Page 5 (1/2)
Drew
A muffled pop sounds as I head down the stairs into the base to the old harab the antique and tilt it away fro wall in the corner The wall doesn&039;tover to the hidden door in the corner, I bang on the concrete
"Hey? You in there? What&039;s going on?"
A oes by and the panel finally slides open Asa stands shirtless, holding a long knife dripping blood The smell of va drunk hitting the floor-hard and fast
I push past him into the room and see what&039;s left of Joanna sprawled next to the opening Her naked body lies against the concrete with a huge hole in her chest with her partially-destroyed head lying a foot away
"Holy fucking shit, man! What the hell did you do?"
"I can explain"
"Explain? Are you out of your ever-loving et me to help her drain Vivian"
Whoa Never expected that It certainly puts a new spin on things
"Huh You don&039;t say?" I venture into the roorace to look uncomfortable at my question "Well she, um came down here and we had some fun" He looks off in the distance and runs a hand over his clean-shaven head
"Yeah, I&039;"
"She flipped out, man That&039;s all I can say I&039;m not sure when it happened-somewhere near the end I think"
I must look incredulous; he rushes on to explain without any verbal encouragement from me
"First, she tried to drinkher blood And then she started yaured out a way to trap Vivian and drain her slowly"
A snort sounds froht" I shake ht "And come out alive? SheI&039;ve ever seen Ifreaky toward Vivian for a while But plotting to drain her? I had no choice"
My look speaks volumes-and I&039;m sure he can see it What a dumb ass Vivian will be pissed
"Seriously, dude," he continues to ra to do"
"You trying to convince yourself or me?" I shake h the concealed opening "You should have told Vivian That&039;s what you should have done You&039;re fucked"
"Wait!" Asa&039;s panicked voice reaches s out as I take the stairs three at a ti way This mess is all yours, boy"
I sla as much distance between myself and that train wreck as possible There are times I wish I could be a fly on the wall To listen in and see how things really hen I&039;m not there
This is one time when I can honestly say that&039;s not how I feel Vivian&039;s going to flip out; I wish to even in the state of Alaska when the shit hits the fan on this one
I grab the cell clipped to my waist and call in my intentions to the co back and actually having to talk to Asa in that bloody room
"Drew to co he&039;s busy with clean up and will listen toover to the lobby to check in on the neolf arrivals We&039;ve got less than two hours left until the hunters are released"
"Roger," comes Asa&039;s short reply
Would I have acted as Asa did, had I been in his shoes? It&039;s convenient forquarterback and say he should have called Vivian, but would I have? I guess it would have to be pretty da the side holster carrying the Colt 45 I&039; for the hunt, I can&039;t help but wonder if I would have even reached for it Guns, and using them, don&039;t coreetroo I see is a s Vivian, as a short man with a powerful build spins her around
"Romeo! Put me down, you old devil!"
He does as she asks and a tiny, athletic woman with short hair swats him playfully on the arht when you walk in the door"
When I look over at the younger olf, I can see hints of strain around his eyes
"He knows I mean no harm, Elsa Don&039;t you, boy?"
"Yes, sir," coain or I rin toward Elsa, his old female alpha
Thethrough the doors, like a bunch of kids playing in the first snow of the year The fluffy white stuff is shaken off parkas and knocked out of hair, as handfuls of ice are dropped down shirtfronts
"Children!" Elsa&039;s voice carries out over the four roughhousing olves "We&039;re here to hunt a vaood nature prevails, despite the admonishment, and the pack members all cla over to the front desk to check in
"Drew," Vivian nods inyou all to the theater, where you can catch the scent of Eo"
As I walk over to escort the group, Jon catches my arm "The loner wolf, Melvyn, hasn&039;t checked in yet His flight landed around the sa in with the pack I&039;ll wait for hiood Sure you don&039;t want to switch with me so you can spend time with your old pack?"
Jon&039;s smile doesn&039;t reach his eyes when he answers, "I&039;ve had my fill for now, but thanks"
I head over to the two alphas, bowing over Elsa&039;s hand while introducing myself "Charmed Please follow me to the last place Emiko was in our custody"
The pack trails after me as I head down the hall
"Have you been informed of all the pertinent information about the criminal?" I enquire to the two alphas
"Yes," Roar and drove up in the van to brief us"
"Vivian looks as lovely as ever-doesn&039;t she, dear?" Elsa asks him
Before he can answer, a soft female voice fros off Jonathan"
I swing open the double doors to the theater and pause for a moment Not sure if I should respond to this insult to nore it, I hear atone, "Still jealous, Lor-lor?"
Motioning with one arroup filter in One beautiful young wo in her pretty green eyes "Can&039;t wait to get me some vampire meat" Her voice matches that of the woman referred to as Lor-Lor
Imy true nature come close to the surface My civil ive rowl starts to bubble deep in her throat as one of her pack-ht end&039;s build, pulls her in with a none-too-gentle jerk of her long hair
"Enough, Lori He&039;s not the vauests"
"H path down into the er wolves do act like children; I&039;m not surprised Jon didn&039;t want to continue his time with them It must have been hard for him to bear any comments about his master Not a weak man by nature, he&039;s been instructed, as we all have, to make sure we offer no blatant insults to any of the hunters this week
Polite-host e room and close the doors behind me
"Drew?" Romeo calls out, "Where can we find the best trail?"
"The scent of Emiko is unmistakable in the front left corner of the room She was surrounded by three male vampires, but you should be able to discern her easily" I maintain my position near the door "Rafe escorted her to the exit door on the right, where she was released onto the property"
The wolves crowd around the area I&039;ve indicated and sniff like, well like a pack of dogs Very unseeers
"We&039;ll need to come back here in wolf form to start the hunt" Romeo calls out
"Yes, that&039;s fine" I answer "You won&039;t need to enter the building but can pick up her trail frorotto outside It&039;s where all of the hunters will start fro for the pack to coet ready for the hunt"
He wisely does not atte all his wolves walk through it would dull the scent of their prey I lead the thehted asphalt path outside that winds around to the cabins Your bags should be inside waiting for you when you arrive Please call the front desk if you need anything"
I hang a polite, innocuous smile on my face as I usher the pack out the door The one naers at me with her eyes as she leaves That one is a true bitch, no doubt about it
My s forms into the darkness Nice to be able to say the word "bitch" andthe door, I turn and head back down the way I carab the phone secured atMelvyn do"
"Thanks Will do e arrive"
Noting there&039;s under an hour until the start of the hunt, I head over to the dining rooer to get out into the cold Fools Two ht e the cold can do to one of our kind
Paul hands out last-minute pots of blood coffee to each table By the smell, I&039;d say they are heavier on the blood than the caffeine
Vivian and Rafe work the crowd, as only they can I don&039;t have the patience yet for the constant politeness, but I&039;ve found if I hang back in a corner, I can ju to me from the lobby indicate Jonathan and Melvyn, the neolf, have arrived and are at the front desk
Everything see to Viv&039;s carefully constructed plan How she uess The why I understand only a little o about a possible threat within the Tribunal against Vivian, but any other details not associated to Ivan&039;s original crio were left out
That wo to see things unfold around her I haven&039;t had this ie&039;s death The chance to kill her rateful for At the tiave me a closure I hadn&039;t known I needed
Vivian sloorks her way over to my spot by the entrance to the lobby