The Lion's Den (21 page)

“
I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it, but I’ll send my Pack,” Richard said. “I don’t want to leave this scene … I have a very good feeling that the shifter will return and when he does, he’ll have me to face.”

“
If that is your decision, I want Xavier to be there with you in case you’ll need assistance. He’ll be there shortly,” Darian suggested.

“
Good, I’ll be here.” Richard ended the call.

Darian, with the use of telepathy, contacted Xavier, who had just put their son to bed and told him what he wanted him to do. Without protest, Xavier left the mansion, leaving Natasha in safe hands with members of their coven. He flew toward Richard, traveling as fast as he could. Darian continued to mentally search a few more beings looking for information a little while longer before he returned home. When he walked through the door, he was greeted by Natasha, who wanted to know where Xavier had gone to. Darian took a seat in the living room, relaxing a little as he waited for the others to arrive. He looked at her as she waddled to a chair, taking a seat. He smiled at the sight and then answered her question.

“
I have a task I want him to perform. He’ll be back soon. Shouldn’t you be resting?” he asked, concerned about her pregnancy, and the amount of stress she was under. He didn’t want her stress to be increased anymore than it was, but he wasn’t so sure if he could prevent it.

“
I’ve rested enough for one day, I want to be with you now. I can tell that you’re upset, feel like talking about it?” she asked.

“
I will soon. I’m waiting for everyone to arrive.”

“
I already know it’s got something to do with these vampires. I just heard on the news that four children were found murdered, their bodies left in the freezer of an ice cream truck.” Natasha was horrified, as was Xavier when they first saw the report on the television. It made her hold her son closer, thankful that he was unharmed. She felt nothing but sorrow for the mothers who would have to endure the aftermath of that senseless and brutal crime.

“
You would be right,” Darian said in confirmation. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cushion of the chair, calming himself.

Natasha watched him, but stayed silent. She figured he had a lot on his mind and wanted to get a moment to clear his thoughts. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. Billy answered it. A few seconds later, several members of Elise’s Pride and Xander’s Pack entered the living room. They greeted Darian and Natasha. Within an hour’s time, everyone who could make it there, were waiting for Darian to speak. Several of them looked at Adan, wondering who he was and why he and his Pride were there.

“
I wanted you all here because we have information you all need to know,” Darian said, gesturing toward Adan. “I’m sure you’re all aware of the four children slain this afternoon.”

Several of them nodded, each horrified.

Darian continued. “Good, we’re all on the same page. I have seen who I suspect is the Master vampire of this coven … tonight.”

The room lit up, everyone wanting to ask him questions at the same time.

Darian held his hand up, silencing everyone.

“
Are you okay?!” John asked, shocked.

Darian nodded. “I’m fine. He didn’t want to fight me. I believe he was simply toying with me, showing me that he wasn’t afraid of me … or any of us for that matter.”

Xander nodded. “Were you able to sense him?” he asked.

Darian exhaled slowly. “No. And that bothers me more than I’d like.”

“
It means he’s stronger than you,” Natasha said, her stress levels rising.

Darian looked at her. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be here listening to this,” he said. He could hear her heartbeat increase its palpitations and that worried him. He didn’t want anything to put her and their unborn child’s health at risk.

“
Please don’t start that. Hiding the truth from me won’t help in this case. Especially since the news keeps such good track of their activities,” Natasha said.

Darian nodded. “Very well. He’s either an ancient r old enough for ancient blood to give him the power he has.”

There were several gasps around the room. Mainly because they were all wondering how they were going to defeat a vampire stronger than Darian. The last time they met a vampire of considerable strength, she was a little over three thousand years old. Even then, Darian had to pull out everything he had to defeat her, they all did. Many were considering a time before that, dealing with Kysen, when Darian had strongly advised them not to trespass on the Master vampire’s land because he would destroy them. No one had doubted him, especially since Kysen had dominion over the entire state of Montana. So now, Darian tells them that this vampire is stronger than him. There was no telling how strong the shifter was or the other members of his coven were.

Darian allowed them a few moments to gather their thoughts then he continued. “I asked Adan to come here to address us all. He may have information which can help us.” He looked at Adan, opening the floor to him.

Adan nodded. “First of all, I would like to apologize for bringing this threat into your land. I really had no other choice.”

“
Wait a minute, it’s because of you he’s here?!” Christopher asked, greatly irritated.

“
Christopher!” Darian growled, silencing the young vampire immediately. He shocked the others as well; no one had actually seen Darian reprimand one of his vampires in such a manner. They did have to agree, Christopher was out of line.

Christopher looked at Darian, but remained silent, not wanting to anger his Master any more.

“
Trust me, the last thing I wanted to be is a catalysts for the creator of death and carnage. And the last place I want to be is here, pleading for help,” Adan said, hoping he’d set the record straight. “Fact of the matter is, it was only a matter of time before this coven made its way into this territory. They’ve been chasing my Pride for the past week or so. I’ve only managed to escape them because of my own perseverance. When I first encountered him, he had accosted me on the streets of Bombay. That city doesn’t have a Master vampire, because I won’t allow it and those who have come to challenge me for the territory haven’t been strong enough or smart enough to defeat me. So when he came to me, I took it as a challenge. I told him to leave my land or die. He only laughed at me

”

“
Were you able to sense his aura?” Devin asked, cutting Adan off unintentionally.

“
Only a little, only what he wanted me to sense. I thought he was young like the others who’d come before him. I had no idea he wasn’t interested in my territory at all, but my Pride. I told him again to leave. I told him that I didn’t want to see him again. It was then that he released his full aura, blasting it at me strong enough to slam my body against a nearby brick wall. At that point, I knew I couldn’t defeat him, I had
never
felt a vampire’s aura with that much power. I knew then it was either take my Pride and leave or die.”

