The Axelridge Series Book 4 Griff's Red Card

(Chapter song ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’ by Dropkick Monkeys)

IVY

“Let me prepare ya. These guys…um…well, you’ll see. Just don’t get to close.” Griffin says as we walk down the hall to the hall to the council room in Falcon Ridge. He stops at a door. “In fact, just stick with me.”

“They’re that bad?” I tilt my head and question.

“Not really bad, just…annoying as fecking hell.” He smirks and opens the door.

I hear the room filled with deep conversation as I walk in behind Griffin. All three city councils are in here. It’s loud and very boisterous. My wolf feels the Alpha energy coming off them in waves.

I see Finn in deep conversation with Bastian. He also looks…angry.

“All we want to do is study it, Finn.” Bastian says from his podium.

“No. Not a chance. We can study it and share the results, but it’s off limits to anyone besides the Axelridge council until further notice.” Finn crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

“Finn. You realize this is a far greater body of water than the Lazarus Pool. How would feel if the circumstances were reversed?” Bastian says.

Finn shrugs. “I wouldn’t feel anything. We don’t care about these things like you people do.”

“Ok, Finn.” River holds out his hand. “The truth of it is, Lake Hydra is dangerous. It needs to be protected.”

“And we will protect it.” Finn states.

“From yourselves too?” Ash looks him over from a spot on the Falcon Ridges wall. Beside him, Lucius raises a brow and crosses his arms.

“Hold on.” Jax steps to the table. “Are you suggesting we’d use the lake?”

“Why else would you have it?” Owen motions his hands out.

“Cuz it’s in our bleeding city, ya dodgy spanner.” Griffin growls.

“True and because of that, I feel, in a show of good faith, the pool should have representatives from us as well as you.” Bastian stands tall and looks around the Alphas.

“I fucking knew it.” Finn leans forward and points at Bastian with a stern warning. “You will not use the lake as leverage for an Alliance. No. I won’t fucking allow it.”

“Who are you to control it? It doesn’t even belong to you.” Grey snorts.

“It’s on my fucking land, dickhead.” Finn growls.

“Dickhead?! Listen here, you punk bi…” Grey grinds.

“Grey.” Bastian holds up his hand to him. “Look, Finn. I get that you don’t want to be part of the Alliance, but you have to see our concern from our side. You have 60,000 soldiers…”

“Right. We don’t need the lake to kick your asses.” Finn clenches.

“But 120,000 would make it a guarantee.” Bastian puts his hands in his pockets and talks smugly. Griffins right, these guys really do act shady.

“We would never do that.” Finn eyes him.

“How are we supposed to know that? All you’ve shown us is disdain and disrespect. Now, you have a weapon that could potentially wipe us all out.” Owen leans on the table and laces his fingers together.

“Ok, Owen. I know Finn. He’s not like that." Hunter interjects.

“No. I’m not.” Finn confirms.

“No offense, but people have been known to change.” Bastian raises a brow. “Especially when they know they have the upper hand. We just want to make sure you’re on our side.”

Finn leans on the table. “I throw shade because you people fuck up everything you touch. I’m not about to let you touch Hydra. Forget it.”

“That’s not true. We only fuck up half the things we touch.” Luke grins.

Everyone looks to him.

“What? It’s true.” He says as he holds his hands out.

“Finn.” Peter starts. “We don’t want to control it. We just want to help you make sure it doesn’t fall to the lycans or something.”

“Or demons.”

We turn to Adam. He’s standing beside Jax and looks around the room. “The fact of the matter is, this will get out if it hasn’t already. Every demon, lycan and bad guy will be all over it. I’m sorry, Finn. I have to agree with the councils. We're going to need all the help we can get to make sure this doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“Plus, you heard Blade.” Marcus leans on the table next to Finn. “It can end up like an addiction. I don’t know about you, but I think I’d be damn worried about that if I was on the outside. Besides, it’s broken. We're going to need their help to fix it anyway.”

“It’s not about that, Marc. It’s about not being trusted. I won’t be in an agreement where everyone thinks I’m a douche like Vinnie.” Finn growls as his eyes glare at Bastian.

Bastian smiles. “Finn, we trust you. We do. We just have to make sure we see this thing from all angles. The Warriors Soul is complete now. I think it’s best if we all come together to protect it.”

“Then how come you’re not all up Titus' ass?” Finn questions.

“Titus is…special. It’s not for lack of trying.” Jake sighs.

“He’s a king. Not easy to negotiate with, but he’s never blocked us from the Heart, within reason, of course.” Owen says.

Jax leans down to Finn. “We don’t know the first thing about protecting something this big. Take the help.”

Finn turns to him. “You don’t think we could figure that out?”

“While fighting a bunch of lycans and demons at the same time? No. Finn this is huge and when it gets out, they’re gonna come at us like flies on shit. We need them.” Jax stares into Finns eyes.

“He may be right, Laddie. It’s going to take years to develop the right protections on our own. We can’t do that if we have to fight everyone off it.” Griffin says as he leans on the table.

Finn lowers his head and taps his fingertips together like he’s thinking. He sighs and raises his head. “Ok. My council has a point, but if you think you can tell us what we can or cannot do with the lake, you have another thing coming. We won’t be shoved around because you guys are paranoid. We aren’t the enemy here. This lake was put in our charge for a reason and it’s not to attack you. You either trust that or walk.”

Bastian nods. “I can agree to that. I’ll have the agreements drawn up and we can sign them next week. Right now, we need to protect that lake.”

“We could dome it.” Jake suggests.

