kissed my ass at least twice today out of the recommended five,” Raya deadpanned.
“I use Botox to hide lip lines. Sorry, no puckering up,” Melina threw right back.
“That’s it. You’re out. In for half an hour and already out – you may have set a record there.”
“When am I going to remember any of this?” Petra said in a small voice.
She was getting more miserable by the second. These were facts she should know. To make things even worse, this was her mate beside her, evidently. She could tell by his actions, no matter how restrained, that they’d been close. Very close.
When Raya walked by her, his arm would jerk as if he wanted to reach out, but stopped himself. And she often caught those burning eyes watching her with a deep longing. She did feel something, a strange kind of pull. But that was it.
“I don’t know,” Raya interrupted her thoughts. “I need to do some research on memory loss. Never heard of it happening to one of our kind, but perhaps even Itchiko could be of some help.” He paused for a moment. “But there’s absolutely no time for that now. We need to alert all the packs from New York to New Orleans, have them consider evacuating the coast until things cool down and we know what the Rats are after. There’s just such a plan in place, and a location that’s been set up for nearly a century. But we have to get the word out. Let’s get back to Heureuse.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Melina offered.
“No, but as a newborn, you need to be with us. This isn’t the best time for that either.” He glared at Petra.
“I don’t want my babies in danger,” Melina agreed. “I’ll wait here for word. Someone needs to keep an eye on them two anyway,” she motioned at the two vampires.
“We’ll be along shortly,” Joseph spoke up. “We have some catching up to do.”
“Please do come as soon as possible,” Raya told Joseph. “You must have ended up here for a reason. If nothing else, you will be remarkably useful if anything bad does come to pass. Everyone else, load up. We’re off.”
Chapter Eight
Back at Heureuse Manor, Raya told his second in command, Itchiko, to implement the Red Alert plan for all packs along the New York to Louisiana corridor. They were to evacuate to Inconnu within three days, at most.
“What’s Inconnu?” Petra asked.
“Come this way,” Raya said and led her to his office at the back of the large mansion that served as home base for the pack. He walked to his desk, opened a drawer and she heard a click. An entire bookcase swung open several inches.
Behind it was a large, cold room packed with computers, monitors and various other electronics. On the wall was a large Google map which overlaid a normal map of the world.
He touched it and zoomed in on the USA, then the Florida area.
“See the Bahamas? The islands are only about seventy miles from Miami. Back in the early twentieth century, we bought a deserted island that’s a couple of hours by boat from the Bahamas. There’s a tiny village there; they fish for a living. We brought electricity to the island, but they’re not aware of what else we brought. Three rings of security that start a mile out, satellite technology, you name it. Accessible only by boat. Oh, and another nearby island we use for storage.”
He moved his hand on the large screen, and another, smaller island zoomed into view. This one had no trees, no greenery. Truly an arid wasteland. One tap, and the screen filled with nine camera views. Included was an underwater view of three submarines, large enough to carry six people each. Another room held weapons: so many that Petra was in disbelief.
One large room held a jet!
“Where is that plane?” Petra had to ask.
“Underground,” Raya said. “Push a button and the doors open, up it goes.”
“Incredible. You are ready for a war.”
“You’d better believe it. Our texts and emails are out now, telling the packs to get to
“I use Botox to hide lip lines. Sorry, no puckering up,” Melina threw right back.
“That’s it. You’re out. In for half an hour and already out – you may have set a record there.”
“When am I going to remember any of this?” Petra said in a small voice.
She was getting more miserable by the second. These were facts she should know. To make things even worse, this was her mate beside her, evidently. She could tell by his actions, no matter how restrained, that they’d been close. Very close.
When Raya walked by her, his arm would jerk as if he wanted to reach out, but stopped himself. And she often caught those burning eyes watching her with a deep longing. She did feel something, a strange kind of pull. But that was it.
“I don’t know,” Raya interrupted her thoughts. “I need to do some research on memory loss. Never heard of it happening to one of our kind, but perhaps even Itchiko could be of some help.” He paused for a moment. “But there’s absolutely no time for that now. We need to alert all the packs from New York to New Orleans, have them consider evacuating the coast until things cool down and we know what the Rats are after. There’s just such a plan in place, and a location that’s been set up for nearly a century. But we have to get the word out. Let’s get back to Heureuse.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Melina offered.
“No, but as a newborn, you need to be with us. This isn’t the best time for that either.” He glared at Petra.
“I don’t want my babies in danger,” Melina agreed. “I’ll wait here for word. Someone needs to keep an eye on them two anyway,” she motioned at the two vampires.
“We’ll be along shortly,” Joseph spoke up. “We have some catching up to do.”
“Please do come as soon as possible,” Raya told Joseph. “You must have ended up here for a reason. If nothing else, you will be remarkably useful if anything bad does come to pass. Everyone else, load up. We’re off.”
Chapter Eight
Back at Heureuse Manor, Raya told his second in command, Itchiko, to implement the Red Alert plan for all packs along the New York to Louisiana corridor. They were to evacuate to Inconnu within three days, at most.
“What’s Inconnu?” Petra asked.
“Come this way,” Raya said and led her to his office at the back of the large mansion that served as home base for the pack. He walked to his desk, opened a drawer and she heard a click. An entire bookcase swung open several inches.
Behind it was a large, cold room packed with computers, monitors and various other electronics. On the wall was a large Google map which overlaid a normal map of the world.
He touched it and zoomed in on the USA, then the Florida area.
“See the Bahamas? The islands are only about seventy miles from Miami. Back in the early twentieth century, we bought a deserted island that’s a couple of hours by boat from the Bahamas. There’s a tiny village there; they fish for a living. We brought electricity to the island, but they’re not aware of what else we brought. Three rings of security that start a mile out, satellite technology, you name it. Accessible only by boat. Oh, and another nearby island we use for storage.”
He moved his hand on the large screen, and another, smaller island zoomed into view. This one had no trees, no greenery. Truly an arid wasteland. One tap, and the screen filled with nine camera views. Included was an underwater view of three submarines, large enough to carry six people each. Another room held weapons: so many that Petra was in disbelief.
One large room held a jet!
“Where is that plane?” Petra had to ask.
“Underground,” Raya said. “Push a button and the doors open, up it goes.”
“Incredible. You are ready for a war.”
“You’d better believe it. Our texts and emails are out now, telling the packs to get to
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