Shakedown

Luna Adrienne’s POV

I came back down from my room with my travel bag, which contained enough for an overnight and the plane rides. “I need to talk to Alphas and parents, alone,” I told everyone in the room. “Everyone else, take a twenty-minute break.”

Alpha Stephen, Alpha Nicholas, Beta Brent, Beta Olivia, Beta Jack, and Beta Kaia stayed in the room. I waited until the door closed, then handed Alpha Stephen a flash drive. “If I don’t return after two days, call a meeting of the North American Alphas and play this.”

“What is it?”

“A video statement from Colleen with what she found at the kidnap site, and why I believe the Vampires are behind their disappearance. I can’t tell the Council or the Packs what to do, but I will tell my friends and allies one thing. If I don’t return, we are already at war with the Vampire Nation.”

“Where are you going that I need this before you leave,” Steven asked.

“New Orleans. I need to confront Supreme Master Pontalba about the kidnappings. If he is involved, I’m going to kill him.”

They all looked at me, hoping that I was joking, but I wasn’t. “You’re serious,” Jack finally said.

“As a heart attack,” I said. “If Cyprian is involved, the entire Vampire Nation is our enemy. I’ll gladly sacrifice myself to cut the head off of the enemy organization.”

“You don’t have to do this, Adrienne. Do you know what Leo will do if you die?”

I slowly nodded. “I’ve spoken about it with Leo. He will kill as many as he can before they take him down.”

“By the Goddess, I hope he’s innocent,” Steven said. “This situation is beyond explosive; it’s global thermonuclear war. We could have open warfare between wolves and vamps! Nothing would ever be the same.”

Nicholas stood up, moving between me and the door. “You need to lead your Pack while Leo is out there, Luna. I’m the one who should be going to confront Cyprian.”

“You? Why?”

“It’s my mate who is missing; no offense, because I know Vicki loves you like she does her mother, but she is MINE.”

“I have met Cyprian before, and I was part of previous negotiations,” I countered.

“Yes, but I was part of the negotiations with Master Allesandro in Australia, the negotiation done at the behest of Master Cyprian to create a new model of cooperation. I still believe Master Allesandro was sincere, and that is why I believe Master Cyprian isn’t involved. Logically, he has nothing to gain from open warfare with werewolves. I believe the Master will be shocked to hear our suspicions about Master Vespucci.”

“And if he’s involved?”

“If he is, it’s better for me to kill him, Aunt Adrienne.”

“It can’t be better! Vicki needs you, Nicholas! You’re young and have your whole lives ahead of you!”

“Back up a little and look at it from the outside, Luna. You aren’t just Vicki’s aunt; you’re Luna of a Pack in the Midwest Region, subject to Council laws, and bound by the treaty between werewolves and vampires. Me? I’m a wild card. I’m not a member of any Council, I’m not signatory to any treaty, and I have no history with Master Cyprian. If things go bad, the Werewolf Council can write it off to a crazed mate who blamed Cyprian for Vicki’s disappearance. You can recover from that short of all-out war. If YOU kill him, you pull them all in with you.”

I sat down, thinking about what he said. He was right, dammit. “Can you do this?”

“I didn’t fly all the way here to fuck spiders,” Nicholas said. “If those bloodsuckers have Vicki, I’ll find out. You’re right; we’ve got nothing to go on and no idea where the girls are. If I can shake loose a lead, it’s all worth it.”

I stood up and looked in the eyes of the man my niece was mated with, and thanked Luna for giving her a good match. He was young, but he’d walk through Hell with a jerrycan of gasoline to rescue his mate. You had to respect that. “Together,” I said. “I’ll make the appointment, you go in, and I’ll back you up.” I held out my hand to him, and he shook it firmly.

“There is no way I’m letting two Alphas go to New Orleans without backup,” Alpha Steven said.

“We need people who can handle a sword,” I said. “We won’t be able to get enough wolves in the building to take them down that way.”

“Hammer will go,” Nicholas said. “He loves those girls, and he’s got more combat experience than anyone.”

“I’ll go as well,” Brent said. “Ever since Vicki started dealing with the Vamps, Alpha Leo has had our warriors training with swords and machetes.”

