Chapter Seven

THE CHOICE OF car wasn’t subtle—big and black, and parked right in front of Kana’s office. The second Kana stepped outside, a wolf hopped out the front passenger side and pulled open the back door for Kana.

Good thing Beth got held up, Kana said to Mika and Sora. She would have all sorts of comments and questions about the five-star treatment and would definitely not have let up until she had pried the story from him.

He got into the car quickly, before anyone from work saw, and they pulled into traffic a moment later. Kana expected to have a long drive all the way out to the gigantic house, but the car parked in a small lot only ten minutes later.

“Where are we?” Kana asked the wolf who had opened his door again. They weren’t in the worst part of the city, but the building was similar to a place where Kana had lived when he was still getting back on his feet.

“City safe house,” the wolf grunted.

Kana followed him inside the apartment building, up a flight of stairs, and to an innocuous door among a row of identical ones. The wolf knocked twice, then turned and walked away, leaving Kana alone in the hall with just Mika and Sora in their bag for company.

Only a few seconds passed before he heard the lock click, and the door swung open to reveal Ember.

“Sorry we had to come here,” he said as he held the door wide for Kana to walk inside. “I don’t have that long before I need to be at the vampire’s house, so I had to stay close.”

“This is fine,” Kana replied with a shrug. “I’ll get home faster tonight, at least.”

His backpack rustled and Mika stuck his head out of the opening.

Hurry up! Sora whined.

Oh hush, Mika whined back, but he clambered up onto Kana’s shoulder. Sora pushed his head through the opening next, but he stayed in the bag.

The apartment was simple and old. The carpet was worn in a path from the door to the living room and the blinds over the windows were bent and cracked. Still, it was clean.

Two wolves stood by the windows in the living room, and they turned to look at Kana when he stepped inside.

“These are two of my betas, Ralph and George,” Ember said. “They’re going to work with us. That is…” he paused and turned to Kana. “Are you going to help us?”

Kana nodded. “We decided we can’t leave your wolves to suffer.”

Ember let out a relived breath. “Good. Let’s sit down, and I’ll tell you our plan.”

Everyone took seats, Mika and Sora on the coffee table and the others on the worn couches.

“Thanks to Kana, there are only three vampires left,” Ember began. “I can see two ways of getting rid of them. The first is hitting all three at the same time. If they see an attack coming, like they would if we attack them one by one, Octavius will run, then return when it’s most advantageous to him. He’ll have the chance to make more vampires, and then we’ll be the ones killed when his army attacks us in revenge. If we go after him first instead, there’s no telling what the other two will do. This means we need a force ready to take all three at exactly the same time, which we don’t have. Even with Kana’s help, we just don’t have the manpower.”

“Are the other two vampires strong like Octavius?” Kana asked.

Although he had never tried it, it was possible to write a spell circle on a piece of treated paper. If he sent Mika and Sora with one paper each after the two weaker vampires, they could light the spell on Kana’s behalf. Werewolves would serve as backup to keep them safe until the spell circles were lit.

Except Ember was already shaking his head. “Penelope was Octavius’s flavor of the week. He found her already turned just before he moved us here and has been using her for entertainment purposes only. He liked them dumb and simpering, which was why she didn’t know to check the reporter’s neck before trying to bite. Xavier was old, but he never developed any significant power, which was why Octavius let him stay. I believe Xavier was enamored with Penelope, and her death set him off. Had he been thinking, he could have avoided your circle.

“Lucas and Sophia, the two remaining vampires, are not so weak willed, unfortunately,” Ember finished.

“I still like option two better,” George said.

“That has its share of problems as well,” Ember replied. He looked at Kana. “The other idea we have is to kill Lucas or Sophia before our attack. We should then have enough forces to pin down the two remaining vampires in a coordinated attack.”

That sounded good to Kana, but he could tell there was a but coming. “Why won’t that idea work?” he asked.

