The vamp shook his head. “What is of greater value than the extinction of shifters?” He laughed and regarded her with contempt. “I should kill you now for daring to draw us into the light.”
The sun was setting. If Team Bloodsucker was to be believed, this vamp wouldn’t do more than sparkle in the sun. “Oh, come on, Dracula,” Holly said. Was that his name or was she pop culturing him? “We both know you want what I can deliver.” If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought she was propositioning him.
“I’m losing patience,” he snarled.
“A pack of shifters is but one meal for a coven of vamps like yours. But if you promise us your protection, promise you will leave us alone, I’ll deliver you a shifter with fae blood. I’m sure you can find a way to make use of her.”
As I listened intently, I instinctively shook my tail. I lost a feather and watched in horror as it floated down just as Holly inhaled. She sniffed the air and anything else I might’ve heard I lost because I couldn’t get caught.
Her brows drew together, her mouth wrinkled, and she sniffed again, her gaze darting around.
My stomach turned. If she looked in this direction, if she looked up, she would find me, and then…well, I didn’t know what would happen. They couldn’t fly. Neither of them and wherever the owl from Holly’s pack was, it wasn’t here in the woods.
I did the only thing I could think of. I flew up, up, up, and away, leaving the danger behind, but also not leaving with a lot of answers.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Tabi called an emergency meeting with the other ladies in our pack. Yes, our pack. It felt right, like I belonged with them. Tabi wasn’t as panicked as I was for what I’d just heard, and we all met at Esther’s. Her house was easily accessible for all the Fascinators because it was centrally located. Tabi and I arrived last, after everyone else was there, and we walked in together.
Esther had us all delivered to her dining room, and she walked in with all the drama of a woman in a flowing robe—in this case a silk kimono over her jeans and Calvin Klein designer t-shirt. She nodded at Tabi who nudged me. I stood. “Hi, everyone.”
Tabi leaned in and whispered. “This isn’t a meet and greet, Beth. It’s to tell them what happened so we can figure out what to do.”
I nodded, every bit the fool they probably all thought I was. I glanced at Tabi for courage, and she waved for me to continue.
“Today, I heard Holly, the alpha of the bad pack, talking to a vampire and they were making a deal.”
Esther nodded. “Continue.”
I blew out a short breath through my nose. I’d been flying, but I knew what I’d heard. “In exchange for this guy’s protection, she promised to deliver to them a shifter with fae blood.”
The girls looked at one another, shifting uncomfortably in their chairs, then River asked, “But there aren’t any shifters with fae blood around here, are there?”
No one answered, though everyone kept glancing at Esther. I didn’t because I had no idea, but I sensed that there were those who knew things and those who weren’t going to share what they knew. I wondered why but didn’t ask.
Tabi cleared her throat. “As we all know, fae are rare and dangerous creatures. Fae can also detect all supernaturals. If a fae were to become a prisoner of the vampires, the fae could be made to lead them to every single shifter. No one would be safe. There’s no magic that could conceal us. Our kind would be hunted to extinction.”
“But no fae could become a prisoner of the vampires, they’re too powerful,” Juniper said with a confused frown.
Esther sucked in a deep breath. “The fae could…if it hadn’t been properly trained to use its powers.”
“Like a half-fae?” River asked. “But I thought the fae were always careful. Even when they breed with humans, they make certain to take the baby with them and train the baby, so it grows up educated in their ways and trained to fight. The likelihood of a fae getting a human pregnant and walking away… it’s unthinkable.”
“But it’s possible,” Tabi said.
When everyone grew silent once more, I slid my gaze over all of them. They seemed scared, which terrified me. Was there really some half-shifter half-fae baby in town these monsters planned to kidnap and give to the vampires?
However badly I’d thought of Cam, Holly, and the others, my impression of them had just gotten worse. My only hope was that if my daughter learned of this plan, she’d walk away from all of them. She might be being influenced by that freakin’ bear boy, but she wouldn’t give up some poor innocent.
Finally, Esther spoke. “I think we all know what we have to do.”
I didn’t. I didn’t have any idea what she thought we should do or what the correct path was. I wasn’t even entirely sure I knew what was at stake, just that all of this was bad news. And these ladies, as nice as they seemed, as accepting as they’d been, as much as they appeared to want me to be a part of their pack, were not my ride or dies. At this point, they weren’t even my ride or be sicks. But I waited. Probably, this wasn’t information they needed me to spew just yet. And because information was power.
“We need to go to the gala, collect all that charity money, and watch ourselves. And we’re going armed.” As she looked at me, she added, “For our own protection and everyone else’s.” But then she stood. “Come.”
And like she was a guru, a worship leader, someone we blindly followed—or maybe I was the only blind one, I didn’t know—we all followed her through a doorway made to look like a wall panel, down a set of steps and to a locked door set in cinderblocks. A hidden basement? She pulled a key from a chain around her neck and unlocked the door.
First Tabi with her closet and now Esther with her, what? …armory. These women knew how to make the most out of their hidden spaces. And by make the most, I meant that every available inch of hanging space was covered by some sort of weapon, by swords, crossbows, pistols, a flamethrower. Oh, for the love of the paranormal hunter, this woman had a grenade launcher. Not to mention swords of various lengths and sizes. She was prepared for a vampire attack, a zombie apocalypse, a world war with medieval intruders or an army full of trained soldiers.
