Chapter 51

“A few of your associates?” Jo repeated, her feet not budging from the hallway as she continued to stare into what could only be described as a library or office full of Souled Vampires. Every single one of them was looking at her, amber eyes shining, as they took her in. Just as her intestines were on fire as the enemy sent her bloodstream ablaze, their natural reaction was to see her as the enemy, someone they needed to destroy.
“Yes,” Lucas said, his forehead crinkling as he looked at her, gauging her reaction. “Didn’t Eliza tell you that?”
“Uh… if she did, I didn’t process it correctly,” Jo stammered.
“No, I didn’t tell her that you wanted her to meet with a dozen of your strongest, scariest Vampire henchmen--and women,” Eliza replied, coming up behind them. Jo didn’t dare take her eyes off of the room of Vampires to address the hostess. When she walked into the room ahead of her, Jo noticed Eliza was dressed all in black leather, as if she, too, were preparing for a hunt.
She continued, “Do you think a Vampire Hunter in her right mind would show up to a meeting like this?”
Lucas shrugged. “I guess you have a point.” But then, turning back to Jo, he asked, “You’re not afraid of us, are you? You do trust us, don’t you?”
It took her a moment to figure out how to respond. She wished Zane would jump in with an answer, but when he didn’t, she found herself nodding. “I trust you, Lucas, and if these… people are your associates, and you trust them, then I suppose I trust them as well.”
“Good,” Lucas said, seeming to relax slightly. “Then come on in.”
Saying she trusted him and actually responding like a person who meant those words were two different things. Once again, it took her a moment to start moving, but once her feet were in motion, she was able to carry herself into the room. Eliza took a seat at the large, round table, along with the twelve Vampires. Lucas gestured for her and Zane to take two of the three remaining seats, and took the last chair himself.
The Vampires were all menacing individuals. A quick glance around the room let Jo know without a doubt she wouldn’t be able to fight her way out of this room, not even assuming they had no scandium bullets to kill Zane and that Eliza and Lucas fought with her. Of the twelve, nine of them were male. The majority of them were broad shoulder, tall, menacing figures. A couple were smaller guys, but they had shifty looks about them, like they could weasel their way out of any situation. Of the three women, two made Jo look like a dainty little lady, they were so tall and muscular, and the third was blonde and looked like she might be a frail flower, but Jo had a feeling she wasn’t to be underestimated. All of them looked like trouble, one way or another.
Lucas went around the table and introduced all of them. Jo was terrible with names, so she tried to record each of their first names along with their pictures in her IAC to pull up later, but she hoped she didn’t need it. With any luck, this was the last time she’d have to see any of them. Hopefully, Lucas just wanted her opinion about a few things, and then he would be the one to handle all of these… associates of his.
On the table, a detailed map of the area where Jo’s team was currently searching for Holland lay spread out before them, the X’s of the mines not only clearly visible but labeled with words written in Russian. She had a feeling those were the names of the closest villages to the mountain, but she didn’t know for sure. As Lucas began the meeting, she pulled her eyes away from the map and gave her attention to him.
“We appreciate you taking the time to meet with us,” Lucas said, his easy tone and smile soothing in a situation where it would be easy to stay on the edge of full-alert. “My associates and I would like to know precisely how you feel we can help you.”
Jo nodded. “We appreciate your time as well. Essentially, we are looking for any information you may be able to provide or search out for us regarding the location of the Red Queen, as she is currently being called. She’s also been known as Asteria and Holland in former iterations.” There were several glances and nods exchanged between the Vampires. No one looked particularly happy to hear the name. Jo had to imagine Lucas had already told them that much. “We also want to know how to stop the production of scandium bullets. Currently, we believe all of these X’s are scandium mines, and that Holland’s Vampires are searching for the rare metal so that they can create these bullets that will allow Vampires to wound and kill Guardians. If we are ever to put the situation between Vampires, Guardians, and Hunters back into balance, we must prevent the spread of these scandium bullets.”
“What about titanium?” one of the larger thugs asked. “You still use that against Vampires.”
“True, we do use titanium bullets,” Jo said with a nod. “But in the case of balancing the ternion, the effect those bullets have is between Hunters and other Hunters and Guardians and Hunters, not Vampires. It does allow us to kill Vampires more effectively, but not by an unnatural means the way that scandium does.”
There were murmurs between the Vampires, and she got the idea that they were also using their telepathy. What she wouldn’t give to have her aunt’s ability to read minds.
The blonde woman spoke next, in a thick Russian accent. “What is your purpose in finding the Red Queen? Do you intend to destroy her once and for all?”
Jo took a deep breath, wanting to nod decidedly, but she couldn’t. “No,” she said, watching their reaction as every eye bulged. “Not right away, anyway. Our first intention with her is to try to find out what happened to my mother, Cadence Findley, when she disappeared about ten years ago.”
Again, there was an exchange of glances and likely internal dialogue. “What then?” a large man at the other end of the table asked. “Will you then destroy her?”
“I assume so,” Jo said with a sharp nod. “That won’t be up to me, though. My mission is only to find her and take her prisoner. If I can extract the knowledge she has about my mother by myself I will, but if I can’t, my father will.”
“Your father?” one of the other women, a large one dressed all in black sitting almost directly across from Jo, asked. “Aaron McReynolds--the Guardian Leader.”
“That’s right,” Jo confirmed.
“And why is he not here?” a different, larger man asked.
“Because he’s looking for my mom.” Jo tried to keep her tone nonchalant, even though that was a question she’d asked a million times and an answer she’d failed to accept just as many times. “He will return as soon as we have Holland in our custody.” She had to assume that was true.
