Page 38 of The Huntress (The Blood of Legends #1)
Chapter Thirty-Eight
THE EVE OF BATTLE
T hey say that war was waged not just on a battlefield. Whoever they are. Judging by the tense silence in the room, Callie believed it.
The inclusion of the beast’s armed forces—their words—had delighted Metcalfe, transforming her into an almost-pleasant person to be around. Once she’d met the alpha, Rhys, of the Knights Ridge pack, sparks had flown, and not the good kind. That might have been creepy to witness. Callie didn’t want to imagine her ex-captain in a romantic lead, though she’d often joked with Mike that she needed a good swing from the chandeliers.
Rhys was a bear of man, in size and persona. He growled or rumbled his words, and his meaty hands flicked his shoulder-length, golden-streaked brown hair away from his baby-blue eyes. When they met, she could’ve sworn the blue glowed. A neat beard adorned a sharp jawline, and his narrow lips never smiled.
Syl showed his mettle, calming the two with firm words—a language both combatants valued. They’d gathered in the formal sitting room at the de Winter Hold, resplendent with Baroque influence merging with high-tech gadgetry. The carved gold paneling parted to reveal a glass wall, giving a wide view of a smaller lounge where Monique awaited her father. Syl had lured him with a promise of a senatorial campaign contribution.
“Stavros is dead. Why do we still need this fake fight?” Callie asked the room in general. “Wasn’t this ruse meant to lure him out?”
“Yes, among other reasons,” Syl said. “We needed to force Duhamel and Carter to reveal their involvement, to bring them to your enforcement’s attention.” He blessed Metcalfe with a formal nod as if to say mission accomplished.
“Though you kept meticulous files, Callie, your allegations held insufficient evidence. Discovering the wider plot was a stroke of luck,” Metcalfe said. “I couldn’t have genocide in my Inner City, now could I?”
Callie frowned. Luck? It was hard work, you old bat. She didn’t say that, biting her lip in case her tongue ran away with her.
Gabe looped his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. His touch, both mental and physical, calmed her, otherwise, she might have gone verbal on her ex-boss.
“With all due respect, Johanna, Callie was the first to investigate. Without those files, we would not have discovered the extent of Carter’s involvement.” Syl’s defense of her had her gaping, disbelief flushing her cheeks.
Damn it. She now owed the bastard.
“Neither side was aware of Stavros’s duplicity, nor his reasons behind it. I’m eager to see how Carter handles this reunion, how he reacts when he realizes he’s a pawn in a game greater than he imagined.” Rhys prowled closer to the one-way mirror, his great bulk dominating the room. The fact his voice was like gravel added to his intimidation factor, and if she’d met him in an alley, she’d have been the loser. Her precious silver bullets and poisoned daggers would have merely annoyed him.
Monique sat in a chair, tapping her fingernails on the brocade fabric. She alternated between sitting, standing, and pacing—her agitation clear. According to Leo, she hadn’t wanted her father to discover her conversion. He abhorred all things non-human. She’d formed an obsession with vampires when she’d been a feeder and hid this from him. Callie could empathize.
Monique flicked her black curls out of her eyes as the door opened. She drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders when her father entered the room. The scene played out as expected. Carter wavered between shock, delight, and anger.
“You see, Daddy, Stavros played you, and now your revenge will harm me,” Monique said.
“We’re all a part of someone else’s agenda.” He lowered himself into the chair, his long legs folding in half. “I have my reasons, my girl.” His shoulders squared, mimicking his daughter’s earlier mannerism.
“Have?” Her pout was pretty. “You’re determined to go ahead with this?”
“You know how I feel, Nicky.” He slammed his fist into his palm, the slap reverberating through the room. “They’re unnatural and a blight on this planet.”
“Humans are better?” She flicked a dismissive hand. “You destroy everything you touch.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her father. “You’re the idiot, Daddy. Killing one Hold, one pack, won’t rid the city of them, never mind the world.”
“War begets war,” he said as he rose to his full height. “You’ll understand why I won’t tell your mother about you. She doesn’t need to see what you’ve become.”
“Mama knows,” Monique smirked. “I sent an extensive list of your nocturnal activities to her divorce lawyer. You didn’t raise a fool, Daddy. Are you proud of me now?” Without waiting for a response, she sauntered out of the room.
