Blood Legacy: Adult Urban Fantasy (The V V Inn Book 5) (26 page)

“That’s right,” he says with a chuckle.

I toss back the covers and stalk into the bath between the two small bedrooms. In twenty minutes, I’ve showered and dressed, and pulling my damp, freshly-combed hair off my face into a ponytail. By the time I get to the tiny table and chairs in the space between the small kitchen and living area, Rafe has finished eating.

“I’ve been thinking,” Rafe says, his hand curled around a steaming mug of coffee. “These killings, these
distractions,
could be more than we originally thought.”

I pour myself a half-mug of black coffee and take the seat across from him. “What do you mean?”

“You mentioned last night that the decoy spell and the trap door could all have been a set up to allow our prey to slip away.”

“Uh-huh, do you disagree?”

“No, on the contrary. What if everything we’ve encountered this week has been for an ulterior motive?”

“By whom? And for what purpose?”

“At first, due to the rumblings Jon reported in Magdelena’s pack, I wondered if maybe the local pack could be involved. But now I don’t think so. And I wouldn’t think they’d kill a vampire on purpose, especially right in front of vamp HQ. They’d have some sense of self-preservation to know better than attack the undead.”

“It’s true, with all the vampires in the city, the pack wouldn’t stand a chance. Are you saying now that you don’t think Justin is the cause for the magical imbalance that brought the legendary creatures to life?”

He shakes his head. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think. It’s all too convenient. But what if he is responsible for it? What does that mean in regards to the rest of us? That his blood happened to be rejected the very week you’re scheduled to return into the city?”

“But no one knew I was coming back, let alone that I’d left to begin with.”

“Your moves were logical, your retreat to heal a wise move.”

I bristle at the use of the word “retreat” and the implication of weakness it conveys. “So, essentially we’re back to our original idea—that someone is calling these
things
into being. A magical conjuring of some kind. But to what end? To cause havoc in the city? Is it a diversion from something else that’s happening that we’ve failed to notice?”

Rafe sets his mug down, a speculative look on his face. “Now there’s an idea worth following. If this was a redirection, what did it divert us from?”

“The assumption there is the distraction was aimed at us. But what if it wasn’t? What if it was aimed at someone else?”

“Like who?”

“Like a group—the local pack, one of the various covens in the city, or even the Tribunal. Could they have an enemy who conjured these magical creatures with the sole purpose to distract and cause harm? And if yes, what harm has been done? We’ve been so focused on finding these things we haven’t thought of what else we could be missing.”

My cell rings from the other room. I rise to get it, thinking it has to be Jon or the inn calling, as no one else has the number besides Justin. Digging through yesterday’s pockets, I find the phone and answer it, Jon’s name flashes on the screen.

“Hey,” Jon says. “Just wanted to let you know I’m all right. I didn’t wake you did I?”

“No, we’re up and discussing theories. Where are you?”

“I… uh… I stayed at Magda’s and crashed on her couch.”

My eyebrows go up at the mention of her couch. Wonder how that happened and he didn’t wind up in her bed.
 

“I’ve got a lot to fill you in on,” he says. “First and foremost, the hombre gato is dead.”

“Glad to hear it. And you’re all right?”

“Thanks to Magda, yeah.” I hear cars in the background of wherever he’s calling from. “I’ll fill you in on the rest. I’m on my way home now, via the subway to throw off my scent.”

“You left already?”

Jon chuckles. “Yeah. Crept out while she was still sleeping. Seemed like the smartest move.”

“Yeah, for a thief in the night maybe. You should have said goodbye.”

“That was something I was trying to avoid.” He sighs. “Look, it was a long night, didn’t end ’til after sunrise, and I still had to trek back to the bar to get my clothes and phone. I was in no mood to rehash it all and told her I was wiped out, which was not a lie. Thankfully she was exhausted, too. I’ll catch up with her later. When my head is on straight.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We’ve got more important things to do. Find Rolando, right, Dria?”

By the tense tone and his use of my real name, I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. I don’t blame him. “We’ll see you soon,” I say, disconnecting the call.

