“Jessica, answer me,” my father demanded. The room had gone completely silent.
“Yes, what she says is true.” I closed my irises and clenched my fists. “And it seems … my wolf and I are prepared to fight to get him back.”
My father focused on me hard, his irises jumping to a deadly amethyst. As we stood together, his hands still gripping my arms, the wolves deathly still, the vamps behind us started to twitter and snicker.
It was a distinct possibility it was happening because we were touching, but my father’s blood connection to me suddenly amplified, racing though my bloodstream, triggering jumps and starts like little waves cresting and tiding.
There was no mistaking the Queen’s intent to use this information to its fullest. Both my father and I knew it without having to communicate. There would be a steep price to pay before we were allowed to exit these walls if she had anything to say about it.
“When?” my father finally asked, his jaw set tightly.
“It seems my wolf recognized him immediately, but I ignored the cues she was giving me. I didn’t realize it until”—he kissed me senseless— “I made my full change. The vamps arrived immediately after. There was no time to process anything.” Then I said simply, “I will do anything to find him.”
The Queen cleared her throat as she descended the steps slowly, reveling in the show. “Dear, dear,” she murmured. “This is such a quandary. How will you ever find him on your own?” she mocked. “Do you know where Selene keeps her lair? Or I should say lairs, really. She has a number of preferred haunts, because she is a very powerful Goddess, you know.” She placed a bony white hand over her unbeating heart. “But how silly of me. Of course you know she’s powerful. She has already defeated you once.” But I’d made her bleed. I smiled, remembering. “I’m left wondering how you will ever conquer her and win back your mate all on your own. That seems an immeasurable mountain to climb for what meager strengths you’ve shown thus far.”
“I—”
“She won’t be alone.” My brother stepped forward, his voice hard and angry. “Her Pack will assist her, as our law dictates.” I watched Tyler struggle with the next bit, obviously trying to reconcile a number of things for himself. “We are duty-bound to accept all mates … even if they … even if they’re … of a different … Sect.” He rolled his shoulders back instead of shuddering, and I loved him more in that instant than I ever had. “She will not be alone in her search. Her Pack will assist her.”
The Queen glared at the interruption, looking vaguely put upon. “It does not matter in the least if every one of your wolves joins in the hunt, boy.” She waved her arm as a dismissal. “You will never find them in time—and even if you manage to bumble your way in, Selene’s protection is as vast as a deadly ocean. She will kill you on sight if her multitude of traps don’t kill you first.” She laughed, bright and hard, tracing her mercury stare to me. “Your only choice, little wolf girl, will be to swear an oath to me for one small favor of my choosing, and I will grant you two of my best and brightest trackers to aid you in your quest. Without them, you will fail. There is no other way.”
23
“Impossible,” my father’s voice boomed over the din around us. That one word held incredible power. Everyone quieted whether they wanted to or not. He dropped my arms and marched directly to the Queen. “Werewolves do not swear anything to vampires. Or anyone else for that matter. We have always fought our own battles and we always will.”
“Is that so?” The Queen stayed just out of arm’s reach, her accent even thicker now. “Why just last week a pack of mangy wolves, some of your very own precious young, eagerly swore their oaths to me. In return, I vowed to track down your daughter and bring her here.” She smiled shrewdly. “In fact, they were so taken with themselves, and swore so quickly, they didn’t even bother to ask me if I intended to end her life or if I was merely interested in chatting with her.”
My father’s expression stayed stoic, leading me to believe he was already well aware of the fracture across Packs and the new splinter group of wolves. I wondered for the first time where Hank and some of the younger wolves were, because they weren’t here with us now. I know I’d seen Hank in his wolf form behind my father in the clearing. Once he learned I’d ended Stuart’s life—his level of hatred toward me would skyrocket into the upper stratosphere. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing how that manifested itself.
“I can assure you, Eudoxia”—my father’s voice strummed low and fierce—”the wolves who allegedly swore to you were simply rogues and nothing more. They were wolves without honor and no longer members of any Pack. They will be hunted down by our own. No wolf with any notion of self-worth would ever seek the help of vampires. Wolves with honor have always fought their own battles, and we will continue to fight them in the future. No one will be swearing anything to you.”
“Really, Callum, how very old-fashioned and positively downright male of you. I think you will soon find that persons of the … feminine persuasion may feel differently about such things.” The Queen turned her bird stare on me. “Hmm, little wolf? Are you agreeing with Daddy here? Or do you actually wish to find your mate … alive?” Her power thrummed through the room.
No more playtime.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
The bitter taste of iron swirled on my tongue. I could feel my father’s anger weighing on me. I knew that with our current resources we had no clue how to find a powerful Sorceress quickly, even coupled with Devon’s vast computer skills. Wolves concerned themselves about wolves. Evil Goddesses, imps, demons, or vamps were completely ignored until a problem arose. Hell, I didn’t even know Selene was real until I saw her in the flesh. I’d only heard rumors, but had dismissed them like everyone else.
If I declined the Queen’s help, I would be going home cold. It could take me weeks of interviews to come up with any viable way to track Rourke. If Selene had multiple lairs, it would take longer. We had her scent, but could only track her accurately on the ground. If she could fly, which I was assuming without a doubt she could—flight being a credential of card-carrying high-level supes—Evil Goddesses included—by then it would be too late.
I knew it in my bones.
If I played this game correctly, I could bind the Vampire Queen to keep her end of the bargain, which would include not killing me. I knew whatever she wanted from me mattered a great deal to her, or we wouldn’t be dancing together right now.
I shuddered, knowing the price might be too steep for me to pay, but if I didn’t try, I would lose my mate.
“What would it cost me?” I asked the Queen.
“Jessica,” my father roared. He turned to me, his fury pinging around the room. “I forbid this!” His command swirled in my blood, teasing me at its edges, but it was a command from the Alpha—not a blood-request from my father—and even though it tried to capture me, to make me obey, it didn’t hold me. It seemed my father and I had entered into a complicated relationship when we had unwittingly swapped blood. His Alpha commands still did not affect me, but as a father he could manipulate our new blooded bond if he chose. But, clearly right now, as a father he loved me, even if his Alphaness was furious with me. I had to hope that as a father he would ultimately understand what it meant to have a mate and what I had to do to get him back.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice pleading. “Please forgive me, but I have no other choice. I have to do this or I will lose him. I owe it to him to try.”
“Jessica, there is nothing in this world worth binding yourself to them for. We will find your mate on our own, with our own kind.” My father’s blood danced in my body, rich and angry, but no other command came.
“I will accept that,” I said quietly, dropping my eyes, giving him my full submission. “If you can tell me where Selene is right now. Do you, or any of your wolves, know anything about her? If you know where she is, I will follow you from here without pause. I promise to leave this place and never look back. If not, you must understand I must do this.”
My father grappled with the knowledge that his Alpha command hadn’t taken. The wolves behind us started to become agitated. This would not go unnoticed. I had just defied my Alpha in a very public arena, in front of our enemy.
