Hunting the Rogues (Shadow Claw Book 8) Read online

  “I find it reasonable to have the Elders be publicly known figures.” Ivanna nodded. “Crimes won’t happen in the first place.”

  “And Viria is an intelligent woman with experience,” he continued. “If she became one of the Elders then it will halt a lot of problems.”

  “But here’s the thing.” Ivanna raised a finger. “The Elders have been thought to be myths. How will we convince the realm of our authenticity? They don’t believe they exist in the first place.”

  “That’s what I was getting to,” he said, “Another problem is making the current Council public. Doing so could lead to riots and conflicts from the Alphas, Lunas, and Heads of existing packs and communities.”

  “It’s not like those in power of them aren’t aware of the Council.”

  “Most of them aren’t,” he said with a slow shake of his head. “Really, they aren’t. At least, they don’t know who the members are.”

  Ivanna sighed. “It’s just one problem after the other. Are you sure this is a good time to be trying to initiate elections?”

  “I’m sure whatever the realm is going through will take time to overcome,” he said. “I’m sure we can handle doing things simultaneously.”

  “I will have to discuss this with Viria first,” she said. “She’s on the brink of another war, possibly.”

  “Goodness, whatever for?”

  “I really can’t reveal too much at the moment as nothing is solid,” she said. “Also, you may be trustworthy but I am inclined to exert caution on Viria’s behalf.”

  “Your respect for her is admirable,” he said. “She’s made quite a name for herself. People in the realm would be very willing to listen to her.”

  It seemed as if the world was obsessed with Viria and Ivanna was legitimately starting to feel concerned. How would Viria be able to handle so much? She didn’t doubt her capabilities one bit, but everyone had their limits.

  “I can understand your concerns, Ivanna,” he said. “I’ve thought all that you are thinking now. She will get the time to recover and gain some mental stability before she takes on such a role. But this is something the realm needs. We have plenty of time, though. A year at most before the system is approved. But I want us to get the time to know and trust each other.”

  “I appreciate that.” She nodded. “I shall arrange a meeting for all of us to get acquainted. Do you need any help at the moment?”

  “We’re holding off well, really,” he said. “But I do have a warning, Ivanna. Watch out for rogues vampires. They may be in alliance with some of your witches.”

  Ivanna’s eyes widened as everything fell into place. Vampires, charms speak, break ins.

  “I need to go,” she said as she got up and turned around, moving away from him.

  “Ivanna,” he called out to her and she froze, “Please don’t hurt any of them. Bring them to me. I will decide their fate.”

  She turned to him. “I can see the emotions driving you, Cole. They must be people close to you.”

  He nodded. “They are, but I have larger intentions. I wish for my people to witness their execution so that they understand such things will not be taken lightly.”

  “There is a lot of information we can obtain from them.”

  He nodded. “I will help you with that, definitely. We’ll discuss more later. Take care on your way.”

  “Thank you.”

  ****

  Diana missed Fergus. It was just that she’d hardly been without him. And she’d been away from him for so long when she gave herself up to the Morbus, it felt as if she hadn’t properly cherished her time with him. But with all the stress and trouble that was always upon their head, they really couldn’t much. She tried to grab onto last night dearly, refreshing her memory over and over of it. His kisses, his touch, the feel of him.

  He walked in looking determined about the mission he would start tomorrow. The energy around him was odd, and something she was seeing after a long time. He was exuding a sense of responsibility, as if he was Alpha once again, roaming around his office. But he wasn’t in his office and it wasn’t paperwork that he was handling. It was clothes and belongings being stuffed into a duffel bag. She knew she shouldn’t feel what she did, but it hurt to see him so eager to leave.

  He stopped noticing the air in the room change. Looking up cautiously at the bed, he met Diana’s eyes. She covered up her emotions quickly and gave him a weak smile. Diana was usually very good at masking her emotions, but he knew. He was her mate, of course he’d know.

  “Diana, baby,” he said slowly as he approached her, “It’s not that I want to leave, you know that.”

  “I know,” she sighed as she looked away. He closed in on her and gently held her chin.

  “C’mon, why the long face then?”

  “I don’t want you leave, Fergus,” she said. “Obviously, I’ll be upset for a while.”

  “Let’s get rid of that.” He smirked and his mouth took over her small one. He kissed her gently, growing rougher by the second. He pushed her back and crawled onto her, ravishing her lips and neck. She breathed deeply into his mouth, forgetting there was any air but his in her. His hands roamed her body, feather light touches dancing on her skin and dragging goosebumps down with them. She wouldn’t have any of it, though.

  She pushed him off and rolled him over. Fergus was surprised, but not all that much. He knew Diana loved being dominating at times, and he felt like a lucky man when she did. She leaned over him, hair falling like a curtain around them. She stared at him, memorizing all that she could about him. He’d grown so old in such less time. His face was tired and pale, and his eyes bags grey. He’d shaved, but it didn’t make him look any younger. She traced out the light fading scars on his face, imprinting the look in his eyes into her memory.

