Page 59 of Bound

I shook my head. “We’re down to four days.”

Phoenix’s phone buzzed. He frowned at the incoming text, then pocketed it. “You really can’t get the Council to step in? Even if Guillermo won’t agree to the meet, if someone would talk with Vlad in private, maybe that would be enough to placate him.”

Topher shook his head. “Vlad’s no idiot. This is the only card he has to play. He’s being hunted and his death would be far more valuable to the Vampire Nation than mine or Kieran’s.”

London dug into her fast-food bag, extracting a sack of French fries. “Vlad, they definitely want dead,” she agreed. “It’s you and Kieran we’re less sure about.”

Topher leveled her with a look. “Come again?”

“My sources have been working on this for months. We have reason to believe that repeated exposure to vampire blood through forced feedings serves as a catalyst for biological changes in a small subgroup of shapeshifters with certain genetic markers. They become sensitized to vampire movements. One became briefly over sensitized to light.” She paused, waiting until the group of college students went inside. “And in one case, nearly two decades ago, a werewolf was able to sire young with a vampire.”

“A male werewolf and a female vampire? Thought the only way they were able to breed varewolves was by using female shapeshifters with male vampires as the sires.”

“Until recently, no one was aware vampires and werewolves could reproduce at all,” Phoenix pointed out.

“From what my sources tell me, he’s a Tracer now with the Pacific Coastal Pack.” London popped a French fry in her mouth and nodded to Topher. “Maybe the only other person out there like you who can ID undeads. You can see the advantages of using female vampires to carry the pregnancies to term. If they’re having difficulty getting the dosing right for female shifters on Eclipse, maybe the biology is easier in the reverse.”

“Who would turn their child over to be used as a blood source?” I said.

“Make no mistake, Zara is very, very good at what she does,” Phoenix said thoughtfully. “Those who would brand her a brutal power monger with no nuance fail to take into account that vampire society respects strength above all else. Vlad has gained traction not because he’s charismatic, but because he so brazenly defied her. And has defied capture this long.”

“The vampires don’t naturally form packs the way shifters do,” London said. “They’re a highly isolationist society, and yet Zara has managed to take control of most of the southwestern United States. She’ll announce that the mothers and any varewolf children will be elevated to a higher position within the coven, given special privileges, not quite to the level of the upper castes, but definitely above where the lower caste is now.”

“No one’s gonna go for that,” Topher pointed out. “And the Vampire Nation is xenophobic as hell.”

“It’s an unthinkable choice,” I agreed. “And one would have to be a fool to trust Zara.”

London shook her head. “We’re framing this all wrong. The lower caste is taught from birth that they have no power, that the only way to secure protection and shelter for their loved ones is to be sent out to fight over and over, until one day they fail to come home. They understand from an early age that ALDD is a risk, that the Vampire Nation will discard them the moment their usefulness is up, and that this is the price they must pay to ensure their parents and younger siblings aren’t turned out into the sun. You can turn your nose up at a gilded cage. I can’t fault a drowning man for clinging to any available lifeboat. They’ve been victimized by the Vampire Nation far more than any of us.”

“That could work in our favor.” Phoenix’s phone buzzed again. Checking the message, he cursed. “Sorry. Fight back at the compound. I have to take care of this.”

“The life of a Beta is never boring.” London swirled her cherry limeade. “Call me. There are things we should discuss.”

When Phoenix’s taillights had disappeared at the bend in the road where the lights of downtown Austin glowed in the distance, Topher shook his head. “Something’s off there, and I can’t put my finger on what.”

London crumpled her fast-food bag and pitched it into a trash can. “This time of year is always hard on him. West, you remember it was three years ago that he lost his brother?”

I groaned. “Shit, how did I forget that? He was part of that Tracer team that got hit trying to take out a nest of undeads.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it.” London’s voice grew weary. “I can’t blame him for being bitter, after what the feds did that day. Only one person managed to get out. All the rest, vampire and shifter, were slaughtered. Phoenix is the youngest in his line. His sister married off into another pack. His brother Orion joined the Tracers after Vlad outed us to the world because he believed he could make a difference, that we would need protection in the coming war with humans. Now he’s dead and Phoenix is the only one left in a family with considerable wealth and influence within the North Austin pack.”

Topher said in a low voice, “If the genetic marker that makes me able to sense vamps means I would be able to sire varewolves, that means Kieran has it, too.”

“That’s what they’re banking on.”

“The Vampire Nation isn’t going to give him up.”

“No,” London agreed. “Which means we have to go in and get him, and for that we need Vlad.”

“Vlad won’t talk to us without Guillermo.”

“Phoenix is right on that account. Find something else Vlad wants badly enough that he’ll accept it in trade.” Standing, London pulled a white paper sack from her messenger bag. “These are for Major.”

I sniffed at the bag and got a whiff of lamb. London rolled her eyes, shoving her hands into her hoodie pockets as she headed for the street.

“They’re organic dog treats from a shop on South Congress. Tell Brody to stop icing me out.”

“Pretty sure that has something to do with the royal fluffy one’s recent manicure,” I called as she disappeared into the dark.