Kraven stepped forward and dragged Bat with him, keeping her at his back. “Do we have a problem? I won’t let you take her. She’s my mate.”
“Batina is safe. I didn’t come here to fight with you, VampLycan. We have spies in the pack.” Michael shrugged. “Warren took over when his father stepped down eight years ago. He still has a lot to learn. It’s a big territory to share. We’ll never see eye to eye but I try to keep the peace. Wars are too damn messy with so many humans around us.”
“I’m surprised you’d care.”
Michael smiled. “I love humans. They’re not only a source of food, but endless entertainment. I’m a huge movie fan. You could say I’m more progressive than most masters.” His expression sobered. “I’ve also been around long enough to see too much blood spilled.” He turned his head, glancing at the carpet. “Someone call in a cleanup crew, please. I don’t want to have to pay to replace the flooring of a room this size.” He looked at Bat next. “We’d like to move you to a safer location. Word has spread you’re here and there’s a bounty on your head.”
Movement caught Bat’s attention. Jacob crawled out from under one of the tables and tried to make it toward the back of the room and the fire-escape exit.
Michael didn’t turn around but he did lift his hand, making a signal. “Get him before he triggers an alarm by trying to flee that way.”
One of the Vampires by the door rushed over to Jacob and grabbed him by the back of his suit, lifting and forcing him to walk over to them.
Michael studied Jacob. “Friend of yours, Batina?”
“Not really; he’s a partner at my law firm.”
“He set up this meeting so the Lycans could take her. They promised to make him one.” Kraven’s disgust sounded in his voice.
Michael snorted. “I’m aware of how Warren works. He offers humans what they desire most to get them to do his bidding.” He turned to stare down at Jacob. “Hello, sweaty human. Nervous? Scared?”
“I didn’t see anything,” Jacob whispered. “I swear.”
“I noticed you didn’t say you didn’t do anything. Betrayal of one of your own is low.” Michael clucked his tongue. “I’m considering your punishment.”
Jacob blanched. “It wasn’t like that! I didn’t know.”
Michael’s eyes began to glow brightly. He reached out and fisted Jacob by his tie, hauling him closer. “Did you know Warren was a Werewolf? Tell me the truth now.”
“Yes.”
“What was the reason you believed he wanted Batina? Tell the truth. All of it.”
“I thought he might kill her,” Jacob blurted. “She’s been a thorn in my side since day one. I hate her. She talked to my partners about sexual harassment charges if I didn’t stop trying to fuck her and they threatened to use the buyout clause to get rid of me if I didn’t cease. She’s made a name for herself and brings in more clients than I do. I wanted Warren to get rid of her.”
Kraven growled.
Michael leaned in closer. “You’re a pathetic human being. I don’t want you to ever forget what you are. Now stand there and sleep until you’re ordered to waken.”
Jacob closed his eyes.
The brightness in Michael’s eyes faded as he turned to face Bat and Kraven, releasing Jacob’s tie. “I’ll send one of my men home with him to make sure he doesn’t have a stash of evidence of the pack’s existence hidden. Humans exposed to us love to do that shit.” He reached out and grabbed Jacob’s arm, shoving back his jacket to expose his dress shirt. He unbuttoned the wrist, baring skin.
“You’re going to feed from him?” Bat tried to hide her distaste.
“No.” Michael lifted Jacob’s arm. “Your mate is. It’s the least this asshole can do for setting you up.” He shifted his gaze to Kraven. “How many hits did you take? Three? Four? I did my research on VampLycans once I became acquainted with Antina. Blood will heal you faster than letting those bullet holes heal on their own. Do you need our doctor to dig them out first or will they push out while you heal? I can have Morton come here now. The Lycans can wait if you need assistance. You carry both scents strongly so I’m not sure what traits you get from your parents.”
“Grandparents. I’m second generation. My body will reject foreign objects as I heal.”
“Blood is right here. Take it. You can kill the bastard if you want but just let us interview him first so we can destroy whatever evidence he has on the pack.”
