Predatory

DRAKE POV

Gahhhhhhhhh what the fuck happened?

Everything hurts. Eyes open, then close again to shut out daggers of cruel fluorescent light.

I don’t remember this light from room with evil fae bastard and long curved table. But if not there, where am I? And where’s Sasha? Callum? Xander—

Xander.

Too much, too fast. Those bullets should have shredded that Anderson Cooper lookalike, but somehow….

A groan escape my lips, and then there’s a cold hand on my forehead.

“Rest, Drake. The battle’s over, and those wounds need rest to heal,” Rika soothes me.

“Xander—”

“I’m sorry, Drake. We tried everything we could, but….” She swallows hard. Open eyes again, just a sliver. Rika’s pale face above, contorted like she wants to cry but can’t. Damn vamps.

“We couldn’t save him. By the time the battle zone was calm enough to send in medics…. It was too late,” she continues. “I’m so sorry.”

No.

Memories well up unbidden—Xander’s pranks, his fascination with explosives, the way he could absolutely shred with an electric guitar. Sparring with him, going out to bars with him, making fun of all his sexcapades….

All in the past. Never again.

“He can’t…. No….” I croak.

“I know. It’s hard. But….”

“But?”

“We won. Berach is dead. The others from the Ruling Council are in maximum security cells, deep underground. Samson and Elder Eric are the de facto leaders of WASP now.”

“Sasha?”

“She’s here, a couple beds over. Took a few bullets and knife wounds, plus she has a couple cracked ribs and some bad bruising. She’s survived way worse, though. She’ll be fine. Callum and Logan are here, too.”

“Are they…?”

“Logan’s left arm got messed up pretty bad. Broken in multiple places. But we’ve set it and he should make a full recovery. Callum took a few vampire bites, plus a hit from Ruadh’s hammer, but we’ve got him stable.”

“When can I…see them?”

“When you’re all doing a bit better. You’ve got quite a set of injuries, yourself. Broken ribs, broken leg, bruises everywhere, some bullet grazes…. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“How…?”

“Zoe ended Berach. The chaos in the Inner Sanctum gave her a chance to catch him off-guard with a forest of sharp iron projectiles. Tore him to shreds. I love that woman.”

Heart aches. Never thought I’d be jealous of a lesbian vampire.

“Once Berach was gone…. Well, Zoe tells it better. She was there. The whole atmosphere in the room changed. The WASP loyalists all kind of lost their will to fight. Seems Berach’s mind control and mass persuasion powers were more influential and widespread than we thought. Without him…. It’ll be interesting to see how everything plays out. But that’s not for us to worry about. Samson and your parents will handle it.”

“Mina?”

“She was never involved in the battle. She’s fine. Last I heard, she was shuttling the unscathed back to your pack’s land. Not too many from our side have any interest in staying at HQ any longer than they have to.”

“Why any of us stay? Wanted to burn…all of it down….”

“I know. And I understand the sentiment. But Samson wants to look at reforming WASP before dissolving it completely.”

“My parents…?”

“They’re less convinced there’s anything redeemable here. But outside of Special Ops, WASP has been providing a great many services to supernatural creatures around the world. Blood banks for vampires, assistance in creating human aliases for the ones who can pass as humans, medical care for all species…. The list goes on. And no one really has an interest in throwing out the good things with the bad.”

Hard to believe there are any good things. I always thought my pack, at least, was self-sufficient, didn’t need WASP.

“Not everyone has the blessings the Linto-Gizos pack has had,” Rika remarks, as if reading my thoughts. “Plenty of supernatural creatures have relied on WASP to get basic needs met. That’s what it was founded to do, after all.”

“Should make something new. More limited. Handle it better.”

“Maybe. We’ll see what happens. One of WASP’s founders has just arrived—”

“Founder?”

“Fire elemental. Dmitri Berkeley. Samson doesn’t seem to like him much. He stepped down from involvement in WASP several years ago, when his wife died, and it was around that time, I guess, that WASP started going downhill. Samson blames him for all the shit that’s happened because of WASP and doesn’t think Berkeley should have any say in how we proceed.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“Rika?” Sasha’s voice calls weakly from across the room. My heart leaps, making me groan again—those broken ribs Rika mentioned hurt.

“Coming, Sasha. You stay right there,” Rika tells her, and then she’s gone, talking with Sasha in indistinct murmurs. In spite of my best efforts, a tear escapes one eye. I’m so relieved she’s alive, and Callum, and my family….

I just wish Xander could have made it, too.