Drantos (VLG Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Hell no.”

“It’s Bat that Decker will use. We can’t allow that to happen.”

“Damn.” Kraven sighed. “I might want to wring the mouthy one’s neck when she gets going but not literally. I thought about killing them at first but it was just the shock of finding out who they were. I got past that. I’m not going to hurt a helpless woman.”

“We’re not going to kill them. We need to get them to safety.”

“Decker isn’t going to just allow them to return to wherever they’ve been living. Hell, he probably sent some of his men searching for the crash site as soon as he realized what happened when the plane didn’t land. We might have company by morning if they can pinpoint where we went down.”

“Do you recognize this area? I think we’re about fifteen miles from our southern border.”

“I agree. That means Decker is about thirty miles away. The darkness will slow down whoever he sends but they can cover a lot of ground when the sun rises.”

“We have the advantage,” Drantos whispered. “Decker doesn’t know someone warned us about those women, or that we were on the plane to stop them from reaching him. And we used false names so we’re covered if he gets a look at the passenger list.”

“That’s true.”

“We have another problem.”

“What’s that?”

Drantos hesitated but his brother needed to know. “Dusti and Bat don’t know the truth.”

“You mean that Decker plans to use one of them as a pawn?”

“I mean they’re unaware of
anything
about our existence. Their mother mated to a human and they were raised that way.”

Kraven sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes widened. “
What?
”

“I mentioned to Dusti that she smells totally human and she had no idea what I was talking about. She thought I was crazy. They honestly believe Decker is dying of old age or illness.”

“Son of a bitch.” Kraven growled. “I thought that was just a bullshit story they made up, hoping to fool us. And that they’re really good at masking their scents. I figured they just perfected how to do it while living with humans.”

“Nope. Dusti is clueless and I’m certain Bat is too. I found her lost not far from the camp. She’s never been trained to use her senses. Her mother would have done that if she had told them what they were.”

“But how is that even possible? They lived in a city with Lycans and Vamps. I could pick up a hint of what Bat was right after the crash. She has a few small cuts. It’s faint but there. Why haven’t any Lycans or Vampires gone after her? They would have attacked her as soon as they got a whiff. You think the mom is protecting them? She might have made some kind of pact to protect her daughters with both packs and nests.”

“Antina is dead.”

“You sure?”

“You were gone when they discussed losing their parents. It happened when they were younger.”

“None of this makes sense.” Kraven softly growled. “Maybe they left Bat alone because she’s a lawyer? I’ve heard some of the city packs have an agreement not to touch someone with an important job. Doctors, lawyers…even anyone in law enforcement can be seen as neutral and helpful to all of them, regardless of their associations. They sometimes work together to keep humans from discovering the truth. But that doesn’t explain why Vamps leave her alone, unless she’s got a client associated with them. Maybe she unknowingly keeps their day guards out of prison? They’d want her protected if that’s the case.”

“I agree.”

“This just gets better and better.” Kraven sighed again. “I can’t believe what a mess this has become.”

“I know.”

“I still think maybe those sisters aren’t as ignorant as they’re leading us to believe. I’ll buy that the younger one might not know the truth. I smelled her when Bat gave her a shot. There was nothing to indicate she’s more than what she seems. I can understand how she could pass as totally human, but the older one? Not a chance. She has periods, she bleeds. At some point she’d have
had
to cross paths with someone who hates our kind enough to go after her, regardless of any city rules or her being on the payroll of some suck head. Lawyers make enemies. That means she had to know how to defend herself.”

Drantos considered it. “Maybe the packs are confused by her human blood. I smelled her too when she was still bleeding. It’s possible they believe she’s half Lycan, since that’s all I picked up off her. Not all half-breeds are taken into a pack. They get rejected for being too human and never showing any traits. She’d be deemed harmless.”

“Maybe.”

“It’s possible none of them would even consider that one of us would live amongst them. We stay with our clans. Anyone checking into her would know she isn’t just visiting the area. She has a job and a home in the city.”

“I will say that Bat seems to really love her sister. Is it possible her and the mother decided not to tell the mostly human one? To keep her safe? Ignorance would have kept Dusti from doing anything to draw suspicion. Humans are oblivious to our kind unless they know what to look for.”

“I’m stumped by the entire mess, Kraven. I don’t think Bat was aware of me out in the woods. It would have been easy for her to find the camp if she had used her senses.”

“I don’t trust Bat. She’s sneaky. Just keep your guard up around her. I think she knows exactly what she is.”

“Why would she visit Decker? I can’t see her agreeing to be handed over to Aveoth. Her mother fled to avoid that from happening. She would have warned Bat that Decker might plot to do the same thing to her one day. Do you think Bat realized he’d take her by force, so she figured it would be easier if she just came back on her own?”

