Otero, Vampire King, leaned forward, fingers steepled. “And if the video is fabricated? Iron Valor has a long history of… creative editing when itcomes to demon activity. I remind you all of the tainted water issue.” His voice oozed disdain.
Archon’s gaze cut through him. “There is no fabrication here. I was in Dairyville not long after Brie was taken. I felt the taint. Maltraz’s signature is unmistakable.”
Kazimir nodded. “I want to see file,” he said, his Russian accent slight but heard. “Play it.”
Wrecker clicked play.
On the wall, the video started, first from the mezzanine camera. Brie stood at her desk, hugging Lysander Hale. He held her for a second, then his hands flashed up to her face. The skin rippled; the camera caught the moment the horns burst out, and the face collapsed inward. Brie’s body flailed as Maltraz spoke to her. Then, I rushed into the room, and in a flash of black and red, both were gone—smoke and nothing left but my grasping at air and falling to the floor.
Lucia’s face showed her anger and concern as the footage played; by the time Maltraz vanished with Brie, her hands were white-knuckled on the arm of her father’s throne.
There was dead silence. Even the witches stopped whispering to each other.
Wrecker changed angles, showing the main gallery cam: the abduction happened so fast, the only hint was the slight sound of my wails through the soundproof room. My own face flashed on screen, twisted and feral, as I barreled after them. Then the video cut to black.
Rafe was first to break the silence. “There you have it. Otero?”
Otero didn’t even blink. “Could be staged. Demonic illusions are child’s play for his kind. I’ve seen Finn Walsh’s file—decorated soldier, PTSD, excellent liar when the cause is right. Maybe this is an Iron Valor bid to pin their missing member on an enemy.”
I felt my hands snap my coffee mug in two. Scalding liquid poured over my hand, and I didn’t even twitch.
Slade Stewart who almost had nothing to say took exception to this fucker. “Otero, why don’t you go fuck yourself. That kind of accusation has no place in a situation where a man has lost his fated mate.”
Otero had at least the false decency to look contrite as he must have remembered that Slade had lost his fated mate only a year ago in a horrific accident, and he apologized.
“My apologies, King. I had forgotten about your loss. I was simply trying to remind everyone that Iron Valor is not a pack beyond reproach.”
Bronc was ice. “You can’t fake that signature, Otero. Archon just confirmed it.”
Otero’s smile was pure shark. “If the Angel King wants war, he can say so directly. But I don’t buy this. Maltraz may be many things, but he’s not a fool. He’d never abduct a wolf in public unless he wanted us to hunt him. And why? For this Lawson girl? I see no motive.”
Archon interjected, voice calm and musical. “The Council has always protected the balance. Maltraz crossed the line when he targeted a mated female in front of humans. I have already erased the memories of every mortal witness, but the stain remains.”
Shasta Tierney still seemed worried. “Can you guarantee that, Archon? There’s no risk of exposure?”
“I guarantee it,” said Archon. “But I will not do so again if the Council does not act.”
She followed up. “We lost a sister to trafficking last year,” her voice flat. “If Maltraz is involved, we want his head. But we also want assurances this isn’t just a wolf turf war.”
“Agreed,” said Rafe, glancing at us. “Iron Valor, I know what you say is the absolute truth, but for those who may doubt; do you swear this is unvarnished? That you haven’t doctored the record or omitted any facts?”
I stood before I could stop myself. My voice didn’t even sound like my own.
“I swear,” I said, “on the mate bond and my Alpha’s name. We didn’t touch a thing. If you want to see the raw files, Wrecker will send you the drive.”
Rafe eyed me, gaze softening just a hair. “Understood, Gunner. Sit.”
I did, only to realize that I’d cracked the corner of the wood of the table. Bronc squeezed my shoulder, and Ms. Pearl silently handed me a new, unbroken mug. The burn finally started to throb, but I ignored it.
Otero wasn’t done. “Assume it’s true. What’s your solution? Last I checked, Maltraz has the ability to burn an entire pack to the ground. You want to risk that?”
Menace shrugged. “We have numbers. And a motive. If we let him get away with this, no wolf is safe. Fuck, no witch or any of us is safe. What happens when he grabs a Luna, or a queen?”
Otero’s smile lasted all of three seconds before the venom leaked through.
“This is all very dramatic,” the Vampire King said, lips barely moving. “But anyone who knows Iron Valor history will see this for what it is—a desperate attempt to paint Maltraz as the devil. It’s your brand, isn’t it?” He let the dig hang, then turned to the rest of the Council. “Does no one find it convenient that the only footage comes from their own systems? That the only so-called witnesses are wolves and their dependents? Please.”
I saw Wrecker’s knuckles go white on the edge of the laptop. Even Bronc’s pulse ticked at his jaw.