I looked around the room; my solo tour was now a small band, but I understood the reasoning.

We bought the plane tickets, and thirty minutes later, the four of us were on the way to the airport. “When are you going to tell Cyprian we are coming,” Nicholas asked.

“We’re not. You’re going to show up with an introductory letter from me. We’ll be a block or two away,” I said.

“How are you going to get in there? I heard you talk about the defenses at the vampire compound,” Brent said.

“That’s my problem,” Hammer said. “I know a few people, and I can get ahold of some things that aren’t street-legal. I’m going to spend a little bit of Adrienne’s cash when we get there.”

I could just imagine what Hammer had in mind. I knew he joined the SEALs so he could blow shit up, and that hadn’t gone away with time. We caught our afternoon flight, landing in New Orleans just after dinnertime. Our driver, the mate of a Pack Warrior in Mexico with us, had arrived an hour earlier and procured a rental Suburban. She also brought along gold coins and bearer bonds, the untraceable funds we’d need to purchase what we needed.

Using GPS, she drove us to a pier, stopping in front of the gate. “I have to take it from here,” Hammer said. “Go pick up something for dinner, and be back here in an hour.”

We found a seafood house and sat in the car, eating shrimp po’boys while waiting for the hour to be up. When we returned, Hammer was standing next to a few wooden cases and a bunch of bags. I rolled down my window. “Did you get everything on your Christmas list?”

“And then some,” he said. Hammer and Brent quickly loaded the gear in the back, and we drove off. Hammer spotted a shut-down gas station and had her pull us around behind it. We all got out, and Hammer opened the door. “There will be metal detectors when you go in, meaning we can’t use standard weapons. Add to it that guns will piss them off instead of killing them, and our options are limited. Nicholas, take off your shirt and pants.”

He tossed them on the seat as he stripped down. Hammer pulled a machete from the case, held in a canvas scabbard. “Won’t that show up on the metal detector?” Nicholas raised his eyebrow as he looked at the two-foot-long weapon.

“It’s made of an advanced ceramic. Razor-sharp edge, not good if you hit with the flat of it.” He used wide medical-style cloth tape to secure the scabbard to his back, where the handle would rest just below his shirt’s collar. “Reach back and pull that out. I left the bottom loose, so it’s more comfortable and easier to draw.”

Nicholas pulled it out, the white ceramic gleaming in the dim light. “Good,” he said. Getting it back in was more of a challenge. “If you pull it out, you’ll either be dead, or you’ll drop it before you leave. The cloth tape on the handle won’t hold fingerprints.” He quickly attached two smaller knives, one to his left forearm and one to his right calf. The blades on these were about ten inches long.

“Do I get the same?”

“Yes,” Hammer said. I pulled my dress off, and he attached a shorter knife, more like a Gurkha blade, between my shoulder blades and under my bra strap. I had another knife hanging from a chain around my neck, the sheath between my breasts where I could pull down to draw the blade. The last knife I attached to my left thigh.

“What about you two,” I asked as I pulled my dress back on.

He tossed Brent one of the bags. It only took them a few minutes for the two to dress in the matte-black combat armor with the helmets. Semi-automatic combat shotguns were last out. “Shouldn’t you be using rifles,” Nicholas asked.

“The shotguns do more damage in a short time,” I replied. “It won’t kill them, but it will slow them down until they can use the swords.” The last item to come out of the bags was a pair of Katanas, which they put in the back seat on the floor. “What else did you buy?”

Hammer smiled. “Rockets, satchel charges, and thermite grenades. If we have to fight our way in, I’ll make a new entrance.”

Of course, he would. I shared all I knew about Master Pontalba’s hideout; I hadn’t seen much. We used a satellite view of the buildings on my tablet. I drew the hallways to Cyprian’s office, the cameras, and the guard posts I’d seen as we drove towards Bourbon Street.

We stopped two blocks away, and I handed Nicholas the introductory letter. “If you can’t get in, call me,” I told him.

“I got this, Aunt Adrienne,” he said. He stepped out of the SUV, adjusted his suit, and walked towards Supreme Vampire Pontalba’s headquarters.