In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Watch it," Malcolm cut Reivon off with a growl, "I'm not in the best mood today, so unless you want another fracture in that thick skull of yours I'd choose your words carefully," Reivon merely chuckled, holding up his hands in mock surrender, pouting at Arian when he joined them at the table.

"Your brother is being cruel to me," Reivon whined, having always taken a lot of pleasure in pitting the two brothers against one another. If there was one correct observation of vampires, it was their ability to manipulate a situation impeccably. And Reivon certainly had that skill down to a tee.

"If Malcolm is being cruel, you probably deserve it," Arian said simply, sipping his mug of tea, causing Reivon's pout to morph into a scowl. He never was able to hold a grudge against Malcolm, not for more than a few hours at least.

"You all gang up on me, it's mean," he grumbled, although Malcolm could detect no sincerity in his tone. As well as manipulation, Reivon was a good actor, Malcolm had tried to have him follow into the law profession but the vampire simply didn't care for lawful justice. He would much prefer the bloodshed than prison time.

"Rei, you loved being ganged the other night so be quiet," Slate interjected with a faint smirk, silencing Reivon instantly, chuckling as he did so. However, the light mood didn't last very long when Slate's phone buzzed suddenly and a frown darkened the man's face.

"What is it?" Leon inquired, not getting an immediate response from Slate, "is it about Kit?" the previous Thursday, Malcolm had been in a meeting with his friends when Slate's beta, Yale, had informed them over the phone that he had been out on a run with a few of the other pack members when he had picked up on the scent of Kit's killers. They had been tracking it for days, with it being so faint that they had to be cautious with every step they took. One wrong turn and they could lose it entirely.

"They lost the scent," Slate muttered with a sigh, "it passed over the river again and they can't find it on the other bank, they're still looking but it doesn't seem hopeful. It's supposed to rain later, if they don't find anything by then, the chances drop to almost nil. I'm sorry, Le."

"Don't apologise," Leon, despite obviously disheartened by the result, wore a gentle smile, "these hunters are skilled, they aren't going to leave an easy trail for us to follow, I accepted that they wouldn't find it. They'll slip up one day and, when they do, we'll get them," Leon patted Slate's hand, the latter's distaste of the situation showing on his face. Slate usually had a solid poker face but it was known to falter when his emotions got involved.

"We might be able to serve some justice earlier than you expect," all eyes snapped to Malcolm when he spoke up, every expression conveying some degree of shock.

"You better tread carefully, Mal," Arian warned, and Malcolm had a feeling that wasn't a warning for what he was about to directly reveal. It was more generalised, which probably should have been worrying.

"I have been. You're the first I've told about it, I haven't mentioned anything to Eden and all of my research is on paper," the silence from the four men was an obvious urge for Malcolm to continue, "I haven't got much but I'm pretty sure I'm on the right path to figuring out a hunter network. It's underground, buried deep, and I've only been looking through some old cases. There's similarities that hadn't realised when seeing them for the first time but it's like the patterns are so obvious now."

"You really have to be careful, Mal," Reivon spoke in a serious tone for the first time that morning, "if you're able to find the old cases, the hunters will be monitoring them. As bad as it sounds, finding Kit's killers might not be worth it if you end up dead too," Reivon had a point, but Malcolm knew that wasn't enough to stop him from searching.