“I think we’re good,” Jen said.
“How kind of you,” Vasile said dryly and then once again looked at the three fae. “Now, if you please, fill us in on what you know.”
“I hate to break up all the wonderful banter,” Wadim broke in, “but I’ve got something to tell you.” He looked at Vasile. “I found something in our records about the Order.” Wadim read from the printed pages, explaining how their ancestors had let the Order get out of control.
“They were forcing supernatural beings to join them against their will?” Decebel growled. “How on earth could the leaders allow it to get that far?”
“It was easier to pretend the situation wasn’t as bad as it truly was,” Riven said.
Ona nodded. “The fae have always stayed in our realm, unless we absolutely had to come to the human realm for something. The reason we finally even looked into the matter was because we had several fae go missing.”
“They’d been captured by the Order,” Vale finished.
Fane watchedthe three fae with glowing eyes. He was having a hard time paying attention to what they were saying. His wolf didn’t trust the newcomers, regardless of the fact that Peri had sent them. They were new, two of them male, and in their home where his mate and child were.
“Relax, wolf-man,”Jacque said into his mind, her hand slipping up under his shirt where it rested, skin to skin, against his back.“Nothing is going to happen, especially not with all of you males in here. Peri, no doubt, warned these fae of Vasile’s strength, if they didn’t already know it for themselves.”
Fane knew she was right, but he couldn’t stop his wolf from being very leery of the fae.“I would rather you be with Slate right now.”
“No. You aren’t going to try and push me aside just because we have a son. He is safe with Gavril and Rachel, who are both strong and capable. We are a team, Fane. I told you that from the beginning. Where you go, I go. Remember?”She was growling at him and her nails were digging into his back, the gentle touch now gone.
“I remember,”he grudgingly admitted.“But I agreed to that before we had a child.”
“Fane, do you really want to protect me by forcing me away? We are connected. Our lives are tied to one another. I’m not saying I don’t want to be with our son. I love him desperately. But I know he is safe, and we will fight together. We are stronger together.”
Fane reached back and took the hand that wasn’t under his shirt and entwined their fingers.“Okay, Luna, I hear you. I love you. It’s my instinct to want to shield you from everything, but I know that’s not for the best.”
“Don’t stick me in a bubble, Fane. I’ll just pop it and then come after your furry butt.”
He chuckled to himself and sent her a mental caress.“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“I swear Jen is wearing off on all of you,”she said and then pressed a kiss to his back. She’d have kissed his neck if she could’ve reached it, but Jacque was considerably shorter than him and it was no doubt a good thing her lips hadn’t contacted his flesh. His wolf was feeling possessive and loved the idea of showing the new males in the room that Jacque was theirs.
“Down boy,”Jacque whispered into his mind.
Fane bit back a groan at the husky sound of her voice. His attention was successfully diverted from his mate when his father spoke.
“We need to find out if the Order is again forcing supernaturals into its ranks,” Vasile said. “When we meet with the other leaders, we need to ask if they’ve noticed any of their people go missing.”
“I haven’t heard anything about forced cooperation so far. What I do know about is what they’re doing to the humans. Recently there were at least thirty human deaths in one night. All from the same apartment complex,” Riven said.
Vasile held up his hand to silence the growls that were coming from all of them, including Fane.
“Thirty?” Vasile’s eyes were glowing, though his voice was controlled and calm.
Riven nodded.
“Did they light up a bloody sign, pun intended, that read ‘All you can drink buffet’?” Jen snarled.
“They didn’t leave the bodies in the complex,” Riven continued, ignoring Jen’s outburst. “They were left littered all over the city. It took a few days, but the human authorities began to realize all the victims had the same home address except for the apartment number.”
“How’d that go over?” Jacque asked, causing Fane to tighten his hand on her. He was being a possessive jerk, but he didn’t like the male fae’s eyes on his mate.
Riven’s eyes glanced at Jacque briefly, but when he answered, he was looking at Vasile. “As you can imagine, there was a bit of a panic from the human police officials. They believe a serial killer is at large.”
“They’re not completely wrong,” Decebel said. “But instead of one killer, they don’t realize that it’s dozens or more.”
Jacque pressed closer to Fane as she spoke through their bond.“My experience with vampires is limited so forgive my ignorance and the comparison, but is it too much to hope that some of these vamps sparkle in sunlight and are vegetarians?”
