Declan wanted to speak to the hunting party directly because Rowan's safety was paramount and that would be crystal clear if he delivered the message himself. Each of the men needed to understand who she was to him.
If an elder, like Declan, found his bride she would be eternally safeguarded. His people would defend her to their last breath, but they had to find her first. Some of the vampires descending from his blood line lived together in groups while others preferred their solitude. But, now that Declan had found Rowan and declared her his bride, his people would band together and protect her.
Every species had their specific, innate, strengths and weaknesses. Vampires couldn't create portals between realms from nothing, like a sorcerer could. Vampires needed physical portals often times referred to by humans, unknowingly, as dolmens.
Declan knew the location of every dolmen around the globe, and they were on every continent. Humans believed them to be portal tombs or portal graves. For thousands of years, they were hidden from view, but now because of erosion and drought many of them were no longer hidden beneath pieces of the earth. Instead, only the stones remained, making them more visible.
Some dolmens were erected as early as 7000 B.C.; however, even today the humans still couldn't explain who, when or why they were made. The oldest dolmens were in Western Europe, and many of them were still being used by elder vampires, amongst others, to travel between realms, unbeknownst to the humans.
These portals were created thousands of years ago by powerful sorcerers, but when the history books were written, the humans referred to them as gods. There was a reason history wasn't documented in writing in this era but rather passed down orally. When stories were told orally, they would be exaggerated upon to strike fear into the hearts of others as a means of controlling people in a time when there was no way to control them other than to make them believe there was something out there. Someone watching them. And over time these stories would morph into something so unrealistic that no one would ever believe magic or monsters ever really existed.
Ancient fictional stories about mythological gods and creatures as well as present day horror movies and fictional writing about monsters were all that remained. Humans no longer believed that such fictional creatures could ever walk the earth or that other realms even existed. Humans had become a blindly overconfident species- which made living around them, hiding amongst them, and feeding off them much easier tasks.
Declan preferred to use a tomb that was erected about 3200 B.C for several reasons. First, it was made especially for him by a good friend which meant there were no sorcery traps hidden within. Second, because it allowed access to multiple realms from within one portal tomb. And third, Newgrange Tomb was in Ireland, his home. A magical place rich with lore history, his history.
He still couldn't believe that Newgrange was a damn tourist attraction today. If the humans entering had any idea how close they were to finding out the truth about their world, that they weren't alone, that other realms existed, that their nightmares really did walk amongst them...Earth would be on fire.
The reason they had been able to live amongst the humans for so long without being detected was because they respected the secret, allow the humans to believe they are the dominant species on the planet. And the truth was, it behooved the lore to stay hidden amongst them, because every superior species needed an inferior species to do the work they deemed unworthy. Even more importantly for them, humans were the main food source for vampires, and with a steadily growing population and human longevity, the vampires were sure to always have a buffet.
Because the tomb was on a schedule and locked up tight at night they could move in and out without anyone even knowing they were there, which made it both convenient and private for him to meet with his vampires. No one needed to know he'd invoked his hunting party.
Standing in the tomb with Bhaltair, waiting for the others to arrive, brought Declan's memories back like a flood. He remembered each and every one of his men's beginnings. They were the strongest, bravest, most lethal vampires living in this realm, and they all descended from him.
Bhaltair and Declan had known each other since early 1100 AD. Bhaltair was just a man then, and he had no earthly idea what Declan was when he met him, but after befriending him he found he enjoyed his company. And upon learning he was a vampire he asked Declan to turn him wanting to leave his human existence behind.
It was just the two of them traveling together at first. Declan had taken Bhaltair under his wings, taught him how to move and hunt, showed him where to hide during the day to go unnoticed, and how to feed.
Declan had already been a vampire for a very long time when he turned Bhaltair, so he'd already learned that there were different reasons and kinds of feeding depending on the intent of the vampire. Vampires could feed for sustenance, for enhanced pleasure, to kill or to turn their victim.
