Page 125 of Vampire Kings Box Set

“You can’t be here, Ivan.”

“I can’t be anywhere else.”

“I’ll call Maddox. He will know what to do.”

“Who do you think did this to me?” Ivan growled. “It was Maddox. He has a whole pack of wolves at his command now. Our son was only the first. There’s at least twenty there now. And they all want me dead.”

“Maybe you deserve to be dead,” Candy said. “You’ve got a serial killer’s body count, Ivan.”

“I eat what I need to eat,” he said. “I’m no more a villain than a wild wolf is.”

“But you are. Because of you, I have a son who doesn't know who I am, and…”

“That’s up to you. You could tell him.”

“Maddox told me not to.”

“He’s never fucked you and yet he’s made you his bitch.”

Lora would have had something to say for that, except for the fact she was suddenly no longer alone.

“Lora? What’s going on?” Chuck had managed to lever himself off the couch and was behind her, peering over her shoulder in a concerned way.

“Hey, Specs. What’s up?” Ivan waved and coughed.

“What are you doing here, Ian?” Chuck looked more confused than annoyed.

“Ivan,” Ivan corrected him. “I was in town. Bleeding. Figured I’d take a breather in your shed.”

Chuck wasn’t stupid. He’d also been listening for longer than was any good for Candy.

“What did you mean, our son?”

“Slip of the tongue,” Ivan shrugged.

“He has some serious mental health issues. Please, go back in the house, get the kids, and take them to your mother’s,” Lora said.

“I’m not leaving you here with him,” Chuck frowned. “We should call the police.”

“I am the police, honey. Please. Go inside and get the kids out. I’ll call you when this is dealt with.”

Chuck did as he was told, probably because he didn’t know what else to do. The one thing she’d always really liked about Chuck was the way he was willing to take orders.

“Thank you,” she said to Ivan when Chuck had gone inside to do as he was told. “For not telling him about…”

“You know he’s going to find out eventually,” Ivan grunted. “The longer you keep a secret, the worse it is when it finally comes out.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Lora sighed. What the hell was she going to do now?

10

A few more days had gone by and Will had settled somewhat, which was good news for basically everybody. Following on from Henry’s threat to silver him if he acted out again, Will had actually been behaving like a decent human being, much to everybody’s surprise, Maddox especially. It wasn’t like Will to learn from experience, or take threats seriously. The moonsilver must have hurt like Hades.

One evening, Henry approached Maddox. Mad had long suspected that the pack master’s reasons for being so accommodating were deeper than they first appeared, but he’d not been in a position to look a gift wolf alpha in the mouth. Something in Henry’s gaze made Maddox think the other shoe was about to drop.

“I was hoping to ask a favor,” Henry said to Maddox. “I believe you have a repository, a library, somewhere you keep old texts. I’d like to look around and see if there’s anything relevant to our interests there.”

“Certainly,” Maddox agreed. “I think it will be useful for you to have someone with you. Obviously, there are some protocols around visitors.”