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Moments later she is gone and I am left to wonder how I will handle my next interaction with Kyson.
Chapter Six
Kyson
Same Enemy, Different Day
I am forced to leave Luther with the key to the Consort Suite only moments after Lisette slips inside. I know he will remain nearby while his mate has her desired conversation with Scarlet, but I cannot help but worry. Regardless, I’ve been summoned. Though forging a bond with Scarlet is my priority—a priority the coven recognizes—I still have a job to do.
I see Aaron, one of our more reserved and ironically scientific covenmates, almost as soon as I reach the main floor. He seems to be going over notes again, but I don’t care. As soon as our eyes meet, I bark an order at him. “Send Elfde upstairs to patrol the halls in my absence.”
He blinks once. “Sure.”
I resume my path before he even releases the raspy whistle-like sound he uses to call Elfde to him. The sleek and impressively silent Amur Leopard lopes into the room from an adjacent hall in my peripheral vision. Elfde is the latest generation of Aaron’s long-standing and semi-literal pet project. Each rescued leopard is better trained than the previous, a result of his studious research. Many of our covenmates have come to refer to the felines as the coven’s guard cats, since that is what he trains them to do. As a result, I likely interact with Aaron and his leopards more than most.
I find myself wondering if Scarlet will develop a fondness for the leopards, as we have. Or if she’s frightened of large, predatory animals. What if she’s allergic? I make a mental note to double-check the information I’ve gathered for any allergens at my next opportunity, then push the thought aside.
“Kyson, shut the door,” Aziel says the moment I step into his office.
Mateo stands at the side of our Maker’s desk, tablet in hand and a frown on his face. He only nods at me in greeting.
I shut the door quietly and hold my position. “What’s the problem?” I don’t bother asking if there is one, because that much is obvious.
The hard set to Aziel’s jaw sparks nerves I’m barely familiar with. I can guess what they’re about to tell me and I’m fully prepared not to like it. The timing of this couldn’t be worse. I suppose I should have expected it, then. Still, I wait for my superior’s answer.
“Jagters have been spotted in town,” Aziel says in a lower tone.
I get no joy from being right.
I glance at Mateo. “Here? Have they breached?” It’s been quite some time since our eternal foes have forced us to relocate. I don’t welcome the thought of enduring that sort of chaos now.
“No,” Mateo says. “Our security’s still tight.” He taps a couple of times on his screen. “But I was able to confirm the sightings by hacking into some local networks and watching their feeds.”
I run my tongue over my fangs, resisting the urge to curl my lip in displeasure. “Then Sangre is compromised.”
Aziel inclines his head. “Yes. Whether that means Prins and his brood have realized there’s a coven in the town, specifically, we haven’t yet determined.”
I feel a growl building in my chest and swallow it down before returning my attention to Mateo. “Were you able to find Prins himself on camera?” If the barbarian who led the Jagters was within reach, it might be worth the risk of putting together a group of our own to chase him. Getting that beast off the board would be a win to remember.
“No,” Mateo says with a shake of his head. He taps again and turns the tablet out so I can see. There’s an image on the screen, zoomed in enough to be blurry around the edges, but I recognize the face in the frame all the same. “Someone else you know is here, though.”
This time the growl rumbles up before I can push it back. The face caught on the hacked camera feed belongs to a Jagter named Liam. One I have had the displeasure of meeting in person on two previous occasions. His survival is possibly my greatest shame.
“From the footage Mateo found,” Aziel says, “Liam seems to have his own contingent now. I guess surviving two fights with a century-old vampire gives these bastards their equivalent of street cred.”
I exhale harshly and rip my glare away from Mateo’s tablet. It’s been nearly five years since that boy last tried to take my head, while successfully taking three others. Jagter contingents are typically teams of ten. The boy I remember Liam to be was no more than a member of one such contingent, fighting ruthlessly for survival and to avenge the teammates he’d lost. Now he leads one, meaning Xander Prins has recognized his strength. A strength I have allowed to grow by failing to kill him in the past.
There’s no way to know how many vampires he’s slaughtered since then.
“I know you want to hunt him down and rip out his heart,” Aziel says after a moment. Despite the anger surely swirling in his own chest, he keeps his voice cool and steady. “But this would be a less-than-ideal time for you to lead a hunt, Kyson. You have other priorities.”
I am unused to the conflict that immediately spikes inside me. Still, I argue. “Then why call me in?”
“Because the security of our home is also your responsibility,” Aziel says. “You should be aware of the potential danger. Mateo and I will discuss how to handle any offensive strategy.”
I barely refrain from snorting. Mateo is excellent at what he does—but what he does is sit behind a computer and poke at screens. He is not a soldier, not a warrior. He has never been. “I am better suited to lead an offensive mission. Even remotely.”
Mateo makes a sound that might be building protest, might be irritation, but Aziel raises a hand to silence us both.