After two hundred years together they could almost finish each other's sentences, and they found comfort in their friendship; however, Declan was beginning to see the value in creating a family.
It wasn't until they met a half dead man stumbling along a road in the late 1300's, that he allowed himself to dabble in his dream. It was a tumultuous time to be in Europe and with all the war and famine, no one would ever notice if a man went missing.
Upon speaking to Saxet they discovered that he'd been fighting in a peasant rebellion, like thousands of others in Europe, against slavery, landlessness, taxation and cruelty. He had been a musician, a husband, and a father until he watched the king and his men take everything from him. That's when he'd discovered his true self. With nothing to lose Saxet fought, and kept fighting, which only fed his inner beast and turned him into a madman he hadn't even known existed. While knocking on death's door, unable to continue fighting, he headed out of Europe on foot down a lonely road where he had hoped to die, but instead he met Declan and Bhaltair.
Declan had only ever met lone vampires, but he saw the value and the possibilities that could exist if he were able to build a close knit group, a selective group of people like him who were carefully chosen. Vampires who could work together for a mutual cause: power, money, and ...control. He wanted an empire, and when he met Saxet, he knew what he had to do. Thinking back on it now he remembered how focused and selective he'd been when searching out and determining who he would turn...choosing only the most powerful human men.
Saxet was a beastly man, but back then Declan hadn't known or even considered that Saxet was damaged goods, that his time as a human had ruined anything that might come after.
And in all these years, Saxet had never been able to settle down or live with anyone. Outside of the night club scene where he enjoyed playing his music, he kept to himself only coming around if Declan, his maker, called him, which he never had until today.
After Saxet came Kroy, a vampire they'd met while meandering around Europe in the 1400's. During the early 15th century, Kroy was a member of the Order of the Dragon, a group of men who fought to defend the cross against the enemies of Christianity until one ill fated night, when he came across a being while riding through the forest alone who showed him there was no god by turning him into one of the unholy creatures he feared most, a vampire.
Kroy's maker was still unknown to Declan. Whoever his maker was, he'd left Kroy to figure out vampirehood on his own, which went against everything Declan stood for. With power always came responsibility, and Declan not only recognized that but embraced it. When he'd come across Kroy he was the most violent, animalistic bloodthirsty vampire he'd ever seen. But, even more concerning to Declan was that Kroy enjoyed the hunt almost more than the kill, and he never just fed from a human. He mutilated their bodies before killing them.
In the fifteenth century it was easy for vampires to kill and eat covertly. With all the wars and turmoil on the continent of Europe it was practically like a smorgasbord. Often times they preyed on severely wounded men who lay dying on a battlefield so as not to be discovered by the humans. This also allowed Declan and Bhaltair to teach Kroy control and restraint under the cover of darkness with prey who were almost always near death anyway. That way, there were no mistakes.
Anlaf was next. The Battle of Dunbar in 1860 was the third battle of the English Civil War. The three of them had watched from the tree line, looking for both food and an opportunity to capitalize on finding another member for the clan. Declan wanted a fierce, violently powerful human he could turn.
One night, under the cover of darkness, the English led a surprise attack. Even with their flanks scattered one Scottish man refused to flee his position on the field. Alone, this man stood no chance against the English. It was a death sentence. But, standing alone on the battlefield that night he raised his shield, beat his chest with his closed fist, and called the English cowards while daring them to come forth for he was no coward, and he would not run. He would face his enemies like a true Scott.
Declan watched as the man was attacked by four English soldiers, one on horseback. The Scott fought until he was stabbed through the heart from behind and fell to his knees. Continuing after the fleeing Scots, the English didn't bother looking back. But, Declan couldn't allow a man like this to die so he rushed in to save the warrior, giving him the gift of his blood and thus immortality.
When Anlaf woke, he had no idea what had transpired, only that the men surrounding him were strangers, and he felt differently. His skin was cold, his heart did not beat, but when he saw that he no longer took breath, he realized the stories he'd heard as a young boy weren't just stories.
