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The moment the doors slid open, Ophir was standing right there. We were so intent on getting out I nearly ran right into the man. Leven held me steady before I could fall, and Ophir stepped back but didn’t lose the urgency.
“We found him.” He turned at that and stalked off expecting us to follow. And after those words, we didn’t hesitate.
“Holy shit, we get to kill this fucker now,” Leven cheered and ran off. Callum was right on his heels. Nyx paused long enough to grab my hand and pull me with him.
Me? I was hesitant. We’d had far too much good luck today for this to end well. But I couldn’t just dwell on pessimism or I’d go crazy.
Ophir and Perseus had taken over one of the conference rooms. Maps, diagrams, printed articles, and handwritten notes were sprawled across the huge table. The map was on top of it all with a huge circle in the middle of Nevada.
“We found him,” Ophir repeated. “We followed our data all the way back to the original coven and the dark witch. She was originally from a small coven in Reno, then moved several times before settling in our head coven.”
“But it was one article we found that did it,” Perseus took over. He slid the article to Callum, and we all leaned in to read. The missing persons article went over how a woman had been missing for over a year before she was found in a Nevada cave. It was right in the middle of several smaller towns. Some hikers happened across her and saved her just in time. She had no memory of the past year when she woke but her body was battered and she had an animal bite on her collarbone.
“Definitely a wolf bite,” I said in disgust. “She was human? He started with humans?”
“I’m unsure, but it wouldn’t surprise me at this point,” Ophir said with a shake of his head. “But that article had us trying a few methods. But when we scanned satellite images of the area, we found this.” This time he tossed a few blown-up photos our way.
“Is this an old military base?” Leven asked as he squinted at the blurry image.
“Yes, one closed in the nineties,” Perseus said. “So why is a civilian van coming in and out? And now look at these.”
The next set of images were darker but the figures were easy to spot. Dark silhouettes dotted the landscape, and it wasn’t only a few but dozens.
“There’s also a cave entrance right outside of the fences,” Ophir pointed out, tapping one of the daylight pictures to show the gaping maw of the cave.
“This is crazy. How is the human government not interfering? They don’t just sell military bases like this,” Nyx said. “At best they’d agree then immediately swoop in and take over.”
“Unless he’s struck a deal of some kind,” I countered. “With the money and influence the Grave Pack acquired, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.”
“And let’s also note that these images are the only ones in a several year span. There’s something shielding them, and these were the only moments those shields faltered. Likely if the witch traveled or needed to rest her magic,” Perseus explained.
“But this means we have him,” Callum reminded us. “We need to assemble the allies.”
“You need to rest and regroup with your pack first; the full moon is almost upon us. Plans should wait until then,” Ophir pointed out.
“True. Witches also rely on the moon to recharge, we should aim for the midpoint between or right before the next,” Nyx agreed. “That’ll give us time to contact Bianca again. And honestly, we need a gathering point somewhere in Nevada, close enough for an attack to be executed swiftly.”
“On the list,” Callum assured him.
“I take it your meeting tonight was successful?” Perseus asked.
“It started rocky but they agreed to give us aid and rune our weapons. Once we are ready to move then we contact them,” I said.
“Impressive, indeed,” Ophir praised. “The coven here is closed off. I expected an outright rejection.”
“I think Vanya won her over with her verbal lashing,” Leven said proudly. “They tried to shut Callum down after one single sentence.”
“Notthey. Chloe. Bianca wanted to hear us out,” Nyx pointed out. “They would be strong allies in battle but for their sake, I hope they’re not driven to join us. Because only a direct attack would lead to that.”
“They know the risks but they also know what’s at stake,” Ophir said wisely. The old vampire sounded as tired as we all felt. They’d worked tirelessly beside us and had been just as invested, if not more since they’d been forced to watch it unfold for years, their protests falling on deaf ears.
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” I said sincerely. “Without your help we never would have come this far. We’ve learned more in the last few days than we had in months of searching.”
“We are mere instruments. You, my friends, are the hand of justice that will save our world as we know it.”
ChapterFifteen
Vanya
