Zane hesitated, knowing Jake wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “I don’t think we go anywhere, not until we know more about what we’re up against. We need to talk to someone who can tell us more about these vampires.”
That earned him a growl “I don’t think this is something you can just Google on your phone. Where the hell do we find someone like that?”
“That woman in the club with the blue hair seemed to know a lot about vampires,” Alyssa murmured, voicing the same thing Zane had been thinking. “She knew they were here, knew how to kill them, and implied werewolves and vampires don’t mix well. She even tried to warn us to get out.”
Jake didn’t look thrilled at the idea of taking the time to talk to anyone, but when Rachel and Diego nodded in agreement, it wasn’t like he had a lot of choice. The fact that the sirens headed their way were getting louder by the second probably had something to do with him going along with the plan, too.
“If we’re going back into the club, we’d better hurry,” Rachel said. “The cops are going to be crawling all over this place in a minute.”
* * *
“Okay, you said you had questions, so ask.” Davina DeMirci glared at Zane as she flipped her long, blue hair over her shoulder and sat back in the leather chair behind the big ornate desk in her office above the club. Unlike the rest of the place, the room had an old-world feel to it with lots of heavy antique furniture, hand-painted murals of mythical beasts and fantastical landscapes covering the walls, and shelves packed with exotic sculptures and art pieces. No neon cats here, either. Just a big, fluffy gray one who regarded Zane and his friends imperiously from atop the desk. “The sooner I answer them, the sooner I can get the lot of you out of my club. Hopefully before the cops figure out you’re up here.”
Davina had been seriously pissed when Zane and the rest of them had come back into the club and interrupted her efforts to clean up the mess they’d made during the fight. She’d muttered something about the cops being there any second and how she’d never be able to explain any of this if the five of them were standing there covered in blood.
Zane remembered thinking that five slightly disheveled people with a little blood on them was the least of Davina’s problems. He’d personally be more worried about Stefan’s dead goons on the dance floor, not to mention the two vampires missing their heads. About the only good thing he could say regarding the shooting in the club was that no one else had been killed. That in itself was a bloody miracle.
“We’re just here to get answers to some questions,” Zane had told her. “Then we’ll get out of here and you’ll never have to see us again.”
Davina seemed thrilled at the idea of never seeing them again, but not quite as happy about answering their questions, at least until her daughter had come running to let them know the cops had arrived. That’s when Davina had finally relented and led them to her office, leaving her daughter to handle the cops.
“How is it possible my pack and I have never run into vampires before tonight?” Zane asked now. “Up until a few hours ago, we didn’t even know they existed.”
It wasn’t the question he wanted to start with. He’d much rather ask the woman where the vampires had taken Zoe and Chloe and how many of those things they’d have to go through to get the girls back. But something told him Davina didn’t want to talk about vampires right then. Probably because she didn’t want to get on the bloodsuckers’ bad side.
Davina snorted. “You do see the irony of a werewolf not believing vampires exist, right? What, did you really think you were the only supernatural creatures in the world?”
“I guess I did.” He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “We all did.”
“Well, sorry to burst your bubble, sunshine, but the world is a lot more complex than you thought. There’re all kinds of things that go bump in the night. Vampires just happen to be one of the nastier ones.” Davina regarded him for a moment before studying each of the others in turn. Her gaze lingered on Alyssa who sat in one of the two wingback chairs by the low coffee table on the far side of the room before she finally looked at him again. “To answer your question, vampires avoid werewolves like the plague. Werewolves—alphas in particular—are the only thing in the supernatural world that can take down a vampire. That’s why they spend so much of their money employing hunters to take out your kind.”
Zane frowned as the implication of Davina’s words filtered through him. He quickly looked at Rachel and Diego. They seemed as stunned as he was. “Hunters work for the vampires?”
Davina looked at him like he was stupid. “Of course. Vamps want werewolves gone, but they’re not willing to do battle with you. They’ve been around a lot longer than you and are way too smart for that. Instead, they hide away in their covens along the East and West coasts, sending the hunters into the central part of the country to keep the werewolf population in check. If they had their way, vampires would wipe out every last one of you.”
“So, Stefan is a hunter working for the vampires too?” Zane asked.
Davina sighed, leaning forward in her chair to caress the gray cat’s fur. “It’s a bit more complicated than that in Stefan’s case. None of those men you saw downstairs were hunters, especially not Stefan. While there are a few trusted hunters allowed within the confines of the coven itself, most are viewed as little more than hired killers. The men you fought tonight are private security who work directly for Stefan, the scion of the Curtis family and the LA coven. The big vampire who got away is Dario Casteel, the ruler of the coven. He essentially runs this town—the supernatural part of it at least.”
“Scion?” Rachel asked from the other wingback chair. “I thought Stefan was the redheaded stepchild of the family who got stuck doing all the menial dirty work for Black Swan Enterprises while the rest of the family got the cushy office jobs.”
Davina let out a short laugh. “Hardly. The title of scion means he’s the favored son. As far as the coven is concerned, it’s the other members of the Curtis family who are the menials. All they do is bring in the money. Stefan is the one trusted to protect the coven, bring them food, and hire the hunters. At some point, once the Coven feels he’s done enough for them, they may even turn him so he can be one of them. No one else in the Curtis family will ever be given that kind of honor, no matter how much money they bring in.”
Jake pushed away from the bookcase he’d been leaning against with a snarl. “I’m sure this is all very interesting, but what the hell does any of it have to do with getting Zoe and Chloe back? Those vampires left with them twenty minutes ago and we’re just sitting here talking about the coven’s organizational structure. We don’t even know why they took the girls, or what they plan to do with them.”
Davina’s lavender gaze softened at that, looking sympathetic to their situation for the first time tonight. “That’s not something any of you want the answer to.”
Jake’s eyes flashed yellow gold. “Yeah, I do.”
Davina exchanged glances with the gray cat before answering. “It all depends on whether the vamps realize those girls are werewolves. If they do, they’ll make an example out of them to discourage any more werewolves from coming to LA.”
Jake cursed, his fangs extending. Davina didn’t react, but out of the corner of his eye, Zane saw Alyssa flinch a little.
“I think Zoe and Chloe just started going through their change recently. What if they’re not far enough along for the vamps to figure out the girls are werewolves?” Jake asked. “Would that be better for them?”
“Unfortunately, no. If they took the girls simply because they’re attractive young women, the vamps will almost certainly enthrall them and bleed them slowly over time. Normally, that would never work with a werewolf.” Davina looked at Zane. “You saw what happened to that vampire downstairs when he tried to bite you. Your blood is like acid to them. But if Zoe and Chloe are just starting to go through the change, I have no idea what will happen.”
No one said anything for a long time. No doubt they were all thinking the same horrible thoughts Zane was.
