Page 81 of Blood and Magic
I grabbed the laptop and set it on the table, hunching over it to tap away at the keyboard. I had a few tricks up my sleeve that weren’t exactly legal, but who the fuck cared? My mind raced faster than my fingers could type, but I could use the same back door method to hack Ginny’s tracker as I did to get into Maeve’s laptop. Of course, fitness trackers didn’t give off the same signal as laptops and phones, but that didn’t mean they were untraceable. You just had to know what you were looking for.
First, I hacked into Ginny’s laptop to get the IP address for her tracker. That took longer than I wanted, and by the time I had it, the excruciating pain rattling through me had started to make my eyes water. My head splintered like a spear had been shoved between my temples, but I blinked against it and kept going. Slowing down now would do neither of them any favors.
“C’moonnnn,” I snarled, bouncing my leg as the laptop took its sweet fucking time. Finally, I got the information to bounce a signal off a government satellite and narrow it down to a ten-mile radius. “There. Are there any abandoned buildings in this area?”
Channing brought something up on a different computer, rattling off the names of several buildings for sale: a pub, a few houses, an old lumberyard, and a slaughterhouse.
“That’s it,” I said. I didn’t know how I knew it, but my intuition and my inner beast were sure. A pub wouldn’t have enough space, and they wouldn’t risk a real estate agent or local youths finding them in an abandoned house. Besides, there was something poetic about vampires in a slaughterhouse, wasn’t there?
“Take me,” Pink said. “If you get me within a mile of it, I’ll know whether they’re in there or not.”
I glanced at Kodiak, whose wide, angry gaze shifted to Orion. Pink was a Bastard. He had no reason to betray us, but this was putting my mate and the alpha’s daughter at risk. If he was wrong…
“Trust me,” Pink said. “I’m here to help.”
After only another moment’s hesitation, Kodiak nodded and cleared his throat, clearly swallowing down the myriad of emotions that must have been bubbling in his chest.
“We have to consider the possibility that this is a trap,” Moose said. Ever the pragmatist, our sergeant at arms would ensure we considered all options.
“Of course it’s a trap,” Poe added, rubbing a hand over his face. “But we can’t stand around and do nothing.”
“Weapons?” Kodiak growled.
“We’re ready,” Larentia replied.
“Meds?” he asked.
“I’m ready,” Morwyn said, pulling at her bulletproof vest, the few packmates around her nodding in agreement.
“Serpent?” Kodiak asked.
“Locked and loaded,” our enforcer answered.
“Listen, everyone.” Kodiak crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “This is a fight we’ve been preparing for. We know what to do, but the stakes are higher because of Ginny and Maeve. Don’t be stupid, and don’t waste your shots, you understand? You aim to kill, and you keep in touch.”
Orion went over the plan again, pairing us off into teams. I would go with Fenris, Larentia, and Pink. After everyone else was split up, we headed out, hopping on our bikes with Morwyn following in the medivan behind us. It might have been smarter to go in something quieter, but we wanted the Scorpions to know we were coming. They’d infiltrated our home and taken our family. They had to know we’d retaliate.
Even if this was a trap, we were ready for them, and this time, Marx wouldn’t slither away like the fucking snake he was. This time, we’d make sure to take him down for good.
CHAPTER 25
Maeve
I woke up to the sound of clanking metal and the smell of old death. My head pounded, and my eyes burned. I brought my hand up to touch the ache, and my fingers came away crusted with blood. I remembered a vampire taking me down from behind, slamming my forehead on the ground. Chains lined the space, hanging from the wall in an ominous display of gruesome intent. They were attached to the ceiling with thick metal hooks, amping up my fear. My hands were in cuffs, hooked to the wall behind me with a thick tether, and my ankles had been tied together with a zip tie. That seemed like lazy work compared to the other options surrounding me.
Glancing around the dark space, I tried not to let the sinking dread consume me. My muscles burned, my veins coated in fire like I was having an allergic reaction to everything. They must have dosed me with pure agony.
I reached out through the weak bond to Mill, something that faded faster the longer I stayed down here.
“Help!” I called. “Help me!”
“We’ll find you,” he replied. “We’re coming for you.”
Terror seized my heart, shooting adrenaline through my body, but I reminded myself to stay calm. Getting panicked would only do the vampires a favor. I took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling through my nose, praying the pain would disappear.
A slumped body sat in the corner opposite me, its head leaning up against the wall. I recognized Ginny’s scent, but a heavy metallic smell permeating off her told me she’d lost a lot of blood. I had no idea how injured she was.
“Pssttt!” I hissed. “Ginny! Ginny, wake up.”
