It was a question he would figure out with time, but now he had another one. “What is the Alliance?”
“For centuries, hunters and a group of purebred vampires worked to destroy Savages. Except, the hunters didn’t realize there were some good vamps too and killed any vampire they came across. They’ve since learned the truth and banded together with those vampires to fight the Savages.
“Last year, the battle with the Savages started getting crazy again after it was relatively calm for four years. However, things have remained relatively quiet in Boston for the past five years. There’s been an occasional attack, and we’ve seen some Savages around, but I’ve never seen any of the demons they’re working with. I’m sure the Savages are going to start getting a lot more active again.”
And probably soon, she thought. As much as she loved the city, she didn’t know how much longer she could stay here. Unlike Willow, she wasn’t a fighter. The idea of killing made her blood run cold. She loved living her dream and wasn’t ready to return home, but it was only a matter of time before the Savages returned in full force to Boston.
Julian had started working with the Alliance doing computer stuff. He tried to explain what he was doing to her, but she felt her eyes glaze over as he talked. Kyle once mentioned joining the Alliance, but he hadn’t fully matured yet. She hoped when that time came, he didn’t join them; she already had two sisters on the front lines, she preferred her twin wasn’t there too.
“The demons they’re working with?” Dante asked. “What demons?”
“The ones who started the vampire and hunter lines, or at least I’m assuming they’re the same one. Who knows? They could be different ones. It’s been a few weeks since I talked to Willow and Vicky, but if they know the answer to that, I’m not sure they would tell me since I’m not a member of the Alliance. They live somewhere outside the city; I’m not sure where. That’s a secret, but I think it's nearby. Still, we barely see them.”
That was an understatement. The last time she got the chance to talk to Willow, the conversation lasted two minutes before her sister had to help her mate Declan with something. She managed to get together with Vicky and her nephew Wyatt for lunch last month, but it was super short, and she’d only had a couple of brief conversations with Vicky since then.
“So that is probably why Opal is only having one party at a time now. A large group of vampires and humans gathered in one place would be a prime target for Savages if they ever learned its location,” Cassidy said. “Opal is probably trying to keep that from happening by lessening the number of parties and moving it more often.”
Dante’s nostrils flared as he gazed from her to the door and back again. He had to get her out of here. “We’re leaving.”
“No,” she said. “If Opal shut down most of her parties, then she’s aware of the problem with the Savages and trying to keep her patrons safe. I’m sure they have security measures in place. Besides, we’ve come this far, and we’re not turning back now.”
“I never would have brought you here if I’d known about that.”
“Savages are a problem everywhere. It’s impossible to stay hidden from them.”
“But you can mitigate the amount of risk you put yourself in by leaving here.”
Cassidy folded her arms over her chest as she stared at him. “I already have two older brothers trying to keep me locked in a cage in this city; I don’t need someone else doing it too, so please stop.”
“Two older brothers?”
“Kyle and Julian. The other vamp who comes into the bar with his mate, Aida, is my brother Julian. He entered before you left last night.”
Now that vamp’s animosity toward him made a lot more sense, as did his ease with entering the bar and being around Kyle and Cassidy. “How many brothers do you have?”
“Five. And I have four sisters.”
“Damn. Are there any more of them in the city?”
Cassidy grinned at him. “No, but they do visit on occasion.”
When Dante ran a hand through his hair, Cassidy used his distraction to bang on the door.
“What are you doing?” Dante hissed.
A little bolt of electricity ran down her arm when he gripped her wrist to pull her hand away from the door. Despite her annoyance over him thinking she was some fragile thing, she couldn’t stop her body’s reaction to him.
Dante inadvertently drew her closer as he pulled her back a step. Her scent and warmth enveloped him as he drew her against his side. A metal slat in the door slid open, and a set of brown eyes peered out at them.
Cassidy bit her lip to keep from laughing as the man behind the door brought to mind the man standing guard at the gate to the Emerald City. She half expected this guy to start shouting at them, “Who rang that bell?”
Instead, he demanded in a gruff voice that held the faintest hint of a New York accent, “What?”
Dante edged forward until he stood protectively in front of Cassidy. He recalled the words below the address on the paper. “Opal said it was time for tea.”
He felt like an idiot saying the words, or more like a little kid playing spy, but the man grunted and closed the small window. Dante didn’t want Cassidy anywhere near this place, but it was too late to take her from here now.
The second the door swung open, Cassidy prepared herself for the stench of rot, but the only scents wafting out were those of liquor, blood, and sex. She wasn’t used to those last two scents from Addy’s, but she had
