Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

36. For Lack of a Witch: Pete

I don’t know what Bria was even thinking bringing that Alpha into this, but I don’t trust him. Not even as far as I can throw him, and I’m skeptical that I could even lift him, let alone throw him. I know she doesn’t trust him either, but still. It’s too risky.

He’s the only one of those that were at that meeting who is currently in the same city as Anna Jade, so he has the advantage over the rest of us for now. I don’t think we should even have told him that she was there. We have no idea what he’ll do with that information, and no control over it either until I get in there.

But whatever. Bria’s been around for far longer than I have, and she probably knows more about him and the situation there than I do. I mean, I’ve been there, and I know things, but I’m always the first to admit that there’s no such thing as enough information.

What I do know is that the guy is a joke. He runs his pack through intimidation and force, and he’s not even the one in charge. His father-in-law is. You can’t trust anybody who’s owned by somebody else. Besides, he’s a known swindler. A cheat. A thief. A shady SOB that you can’t even trust with your car let alone your loved ones.

Yet here we are. He had the audacity to try to act like he was insulted when I insisted on running my own rescue operation concurrently to his, but he’s crazy if he thinks I’m going to let him be in charge of getting Anna Jade back. I told him he can manage things above-ground, and I’ll handle the tunnels. That way, he doesn’t even have to get his hands dirty.

All he has to do is look the other way when we sneak into his city, and clear the way for us to get her back out. He agreed, but I know better than to assume anything from him. His help would be nice, but I’ll make sure that it’s not necessary. He’s as likely to try to trap us as to help us. Depends which way the wind is blowing that day.

Bria claims that he’s just the cover anyway. She plans to keep working “the job” as promised, keeping Grayson happy, and Alpha Miles is who she plans to pin it on when Anna Jade comes up missing. That way, the warlock won’t come after her and the hunters again when he realizes that he’s been betrayed. He’ll think that Miles did it, and since the Alpha in question might actually be going around making plans and setting things up to help us along, it will be that much more believable.

There are a few notable problems with her plan that make me wish I’d been involved long before that meeting, but it is what it is. We know the guy is bad news, and we know better than to trust him with anything. We also know better than to assume that Grayson will buy her cover story, which leaves us in a pretty good position to be prepared for all possible outcomes and be ready to react when we see which way the dust settles after the fact.

Now it’s just a matter of finalizing my own plans with my little makeshift crew here, and getting to work. We’re making good progress, other than the giant roadblock we’ve run into. Knowing that this Grayson guy who haunts those tunnels is a powerful warlock, we’re going to need a friendly caster to help us out when we inevitably run into whatever nasty traps and tricks he’s left about.

Even the hunters ran into a snag with that. Caz got tagged, and that’s what got Anna Jade snatched up in the first place. And that’s despite the fact that vampires can walk straight through most magic without issue. There are zero vamps on my crew, zero people who are resistant to magic, and you guessed it, none of them can even detect the stuff. Not even a little bit, but especially not like a caster could.

We definitely don’t want to let Grayson tag any of us like he did to Caz. Then he’d be able to follow us to wherever we take Anna Jade once we get her, and he’d just snatch her right back. So, that means that our crew is short by one person, and it’s a very specific slot that needs filling.

“I don’t get why we can’t just call up your girl,” Bruno complains. Again.

He’s some sort of mutt of a shifter, though I couldn’t tell you what his inner beast even is. Part-wolf I suspect, and maybe even part-bear, but the rest is debatable, and he’s never said for sure. Bruno the Brute, we call him, which is a lot better than what his own family used to call him.

He’s stocky and strong as hell, especially considering that he’s all of about five and a half feet tall. But whenever we need something lifted, pushed, pulled, broken, or smashed in, he’s our guy. He’s handy with just about anything that can be found in an average toolbox too, and not just for the intended purposes. The things I’ve seen the man do with a simple screwdriver are astounding.

But he’s also relentless and bull-headed when he wants to be, and apparently, now is one of those times. He thinks I should call up Phoebe and have her join the team, despite knowing damn well why I’m not about to do that.