“Maybe it’s a revenge quest for Bat. Her mother fled Decker and had to give up her heritage to live amongst humans. That had to be tough and it left her without the safety of numbers. We should find out how Antina died. Maybe it wasn’t a human who took her life. Decker might have wanted his daughter out of the way by killing her. I’d want revenge for
our
mother, if that were the case. Perhaps Bat thinks she can kill him if she gets close enough. We’ll have to proceed with caution, but one thing is certain. Decker is going to come after the granddaughter he can use. He needs to force Aveoth to side with him.”

“I agree. Decker murdered his own mate out of greed and from what I’ve guessed, he wasn’t able to find his runaway daughter until after she’d mated to a human and had two daughters of her own. Aveoth already had Lane as his lover by then, so Decker had to bide his time until Aveoth needed another.”

Kraven softly cursed. “Do you think Decker had Lane murdered?”

Drantos debated it but then shook his head. “No way in hell. Aveoth sent guards to keep her safe the few times she visited her parents. Decker and his enforcers wouldn’t have been able to get to her.”

“We’re not even sure how she died, though.”

“I’m certain Aveoth would have left a trail of blood if someone had murdered his lover, until he found the one responsible.”

Kraven nodded. “Yeah. He’s not one to fuck with.”

“No. He’s not. Decker wouldn’t be a problem anymore if he’d ordered Lane’s assassination. Aveoth would have ripped him apart to avenge her.”

“Perhaps he’s become as cold as we’ve heard.”

“Regardless, it would be a pride thing. If someone took something of his, they’d pay in blood for that offense and lose their lives.”

“True.”

“We can’t allow Decker to get his hands on either granddaughter. Dusti might smell all human but she’s not. I tested a few drops of her blood.”

Kraven groaned. “Fantastic. That means we’ll have to take them back to our clan, where he won’t be able to get to them.”

“I know.”

“Decker will try to get them back by force.”

“I’d rather we have to fight Decker’s clan than Aveoth’s. We have a chance of winning.”

“What if he tells Aveoth we have them? Father would have to hand over the sister to avoid a fight with him.”

“Let’s worry about that after we get them to the safety of our clan.”

“One problem at a time.” Kraven nodded. “Right.” He paused. “You understand that taking them home will put us all in danger, don’t you?”

Drantos reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Of course I do. I’d rather deal with Aveoth directly over Decker. He’s not insane.”

“Are you certain? It’s been many years since we’ve spoken to him. He’s changed a lot since then.”

“Aveoth has honor.”

“We hope he still does. Who knows what happened to make him take over his clan. I mean, he killed his own father to do it. That’s pretty cold.”

One of the passengers started to raise hell. Drantos cocked his head, listening to what the man was ranting about. He was starting to panic the other survivors about being attacked by wild animals or dying if the wreckage wasn’t spotted by rescue teams.

“I’ll go deal with that,” he announced. “You work on getting them fed.”

Chapter Three

Bat collapsed on a blanket near Dusti hours later. The wind had picked up, leaving a definite chill in air. Dusti had watched her sister keep busy helping Kraven pass out the food after he’d dragged the deer carcass into the clearing. It had been impressive watching him roast meat on sticks over the fire. Afterward, Drantos and Bat worked together to get everyone comfortable enough to sleep.

“I’m never going to look at venison the same way again. It’s really disturbing how good that man is with a knife.” Bat smirked.

Dusti glanced around looking for Drantos, and found him standing too close for her comfort, dumping more wood into a pile by the fire. She still wanted to warn her sister that he was crazy. It seemed he was never going to give her a perfect opportunity so she just needed to do it. She lowered her voice.

“Remember my friend Greg?”

Bat nodded. “The nut.”

Dusti winced. “He’s bipolar. So is Drantos.”

Bat stared at her. “What?”

Dusti nodded. “Keep your voice down. He doesn’t want me to say anything to you but he’s off his meds.” She glanced at Drantos and found him staring at her. She waited until one of the passengers said something to him and he broke eye contact with her. “Don’t say anything, because I’m afraid it will set him off, but he thinks our grandfather is some alien or something. He hates him and plans to use us to get back at him somehow.”

Bat paled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Damn.” Bat frowned. “That runs in families sometimes, doesn’t it? That means the brother might have the same condition.”

“Did you hear what I said? We’re in danger!”

“I heard. I have some clients like that. Just be cool and go along with anything he says. We’ll be rescued and the paramedics can sedate him until they get him the help he needs.”

Dusti nodded. It was sound advice.

“This sucks. I kinda like the brother.” Bat glanced anywhere but at Dusti. “He’s different. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

Dusti worried. “You’re attracted to him?”

Bat held Dusti’s gaze. “Nothing can come of it long term but he’s definitely one-night-stand material. I admit I’m thinking about it.”

