“There aren’t that many attacks in New Orleans,” Dax said. “Kilsen and I—”
“No, they aren’t all in New Orleans,” Bandu agreed with a nod. “They’re from the entire state. Because you and Kilsen are so good at your jobs, the vampires in this town have taken to terrorizing the surrounding areas. They know you don’t go out into the bayou or up to Baton Rouge. Did you really think your work had cut down the number of attacks?”
Actually, Dax had thought exactly that, but he wasn’t about to admit it now. Instead, he asked, “You think the attacks are coming from the Cryrique vampire hive?”
“Maybe not the actual hive. Allcot is pretty strict about his inner circle’s behavior. But Cryrique is the largest vampire employer in the area. We have reason to believe there are groups within the organization that are actively seeking unwilling feeders.”
Nausea hit Dax as he took in Bandu’s theory. “You’re sure all these attacks are from vampires?”
Bandu walked over to the closest wall and pointed to puncture wounds on one of the victims. Then another and another. “Vampire marks on each victim.”
Dax curled his hands into fists as pure rage seared through his veins. He was certain that if one of Allcot’s vampires crossed his path right at that moment, he’d be compelled to rip him limb from limb.
Bandu walked over to the one wall full of people staring back at him. “And these?” He trailed his fingers over the glossy black-and-white photos. “They’re all survivors. Living with the memory of an attack.”
“That can’t be all of them,” Dax ground out. “Someone is attacked practically daily.”
“You’re right about that. There are far too many for this one wall. There are probably enough to plaster this entire house. But these are the worst. These are the ones I chose to remind myself what we’re fighting for.” Bandu’s tone was full of righteous conviction as he continued, “For justice, for peace of mind, for freedom to roam the city without fear.”
Dax moved to the middle of the room and took in the terror reflected back at him in the photos. He’d known vampires were a threat. Not all of them, but enough that New Orleans had become a city fraught with danger. It was why he and Phoebe had jobs at the Void. They were responsible for keeping the city safe. But clearly they weren’t. Not even close.
Disappointment and disgust coiled in his gut. How had he been fooling himself this entire time? He let out a curse and shook his head as if that would somehow dislodge the photos from his brain.
“It’s a lot to take in all at once,” Bandu said.
Dax nodded. “There’s no doubt about that.”
“I just wanted you to see what feeds my conviction.”
“Why?” Dax asked, giving Bandu his full attention. “Why me?”
“Because I want you to be my second. I need a strong shifter who can mobilize the pack when I’m not around. Who will know how to handle delicate situations and deal with pack politics.” Bandu smirked. “I figure working at the Arcane gives you special insight into dealing with that sort of thing.”
“That’s probably true,” Dax agreed. But he sure as hell didn’t know how he felt about being Bandu’s beta. He’d only come into the Crimson Valley pack in order to gain information about the missing vampires. He’d gotten almost nowhere on that front, because the moment he’d joined the pack, the attacks had pretty much stopped. Dax was certain it was because he’d been outed as an Arcane agent fairly quickly, but they hadn’t kicked him out. Halston had insisted he stick around and keep his ear to the ground for any new activities that might be brewing.
The only problem was, in the past few months he’d started to respect Bandu. The shifter was a man of conviction, and while his earlier attempts at vigilante justice had been misguided at best, the pack had since taken to providing free security to the city. It had turned out to drastically lower the rate of attacks, and Dax had started to think of the pack as noble in their attempts to do something positive.
On the other hand, if Bandu was hiding something or decided the pack would take it upon themselves to avenge the men and women in the photos, if Dax took the beta position, he’d be the first one to know when the shit hit the fan.
“What do you say, Marrok? Ready to join the cause?” Bandu asked.
Dax turned and stared the other man in the eye, wondering when exactly he’d started to admire the other shifter. Then he held out his hand. “I’d be honored.”
Bandu’s lips spread into a huge grin as he clasped Dax’s hand in his. “Welcome aboard. You’re not going to regret this.”
Dax nodded and prayed the other shifter was right.
9
I walked down the stark white hall and craned an ear, listening for the steady sounds of activity one usually found in the Void building. But the only thing I heard was the tap, tap, tap of Link’s nails on the tile floor. I glanced down at Willow’s wolf. “Where do you think everyone is?”
The shih tzu put his head down and kept moving.
Some help he was. Still, I was soothed by his presence. With Willow missing, he made me feel connected to her. And I was certain that wherever she was, she was soothed by the knowledge that I’d take care of him for as long as needed. Images of Willow and Tal separated and locked in that basement once again took over my thoughts, and I scowled. Where the hell were they? The room hadn’t been anything I’d recognized—certainly not any room I’d ever seen at Cryrique, and I’d seen a fair number of the hidden dungeons.
It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that someone from Cryrique had taken Tal and Willow, but after Allcot’s performance that morning, I didn’t really believe it. I’d already crossed Allcot off my mental suspect list. He was way too erratic and out of control to be the mastermind of whatever had gone down at the gala the night before.
But if not Cryrique, then who? And what would they do to Tal and Willow to get what they wanted? The word torture floated in my mind, and I quickly shut down that train of thought. There was no time to worry about what might be happening. My one and only job was to find them.
I quickened my pace and strode into the research center. Rows of unmanned computer stations filled the room. I stopped dead in my tracks. “What the hell? Where the fuck is everybody?”
No answer, but my phone buzzed and I quickly retrieved the message I’d been waiting for. It was Nicola, Pandora’s half sister.
It’s true. A small pack of shifters carried Pandora off. I saw it with my own eyes. If someone is trying to blame her disappearance on vampires, they are dead wrong.
I quickly texted back. Anyone know anything about Willow and Talisen’s whereabouts?
There was a long pause, then she responded with one word. No.
Frustration clouded my brain, and it was all I could do to stop myself from chucking my phone against the wall. But I needed the damned thing. Killing it would only eat up more of my precious time. Instead, I jabbed at the letters as I typed in, You’re sure? Dax said one of the Cryrique vamps saw an unknown vampire carry them off.
My phone started ringing almost instantly, and Nicola’s face popped up on the screen. “Kilsen,” I answered.
“What exactly did Dax hear about Willow and Talisen?” she demanded.
“Just what I said in the text. He told me a couple of Cryrique vamps saw them carted off by some other vamps they didn’t know.”
“Dammit. Rival hive?” she asked.
“I have no idea. Dax isn’t even here. Do you have someone in mind who could be the culprits?”
“More than I can count.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Listen, Allcot is off doing God knows what—”
“He’s here at the Void building,” I interjected. If I was going to build a rapport with them to find Willow, lying wasn’t going to fly. They’d know soon enough where he’d been. “We had to um… neutralize him for a bit.”