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He had no clue what that meant, but before he could ask anything else, Wren waved at them and exited, slamming the door shut behind him.
“He’s going to murder the Emperor?” Vetle asked as soon as they were alone. “And…that’s okay?”
Odin sighed. “Altz hasn’t been more than a figurehead since he took the throne. Taking him out of the picture shouldn’t be too much strife for the Brumal. If anything, the chaos it will plunge the government into might benefit us. There’s no other surviving member of the Imperial family, so I imagine there will be many arguments over who gets to take the throne.”
Hunter considered those words and then tipped his head. “Why did it sound like Wren thinks he has a chance at it himself?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe he does.”
“You’re not curious?” Vetle hummed. “If he becomes the next Emperor, wouldn’t that put him above you?”
Odin laughed. “Setting aside the fact you need to have some sort of previous claim to the title in order to be named Emperor, which as of now I’m unaware Wren has, how would him becoming the ruler of the planet put him above me? I’m about to be the Head Dominus of the Brumal. Even if he’s the Emperor of Sanctum, that puts us on an even playing field, nothing more and nothing less.”
The government only had so much power, and putting a Dominus on the throne could only benefit the Brumal as a whole. Besides, he trusted Wren. Maybe that was foolish, but he’d wasted enough time mistrusting the wrong people and was still picking up the pieces from that. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“Corbi keeps reporting that Frost members defect to us every day,” he added. “By the time this is over, we’ll have doubled our numbers, then even if Wren did have ill intentions, he wouldn’t be able to take us on.”
Even combining the Hail Brumal and the royal army wouldn’t be enough for that.
“Still,” Vetle insisted, “he knows too many of our secrets. You aren’t concerned even a little?”
“Right now my only concern is finding Isa and killing him once and for all. After that, we’ll deal with things as they come.” It’d been ten years in the making, and he was so close to victory Odin could practically taste it. So long as Isa was alive, there was always the chance he’d find a crafty way to retaliate and somehow turn the tables back around. That couldn’t happen, which meant they needed to stay focused on the thing that truly mattered in the here and now.
“Check in with Yule,” he ordered. “By now he should know if any of the Frost who attacked survived, and if they’re useful.”
“You think we might be able to find clues to Isa’s whereabouts?”
“He’ll make a move soon,” Hunter jumped in, rehashing what he’d said earlier in the conversation. “Even if Yule doesn’t find anything, we won’t have to wait long.”
“How can you be so sure?” Vetle asked.
“Because Frost is impatient and prideful. He’ll be pissed off that his attack on the Storeroom didn’t work in his favor and that anger will make him act rashly. If we sit back and wait, he’ll come to us.”
“We just have to be prepared for how he’ll be coming,” Odin said. “Merely knowing he will be isn’t enough.”
Hunter nodded in agreement.
“I’ll make sure security around the club remains tight,” Vetle reassured, getting up from his seat. “Yule will be taking any surviving Frost members to the secondary location. I’ll meet up with him there and inform you if we’re able to uncover anything. Corbi is still combing the city with the Small Army, and Loni has been checking our weapons supply to ensure none of our people run out while they’re making the rounds on the streets. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it finally seems like we’re going to succeed in taking back everything that was rightfully yours in the first place.”
“Kind of seems like it’s been too easy,” Hunter said.
“Before I probably would have thought the same,” Vetle told him. “But now? No one could have guessed you’d turn out to be a Whisper. Since you were already boosting the boss with your blood on a daily bases he started out more powerful than he’d been in years. Then add in the fact he has a brand new Shout tattoo…If only Isa had kidnapped you a month ago, he might have been successful, but now?”
“The second we mated it was too late for him,” Odin stated. “My father also happened to be one of the most powerful Shouts in all of history. And now his power is in my bloodstream. If it’s a one-on-one fair fight, Isa won’t be able to beat me.”
“After what happened when you found me, it’s safe to assume that Isa is also aware of this fact,” Hunter pointed out.
“Which is why we’re trying to figure out what his next move will be before he can blindside us.”
“On it.” Vetle took that as his signal to go, bowing at them both before doing just that.
Odin followed him toward the door, waiting until he’d exited before he typed against the keypad at the side of it. The lock code activated quickly, the door clicking shut, sealing him and his Huntsman in with no way in or out unless Odin chose to key in the exit code only he knew.
When he turned back, Hunter was standing at the side of the table, clearly thinking they were about to leave as well.
He tilted his head suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
“Making good on my promise,” he said, and though it was clear Hunter wasn’t following, he still retreated a full step when Odin took one toward him. He grinned wolfishly, a thrill racing down his spine. “Chasing you is never going to get old, Huntsman.”
