Page 68 of Cryptic Dreams
She sighs again. “Twenty-six and counting. I used my access to their accounts and was able to track a handful of purchases back to Hans’s most trusted enforcers. They’re stocking up on disposable vehicles and I’m not sure—”
“I might have an answer to that.” Jerome, the unsuspecting jeweler that doubles as my eyes and ears all over the state, steps forward, providing yet another file. “Just had my quarterly inspection and when Randolph”—Hans’s second in command and complete wanker—“was inspecting the vault, he started asking questions about mobile security. Transport for precious stones, even though I doubt that’s what he meant.”
His file is thinner than the rest, but no less valuable. The still shots clearly taken from security feed—mysecurity feed courtesy of the thousands of nearly invisible cameras sprinkled all over Louisiana—show various sedans getting dumped into rivers and bayous in areas heavily populated by vampires, and double that in alligators.
Clever.
“I don’t understand.” Orion looks over everything I’ve begun spreading across his desk. “Between the VSUST and Hans’s bastard brigade, the Counsel shouldn’t need to take extra measures unless—”
“Unless they’re transporting things they don’t want traced back to them.” Declan, Jonah’s brother, head of security at Plasma and the one who helped me dispose of Stu and Kyle, finally speaks from his place in the shadows.
I point in his direction as my gaze ping-pongs around the scattered mess before me. “Exactly. Untraceable, unnoticeable modes of transportation. Inquiries into moveable safes that even vampires cannot break into. This all leads me to believe Atticus, while he most definitely sanctioned the hit on my mate and myself, is not fully aware of all of Hans’s activities.”
Lydia, Jonah and Declan’s sister, shifts around anxiously on her feet as she listens, and I know this means she has something of her own to share.
She is probably the most deceptive of my inner circle, her small frame and mousy appearance hiding the mind of a defense strategist so skilled it would be accurate to compare her ability to do so with the way my lovely mate paints. Lydia views the battlefield as Zephyr views a canvas: the weapons her paint and the soldiers her brushes. They are both exceptional artists in their own right, their passions driving the need to create, and it is the reason Lydia served me during the Species War, and the reason she does now.
“Why?” she asks, though I suspect she knows that answer. This is a puzzle to her, an actual puzzle that she can see the pieces of well before the rest of us and I don’t doubt she’s already begun fitting them together. “What would they need to transport in this way, and why would they do it behind the High Elder’s back?”
“How loyal are Hans and Randolph?”
My gaze lifts at the question, my brows furrowed more from who’s asking than what is being asked. Zephyr is still standing in the corner opposite me with Aries but she’s stepped forward a bit to peek at the desk, those golden eyes analytical and searching.
Lydia nods as though she understands exactly what my mate is getting at while Declan answers. “As loyal as they come. Hans has served under Atticus since the Royal court, Randolph nearly as long.”
“But what if… ” Zephyr takes a step toward the desk. “What if they aren’t?”
I frown.
I will not speak up against my mate in front of such a group. I will hold my tongue and refrain from telling her that I know for a fact not only are they loyal to my bastard sire but have each had affairs with him over the years, and could possibly still be slipping into bed with Atticus when Drusilla is too shitfaced to notice. Those relationships go beyond loyalty and since I refuse to undermine or contradict my mate in front of others—others that do not have this particular bit of knowledge—I will listen to her off-base theory and discuss this further when we go home.
Her eyes find mine briefly and my spine tingles as my chest warms. Even while pissed at me and trying to contribute to the cause she believes in but was sworn to steer clear from, Zephyr is positively stunning. Especially when her gaze softens a touch, then goes fierce as she looks to the desk.
“Just hear me out.” Another step closer, and my mate wraps her arms around her middle. “What if they only appear to be as loyal as everyone believes they are? That’s what the entire point of the Counsel is, right? Keeping up appearances in order to keep us living in fear, keep us scared of humans and their government? We have to follow rules that didn’t exist for centuries, rules created through a forced coupling of our rulers and the human ones in order to keep vampires in line.” Zephyr briefly looks at my team then turns back to the desk. “Biological, scientific fact dictates that we are physically the superior species. We have enhanced abilities, extra gifts and talents. If we wanted to rise up and take over, we could, but the Great Counsel has made it nearly impossible since they got into bed with the human rulers.”
Lydia is still nodding as she smiles at my gentle breeze. “You think Atticus is on the take.”
“To a degree, yes. There has to be some sort of incentive for him to have peaceful relations with Devaraux, otherwise Atticus could have obtained ultimate control during the war.”
Bloody hell. I do believe my mate is onto something. How it connects to our current situation, I’m not sure, but I don’t doubt she’ll explain. My sweet little mate is so much more than she seems, indeed.
“The specifics of the peace treaty have been sealed up tight, the only details released to the masses are ones that create fear and restrict us. We’ve been normalized enough to not question it—we have the same kinds of businesses the humans do, similar freedoms within the city. We work, go to school, have relatively similar lives, but it’s all a facade. The VSUST watches our every move, enforces the only aspects of the treaty we know anything about and because of the severity of the punishments we’ve all witnessed, it’s forced us to live in fear.” Zephyr runs her hands up and down her arms as she stares holes into the desk. “We’ve been tricked into believing we’re powerless, provided just enough to avoid questioning things, scared into thinking that if we do anything to contradict the laws and restrictions we’ve been fed, then the Great Counsel—the onlyprotectionwe have between us and the humans and their government—won’t be able to protect us and this bullshit way of life.”
I do believe there is more fight and even a touch of darkness in the bright light that is my mate, and goddamn if my knob isn’t enjoying it.
“And you think…” Declan slowly emerges from the shadows. “That even the most seemingly loyal either secretly oppose this bullshit way of life as well or—”
“Or they are privy to aspects of the treaty that have them acting in a way that would go unnoticed by most but is, on the surface, entirely against Atticus and his reign while possibly still sanctioned within the Counsel,” Benji finishes for him.
And my mate nods. “Maybe a little of both to a degree. Either way, I think Wraith is right. I doubt Atticus knows about this particular situation but the fact that Hans’s most trusted enforcers are making the purchases, handling whatever is going on, means that it’s tied to the Counsel in some way but removed just enough to avoid leading back to the High Elder himself.”
“So the real question is…” Lydia is practically vibrating in her spot against the wall. “Is this mutiny, or is this a secret plot to keep the Counsel in power?”
Jerome sighs. “It’s not the only one though. The other questions being, what are they transporting and why?”
A silence fills the office briefly, long enough for me to search their faces again. I do not make it a habit of prying into the minds of my team, this group is loyal to me and our cause so I’ve no need to verify the truth, and ultimately I know they will voice their thoughts no matter what. I still scan them for variations in their postures and movements though. Getting a read on everyone comes naturally and I find I do it more frequently amongst this group because I trust them and their instincts almost as much as my own.
“What about The Hollow?” Zephyr’s smooth voice breaks our quiet reflection.
