“You don’t need her.”
“You’re right, but I’ll take whatever leverage is handed me.” A tuft of hair rifled over Locke’s smooth shoulders, disappearing almost as quickly as it had arisen. A sign that Locke was about to change into his furry self, maybe.
Bast chanced a quick glance at the sky, despite knowing the full moon was still a week away. Still...were the fuckers in control of their shifts? They were supposed to be. Then again, creatures of the night were supposed to be just figments of imagination.
“Make it fast,” Bast ordered. Pulses of heat were making it difficult to keep the gun steady. The flesh of his back crawled over his bones, and he didn’t know how much longer he could stand it.
“Like I said, my message is short. Tell the vampire Council to withdraw. We’re not your enemy.” The rest of his message came through his hardened stare. But we can be.
“So the newly transitioned we’re finding butchered should be disregarded? The bite and claw marks ignored?” His stomach tightened, pain and mental anguish from the memories disgusting him. He’d seen the bodies himself.
Locke made a small gesture with his hand as he backed away. “If we wanted war with you, it would be direct. We’ve seen the damage you think we’ve caused and I can assure you that a werewolf had nothing to do with it. Why would we? Look elsewhere for your butchers.”
“Vampires have no reason to do these heinous acts,” Bast spat. “It has to be you.”
“Are you vampires really so arrogant that you think the only creatures of the night that exist are you and us? I assure you, our populations are only the tip of the iceberg.”
“We might not be the only creatures that exist, but only your kind is unpredictable. The moon rises, and your beast takes over. All thinking and intelligence...gone.” He snapped his fingers on his last word. It probably wasn’t the most PC statement he could have made, but the minute they held Alice hostage, peacekeeping flew out the window.
Locke took a step forward, and Bast tightened his hold on the trigger. The werewolf’s teeth were bared. “We don’t turn into animals, and the moonrise makes us more predictable than most. You vampires have no idea what it’s like to share a body with something stronger than yourself. Something more cunning. More keen. And it’s not just sharing. It’s combining the strength of man and wolf. It makes us formidable.”
“If you say so,” growled Bast, “but I’d rather be in complete control of my faculties. There’s just room enough for me in this body.”
“We are in control. We can shift at will. But you? Are you in complete control of yourself, Bast Kent? Really? You’re not even like the others. I don’t understand how you defend them when you are so much more than they are.”
Frowning, Bast tried to wrap his thoughts around Locke’s words. “What do you mean?” It came out harsher than he’d intended. Certainly filled with more curiosity than he should have shown.
Locke’s next words were mired in smugness. “Wait. Are you telling me...you don’t know?”
Bast swallowed hard, his jaw clamped shut against the urge to cry out against the pain enveloping him. Locke shouldn’t have been able to sense his agony, but it seemed his last words might have been a jab at his condition. “Do you know what I am?” Bast asked, his voice a harsh whisper.
“Like I said, werewolves and vampires are not the only creatures of the night. We’re larger in numbers, sure. Maybe even the most intelligent, but we’re not alone. Something else wants us at odds, and you’re foolishly falling into line. Tell the Council it’s not us.”
“Answer me,” Bast said hoarsely, still with a singular focus. What did Locke know about him? Somewhere in the periphery of his mind, he heard what he’d said about werewolves not being responsible for the recent killings, but he couldn’t concentrate on that. Not with pain crawling over every inch of his skin right now.
There was sudden movement in front of him.
Bast’s finger squeezed the trigger before his mind caught up to the instinctual action. Locke had freed the creature from its guard, allowing it to bound away on four legs. Bast’s aim was true, the shots slowing but not stopping the beast that vaulted over him.