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‘There are lines I won’t cross.’
‘So any other species is fair game but another griffin isn’t?’
‘There’s barely thirty of us left in the world. So … yes.’
‘I don’t care if you’re as endangered as a dodo,’ I snarled. ‘Ghost is responsible for the deaths of hundreds.’
Bastion sighed. ‘We all battle with our curse, one way or another.Allgriffins are responsible for the deaths of hundreds – to kill is in our nature and we have no choice in the matter. Jessica Sharp saw first-hand what Shirdal did when he hadn’t killed for seven years.’
Jess had told me about the horrific slaughter Shirdal had committed. She hadn’t blamed him for it – after all, he’d saved her life – but she’d had nightmares about it.
‘I don’t accept that,’ I argued. ‘We all of us have free will. Youchooseto kill.’
‘If we didn’t control the urge one way or another, we’d slaughter the world,’ he admitted tightly. ‘I’ll speak to Ghost and see if I can get her to help us willingly. The black tourneys are a means to an end for her. I doubt she cares a whit for her fellow council members. I’ll do what I can.’ He hung up without a goodbye.
That wasn’t the promise I’d been hoping for, but it would have to do for now. I didn’t have much choice but to wait.
I contemplated calling Steve Marley and updating him, but if I wanted to retain my authority as alpha then I needed to deal with this in-house. If I didn’t, I’d lose what little respect I’d already gained from the pack.
Greg and Liam returned from Ace and Lauren’s rooms. ‘They didn’t leave anything behind,’ Greg reported unhappily. ‘Both of their rooms are spotless.’
We were back at square one and I had no allies and no leads left to tug on. We brainstormed for half an hour but moved along no further.
Finally, Bastion returned my call. ‘Ghost says the Red Guard are also here to shut down the black tourneys. They’ve been dogging her organisation for months. They don’t want vampyrs involved in the tourneys, they think it is beneath them and tarnishes their reputation. Ghost thinks the Red Guard were working with Lord Samuel. Lord Samuel wasn’t as naïve as Elena about the Connection plan. Though he hoped the Connection would bring down the black tourneys, he had a backup plan too. Plan B was passing information along to the Red Guard. They might have acted less scrupulously than the Connection. Lord Samuel didn’t care about the means, he just wanted the tourneys shut down, one way or another.’
‘Ghost told you all of this willingly?’
‘She’s been enjoying toying with Lord Samuel and the Red Guard, but what’s the point in one-upmanship if no one knows about it?’ he commented drily.
‘Does she know where Ace and Lauren are?’
‘No, but the Red Guard might. The leader of the team is called Voltaire. Ghost has been keeping them busy by throwing out lots of red herrings around the mansion.’
‘Wonderful,’ I said flatly. So it was Ghost’s fault I’d got pinned down in the kids’ play area waiting for five vampyrs to move on.
I turned to Greg. ‘Can you get me Wokeshire’s number?’
‘On it.’ He stepped out of the room.
Liam cleared his throat. ‘If we’re going in hot and heavy to rescue Amber, can I suggest calling in the top thirteen? It will help show that you trust us.’
I hadn’t even thought of that. I opened my mouth then closed it. Had I been putting up barriers between myself and the pack?
We’d have to go in forcefully and I needed to know I could trust the wolves at our heels. No, I didn’t trust all the pack yet, nor did they trust me. It was a two-way street and we hadn’t walked far enough along it yet.
‘Have we got a phone tree?’ I asked Greg as he came back in.
He grinned. ‘Nothing so antiquated. We’ve got a WhatsApp group.’
‘What would happen if we called them in? I guess they come when they finish their work shifts?’
He snorted. ‘No. If there’s an emergency call, we all duck out, call in sickies, whatever is needed. Pack comes first. If you need us, we’re there.’
I swallowed against the sudden lump in my throat. I’m a social girl, I have lots of friends, but this was something else. ‘Summon the thirteen.’
It is nice to belong,Esme said astutely.
Yes, it is.
