Roars fill the room and all the men race to Isaac. Each and every one of them consumed with bloodlust.
“Stop!” I bellow into the madness as they reach Isaac and almost rip him limb from limb.
With my will, I force my men to freeze in place.
Barely.
Bloodlust and rage wash over me through the connection with my family. Each of my sons burning to destroy the perversion standing before us.
Raphael is the most extreme, taxing my hold. His berserker rage begging to be unleashed. It howls against the chain I have tightly wrapped around its neck, begging for mayhem and carnage.
“All of you return to your seats,” I command softly.
I feel the anger, the hatred. I feel every single emotion in this room whipping through my very essence. But I resist, as I always must resist.
There’s too much at stake.
The men slowly return to their seats, each fighting me and themselves to gain control.
Kian walks back into the room, his face serious.
“Asher,” Kian says quietly to me, “we have a hit.”
Twenty-Seven
Asher
Kian points to the map on the kitchen table. “Dav got lucky as fuck. He caught one of Nikolaos’s coven going in and out of a neighborhood one too many times.”
“Where?” I demand.
“About two miles from where Dav said we should focus.” Kian moves his finger to the corner of Wabash and Grover. “Right there at Lickety Split Lanes.”
“The fuck?” Caden asks. “They’re hiding out in a bowling alley?”
“Yep.” Kian says. “One of Dav’s guys has been keeping tabs on the place since this morning, and they’re moving some bodies in and out pretty quickly. Not many kills… more like thralls getting fed on then booted out.”
So they’re staying fed, but trying to keep a low profile so the surrounding neighbors don’t pay too much attention to it. A bowling alley is just about perfect for that. I gotta give them credit… But that won’t stop me from wiping out every single fucking pile of shit there.
Using thralls instead of killing humans is smart. Keeps the blood supply high and the body count low.
Thralls are one step above ghouls. They’re humans that have been permanently glamoured. It’s harder to accomplish but has better results. Less bodies equals less evidence to deal with.
I wonder whose talent that is… Enthralling a human is no easy feat. Perhaps Nikolaos? It wouldn’t surprise me. It would explain why he doesn’t give a shit about blood banks. Not when he can personally enthrall half the city if need be.
Tension flows through the room as each of my children begin to subtly shift from waiting to action.
I can feel the hot fury building inside Raphael when he starts to loosen the reins on his inner monster.
Andrei stands beside Raphael, his body fading slowly into the background of life. Soon he’ll be stalking his prey and striking from the shadows.
My own rage begins to pump through my muscles.
I long to hear the screams coming from my enemies. I want to tear the flesh from their bones as I sink my teeth into their arteries.
I want death and carnage.
“Kian, you’re with Isaac.” Before he can protest, I say, “Get us an exit plan set up. We can’t wait for more information. Things are too precarious as it is. If anything happens to Raphael’s soulmarked it will be because we failed to act in time.”
Scowling, Kian nods his head. He doesn’t like being left on the back burner for this one.
But he’ll do as he’s told.
“Dav give us any idea how many to expect?” Caden asks.
“He thinks around ten to twelve, but that could be a high estimate. Nikolaos is quickly losing support. Only his children have stuck by him,” Kian says.
“Won’t it be dangerous for us to attack them like this?” Chloe asks.
My eyes look at her with a fear I’ve never felt before.
Yes, it is extremely dangerous to do this…. but it’s the only way.
We could sit here for days trying to plan it out, but we don’t have that kind of time right now. We need to act. We need to move.
We need to save and protect.
Chloe has flat-out refused to stay behind. Even my orders bearing down on the bond have done nothing to dissuade her.
She wants to be there for the girl they’re holding captive. She wants to be there to whisk her away to a safer place.
“Yes, but we have the surprise,” I say, “and we have Dav’s pack closing the net around the neighborhood as we speak.”
Dav will be coming into the bowling alley shortly after us to deal with the pack siding with Nikolaos.
Chloe trembles a little but keeps her eyes focused on the map. “I don’t know the area around bowling alley, but if I can get ahold of her, I’ll try blinking away as fast as I can. If I can’t vanish with her like we’re hoping, I’ll just start running.”