Anlaf had heard many folk tales about all different kinds of lore, passed down through generations of oral Scottish history, but he'd never seen actual proof that any of their legends were true. He had soon learned that all legends had some basis in truth.
Traveling together over time they finally came to the consensus, as a group, that Kroy was too dangerous to keep in close proximity to the vampire clan. Despite all of their efforts, his difficulty with impulse control hadn't diminished. Every few years the bloodlust got the better of him, and he went on a killing spree.
Humans often explained Kroy's heinous crimes, along with many other vampire killings, as being the actions of an unidentified serial killer...such as the still unidentified serial killer of the famous Whitechapel district of London in 1888. Kroy was Jack the Ripper, and he walks amongst the humans even now, undetected.
After Kroy was nearly discovered during the investigation into the Ripper murders, Declan, Bhaltair, and Anlaf decided to leave Europe and head for a new land, America. Kroy was a wild card they had to leave behind, and Saxet was a lone soul angry at his fate, who chose to live out his life on his own. The two of them went their separate ways, but both were loyal to Declan for different reasons.
Declan was Saxet's creator and while Saxet despised being turned, he couldn't deny his maker if or when he called. Whereas, Declan had been Kroy's savior. Even though Declan hadn't been able to reign in the beast that often consumed Kroy, he appreciated and respected Declan for sticking around to teach him. And despite all of his fuck ups, Declan had always been there for him...watching his back while he learned the ins and outs of being a vampire. Kroy respected Declan because he'd hung around to help a fellow vampire even though it brought danger to his own front door. Declan only left when he'd finally been able to accept that Kroy was a bad vampire because he was a bad human. Being turned had only exacerbated the issues he had as a human.
Declan's memories jumped forward to the 1890's remembering a time of great hope and possibility. It was the era of immigration in the United States, and the three of them seemed like all the other men who filtered through Ellis Island in New York Harbor...simply looking for a better way of life. And they found it shortly after they met a very young vampire named Marshall.
Declan couldn't help but smile when he thought of Marshall who had been a bounty hunter in the mid-west, loosely associated with the Dunn Brothers in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Marshall had been intent on working his way into their business and had tried to collect on a handsome bounty by himself. He'd tracked Tate "Slinger" McCloud's patterns for months, knowing that several bounty hunters had met their demise when they attempted to bring him in. Marshall approached his house under the cover of darkness, but quickly realized that what he was hunting wasn't a man at all but rather- an abomination.
Unfortunately, Marshall was unable to escape that night. Overcome by his thirst and his overwhelming need to sate the craving, Tate nearly drank him dry before leaving him for dead. However, the combination of Tate's lack of experience and desperate blood thirst had unintentionally turned Marshall that night.
When Marshall realized what he had been turned into, he went into hiding. Traveling only at night he headed north to Alaska where there were both fewer people and day light hours.
One night while he was out hunting in the northern Alaskan wilderness he came across Declan, Bhaltair, and Anlaf. He was so thankful to have found others like him, people who could teach him and help him survive, that he joined their clan.
Marshall had never had any trouble killing people. It was drinking the blood that took some gettin' use to. It went against everything he believed in as a god fearin' man, but he got over it real fast because he wasn't ready to sign off on his life.
Declan's clan made a lot of money in Alaska. Initially, they made their profits through hand logging as his men were powerful enough to take down trees and transport them to the beach to be removed with their bare hands. Declan held a major interest in the Treadwill mines on Douglas Island until they flooded in 1917, but he used the money he'd made to buy land and build casinos and brothels wherein his men became involved in many illegal activities that proved to be extremely profitable.
In 1920, Declan began traveling the United States looking for lucrative business opportunities. While stopping for the day in Abilene, Kansas, he met Driscoll and Reyid, two Irishmen who had built a saloon from the ground up after visiting McSorley's old Irish tavern in New York before heading west.