Ember sighed. “We need to make it look like it was entirely their fault; like they tried to bite the wrong person, and it ended badly.”

“That’s really difficult,” Ralph said.

“Exactly.” Ember ran a hand through his hair. “If they die and fall into dust, we have no proof of how they were killed. Octavius will assume either we did it, or that I didn’t take care of the witch like he ordered. He’ll punish us. Which means we can’t stake them like you did to Xavier with the apple tree, and we can’t zap them with Hunter’s Bane like you did to Penelope.”

“Don’t vampires always turn to ash when they die?” Kana asked.

All three wolves shook their heads. “It only happens if their heart is destroyed or they are hit with magic that removes their vampire essence, which is what Bane does.”

“Sunlight turns them to ash too,” George added.

“Which is another problem,” Ember said with a nod to George. “The best way to kill a vampire without them turning to ash is to rip their bodies apart. I mean really rip them apart. If no piece larger than their hand is left, they can’t heal the extent of those injuries and will die. As long as whatever rips them apart doesn’t touch the heart, no ash. But, if their remains stay outside past sunrise, we lose our evidence.”

“And a werewolf can’t be implicated,” Ralph said, his voice sharp in warning. “If Octavius sees wolf marks on the body, we’re all done for.”

“Which also brings up the problem of finding a creature strong enough to rip a vampire to shreds, who also has the willpower to remain sentient enough amid a bloodbath not to touch the heart.” Ember flexed his fingers as if he were curling his claws in his wolf form and thinking about ripping the vampire apart himself.

Kana sat back in his seat, thinking. If Xavier would have had the ability to evade Kana’s hasty circle, had he been in his right mind, then Kana’s idea of sending Mika and Sora with a spelled piece of paper was useless. He had no connections to people who could help bolster their numbers, and he had no spells he could use to prevent any of the vampires from escaping. Unless they could get rid of one vampire before the big attack, they would be in trouble.

I want to play, Mika said.

Me too! Sora added. You know we can do it. All we need is someone to lure one of the vampires into a basement or something where the sun can’t reach, and we can do the ripping and shredding.

“How often do the vampires leave their house?” Kana asked.

“Once a week?” Ember asked George and Ralph.

“About that, yeah,” Ralph replied. “They get their fill of werewolf blood most days, but they like the chase. Sophia once told me it warms the human’s blood to the perfect temperature.”

Which meant they had to travel to the city where there were plenty of pickings, and also plenty of basements.

“If you guys can find someone able to lure one of the vampires into a basement or a windowless room, Mika and Sora volunteered to do the ripping and tearing,” Kana said. “Cat claws are shaped differently than a wolf’s, so Octavius won’t think a werewolf did it.”

The three wolves looked at Mika and Sora, who were lounging on the coffee table. They were a little over a foot long, not including their tails, and their claws were sized to match.

Sora stretched, waving his tail in the air as he lowered his shoulders and flexed his front paws, and then he hopped off the table.

You think the floor will hold me? he asked cheekily.

Guess we’re about to find out, Kana responded.

Sora’s body started to shimmer as magic gathered. Just as his stripes started to be obscured, his body began to expand. He grew bigger and bigger, and Ralph and George both let out shocked gasps when his side brushed against the coffee table. Seconds later, a six-hundred-pound primordial tiger was standing where the small house cat had been.

Sora grinned at the wolves, all of his sharp, inch long teeth on full display. The floor groaned underneath him.

“Shit.” George’s eyes grew wide and his jaw slack, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to swear. Ralph didn’t say anything, but his mouth was also hanging open slightly.

Ember’s face was blank. However, his eyes were narrowed, and Kana presumed Ember might be evaluating the best way to attempt to take Sora down. Kana didn’t think even an alpha wolf would have a chance against Sora in his primordial form, but he was welcome to try. Sora would appreciate the exercise.

