Kraven Read online

  “Really?” The conversation was helping her remain calm as the plane started to move again and picked up rapid speed. They were taking off. She kept her eyes closed. “Tell me about it.”

  “We had to do it at night so no one would see us together. Lord Abotorus, Aveoth’s father, was a total asshole.” Kraven shifted his body a little, bracing his legs better. “He was a snob who would have hated his son hanging out with a couple of VampLycans. There’s no other way to put it. Anyway, Drantos loved to have Aveoth take him flying but I’ve never been a fan of leaving the ground. They kind of teased me until it was a matter of pride to accept. I have to say it was beautiful. I know how a bird feels to soar.”

  Bat tried to picture that. “Weren’t you afraid he’d drop you?”

  “No. We’re pretty damn strong. And I hadn’t pissed him off.” He chuckled. “That’s about the only way it would have happened. On purpose.”

  The plane lifted off the ground, sharply gaining altitude. Bat clutched at Kraven, clinging to him. He stopped rubbing her back and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I’ve got you, Bat. It’s okay. Anyway, Gargoyles don’t express many feelings. It was kind of cool to see Aveoth laugh and kid around with us. He taught us sword fighting since they’re big on that in his clan, and we taught him a lot of Lycan tracking skills. I hated it when those times ended.”

  “What happened?”

  He hesitated.

  “You said he’s a threat, so I take it you aren’t friends anymore?”

  “Winter came one year and traveling is difficult that time of year. He can fly, but it’s not exactly smart or safe to do it during storms. And we’re snowbound on the ground during the worst of it too. He wasn’t about to visit our village to say hi, even if he wanted to fly during the coldest months. Anyway, word spread that he’d challenged and killed his father. Some bad shit had to have gone down for Aveoth to do that. I knew they weren’t close but he never talked about wanting to take his father out. Drantos and I never saw or spoke to him again after that. We went where we used to meet him, in hopes he’d show up, but he never did. Drantos tried to contact him a few times but his requests were ignored.”

  “You said his dad was an asshole.”

  “Yes, he was. It still came as a shock, though. I mean, to kill your own father? Think about that.”

  “I bet my mom thought about doing that before she had to run away from home to avoid forced sexual slavery.”

  “Very true. Antina was just a girl though. There’s no way she would have been able to challenge her father and win. Our laws require a fair, equal fight to take leadership. She wasn’t as strong as him and weapons aren’t allowed.”

  “So she couldn’t just shoot his worthless ass and call it a day?”

  He shook his head. “VampLycans aren’t permitted to use weapons against each other, only when we’re battling another race. We have to be in the same form, and fight each other in a fair challenge. There’s no honor in a shifted person attacking someone in skin.” He paused. “Decker absolutely has no honor. He violated our laws today when his enforcers attacked us in the trucks.”

  “Then why couldn’t she have just shot him? He’s an asshole. Everyone seems to know that.”

  “The other clans would have had a problem with it. They would have punished her. All VampLycans are accountable for their own actions. Decker will pay for attacking us. He can’t deny what happened this time.”

  “It sounds like they should have awarded my mother a medal if she’d shot his ass.”

  “We’re better than Decker. Your mother’s only hope would have been if either of her two brothers challenged him. They were older and equal in size to their father. But they didn’t.”

  That had Bat tensing, her eyes snapped open, and she pulled back to stare at him. “I have uncles?”

  “Your mother never told you about them?”

  Anger stirred. “No. Big shocker, right? It was a theme of hers, apparently.”

  “They’re like Decker, Bat. I’ve met both of them over the years and didn’t like either.”

  “Fantastic. Is there anyone else I should know about? Any aunts? Cousins?”

  “No aunts by blood. Your mother was Decker’s only daughter. One of your uncles is mated and has three sons. They travel a lot for Decker. The other hasn’t found a mate yet, last I heard.”

  “So what about my cousins? Are they pricks too?”

  “I’ve never met them. To be blunt, Decker doesn’t want anyone to be able to use his family against him. He’s probably afraid we’d kill them or something. That’s what he’d do. We usually only hear they were in the area after the fact. Decker sent them away after he murdered Marvilella and Antina made a run for it. Maybe they were angry with him for taking their mother and they chose to roam for him.”

  “Roam?”

  “Attend to business outside of the clan. Enforcers sometimes go on short missions in your world but it’s possible Decker set them up somewhere far from here on a more permanent basis.”

  She let that information sink in. “I wonder why my uncles didn’t take that bastard out if he really killed their mother. I mean, homicide seems like how you guys handle things since there’s no real law.”

  “We do have laws. They’re just different from the ones you know. It could be the simple fact that they thought they couldn’t take Decker in a fight. It’s also less accepted in VampLycan clans to kill a parent for leadership. Of course, this is all somewhat new to us, considering how short of a time we’ve been in existence. First generations still run all four clans. Aveoth is the only second generation to take over a clan, but he’s a GarLycan.”

  “Got it. You live in a weird world, Kraven.” She rested her head on his chest again. “I’m going to be glad to return to mine.”

  Kraven rested his chin back on top of Bat’s head and hid his scowl. He wasn’t happy they were venturing into the human world. His height and stature always drew attention. There were humans his size but not many. Six feet five tended to make him stand above a normal crowd.

  He’d have to be leery of women too. He’d be putting off hormones with Bat around. Humans were naturally drawn to Lycan men when they were horny. He was pretty certain that was going to be a problem, unless Bat stopped resisting their attraction. He didn’t want her to become pissed off if women came on to him.

  For his part, he’d want to kill anyone who approached Bat for sex.

  He’d just have to make certain they bonded stronger before they had to deal with that issue. Bat was stubborn and wasn’t about to easily give up her life. She’d resist admitting they were a mated pair.

  It might be a mistake to take her back to Los Angeles. It would only show her what she had to lose once the danger passed and they could return to Alaska, where they both belonged. But it was important to speak to the doctor who had helped Antina Filmore. He’d hold answers that Bat needed. And Kraven was a little curious himself.

  He stroked her back, staring out the window. It might give her peace if the doctor turned out to have all the answers to her questions. Kraven just hoped he didn’t have to spill much blood to force the Lycan or Vampire to talk; he was certain the doctor had to be other.

  He chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating how to go about that without making Bat fear him. He’d usually just unleash his claws and start cutting until his prey was willing to tell him any damn thing he wanted to know. She might not enjoy that kind of violence.

  “Is this going to be a long flight?”

  Her question jolted him from his thoughts. “I’m not sure. I know commercial flights are about three and a half hours. It doesn’t matter. The GarLycans can’t come after us until nightfall. We have a huge head start. The control tower is going to tell anyone who asks that we’re flying into Seattle.”

  “Aren’t we?” She jerked her head off his chest and peered up at him.

  “No. There’s another airport we’re heading to. I don’t want Decker or Aveoth calling L