Sharkbait Down Under

Luna Adrienne’s POV

I left Hammer and Brent in the SUV and trailed behind Nicholas a half-block or so as he walked towards Master Pontalba’s lair. I kept walking as he talked to the human guard, who got on the phone with someone else. I kept walking, glancing back to see him going in as I reached the corner.

I walked another two blocks, then turned and walked back the way I came. I didn’t see anyone outside the second time I passed. I found an outdoor café closer to Bourbon Street and sat down to have a coffee. The waitress had just brought it when a man, a human I didn’t know, asked if he could join me. “I’m old and married,” I said dismissively.

“I’m young and familiar,” he said as he took a seat anyway. It was a simple way of telling me he was a familiar, a willing human servant to his Vampire master. “Master Pontalba requests that you join Nicholas in a meeting with the other leaders present.” My blood ran cold; had they already taken Nicholas out? I cursed myself for getting close enough; the vampires must have scented me and followed me here. I looked around for where they might be, figuring this man wasn’t here alone.

“Nicholas is fine. Call him if you need reassurance. The two gentlemen in the black Suburban with license plate NA8-7VY two blocks away should come as well. You might want to have them change first, as that attire isn’t suited to the office.” He waved the waitress over. “We have to return to work earlier than expected, Miss. Could you put that coffee in a travel cup for the lady, and bring a cup for me as well?” She took care of our drinks while my new companion tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table. When the drinks returned, he stood and held out his hand for me. “Mr. Pontalba has been expecting you.”

“I see that,” I said. I tried to cover up how flustered I was; our efforts to use stealth to approach were laughable. Cyprian must be on high alert if he’s monitoring streets blocks away. “I have to go speak to my friends about this.”

“They are waiting for you. Just show up at the entrance when you are ready.” He took his coffee and walked off, leaving me wondering what the hell just happened. I had a Pack link with Brent, so I filled him in on everything while I sat there and sipped on my coffee. “What should we do?”

“Call Nicholas, and see if he uses the distress codewords. Meanwhile, we’re taking off our combat gear. We’ll swing by and pick you up in a few minutes.”

“Is that wise?”

“Alpha, if they want us dead, it won’t take much to do it. Hell, one phone call to the police, and Hammer and I are never getting out of Federal prison. Reaching out to you like this is a good sign they aren’t involved. If they want to talk, let’s talk.”

I pulled out my phone and called Nicholas. If he answered me with “Luna Volkov,” it meant he was under duress. The phone only rang twice before he answered. “Hi, Aunt Adrienne. Did you get the invitation?”

“I did,” I said. “It was a little surprising, but we’re on our way.”

“Good. Vicki’s friend from Boston is here, and she’s looking forward to seeing you again.”

That would be Master Emily. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” I hung up just before the SUV parked across the street. I took my coffee and walked across the street, getting into the backseat. I glanced back, seeing the black bags in the third-row seating area that contained their body armor. “He’s not under duress,” I said.

“Are we packing?”

“Knives and pistols. You’re my bodyguards; they would expect that from you.” Hammer nodded and reached into a bag at his feet. He strapped a combat knife to his left forearm and put a Glock in his waistband. Meanwhile, Brent had driven up to the entrance. “May as well pull in; they’re expecting us.” What I didn’t say is I didn’t like leaving our SUV with its weapons and explosives on a public street in this city.

Brent turned into the parking lot, stopping at the guard shack. “Adrienne Volkov to see Master Pontalba,” Brent said.

“Park on the far side of the lot,” the man answered. Brent waited for the gate to lift, then drove into the courtyard. He parked in the same place we’d parked when I was last here with Vicki. We waited a few seconds for Brent to arm up, then Hammer got out and came around to open my door. He stayed next to me as Brent followed behind us towards the door.

The large door opened to a familiar person. “Welcome to New Orleans,” Master Emily said to me. “This way, please; we have much to talk about.”

“We do,” I answered as we followed her through the door. “Have you been in town long?”

“Three days,” she said. “I lost the bet. I thought you would show up yesterday. I should know better than to bet against Cyprian; he’s forgotten more than I know.” She led us through the building to Cyprian’s office. Two large vampires guarded the door, and one politely asked us to put our hands against the wall for a search.

“That won’t be necessary, Louis. They are my friends,” a familiar voice said from inside the room. I figured that since they knew everything else about us, they also knew we had knives and guns. They just didn’t care, which meant they weren’t worried about us doing any damage with them. I didn’t know whether that should make me relax or worry more.