The floor groaned again. I’m changing back before something breaks, Sora said as he started shimmering again. He shrank to cat size and daintily hopped back onto the coffee table, where he curled up with Mika.

“T-two! There are two of them!” George gasped out.

Ember’s half smile was back, and his eyes burned with excitement. “They’ll do,” he said in a voice that was soft, yet full of deadly promise. “Who do we know that can act as bait?”

*

KANA’S HEAD WAS spinning from the discussion by the time Ember’s watch started beeping. Ember stood and pressed the button to silence it.

“Time to go make nice with the vampires,” he growled.

Ralph and George both groaned, but they stood as well. Kana followed suit, and he opened his bag so Mika and Sora could climb inside.

“You have a cell phone?” Ember asked Kana as they moved to the door. “We don’t know exactly when Sophia or Lucas will go hunting. I’ll call you when one of them goes out so you and your—” He paused and glanced down at Kana’s backpack. “—cats can get into position.”

They walked into the hallway, then waited while George locked the door and Kana dug his cell phone out of an outer pocket of his bag. He unlocked the phone and opened contacts, then handed it to Ember.

“Put your information in here. I block calls that aren’t in my contacts list.”

Ember started tapping at the touch screen as they headed downstairs. When they reached the main door, he swiped to a different app on Kana’s phone and used the keypad to type in a number. A second later Kana heard something vibrating, and Ember pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He handed Kana’s phone back, then unlocked his own phone and input Kana’s name into his own contacts list.

“We’re good,” Ember said. He locked his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket. They walked outside and the black car pulled forward and slid to a stop in front of them. Ember opened the rear passenger door for Kana.

“Thanks for your help,” Ember said softly. He leaned against the open door, his eyes soft and that half smile in place making Kana’s heart beat faster. “You’re going to save us.”

“No pressure,” Kana said as he buckled in. He was trying to joke, except his voice came out as more of a wishful purr. What would it be like, Kana wondered, if they could meet up just to meet up. No vampires or planning a coup, just the two of them. Except, Ember probably didn’t have any interest in Kana beyond what Kana’s magic could provide. Ember was an alpha wolf; he likely had dozens of pretty wolves at his beck and call. Kana probably couldn’t compare to what Ember already had and Kana needed to keep his head on straight and stay focused on the task ahead.

“I’ll make sure my phone is on and charged, so call the second you have word,” Kana said, attempting to keep his voice professional.

Ember’s smile faded, but he nodded firmly and stepped back. “You know I will.” He shut the car door and turned to jog down the sidewalk. The car pulled away in the opposite direction, and Kana lost sight of Ember.

Did I say something wrong? Kana asked.

So many mixed signals, Mika replied.

From both of you, Sora added with a snort. I don’t think either of you know what to think of each other, and Ember’s understandably distracted right now. Maybe after this vampire thing is done, you guys can sit down and figure things out.

That would be nice. Kana sighed softly and turned to watch the city roll by outside the car window. The sun was set, but the last rays were still visible in bright pinks and glowing yellows on the horizon. The streetlights were beginning to come on when the car pulled to a stop in front of Kana’s apartment. Kana climbed out and headed inside.

When the door was locked behind them, Mika and Sora changed to their human form. Kana headed into the kitchen to start figuring out dinner, but he turned to lean on the counter when Sora started speaking.

“When was the last time I changed to my big shape?” Sora asked. He stretched his arms over his head until his shoulders cracked, flaunting his flat stomach and firm chest for Kana to greedily devour.

“Before Kana started at his job,” Mika replied. When Sora lowered his arms, Mika draped himself against Sora’s back with his arms hanging over Sora’s shoulders. Both cuddled close, their opposing skin colors a painting of beauty.

“Right! When we went out to that forest to play.” Sora leaned back into Mika’s body. Mika licked his lips, a slow sensual swipe. His eyes darkened as he stared directly at Kana. He dipped his head slightly to lick a line up the side of Sora’s neck, and Kana was lost.