  His hands squeezed her butt playfully and she giggled, breaking out of the trance to kiss him. Her hand travelled below slowly, slipping into his pants. His body stiffened in surprise, but he melted and groaned into his mouth as soon as she grabbed onto his length.

  “Sweetheart,” he breathed warningly, “are you sure you want me this soon? Are you turned on properly?”

  “Shh,” she whispered against his lips, “it’s about you tonight, baby.”

  He shuddered under her as her hand moved against his shaft and he was left a withering mess. She worshipped his body in every way she could. She worshipped him with her whole body. Teasing, easing, and pleasing. It was one of the nights Fergus knew he would be left dreaming about until he came back.

  Chapter 3

  Viria knew she wouldn’t be able to find anything. Agatha wouldn’t be dumb enough to just leave files around knowing she came to inspect without a warning or so. She decided to go to Gale’s office. The pot-bellied man was often careless with his things. Sadly, she found nothing there either. And the thinking was leaving her exhausted already. She never felt so winded out as she did then. It was weird. Maybe she wasn’t in good health. She could feel her breath coming short and a headache taking over.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She picked it up and read the text message that had popped up.

  Ivanna: Abort current mission. Got new information. Need new plan.

  She sighed, not sure if it was one of relief or neutral. But she teleported back to the HQ just in time for Ivanna to barge into the Council quarters.

  “What’s up?”

  “I met with the vampire,” she explained. “Gael’s been replaced by someone else. They’re doing fine fending themselves off.”

  “Fuck that.” Viria sighed. “New plan?”

  “Not Morbus,” she said, “Rogue vampires.”

  It all fell into Viria’s head as easily as it should for her.

  “Ahh, charms speak.” She sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose. “They’ll have Nina transfer power to Agatha then she takes over the other representatives to come under one banner and have ultimate control. This will be an inside job of sorts.”

  “I
thought it would be an open thing,” Ivanna wondered out loud, “Like an ambush.”

  “Charms speak isn’t limited to making people listen only when in your presence or when hearing your voice,” Viria explained. “They can perform hypnosis with it. Whisper in their ears as they sleep and the victim will do exactly as the culprit desires.”

  Ivanna was shocked, but then again she wasn’t all too surprised knowing how much Viria would read.

  “I found no proof.” Viria sighed. “I can’t even come around to think straight. I don’t know the next move to make.”

  Now that was surprising to Ivanna. Viria looked genuinely down in the dumps. She looked weak and pale. Nearing her carefully, she placed the back of her hand to Viria’s forehead. It was burning.

  “You have a fever.”

  “Hooray,” she groaned, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “just what I needed.”

  “That’s your body telling you to take a break,” Ivanna almost scolded. “Nina will keep an eye on Agatha. I’ll discuss the next action to take with Gaea.”

  “But—”

  “You’re a smart kid,” she interjected. “You’ll dare denying your body the right to care?”

  Viria gave a conflicted, frustrated cry and stomped away to the couch, falling face first into it. Ivanna shook her head, “I’ll call for Fae.”

  ****

  Mitch wasn’t scared in the slightest. Just very confused and very concerned. He was sure that this is not how life and death were supposed to work with living beings. But it was happening. He wasn’t the most knowledgeable person in the realm, and he knew that. He could try theorizing. He wished Viria was here to think this through and tell him what could possibly be going on.

  He’d tried working with it on a plant. It was dying and he’d wondered if he could bring it back to life. So he shared some dark energy with it. And it did come back and stand upright. The leaves had patched up its holes. He’d expected it would die again if he pulled his energy away, but it didn’t. It was all right. He’d come back after a few hours and it was still very healthy.

  Did I bring it back to life? He wanted to experiment on a corpse of a human or shifter, maybe even an animal, but it felt unethical.

  Shaking his head, he decided to leave it be and head inside to Viria’s office, hoping she’d be back. And she was, being fussed over by Fae. Viria looked annoyed as she lay on the couch but she said nothing.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. Viria looked over with a depressed gaze. That was a really heartbreaking look and he couldn’t handle it.

  “I have a fever,” she explained. “I’m on bed rest for a day or two.”

  “You overworked yourself, so what should anyone expect?” Fae scolded her as she dipped a cloth in water and placed it over her forehead.

  “Can’t you just use some magic?” Viria pleaded.

  “No, shut up.”

  Viria sighed dejectedly and turned her head to Mitch. “What you been up to Mitch?”

  “Practicing some stuff,” he said. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Go ahead.”

  He walked over and sat on the floor at the leg of the couch, legs crossed and looking up at Viria. She had to do her best not to allow herself to be distracted by his form. She knew he could heal, but did not expect the muscles to build up. His hair had grown back a fair amount, too. She figured this is how he was before dying.He was really good looking.

  He explained what had happened and she nodded with difficulty.

  “It’s like how you recruit ghouls and lock their powers in,” she said.

  “Only the members of Council of Heads can do that, though.”

  “They’re the Heads for this sole reason,” she explained. “You’re definitely a next generation leader.”

  “The dead aren’t supposed to heal after decomposition,” he said. “It happened when I did it.”

  Viria was silent. “What’s the primary purpose of a ghoul?”