They had immigrated from Ireland after murdering several corrupt government officials who took their property and ran their families off the land they had inhabited and owned for centuries. Looking for a better life, they stowed away on a ship bound for America. After seeing the successes of the Irish taverns in New York, they saw a possibility that was well within their reach.
Traditional Irish taverns hadn't allowed women, but Driscoll and Reyid believed adding a brothel element to the tavern would only bring in more money. Declan watched as the two men created a financial windfall situation in Abilene, Kansas. It was a cowtown just west of Topeka which meant a lot of traffic, a rail road and westward bound travelers who were making one final stop before heading out into a wide expanse of territory where nothing but struggle awaited them.
Their saloon, The Lucky Leprechaun, was known as being a rowdy but controlled gambling establishment that provided its customers with all the amenities such as hearty corn beef and cabbage meals, hard liquor and beautiful women. Declan visited nightly, watching every move they made and found them to be quite the team. And, if anybody got out of control they handled it themselves by dragging the loudmouth troublemaker outside, away from their customers. Once outside, they gave whoever had disrupted their nightly fun a traditional Irish beat down wherein they left him laying right out in front of the saloon for everyone to see. It was an effective deterrent to the next rowdy asshole who got any ideas.
They were known simply as "The Irishmen" and they had carved out their path with their own two hands. Declan admired everything about them: their loyalty to each other, their business ethics, but especially how they handled themselves.
When Declan approached them with his offer, they saw it as a sign that they were meant to live forever and to return to Ireland where they would murder every man who had anything to do with them losing their land. After that was handled they would slowly buy every inch of it back. Even now Declan smiled. He understood their wanting to go home and finish what they'd started, 'No one holds a grudge like an Irishman.'
Once Declan and his men got an establishment up and running, they would move on so as not to cause suspicion when, despite the hard times, they never aged. Declan would always leave a capable, dangerous human under the watchful eyes of a vampire to keep a steady flow of money funneling in. Eventually, their little clan had more money than they knew what to do with, so they started buying property around the world and investing in various profitable business endeavors.
Declan bought land in both North and South America as well as Europe with a focus in Ireland, but he had homes in remote locations around the world. Bhaltair was always with Declan and stayed on his properties. Anlaf was also very tightly tied to Declan, and he too went wherever Declan did. Driscoll and Reyid returned to the Emerald Isle with more money than they could ever know what to do with, along with both a deep affection for and loyalty to Declan, their maker. Kroy and Saxet were still on their own, preferring to make an appearance only when called upon. Fortunately, Declan hadn't ever needed to call them- until now.
Declan, being the elder, was the head of the clan and he grew exponentially stronger as he aged. He always watched out for his men first and then his businesses. His men were always paid well for their efforts, and they quickly grew to respect his leadership. After a culmination of several hundred years of hard work, Declan had profits funneling in from five different continents.
As the years passed, his people found themselves dabbling in many criminal activities, but only if they promised to be profitable...prohibition, prostitution, weapons and drugs were a few recession proof industries that had proven very profitable for Declan's clan.
Declan had thousands of people, both humans and lore, working for him around the world and he never demanded that anyone stay with him. He let his people choose... Saxet chose to go his separate way and Declan had been content with his choice. He never forced anyone to stay with him or work for him, but if they did they were heavily rewarded. Declan took care of his people and always provided for them because he believed fairness and generosity were characteristics of favored rulers and that the loyalty and mutual respect he built with his people were the pillars on which the future of his empire would rest.
As for the others, the ones Declan had made, but who had chosen their own path, they would come if he called them because that was his expectation as their maker, and while he didn't make Kroy, Kroy owed him.
Knowing Declan would only call them in an emergency he expected their full compliance in this matter. This would be the first time they'd spoken to Saxet in almost six hundred years, but that made no difference to a vampire. When your maker called, you had damn well better answer.
He couldn't think of a bigger emergency than locating Rowan, his mate, because right now all he could do was pine over her, which simply wouldn't do. He could think of nothing else: not his businesses, not his people nor his other interests.