“God, no.” Finn scrunches his brow and flops back in his seat.

“I think a dome would be cool.” Noah grins.

“It’s been done.” Marcus snorts.

“It really is the only way you can ensure that no one jumps in it.” Peter says.

Finn ticks his head. “That’s true. Fine. Send out your teams and send the plans to us. We’ll get on it.”

“Excellent.” Bastian grins.

“Don’t get too excited, Bastian. You’re not setting up shop.” Finn warns.

“I understand, Finn.” Bastian smirks.

“Now that that’s settled, Azriel is on his way with Faith and Miranda. They think they know why the lake broke. We will also send down teams to find and uncover the tunnel to Atlas.” Owen offers.

Finn nods. “What’s their theory?” Finn asks.

Owen leans back and folds his arms. “They think when Eternity blew up Brynja mountain, some of his energy went through the tunnel to Axelridge and hit the rock, damaging it. Azriel thinks he can repair it with the crystals the sorcerers use.”

“Worth a shot, I guess.” Finn shrugs. “Let me know when he arrives.”

“Will do.” Bastian agrees.

The room stands and starts to clear out. Griffin stops Finn. “We have a big problem.”

“What now?” Finn sighs with aggravation.

“Ivy's being hunted by demons.”

They glance at me and I nod.

Finn cinches his brows. “What? What happened?”

“One attacked us last night.” I say as I wrap my arms around my waist. “He wanted my heart for some reason.”

“Wait. Your heart?”

We look past Finn and Abraxas pushes forward.

I nod. “Yes. This is the second attempt. I barely made it out the first time.”

“That’s not all. The lass tells me they took her mother’s heart 15 years ago from the Security Complex morgue.” Griffin adds.

Jax joins the circle and crosses his arms. “I think I remember that.” He turns to Finn. “It was a robbery in the morgue, but we came up empty with suspects.”

“They took the heart of a dead person?” Finn asks with confusion.

“Yes. My mother committed suicide, but I’m not convinced it’s true. I think she was killed and then defiled later. What I can’t figure out is why?” My head floats around the circle.

“Someone is trying to raise Lucifer.” Abraxas states.

“What?”

“The ritual requires the death of the bloodline. The ingredients are the hearts of those killed by the one performing the spell. Whoever is doing this, is in your family.” Abraxas states.

My jaw falls slack as I look to Griffin. “My grandmother.”

“Say what?”

“My grandmother, Regina White. She’s always hated me and my mother. She’s insanely jealous, but could she actually do something like this? I’ve never seen her perform spells or anything.” I search my mind for anything that would confirm it to be true.

“It’s possible she’s being influenced by someone.” Abraxas says.

“Alistair.” Finn supplies.

Abraxas nods. “Given what we know, that’s my number 1 suspect.”

“Alright, lads. Ivy gave me a perfect way to get Alistair out of our Eddie. A silver bullet will break the connection. Unfortunately, it has to be a head shot.” Griffin says.

“We can’t shoot Eddie in the head. It’ll kill him.” Noah says with shock.

“Not necessarily.” Jax jumps in. “As long as we use a solid bullet and get it out in time, he should heal.”

“Would a solid bullet work, love?” Griffin asks.

“I don’t see why not. The lore was never that specific. I mean, the ones I shot were already dead so a liquid silver bullet wouldn’t make much difference. As long as the demon leaves the body, it should work.” I glance around at the Alphas.

“So, we need to find Eddie and pin him down. Anyone know where?” Griffin looks to his friends for solutions.

“No, but I think I know how to draw him out.” Finn says.

“How?”

“Lake Hydra.” Finn arches a brow as he meets our eyes.

“You want to advertise the lake?” Jax scowls. “Isn’t that the exact opposite of what we want?”

“You got a better plan?” Finn questions.

“Dude, he’ll send everyone, but him. You want that?” Marcus grits.

“Not if I’m there.” Abraxas offers. “His grievance with me is personal. I didn’t give him what he wanted. He'll settle the score alone. I’m sure of it.”

Finn nods in agreement. “Noah. Put the word out. Axelridge is coming back new and improved with the addition of a lake to its landscape. We won’t say what it is, but I’m sure Alistair will know. I’ll address the pack from the lake and set up the sting.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing, lad.” Griffin folds his arms and raises a brow.

“I don’t, but that’s never stopped us before.” Finn smirks.

“That’s very true.” Jax slaps Finns back and laughs.

“I’ll have to go home. I need to confirm if my grandmother is involved in this.” I turn to Griffin.

“Aye, but you aren’t going alone. I’m coming with, love.” He pets the back of my head and looks into my eyes.

“I just can’t believe my grandmother would do this.” I lower my head.

“Some people are evil. Family or blood doesn’t make a difference. Sometimes it’s worse if it’s family they hurt. The point is, don’t think this is anything you’ve done. She has the problem, not you.” He leans in and places his forehead on mine.

“Thank you.” I mumble.

“No need for thanks, love. I’m here for ya. Always.” He whispers and a smile tugs on my lips. He kisses my softly and I’m lost in it.

This is what I needed to hear. I spent years regretting my birth thinking that I was somehow broken and my grandmother was stuck with me. That I was never good enough to deserve her love. Griffin is showing me that I am good enough and it’s my grandmother that’s broken.

Well, we'll be turning the tables on that.

If my grandmother thinks she can get rid of me that easily, she’s in for a surprise. I strongly believe now, she killed my mother. For that, she will pay dearly.

I found my prince and he’s going to show her exactly what that means.