Kraven shook his head. “No thanks.”
“Do it,” Bat urged. She couldn’t stand that he was hurt.
He looked down at her.
“Please? I’m the one who asked you to bring me here. Drink blood if it heals you.”
“Your coloring is bad,” Michael said. “It’s safe to feed in front of us. Batina is considered one of ours and you’re her mate. Feed, VampLycan. We’re not enemies. I’d rather you take it from this asshole than her. My girlfriend is human and I have to be very careful how much I take from her. There’s nothing worse than the guilt of seeing them weakened because of our blood needs. This is how I feed, since my Christa is a jealous little thing. She wouldn’t abide it if I took blood from any woman that isn’t her.”
That interested Bat. “You’re dating a human?”
Michael smiled. “Yes. She doesn’t know what I am yet. It’s getting more serious. We’ll have to have the talk soon.”
“How do you feed off her then?”
“Very carefully, at passionate moments.” He winked. “Now urge your mate to drink. He’s being very brave and tough for you but he’s hurt. I’d hate for him to accidentally hurt you when he takes you to bed later. He’d feel like shit after he drank too much.”
“Goddamn it,” Kraven rumbled. He held out his hand. “Fine.”
Bat averted her gaze while Kraven bit into Jacob. But she didn’t feel bad if it hurt the conniving son of a bitch when Kraven’s fangs dug into him.
Chapter Nineteen
Kraven lifted his shirt when he stopped feeding off Jacob and grimaced. The bullets hurt as they left his body, dropping onto the carpet. He glanced at Bat, only to find her staring across the room. He released the human after licking his skin so the wounds would heal fast and nodded thanks to the master Vamp.
Michael pushed Jacob toward one of his men. “Deal with this.”
“Kill or salvage?”
“Wipe him if possible. Otherwise, he looks like a man on the edge.”
“Understood.” The Vampire grabbed Jacob and led him out of the room.
Kraven waited until Michael looked back at him before he asked questions. “You’re going to have him jump to his death?”
“My life would be easier if I said yes, but I value human life. Sometimes the exposure has lasted too long to erase it all, so we’ll mess with his memories a bit until he’s unsure of his sanity. He looks like he can afford a nice room in a mental health clinic. I have some experience with this, thanks to those damn Lycans. We just suggest the aliens told them about Werewolves or something, if we can’t totally remove the memories, then urge them to verbally share every unkind thought they have to every person they come into contact with for a few months.” Michael laughed. “Let’s just say it doesn’t gain them sympathy or friends. No one will believe anything he says and just peg him as a crazy asshole.”
Kraven chuckled. “That’s kind of mean.”
Michael shrugged. “I feel no guilt. He’ll live.”
Bat suddenly bent and picked up the bullets from the floor. Kraven watched her pocket them. She looked up at him. “What? They have your blood on them.”
“We’ll clean the scene.” Michael held out his hand to Bat. “You can give those to me.”
Bat backed up closer to Kraven. “I’ll hold on to them. No offense, but I’m a defense attorney. I have no idea if you’ll dispose of them properly. I’d hate for them to be found and given to some forensics lab. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but let’s be honest. I don’t know you.”
&nbs
p; “Fair enough. You should feed your mate, VampLycan. Her injuries are bothering me.”
“It’s just makeup,” Bat explained. “I was trying to get out of representing a client. It washes off.”
Michael studied her face but turned when the doors opened. Men entered wearing uniforms with a cleaning service logo over their chests. “Get every drop, every bullet. Don’t miss anything.”
The men went to work. Bat sighed. “Nice.”
“They’re mine,” Michael admitted. “We expected trouble so I had them on standby outside the building. No one can remove traces of blood better than us. But we should leave. Someone probably heard the gunshots and might come to investigate. I’d like them to just find men working.”
“To clean up blood.” Bat frowned.
“Wine,” Michael corrected. “That’s what they’ll believe when my men tell them so.”
