Page 41 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

“What the fuck just happened?” Red’s breathless voice laces with barely checked fury.

Wrapping my arms around her protectively, I search her mind.

She didn’t feel the same affliction I just experienced but is damn near a panic attack from how erratic her breathing is.

I can hear and feel her heart racing faster than a hummingbirds.

“The magic version of a dick measuring contest. That’s what just happened.

And you’re not to do that shit in this apartment.

Do you hear me?” I don’t think I’ve seen Henry quite so angry before.

He’s so composed under pressure. Even in the trenches, under enemy fire, you’d have thought he was impervious to bullets with how level headed he stayed. And he was human back then.

I glare at Antares. He’s glaring right back at me, that shit eating grin still plastered across his face.

“You’re an air wielder,” I growl.

“And you’re a shadow wielder,” he sing-songs back.

“Yes, and you’re both too fucking powerful to be showing off in my apartment!” Henry yells over us both.

“He stole the air from your lungs, after he used wind to take my notepad,” Red says as she comprehends what happened a few seconds ago. Indeed, the little shit is more powerful than I thought and has enough control over his element he can evidently control the breathing of those around him.

“He bound me with his shadows.” Antares accuses .

“You messed—” I start to retaliate.

“I don’t care.” Henry’s voice booms once more. “Antares, you did steal Red’s notepad.”

“It was a prank.”

“Again, I don’t care,” he reiterates firmly.

“You should know better than to piss off mates. Newly mated mates, at that. You may not have been around many, but surely some part of your brain would alert you to not mess with one of them. I’m sure you’ve seen enough Fae behave the same.

” He points to us. “They’re mated. And we’re not bonded to them.

He gets to be ultra-possessive and protective.

Hell, I’m surprised they’ve had this much control.

” Antares does at least have the decency to look a bit remorseful as Henry lays it out for him. “Now, say sorry.”

Henry forces us all to apologise and agree to not use our powers against each other again. Honestly, I’m impressed by his diplomacy skills in de-escalating the whole situation. I was ready to end the shithead as soon as I’d realised what he was doing.

Adding to my shock, after a couple of awkward hours, Red and Henry seem to team up and get all four of us chatting peacefully by the evening.

In fact, it’s more than peaceful; it’s completely amicable and actually kind of fun.

We even split some blood packets as we move from topic to topic.

Red and Antares seem to like the same music, and shows.

He asks me about my powers and I reluctantly find myself doing the same to him.

I’ve never met an air wielder with his accuracy before.

He delights in showing off the control he has by making items fly around our heads.

He might still be an annoying over-exuberant prick but as the night wears on, it feels like a proper truce slides into place between me and him.

We’re not besties, far from it. I don’t fully trust him, and we don’t discuss anything on a deep level but we do chat far more civilly than I would’ve thought possible a few hours ago.

Red stays in my lap the entire time and we check in through our silent connection often. Our hands are never off the other, in gentle reassuring touches. Her weight soothing me alongside the shadows which remain at my feet.

As we eventually tire and start moving towards our bedroom, Red steps away from me for a few seconds. She gently places one hand on Antares’s arm, making my fangs extend once more but what she says has me grinning.

“Antares, I think I quite like you. But threaten my mate again, in any way, and I will end you. I just needed to make that clear.”

She gives him a sweet smile before returning to my side. I see the threat land and instead of reacting, a look of respect crosses his features in the barest of nods.

“So, what was on the notepad?” Antares asks the next day. Red and Henry are making coffee in the kitchen area as I take a seat on one of the sofas. Both of them still love drinking it and it feels like it’s quickly becoming a morning ritual they do together.

Antares is on the other sofa, a duvet still slung over him. He must’ve slept out here last night.

“None of your business.” It’s an attempt to shut down the conversation but my tone is light, I can’t be bothered to growl at him anymore and I’m currently feeling quite blissed out from how Red woke me up this morning.

