Redson Read online

  Red wished he had an answer. He held his uncle’s gaze. “What do you think?”

  Uncle Velder stood, walked out of the room toward his office, and returned moments later. “We keep a few untraceable cell phones. Do it.” He offered it to Emma. “On speaker, please.”

  She accepted it. Red noticed her hands trembled as she figured out how to operate the phone and dialed. She hit speaker. They heard it ring, then a computerized message played and Emma punched in numbers. It beeped and gave her options. One message had been left.

  He saw dread and fear flash across her features as it started to play.

  “Emma,” a male voice said clearly. “The council left and I’ve killed Eduardo. He’ll never be a problem again. As soon as you get this message, you need to return home. Everything is fine. I miss you, Princess. Come home as soon as you can. I love you.”

  The message ended.

  Red watched Emma turn off the phone, tears spilling over her cheeks.

  “Well, it seems the situation is over.” Uncle Velder crossed his arms. “That’s good.”

  Emma violently shook her head and more tears slid down her face. “No, it’s not. Shit!” She stared up at Red. “He’s in trouble.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Where do I start?” She sat the phone on the coffee table. “He called me Emma.”

  “That’s your name, isn’t it?” Drantos asked.

  “Yes, it is. We have code words, though. Using my name means it was a forced call. He’d have used one of his pet names for me if he wasn’t under duress.”

  “He called you princess,” Kraven pointed out.

  “Princess is code for ‘prisoner.’ He also called Eduardo by his name. If he’d said, ‘I killed that annoying asshole,’ well…you get the point.” She wiped at her tears, focusing on Red. “They have him at the house. They’re keeping him against his will and forced him to make that call. Everything in that message meant the exact opposite. He’s telling me they want me, and to stay away. And the council is there too. Otherwise, he’d have referred to them as ‘those interfering asswipes,’ or something along those lines. He hates the council. And he said goodbye… He thinks they’ll kill him. I have to do something!” Panic sounded in her voice and he could see it in her eyes.

  “I’m curious about something,” Aunt Crayla murmured. “I believe you…but why does princess mean prisoner?”

  Emma turned to his aunt and sniffed. “Grandpa used to read me fairy tales. We used to joke that every princess was always kept prisoner. It seemed like a running theme. I never wanted to be a princess growing up. It meant being locked up.”

  “Ah. I didn’t know that. I only had boys. They weren’t into fairy tales.”

  Emma sniffed again and turned to Red. “I have to go to Oregon. I can’t just let them kill him!”

  Terror instantly hit. “No fucking way. That’s what they want.”

  “They’re going to kill him!” She clutched his hand. “Grandpa would do anything to save me. I have to do the same. I could go in around noon. Most of them aren’t strong enough to wake while the sun is up. Eduardo isn’t, at least not when he was in Grandpa’s nest. Before I fled, Grandpa said the ones from the council were young. I might have to deal with any humans they forced to defend them during the day but I’m faster than they are. Stronger. My fighting skills are good enough, and we have weapons stashed on the property. I’ll go in armed. I could get Grandpa out by wrapping him in blankets and lead him to the garage. He’ll fit in the trunk of the car I left behind, and I’ll drive him out of there. We’d be long gone before they wake and try to come after us.”

  Red shook his head. “No. He wanted you to stay away.”

  “I know,” she pleaded. “But how can I just leave him? No one will help him if I don’t. I’m all he has.”

  “It would be suicide if you went alone.” Uncle Velder glanced at his sons before smiling at Red. “We owe Malachi. I have a plan. Are you thinking what I am, Glacier? Mandy?”

  A couple came out of the hallway that led to the office. Red frowned at the GarLycan and his mate. “What are they doing here?”

  “Listening at my request in case they were needed, since this mess involves the Vampire Council.” Uncle Velder cleared his throat. “Mandy, tell her why she’s wrong about the Vampires the council sent, please.”

  Mandy nodded. “Those Vamps that showed up at your place may have been young, but they have the ability to move during daytime under the cover of a building. You’d walk inside and get the shock of your life when you came face to face with them. The council only sends assassins…and they’re fed blood from the masters to give them that ability. They’d be too easy to kill if sun put them out of commission all day.”

  Emma sagged against Red. “Are you sure?”

  “You could say I’m an expert on the council and how they work.” Mandy glanced at her mate. He gave a slight shake of his head. Red knew why. Glacier didn’t want his mate to admit she used to be one of those very assassins.

  Mandy faced Emma again. “I’ve dealt with them before. The real question is, why do they want you, Emma? You’re part human and VampLycan, right? Do you have any special abilities?”

  “No. My mom was VampLycan, my father human. I heal faster than a human, don’t age the way they do, have heightened senses. Hearing and smell. No shifting abilities at all or Vampire traits. I’m stronger and faster than a human but would get my butt handed to me in a fist fight with a Vampire or Lycan.” Emma wiggled her hand. “I have no claws.”

  “Give me your best guess, Mandy.” Uncle Velder stood, passing out drinks. “Let’s hear it.”

  Mandy didn’t take a glass. “She doesn’t belong to one of your clans.”

  “She does,” Uncle Velder corrected. “But the council wouldn’t know that. She didn’t either, until I told Red her mother was one of ours before she left Alaska with her parents. That makes her one of mine, since she’s here. I accept her.”

  Mandy nodded. “Okay. They think she’s without a clan, therefore they’d believe she has no protection, and she’s weak enough for them to control.” Mandy frowned at Emma, seeming to study her. “She’s attractive. Two things come to mind. One, someone is thinking of breeding her to see what the result would be, or two, they plan to use her as leverage after that little meeting on the roof they had with my mate. They can offer her up as a peace offering if they fuck up again to avoid bringing the wrath of GarLycans down on their asses.”

  Red snarled, enraged. “They aren’t touching her.”

  Mandy pressed against her mate. “Calm down, Red. Don’t get mad at me for saying it aloud. I’m with you all the way. I’m just tossing out ideas on why they’d bother to help this Eduardo asshole to go after her and his master. Then again, the council might want her to control Malachi. I don’t know why though. He’s what? Four hundred? I could see it if he were a few thousand years old. They’d cream their jeans to get control over an ancient, and definitely use Emma to make him do what they want.”

  Emma stilled. “His master was thousands of years old.”

  Mandy cocked her head, regarding Emma with a frown. “What was his position in the nest with his master?”

  “He was second-in-command.” Emma lowered her gaze.

  Red picked up on her pounding heart and the faint scent of fear came off her. He held her tighter, glancing around. Everyone in the room seemed to pick it up too. They all knew she was hiding something.

  “Emma, you need to tell me everything,” Mandy coaxed. “I can’t help you figure this out if you don’t. What was his real position in the nest? Was he their historian? Perhaps he has information they want to force out of him.”

  Red growled. “Leave it be.”

  Uncle Velder snarled. “Shut up, Red. The council wants something from Malachi, and we need to figure out what that is. Those bastards don’t do anything without a motive that usually means trouble for others.”

  He nodded and took a deep bre