“How eager are you, wolf?”
“We’re gathering evidence,” I said. “We’ll find the elder, if he exists, and the retribution will be bloody and not swift.”
“I need more.” Set raised her chin. “Hybrids were and still are wolves. Between Amal and Barend, too many of them run loose. You are the Alpha of Sentinel Falls—a dread lord. You have the ability and the obligation to kill them.”
“You’ve killed them before.”
“With casualties we can no longer afford in this growing war.”
I supposed that, from her point of view, it was a reasonable request. Killing rogues was the Alpha’s duty. But it was the debt I owed Julien that drove me. Killing hybrids was an atonement for Julien. The perfect answer. Revenge for a friend. My weight shifted as I nodded.
“Martel has moved on,” I said. Martel was the vampire who’d helped us after Noa had been taken. “He can trace your money. The Alpha of Cariboo is dead,” I added. “And there’s a vampire pinned to the wall in Amal’s fortress—if he’s your missing vampire, he’s not in great shape. Amal is capturing alphas, experimenting on ways to strip their wolves away, and if she succeeds, she’ll decimate the packs. We won’t be able to fight back.”
“Then we focus on alliances.” Set turned her head to the side, then back. “Months ago, I tasked Julien with the research, and what he discovered… the information may have turned him into a target. Barend would have been concerned. Amal, certainly. Perhaps others.”
Set held out her hand for a small book one female held. “I sent teams into the tunnels to discover what went wrong. Barend’s hybrids destroyed Njal. But Amal’s taint was also present—where we found the backpacks. The book was inside and left behind. This…”
The vampire held the book out to me, her white cape moving as if the weather—and not my power—had grown as coldly agitated as the woman. “This is Amal’s journal. I wanted Noa to have it. Perhaps you’ll find it useful.”
I motioned to Mace. He took the book, small enough to slip inside his shirt. “What did Julien discover?”
“More than he discussed with me,” Set murmured. “I fear the knowledge cost him his life.”
“Set.” I breathed in. “I’m sorry about Julien.”
Her gaze turned empty before she looked at Levi. “You were close to him when it happened?”
“I was right there.” Bleeding out, his blood pooling too close to the ash.
Set took a single step toward Levi. “Tell me—what did you see?”
“We were running, fighting. Noa wanted Brin’s help. She called to her, but Brin—she had this expression.” His face hardened. “Like she was smiling. Only it was cruel. And someone—a man—ran up behind Julien. With a spear.”
“He impaled Julien?”
“Back to front. And Julien just looked down. Then at Noa. And I was watching Brin. Her hands were out. Flames. She burned him. Before we even moved.”
Set’s expression never changed. Instead, she asked, very, very quietly. “What color was the smoke?”
“What?” Levi’s mouth dropped open, as if he hadn’t heard her correctly.
“The smoke,” she repeated tightly. “What color?”
“Black—grayish—fuck, I don’t know. It was this oily black.” Levi rubbed his free hand across his face. The spear he held jerked.
I placed a hand on Levi’s arm, although my attention was on Set.
“Why?”
Set—Julien’s sire, a woman who was once Cleopatra’s handmaiden—flicked her hand. Vampires disappeared, leaving mist trails.
“Because…” Something dangerous glowed in her black eyes. “When a vampire burns, the smoke isn’t gray or black. It’s red. Blood red.”
CHAPTER 6
Noa
“No-ee!” Effa squeaked, exuberant as she launched herself through the door and toward the bed. Caerwen flashed behind Effa, her amethyst dress fluttering like tree shadows. The nymphs tripped and lost balance, each trying to reach me first.