Rafe wandered in to lean against the doorjamb, and heard both sides of the conversation. “He didn’t sleep with her, did he?”

“Nope. But he may not have to seduce her to learn what he wants to know. I’m inclined to let him handle it. If he can’t find out what he needs to know before it’s time for us to leave, then I’ll pay the new alpha a visit and rip the knowledge out of her head.”

“Why wouldn’t you have made that offer first, rather than put him through all this?”

“Because it’s his pack, his desire to lead it, and his aspiration to unite all the packs with this knowledge. It should be him who makes the sacrifices to uncover what he needs to know.”

“Won’t you be defeating all that if you take the knowledge for him?”

“If he’s unable to finish what he’s set out to do and unable to extract what he needs to know, it doesn’t change the fact that him knowing the skill will make him a better protector and stronger right-hand man for us. I’d rather take whatever he needs to accomplish those goals than sit around and watch him flounder—but that doesn’t mean I don’t give him time first. He may be able to pull it off in the end.”

“Okay, fine. Come back to the table. I’ve just thought of another way to approach this.”

“Really? How?”

“With a city map. Let’s mark what we know and where it happened, and see if we can find a center point where the magical conjuring could have originated, or perhaps an overlap of distances that could relate to a commonality.”

“And if we do all this work and it still leads to Justin?”

“Then a duck is a duck. I won’t fight it anymore. But something seems too… easy in blaming Justin and a magical imbalance. And the timing is too coincidental.”

“Ahh… is this where you start quoting TV to me again?”

“You do remember!” Rafe smiles and draws me into a big hug. “‘Rule thirty nine: There’s no such thing as coincidence.’”

“God save me from TV quoting men and performance anxiety werewolves.”

“Hah! You think Jon’s anxious about his seduction of Magdelena? That’s a good one!”

“Don’t tell him, though. He’ll get all defensive and loud, and start posturing. And really, how much testosterone is one woman supposed to take before she gags on it?”

My intentional double entendre draws loud laughter from my husband as he pulls me in his arms for a kiss.
 

Within the hour, Jon arrives and fills us in on his long night hunting the gato and their early morning confrontation with the men from Magda’s pack.

“She banished them, Viv,” Jon says, sorrow in his eyes. “Like they meant nothing to her. Not bothering to try to communicate with them, come to an agreement, work it out… nothing. Just kicked their disloyal asses out to fend for themselves.”

I hold back a sniff of derision, thinking she did better than I would have. “I probably would have killed them. But hey, that’s just me.”

“What does it mean to a werewolf to have no pack?” Rafe asks.

Anguish colors Jon’s soulful hazel eyes. “It means to run without protection, to fear being discovered by a pack and deemed a threat—hunted down and killed for infringing where you don’t belong. It means being alone. Forever.”

Rafe asks, “Or until the lone wolf finds another pack, right?”

Sensing this goes deeper for Jon, and maybe touches on his own hidden doubts in leading a pack, I ask, “What would Romeo have done?”

“Perhaps she tried talking things out with them in the past?” Rafe suggests at the same time.

“You’re right, she could have,” Jon says, answering Rafe. “I don’t know. She might be the strongest in the pack due to her special abilities, but that doesn’t mean she’s a natural leader—or a true alpha. As far as Romeo?” Jon shrugs. “Any number of things, I think. He’d definitely have tried talking to them before things became so hate-filled and out of control. Maybe he’d have had to kick a few asses… but honestly, I can’t see him banishing anyone from the pack. Hell, we fought all the time and he never did that to me, even tried to get me to come back, through Elsa, after I stormed out all those years ago.”

“How could Magda have been mated to Hector and not be a true female alpha?” I ask.

“You remember me telling you about the past disagreements Romeo and I had, even when we butted heads this summer at the resort?” Rafe and I nod. “I knew I had to leave his pack, even though I knew going out alone was an even scarier idea. I was evolving into an alpha, showing the signs and strength—the first of which was how fast I could change.

“I was born with the potential to be an alpha in my genes. No matter when I was bitten, those traits were already inside me. But for other alphas?” He shrugs. “Sometimes they evolve out of necessity. It can be a good fit or a bad fit when a wolf battles for the alpha spot in a pack. If they’re a natural leader, things run smoothly. If they aren’t… well, dissension can rise in the pack.”