Kraven felt thankful to the nest. Being shot hadn’t been expected and he’d been helpless while he’d healed long enough to get up. It could have turned bad. Michael had good timing.
It didn’t mean he trusted them completely or wanted to go anywhere with them.
“Thanks but I’m going to take her out of here.”
“She’s got a bounty on her head.” Michael removed his phone and tapped the screen, turning it. It showed a photo of Bat wearing a nice suit with her hair pulled into a bun. “This was sent to the Vampire Council and they spread it to every registered nest. They’ve ordered us to bring her in alive. The Lycans aren’t as organized but they have a system in place to share information. Within days, she’ll be the most known human to both races. I know from speaking to Morton that her grandfather is the culprit behind this hunt.”
Kraven reached out and gripped Bat, preparing to fight. “I’m not allowing you to turn her over to that bastard.”
“I’m not giving her to the council or her grandfather.” Michael stepped back and opened his hands. “We’re not enemies. I do keep my word, VampLycan. I swore to Antina I’d protect her daughters from all harm—and that includes the council. She made me master of my nest.”
Kraven glanced at the other men in the room. Michael seemed to guess his thoughts.
“They are absolutely loyal to me. Drackamus, the one who led our nest before, was a twisted bastard. That probably wasn’t even his real name; he idolized the horror accounts of the first Vampire humans ever wrote about. He tortured us, abused everyone he held power over, and used fear to rule. And the council assured we couldn’t rise against him, with their threats of slaughtering any nest that killed a master.” Anger deepened Michael’s voice. “Let’s just say we’re not so loyal to them, and have worked to ensure they aren’t a threat to us much longer.”
Kraven arched an eyebrow.
Michael hesitated before he spoke. “I’m not the only master who’s tired of being given orders by a bunch of old, outdated moving mummies who rule Vampires across the world. We’ve worked in unison to assassinate a few of them so far. Some are more elusive, but we will find them. The council needs fresh, younger blood in charge. The old ones aren’t human friendly. They still dream of enslaving all other races. We’ve more of a mind to live in peace. It’s just stupid to kill your food source.”
He glanced at Bat. “Sorry. I like humans. I’m just putting it bluntly. Even Lycans have the right to live. I’m friendly with quite a few and I’d hate to see them slaughtered. There are a lot of masters of the same mindset. We’re modern. The council is not. I’m showing you trust, VampLycan. They’d send every nest they could at us if you shared that information. They have no idea we were behind some of the so-called accidents that have taken the lives of some of their members.”
Kraven considered everything he’d been told. “They aren’t suspicious?”
A wide grin spread across Michael’s mouth. “Like I said, I love movies. Let’s just say I get some really good ideas from watching them. And technology is an amazing thing. Did you know you could steal a fresh body from a morgue—for instance, a pilot who’d recently suffered a heart attack—erase all records of his body being found, and put him in a plane? And having friends who can hack into the autopilot controls of that plane to make certain it crashes right into the home of a council member is priceless. Containers of jet fuel might have been placed onboard to level the house and make certain everything inside burned. Just an accident that happened in broad daylight. We weren’t blamed. It’s not my fault some of the ancients still believe they should sleep in wood coffins in their basements.
“He was one of the worst. I would have loved to have seen his face when he realized he was trapped after his burning house caved in on top of him. He didn’t like being near humans so we didn’t have to worry about innocents being harmed if the flames spread. Clean kills. He and his guards were the only ones taken out. I felt a little bad about those but he had already killed them on the inside. It was a mercy.”
“He hired humans to be his day guards?” Kraven knew some Vamps did.
Michael shook his head. “Hiring would imply he trusted a free-thinking human. It was far more barbaric. Old ones like him think nothing of tearing into human minds and ripping out all aspects of the lives they once had, turning them into killing machines with only one objective—to protect their master. We can’t fix that kind of damage. It’s permanent. I’ve heard of a few attempts to deprogram them but they took their own lives at the first opportunity. The suggestions are placed too deep to remove. The master dies, they die. Period.”
