Riley’s Downfall(48)

Riley was stunned. Terrik was at The Manacle? The guy didn’t look old enough to be allowed inside those walls.

“He’s a really nice man, and I don’t want to see him become food for those nasty rogues.”

“Calm down…What’s your name?”

“Ross,” the vampire replied.

“Did you hear them say when they were going to attack?” Kenway interjected, his eyes focused solely on Ross, as if no one else was in the room. Riley had a sneaking suspicion the two were mates. He pulled Sterling tight to his chest, breathing in his mate’s scent, and thanking his lucky stars that his mate had been approached by a friendly vampire. He wasn’t sure he could take his mate being attacked again.

When Sterling and his brother Darcy had first arrived on the ranch, Sterling was attacked by a wolf bent on mating Sterling. Riley had thought he was going to rip the fucker from limb to limb. He knew Sterling was a very nice-looking man, but no one was touching a hair on Sterling’s head.

Ross nodded, his eyes darting over to Kenway and then back at Pa. “They are going to attack tonight.”

Since when the hell were rogues so organized? Riley was starting to feel like he didn’t know the world he lived in any longer. Rogues were solitary beings, covenless, packless, or tribeless.

He wasn’t too sure about the tribeless part. He’d never heard of a rogue fey before. But he knew that rogues gave up their humanity when they decided to give in to the dark side. They also gave up their chance at mating. A rogue couldn’t have a mate. They had no heart. A rogue vampire craved only blood, thinking of nothing else. A rogue shifter gave in to his animal side, caring for nothing but himself. What did a fey give up and why in the hell was he wondering this right now?

“I thought Ceri cleared out most of the rogue population down in the sewers,” Pa said as he turned on his heel, heading for the door, Riley right next to him, pulling Sterling along.

“Oh, my god,” Ross said from behind them. “How do you know about Ceri? I thought the legends were just legends.” He suddenly became paler than his normal vampire complexion. “The twins are real?”

Pa stopped in his tracks, looking back at the vampire. “They are very real, and the twins are awake.”

“How—How do you know this? How do you know Rhys and Ceri are awake?”

“Christian let the leaders know, and Maverick informed us so me and my boys could watch our backs.”

“This is not good.” Ross shook his head, once again chewing on his bottom lip. “If the twins are awake, everyone is in trouble. I’m not sure what rumors are true, but there is one rumor that the twin, Ceri, likes to eat rogues, literally.”

Pa looked over at Kenway, and Riley saw something pass between them. “Can you keep an eye on Ross?”

Kenway nodded at Pa, grabbing the vampire around the waist and pulling him close. “With my life.”

Pa nodded.

Pa began to walk again, talking to Riley as they made their way back to the house. “I want you to call Christian and let him know what’s going on. He needs to get over to the village as soon as possible. But we also need to call Maverick. Even though Christian will be there to defend the elves, I’m not too sure how well they are going to take to vampires, friendly or not, invading them.”

“Ahm needs to know. He said he was going to have shadow warriors guarding the village. He needs a heads-up. And the grey wolves are still there.”

Pa glanced Bryce’s way, his eyes going gentle, and then he sighed. “Call Ahm, but make sure Bryce isn’t around. I want Bryce to stay behind with the mates, Roman as well. I don’t need an added battle on our hands.”

And from the way his little brother had acted with Ahm, Riley knew his pa was right. Bryce looked like he was ready to kill the man.

“I’ll call Christian while you get a hold of Maverick,” Riley said. “And then I’ll call Ahm.”

Riley pulled Sterling into the house, Olsen handing Bacon to his mate. “You and I need to have a long talk when I get back,” he said before snapping his fingers at Sterling and then pointing to the steps.

Sterling looked surprised, but didn’t argue as he headed toward the steps.

Maybe there was something to this silent pointing thing that Sterling loved to do so much. Riley grinned. And when he got back, he was going to show Sterling just how empowering it felt.





Chapter Eleven




“I don’t like it,” Maverick said from the couch in Christian’s office. “I thought you didn’t like politics, Christian?”

The prince of vampires sat back, a deep frown around his mouth and his black eyebrows severely pulled down. “I hate politics. It irritates the hell out of me when the elders come into my club and make demands. They are a bunch of boring old men who act like women in a knitting circle.” Christian sat forward, his eyes snapping around the room at everyone in attendance. “But this will be different. If we don’t form a council, then the rogue problem will only get worse. Preternatural creatures need to learn that there will be consequences if they choose to go rogue. There need to be penalties in place, punishments.”