“
No
,” Dusti whispered. “Trust me for once. He went along with Drantos’s crazy plan of grabbing us on that plane. What does that tell you?”

“He’s probably used to dealing with the nut job and just placates him. It’s what you do. How many times have you visited Greg, only to find him wearing his metal helmet so aliens can’t feel his presence or some such nonsense? You actually told him you found an alien-free zone to trick him into going to see his doctor, so they could admit him to the hospital and put him back on his medication until he was stable again. You even wore one of his spare helmets to drive him so he felt secure that they couldn’t read
your
mind to find
him
.”

“He wouldn’t get in my car otherwise.”

“But you do it. That’s my point. And he’s just your
friend
. Kraven and Drantos are brothers. He probably just plays along when Drantos is having an episode of whatever the hell is wrong with him. At least he’s still functional. He helped set up this camp and built a fire pit. I bet Greg would be screaming that aliens were going to kidnap us if he were with us right now, and trying to make another helmet out of the plane wreckage.”

She couldn’t deny that. “I—”

“We have enough wood to last us all night.” Drantos suddenly dropped to his knees on the edge of Dusti’s spread-out blanket. He shot her a warning glance before he turned his full attention on her sister. “The temperatures are going to drop lower tonight but everyone will be fine with the fire burning. What were you two talking about?”

“Dusti is worried about her friend at home. She likes to call him every day to make sure he’s okay, but of course she can’t since we’re here. He’s sickly. I was just telling her someone else would check in on him,” Bat said without missing a beat. “It’s so cold already. Don’t tell me it’ll get worse?” Bat changed the subject and wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her middle. “The wind is already icy.”

Movement had all of them glancing toward the woods in time to watch Kraven step out of the darkness. He’d gone to clean up after cooking the deer. He strode to the pile of things taken from the destroyed plane, bent, grabbed two blankets, and then approached. He spread one of them on the ground.

“The area is secure. There’s nothing near us that could become a danger.” He winked at his brother. “The bear didn’t enjoy being chased off but he’s far north now.”

“Bear?” Bat’s eyes widened with alarm. “Will it come back and attack? Some of these people are injured. Won’t the smell of blood attract it to come investigate?”

“He won’t return.” Kraven shoved the other blanket under one arm. “I’m wiped out.”

“It’s been a long day,” Drantos agreed. “We’ll get up early and reevaluate the situation.”

Kraven sat down on his blanket and dropped the rolled one next to his lap. He peeled off his leather jacket next. In seconds, he’d bunched it into a ball to shove behind him. He completely ignored the women while he spoke to his brother.

“The search-and-rescue teams will easily spot this mess from above. I tracked back and there’s a lot of damage to the trees. They can’t miss it.”

“We need to make a decision then.” Drantos motioned his head in the direction of the survivors. “Stay or go? You know he’ll have heard the news by now and sent out his enforcers to find them.”

“I was thinking the same.” Kraven sighed. “We’ll leave at dawn before they can find the site. We’ll have to move fast. They’ll be tracking us as soon as they realize some of us are missing.”

Drantos nodded. “It’s going to be rough.”

“What are you talking about?” Bat frowned. “Are you wanted by the police? You’re plotting to take off before the rescue teams arrive, aren’t you?”

Both brothers turned their attention on Bat, silently regarding her. Dusti opened her mouth to tell her sister to shut up. She was afraid Bat would set them off somehow and make the situation worse. Bat spoke again before she could.

She blew out a breath. “I’m a defense attorney. I can help.”

Dusti’s mouth sagged open in surprise, then outrage. “You’re offering to represent them?
Really
?”

“It’s what I do, and while I didn’t appreciate getting manhandled, they
did
get banged up in the crash trying to protect us. And the meal was good too. It beat eating those tiny cookie and nut packages we found on the plane.” Bat shrugged.

“I just…” Dusti stopped talking before she blurted out that she’d
just
informed her sister that Drantos was off his meds. She worried he’d have some kind of meltdown if he realized she’d shared his secret.

Bat smoothed things over. “You know who my clients are, Dusti. It’s what I do. They have the constitutional right of being represented in a court of law, even if they
are
guilty. I know the justice system is flawed but everyone deserves the best defense possible. Innocent until proven guilty. Ring any bells?” Bat lifted her chin, her gaze narrowing on her sister. “I know you hate my job but I’m damn good at it. I’d defend Greg if he hurt someone.”

She shouldn’t be surprised by her sister offering her services. At least she’d have a good defense for Drantos—insanity. “I know that.” Dusti sighed. “I’m tired. It’s been an awful day and I just want to get some sleep.”

“Good idea.” Drantos suddenly shifted his position and slid to his hands and knees, facing Dusti. “Move over and make room for me on the blanket.”

“What?” She gaped at him.