  “Well,” he said thoughtfully, “to keep balance of the influx of dark energies within the realm.”

  “Then there must be an imbalance somewhere on a large scale which is why you are evolving in particular,” she said thoughtfully, “The traits pass onto your subjects. Is there something you can do other ghouls can’t besides healing?”

  “Not at the moment, I don’t think so.” Hesighed. “I have a feeling it’s like… I bring the dead back to life properly, but sustaining them through dark energy. Like, I can taste and smell again. My memories are coming back.”

  “You could even have mass control over the dark energies around you if that’s where you power is going,” she predicted and it made sense to him, “And you could have some control over them despite the free will.”

  “I need to experiment,” he announced.

  “Go ahead.” She smirked. “Those people in our backyard are dead anyway.”

  Mitch still felt a tug on his consciousness about the morality and Viria noticed it. She breathed deeply and pushed herself higher to look at him properly. “You’re experimenting for the greater good. It’s not like you’re abusing anyone for this. It will hurt no one.”

  “You sure?”

  “Some sacrifices have to be made in such cases.” She nodded. “Lives, free will, sanity, time, it has to be done.”

  He figured it was so easy for Viria to say because she’d already done so for the sake of greater good. Maybe the importance of it trumped the memories of how she first felt giving it all up.

  “You need to give up your respect, dignity, and reputation at times for the greater good,” she explained. “You’re doing none of that to anyone, okay? You’re good to go.”

  With an uncomfortable look, he sighed and stood up. “I’ll get going then.”

  She nodded with a weak smile. “Good luck.”

  ****

  Luke was in his office thumbing through his files. The more he saw the growing numbers of his enemies, the more it stressed him out. How did things ever get so bad?

  His phone rang and he answered it to a frustrated Fergus, “Bro, I do not have the patience to deal with half of them.”

  “Exactly,” he sighed, “Like, all these guys have ever done is launch attacks and ambushes on us. How does anyone expect us to respond?”

  “Negotiations, my ass,” Fergus breathed. “Can’t we just kill them?”

  “They’ll run off to the Morbus,” a voice cut in through an abrupt static.

  “WHAT THE FUCK?” the men yelled and pulled their phones away.

  “It’s Ivanna,” she spoke, “calm your asses, will ya?”

  “Wait-wha-how—” Fergus spluttered.

  “Viria often intercepts phone calls on missions for updates,” she explained.

  “Magic or technology?” Luke inquired.

  “Technology. Now, listen here you hyper-masculine hot headed nitwits,” she said, frustrated. “Viria’s caught a high fever and now we have rogue vampires that can infiltrate the HQ in the coming days. We’ll be really busy so I’ll be giving you another contact. Her name’s Gaea and she’s worked on neutrality with a lot of communities for a long time and has hidden contracts. Use my name in your meetings and they’ll listen to all of you. Kill off leaders who don’t co-operate even after and take over their people. Send them into sanctuaries.”

  “But you said—”

  “People know about the Morbus, guys,” she explained. “They know everything. Viria’s made a name for herself and they know what’s going on. News is spreading like wildfire and those who do not co-operate are liable of suspicion. The least you can do is capture the leaders and fool their people into thinking that they’re dead, but this could lead to dealing more with inside jobs and attempts to free and revive them.”

  “What about riots that will ensue?Those who go rogue?” Luke demanded.

  “Prepare teams. Start proper drills and protocols amongst your people,” she said. “You either form alliances or you conquer.”

&nb
sp; “Is that what Viria does?”

  “Yes, and it worked well. Now, hop to it, and don’t waste more time.”

  With that Ivanna disappeared. Fergus sighed over the phone. “I wish Diana was here. She’s good with negotiations. She handled most of my paperwork and meetings while I was out on missions anyway.”

  “Could you get her to help?” Luke asked. “You can take over training your pack for rogue round up for the time being.”

  “That sounds good, actually,” he said.

  “I’ll need Cassie, too.” Luke sighed. “It was easier with her around handling half the work.”

  “You know what, Luke?” Fergus said. “We should get our packs together in one place. It’ll be easier and there is force in numbers.”

  “Send the cubs with the caretakers to the sanctuaries,” Luke further discussed. “One less thing to worry about.”

  “Call up Ivanna to update her?”

  “Sure.”

  ****

  Nina kept a watchful eye over everyone while she worked. She was thumbing through reports coming in to Ivanna and Viria who were too busy to go through them. The High Council had been around catching and executing rogues practicing dark magic, bringing those who’d run away from their communities simply for not liking it there, and finding and annihilating more and more bases as time went on. She saw Fae on a magic induced tracking screen that Fae was back in action after Viria was taken care of. Agatha and Gale’s High Council members had no suspicious movements to mark as of yet, but it occurred to her that though enemies could not enter within the Inner Circle all that easily, they could still be within the community.

  She typed in a silent message to Gaea. The response was prompt and she’d already sent in teams to go on a quiet patrol for undocumented visitors in the communities. She then contacted Ivanna who said she’d already taken care of it and that none of their own people would be in any trouble.