“And what’s your impression of this pack?” I ask.

“Based on what you told me, that they change leadership often, and what I’ve seen myself, I’d say this pack has been held by very weak alphas. Ones that became what was needed through necessity, and not through actual power and the ability to lead with diplomacy.”

A grimace forms on Rafe’s face. “The strength to take the lead doesn’t always mean the conqueror is the best candidate for a leader, just the best fighter.”

“Exactly,” I say. “And what would that mean to this pack if Magda didn’t have this half-form to keep them all in line?” I straighten in my chair, glad we’re getting back to what I want to know. “Speaking of which, how much closer are you to discovering how she does it?”

Jon shifts in his seat, then rises to fill a plate with whatever is left on the stove. “She revealed a few personal things last night when I was in wolf form. I wasn’t able to pursue the line of questions I had in mind, but plan to when I see her next.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Jon.”

Jon becomes stiff when he sits at the table. “I’ll get what you want, not to worry.”

I back off, pleased to see he’s showing some backbone.

“Good,” Rafe says, looking eager to change the topic. “When you’re done eating, I’d like your help with this map idea I have.”

Jon finishes eating and cleans all the dishes. The next few hours are spent with them marking up a city map and drawing circles all over it, fanning out from crime scenes, residences, and jobs we know Justin has taken.
 

In the back of my mind, I recall a detail we may have missed. “What about the address of the wizard Justin gave us, the one close to the second invunche victim?”

“We never did talk to him. Do you think it would help?”

“Not sure, but I’ll find it.”

I rifle through my clothes from yesterday and find the information. After I add it to the map, I can’t see it will make a difference. It’s only half a block from where we saw the homeless man beaten.
 

“All right, that looks like a dead end.”

Jon nods, but continues to stare down at the map. “Unless we find something else pointing toward this other wizard, I say we leave it alone. We’ve got enough data on the map already. Rafe, what do you think?”

Pleased to hear the two of them working together, I sit back and sip my cold coffee.

“I agree.” He stares at the map, his finger tracing the overlapping circles. “What’s in this spot, Dria? Anything look familiar to you?”

I lean forward, looking to where he’s indicating. He’s pointing to one of the few green spaces in the city, the Plaza de Mayo.

A chill seeps over me as I recall a fight I had there centuries ago, when the city was still forming. “You’re right.” An icy chill slinks down my spine. “All along, these distractions, these killings… they’ve been set up with one purpose in mind.”

“And what’s that?” Rafe asks.

“To draw me out.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Rafe

“What the hell?” Jon says. “That can’t be right.”

I nod, feeling lighter now that my fears have been confirmed. “It makes sense.”

“What do you mean it makes sense? The killings started before she even got here.”

“That’s my point, furball. No one but us knew exactly when she would return. What better way to lure her back than to start killing people and drawing attention to the supernatural in the city?”

“Why would that work?” Jon asks. “That’s a stupid theory.”

I move to my wife’s chair and drop an arm around her shoulders. “Because whoever did this knows my wife well. They knew she couldn’t resist doing the right thing.”

An annoyed look replaces Dria’s shocked expression from a few moments ago. “You make me sound like some paranormal Dudley-Do-Right.”

I squeeze one shoulder. “Come on, hon. Admit it. You hate to see the underdog lose. You
always
look out for the little guy.”

She delivers a harrumph of annoyance. “I do not. What a load of horse shit.”

Dawning lights Jon’s face. “You’re right, she does.”

“Come now, this is ridiculous.”

“No,” Jon says, his voice gaining enthusiasm as his understanding increases. “No, it’s not. You do fight for your beliefs. And you don’t walk away from a perceived wrong. I see it now. Rafe is right. These attacks were all aimed at drawing you back into the city, and involving yourself in local matters that shouldn’t concern you.
 

“George was the lynchpin. Justin’s neighbor was just in case you started to wobble, and it was a poke at you. By that point, thanks to your bold visit to the Tribunal with Rafe, he already knew you were here. The killings would continue until you figured it out.”