Antares rolls his eyes. “Okay, so I saw the ports of Froan listed and some other things that looked like a timeline. Are you planning to go back there? ”

“What’s it to you?” The itch of irritation is back as I narrow my eyes at him.

“You do know that pack is hunting you?”

“Well aware.”

“If you go back, you’re as good as dead. You won’t get over the border without them knowing.”

Red joins me on the sofa, mug of steaming coffee wrapped in her hands.

“We know. Which is why we haven’t yet. We’ll find a way.”

“You could always kidnap the scouts he has here and use them as leverage.” My eyebrows shoot up. Antares notices. “What? Adicious is less likely to kill you outright if you hold two of his members hostage. Why do you want to go back anyway?”

“To kill him,” Red supplies.

‘Why’d you tell him that!’ I fire down the silent bond to my mate. ‘If it gets back to Adicious, our plan will be foiled before we even have the details sorted.’

‘If Adicious knows we’re alive, he’s going to know the threat you are to him. Having it confirmed won’t change his current actions.’

‘How’d you get so good at knowing this stuff?’

‘I read.’

“Can’t believe I didn’t notice the silent conversations immediately, you’re hardly subtle,” Henry muses as he takes the sofa perpendicular to ours.

“Are you taking over the pack?” Antares continues his questioning.

I sigh as Red looks at me. I guess there’s not much harm in this rogue knowing our intentions. “Yes, that’s the plan. You may or may not already know that my family ran the pack on Froan for a couple centuries before the war.”

“I knew,” Antares confirms, and is quiet for a moment as he taps his fingers on his chin like he’s contemplating something.

“So, all you’ve got to do is avoid detection here—because the pack here are just as likely to kill you as they are to hand you back to Adicious—get yourselves within fang distance of one of the most ruthless packs left on the continent, kill its leader, and I’m assuming most of his followers, then get the rest of the vampires left to acknowledge you as a mated couple so none of them kill you either. ”

For a vampire not attached to a pack, he seems to know a lot about those of us that remain.

“That about sums it up.” Red offers him a grim smile and takes a sip of her drink.

“The other packs will have to acknowledge you, right Ty? From who your parents were, and the fact you’re already mated?” Henry asks.

“We hope so. The fact that Red turned from unturned parents, however, is going to cause quite a stir.”

“What?!” Antares eyes bug out. He glares at my mate like she's an alien species just landed on the planet. “That’s a thing? I thought you’d just found a secret love child from somewhere.”

I have to chuckle at that. It’s possible a vampire couple has kept the birth of a child a secret since the war but Red is going to start a bigger shockwave.

If we can prove her heritage, it most likely means there is a whole generation, and even a second generation, of unturned vampires that could be given their fangs.

That's the least of our problems currently though.

“We don’t have any proof, other than the fact I exist and have fangs. But it’s the only theory that fits considering I grew up with what I thought were demi-Fae parents and yet I was able to turn.”

“Wow.” Antares elongates the word, his mind seemingly blown .

“When are you going to tell them?” Henry asks.

“Not yet. I’ve been in touch with a few who I know who were close to my parents. They don’t yet know about Red.” I look between the two males as I say the last bit, pressing my point that I’m now trusting them not to blab.

“Adicious has already let that cat out of the bag though,” Antares says. “He’s not kept it a secret that he’s looking for a female vampire. One which you kidnapped, by the way.”

“I don’t think the other respected packs believe him.

He lost their trust a long time ago.” From my correspondence none of them have brought the subject up.

I do wonder what he’s told Fillias, however.

I knew they spoke but not that they’d confide in each other about anything, let alone something as huge as this.

“Are we risking the other packs trusting us by not disclosing that I exist?” Red says aloud. She’s been quiet this entire exchange, but I can tell she’s been putting together more of the jigsaw, her brain whirring, trying to map our way forward.

“I hope not. I probably should tell them soon but not until we are in a position to move against Adicious and take back our lands.”

“I still think my kidnap and leverage plan is a good one,” Antares chimes in.