“You know why, and you also know that she’s not my girl,” I grumble in response. “But if you have any real suggestions, I’m all ears.”

“That is my real suggestion.”

“Well, it’s a dumb one. Personal history aside, she’s not even all that powerful, and we need a powerful caster for this. Grayson was able to control three ancient vampires, let’s not forget.”

“Fair,” he concedes, smashing and twisting his lips together as he thinks some more.

“All the powerful ones work for The Council,” Angel points out.

Angelo Diaz, better known as Angel, as in the Angel of Death. He’s a rogue omega wolf, but he’s also a skilled and experienced assassin, among other things, and reminds me a bit of a ninja. He’s a good choice for this mission because of his talent for surprising his targets. He’s small and agile, so he can crawl into spaces that most people can’t, and he moves so silently that no one ever knows he’s coming for them. As much as the guy kind of creeps me out, I figure we might need those skills to navigate Grayson’s turf.

“Tian’s working that angle,” I inform him, not even looking up as I’m still scrolling through the contacts in my phone trying to jog my memory and find any options I haven’t thought of. “And Eramund’s been trying to contact his sister to see if she’ll help, but she’s been estranged from the family long enough that I’m not holding my breath waiting for her to come through for us.”

“Maybe we should just pull together as much of an anti-magic toolkit as we can, and deal with whatever pops up as we go. This is wasting too much precious time,” Nolan suggests.

Nolan, my righthand man. For this, anyway. He’s older and has been leading his own band of mercs since before I was born, but I think he gets that this job is my special project, and he seems to sense my urgency. He doesn’t know why, but he can also tell that it’s important to me to be in charge for this, and he hasn’t even tried to fight me about who’s taking lead this time.

Usually, he doesn’t care whether I did the work of calling together a crew. It’s like he forgets that I once led the company that made people say, “Nolan who?” whenever we were working in the same region, and he defaults to insisting on taking point for whatever it is that we’re working on together at any given time.

But today, he’s all business, and he’s been supportive about it. We’ve been rivals for as much of my adult life as we’ve been friends, but being friends has always come more naturally to us. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think it’s because we have so much in common, and he’s an impressive guy. Clever, quick-witted, well-skilled and boasting a variety of useful talents, and oh, he’s a fox-shifter too. The only other one here.

“No,” I tell him firmly, ready to take a stand or draw a line in the sand if I have to. “We’re only gonna get one shot at this, and we have to get it right. We don’t go in until our backup plans all have their own backup plans and contingencies. We need as little winging it going on as possible here, and we need to be sure that we have someone with us who can quickly and effectively detect and defeat powerful magic on the fly.”

He’s nodding along, but he has his arms crossed, and the way that he’s tapping his foot impatiently tells me that I haven’t yet convinced him.

“Do you want a guy like Grayson following you home? Because I sure don’t,” I add for maximum effect. And it seems to work.

“Good point,” he finally concedes, sighing and stilling all his restless parts as he thinks. “But maybe you should call the Tian guy and see if he’s got anything in the works yet. Standing around sitting on our thumbs isn’t how we get results.”

“You can’t be both standing and sitting,” Bruno points out, laughing.

But I don’t stick around to find out what Nolan has to say to that because I’m already following his advice. Normally I’d be hesitant to pester someone like Tian, especially this early in the morning, but in this case, I’ll pester whoever it takes however much I need to. I’ve got my phone out with my thumb hovering over the icon that will dial Tian for me when I hear a rustling behind me and turn to investigate.

“No need,” an unfamiliar woman tells me, smiling welcomingly as she approaches.

And if it wasn’t for the symbol embroidered into the breast of her dress, she’d have been dead before she even took her first step in my direction. It’s not a great idea to suddenly appear without warning when you’re dealing with someone like me, but I can see that she’s from The Council, so I let her live.

“My name is Willow,” she introduces herself in her sweet, lilted voice, “and Tian sent me. He’s also who told me where to find you, in case you were wondering.”

