“And I am here at the behest of the federal government, who has jurisdiction over the seer,” Quetzalcoatl added, finally speaking up.
Marek rolled his eyes at that but said nothing.
“I’m taking over Kennedy’s care. If you come near her again, I will fight you, and you won’t win,” Jono promised.
He couldn’t keep the hatred out of his voice and didn’t even try. Estelle narrowed her eyes, but it was telling—oh so telling—that she said nothing in the face of his threat, and neither did Youssef. Jono thought it was a right shame some of her enforcers hadn’t been granted entry to see the way their alphas were backed into a corner.
Carmen sauntered closer, all sultry intensity that made both Estelle and Youssef drift toward her before jerking back. Carmen stopped right in front of them, her smile a warning even Jono would think twice about ignoring. Naheed stood some meters away, the aconite rod pointed at Nicholas in a threatening manner to keep him at bay. Tiny swirls of spellwork flared to life on the old wood, hinting at the dangerous artifact it truly was.
“Keep your wolves out of our territory,” Carmen said.
“Or what?” Youssef asked in a low voice.
“Revenge is sweet, but regret is bitter on a death bed.” Carmen leaned closer, as if sharing a secret. “We will make you regreteverythingif you cross us.”
Estelle stared at Carmen for a long moment before she spun on her heels and retreated to the door, Youssef and Nicholas following a second later. Jono let them go. He’d said his piece. Whether or not they accepted it would remain to be seen.
Once the door shut behind the trio, Leon let out a heavy sigh. “We’re going to be brought to task because of this.”
“If they try, you tell them you’ve been ordered by the SOA to report any punishment. I’ll consider it witness tampering if they lay a hand on you in any capacity,” Patrick said.
Jono went to crouch beside Emma and Kennedy. Emma raised her head to look at him.
“Give her to me,” Jono said quietly. “I’m going to take her to the hospital. Can you send one of your pack members to sit with her?”
Emma nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Jono tried not to take her instant acceptance as loyalty and choosing sides when they both knew that’s exactly what it was.
“Can you pick up Wade on your way back, Jono?” Patrick asked. “I need to stay here and figure out what the hell mess Agent Pretzel here got me into with my agency.”
Quetzalcoatl shot him an unimpressed look. “I got yououtof a mess, remember?”
“No. Áltsé Hashké got me off that altar, but you’re both immortals and the only thing you guys do is make my life a living hell.”
Jono ignored their bickering and took Kennedy out of Emma’s arms. The way she tucked herself in close to his body told Jono all he needed to know about the decisions he’d made over the last few days.
That they were the right ones because pack should always come first.
15
Wednesday night arrivedwith a headache in the form of a master vampire Patrick wished he could shoot. Head, heart, dick—he wasn’t picky, any target would do.
“Look, I have described every single fucking detail I can remember. It’s not my fault if none of that lines up with the damn subway map,” Patrick complained around a mouthful of chow mein. “Maybe if all of you vampires weren’t such fucking rats, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Sergio Lopez looked as if he wanted to reach across the table and stab Patrick for his disrespect of Lucien, but the Anahuac Cartel member thought better of it when Jono growled, “Don’t even think about it, mate.”
Normally, Patrick would be more than willing to defend himself, but he was still rattled from last night. Lying on that altar had jarred loose some memories he’d rather keep buried, and he desperately wanted another shower. He kept thinking he could feel Tremaine’s hands on him, and the sooner he could forget that moment, the better.
Lucien seemed unbothered by the pair’s byplay, staring intently at the maps and blueprints strewn over the large card table one of his human servants had set up in Ginnungagap. It was past sunset, but even before Lucien’s Night Court woke up, there had been a steady stream of visitors.
Patrick had been unaware the Anahuac Cartel was in town until a large group of them rolled up to Ginnungagap that afternoon. They’d brought offerings in the form of money, drugs, and weapons, which Carmen had accepted in Lucien’s stead. Patrick had taken one look at the cartel members and mentally revised the story he was going to have to tell his superiors about this case. Nothing said tainted evidence like palling around with a notorious drug cartel.
When Lucien finally arrived with Einar, Irena, and a couple more vampires after sunset, Wade had quietly retreated to a corner to stress eat his way through the gigantic tote bag of snacks Emma had sent along with him. Honestly, Patrick wished he could join the teen.
Sergio glared at Patrick, muscled arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t much older than Patrick, which meant he had to be a goddamn bloodthirsty monster in human skin to be heading up the United States branch of the cartel out of Chicago at Lucien’s behest. Sergio’s black hair was buzzed short on the side and left long on top, gelled back by thick product. He was clean-shaven, with a strong jaw and hooded eyes. He carried a pistol on his hip made out of gold-plated, warded metal, a sign of his rank more than a nod to stereotypes.
His entire crew were deferential to the vampires on sight, though they gave Patrick and his group a wide berth. They knew what Jono was and treated that threat with a healthy dose of wariness. The fact that a god pack werecreature was sitting at the same table as Lucien and arguing with the master vampire without fear of dying meant they didn’t want to step on his toes.