“The temperature is going to drop more within a few hours. Take off my jacket, we’ll use it for a pillow, and I’ll keep you warm.”

“I’m not sleeping with you!”

Those strangely beautiful eyes of his seemed to glow for a split second again. It startled Dusti and made her realize she hadn’t just imagined seeing it in the woods.

“You are.” His voice deepened. “Lie down on your side after you take off my jacket. My body heat will keep you warm if I spoon with you. My brother and I are going to make sure both of you make it through the night.”

“Hell no,” Kraven groaned. “They can keep their own body heat.”

“They can’t.” Drantos stretched out beside Dusti and literally pushed her over a few inches to make room for him. “You know they need us.”

Kraven clenched his teeth, the muscles in his jaw tensing visibly. “I’ll trade you.”

Drantos seemed to ignore the comment, instead arching an eyebrow at Dusti. “Take the jacket off now and lie down.”

“No.”

The blue of his eyes turned colder. “
Now
. You and I are going to curl up and get some rest together. You will allow me to hold you to keep you warm.”

A shiver ran down her spine at his raspy, deep tone. Fear had her moving to do as he’d ordered. She removed his warm jacket. She shivered again, this time from the cold, and handed it to him.

“Wait a minute,” Bat protested. She gasped in the next instant.

Dusti swung her head to stare where her sister had been, only to find her gone. She turned her head farther and spotted Bat flat on her back with Kraven stretched out next to her. He had one thigh over her sister’s legs and his hand cupped her face. They seemed to be staring at each other, faces inches apart. She couldn’t be sure though, since she couldn’t see Kraven’s eyes. But he had obviously put her sister in that position and had her pinned.

“He won’t hurt her. He’s just going to keep her warm and quiet until she falls asleep.” Drantos gripped Dusti’s arm to force her to face him. “Don’t make me control you too. You wouldn’t like it, and I wouldn’t either.”

“You’re threatening to hurt me? You said you wouldn’t do that.” Fear shot up her spine.

He suddenly sat up and gripped her head. His long fingers curled around the back of her neck while his face drew closer. She stared into his gaze and saw the blue of his irises seem to lighten, turning a brighter shade. His hot breath fanned her lips when he leaned closer until their noses lightly touched. She couldn’t look away from his incredible eyes. They stunned and frightened her at the same time. Eyes shouldn’t change colors that way.

“I’m strong-blooded and you’re not. I probably won’t be able to take your free will but I can immobilize you. Your body will refuse to move. I’m ordering you to hold still.”

Dusti attempted to lift her arm to push him back but her body didn’t respond. Her limbs hung limply at her sides. Panic set in as she tried to do it again but it was as if she’d been paralyzed.

“Easy.” Drantos’s tone lowered, turning husky. “You’re fine. I don’t want to argue with you but it would be bad if you make a scene. We’re going to cuddle up together nicely without you fighting me. If you resist, I’ll keep you this way. Do you understand?”

She couldn’t even form words to respond but a tiny whimper did manage to squeak past her parted lips. The brilliance of blue in his eyes dulled as suddenly as it had sharpened. Dusti gasped in air and was actually able to move when she jerked back. Drantos released her completely but didn’t look away.

“How did you do that? Bat? Talk to me!”

Dusti leaned back, her hands clawing at the blanket, and inched farther away from Drantos. Her head turned when her sister didn’t respond, only to find the other couple still frozen in the same position as before. She was suspicious that Kraven had control over her sister the same exact way Drantos had just controlled her.

Her mind refused to acknowledge that though. It was too unreal to be true. She found reasons instead. Her and Bat were tired, they’d had a rough day, and had survived a plane crash. It left them stunned and easily susceptible to wild thoughts and ideas. She latched hard onto that excuse. It sounded reasonable. People who’d survived traumatic events could be convinced of things not real or true. Their minds were messed up. Drantos had just used the power of suggestion. She’d listened subconsciously because he was crazy.

That had to be how psychopaths talked nice, sane people into following them.

His strong hand gripped her inner thigh and gave her a hard enough tug to make her fall flat onto her back. He came down on top of her. His weight pinned her but Drantos was nice enough to keep most of it off her rib cage so she could still pant from terror. His blue eyes began to lighten, brighten, and glow. She squeezed her eyes closed, twisting her head to the side to avoid him doing that to her again.

“Look at me.”

She wanted to. There was something compelling about his husky voice that made her have to fight the command, but she managed to resist. She couldn’t budge him when she pushed on his arms. “Get off me. Stop it!”

“Dusti? Look at me now.” His voice deepened with almost inhuman gruffness.

Her eyes opened of their own accord and she turned her head enough to stare deeply into his brilliant, glowing blue gaze. Her breath caught inside her lungs and her hands stopped pushing to fall limply between them. Her entire body wilted.