Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

48. The Waiting Game: Grayson

Now we wait. I think I hate this part the most, not that I’ve enjoyed any part of holding an innocent young hybrid hostage. But this part seems especially torturous.

I’ve done all I can to ensure that Enrique dies today, and I’ve done what I can to keep Alpha Miles safe from whatever backlash there may be, and hopefully saved my own ass in the process. I didn’t get to pick this location, and to my dismay, there isn’t much to work with here, but at least the criminals that Alpha Miles hired to take Anna Jade off my hands seemed professional enough, and they delivered in all the ways I asked for.

The girl is gone, the key to her collar is with them, I got the information I needed, and they made sure to leave plenty of their scents behind for Anna Jade’s “rescuers” to discover.

Alpha Miles paid extra for that last bit. His hired thugs agreed to leave a trail that will lead the other group of miscreants, last spotted in my residential quarters down in the tunnels searching through my things, right to them. They didn’t seem worried in the least that there will undoubtedly be some sort of hostile encounter between the two groups in the near future, and in fact, I would even say that they seemed eager for it. Blood thirsty, maybe.

The bitter-scented fox who seemed to be the second-in-command insisted on scrawling out a note on the pad left atop the nightstand in “my” motel room for the other crew to find. I couldn’t resist the urge to read it, my curiosity getting the better of me since this extra little touch was not something I asked for, so I already know that it says:

-

Petey Boy,

Be sure and remind your Alpha lover that debts owed must always be repaid, and she doesn’t get a say in how we go about collecting when she decides to meddle in our business. The next debt we plan to collect is yours, so I’d think twice about coming after the girl if I was you.

Just a little heads up from your old friend,

Maverick

-

It is a nice touch, I have to say, and I can’t help wondering what sort of bad blood already exists between the factions that I seem to have inadvertently pulled together. I doubt that Alpha Miles was aware of any of this either, and I can’t believe my luck that he blindly managed to hire the exact crew we needed for this sort of a result. I was worried that my cover story wouldn’t sell well enough for me to make it through this without having to abandon my home and go on the run again, but this almost gives me hope.

It's still worth it either way as long as Enrique is removed from the equation, but I’d prefer to go home when all is said and done. Now, all I have left to do is convince the criminals that are surely about to follow me here that Anna Jade disappearing from my custody was not my doing.

But first I had to give them a trail to follow. They have a witch with them, of course, and judging by the evidence that she left behind in the tunnels, she’s a powerful one. Probably Council-trained. She should be able to track my magical essence, although the unique elements of it that come from the vampiric power that fuels it tend to confuse most pure casters a bit. Not enough to reveal my vampiric nature, but enough to make tasks that should be easy a bit more challenging, so I know I can’t rely on her to lead them here before the scents left behind in my room start to fade.

The thugs who took Anna Jade from me seemed to think that I should try discreetly revealing myself to one of the only two working cameras in this whole place, because of something about them being digital with feeds that are easy to hack into, and I took that advice, even if it did come from some sort of abominable hybrid shifter. There was an unsettling aura of electrical energy emanating from him that made me feel a bit like I was standing in a cloud of static electricity that could shock me at any moment, so my guess would be that he’s part-warlock and cursed with electrokinesis as his primary talent.

I’m glad to be rid of him most of all. I don’t think he was any actual threat to me, but I hate the feeling of being supercharged like that. I spent too many years having electrical currents forcibly pushed through my body to have any appreciation left for that particular ability, though I’m sure it comes in handy in his line of work. Electronics likely don’t stand a chance against him, and he probably is some sort of expert on cameras and video feeds.

Which is the only reason that I chanced going out in the direct daytime sunlight, when normally I’d just teleport my way around to avoid it. I’m lucky to be able to use my magic to help lessen the sun’s effects, but it’s still rather unpleasant to deal with, and every second that I have to sustain a spell like that drains my vampiric power and speeds up the time until I’ll need to feed again. Blood is a finite resource that’s difficult and risky to come by when you’re someone like me, and I refuse to live like the monster my creator forced me to become.

But knowing that the outside camera pointed at a patch of pavement in the sunlight was also my best chance at having my face captured clearly enough to be spotted by the mercenaries who certainly must be hunting me by now, I sucked up the burden and took the risk. I couldn’t think of a reason to even make the trip over there at first, not until I realized that wherever the cameras feed to must be located over there in the office. If I’m to play the part of an abductor who has just returned from running an important errand to find his abductee missing, then the surveillance videos would be the first place to look. I’m not a hacker, so I had to do it the old-fashioned way, in person.

Drat, as it turned out, this place only has the two working cameras, neither of which was pointed at the door of my room or seemed to pick up any suspicious activity involving a woman-shaped bundle while I was out, so it was a dead end. Of course, I already knew that, thanks to Electro-freak, but I figure it makes for a decent enough cover story. At least I hope so.

I made sure to wear a jacket with the hood pulled up for most of my outing, which helped lessen the sun exposure, but I did “accidentally” forget to put the hood back up in time to evade the notice of the camera outside the office here on my way back. Oops. How terribly sloppy of me.

Now, all that’s left to do is wait and hope that it doesn’t take Crime-Team Two much longer to find me. Every second that ticks away makes my story seem that much less believable.

Oh. But now I’ve just realized that I might be able to get away with not even being here to meet them when they arrive. It doesn’t make much sense for the evil villain to wait around for the heroes to show up just to tell them that he screwed up and lost his only bargaining chip, now does it? No, that would be too risky, even if it was the plan that I stupidly agreed to when Alpha Miles proposed it, and even if it might be my last chance to recover that sketchbook. I've already written that book off as a loss, anyway.

Instead, I can leave a note of my own behind to explain, and if my assumptions about this particular team of criminals-turned-heroes are correct, then they’ll choose to pursue Anna Jade’s trail instead of mine. At least for now, which should give me some time to pack up and move on.

My house is still here, so I’ll be back eventually, but it’s probably best if I disappear until Anna Jade has been returned to her family and they can all forget about their grudge against little old me. Alpha Miles will just have to be persuaded to sympathize with my predicament and allow me to continue my work remotely.