“If we help you,” the thin, shady looking Vampire on the other side of Eliza began, “it will be akin to us starting a war with our own kind.”
“They are not our own kind!” the blonde shouted, interrupting him.
“Let me rephrase--our own species. My point is, it is something we cannot take back. I am not saying I am opposed, only that it is something we have to weigh carefully.”
“I see nothing to weigh,” the larger man on the far end of the table from Jo said, shaking his head. “We need to dispose of this bitch before she becomes more of a problem.”
“She’s already controlling the world,” the third woman, one that had not spoken yet, chimed in.
That comment caused the room to erupt in a barrage of chatter. With their thick accents and the intermingling of Russian words, Jo couldn’t pretend to keep up with any of it. Whatever they were saying, they were all spirited about their stance.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Lucas said, raising a hand to get their attention. Despite the chaos, it was enough for all of them to go quiet and tune in to him. “Let me escort our guests outside, and we will speak of this more.” The others agreed with that, and Lucas pushed his chair back. Jo, Zane, and Eliza did the same. The Vampires went back to their conversation, almost completely in Russian now that they didn’t have to concern themselves about being rude in front of guests.
Lucas stepped out into the hallway with them, pulling the door closed behind him. “Thank you so much for meeting with them.”
Biting back the urge to growl that he hadn’t given her any choice, Jo managed to say, “Sure thing,” instead.
“If the two of you don’t mind waiting in the study with Eliza, I’ll come and speak with you shortly.”
“Certainly.” Zane said, leaving Jo to wonder what the study might look like if that wasn’t it. Eliza headed down the hallway, and she went along, her mind going back over the conversation she’d just had with the room full of Vampires.
“That went well,” Eliza said as they turned a corner. Eliza was known to be a sarcastic person, but it seemed like she was serious.
Not sure what else to say, Jo asked, “How long do you think it might take them to decide?”
“Not long,” Eliza said. She pushed open a door and gestured for them to follow her in, which they did.
This room was much more cozy than the room they’d just left. It reminded her a little of her grandfather’s study in Canada. The leather and wood gave the maroon walls a homey feel despite the expensive decor, including what had to be antique paintings on the wall depicting fox hunts and ladies lounging on blankets reading books near green forests.
Eliza sat in a large leather armchair across from a similar leather couch. Jo and Zane sat across from her. Folding her hands in her lap, Jo considered what she should talk about and came up empty. It seemed like there had to be something to say….
“Have you spoken to your team today?” Eliza asked.
“Yeah,” Jo said and then searched for words to elaborate. Nothing came to her.
“Are they doing all right without you there?” their hostess wanted to know.
“Yeah,” she repeated, like a broken record.
Zane cleared his throat, and Eliza adjusted in her chair. Jo’s eyes went to the door. The Guardian next to her saved her again. “What was it like, battling Honey and those Vampires on the rooftop, back when you were going after Daunator?”
Eliza’s face brightened, and she launched into a recounting of the battle in question. It was entertaining and exciting, but Jo wasn’t truly tuned in. She was too busy wondering what Lucas was going to say, unsure of whether or not she wanted him to tell her the Souled would be helping out or not.
The door opened as Eliza was concluding her story. Lucas walked in with a smile. “Sorry about the delay,” he said. Jo shrugged, hoping he realized that meant it was no problem. The feeling she’d had deep inside of her since she arrived, the one that alerted her that a Vampire threat was nearby, began to settle, despite his nearness and the guards he always had outside, which made her think his thugs were on their way out of the house.
“What did you all decide, babe?” Eliza asked as her husband took a seat next to her in a similar chair.
Lucas nodded. “They want to help. But they want to do it on their terms.”
“Of course,” Jo said. “We’re more than happy to take any support they--you--care to offer.”
“They would like to do some probing and see if they can find any weaknesses in Holland’s security. Sometimes, we have means of forcing our way in that your Hybrid wouldn’t have.”
Jo took that to mean mentally. “That sounds great.”
“Also, we will do our own investigating of the scandium sites. The mines are one thing; there has to be a processing plant somewhere else. Whether or not the bullets are made at the plant or at a third location is something else we would like to determine. In the meantime, if we are able to offer our support when you attack, we will. We have contacts and forces everywhere. Your Guardians may not be able to protect you from Vampires, but we can. A Vampire can’t kill a Souled.”
The idea of being able to operate the way they always had before, with plenty of protection for her Hunters, and no need to totally rely on Cassidy and her shields, was a relief to Jo. “Thank you for that, Lucas.” She turned to his wife and added, “We greatly appreciate it.”
Eliza nodded, but she didn’t look as thrilled as her husband. The fact that she wasn’t attempting to stop Lucas from moving forward was more than Jo had thought possible.
“Well, I think we’ve taken up enough of your time,” Jo said, standing, hoping they were done because she had plenty of other things to attend to and wanted to get out of his Vampire haven, despite the fact that the others were clearly gone by now. “We are looking forward to working with you.”
He didn’t try to keep her. Instead, the others stood as well, and Lucas took Jo’s offered hand. “With any luck, the Red Queen will fall into our hands soon enough.”
She managed a smile, thanked Eliza, and waited for Zane to also say his goodbyes before they headed out. She hoped he’d drive because she wanted to head straight back to the team. They’d spent too much time here, and even though they’d gotten what they wanted in the end, she wanted to move on with the next step because she might’ve just been able to check one box off of her list, but it was still miles long, and she could sense that she was running out of time.