“Ready?”Rex asked in a whisper as he leaned closer to Harmon.
“As ready as I can be.”
Rex sighed.“Let’s hope the dragons aren’t as stupid as their leader was.”
They had to have faith that at least some of the dragons had never wanted what Martin made them do.Everyone who’d lived in this house and had managed to leave had insisted that most of the clan members were good people, but Harmon had yet to see proof of that.Hopefully, he was about to.
* * * *
REX WAS MORE THAN HAPPYto let the others lead this little expedition.He didn’t have any experience with being in a position of authority, and he didn’t mind being the muscle.He could stand there and look threatening while someone else spoke.
Thankfully, that someone else was Arlen.He’d taken the lead without anyone having to ask, which was better than letting Merrick do it.Knowing him, he’d start punching people if they looked at him weirdly, and he had a very limited amount of patience, which he used entirely on Alpin.These dragons wouldn’t know what hit them if they weren’t careful.
“Jacob?”Arlen asked.
The man waiting for them by the front door nodded curtly.It was clear that he was unhappy with their presence there, but unfortunately for him, they weren’t going anywhere until they had what they wanted.
“And you are?”Jacob asked.
“Arlen, and this is Merrick.We were both clan members, once upon a time.The other three are Mallory, Harmon, and Rex.”
Jacob sniffed.“Vampires.”
He made it sound like it was an insult, and to him, it probably was.The problem with that was that he had unknowingly insulted Arlen’s partner.Mallory didn’t seem offended, but he didn’t have to because Arlen was on his behalf.
“I don’t care what you think about vampires, you better be respectful,” he snapped, his voice suddenly ten degrees colder.
Jacob couldn’t afford to argue.It was obvious from his expression that he wanted to, but he was smart.He nodded once, then turned toward the inside of the house.“I’ll take you to the prisoners.”
They followed him in.Rex was alert since he didn’t know what to expect.He wasn’t surprised to see people hovering around, staring at them with various expressions.Some just seemed curious, while others were obviously pissed.Rex had to resist the urge to wave at them.Now wasn’t the time to push these people into reacting.There was already enough anger going around.
Rex wasn’t surprised when they were led to the basement.He didn’t care about where these wolves were kept because they’d betrayed Kieran and the pack, but Arlen was visibly displeased.“You could have let them out of their cells since you knew we were coming,” he told Jacob.
The place was cold and damp and smelled of body odor and mildew.The floors and walls were made of cement, with scuff marks no one had bothered to clean.The space had been divided into two big cells and a few smaller ones.It looked like most of the wolves had been placed in the same one, which was too small for the number of people crammed into it.
“Why?”Jacob asked, sounding like he didn’t understand why Arlen was angry.
“Because they haven’t done anything to your clan.The only reason they’re behind bars is that Martin was a monster.”
“That might be true, but as I told you on the phone, I’m not in charge of the clan.I don’t make the decisions, and that includes decisions on what to do with the prisoners.”
Rex was pretty sure that Arlen wanted to give Jacob a good shake.Merrick, on the other hand, would probably be happy to slam Jacob into one of the cells and leave him there.To be fair, that sounded like a reasonable compromise.Jacob was an asshole.
The wolves cowered in their cells when they heard them.Most of them were adults, but there were a few children, which made Rex angry.Children should never be imprisoned.They hadn’t made the decision to leave the pack.Their parents had, and the kids shouldn’t pay for that.
“Let them out,” Arlen ordered.
Two guards had followed them downstairs.They both looked at Jacob, who gestured at them to obey.He might not be in charge, but it was clear that he had some authority.
“People are coming to pick them up,” Arlen said.“In the meantime, you’ll take them upstairs and give them food.”
“I haven’t agreed to that,” Jacob said.
“Well, I have, and I’m the one giving orders here.Do you really want to test me?”
Rex had always thought that Merrick was the scary one, and he wasn’t wrong, but Arlen wasn’t far behind when he got angry.From the way Jacob hurried to obey and tell the guards to do what Arlen had said, Rex wasn’t the only one to think that.
He stayed away from the mess.He kept an eye on the kids, just in case, but he was here to be the muscle.He wasn’t even sure that Merrick and Arlen needed him.They were intimidating enough that Rex doubted anyone would try anything.The dragons had numbers on their side, but it didn’t look like they knew what to do with that, which was something Rex and the others could take advantage of.
