“Yes, Morena, the fairy and her spouse are being held at Mizer House until tomorrow night when we can complete the ritual,” he said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone.
The sorceress uncurled from her position on the velvet chaise and floated over to him. As her scarred, distorted face came into the light, Bandu shrank back from her. “Your life is extended because of me, wolf. What do you think you’d look like if I hadn’t given so much of my power to you?”
“Nothing,” he said, staring out the window. “I’d be dust by now.”
“That’s right. You’d be ash and your pack wouldn’t have their righteous leader to keep them on their moral path. Though I daresay the knowledge that you steal the youth of a fae or two every four years would make them rethink their loyalty, don’t you?”
He spun around, hatred flashing in his eyes. “You’re the devil.”
“Not quite, my darling.” She ran an arthritic finger along his jawline. “But close enough.”
The scene distorted and when the mist parted, I found myself in the room where Willow was being held captive. Only she wasn’t there. Not in this memory. The cell was empty and Bandu was pacing the floors. The redheaded vampire was sitting in a recliner, his left foot propped on his knee as he watched Bandu fidget with his keys.
“Calm down. I’ve got this covered,” Carter said. “You need to relax.”
“How can I relax when you’re telling me our only option is to abduct the fae under Allcot’s protection?” The shifter ran both hands through his dark hair. “This is going to blow up in our faces.”
Carter rose from his chair and walked over to Bandu. He gently placed his hands on Bandu’s cheeks, leaned in, and whispered, “You need to relax. I’ve got a plan to deal with him. All we need to do is keep him busy looking for that bitch Pandora and he won’t give a shit about the fae. Pandora is his only weakness. We’ll carry out the ritual, you and I will get another four years together, and our followers will become all the more dedicated. You know how powerful it is when the young ones think their souls are saved. Four years from now, we’ll have an army of loyalists. Allcot will never survive this war.”
“Only if we can get the city to believe his people are behind all the fabricated attacks,” Bandu said.
“Oh, we will. Didn’t I tell you? Five of the city council members have reached out to me after my invitation. They feel it’s time to turn in order to have a fighting chance at pushing Allcot out of the city. I named my price and they gladly agreed. Once they get an indictment on the entire Cryrique organization and install me on his board of directors, we’ll push him out and I’ll be in charge of everything that bastard has built. Even if the charges never stick to Allcot, he’ll be out of the city forever and the council will be in my pocket.”
Bandu closed his eyes, clearly troubled by the plan.
“Come on, baby. You know this is how it has to be if we want to clean up this city. Make it safe for humans, shifters, and vampires alike. I know it seems unethical, but it’s for the greater good. Once we get past this, we’ll make a stronger, more equitable New Orleans. One where everyone matters. You’re with me on this, right?”
“You know how I feel about the sanctity of life,” Bandu said, trying to take a step back. “It’s not right to take a life just so I can keep living a stolen one.”
Carter let out a huff of frustration. “How many times have we been over this? Your life, the good you do, it’s worth a hell of a lot more than two fae who do Allcot’s bidding. You care about people. Not money. You make their lives better. You make my damned life better.” Carter brushed his thumb over Bandu’s cheekbone and leaned in, giving him a soft kiss. “Tell me you’re with me on this, love. Say yes and I’ll put it all in motion.”
Bandu stared up at the tall redhead, eyes searching. “How are we going to keep Allcot from finding Pandora exactly?”
Carter’s lips curved into something too sinister to be called a smile. “I summoned our sorceress, Morena. She helped us once, she’ll help us again.”
Bandu let out a tortured sigh and glanced away. Then when he turned his attention back to Carter, he returned the kiss and whispered, “Yes.”
I glanced away, always a bit uncomfortable with public displays of affection, and found my eyes locking on someone spying on them through their window—someone I hadn’t seen in eight years.
I let out an audible gasp.
Seth.
23
The visions cleared and I sat on Allcot’s tile floor, stunned. The only thing I could focus on was Seth’s face peering at Bandu and Carter through the window. What had he been doing there? Had I imagined it? Was he undercover, tracking their movements and trying to stop this just as much as we were? But if so, how come he’d been missing for so many years? The questions would not stop running through my head and I reached up, grabbing fistfuls of my hair, trying to stop my mind from spinning.
“Holy shit. I think we just entered the fourth dimension of crazy,” Imogen said, her voice bringing me back to the matter at hand.
I glanced around the room, taking in the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. And it wasn’t because they’d seen Seth. It was the insane plan of the shifter and his vampire lover that had them all frozen with shock. All of them but one.
Bandu.
His head was bowed and silent tears were streaming down his face.
“You’re a disgrace,” I said quietly.
The shifter nodded his agreement.
“Weak. Selfish. A complete and total fraud,” I continued.
“People looked up to you,” Leo called from across the room. “We believed we were called to be better people. But you… You used us, lied, and—” Leo shook his head, too outraged to continue.
Pandora moved slowly, taking her time, eyeing the trussed-up shifter. “So all that was to get to Willow and Talisen? I was just a distraction?”
The defeated shifter nodded.
“What a grave mistake you made, shifter,” she hissed. “You and your vampire lover are both going to die tonight. And those plans you made, they’ll die right along with you. By tomorrow morning, all your followers will know what a hypocrite you are. All that shit about how evil vampires are and this whole time you’ve been fucking a vampire of your own.” She tsked. “Why is it always the hateful ones who are so hypocritical?”
Bandu didn’t acknowledge her words. He just continued to stare at the ground, his tears falling.
“You make me sick.” Then she reached down, grabbing my cursed blade off my belt. But before she could strike, Allcot was there, his hand wrapping around hers, stopping her fatal blow.
“Not yet, love,” he whispered tenderly. “We need him a bit longer.”
“Why?” she asked incredulously. “We know where Mizer House is.”
I was glad someone did, because I’d never heard of it.
“The sorceress,” he said. “They are connected. If we end him now, she’ll end up here to avenge him, and we don’t have time to deal with that just yet.” He walked over and opened the door. “Harrison?”
“Yes, boss,” the tall man said.
“I need you to gather a team and get this shifter down. Keep him restrained—he’s highly dangerous. We’re taking him with us. Got it?”
“Got it.” Harrison pulled out his phone and began to punch in a message.
Allcot turned to us. “Be ready in ten minutes. We have a couple of fae to retrieve.”
* * *