“You know what. Be there,” he replied. As he walked back to their parents, she made a face and repeated his words in a mocking tone.
“Wow, that’s mature of you,” James told her and she sent him a smile.
“When did I ever say I was mature James Lacrosse,” she told him. He laughed and shook his head at her. “I’ll head over to the meeting hall in a second I want to make sure Qin Xuan here lays down and maybe check in on Chris,” she told him and James gave her a nod before joining Tony.
Lily nearly fell asleep during the super urgent meeting. Basically Tony started listening what she was trying to tell him for a while. He had pulled his enforcers back during night patrols. Only those who wore charms would be out and then only in pairs. If a vampire was spotted, they were to report only and not to confront. The idea was to locate them then attack during the day. All of that Lily had wanted to tell Tony if he had only listened.
But it didn’t matter she thought to herself as she sat down in the cheap chair exhausted. He was listening to her now and that was what was important. Lily was back in the medical wing now that the meeting was over. She didn’t want to leave till she saw Chris open his eyes and prove to her that he was alright. James had gone to get Greg from his house. He didn’t show up at the meeting.
Probably lost himself in WoW again, Lily thought amused. She slumped into the chair, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair with her fist supporting her head at the temple. She wasn’t sure how long before she was woken up by hushed voices. Lily sighed irritably, still feeling exhausted and adjusted her posture to the other side. “Shh, you’ll wake Lily. She can’t know about this,” someone hissed at the other. It sounded like Liz.
Now completely awake, Lily did her best to maintain the appearance that she was asleep so they would keep talking. “What do you mean she can’t know? She has a right to know,” the other shot back. Lily wasn’t sure but it she thought it was Harley.
“You haven’t seen Lily pissed Harley,” Liz told her in a harsh whisper. “And when she hears about this I don’t know what will happen. I’m barely managing to stay in control. Lily’s got a beast just like James. Can you imagine what might happen if she lost it?” Lily’s stomach tightened with dread. Something bad had happened.
“I get that Liz, I do, but her son is one of the missing children too,” Harley whispered and Lily shot from her chair.
“What? What happened to the children? Where is A. J.?” she demanded. Liz glared at Harley, who seemed to shrink in on herself. Both women looked like they’d been crying. Harley looked pale and almost fragile. Liz looked pale too but had a wild look in her eyes that whispered of a dangerous lack of self-control.
“While most everyone was at the meeting the vampires struck again,” Liz said, her voice trembling with either sorrow or fury or probably both. “They hit your parents’ house. Sandy fought them off while she could, but there were too many. When she regained consciousness all the children, there were gone. Matt, Eliza, A. J., and five other children your mom had been watching…”
James knocked on the faded blue door, leaning against the house as he waited for Greg to answer. He lifted his hand to knock again when the door finally opened. Greg peeked from the partially opened door. At first, he looked surprised to see James then his face fell into a blank stare. “James, I’m glad you came,” he said with a dull voice but opened the door wide for James to come in. James frowned as he walking into the house.
“Greg, are you alright,” he asked, looking around the room then back to the other wolf. Greg closed the door then faced James, the emotionless expression still on his face.
“No, I’m not but it’s you that you should be worried about,” he said and before James had a chance to react the omega wolf slammed a fist into his face, hitting him square in the jaw. His head jerked back and he stumbled backward. Greg leaped onto James and something sharp stabbed him in the neck before he managed to throw Greg off of him.
“What the hell Greg? What did you just stick in me,” he demanded, noticing an empty syringe now laying on the ground. He growled, furious and started towards the other but quickly his vision blurred again and his head grew heavy with sluggish thoughts. He shook his head as he fell to his knees and tried to focus but as much as he commanded himself to get up and get out of there, his body shut down and everything faded to black.
The sound of water dripping to splash onto something, maybe the ground, was the first thing James took note of when he started to regain consciousness. His head hurt and felt so heavy that he could lift it up. His throat was parched and felt like it was full of cotton. He’d settle for just opening his eyes, but so far even that menial task seemed beyond his capacity at the moment. He groaned, continuing to try and push and force his body to obey him properly when the pain of silver burned through the fogginess.
“So the little dog is awake,” a smooth Hispanic voice sneered and James instantly growled as he finally managed to lift his head and somewhat open his eyes. The vampire king stood before him with a smug expression as both hands rested on a cane. “You are lucky I need you or otherwise I would crush you for tainting my pet,” Silvano said a look of disgust crossing his face. James forced a harsh laugh from his throat ignoring how it irritated his dry throat.
“Yeah… because your last plan to kill me… went so well,” James shot back at him, his voice rough and strained. He almost didn’t recognize it as his. Silvano gave him a purely predatory smile, showing the full length of his fangs.
“Do you think that attack was to kill you?” The vampire asked and James hesitated for a brief moment then sneered back at the vampire. “That was simply a prueba… a test, Dog. You are stronger than I thought yes, but you then you killed your own didn’t you. So lost in your savagery that you didn’t even notice they were not your enemies,” he said, chuckling as if this simple fact alone amused him greatly.
“You lycanthropes think you are so much better than us. That your beating heart somehow makes you superior but it does not and you are not better,” he said, walking closer to James. “What you are is weak and predictable. Take your mate and your pups and you become nothing more than the raving animals that you are,” he said smugly. “How long do you think the pack will last without their pups?” He asked clearly enjoying himself now and James’ stomach tightened with fear. It couldn’t be, he told himself.
“I am sure they are half mad by now. But what about your precious mate? How will she react once she finds out that we have not only all of the children but her mate as well?” Silvano said, appearing thoughtful. James swallowed, wincing at the pain it caused him. As much as he hated to admit it, a werewolf could go mad and turn rogue easily if they lost their children and/or mate. He had no idea how this could affect Lily, especially if the pack starts to blame her.
James prayed that for once Lily was able to think like a human or even a vampire right now and that her werewolf instincts wouldn’t overpower her right now. “How long do you think it will before Lily comes begging to me to give her back the children and her mate?” Silvano asked but obviously didn’t expect an answer.
“She’ll never come to you begging. She’ll rip you apart,” James snarled at him then grinned at the vampire with a wolfish grin. “But not if I kill you first,” James threatened and Silvano tilted his head back in a boisterous laugh.
“Valiant but foolish,” the vampire said then turned towards another person standing there. James had to force himself to focus since he was sure he actually seeing what his eyes said he was. Greg stood there silently, his face and stance were slack, void of any emotion. “Come, Lycan,” Silvano ordered and Greg walked up to him like an obedient dog. “Go home, once you arrive you will be free of my persuasion and of your memories,” he told him.
Greg nodded blankly and turned to leave without once looking at James. That explained everything, he thought bitterly. Greg had fallen under the vampire king’s persuasion. He may have a beast like Lily and James but he was still an omega wolf and his will was impressionable. James moved his jaw side to side, it still stung from the punch. Greg may get physically sick just at the thought of hitting someone when he’s of his own free will but damn if the guy didn’t throw one hell of a punch!