Jared’s lips pursed. “Deal.”
“Joel Sanders.”
I frowned. “Who is Joel Sanders?”
“One of my sources. He knows plenty about The Order. Find Joel, and then follow the rabbit trail.” Marco’s gaze moved to Butch. “You keep her safe.” Then Marco returned to the mattress. He was done.
The instant Sam took a seat, she slapped a file on the conference table. “All right, this is what we know about Joel Sanders. He’s a Keja who’s part of a very small nest in Colorado. He’s committed pretty much every computer crime there is; earns his money by hacking into company computers and selling the information to rival businesses.” She took a photo from the file and handed it to Max, who took a look before passing it on.
“Could he be the blogger we’re looking for?” asked David. “I mean, if he’s so good with technology—”
Sam gave a quick shake of the head. “Joel’s gift is simple yet very substantial: he cannot be held captive. The bloke literally can’t be kept any place he does not want to be.”
That was pretty substantial.
A pacing Luther halted. “Would that extend to any kind of restraint? Could he escape from the grip of your whip?”
Sam shrugged. “I’m hoping he won’t try to escape. I have no issue with him; I just have some questions. But I won’t leave until I have my answers.”
The photo of Joel Sanders reached me just as Jared said, “In the meantime, Mona and Cedric will find out just how many preternatural-free zones there are in the world. By the time we’re back from paying Joel a visit, we should have that information. But I’m hoping that Joel will have already given us an exact location.”
Marco had seemed sure that Joel knew—
Stumbling, Luther breathed, “Jared.”
Sam was at his side in a blink. “Luther, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer; just stood there, eyes closed. Having watched my squad have a vision through him, I knew exactly what it looked like when someone experienced one. It would seem that Luther was having one now.
Finally, he blinked. He gripped Jared’s arm, his gaze desperate. “We do not have long before they come.”
“Dragons?” asked Sam.
Luther’s eyes moved to her. “Yes. At least forty of them. They will come from the south.”
“Do you know when?”
“A few nights, at most.”
“They’ll come at night?” Jared asked. At Luther’s nod, he added, “I figured they’d come in the day in the hope of taking us off-guard.”
That would have made more sense.
“Your only hope of preventing this is to destroy The Order before they have a chance to hire the mercenaries,” said Luther.
Sam told us, “Go top yourselves up with NSTs and then meet me and Jared outside the mansion in ten minutes. Then we’ll pay Joel a little visit.”
When Butch and I entered the apartment, he went straight to the fridge and pulled out two NSTs. As he drank them, I said, “Luther’s vision wasn’t great, but I noticed he seemed relieved to have finally had one. Maybe now he’ll stop blaming himself for not helping us prevent all the shit that’s happened so far. He’s forgetting how much he’s helped The Hollow over the years. Even allowing people to have their own visions has helped.”
Something suddenly occurred to me. “You never told me about the vision you had through Luther.”
Butch’s eyes were wary. “No, I didn’t.” And he didn’t seem inclined to share it.
“You know about mine.”
His lips pressed together. “You don’t need to hear about it, baby.”
It was a warning. “I don’t like the way you said that.”
“It’s not something you’d want to know.”
“I don’t expect you to tell me every little thing. But I can sense that this isn’t little. Tell me.” Instead, he drank the last of his second NST. “Butch—”
“In my vision, I was in bed with a woman.”
My lungs seemed to constrict with shock and hurt. Despite that my throat was painfully tight, I asked, “Do I know her?”
A muscle in his cheek ticked. “Yes.”
“Who was it?” I was torturing myself, really, but I had to know.
“Marla.”
“Marla?”
He slowly prowled toward me. “Not a lot happened in the vision. I was in bed, she was lying next to me—naked and asleep. And I felt…empty.”
Empty? Well that made me feel a teensy bit better.
“I didn’t understand why I’d have a vision like that. I didn’t understand why the fuck that would be important enough for me to need to foresee it. But when I met her, it all became clear.”
Well at least one of us understood.
He seemed hesitant to continue, but finally he added, “She first came onto me the night you broke up with Dean. And I realised then that my vision was a warning that the decision I made that night would be pivotal. I could take Marla up on her offer and carry on as I was; having meaningless one-night stands, taking no risks. Or I could get my fucking head straight and go after what I really wanted—you, even if that meant a relationship.”
“You’re saying you didn’t sleep with her?”
“I didn’t sleep with her—not that night, not any of the many nights she came onto me.”
The ache in my chest faded. So Marla was right; he had rejected her because of me. Huh. I was bitchy enough to feel satisfied about that. In my defence, she was a heifer who broke my Kindle!
He curled my ponytail around his fist. “Not once, not even when we first started, have I ever felt empty lying next to you.” Tugging me close, he kissed me. “Why are you so stiff? I didn’t touch her, baby.”
“Sorry, it’s just…the image in my head of you guys in bed together isn’t pleasant.” But it was my own fault that it was there.
“That was why I told you that you didn’t need or want to hear about the vision.”
“Still, I’d rather know. For me, no truth can be worse than a lie.” Not wanting him to regret telling me, I made a conscious effort to relax against him as I kissed him. “So I appreciate that you were honest.”
