Once it was over, my father asked, “Who among you is at the top? Come forward. You will serve as my advisor. Anyone who has specific details about where Julian is and who is with him speak now.”
Two of the bigger wolves stepped forward.
One appeared to be Scandinavian, judging by his height, build, and honey-colored hair. The other seemed to have Greek heritage, with jet-black hair, dark features, and light skin. But it was hard to be certain. The Scandinavian bowed his head as he addressed my father. “I am Carl, the highest-ranking wolf in attendance. There are two above me, including Julian’s second, Stephen, and one other. Both have gone to fight alongside our former Alpha’s side. This is Alastair.” He nodded toward the Greek wolf. “He heads our communications and is privy to information you will need. Julian has been careless. When he brought the goddess and the witches here, he had no regard for how we would feel about it. He has forced us to accept his new ways, or face death. We no longer fear him.”
“My son tells me you are all installed in bunkhouses nearby. Is that correct?” my father asked.
“It is,” Carl confirmed. “But that was not always the way of things. The top ten ranking wolves lived at the villa until approximately eight months ago.”
“I see,” my father said. Wolves enjoyed Pack mentality and living close to their Alpha. The higher-ranking wolves would feel the bite of separation the greatest and likely be the most bitter. That Julian’s second, and the next in line, had gone to fight with their Alpha now was likely nothing more than a reflex of wanting to be in his good graces again. Wolves craved attention and command, much like a toddler tugging on a mother’s skirt. It didn’t diminish their physical strength, just explained how Pack functioned in the minds of wolves. “The underground bunker where they’ve been holed up, tell me about it.”
“It is heavily fortified, made to withstand bomb blasts,” Carl stated.
“Julian also paid a lot of money to have it spelled,” Alastair added. “If he doesn’t want you in, you’d have a hard time breaching it.”
“When a wolf is challenged, he fights,” my father answered vehemently. “That is our way. That has always been our way. He will come out and face me and own up to his wrongdoings.”
“He might come out and face the challenge,” I said from my position just behind my father. “But he might choose to have Ceres fight his battles for him. If he knows he could lose to you, which he should, it would be to his benefit to have her take you out, rather than come and fight you and lose his Pack.”
Judging by my father’s expression, I could tell such thoughts hadn’t occurred to him. He was old-school to the bone. Honor and respect were revered in his world, as they should be. Julian hadn’t been playing by the same rules lately, which made me doubt if he would actually stick to the old ways when a grab for power was on the line.
“Jessica’s right,” Rourke said. “We prepare for a battle against a goddess and her witches, and after we beat them, we fight the wolves.”
“We just have to figure out how to breach the bunker,” Tyler added. “They’ve got the advantage. And who knows how many are down there against us?”
“We can’t forget we have allies in the bunker,” I pointed out. We assumed that was where Ray, James, and Marcy were being held, but we could be wrong. “Including a pissed-off reaper vampire who’s going to be mad as a hornet that he got snatched. If we can free them once we break in, that would be ideal. Then they can fight alongside us.” I was about to say something more when there was a noise to my left.
We all turned our heads and watched as Eudoxia emerged from the brush beside the road. Apparently, she didn’t take joy in landing right next to us and scaring the crap out of us like Ray did.
Today’s outfit was foam green, her skirts dragging over the ground as she moved. She looked a little ragged. I squinted. Was that a piece of straw in her hair? Before I could inquire as to what had happened, Danny quipped, “Did you fancy a roll in the hay before coming back, then?” He chortled at his own joke.
She reached up and plucked the errant hay out of her coif and flicked it away angrily. “They thought to take me unawares,” she fumed. “It was the last mistake they ever made!”
“Who tried to take you?” I balked. Eudoxia’s reputation preceded her. I didn’t know many—if any—supernaturals who would dare to try such a thing so blatantly.
She stalked forward. “A school of witches. Obviously a kindergarten group. They thought to spell me, but did not realize that I can spell right back,” she huffed. “I left them stunned, if not dead. They will think twice before approaching me again. Fae magic is of a different breed, one that they have not prepared themselves against in far too long. They were easy prey. They were squirming in pain.”
“But why would they want to kidnap you?” I asked, stunned. “That doesn’t make any sense. They have Tally.” I glanced at Rourke and my father. “Ceres can’t take the fae position on the Coalition. She can only hope for the witch seat. Why would they want Eudoxia?”
Rourke shrugged. “Leverage? Things must have gone badly down there, and now they’re trying to clean up their mess. If they had the Vampire Queen as their prisoner, she could swear a vow to exonerate them in exchange for her release.”
“That would never happen,” Eudoxia scoffed. “If anyone dared keep me captive, they would die. There would be no vows or exchanges.”
I addressed her. “They have Tally, Ray, James, and Marcy. We’re about to go and break them out and fight the wolves. This is now a personal fight for you. I can’t believe I have to ask this question, but are you in?”
“Of course I’m in,” she answered in a condescending tone. “Anyone who dares give the order to harm me will pay the price with their lives. Those witches didn’t act on their own. They were following orders from their superior.”
“And they have our friends,” I suggested helpfully. “That’s reason enough to go after them.” Eudoxia gave me what amounted to a snort as a reply. My friends were clearly not an issue for her. “One of them is Tally, who will claim the witch’s seat on the Coalition. You at least have to care about that.” She rolled her eyes. “I know your heart is several sizes too small—that is, if you have one at all—but I have to believe there’s a little bit of love or some speck of emotion in there someplace. If anything, you can tell yourself it’s a necessity to join us, because without Tally, we can’t take our vows. And let’s just be thankful she’s still alive, or Ceres wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to nab you. If Tally were to die, there’s a good chance that Ceres would take her place.”
Eudoxia placed her hands on her hips. “She might’ve.” She raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “But once Ceres was dead, the power would be forced to choose another.”
Okay, then.
25
We formulated a quick plan as we moved forward. It basically consisted of: We’re stronger and tougher than you are, so we will prevail.
It wasn’t heavy on the logistics.