“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Zander jumped in. “We don’t know what or who he’s got with him. They could hurt Tristen as soon as they see us coming. In the end, they only really need her blood.”
Lily clenched and unclenched her jaw. “He’s got a point,” she, hesitantly, admitted.
“I should go,” Zander offered. “I know Vincent, and I don’t think he’d kill me on sight. He didn’t when I stopped him from getting Tristen the first time so I don’t know, maybe he sees me as some kind of protege or some shit like that.”
“No,” Nick said, moving his head side to side in a slow movement. “It’s too dangerous. Vincent has to know you’ve betrayed him by now. Look at what he did to your mother. There is no telling what he’d do to you.”
“No one will be able to get as close as I can,” Zander replied back, not looking pleased.
“No, I’m not going to put you at risk! Your mom has already lost too much and gone through too much,” Nick told him.
“Screw my mom,” Zander shot angrily. “Vincent has Tristen! He said he was going to break her neck when he got ahold of her again! We need to find her now! I’m the only one who might be able to get close enough without taking off running! It’s my fault she’s in this mess, and I have to get her out of it! I don’t care what it costs me!” The desperate crack in his voice made everyone fall silent. The guilt of it all was killing him.
Lily could see it as plain as day. “He’s got a point,” Lily said. “We can’t allow Vincent to run, Nick. If he runs, we’ll lose them, and Tristen is as good as dead. I think he’s right, Zander is probably the only one who can get near him without sending Vincent into a panic.”
Nick sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Lily, he’s just a kid.”
“No, he’s not,” James said, walking up to them. “He’s seen too much to just be a kid,” he told them. “Etienne’s done with Bonnie. The doc is looking at her now. As you can imagine, she’s not feeling too well. This is the road Bonnie took. There is a dirt road ten miles from the turn. Another three miles leads to a cabin where Vincent took Tristen from her.”
Lily sighed, relieved and feeling the first stirrings of hope fill her. “Great so all we have to do is go get the bastard,” she said, eager for blood.
“We should go during the day,” Bill said, joining them and Lord Etienne following them. “That will leave only the day time security to deal with.”
“No, we should scout during the day, but we strike at night,” Lord Etienne told them. “Vincent’s disobedience has gone on far enough. I will deal with him.”
“We’d be giving him the advantage? If we attack during the day we catch him off guard and weaker,” Lily shot back. Stupid vamps, with their foolish pride, she thought sourly.
“If we attack at night, we double our forces and Vincent Vincent knows he’s weak during the day and by now that you’ve taken out his people by a day attack. He’ll expect a daytime attack and will probably have humans crawling all over the place. You may have superior strength, but that means nothing if they’ve surrounded you. Vincent will ensure that humans will outnumber us ten to one,” the vampire replied cooly.
Lily opened her mouth to shoot back a reply then closed it. As much as she hated it, he had a point. “Alright, I see your point,” she told him petulantly. He had a point, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “So what, Nick? We scout and then attack?”
The ex-alpha crossed his massive arms over his chest as he looked at the map. “Sounds like a solid plan, but the scouting party needs to be small, three maybe four people tops.
“I’m going,” Zander said with a look that dared anyone to challenge him.
“And I’m going,” Lily jumped in.
“And me and Donovan,” Bill added.
Lily scowled, glaring at the older man and the fairy. She didn’t mind Donovan, but she didn’t want to go tromping around in the woods with daddy dearest.
“That sounds good to me. James?” Nick said, looking at him.
“Yeah, it’ll do,” he replied, giving Lily a sympathetic grin.
He probably knew she didn’t want her father there. James probably knew as well that there was no way they could stop him from coming along either. The vamp lord would want him there to be his eyes and ears.
“Then I’ll see you four at dawn,” Nick said, then waved Zander over towards him.
“Ready,” Lily said to James. When he nodded, she pulled on her coat, and they left the room.
“I would like to speak with you,” Lord Etienne said, following Lily and James outside.
“Oh joy,” she said bitterly. “What about?”
The vampire glanced over at James at her side then back to her. “Alone, if possible.”
“No, it’s not possible,” James said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Lily leaned against James and gave Etienne a smug smirk. “What he said,” she told him.
Looking more than a little irritated, Etienne sighed loudly. “Fine. I want to discuss your father with you,” he told her.
“Andrew? Why?” She asked, assuming he meant her biological father, but she wanted to make a point.
“Not the lycan, but William. You’re true father,” he replied.
“My true father? My true father is Andrew. He was the one that clothed me, fed me, and more importantly, was there when I needed him,” Lily growled back.
“Is that so? Where was he when his brother had bullied you and turned the pack against you?” The vampire shot back, but before Lily could utter a word he held up his hand. “Forgive me, I don’t want this to end in a slinging of insults to see who was the better father. I simply wish to speak with you about William. I don’t think he deserves your anger, Lily. Not if you knew the whole story,” he explained.
“The whole story? I know the whole story,” Lily snapped.
James laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure?” He asked, surprising her.
Lily huffed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll be nice. So oh great vampire lord, what is it you wish to tell me about my father?”
Lord Etienne wrinkled his nose at her. “You spit venom with the proficiency of a cobra,” he told her. “You believe that William abandoned you to search out his unworthy wife and in part you are correct. He did run off to find her after leaving you, but what he didn’t tell you is that after his incarceration I ordered him to return to Europe and at my side.”