Page 35 of Fated Protector

Only one door leads in and out of Louie’s office. I quickly study the room, looking for escape routes and somewhere for Anna to hide, but there isn’t anything to be found, not even a tall plant for her to duck behind. Already, I’ve failed her, and we’ve barely begun.

Louie sits at his desk, hands tented as he studies us with what he must think is a charming smile. For some reason, pop culture consistently portrays vampires as glittering gods, supernatural Adonises who bless us all with their very attractive presence. The truth is far worse but makes more sense. Every vampire looks the same as the day they were turned, whether old and fat or the next Fabio.

In Louie’s case, this means he was frozen in time as a middle-aged, pudgy politician with sandy, graying hair and flabby skin made puffy from too much alcohol. Even though no oxygen enters his lungs anymore, he chomps on a Cuban cigar, tapping it into an ashtray before he speaks to us.

“Jack,” he says with a respectful nod before his lips curve in an evil smile. “Or should I say, Alpha Jack?”

He’s just baiting me, testing my painful and raw emotions regarding my father. “I am the Alpha of the New Orleans Rougarou Pack,” I say, announcing my full title and legacy. “I’ve come to discuss recent events regarding the peace treaty between our people.”

His eyes narrow, and he bites down on the cigar. “Recent events? I have no idea what you mean.”

“We have reason to believe that you are responsible for the attack on my pack, and we have plenty of witnesses who can back that up.”

He scoffs at me. “And I bet all your references are fellow Rougarous who would do anything to ingratiate themselves to their new Alpha. Hardly evidence against us.”

He’s not wrong, and this is what I have been afraid of since the day Will came to us with the rumors of Louie’s disloyalty. Even if the vampires are at fault, he has set everything up as questionable. Even the fundamental truth can be dissected and prodded until it becomes only an unfounded rumor.

Louie stands from his mahogany desk, hands folded behind his back like a Napoleon acolyte. “Do you remember the penalty for false accusation under the 1994 treaty agreement?”

I stare him down, never flinching or acknowledging his hinted accusation. He shakes his head at us with a mournful click of his tongue against his teeth. “Dismemberment of the pack, at minimum. Execution at the most.” He pats his chest where his no-longer functioning heart rests and sends us a mournful gaze. “My job is to honor and uphold the standards brought about by that treaty, and you accuse me of undermining it. I’m saddened by your distrust.” His mock sadness is made defunct by the gleeful glint in his pig-like eyes.

I open my mouth to respond, but Anna’s voice echoes across the room. “What a peculiar necklace you have there, Louie.” She raises an eyebrow at it. “It must be very old. Where did you get it?”

His attention snaps to her face, and I bristle. No one should look at my Mate like that. She stands firm against his glare, never wincing or flinching. “It’s an old family heirloom,” he says, stubbing out the cigar and laying it across the ashtray.

“What a beautiful thing to be passed down through the family,” she says. “My aunt Sasha recently died and left me her bookstore. Only the most powerful and thoughtful things are passed down through the family, don’t you think?”

“Indeed.” He studies her like a snake would study a baby mouse. “So you’re the Alpha’s, new Mate. Anna, was it?”

“Yes,” she says with a cold tilt of her head. “And you must be Louie. The new vampire Alpha.”

He tilts his own head back at her in a cruel mimicry. Their passive-aggressive statements bounce off of each other like errant tennis balls.

“I am,” he says. “I’m humbled that your first action as the new leaders of the local pack was to visit my humble home.”

Anna inches closer to me, gazing up at me with the ridiculous starry eyes of the newly mated. “I asked Jack to come here,” she says, and I see the Alpha vampire’s eyes sharpen. “I’m so veryluckythat he fulfilled my request.” She goes up on tiptoes to peck me on the cheek. It is awfully domestic for such a tension-filled situation until I realize what she’s doing. Gripping at her waist, I have perfect access to the hidden blade in her waistband. So veryluckyindeed.

I hook my finger around the dagger within a second, and in the next, I send it flying through the air towards Louie’s neck. He reaches up to catch it but misses even with his vampire reflexes. It pierces his jugular, but more importantly, it slices through the amulet chain, sending it falling to the floor, shattering into pieces. Will takes a running leap towards the desk, swinging his great sword above his head and finishing Louie off in one swift blow. His body turns to ash and blows away through the window, leaving only the scent of cigar smoke and blood.

Not a single vampire comes toward us to avenge or even posthumously defend their Alpha. I blink at them as they remain standing. Unlike my father, no one keens and wails for the loss of their Alpha.

“Well?” I finally say in exasperation. “Say something.”

The butler looks at me, and to my utter shock, he shrugs. “We hated him. I’m glad he’s gone.”

Well, knock me over with an osprey feather. I was not expecting that.

“You’re glad your supreme leader is dead,” I recite back, and he shrugs again. There really is something disturbing about a shrugging vampire.

“Look, I’m not going to say that the idea of war with the werewolves isn’t enticing,” he explains. “But the truth is, we’ve brought in more capital under the treaty than we ever did in times of war. Vampires like death, but we like living in comfort more.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. Nowhere in my father’s teachings did he mention how to deal with capitalist vampires.

“You may leave now, Alpha,” says the butler. “But don’t come back again without an invitation. Even the treaty doesn’t keep us from protecting our property.” His smile widens into a toothy, unnatural grin.

“Y’all better make him your next Alpha,” I say to the room of staring vampires before I pluck Lucky from the pile of ashes on the carpet. “He’s gonna lead you, right.” I mock-salute the butler and lead my brother and Mate through the door, out of the mansion, and onto the sidewalk. When we are truly safe, I clutch them both to me and thank the universe for howluckywe truly are.

EPILOGUE

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