“I was, though I wasn’t all that concerned since you’re wearing that,” I answer her, gesturing to the symbol on what I assume is some sort of Council uniform. “And considering that we’re in Black Moon territory, this isn’t exactly a secret location. But for future reference, when in doubt, it still might be safer to just use the front door when you’re meeting with mercs.”

“Fair enough,” she chuckles, nodding her agreement and still giving me that warm, radiant smile.

She strikes me as out of place. She’s too happy and sweet to be here with us, and my instinct is to wonder what in the heck Tian was even thinking sending this specific woman. This job is going to eat her alive and maybe even taint her inherent goodness. She’s about to come face-to-face with a whole lot of the darker side of magic, and maybe even battle a caster whose dark essence will make her want to retch.

But now that she’s close enough, I can sense more of the passive humming and crackling of her magic, and I can tell that she’s quite a powerful witch. Plus, she’s from The Council and comes recommended by Tian, who knows and cares about the stakes of this mission as well as I do. She wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think that she could handle it. She might turn out to be just who we need for this.

And she’s not Anya, which is another important qualification. We need someone who isn’t immediately going to be linked back to Tian or Kylie, and Anya is well-known to be tight with them. Because implicating Tian means implicating Bria, and implicating Kylie could mean war with some faction or another that’s claimed up a piece of Vegas and might take offense to her meddling with anything they’d consider not her business. I mean, it’s her daughter we’re after, but Kylie doesn’t want that part to become public knowledge, and neither do I.

“You gonna introduce us to your friend, Doc?” Bruno asks, calling out from where I left the guys huddled around the desk in my bedroom.

Doc is what he and the rest of his team like to call me, a relic from years ago when I made the mistake of admitting to them that I once had ambitions of becoming a doctor and had even started a university pre-med program before turning mercenary. And now I’m Doc because as with any other tragic nickname that tends to stick, you don’t need any specific qualifications to be called whatever people feel like calling you. Doc is admittedly better than some of the other names I’ve been known by, though.

“Uh, yeah. So, this is Willow, a gift from Tian,” I answer him, turning back to make sure that she’s following me into the bedroom. She is. “She’s from The Council, and though I don’t know much about her, I can promise you that she’s a very powerful witch.”

“Perfect,” Nolan says sarcastically, glancing up for only a moment to take her in before returning his attention to the old blueprints spread out on my desk. “So, I guess that means we can move on, finally.”

“You don’t even want to know about my qualifications or my thoughts on the issue?” Willow asks, tucking away all hints of the sweet, smiling woman she was in the other room.

Now, she’s all business with a hint of cold callousness creeping in. Interesting.

“No,” he answers flatly, dismissing her before she’s even finished.

She gives him one of those looks that could kill, the ice daggers of her expression expertly sharpened and aimed straight at him.

“Or hear about how I’m one of the rare casters with the ability to scry?” she adds, smirking victoriously at his shocked expression.

Oh, well now, that is a welcome surprise. If she can scry on Grayson and figure out where he’s keeping Anna Jade, that will make things exponentially quicker and easier for us. Or even if she can’t give us an exact location, if she can give us a better idea of what to expect and what we’re up against, we’ll be able to plan and prepare better.

“Okay, I take it back. You have the floor,” Nolan offers, gesturing dramatically as if to invite her onto his imaginary stage. “So tell us, witch. How does this scrying ability of yours work?”

“Gladly,” she agrees, smiling at him icily.

I must admit that I’m a bit confused about why they seem so hostile toward each other already. I suppose they could have some history or something, though it would surprise me to learn that Nolan has ever had anything to do with a Council witch. Or any witch, for that matter. He’s notoriously prejudiced against casters, so it’s not really a shock that he doesn’t seem to like Willow, but what is a surprise is how the feeling seems to be mutual. She was so sweet at first.

“Well, first of all, I’d like to point out that I’m the best choice for this task because as it turns out, I’m the Council agent appointed to managing the supernatural populations of this region,” she begins, glancing around the room as she talks.