“
Did you try to fight him?” Justin and Devin asked at the same time.

“
Will you two let the damn man speak?” Sergio and Adrian sad in unison. Both men looked at each other, surprised.

“
Sorry,” Justin said as Devin nodded.

Everyone’s attention returned to Adan.

“
To answer your question, I didn’t want to initiate a fight with him at that point, Sometimes displaying bravado isn’t the best decision. Understand I’m not a coward, but I’m not stupid, either. I know which battles I should pick and I have a greater responsibility to my Pride to protect them at all costs. My dying there in the streets wouldn’t have done them a bit of good. Regardless of that fact,
he
attacked me. He was on me before I could get back to my feet. His nails were embedded in my neck when his hand closed around my throat. I could feel my blood oozing from the wounds. I remember him leaning forward, licking the blood, I heard him moan … it was eerie. It was then that he kissed me, forcing his tongue into my mouth. I tried to push him away with one hand and free my throat from his grasp with the other, he was immovable.” Adan paused.

Danielle placed her hand on his knee, wanting to comfort him. He looked at her, smiling sadly. He turned to the others.

“
When he pulled away, he said, ‘You’re no good to me alone.’ Then he let me go and vanished. At that point, I knew I had to get home, but I didn’t know what I was going to run into when I got there. I didn’t know if he would be waiting for me to reunite with them to kill us together, but I had to take the chance. When I got there, I told them what had happened.” He placed his hand over his Matron’s. “Danielle suggested we wait until the sun rose to make our escape. I didn’t know when the vampire would come for us, but he didn’t come that night. When the sun rose, we fled the city. Boarding a plane to Pakistan, I had gotten permission from the Pack Alpha there to take
Sanctuary.
As soon as we exited the plane, I felt his aura.”

“
My God!” Madeleine said, unable to contain herself.

“
My thoughts exactly. My guess was, he had been watching us the entire time, cloaked. He watched as we left the mansion and boarded the plane. He then followed our plane, landing when we did. It was only his aura I felt and he wanted me to. He didn’t attack us until that night, hours later. It was almost sunrise when he and his coven converged on us, killing several members of Donovan’s Pack. They were very precise. It was as if they wanted to torture them for allowing us
Sanctuary
, and they wanted us to know this. The rising sun forced his coven into retreat. He went with them. I believe he joined them only to protect them. Donovan blamed me for bringing the threat to his doorstep; we fought … I won.”

“
Did you kill him?” Natasha asked, completely engrossed in the tale.

“
Yes. I didn’t want to, but I was challenged to the death. I knew we couldn’t stay there, I also knew that I would have to violate many territorial laws because I didn’t want to involve any other community in our situation. I didn’t want any others to be punished for granting us
Sanctuary
. I suspected and hoped that no harm would come to those who weren’t in cahoots with us, so to speak. I took my Pride through city to city, only running into the occasional Alpha or Queen who bothered to stop us to find out why we were there. When I told them, they offered to help, only to get us out of their territory as fast as possible. Although, each leader was grateful that I did tell them that there was a threat.” Adan shrugged one shoulder. “It was what I would have wanted someone to do for me. I soon realized that he would only attack us during the evening, when his entire coven could participate. I made certain that during the evening, we were either hidden, or in a public place where he seemed to be less incline to attack.”

“
Did he kill any members of your Pride when he would attack you?” Elise asked.

“
No, he only injured us, some almost to the point of death. It would have been very easy for him to kill us, even on his own. But it wouldn’t have been that much fun for him and his coven. Do you understand?” Adan looked at the others’ expressions, seeing that they were comprehending what he was saying.

“
He’s a cat and you’re the mouse,” John said. “That explains why he left your Matron alive to heal you after the attacks.”

Adan nodded.

“
Tell them about Tyler,” Carrie-Anne spat out, her words laced with accusation, anger and sadness.

He looked at her, slightly annoyed. She turned away from his irritated gaze.

“
Who’s Tyler?” Sergio asked.

“
He was the only other male within my Pride. I believe he’s dead now. I had wanted to keep my entire Pride together. He accused me of being a … how did he put it, “punk-ass”, and challenged me. We fought. Carrie-Anne interfered, not wanting her lover to die. He didn’t want to follow my orders, and I told him to leave. He did. Carrie-Anne went to join him and discovered that he was missing and that Marcus had killed the entire Pride he tried to seek shelter with.”

“
We suspect that Tyler was the first body the S.U.I.T. found in front of that night club,” Danielle said.

“
If so, I believe it was a message to us,” Adan added. “Unfortunately, I can’t prove it because I didn’t want to expose myself to see if it was true. But it makes perfect sense. Marcus would want to let me know that he was still tracking us.”

“
Not to mention, he wants you all together. He killed Tyler to prove there was no escape and for you to play this game by his rules,” Xander said.

“
What the fuck?” Ignacio shook his head, hands waving in front of him. “Hold up, hold up, hold the fuck up. I’m seeing a trend with this fucking coven, and I’m not liking it.”

“
Yeah, we’ve established that you’re the target. It’s real fucked up this coven kills anyone who interferes with them chasing you,” Adrian said, growing even more unnerved.

“
Except none of you are dead yet and it’s been forty-eight hours since we first arrived,” Stephanie commented.

“
That may only be because we haven’t been helping you,” Carmen said. “None of the other communities were killed when they didn’t help you.”

“
Are you suggesting we leave?” Stephanie asked, one eyebrow arched.