“Yeah, I think I’m inclined to agree,” Red admits, and sends an idea down the bond.

“You are?” Henry and Antares question whilst I outright say, “No.”

“It would get me into the pack, then we could also establish who might switch sides,” Red argues with me, ignoring the other two.

“Absolutely not!” I move my hand from where it had been on her thigh to her chin, making sure she’s looking at me as I say it. “You are not risking yourself like that. ”

“Care to share with the group?” Henry leans forward in his seat, placing his arms on his elbows.

Red pulls back out of my grasp but links her fingers with mine, it feels like she’s placating me. It works but I won’t be relenting on this.

“Adicious still wants me. If we kidnapped one of his males, and I returned with them, I’m sure he’d let me back into the pack.

As we think at least a couple of them want out as much as Ty did, I could check it out, see just how many we need to take out, and how many are likely to switch. It could even up our numbers a lot.”

Henry thinks on it for a minute.

Antares grins like he’s been let in on the biggest game of his life, but his shoulders drop a second later. “It wouldn’t work. He’d scent your mate-bond straight away and know it's a ploy.”

I might actually like the pint-sized shithead after all.

“Dammit. I thought I had something.” Red might be disappointed but I feel nothing but relief.

“Why couldn’t you both go?” Henry suggests.

“Because Adicious would kill Ty on the spot. Fighting would break out before we stood a chance at assessing the rest of them. It’s not worth the risk.” Red shoots back. Her vehemence matches mine when thinking about my old pack leader being in close proximity.

“And why not take them all out?”

“Because they don’t deserve to die if they’re just as trapped as Ty was,” Red states.

“I agree,” I add. “We know Atlas, at the very least, and Mitch too, don’t like how the pack is run and would want out. I won’t kill anyone unless they pose a threat.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll be your spy!” Antares declares, clapping his hands together as he bounces on the couch.

All three of us blink at him. Why would he volunteer himself for that, Adicious doesn’t know him. Hell, he met us only a few days ago, why would he sign up for a mission like this for some vampires he barely knows.

“Antares, it would be dangerous. Adicious has no reason to keep you alive,” Henry points out.

“He wants more vampires, doesn’t he?” Antares pushes.

“I can’t say for sure. Adicious might be looking for more males but he tends to be selective in who he lets in. I was never privy to that process,” I tell him honestly.

“Why would you risk it? Aren’t you safe here? It would be dangerous,” Red voices the questions floating round both our heads. Apart from the one showing concern for him, that’s all her.

“Safe?” He chuckles. “I’m never safe. I stay here so I can keep tabs on those that might recognise me, might realise I’m still alive.

My father might be gone but I still have family that would cause mayhem if they find out that I’m not dead.

And if they find out I’m a vampire, we’re all fucked.

If I’m watching them, they’re never going to surprise me.

I have to watch them to avoid them spotting me.

“As for why? I like you. You seem decent, and if getting you your pack lands back means there’s a few less assholes in the world, then I want to help.

I feel like shit for what my kind did. They blamed their own shortcomings on the vampires and it spiralled beyond all fucking control.

Helping you two would be the biggest fuck you I can give. ”

I can’t decide. I don’t want to trust him, but if he gets himself killed in the process, at least Red isn’t putting herself in danger.

“Come on, let me play!” Antares whines, like we’re discussing a board game.

“If you fuck this up, I will kill you. If you fail, it’ll be harder for us to get near Adicious.”

“I won’t fail! Get in, get intel…” He counts on his fingers. “Recruit some vampires to our side, tell you about it. Then, we can all go in and kill him.” His smile is far too eager .

“Fine,” Red concedes, although I can tell she won’t stop thinking over alternatives in the meantime.

“We need to hunt down and capture whoever is scouting here first,” I say.

“Already ahead of you there. I know exactly where they’re staying.” Antares winks at me before rising and heading to the bathroom.

What have we just gotten ourselves into?