“You’re not gonna stew on this? We aren’t going to end up arguing over something that didn’t even happen?” There was a cautious note to his voice that was often present when we even came close to arguing. Every time we had the smallest dispute, I’d see the worry in his eyes. It was almost as if he was just waiting for the moment when I declared that I’d had enough and I was leaving.
Rubbing my nose against his, I said, “You have to trust me not to hurt you.”
“I don’t trust me not to hurt you. I won’t mean to do it, Imani. I never mean to.”
“We’re gonna fight, Butch. It would be unhealthy if we didn’t because it would mean that either we were trying too hard to keep each other happy or all the passion was gone.”
He frowned, not understanding. “But I want you to be happy.”
“And I want you to be happy, but not to the extent that I neglect my own wants and needs. The same should go for you. There has to be a balance.” I slid my arms around his neck. “There’s no right or wrong way to have a relationship. We’re still trying to find our way. Even when we find it, we’ll still piss each other off, and we may even hurt each other. But we’ll work it out and we’ll move past it.” I kissed him. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not like them.” Not like the others who walked away.
“I know.” He didn’t even need to ask who I was referring to.
“But you expect me to leave you.”
“I don’t expect you to leave. I’ve just never had anything that was important enough for me to care if I lost it. Not good at dealing with that yet.”
“Okay. But let me reiterate, I’m not going anywhere.”
His eyes bore into mine, searching. He nodded, apparently satisfied with whatever he found there. “Now you need to feed. Then I’ll drink a few more NSTs, and we’ll leave
.”
And hopefully our talk with Joel would lead us in the right direction, or I’d seriously lose my shit.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
(Butch)
Outside the grubby apartment building wherein Joel Sanders lived, Jared instructed Denny, Stuart, and Damien to scope out the place. There was a chance, though it was slim, that Marco had led us into a trap, the dick. We needed to be prepared for that. So Denny reduced his body to liquid, Stuart burst into molecules, and Damien went astral walking.
“If the guy makes good money out of what he does,” began Imani, “you’d think he’d live in a better place than this.” Her nose wrinkled at the stench of mould and cigarettes.
“He could afford it,” I conceded. “But then his neighbours would wonder where he got his money from. People who live in places like this don’t ask those kind of questions.”
She tipped her head. “Fair point.”
In a matter of minutes, the puddle of goo returned and reformed into Denny. “It’s not a nest of vampires,” he told us. “The place scents more strongly of human than vampire.”
“Any guards inside?” asked Sam.
“None at all.”
Damien’s head snapped up, and he took a long breath.
“Good to have you back,” Chico told Damien.
“Anyone guarding the perimeter?” said Jared.
“No,” replied Damien. “There are some humans round the back dealing drugs, but that’s all.”
We waited in silence for Stuart to reappear. It didn’t take long. In a blink, the cluster of molecules were once again Stuart. “No vampires are lingering in the woods behind the building,” he said. “Was the interior clear?”
Denny nodded.
“Well it would seem that Marco hasn’t led us to our deaths,” mused Sam.
“That doesn’t mean he hasn’t sent us on a wild goose chase,” Jared pointed out.
Personally, I didn’t think Marco had done so. Not this time. He wouldn’t want Imani to be angry with him; he’d want to impress her with his knowledge. He wanted to be in her good books. Setting us up wouldn’t achieve that.
“The place might seem safe enough,” said Sam. “But I won’t take any chances. I don’t trust Marco as far as I can throw the wanker. That means I want a number of people monitoring the exterior of the building, keeping an eye out for trouble.” She fell into a pensive silence. “Reuben, weaken Chico’s gift just enough for his darts to make their target dizzy.”
Neither male protested as Reuben did as ordered, though they both looked confused.
“This bloke can’t be held captive, which means there’s a good chance I can’t restrain him. That’s why Jared and I will need Imani, Chico, and Max to come inside with us—if he makes a run for it, use your gifts to distract him and slow him down. There are ways to pin him in place that don’t involve restraints.”
Sam was right. If Max took away the guy’s senses, Imani played with his blood-bond, and Chico shot him with darts that caused dizziness, Sanders wouldn’t get far. “Coach—”
“I know, I know, you want to be with Imani. As I’m currently feeling uneasy and she tired herself out earlier, I’m good with that. The rest of you guard the perimeter and telepath Jared if there’s a problem.”
With that, Jared teleported Sam, Max, Chico, Imani, and I right outside Joel Sander’s apartment.
I half-expected Sam to kick the door open, but she actually knocked. Maybe she wanted to seem friendly and nonthreatening. But there was really no way that a visit from the Grand High Pair wouldn’t unnerve someone.
I could hear whistling as footsteps approached. The door opened, revealing a tall, skinny Keja that I recognised from the photo that Sam provided.
Her smile was wide but a little forced. “Hello Mr. Sanders.”
His startled eyes darted around, taking in Jared and the vampires at the pair’s back. Then he tried to slam the door shut. Like that would work. Sam just pushed it open, allowing us all to enter. He was heading for the window of the living area when he abruptly fell to his knees, cradling his head and groaning through his teeth. I knew exactly how much that hurt, since Imani had once played on my blood-bond like it was a damn guitar string to show that her gift could be effective in a fight.
