“Do you still consider her a part of your pack?” I asked warily.
“Pack and family are different creatures. Pack is family, but family is not necessarily pack. Why do you ask?”
“Because when I find Mercy, she will pay for what she’s done. I just thought I should tell you first.”
“Secret?”
“Yes?”
“You have my blessing.”
I hadn’t known I needed it until I had it, but now that he’d put his stamp of approval on the endeavor, I knew I was doing the right thing.
I was going to kill my mother.
Chapter Seventeen
Look for the source, Callum had suggested.
Peyton was dead, so I couldn’t exactly ask him what he’d done, but now I was glad I’d decided to show a sliver of mercy to his people. If I’d slaughtered them all, I would have no one to hunt down and interrogate.
Desmond and I took to the streets again, him sticking by my side playing the part of a well-trained pet. We got a few funny looks, and several pedestrians crossed the street to avoid us, but now that I wasn’t wearing bloodstained clothing and I’d rinsed him clean, we were nearly respectable.
We wandered around the city. I’d opted to leave the sword at the hotel and had switched back to guns, grateful I’d brought extras with me. If I was going to be traveling with a wolf the size of a Shetland pony at my side, the katana would only draw extra unwanted attention. The guns could be hidden under my jacket.
Desmond picked up a scent about three blocks south of the sewer grate we’d exited through. He was edgy, acting like he might bolt at any moment, but when I laid my hand on the back of his neck, he calmed, much like he’d done for me earlier that night.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
After following the scent for a good twenty minutes, I’d almost given up hope we would actually locate the vamps, until Desmond led us to a small boarded-up patisserie and stopped in front of the door, whining.
“Nicely done.” I almost jokingly suggested he might be more useful in this form, but buried the thought deep. I didn’t want to jinx our chances of reversing it. The universe had a funny way of biting me in the ass when I wasn’t careful about what I said.
I could go about my entrance one of two ways—either find a subtle route in through the back and sneak up on them, or bust the door down with all the finesse of John Wayne.
It didn’t take an expert to figure out which way I chose.
The wooden barricade covering the door yielded easily, and when the dust settled, there were a half-dozen vampires blinking up at me with fear and uncertainty. None of them made a break for it.
Guess I’d made an impression on them underground.
Desmond stood next to me, backing up my implicit threat with one of his own, growling deeply, his teeth exposed. My fangs had retracted on the way to the hotel, but I had another one on display. I’d taken a strip of leather rope off my purse and wound it around Peyton’s tooth before we’d left the hotel. It now hung from my neck, stained red at the root, serving as a reminder of what I did to those who crossed me.
Seemed like it was doing a bang-up job at the moment.
“Don’t make me kill you.” I had both my guns drawn, and though they outnumbered me, they understood by now that this wasn’t a numbers game. “These are loaded with silver, and I don’t care how fast you think you are, I’ve yet to meet a vampire who can dodge a bullet.”
“What do you want?” A lean girl with short black hair stared at me from heavily lined eyes. She looked angry and terrified all at once.
I was pleased I could teach them so quickly about the limitations of immortality. It was a lesson some vampires spent decades learning.
Immortality was sort of like mild cigarettes. It gave the illusion of one thing, but in the end you could still be killed.
“As you can see I have a wolf with me instead of a very handsome man. And while the wolf is nice looking and all, I’d like the man back. What did you do to him?”
“I don’t know.” She wasn’t convincing me with her shifty eyes and the sheen of sweat on her brow. I could practically smell her lie. So could Desmond, who snarled at her. “Damn, lady, keep it on a leash.”
“You’re really missing the point.” I made a show of arming my weapon.