Page 9 of Blood Sacrifice

“Yeah?” I manoeuvred myself through the streets toward the office we had located here. I had made it my mission to have people in strategic locations since this was our territory.

“More renegade lycans have been spotted in the area you’re arriving in,” Tarrack said. “There’s something going on, and we’re the last to know.”

“We have clairvoyants working for us,” I replied. “How did they not see any of this?”

“No idea.” The sound of a door closing sounded from the other side of the conversation. “I have a bad feeling about this, Sal. I know you said you would handle it, but I have a team free up north and can send them down to keep an eye on whatever shit is going on.”

My wolf howled for me to be here alone, but I hadn’t survived this long without assessing a situation from all angles.

“Do it,” I replied. “Make sure our people in the police are aware of the situation in case we need help cleaning up a mess.”

“Whoever is in the wind must be important to his empire,” Tarrack said. “He hasn’t released this many field agents in a long time, and I don’t think that dead couple was who he was searching for.”

The woman he was searching for came from a long line of very powerful witches. Aisha was talented, but I remembered the chief priestess talking about the raw power contained inside Luna.

“Then let’s find that asset before he does,” I replied, slipping back into the role as alpha. “Cancel any unnecessary missions, and bring our people in. If there is conflict, I don’t want any of our people out there alone.”

“On it. I’ll bring them back to the closest base.”

“Thanks, Tarrack. I’m almost at our Cusco office. I’ll update you on anything I discover.” I hung up and swung into the entrance to the carpark at the back of our building.

Balor wanted this territory, but we had taken it from him, one town and village at a time. We had replaced our wolf forms with guns and knives to protect our secrets, only running in our four-legged form in protected areas where no one could detect us.

Inside the building was cool, the light bright in the rooms as I made my way through to my quarters which consisted of an office and a bedroom. The personal possessions that held value to me were located in a house no one knew about but me, locked in a walk-in vault. One fact remained over my long life: memories tended to fade, but were refreshed and colour infused back into them when you touched a physical connection to that memory.

The leather band that held the pendant in place had broken many lifetimes ago, and lay in the vault in my home, but thequartz crystal remained in an intricate silver cage at my throat. No one knew what it meant to me, or where it had come from. I caressed it lightly in a familiar gesture that had developed when I became lost in thoughts.

I felt the thrum of a mate connection low in my stomach because she was close by.

Feeling trapped, I left the building and wandered toward Cusco Square, which was a tourist destination for any groups visiting Peru since it still contained so many archaeological treasures. I bought a cool bottle of Inca Kola, and walked to find somewhere to sit and sip it and people watch. Tour buses were a common sight, and I followed the vibration in my solar plexus until I stopped close to a popular hotel, taking a seat and stretching my legs out in front of me.

About forty minutes later, I was rewarded when I saw one of the people from the images from the police reports. Another ten minutes, and the two dogs who worked for Balor walked back toward the hotel, stopping outside to take a phone call. My wolf hearing strained until I picked up the end of the conversation.

“… Tell your seer that they are wrong. No one else on that tour has any magical abilities.” The call recipient rolled his eyes at his friend. “We would know if someone was creating a null shield.”

I doubted they would. Luna had been naturally talented when she was young, and she had had a long time to perfect her skills. Technically, she could be one of the pigeons walking about on the street and they wouldn’t know.

“Fine, we’ll search their rooms again,” he huffed. “Maybe the seer should come down here herself and point out who we’re looking for since she knows so much.” He hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket.

“We’ve been through their rooms already and sat close to them at dinner for three nights. There is no way there is a magic user on that tour we haven’t identified,” the second wolf said, folding his arms across his chest. “This hotel has greater security and not just a wooden door with a crappy lock.”

“If there was any of the lost priestesses on that tour, they would have run after those deaths,” wolf one replied.

Which was probably why Luna didn’t run.

I waited until they went inside and walked across to the hotel. We had people working for us in most places, and they attributed us to belonging to a cartel or mafia organisation. Who knew? Maybe that was the new terminology for a wolf pack.

“Hey,” I said, approaching one of our contacts. “How many nights is that tour staying?”

The receptionist brightened up, straightening her hair as she smiled. “Two nights. Why? Are you interested in joining them?”

“I could probably give them the tour of Cusco and Sacred Valley myself,” I replied, smiling at her to continue gaining information. “There was an incident at their last hotel, and we don’t want that type of bad luck following them into our town.”

Her eyes widened, and she leant forward. “I heard two of the tour died. They cancelled their room.” She glanced to the side, before continuing. “Was it not accidental?”

“That’s for the police to decide. We’ll just keep an eye on them to ensure there’s no trouble,” I replied.

She nodded, her expression serious. “Do you need a room while they’re here?”

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