Page 39 of Betrayed in Blood
I dropped to the ground and took a long drink, wiping my mouth on a blood-stained sleeve. “Is the coastal manor safe? Did Venizi attack the safe houses?” I gave him the same perusal he’d given me. He appeared uninjured.
“The manor is fine, but there was an increase in traffic—there and at the safe houses.”
I took another long drink and pointed to the secured vamp. “He killed the other vamp so he couldn’t talk.”
Devon nodded, then looked at Roberta, who stared at the secured vamp with a disgusted look on her face. “Perhaps I should let Roberta have the first crack at him.”
“I don’t think she’d say no.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Did we lose anyone?”
“No, but we have a few injured, including a shifter. Mateo suffered the severest wounds, but he should be alright in a few days. Everyone else is accounted for.”
“Why didn’t Venizi attack at night? Wouldn’t the advantage be on their side?”
He sat next to me. “Not really. The drones have thermal imaging, and we know the terrain better than an invading force. We also have night vision goggles.”
“Who do you know to get all this hi-tech stuff?”
He chuckled. “We’re not using anything you can’t buy off the street, but I know a senator or two for when I require the newest technology.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Why am I not surprised.” After a beat, I mentioned, “Venizi is getting bolder.”
“And with every attack, he shows his hand and helps us shore up our weaknesses. He still has the numbers, but with the additional shifters added to our security, he won’t gain any ground. He’ll become frustrated and become careless. The Council will take note, and while they won’t take any action, they’ll put pressure on him. And that’s exactly where I want him.”
ChapterEleven
The clean-up atOasis didn’t take long as dusk arrived. Once all the injured and dead had been removed, the security detail hauled away Venizi’s lone surviving vamp for interrogation. Devon, Sergi, and Roberta had gone back to Oasis with him. I didn’t feel the need to participate.
That left me with Simone, who had commandeered one of the jeeps so we could perform a quick assessment of the damage to the security perimeter and make note of anything that needed to be replaced, like the C-4.
We bumped over the terrain as she pointed to various landmarks so I could become oriented to the landscape.
“We try to use the natural features of the land to determine our security requirements.” Simone pointed to a line of scrub oaks about a half mile in from the main entrance that stretched for several hundred yards on both sides. “The C-4 requires a detonation to set it off, which we can do remotely. The shifters know where all the explosives are located so, when necessary, as we learned today, they can lead the enemy to them.”
She pointed to an oak tree. “We have surveillance cameras along the perimeter fencing, but we’ve also added them to trees at strategic points. The command center has a view of all the main entry points, as well as those areas that are easy to broach on foot, like the south border.”
“This all sounds great and obviously worked, but they could have ignored the main entrance and selected spots far from the gates or taken a chance on the west entrance.”
“Yes, and chances are that’s what they’ll do the next time.”
“You think Venizi is still testing our security.”
“Yes.”
When we approached the areas where the explosives discharged, we got out and walked the line. One of the shifters joined us and helped point out where the C-4 hadn’t been detonated. They must be able to smell it.
“Devon mentioned he knew a senator or two.” I stared down at a hole created by the explosives. It was pretty deep. “Was he joking about where he got the C-4?”
“He’s not joking about knowing a couple senators. He also knows congressmen and governors. It’s mostly regarding human business, but also to ensure any cover we might need. Several people in government know about vampires and shifters and walk a line to keep the general public from knowing about us as best they can.”
“It seems dangerous to be getting supplies from the government.”
“We don’t. There are other ways to get the supplies we need for defense. Devon knows people who know people.”
I chuckled. “I see. The mercenary types.”
“Everyone has something to trade for the right price or, as is the vampire and shifter way, for favors owed.”
When we returned to the jeep, Simone glanced down at the shifter. “Are you ready for a break? We can take you back with us.”
