“Oh, yes, well, I was headed out to my car in the parking garage to retrieve my phone when an SUV nearly ran me over. Thanks to my quick reflexes, I was able to jump out of the way in time, but I got an up-close-and-personal look inside that car. Pandora was slumped against the far window, obviously tranq’d. And there were two wolves in the back seat in the process of shifting.”
There it was. The proof that shifters had taken her. But why? And why had Phoebe been lured away and set up by a vampire? The idea that vampires and shifters were working together to abducted Willow and Talisen and Pandora was insane, wasn’t it? Why would a vampire help the shifters abduct Pandora? And why would the shifters help anyone, let alone a vampire, abduct the fae?
Unless… Asier.
What was it Phoebe had said about it? A ritual to save supernatural souls. Had a group of shifters and vampires teamed up to form some sort of cult? It was a strong possibility. In normal situations, vampires and shifters just didn’t work together on that level. But if they were cooperating for a common goal and they were crazy enough to believe that sacrificing a fairy would save their souls then they were stupid enough to trust one another.
“I just wish I could place that wolf. I know I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Bella continued.
“Can you describe him to me?”
“Sure. Dark gray, one black-tipped ear, one white-tipped ear. Blue eyes and white on the end of his tail. Know him?”
Dax shook his head. He didn’t know anyone with one white ear and one black one. “I’ll keep an eye out though.”
Bella patted his arm. “I know you will, Dax. You’re decent like that.” She got up and stretched her arms over her head. “Looks like it’s time to get to work.”
“Wait, one more question,” Dax said, standing to look her in the eye. “Does the term Asier mean anything to you?”
Bella jerked back as if she’d been slapped. “Where did you hear that word?”
“I can’t really say.”
“Is it part of this investigation?”
Dax nodded. He’d already brought it up, so it wasn’t as if he could deny it. But he didn’t want to tell her what he knew, which admittedly, wasn’t much.
Bella got up and walked over to her desk. She eyed the calendar off to the side and gasped. “It’s tomorrow night.”
“You know what is it then?” Dax asked.
“Yes,” she said, her body tense and her expression haunted. “It’s pure evil.”
17
Dax walked out of Bella’s office sick to his stomach. The vampire had filled him in on the ritual of Asier and what they could expect to find should no one stop it in time. Willow and Talisen would be virtually unidentifiable.
The fact that it appeared the events of the night before were a coordinated effort by both shifters and vampires, with Pandora being abducted by shifters and Willow and Tal by vampires, pretty much confirmed for Dax that a cult had indeed formed and the fae were in serious danger.
Carter Voelkel had shown up to lure Phoebe away from the gala and abducted Pandora to keep Allcot distracted. Did that mean the shifter-vampire altercation had been a setup too? It had been the perfect distraction right before the fae and Pandora had been taken.
“Fuck!” Dax said. They’d been played. All of them.
He strode over to the bar and let out another curse. Leo was sitting on the stool, his legs spread with Cassie standing between them. She had her hands in his hair while she kissed her way down his neck, her lips lingering over his pulse. The young shifter had his head tilted back and his eyes closed, a stupid-as-fuck grin on his face.
“Leo!” Dax snapped. “Remove the vampire from your neck before she fangs you.”
His head snapped up and he slid his hands down to her hips, jerking her off him.
“Hey, baby,” Cassie said, her lips in that perfect pout again. “We were just getting started.”
“Cass, let it be. We’re done here,” Dax said and jerked his head, indicating Leo should follow him.
“Um, sorry,” Leo said and hastily scrambled to catch up with Dax.
“No tip?” Cassie called after them.
Leo paused and glanced back, but Dax grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him out of the club.
“She’s fucking with you, man,” Dax said. “Do not pay her anything. She’s not a whore.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Leo said indignantly.
“Sure.” Dax pushed open the front door and was surprised to find the sun had already set. He strode quickly to his Trooper and jumped in. As soon as Leo was in the passenger seat, he slammed the truck in gear and took off.
“Damn, what’s the hurry, man?” Leo asked.
“We need to find Bandu. Now. Any ideas?”
“No. Not really.” Leo pulled out his phone. “Dali might know though.”
“Dali? Why would he know? Aren’t you both relatively new to the pack?” Which would’ve been about a year ago, right after the pack showed up in New Orleans.
“Oh, no. Dali’s Bandu’s nephew. Didn’t you know that?”
“Nope.” Dax sped through a yellow light, heading back toward the plantation house.
“Yeah. Dali and I met at the restaurant we both worked at. He pulled me into the pack. He’s been running with Bandu for years. Since right after his fifteenth birthday.”
Perfect. “Okay. Give him a call. Let him know it’s an emergency.”
“On it.” Leo whipped out his phone. A few texts later, he said, “Sorry, Dax. Bandu is out of pocket for the next few days. He has a thing tomorrow night.”
Fuck. Tomorrow night? That was when the ritual was supposed to happen. Bile rose in the back of this throat. Had he thrown in with a pack that was involved in sacrifice rituals? It was starting to look that way. He swallowed hard.
“Dali says he can gather the pack if you need ’em. What’s the emergency?”
Dax tightened his grip on the wheel.
“Dax? You okay? You look like you’re going to vomit,” Leo said, scooting to the far side of the seat.
“I’m fine. Tell Dali we’re on the lookout for a gray wolf with one black-and one white-tipped ear who also has a white-tipped tail.”
Leo sat there staring at Dax but didn’t type in the message. Then he cleared his throat. “Why?”
“He’s a suspect in the abduction of Pandora. He was spotted in the getaway car.” When Leo didn’t respond, Dax eyed him, noting the worry swimming in his dark gaze. “What is it? Do you recognize that description?” The shifter in question certainly wasn’t Leo. Leo shifted into a pure black wolf with white paws. But it could actually be any number of wolves in the Crimson Valley pack as far as Dax knew. He had only run with Bandu and Leo. Dax didn’t spend a lot of time in wolf form. Once a month was usually his limit unless he had to shift for work. A lot of the Crimson Valley wolves shifted daily and ran for pleasure. Dax was far too busy working.
Dax turned into the dirt driveway of the pack’s main house. He stopped the Trooper but didn’t kill the engine. “Well? Yes or no? Do you recognize that description?”
“Yeah, I do.” Leo fidgeted and cut his gaze to the side of the large plantation home. “He’s right there.”
Dax peered through the windshield of the Trooper and spotted the wolf in question right away—dark gray, one white-tipped ear, one black-tipped, and a white-tipped tail. Dax ground his teeth together with the knowledge that his suspicion of the pack had just been confirmed.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Who is it?”
Leo grimaced and said, “Dali.”
“You’re sure?” Dax asked, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead.
“Positive. Those markings are far too distinct.” He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “But why would he take Pandora?”
“I’m sure Bandu ordered it.” No one did anything in the pack without Bandu’s go-ahead.
“But—” Leo punched the dash and let out a cry of frustration. Then he punched it again and sat there breathing heavily.
“Is there something else you want to tell me?” Dax asked.
“Cocksuckers!” Leo buried his face in his hands and shook his head. When he finally sat up and looked at Dax, he had a tortured expression on his face. “I signed up to help people. Not be complicit in abductions. I thought we were doing something good here. Are you sure about this? That Bandu ordered it?”