As the door clanked shut Reasa sagged against the wall as Michael locked it. Christ, the vampire had been strong, forcing her to use her abilities at such a high level that she’d been fighting to maintain it at the end of their brief meeting.
She pressed a shaky hand against her stomach as she tried to gather herself, accepting Michael’s arm as they moved silently up the stone steps into the kitchen of the cottage they were renting. Bruce quirked an eyebrow at her pallor and went to rise from the table but she shooed him down and lowered herself into another of the wooden chairs around the table.
“I’m fine,” she reassured them, accepting the glass of water Michael handed her before he sat down beside Bruce. “His mental shields were some of the strongest I’ve encountered. Even with the damage to his body, I had to fight to slip inside unnoticed.”
When she’d first seen what they’d done to the male she’d been ready to berate them for their overzealousness, now she was thankful for it. If Pietro had been in more control, there would have been slim to no chance of her breaching his shields unnoticed and she’d have had to force her way in. It would have fried his brain.
She was under no illusions the vampire would not leave the cottage alive but that didn’t mean she wanted his death to be at her hands. That was why Michael and Bruce were here. It was their job to clean up the mess and hers to gain the information before they did so.
Getting into a vampire’s mind was generally judged as impossible to do without destroying their personality. Reasa could and did regularly invade vampiric minds, utilising her skill for her coven leader as directed. She wasn’t completely happy with this current assignment though.
Why Louis had agreed to this was a mystery to her. He didn’t usually get involved in the politics of their kind and she knew he even had some respect for a few of their overseas brethren. Maybe he was genuinely concerned about the hybrid children and what it meant for their species.
That was the only part of this mission Reasa did agree with. She’d had no major issues when she’d heard about the matings but producing abominations was something she just couldn’t tolerate. If they had just stayed barren everything would have been fine. Maybe Louis felt the same way?
What made her so uncomfortable about her task was the need to hurt a fellow vampire. Sure, discipline was required within a coven and in extreme circumstances like a vampire crossing over, then death was the only solution. But to harm their own kind for no good reason didn’t sit well with her.
And that was going to be inevitable. The stateside vampires and Weres weren’t going to surrender their young to be put down like the animals they were. There would be some casualties but she lived in hope she could do what she needed without having to take out her people as collateral damage.
“So what did you learn?” Michael interrupted her thoughts and she pulled herself together enough to report.
“A name… someone called Mac. He’s expecting him to arrive soon and was worried about him walking into a trap. His thoughts were hazy but I got the impression that they’ve set up some kind of elite guard to protect the hybrids. I’m not going to get anything further from him so I think it’s best if we wait for this Mac to arrive and see if we can learn anything from him.”
“Should we kill the vampire?” Bruce asked, his eyes shining with excitement at the prospect. He was looking forward to killing Pietro. His superior attitude had been driving him insane for months now. It would be satisfying for him to be the one having the last laugh over the smug bastard.
“No, we need him alive until his friend arrives,” Reasa sighed, thankful for being the one in charge but knowing she’d regret that position fairly soon. For the moment she could keep Pietro alive.
Given his injuries she didn’t know if he would class that as a blessing or a curse. A part of her hoped he counted it as a blessing. As long as he was alive he’d have hope of escaping. Maybe he’d even manage to achieve it and she could be spared the final decision on his fate.
It was stupid to think that way and she knew it. Sometimes hard decisions had to be made and a true leader made them despite having to hate themselves afterwards. “Give him some blood. He’s dangerously low and it may ignite his healing process a bit. If things continue as they are, he’ll be dead within the day.”
“He’s dead anyway, Reasa,” Michael snorted. “The poison is eating his internal organs. No amount of blood is going to stop that from happening. We had no idea how potent the stuff was.”
The excuse was pathetic. The formula for Amort was a closely guarded secret known only to a handful of coven leaders. She only knew how to make it because Louis hadn’t had any on hand and he’d had to give her the ingredients to mix it.
Amort didn’t play favourites… it targeted all vampires, so keeping knowledge of it out of the public domain was crucial. Still, Louis had been adamant of the dosage to use and she’d reiterated that information to the two males before she left them.
Reasa’s mental fatigue made her lose control and she glared at the two males in front of her. Pietro was right… hire monkeys and you had to put up with their failings. She’d be having a word with Louis about these two.
“You mean you were both such cowards you overdosed him because he scared you witless,” she corrected him icily. “Louis told you two drops would be sufficient. He is your coven leader and you disobeyed him. How many drops did you give Pietro?”
Michael at least had the grace to look away. He wasn’t pleased about being called to account but he didn’t argue with the chain of command. Maybe there was some hope for him after all.
Bruce was unrepentant. “I gave him five,” he admitted. “I hate that smug bastard. I’m glad he’s suffering.”
“I’ll be sure to inform Louis of how well you obeyed him,” Reasa snapped secretly appalled at how the vampire in the basement must be suffering. An extra drop would have been bad enough but more than a double dose?
Bruce frowned and started to look less sure of himself. Their coven leader could be brutal when angered though he was generally fair in most instances. “Come on, Reasa. He’s the bloody enemy.”
“The abominations are the enemy!” She was shrieking now, the two males wincing as her shields cracked and she began projecting her emotions. “Louis hasn’t even openly declared his intent to join with the other covens. Until such time as he gives that order this was an intelligence gathering mission which has already gone to shit and will lead to the death of one of our kind possibly two.”