Then she starts casually strolling around, checking everything out as if she’s in no hurry. I think it’s meant to annoy Nolan, and it seems to be working, though I don’t know if I feel any better about it than him. I haven’t been in this house in years and most of the stuff here is Anna Jade’s, who for the record, is definitely my mate judging by the effect that her scent seems to have on me now. But it’s still my house, and I’m not sure that I appreciate Willow just showing up and inviting herself to snoop, especially since she’s depositing her scent everywhere she goes.

“And though I’d rather not be discovered working with the likes of you for something like this,” Willow goes on, pausing to pick up a book that seems to have caught her interest, “Should that happen, then there’s not much that anyone could do about it. I have a right to be there, and my position allows me access to wherever I feel is necessary. Though Alpha Miles and his esteemed colleagues are less than model supernatural citizens when it comes to compliance with The Council, they must acknowledge our authority if they wish to remain Council-sanctioned and continue enjoying the perks thereof.”

“That’s genius,” Bruno chimes in, grinning and nodding his head. “So, if we get caught, you can just flash your badge around, and boom. All that the Alpha pretty boy can do is growl and stomp around, but he’ll have to let us go.”

“Essentially, yes,” she agrees, smiling sweetly at him like she was with me a minute ago. “Though ideally, since he’s supposed to be working with you anyway, ‘Alpha pretty boy’ won’t give you any issues to begin with. It’s the other Alphas we have to worry about, not to mention Grayson himself, and whoever else might be involved.”

“True.”

“That’s all fine and well, but I want to hear more about the scrying,” Angel says, speaking for us all, I’d imagine.

“Me too,” Bruno agrees, “but more importantly, I’d like to hear more about why Nolan suddenly has a stick up his butt now that you’re here, when he was the one pushing us to hurry up and pick a witch already.”

A lot of people think Bruno is slow-witted, but they’d be wrong. He plays it off that way, but it’s a trap. He’s far more observant and insightful than people give him credit for, though he’s more than happy to let them keep on thinking whatever they like about him. That’s why he makes such a good spy. People relax and get comfortable around him when they shouldn’t.

“Nolan, dear, would you like to tell them?” Willow asks him with mock sweetness.

Yep, they definitely know each other. I've never heard that tone from a woman unless she really dislikes a guy, and to dislike him that much, first she'd need to know him.

“No, I wouldn’t,” he grits out, his shoulders tense as he refuses to look up from the desk.

“That’s alright. I’ll do it, for the sake of full disclosure,” Willow offers, turning to look directly at me. “He’s an ex of mine, though there’s been nothing between us for quite some time. It ended badly, and he left me to care for our daughter on my own. She’s nothing more than an ‘abomination’ to him, and if I recall correctly, he may have even orchestrated an attempt on her life at one point.”

There’s an audible gasp, I think from Bruno, and even Angel winces at that revelation, turning to look at Nolan accusatorily. He may be an assassin, but I think he also has a daughter of his own.

“But that’s all old water under the bridge, and I’m willing to put it aside so that we can work together if he is,” Willow offers, her gaze falling on Nolan now. “A girl’s life is at stake, and though he may not care much about that when it’s his own daughter, I know he has sense enough to care in this instance.”

“She’s leaving out a lot of important context,” Nolan insists angrily. “I had good reason to want the girl dead, and I didn’t know she was my own daughter. I didn’t even know I had a daughter until after.”

“Alright, well, that all sounds like a lot of personal drama that is none of our business,” I jump in, intending to end this ex-lovers’ spat before it goes too far and wastes more of our precious time.

Although it is interesting, and it’s something I’ll probably look more into later, after we get Anna Jade back. Whatever happened between them might be the reason why Nolan is the way he is about casters, and I’m curious about his daughter. I’m not going to hold it against him, though, at least not yet. Not until I know more about it and decide whether he really is the jerk Willow is trying to paint him as.

“If you think that working together is going to be a problem for you, then speak up now,” I add sternly. “Because once we’re in the city is not the time to be at each other’s throats, understand? If you commit to this job, then getting Anna Jade back is your priority. Everything else can wait.”

