"I can hear him in the bathroom. He should be dead."
"Yes, he should be," Asher said.
Verne turned and looked at me then. "Our vargamor said she felt your power tonight. Said you conjured up some sort of spell."
"I don't know the term vargamor," I said.
"A pack's wise woman or wise man, a witch usually, but not always. Sometimes just a psychic. Most packs don't bother with them anymore. How did you save the vampire once he started to rot?"
I holstered the Browning. One, I couldn't keep the gun na**d in my hands forever; two, I was beginning to believe Verne. "I'm a necromancer, Verne. Damian's a vampire. I healed him."
His eyes narrowed. "Just like that?"
I laughed. "No, not just like that. We damn near didn't save him, but we did it."
"Could you cure one of my people?"
"Did Colin do one of your people tonight?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, but if we stand with you against him, he will."
"Why would you stand with us on this?" I asked.
"Because I hate that bloodsucking son of a bitch."
"If that's true, then Mira broke pack law," Jason said.
Verne nodded. "Normally, I'd kick her ass. She disobeyed me, but she injured you. Your grievence takes precedence." He glanced at Asher, then at me, as if he wasn't a hundred percent sure who to ask permission of. "What can my pack do to make this right between us?"
I looked at him, head to one side. I didn't like the idea that one of his wolves had betrayed Nathaniel. It made me not trust him. But I understood why Mira was pissed. Richard had dumped her. A woman scorned and all that.
"First, delay the greeting ceremony," I said. "We're going to be ass deep in vampires; there won't be time for anything else tonight."
Verne nodded. "Done."
"And I want Mira's head in a basket," I said.
"We need a place to meet Colin," Asher said.
"Our lupanar is ready for company," Verne said.
"Most generous," Asher said.
It was generous. Maybe too generous. "You understand that we aren't going to kill Colin for this. That whatever happens tonight -- unless he attacks us, forces us to defend ourselves -- we'll be leaving in a few days, and Colin will still be Master of the City."
"You mean if I help you hurt him, he may hold a grudge?" Verne said.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Erin was a good kid. He wasn't even one of the young ones that had gone up against the vampires. They picked him because he was one of my wolves."
"Nathaniel said that Mira had been paid to bring one of our animals to Colin," I said.
"It sounds like him." Verne's hands balled into fists, and his power moved through the cabin like a line of heat. "I've wanted him to pay for what happened to Erin for ten years, but I haven't had the power to go up against him."
"You don't want him dead?" I asked, and I sounded surprised.
"Colin, for the most part, leaves us alone. But better yet, he can't call wolves. If we kill him, a new master will move in, maybe one that can control wolves. Maybe one that is a bigger, meaner son of a bitch. Dead would be great, but not until I know what it would cost my pack."