To his credit, Sanders tried crawling toward the window. Chico’s darts embedded themselves in his back, making him collapse on the floor mere seconds later.
We all gathered around the fallen Keja, whose mouth was open in a silent cry of pain. Apparently Max had taken away his ability to speak.
After plucking the darts from his back, Sam rolled him over with a frustrated sigh. “That wasn’t the best move, was it?” She gave a subtle signal to both Imani and Max. Like that, Joel sagged in relief.
Jared tilted his head. “Now why would you run?”
Sanders licked his lips nervously. “If the Grand High Pair comes looking for you, it can’t be good.”
“That would normally be true,” allowed Jared. “In this case, we simply have a few questions for you.”
“Questions?” he echoed, doubtful.
“About The Order,” added Sam. “What can you tell us about it, Joel?”
His eyes darted from Sam to Jared. “Seriously? You’re only here for intel on The Order?”
“Seriously,” she assured him. “You don’t look very comfortable down there. Let’s fix that.”
Jared and I heaved up the male and plonked him on the old, swamp-green sofa. With the exception of Sam and Jared, we all stepped back; not wanting to loom over the Keja and make him feel even more intimidated than he already did.
Sam smiled. “Better?” At his shaky nod, her smile widened. “Good. Now talk.”
Sanders cleared his throat. “In sum, The Order is an association of vampires who hate what they are. They want our species to be completely extinct.”
Sam nodded. “How big is this association?”
“Last time I hacked into their database, there were hundreds.”
“Database?” Jared repeated. “How long ago was the last time you hacked into it?”
“About a week ago. One of Lazarus’ assassins wanted an update on the group.” Marco.
“If you’ve rifled through their database,” began Jared, “I’m guessing then that you know plenty. That’s good. The Order is proving itself to be a bigger threat than expected. We need to take them out before things go tits up.”
Sanders spoke. “I take it you know about their plan to destroy The Hollow, huh? I told Marco about it; he said he’d pass on the info.”
“He did, though he took his time about it,” grumbled Sam. “I’m hoping you can help us with a few things. There’s a blogger who’s leaking facts about vampirekind. His gift is technology based, which means we can’t electronically track him.”
“Oh, that guy?” Waving a dismissive hand, Sanders snorted. “He’s just a lowly member.”
Sam pounced on that. “So there’s a hierarchy?”
“The main guy, the leader, is like their Messiah. They all serve him. There isn’t anything they wouldn’t do for him. Suicide missions. Assassinations. Bombings. You name it, they’ve done it over the years if the content of their computer system is to be believed.”
Biting out a string of harsh expletives, Sam exchanged a look of outrage with Jared.
Staring at her, Sanders double-blinked, looking mesmerised. “Your irises really are mercury.”
She snapped her fingers. “Focus, Joel. Do they have a specific date in mind for the attack they plan on The Hollow?”
“If they do, it’s not on their computer.”
Jared slowly took a step toward Sanders. “We need to know where they’re based. Marco left out that part. We’ve narrowed it down to a short list of locations. But scouting each of those locations will take up precious time.”
Sanders didn’t miss a beat. “The place they meet is in Lost Springs in Converse County, Wyoming. It’s an underground bunker beneath a ranch.”
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Satisfaction lit Jared’s eyes. “A bunker?”
“But you really don’t want to go there,” Sanders hurried to add, looking panicked. “The whole place is wired to blow in the event of an invasion. They have all kinds of scary shit, ready for war.”
Clearly frustrated, Sam said, “We need to get to them somehow. Do they live at the ranch?”
“Some do. Not many.”
“Can you get us the names of all the members and their addresses?” Jared asked him.
“Sure. I can print out a list for you to take with you.”
Jared nodded. “You do that. Highlight the blogger’s name so we know exactly which one he is.”
I understood why. Sam and Jared would need to punish him separately and via V-Tube as an example of what would happen to those who betrayed our kind by leaking information.
“And I want a big, fat asterisk next to the name of the bloke who runs it all,” Sam told Sanders, and he wasted no time in doing their bidding.
When we were all finally back at The Hollow, we had a short meeting in the conference room, where Sam and Jared informed the rest of the squads what Sanders had told us.
Harvey made a noise in the back of his throat. “We’re fucked. I thought that once we found out where they were, we could pounce on them all and stop our battle with the dragons before it started. But we can’t invade the ranch—we’d find ourselves bombed.”
Sam nodded. “It would be sheer stupidity to try it. They would set off explosions that would not only kill us, but maybe even lead to human casualties. I’m not so desperate to get to those bastards that I’d send us all on a suicide mission.”
“So we can’t get to them,” growled Reuben.
“That’s not strictly true,” said Jared. “Joel Sanders gave us the names and addresses of the members. We can pick them off a few at a time, show them what it feels like to be hunted. We’d start with the guy who formed The Order, Beau Irons, only there was no address for him. We’ll have Mona and Cedric look into it.”