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Daphne’s expression turned grim. I put a hand on her arm, wanting her to snap out from envisioning the worst.
“Don’t talk about such sad things. All we have to do is make sure to win,” I grinned.
Daphne returned my smile, but I saw she wasn’t entirely certain. I pulled her toward me and hugged her to my side.
The captain watched us and nodded. “Good luck with your war.”
“Thank you. We will need all the luck to be on our side.” I knew the war against Victor wouldn’t be easy.
With the Bloody Claws – and hopefully the Starry Banes on our side too – the odds of winning would be far more in our favor. Even numbers alone, though, wouldn’t ensure victory. Careful planning, supplies and skill would offer a higher guarantee of success, especially if overwhelming our enemy with sheer numbers wasn’t enough. I hoped everything would combine to give us a strong chance to win.
The captain commanded his people to get ready to sail off. We said our goodbyes, then we all got into the new vans and our own cars, driving off into the direction of the Bloody Claws’ village.
The unit looked exactly the same as Santuario from a distance – surrounded by a tall wall topped by a walkway. The sturdy metal gate opened at our approach, and we drove inside the settlement. The houses were terraced here too. The resemblance to our home was almost uncanny, but not unexpected – both villages had once been units of the same prison after all. We parked next to the well in the middle of the main square then exited the cars.
Oswaldo came out of one of the houses to greet us. “I see the operation has been successful,” he pointed to the crates I’d ordered our men to unload. “Open the warehouse,” he gestured to one of his people.
Our people, with help from Oswaldo’s men, unloaded all the crates and carried the contents into the building. The Alpha of the Bloody Claws opened one of the boxes and smiled brightly at all of the ammunition packed inside.
“Excellent. So our information wasn’t false. We just prevented Victor from getting a ton of ammunition and now we have it,” Oswaldo commented.
I waited for Esteban to speak, mindful that the Alpha of Bloody Claws didn’t respect me much. In hindsight that situation wasn’t unexpected. He only wanted to strike deals with someone strong and violent because those were the values he held dear. Esteban was such a person, having managed convict transports for years. I was just the accounting guy. So I, of course, was nobody important to Oswaldo despite carrying the Torres name.
As much as Esteban hated his own violent side, there were situations when it could come in handy.
Finally Esteban spoke. “Is the deal on then?”
Oswaldo extended his hand to him. “Of course. Let us defeat Victor together.”
Esteban smiled softly and put his hand into the other Alpha’s. “Great.”
“When do you want to move against Victor?”
“We want to ask the Starry Banes if they would like to join our alliance too.”
“That’s a good idea, although I don’t know what Kella is thinking these days. She may agree easily or she may cause problems,” Oswaldo said.
Kella was the only female Alpha I knew. A dark-skinned woman with a mane of curly hair, she had been sentenced to Isla Paraiso for murdering her cheating human husband. Though the crime was a harsh one, from the details I knew of the situation, the bastard had deserved it. Kella held the Starry Banes in a tight grip, her personality very no-nonsense. But she was quite unpredictable too. Hopefully she would see our cause as an opportunity for her sleuth to have a better life.
“We will see,” Esteban replied.
“I was thinking about something though. What happens after we defeat Victor?” Oswaldo took his hand away. His expression turned cautious.
“We will take over Fort Torres. If you guys don’t mind, we’d like to keep it. It used to be our home for so many years. We miss the place,” Esteban explained our intentions. We had discussed the matter a few nights back at our home. Fort Torres was the symbol of power on Isla Paraiso, and we wanted to hold it for that reason but also because the location had sentimental value to us.
Oswaldo nodded. “As long as you let us be, we’re good with that. There’s one more thing I want: for you to get rid of the implants that stop us from leaving Isla Paraiso. The island is a beautiful place to live, but staying here should be a choice. I want to be able to leave if I desire. As I am now, I’m not truly free to make my decisions. I want to change that.”
I thought about the request for a moment. If we released the prisoners, many of them would leave for the mainland but most of them had already served their sentences and were only still stuck on the island due to the implants. The government who had sent them here had abandoned them. Maybe it wasn’t morally right to let known criminals out in the open again, but right now we weren’t wardens and convicts. We were partners, working together and for their help the Bloody Claws deserved to get their wish granted.
I exchanged a glance with Esteban and nodded. Esteban nodded back – we understood each other without words.
“We will find a way to release you from the influence of the implants,” Esteban promised.
“I’m glad you want to help us out in this matter. Good luck with the Starry Banes. We’ll be in touch.” With those parting words Oswaldo walked out of the warehouse, dismissing us.
“Let’s go to Kella’s sleuth then,” I said.
And so we did, getting into the cars and driving north to where the Starry Banes’ village was.
