Blood Feud
Page 28

“Only rather more deadly,” Finn agreed.
“Is Montmartre behind this?” Hunter asked. “I didn’t think he could control them. Isn’t that the whole reason for their existence?”
“We don’t know,” Helena replied darkly. “I’d real y like to feed him his own—”
“Darling,” Liam cut her off smoothly.
“Wel , I would,” she insisted. “Hel-Blar or not, he needs to be dealt with.”
“Agreed.”
“We can stop Montmartre,” I told them confidently. “We nearly had him last week. He’s not invulnerable.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me al night,” Helena told me. “But tel me the truth, Isabeau, would the Hounds al y themselves with us?”
“We al want to stop the Hel-Blar,” I assured her. “And Montmartre.”
“And after he’s been stopped?”
“The Hounds wil recognize no one but our shamanka as our rightful leader,” I said delicately. “We wil never be part of the courts.”
Helena raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got enough vampires. I don’t need any more.”
“Actual y, that’s reassuring,” Finn murmured. “You might try stressing that point as often as you can when it comes to the Hounds. They’re rather keen on the right to govern themselves. I think you can understand that, given their history.”
“We don’t bow to Montmartre or anyone else,” Magda agreed fervently.
“Do you think our tribes would be able to form an al iance?” Liam asked. “One that recognizes everyone’s autonomy.”
“I think so.” Despite my natural misgivings toward the royal courts and non-Hounds in general, I genuinely liked the Drakes.
I believed they were trustworthy, even if I had no actual proof of it. It was something I felt in my gut. “There are many superstitions and rituals that are dear to our people,” I said.
“Some Hounds wil never agree to work with you because you’ve not been initiated, but they won’t go against Kala either.” Hunter was staring at Magda and me so intently that Kieran elbowed her.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“She’s never seen Hounds,” Kieran told us.
“I can speak for myself,” Hunter snapped at him.
“Wel , you’re being rude.”
I glanced at him. “At least she didn’t greet me with a face ful I glanced at him. “At least she didn’t greet me with a face ful of Hypnos powder.”
Kieran went red.
Quinn grinned, lounging back in his chair. “She’s got you there.”
“Children,” Helena said, half sharply, half fondly.
Hart’s cel phone warbled discreetly. He glanced at the display. “I’m sorry, I have to take this. Hart here.” His jaw tightened. “When?” He glanced at Liam. “Another Hel-Blar sighting. This one right on the edge of town.” Liam cursed.
“We’ve got a unit deployed,” Hart assured him.
Liam nodded to Sebastian. “Take a guard and see if you can help.” Sebastian was out the door without a word.
“I’l go as wel .” Finn pushed to his feet. “We may as wel al start working together right away. Besides, we have a certain expertise in this matter that no one else has.”
“But you’re not a Hound, right?” Hunter pointed out, honestly confused. “You don’t have the tattoos or anything.”
“No, but I’ve lived with them for nearly four hundred years,” he told her before fol owing Sebastian. It felt odd not to go with him but I knew I was needed here more, however much I might prefer to run off and bash a few Hel-Blar.
“Let’s reconvene in half an hour,” Liam suggested to the rest of us. “We can compare notes and take it from there.”
“Come on, Buffy,” Quinn drawled at Hunter. “I’l give you the tour.”
I took the opportunity to leave the smal room. I was used to caves, dark and secluded, but ours weren’t fil ed to the brim with people. Logan and Magda fol owed me, as if I had a plan.
We were on our way outside when I paused, frowning. I touched my fingertips to the jumble of amulets at my throat. They were warm and vibrating slightly, as if they felt an earthquake no one else did.
“Something’s wrong,” I whispered.
Magda and I both reached for our phones, which rang at exactly the same moment. I didn’t bother to answer mine. The chain of my amulet broke and scattered the pendants across the rugs. The wolfhound tooth capped in silver and painted with a blue dye made from the woad plant broke in half. I looked up to meet Magda’s wild expression.
“Kala’s hurt,” she confirmed. “The Host attacked our caves.” She hissed. If she’d been a cat, her fur would have lifted straight into the air.
I felt oddly numb. “I have to go,” I told Logan, scooping up the amulets and stuffing them into my pockets. Charlemagne was at my side before I spoke the command. The courtiers whispered to one another as we rushed past them and out the other side of the decorated hal . “We’l be back for the coronation.”
Logan grabbed his jacket from a coat tree. “I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t have time to argue with him and I was oddly comforted by the fact that he would come with me. Even if I didn’t need him.