“We do,” I answered as we followed her through the door. “Have you been in town long?”
“Three days,” she said. “I lost the bet. I thought you would show up yesterday. I should know better than to bet against Cyprian; he’s forgotten more than I know.” She led us through the building to Cyprian’s office. Two large vampires guarded the door, and one politely asked us to put our hands against the wall for a search.
“That won’t be necessary, Louis. They are my friends,” a familiar voice said from inside the room. I figured that since they knew everything else about us, they also knew we had knives and guns. They just didn’t care, which meant they weren’t worried about us doing any damage with them. I didn’t know whether that should make me relax or worry more.
Master Pontalba opened the large wooden door and walked straight to me. “Luna Adrienne, it is good to see you again,” Cyprian said as he took my hands in his. “I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances.”
“Life sometimes does not allow for that,” I said. “Are you and your people involved in Vicki’s abduction?” May as well get to the point.
“I did not authorize or direct the kidnapping, nor is it sanctioned by the Vampire Council. It is, however, vampires that are responsible for it.” I started to tremble as my wolf came forward; she wanted blood. “Please, come inside and talk. We have much to discuss.”
I followed him into the room, smiling as I saw Nicholas at the table with five other men. Hammer stayed by the door while Brent moved until he was standing behind me. Cyprian pulled out a seat at the end of the conference table for me, then walked around to his place at the other end. Nicholas was to my left, and Master Emily took the spot to my right. “Masters, may I introduce Luna Adrienne Volkov of the Miesville Pack in Minnesota. Luna Adrienne is a former Council Mediator and is Vicki Lawrence’s aunt.”
“Thank you for having us here today,” I said diplomatically.
“You already know Master Emily from Boston,” Cyprian said. “Next to her is Master Christopher Dauntless from Toronto, and Master Monique Robinson from Atlanta. On my right is Master Frank Bongino from Chicago.”
“And Master Vincenzo Milan from New York City, it is an unexpected pleasure to see you again,” I said to the last man. Vincenzo had helped us in Boston with cleaning up the Alexander problem.
“Luna,” he said with a small smile.
Master Cyprian sat down, and everyone looked at him. “First off, Adrienne, I owe you an apology. When Vicki disappeared, you called me for help, and I put you in touch with Master Vespucci. At the time, he was the vampire leader in the area who could respond the fastest. What I did not know was that he was part of the plot.”
My wolf rushed forward; she wanted blood. It was Brent who came up behind me, holding me in my chair as he talked my wolf down. “These people aren’t the ones you want between your teeth, Luna. We need to know what they know.”
He was right. “We’ve had our suspicions, but we didn’t know if we could trust you, Master Cyprian. After all, you had given us his name, and that implied you trusted him.”
“It does, and that was my mistake. The information Vespucci provided me about the case didn’t make sense, and your silence spoke volumes. We started checking into the Mexico City Coven, and what we found shocked us. Before we get into that, I’d like to hear from you why you were suspicious of Master Vespucci.”
I glanced at the other men, raising an eyebrow. “Can I speak freely?”
Cyprian nodded. “I’ll explain more later, but it isn’t just your Werewolf Council that has a split in it. Each of these Masters at the table, I trust to have my back. They are here to deal with the problem.”
It was time to put up or shut up. Did we trust these Masters with the truth? I looked at the other three werewolves, and each agreed I should continue. “Why don’t I show you?” I pulled the flash drive out of my pocket; one of Cyprian’s familiars took it and projected the video file I told her onto the screen. It took about ten minutes to watch Colleen’s summary of what she found at the scene. When it was over, I summarized what we’d done since then. “We don’t believe Lawrence Fenwick was the agent responsible for the kidnapping. Lawrence is a family friend, and I don’t believe he would be a part of this.”
“Couldn’t he be blackmailed or bribed into doing it,” asked Master Dauntless.
“His behavior did not suggest it,” I replied. “Leo spent days with his widow, and we believe he never left Jamaica. Colleen’s theory that the vampires planted his scent is the only one that makes sense to us. Vampires and werewolves both understand scent trails, and it’s telling that bleach was only used around the parking area. If you were trying to get away with it, you’d burn or bleach it all.”
“That makes sense,” Emily said. “If they planted Lawrence’s scent to frame him, then killed him so he wouldn’t talk, what is the long play?”
I leaned forward a little. “We believe the Vampires who did this are hoping to spark a war among the Werewolves. My mate’s reputation precedes him; by framing the Werewolf Council, they hope to trigger a war between Packs. That’s what Leo is busy doing.”
“You’re starting a werewolf war when the Council didn’t do it?” Cyprian was shocked at this.
“If the vampires don’t think the kidnapping is enough to start the war they want, they might kill the girls to push it along. We’d rather it appear their plan is working for now.” Cyprian and the others sat back, thinking about this. “Now, I’d like to know how you know Vespucci is involved.”
Emily looked at me, her hand moving over to cover mine. “It’s my fault,” she said. “Vicki helped me, and that is what kicked this all off.”