“Go where?” Bat yawned. “You think the rescue teams will find us soon?”
Dusti knew that wasn’t the plan. The brothers wanted them to hike away from the survivors so they wouldn’t be rescued with them. Whoever they believed their grandfather would send looking for them would probably arrive before help did. Dusti wondered if Bat remembered anything from the night before, but one look at her sister’s calm expression assured her she had no memory of what Kraven had done to knock her out.
Bat stood. “Damn. It’s too cold.” She bent, grabbed one of the blankets, and wrapped it tightly around her body as she walked in the direction of the woods. “I’ll be right back if my girl parts don’t freeze when I yank up my skirt.”
Kraven sighed. “Hurry, and don’t go far.”
Dusti peered around the clearing. The survivors still slept and there wasn’t a sign of Drantos. Kraven seemed to guess who she was searching for.
“He’ll be back soon. He’s collecting more wood for the humans in case it takes another day for help to reach them. He doesn’t want them to die tonight when it gets cold. We’re hoping they’re found before nightfall but it’s best to take precautions.”
“These people are going to tell whoever finds them that you stole us. You won't get away with this. The police will be looking for Bat and I.”
“Our people will contact the proper authorities to say you both are safe once we reach home. Drantos will let it slip to a few of the passengers that we're going to go search for help so they aren't worried. ”
“That’s pretty nice, considering you’re planning on kidnapping my sister and me. Criminals with a conscience? How thoughtful.”
He snorted. “You have no idea what kind of danger your sister is in. If we’re guessing right about Decker’s plans, she’ll live a life of pure hell if your grandfather gets ahold of her. Aveoth isn’t the nicest person.” He paused. “And my brother realized you’re not as human as your scent. I’d be worried about your own ass, too, if I were you. Aveoth may settle for you if he can’t have your sister. Your grandfather could figure out he was wrong about your bloodlines if he gets his hands on you.”
She remembered the strange tale from the night before. “Are you just humoring your brother, or do you believe that story he told me about Vampires and Werewolves, too?”
“You wish it were just a strange tale. It’s history. Your mother was a VampLycan. Your grandfather is a crazy son of a bitch who wants to start a war. Everything Drantos said is true.”
“Aveoth is a GarLycan, right? Half Lycan and half Gargoyle? It sounds as if he’d be a man with a heart of stone.” She smiled at her own joke.
“Cute. The heart-of-stone part would be misleading since I doubt he has one at all. His own clan is terrified of him. His viciousness is well known to our clans and it means your grandfather will gain too much power if he makes an alliance with Aveoth by using your sister as a bargaining tool.”
“And that would be bad in your weird world?”
Anger narrowed Kraven’s light blue eyes. “Yes. Decker isn’t happy just running his own clan anymore. He wants total control. He doesn’t agree with how some of the other leaders rule their people. He’d kill everyone who opposes him if given the opportunity. He can’t take on three clans and win. He’d get his ass handed to him unless he gets the GarLycan leader to side with him. That’s going to more than even out the odds.”
“These Gargoyle-and-Werewolf things are worse than VampLycans, huh?”
He hesitated. “Yes. We’re strong but they are damn near invincible. They fly and can turn their bodies into armor. The combination is deadly to anyone they go after. The GarLycans would help your grandfather’s clan slaughter the rest of us if Aveoth gave them the order. With Decker pulling the strings, many VampLycans would die. That’s when he’d start expanding the borders. He tried to do it with his own but the other leaders put a stop to it by threatening to attack him.”
“What does that mean?”
“He seems to think humans are a threat. We got word from someone in his clan that he planned to make some of the neighboring human families have ‘accidents’. Alaska’s a harsh place and he could have gotten away with murdering them without raising suspicion. He’s paranoid, from what we were told. Humans can be turned into Vampires, and of course they’re also a food source for them. He hates full-blooded Vampires enough to want to make sure they have no reason to be anywhere near him.” He paused. “He sees humans as inferior as bugs to crush under his heel. The other clans don’t. We protect them.”
“You know that sounds crazy, right?” She hesitated. “I don’t like my grandfather. He’s an asshole, but to believe he’s some murdering evil bastard is kind of difficult for me to do.”
“He’s killed plenty of people. He’s greedy and power-hungry. We get the news here about your world. How many times have you seen stories where some warlord killed innocents to gain more land or money? Decker wants more people under his control. He murdered his own mate, who he’d sworn to protect, and tried to use his own child, your mother, as a bargaining chip to gain an alliance with the GarLycans in order to slaughter his own kind. Now he’s attempting to use his granddaughter to do it yet again. What kind of monster does that make him?”