn't down in the actual coven where the horror had taken place, but for some reason, that's exactly what it felt like.

  She would have fallen to her knees had Costin not held her. Sally squeezed her eyes shut as her heart beat painfully in her chest. She wanted to scream but couldn't. She didn't know how much time had passed as she was swallowed by all of the anguish the victims had endured. Then she heard Jen's voice.

  "Sally! We need Sally, now!"

  Sincaro glared at the two vampires standing in his lair. Of all the covens in North America, his was the only that felt like an actual building. He had extensive amounts of work done to convert the square concrete walled rooms into something akin to comfortable living quarters. He supposed it was because of his age. He had more control than the younger ones and, though he lived to feed, he also enjoyed the occasional luxury. He preferred to be clean and liked the area in which he lived to be tidy as well. Sincaro was well aware that there were some covens that were nothing more than rats’ nests.

  One of the vampires fidgeted, drawing the vampire king’s attention back to the present. "How many?" Sincaro finally asked.

  "Seven that we know of," the fidgety one answered. Sincaro couldn
't remember their names, mostly because they were both expendable. There was no point to know their names.

  "And you know for sure it's the wolves?"

  "One of the vamps in Little Rock was on his way back to the coven and saw them. They apparently don't know that we have some day walkers. So he sent out the call and it's been going out to all the covens. The ones they've hit hadn't been notified yet. Pretty soon they're going to come upon one that is ready for them."

  Sincaro smiled. It amused him how the vampires could ban together when they had a common enemy. They might be bloodthirsty, but they also wanted to protect their way of life.

  "Do they appear to know anything about the captives?"

  "No. They know there are children, but they don't realize their significance," the one on the left answered.

  He sat staring at the two vampires but not really seeing them. Sincaro’s mind was weighing his options. He could wait until they made it to his city, as they undoubtedly would, or he could challenge them. If he challenged them, perhaps, they wouldn't be able to destroy any more covens. They would be in Phoenix dealing with him and his coven. If he waited, there was no telling how many they might kill before they got to him.

  "Send Fontaine to me," Sincaro said as he dismissed them.

  Several minutes later, the door opened and in walked an ancient vampire—one old enough even to walk in broad daylight. "Fontaine," Sincaro said and gave the man a curt nod.

  "Sire," Fontaine said with a slight bow of his head.

  "I need you to go up and find the wolves and fae that are daring to stand against us. So far none of my line have been killed. If one had, I would know it and know where it took place."