Page 30 of Blood and Trouble

Before we’d gone out with the Copenhagen Bastards, Kodiak had told me he planned to send someone in as a reinforcement. With Marx dead and the rest of the Scorpions scattered to the winds, he worried about us being isolated out here. If Ava couldn’t cut the trip short, we needed backup. Marx was only the head of the hydra. Now that he’d been cut off, three more would grow in his place.

Kodiak hadn’t said who he planned to send because he hadn’t talked to them yet. But now my blood ran cold for reasons unrelated to Ava.

I clicked open the message.

Just boarded my flight at Heathrow. Be there in a few hours.

Fucking hell.

I ignored that and texted Locust, asking him to bring us food before he arranged transport for Poe from the airport.

You got it, boss. You okay? How’s Ava?

We’re fine. Just hungry.

Whew! She’s gonna be a powerful shifter. Her magic had me up for the last three days.

My wolf growled at the thought of anyone else smelling or sensing her magic, but I pushed those territorial thoughts away. I had bigger shit to deal with. Heaving myself upright, I gripped the bedpost to keep from toppling over as stars swam in my vision. My ears buzzed, and my head damn near drifted off my shoulders. Then I called Kodiak.

“Lycan,” he said after he answered on the second ring. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I reached for my jeans and did my best to slide them up my legs while I balanced the phone against my shoulder. “You sent Poe?”

I couldn’t help the fury in my tone, even if I barely had the strength to walk.

He cleared his throat. “Try again.”

The dominance in his voice had my wolf raising his hackles. Even if he was the alpha, I was fourth in the pack, just under Moose. I could hold my own against him, and fuck, this was a Godsdamned disaster waiting to happen.

“Okay,” I clipped. “You sent fucking Poe?”

“I’ll send whoever I want,” he replied in the cool, calm tenor of an alpha biding his time before ripping out an opponent’s throat. “You need backup, especially now.”

Of course he already knew. Two Vanderbilt sisters were bloodsworn to him, and whatever the fuck was going on with Guin meant it was only a matter of time before she did the same. It was my blood inside Ava, my magic that eased her transition. He probably felt it through me.

“Is she okay?” he asked. “Have you explained everything to her?”

“She’s in the shower,” I said. “She’ll want to talk to her sisters.”

“Are you okay?”

I rubbed my burning eyes. “I will be.”

“Good,” he said. “We’ve received reports that the Scorpions are on the move. They’ve split their numbers; some remain here in Montana. Others have disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Fucking great.

“Mill and Channing are still looking into it,” he explained. “We’re doing more research on Marx, trying to see if he had any family that might want revenge.”

“You mean other than the fifty or so bloodsuckers that kissed his ass?”

“Exactly,” he said. “They’ll regroup. They’ll reorganize. But in the meantime, I need you both to be safe. I’d order you to bring her home immediately if the Vanderbilts weren’t three weeks away from an auction sign. If their land goes on the block, we’re talking surveyors on the north ridge come the full moon and strangers walking our tree line during the shift.” He paused. “We need to finish this.”

A small, pathetic part of me wanted to ask why he’d sent Poe when he knew what happened between us. We’d broken each other’s hearts and hadn’t spoken since. But there was another part, exponentially smaller and more pathetic, that yearned to see him again. As stupid as it was, I missed him.

“—sister.” Kodiak’s voice brought me back from my rumination, and I realized I’d zoned out and missed the last part of the conversation.

“Channing?” I asked. “Or Ren?”