“About eighty percent. All the facts line up,” Dax said. “What do you think? You know Dali better than I do. Can you picture him abducting a vampire for no concrete reason?”
“Yes.” His response was immediate. “Dali hates vamps just as much at Bandu does. If his uncle ordered it, he’d do it no questions asked.”
“That’s what I thought. What about you, Leo? Would you take orders without question?”
The younger shifter was silent for a few beats. Then he gritted his teeth. “I guess the answer to that is yes. Because I have. I trusted Dali. It’s why when he asked me to start something with those vamps at the gala, I didn’t hesitate. He said it was to show them we wouldn’t put up with their bullshit. Wanted to show dominance or some fucked-up shit like that. I just went along with it, thinking he wanted them to be wary of us if shit went down out on the streets. Then after things started to get real, I looked to him for backup and he was gone. But you stepped in, so I forgot all about it.”
Dax recalled that Dali had just vanished into the crowd, but everything had been so chaotic, he hadn’t given it much thought. But Leo was right, Dali had set him up. Probably even told the vampires all that personal stuff about Leo’s life to keep him off his game. “Son of a bitch.”
“You can say that again. And speaking of the bitch, there he goes.” Leo pointed at a silver Jeep that was pulling out of the driveway. Dali had shifted back into human form and was headed out of the compound by himself.
“Looks like we’ve got a shifter to tail,” Dax said. “Ready to find out where he’s headed and what exactly he’s up to?” With any luck, he’d lead them to Bandu. Or better yet Pandora or Willow and Talisen.
“I’m a thousand percent ready.”
Dax grinned at him. “I like your enthusiasm, kid.”
18
Eadric and I crouched in the brushes, staking out the three-story Gothic-style house that looked like it had walked right off the pages of an Anne Rice novel. Link was beside me, already in wolf form, just waiting for my instructions. We’d arrived in the English Turn neighborhood well over two hours ago, and despite Allcot’s desire to fly inside, ready to tear limb from limb, I’d persuaded him to do a little reconnaissance first. We’d circled the property a number of times, careful to keep our distance, and I’d noted every window and external door, making sure I had a decent lay of the land.
The biggest problem was that the house was huge. If Pandora was in there, we’d have no idea where to start. And judging by the steady stream of shady-looking shifters who’d been keeping guard all day, we’d have plenty of resistance on our hands.
“I think if we wait until after midnight, we’ll have our best shot of extracting her,” I said. “We can take the guards out one by one, or at least try to, then make our way inside.”
Allcot glared at me. “We don’t even know if she’s in there. I’m not waiting that long to find out.”
“She’s in there,” I said. “There’s no doubt.”
“And how do you know that, Kilsen?” he asked in a harsh whisper. “All we’ve seen so far are shifters who look like they haven’t bathed in two months and that piece-of-shit shifter leader Bandu. When I get my hands on him, I’ll—”
“See that shifter standing on the porch?” I pointed and added, “He’s got dark hair and a scratch across his face.”
“Who the fuck cares?” Allcot was rapidly losing patience.
I couldn’t say I blamed him. If I thought Willow was in there, I’d have been hard-pressed to keep from charging in as well. But we were only two people. Sure, a powerful vampire and a powerful witch, but by last count there were at least a dozen guards and who knew how many were inside. We’d seen enough come and go that it was impossible to tell.
“You should,” I said. “He didn’t have that wound when he walked in. Four scratches all lined up perfectly. You know where that type of wound comes from? One pissed-off vampire. I’d say Pandora is itching to hand them their asses just as soon as she gets a chance.”
Eadric squinted, studying the shifter through the bushes. “I’ll be damned.”
“I daresay you already are,” I said with a snicker.
He ignored me. “Fingernail scratches. And that’s not the only wound he has either. Look at his neck.”
My vision wasn’t quite as good as Allcot’s, but I could vaguely make out the red-tinged mark. “Fleur-de-lis. Pandora’s cursed ring?” I guessed and squinted at a couple of other shifters who wore red nail marks. Now that I knew what to look for, they were easy to spot. The fleur-de-lis mark was on almost all of them, as if she’d purposely branded them all.
I grinned at him. “She’d holding her own.”
“Of course she is.” Allcot scoffed. “My Pandora doesn’t take shit from low-life shifters.”
“Or anyone else for that matter,” I said, fueling his pride in the woman he loved.
He glanced at me, his eyes hooded. “You’ve got that right.”
I chuckled. No one would ever accuse Pandora of being weak. “So, now that we know she’s here and obviously holding her own, I think it makes sense to plan our attack for the least resistance. We could even call in backup,” I added. “Your security crew.”
Allcot shook his head. “No. They’re tied up protecting the compound and everyone else who lives there.”
“Right. Of course.” I’d almost forgotten that Willow’s nephew, Beau Junior, and his mom, Carrie, lived in the mansion. If not even Willow and Talisen were safe from this cult of crazies, who was to say the group wouldn’t take Beau and Carrie as well? I considered calling Dax but decided against it. Not with the way we’d left things earlier. And not without knowing just how loyal he was to the pack. I wanted to trust him, but couldn’t shake my lingering doubts. “All right. Just the two of us then. How do you want this to go down? I could go in first, be the distraction if anyone is awake while you search for her. Or we could both go in, guns blazing so to speak.”
He glanced down at my ankle where I kept the tranq gun strapped under my jeans. “Does it work on shifters?”
“Work? Depends on what you mean by work,” I said. “Most probably wouldn’t survive the dose, though when I see Bandu, I think it’s going to be hard to hold me back.”
“You won’t need it. I’ll end him if he shows his face again,” Allcot said with a snarl. “That bastard went way too far.”
“He had help, you know,” I said. “Carter Voelkel has his hands all over this.”
“Voelkel. Don’t worry. I have plans for him.”
On the surface, Allcot’s words were pretty innocuous for a pissed-off vampire, but his eerie, sinister tone was what sent a shudder through me. Dante had called Pandora crazy, but I could only imagine what Allcot would do if anything happened to her. Mass destruction came to mind.
Beside me, Allcot stiffened then his cold hand rested on the back of my neck, squeezing just enough to make me uncomfortable. Link jumped up and let out a low growl, warning Allcot. The vampire ignored him.
“What are you doing?” I demanded in a whisper, recognizing his action as a subtle threat. For what, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t having any of it. We’d formed a tentative partnership, but I wouldn’t hesitate to walk if he overstepped my personal boundaries. “Remove your hand, or we’re going to have a problem.”
“Not until you tell me what your partner is doing here. If he was in on this from the beginning, I don’t think I have to tell you he’s a dead man.”
“What? Dax is here?” I glanced around, my gaze searching each one of the shifters milling around out front. He was nowhere I could see him. “Where?”
“Behind us. His scent is making me nauseated.”