Even remembering to feed became effortful. Bhaltair had set up regular feedings for him, but each time he'd tried to feed he'd seen her face and the disgust she harbored for him. In an attempt to appease his bride he would start altering the way he fed in hopes of obtaining a more acceptable form, but a thousand years of bachelorhood and free will would be difficult to change.
Difficult he could handle. Living without her would be impossible. Hell, he couldn't even call his own men in. He had asked Bhaltair to request a face to face meeting at Newgrange Tomb in Ireland for the next night. They would need to hear it from him and to see how she affected him. A vampire without his mate was a sight to behold but it would ensure they understood the importance of the mission he was sending them on.
Standing in the Newgrange Tomb after hundreds of years was surreal. Declan had entered the realm of Earth through this portal tomb alone over a thousand years ago after a sorcerer in his liege, back on his original realm, created portals for him to travel through. The truth about Declan was he had a secret. He was over a thousand years old in this realm, but he was much older than any of them knew.
He had been traveling between realms for hundreds of years searching for his bride. When he landed here, he immediately started dreaming of her being in this realm. The image of her in his thoughts was more than he'd ever had before, and they convinced him that at some point she would surface in this realm. He wouldn't leave without her. He had waited much longer than even his best friend here knew.
He stood in front of the gateway that would only take a mere touch from him to illuminate, but remembering where he'd come from he realized, he couldn't leave Earth because he couldn't take Rowan to any of the realms he'd been to. None of them compared to the beauty of Earth, but more importantly this was the safest realm he'd ever been to which was saying a lot about what was out there.
Driscoll and Reyid were the first to arrive greeting both Declan and Bhaltair with open arms and celebratory smiles. But as they neared, they knew not all was well with their maker, "Declan, your eyes are tired my friend. What has happened?" Driscoll stopped only feet from him.
"I have found my mate, but things are difficult now." He extended his hand to each of his right hand men in business efforts in Europe.
"What can we do to help?" Reyid didn't care what the difficult situation was, Declan was his oldest friend next to Driscoll.
"I knew I could count on you both, but I need to wait for everyone because I don't wanna have to say this more than once." He couldn't stop seeing her face, even now.
"Very well, are they on their way now?" Driscoll held Declan's gaze reading the severity of the situation. This was not the Declan he knew.
"Bhaltair has called them all. They should be here soon." Declan turned to the entrance of the tomb as the sound of footsteps echoed in the darkened tunnel.
"We are here, and we are thinking it has been too long. Something big has happened...yes?" Kroy's voice was excited. He had been working on his self-regulation and inhibition for centuries so that he could rejoin Declan's group. He hated living alone, this was his way back in, and he wasn't going to fuck it up by going Ripper on them again.
"Declan found his mate." Bhaltair still hated Kroy because he had always been a loose cannon for them, even now he knew calling him may prove to be a mistake. Declan wasn't his maker, so that tie didn't bind him. But Kroy owed Declan, and it was high time he paid his due.
"So it's true?" Saxet had heard rumors but hadn't even considered believing them, until Bhaltair called him.
"What's true?" Marshall brought up the rear, entering the tomb after all the others.
Declan looked to each of them, "Rowan McKellan is my mate. After a thousand years of dreaming about her, she walked into one of my bars a few nights ago."
"That's not why we're here though. Is it?" Declan may be Saxet's maker, but Saxet hadn't wanted this for himself. He'd wanted to meet up with his family on the other side- they'd been taken from him and he missed his wife dearly. He'd wanted to die that night on the road so he could join the family who'd left him behind in this world. Karma was a bitch though, and it looked to Saxet like there may be an opportunity manifesting itself on the horizon.
"Saxet, welcome. It has been too long." This was the man Declan was waiting on, the level headed, dangerous, introvert who would put this business to bed quickly and competently, so that he could get back to his solitary life style.
"Tell me what I am to do so that I may leave this place." Saxet stopped. He cared not for the lot of them.
