“Has he ever used humans before?” asked Ghost.
“Not that I know of, but ask Riley,” replied Glenn.
“We need to figure this out soon,” Ghost growled. “If humans are involved with the Collector, then not only are shifters in danger but every other paranormal is also at risk.”
“What about these trackers?” asked Smokey. “Do I leave them here or take them with me…either way whoever is involved will be alerted to a change in plan.”
“Riley might be able to figure out who’s doing the tracking,” Ghost murmured.
“Yeah…but they also would know where I am, along with Kevin’s parents.”
Rubbing his forehead in an attempt to get rid of the headache looming behind his eyes, Glenn ran through the possibilities before settling on one. “Smokey, once you find out how the humans got to the cave, assign a team to follow that route back down the mountain, but make sure you give each team member one of the bands. I want whoever is tracking them to think the mission is going as planned.
“In the meantime, Riley will give Ghost one of his special boxes…the ones that can block any signals transmitted from the bands…then, Ghost, you get it up there so when the team gets to the foot of the mountain, they can put the bands into the box before heading over to Smokey. Once Riley gets the box, he can…”
“Only problem,” Ghost cut in, “is I’ll have to fly up there to get the friggin’ box to them in time,”
“Do it. This might be the lead we’ve been looking for,” Glenn growled. “I assume Riley’s workroom is shielded, right?”
“Fuckin’ A. No one will be able to find the bands once they are in that room,” Ghost said.
“Good. Now about Kevin’s parents…how long do you think it will take to get them to the Blackwood Pack?” asked Glenn.
“Maybe a day or so,” Smokey replied. “I don’t want to move him at the moment so it all depends on how fast Harte can recover enough to shift.”
Glenn thought for a second, making some calculations in his head. “Hopefully sooner than later. Once the tracking devices are put in the box, the signals will disappear, alerting the asshole on the other end something has happened to his humans. Once that happens, I figure you have less than four hours before more humans will be crawling all over the mountain trying to find what happened to their comrades.”
“It might be sooner if the bands are also bio-sensitive,” Ghost said. “If that’s the case, they already know the humans are dead.”
“In that case, once Smokey is ready to leave with Kevin’s parents, assign some of your men to create a diversion,” Glenn said. “It’s imperative Smokey isn’t followed.”
“Done. Anything else?” asked Ghost.
“No…just be fucking careful…both of you,” Glenn cautioned.
“Yes, mom.” Chuckling as he ended the call, Smokey slipped his phone into a pocket. Then he turned to the unpleasant task at hand—getting rid of the bodies.
~/~/~/~/~
It was time well spent. After doing extensive searches, Vasile pondered his next step. Brady had cause to be worried about his mate’s safety. Mystia was right. The witch whose blood was used for the Blood Prophecy was hunting Lucius; that much he learned through his contacts in the vampire world. The trouble was, no one could tell him the witch’s name or where she was, so he wasn’t any better off than he was before.
And then there was the matter of the demon. Other than a few random comments, Vasile was stonewalled whenever he prodded for more information. That, in and of itself, caused him alarm—especially since his trusted source on anything to do with demons had clammed up tighter than a virgin’s ass. That just didn’t make any sense. In fact, none of it made any sense.Why would the witch and/or the demon want Lucius? He doesn’t have the power the prophecy claimed would be his by adding witch’s and demon’s blood…“Oh shit!” Vasile exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. “Of course, that’s why!” Rising, he quickly put the laptop in his bag, before heading to Brady’s study. They needed to leave as soon as possible because the word of Lucius’ mating had reached the witch; it was only a matter of time before she found out where he was.
~/~/~/~/~
Walking into the Blackwood Pack house, Brady smiled as the warmth of the love within surrounded him. It was a special place; one he was thankful to be a part of and one he never thought could exist. But Mystia and Oracle were right, Jackson and his pack were truly beacons of light in an otherwise dark world.
Seeing Jackson enter with two members of the group who would be accompanying him and Carson to the Witches’ Governing Council meeting, Remy left his mate, heading over to Brady. He wasn’t comfortable with Lucius’ decision not to join them, but he could certainly understand it. Going into a room full of magic users, some out for blood, would most certainly test the restraint of any mate, but especially the young vampire.
Brady knelt and bowed his head when the Ruler of the Mystic Realm reached him. “Your Majesty. It is my honor to serve you.”
Touching the kneeling man’s shoulder, Remy murmured, “Rise, Brady. It is I who am honored. Thank you for your help. Your commitment to ridding the magic world of the evil that for far too long has been allowed to grow and tarnish the reputation of all good magic users is very much appreciated. Tell me, how is Lucius? Is he safe? The reason I ask is I’ve received word certain members of the Governing Council have learned of your mating.”
Startled at the unexpected news, Brady’s stomach churned with acid as his fear for his mate grew. He had hoped to keep their mating under wraps for a while to give Lucius time to adjust, but now that was impossible. Soon everyone would know who his mate was, and then they’d become a target for every paranormal seeking to use Lucius for nefarious purposes. But setting that aside, the next question was who leaked it? Unwilling to give voice to his concern that there was a traitor among them, he simply said, “Do not worry, Your Highness, Lucius is quite safe.”
“Thank goodness,” Remy said, smiling. “However, if there is anything you or your mate needs, please let me know…anything.”
Nodding briefly, Brady offered his thanks, refusing to give voice to the worry he felt. While he was sure no one in their group had betrayed him and Lucius, that didn’t bring the comfort he expected. Instead, his nerves were frayed just thinking about what else had been leaked—like their plan to free the low-level magic users and seize control of the council. If any of those details were passed to Zohar Stone, then they could be walking into a trap. When Brady finally realized his silence would only help the witches who were responsible for the slavery of the low-level magic users, he knew there was only one thing to do. “Your Majesty, may I speak to you privately?”