Master Pontalba opened the large wooden door and walked straight to me. “Luna Adrienne, it is good to see you again,” Cyprian said as he took my hands in his. “I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Life sometimes does not allow for that,” I said. “Are you and your people involved in Vicki’s abduction?” May as well get to the point.

“I did not authorize or direct the kidnapping, nor is it sanctioned by the Vampire Council. It is, however, vampires that are responsible for it.” I started to tremble as my wolf came forward; she wanted blood. “Please, come inside and talk. We have much to discuss.”

I followed him into the room, smiling as I saw Nicholas at the table with five other men. Hammer stayed by the door while Brent moved until he was standing behind me. Cyprian pulled out a seat at the end of the conference table for me, then walked around to his place at the other end. Nicholas was to my left, and Master Emily took the spot to my right. “Masters, may I introduce Luna Adrienne Volkov of the Miesville Pack in Minnesota. Luna Adrienne is a former Council Mediator and is Vicki Lawrence’s aunt.”

“Thank you for having us here today,” I said diplomatically.

“You already know Master Emily from Boston,” Cyprian said. “Next to her is Master Christopher Dauntless from Toronto, and Master Monique Robinson from Atlanta. On my right is Master Frank Bongino from Chicago.”

“And Master Vincenzo Milan from New York City, it is an unexpected pleasure to see you again,” I said to the last man. Vincenzo had helped us in Boston with cleaning up the Alexander problem.

“Luna,” he said with a small smile.

Master Cyprian sat down, and everyone looked at him. “First off, Adrienne, I owe you an apology. When Vicki disappeared, you called me for help, and I put you in touch with Master Vespucci. At the time, he was the vampire leader in the area who could respond the fastest. What I did not know was that he was part of the plot.”

My wolf rushed forward; she wanted blood. It was Brent who came up behind me, holding me in my chair as he talked my wolf down. “These people aren’t the ones you want between your teeth, Luna. We need to know what they know.”

He was right. “We’ve had our suspicions, but we didn’t know if we could trust you, Master Cyprian. After all, you had given us his name, and that implied you trusted him.”

“It does, and that was my mistake. The information Vespucci provided me about the case didn’t make sense, and your silence spoke volumes. We started checking into the Mexico City Coven, and what we found shocked us. Before we get into that, I’d like to hear from you why you were suspicious of Master Vespucci.”

I glanced at the other men, raising an eyebrow. “Can I speak freely?”

Cyprian nodded. “I’ll explain more later, but it isn’t just your Werewolf Council that has a split in it. Each of these Masters at the table, I trust to have my back. They are here to deal with the problem.”

It was time to put up or shut up. Did we trust these Masters with the truth? I looked at the other three werewolves, and each agreed I should continue. “Why don’t I show you?” I pulled the flash drive out of my pocket; one of Cyprian’s familiars took it and projected the video file I told her onto the screen. It took about ten minutes to watch Colleen’s summary of what she found at the scene. When it was over, I summarized what we’d done since then. “We don’t believe Lawrence Fenwick was the agent responsible for the kidnapping. Lawrence is a family friend, and I don’t believe he would be a part of this.”

“Couldn’t he be blackmailed or bribed into doing it,” asked Master Dauntless.

“His behavior did not suggest it,” I replied. “Leo spent days with his widow, and we believe he never left Jamaica. Colleen’s theory that the vampires planted his scent is the only one that makes sense to us. Vampires and werewolves both understand scent trails, and it’s telling that bleach was only used around the parking area. If you were trying to get away with it, you’d burn or bleach it all.”

“That makes sense,” Emily said. “If they planted Lawrence’s scent to frame him, then killed him so he wouldn’t talk, what is the long play?”

I leaned forward a little. “We believe the Vampires who did this are hoping to spark a war among the Werewolves. My mate’s reputation precedes him; by framing the Werewolf Council, they hope to trigger a war between Packs. That’s what Leo is busy doing.”

“You’re starting a werewolf war when the Council didn’t do it?” Cyprian was shocked at this.

“If the vampires don’t think the kidnapping is enough to start the war they want, they might kill the girls to push it along. We’d rather it appear their plan is working for now.” Cyprian and the others sat back, thinking about this. “Now, I’d like to know how you know Vespucci is involved.”

Emily looked at me, her hand moving over to cover mine. “It’s my fault,” she said. “Vicki helped me, and that is what kicked this all off.”