“I didn’t expect that,” Leo chuckled. “Sad thing is, he is proud of her.” He shook his head. “The pseudo-battle plays out. His thoughts circle the rumors of our impending war.”
“So be it,” Syl said, finality hardening his voice.
“Can’t we just arrest him now?” Callie asked. They were so close to ending this vendetta, it had her trembling with nervous energy. She curled and unfurled her fingers, squeezing the fists until her nails dented her palms.
“Confession first,” Syl said. “The audio we have on him reveals he’s eager for tomorrow but not the reasons why. They also mention he’s reserved a motel room overlooking the abandoned loading dock. We’ve bugged said room with audio and video equipment.”
“With healers on standby, should our people become overzealous,” Rhys said. “Once bodies litter the ground, and I fake-kill Syl, that should garner an unrehearsed reaction from Carter.”
“Duhamel has accepted an invitation to attend Carter’s culmination. He will be present and reacting to our performances,” Leo said. “I will be in the room alongside them, conveying what they’re hoping will happen.”
“Where will I need to be?” Callie asked, stiffening her shoulders and meeting everyone’s gazes without fear. She wouldn’t accept an exclusion from this battle.
Syl smirked like the arrogant idiot she believed him to be. “We’re tying you up.” He’d said it with much eagerness.
“What?” she asked, her voice ending on a squeak.
“It keeps you away from Carter and his goons. As a huntress, your skills could accidentally harm someone. It will also convince Carter that we don’t want an ex-detective to garner peace between us,” Leo said.
“We’ll need you yelling at either side, so we won’t gag you,” Rhys grinned. The unexpected warmth softened his features, painting him handsome. He gave her a slight nod. What the hell that meant she didn’t know.
“In the initial stages, there will be no police presence, other than you, Callie.” Metcalfe scowled. “Our involvement might lead to allegations of entrapment.”
“There’s no way I’m allowing Carter and Duhamel to go free on a technicality.” Callie slammed her fist into her palm. “I’ll be the best damn restrained peacekeeper you’ve ever seen.”
“You know your roles. We’ll meet at the docks an hour before sunrise.” Syl flicked his fingers, and everyone dispersed before he slipped into the room to speak to Carter.
Callie stayed latched to Gabe’s side with a promise of an amorous evening in her near future. Shifter girls had invited George to a sleepover, babysat by one of Dimitri’s pal’tsy, of course. Which left only one more question for her to ask.
“Where’s Mike?” Images of her ex-partner’s rather sensual conversion with a vampire woman, Clarissa, flitted across their connection, and she spun on Gabe with a gasp.
“He asked, Callie,” Gabe said.
“If the conversion had killed him, then what?” She stomped her foot instead of hitting him. If Mike was there, she’d smack him.
“Clarissa did a slow conversion, a little blood every night.”
“I don’t care how cautious you were. Neither of you took my feelings into account or my opinion. Again. You’d think you’d have learned from the last slow conversion you did, Gabe.”
To have lost Mike would have devastated her. Since Dad’s death, Mike had taken on a fatherly role. Not that she’d ever tell him this. Knowing the old curmudgeon, he’d use it against her.
“He was dying, Callie.” Heart failure.
She stilled and raised her wide-eyed gaze to Gabe’s face to measure his sincerity. Dying? Tears welled, stinging as she blinked them away. I’m going to kill him for hiding this from me.
With Val battling cancer, he didn’t want to burden you further. Gabe cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb across it.
How did you manage to hide this from me?
You don’t intrude in my memories, even though you have the right to. He flashed a loving smile.
“I’m damn well going to start.” She ground her teeth. “Please stop trying to protect me. I know I’m a youngling and new to suckblood life, but I can’t learn if you don’t let me.”
You’re precious to me, my love. I’ve had nothing in my life worth guarding until now.
We’re a team, deciding on things together. She met his gaze, willing him to take her words to heart.
I’ll try. That’s all I can promise you.
That’s all I ask . She scanned his thoughts, searching for sincerity, and found it.
He spun her, capturing her against his warm chest to brush his lips across hers. She hummed her eagerness when he nibbled on her earlobe.
Home? he asked.
Oh, yes, please.