“You got it, Boss,” Nolan agrees, giving Willow a pointed look.

“Of course,” she agrees as well. “Tian is my friend, and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the Rivers girls and their families. I volunteered for this, for the record, and though I didn’t know then that Nolan was involved, I haven’t changed my mind now that I do. Whatever I can do to help, I will. You really should reconsider inviting my daughter, though. She’s not as powerful as me, but her unique mix of fox and witch is well-suited to situations like this, as you well know.”

What is she even talking about? Or I guess I should say who. But I don’t have to wonder long before it hits me, the horror of what she’s implying sinking in when it does.

Phoebe. She’s hinting at Phoebe being her daughter, which would make Nolan … oh man. The quicksand of their personal drama just got deep, and now it’s sucking me in too. The timing for this couldn’t be worse.

“Did you know, Nolan?” I question him, doing my best to hold back the brunt of the emotions hitting me all at once. “Did you know it was her, but said nothing even though Bruno hasn’t shut up about her since yesterday?”

“Yes,” he admits, though I can tell that it pains him to do so. “I didn’t know who she really was until she started causing trouble for me and my company, I’m guessing because her mother made a point of filling her head with lies about me all her life and never bothered to tell her that I didn’t even know she existed. I never rejected her outright, okay? I couldn’t reject something that I didn’t even know about.”

He sighs, pausing to shake his head and glare at Willow. She shakes her head right back at him and takes up a defensive pose, crossing her arms and giving him an annoyed look.

“I hired Raven to take her out because she was bad for business, but I didn’t know who she was then,” he continues. “I’m glad you were there to sink a blade between his eyes when he came for her, and I’m grateful for all the years that you took her under your wing, but I’m not stupid enough to think that she hasn’t filled your head with all kinds of lies about what a bad guy her father is. If I had admitted that it was me, I know what would have happened. I’d be laid out just like Raven, even if you’re not close with her anymore. That’s just the kind of guy you are, and I appreciate it when I’m on the right side of things. Loyalty like that is rare, and it can’t be bought.”

I don’t have anything to say to either of them for a bit, probably for far longer than we should be wasting on this. Every second that passes is another second that Anna Jade spends under Grayson’s control, and now it’s my fault. I shouldn’t be allowing stuff like this to get to me and get in our way.

But it does get to me. He’s right that Phoebe has told me all about her dad. And I mean, the day that we met it was because she was fleeing from Raven, a notorious and renowned assassin who was hot on her heels, and the two of them ended up storming right into the middle of one of my crew’s high-profile jobs. It could have been a mess, but I just grabbed Phoebe, eliminated Raven, and told the girl to be quiet and not get in the way while we finished what we came to do. She ended up helping, and though there was fallout from the whole mess with Raven, I decided it was better if Phoebe was with us instead of off on her own while we cleaned that up.

When it was over, she wanted to stay. She even convinced me to hire her. And admittedly, she turned out to be a valuable member of our team. Though not a powerful caster, she was a clever one. Creative even. She even designed her own unique spells to help make our lives and our work a whole lot easier on us all.

“If no one else is gonna say it, then let me be the one,” Angel says suddenly, cutting through the tense silence. “Nolan, you and your witch need to reel all this drama in, like now. No more sob stories, no more excuses. We have a job to do, so let’s do it already, yeah?”

“Here, here,” Bruno agrees, raising a celebratory fist in the air.

“But also,” Angel continues, locking eyes with me, “You need to knock it off with your drama too. Phoebe is in. We need her mom’s power, but we need Phoebe’s skills and experience. Bruno’s been right about that this whole time.”

“Oh great,” Nolan mutters under his breath, but we ignore him.

“Are we all agreed?” Angel asks, turning and looking at each of us in turn.

Once we’ve all assented, either with a nod, a smile in Willow’s case, or with an enthusiastic hoot for Bruno, Angel gives a final, definitive nod of his own and strides over to the desk to pick up one of the blueprints.

“Good. Then let’s do this already.”