“Fuck.” Kraven grimaced. “That’s…”
“Fucked up,” Michael agreed. “Yes. What do you want to do, VampLycan? You said she’s your mate. We’re willing to hide you both and keep you safe.”
Kraven turned to Bat. “I’d like to take you back to my clan. The GarLycans are on our side. You’ll be safest there. We’ll have the protection of both.”
Bat didn’t look pleased with the idea of returning to Alaska.
“He’s right,” Michael rasped. “Everyone fears VampLycans and GarLycans. I can arrange an immediate flight back to Alaska.”
“You can?” Kraven studied the master.
“I have connections. L.A. is my town. I can have a jet fueled and ready to go within fifteen minutes. It will take us that long to reach the airport. All I ask is that you ensure the safety of my pilots during the day until they can fly back tomorrow evening. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to take you. They’re not only part of my nest, but my friends.”
“Done.” Kraven would have some of the clan meet them at the airport to guard it and the Vampires while they slept. “That’s easy. There are hangars. We could park the jet inside if your pilots don’t mind sleeping on the plane. Is four guards enough?”
“VampLycans?”
“Of course.”
Michael smiled and withdrew his phone. “I’ll have them meet us there and get the jet prepared. We have people at the airport already in place. They can handle all the arrangements to get you past security and right onto the tarmac.” He turned his back, making the call a few feet away.
“I didn’t agree,” Bat whispered.
Kraven reached out and cupped her face, stepping closer. “You’re not safe here, Hellion. You heard him. Decker asked the Vampire Council to put a bounty on your head. We’ll be safer with my clan, now that we know Aveoth isn’t going to try to take you. You heard what Red said.”
“What if it’s a trap?”
He considered that. “I would rather trust the known than the unknown.”
She seemed to debate that, glancing at Michael. “How do you know we can trust him?” She mouthed the words.
“I don’t for certain, but he hasn’t shot me.”
She dropped her gaze to his chest and reached out. Her hands trembled as she lightly touched the wet material. “I’m so sorry.”
He forced her head up. “Don’t. You’re new to all of this. You didn’t even realize Warren was a Lycan. I should have said no and not let you come to
the meeting. This was on me when I let you talk me into this. I should have put my foot down.”
“I insisted.”
“I’m not arguing with you about this, Bat. I’ll ask Michael to have the Vampire with Jacob implant a suggestion so you have some time off without issues. I’m not saying you can’t come back to L.A. but we need time until Decker is apprehended and dealt with, so you’re completely safe. This bounty needs to be taken off your head. Think of it like a vacation. You deserve one. I get the impression you work too damn much.”
“In Alaska?” She made a cute distasteful face. “I’d rather go to the Bahamas.”
“Wouldn’t we all.” Michael said, approaching. “There’s an established nest that’s laid claim to those islands. They’re loyal to the council. I couldn’t ensure your safety there.”
“Bat,” Kraven drew her attention, “let me keep you safe. It won’t be forever. You’ll get to see your sister.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“I know,” he acknowledged. “We need to return to Alaska. I’m sorry.” His mind was made up. He’d do whatever was best for his mate, even if it meant tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her onto that damn jet with her kicking and screaming every step of the way.
“I heard what you said. I’ll have Lance take care of Bat’s work situation. I’d be happy to even send him to speak to the other partners at her firm, so they’re all in agreement on needed vacation time. Her job will be safeguarded until her return. Batina, you should listen to your VampLycan. I could hide you in the city but I’d have to secure you in one of my underground bunkers. We’ve modernized them a bit but I doubt you’d enjoy the accommodations. We’ve had a few issues with rats. I think the exterminator took care of most of them but there’s always more.”
Bat grimaced. “Alaska it is. We need to go up to my condo first. I’m not leaving without some clothes.”
“We can do that. Let’s go.” Michael backed away.