"You still haven't forgiven me?" Declan had hoped the years that had passed would have lessened Saxet's hatred towards him.
"No sense in talking about things we cannot change, so let's have it." Saxet stood before them all making eye contact with each of them in turn. He didn't trust any of them; however, Declan was his maker and a vampire couldn't deny his maker, but that didn't mean he had to play nice either. He kept his arms at his side with a wide athletic stance that would allow him to move quickly. After hundreds of years of playing vampire games, he was calm even amongst this crew, but he knew better than to let his guard down around any of them at any time. His eyes were in constant motion, sweeping the room to keep them all in his sights.
"Well, now that I have you all here I can tell you that I have finally found her, my mate. Rowan. She is the prophesied twin of Riat and Lepleya and the prophesy is proving true. She killed her twin brother Dermid just over a day ago. She is growing more powerful with each passing day. She was with me, but..."
"What did you do?" Saxet stared him down. He was hoping this was the day Declan would get what was coming to him.
Declan looked at the dirt and stone beneath his feet, "She witnessed us in a group feeding."
"Ahhh, well we all know what those look like. Don't we?" Saxet shook his head in disbelief. How could Declan be so smart and so stupid at the same time? Saxet stopped drinking human blood centuries ago, he couldn't live with himself or what he was doing.
"This isn't about you and me. Don't make it about us." Tonight his patience was nil and Declan had already had about enough of Saxet's shit. He was the first and last unwilling human Declan ever turned and he had apologized repeatedly to Saxet, for centuries, to no avail. He held his eyes. It wasn't a request: it was a warning.
Bhaltair stepped to the center, "Alright gentleman we are the hunting party. Our first objective is to find Rowan and bring her to Declan unharmed. Kroy, did you hear that?" He pointed directly at him.
"Yeah, I got it." A slow grin spread across his face.
There was an eerie blackness about Kroy. He was a psychopath, and they all knew it. Bhaltair hated that they had to even bring him in on this, but he was pulling out all the stops to find Rowan. "Okay then. She disappeared and we have no intel on her whereabouts. We have an old address, but she's too smart to go there. She was involved with Tearlach."
A low growl ripped through the tunnel. Declan's rage was uncontrollable. "She's mine and I want her back. You are not to harm her, but you will kill anyone or anything that stands between you and her. Do you understand?" His eyes were pitch black and the power rolling off him made the room feel very small.
They all nodded in unison. Declan was a fair man, but when provoked his temper had always been on the verge of being out of control and the fuse was considerably shorter now.
"And Oliver Pratt?" Marshall had been searching for the scientist per Declan's orders for nearly three weeks, but he'd come up empty handed.
"This is the only objective until she's returned to me. I want all of you on this and I want you to remember that she is my bride, so no harm will come to her...none!" He'd said that last part especially for Saxet just in case he had any ideas about how he was gonna handle this situation.
For the first time since he'd been turned, Saxet felt unadulterated happiness. Now, maybe Declan would understand the pain of living without your mate. All he'd wanted was to die on the road that night. Then, he could pass on to the next life where he would search the earth until he found her again, his wife. But he'd lost her forever because he was eternally damned. Declan had robbed him of future lives with his wife. He'd stolen his humanity and his soul. The retribution he'd been waiting for had finally reared its head, and he could hardly contain his smile. 'What comes around goes around'. His thoughts were guarded, protected from the others in the tomb, because he couldn't let them know how he really felt. 'No, harm will not come to her, but death could be peaceful. Couldn't it?.'
Bhaltair passed around her picture along with some information about her previous job, living situation and quickly developing powers. Saxet listened eagerly, but they were elders and thus had nothing to fear from a woman like Rowan. She sounded cocky in her newfound abilities, prideful and hotheaded with a short fuse. Put together, they would be the trifecta of her downfall.
"Any questions?" Declan caught their eyes, reading each of them as he went.
"There's something familiar about this woman." Marshall looked at the picture more carefully. For some reason, he couldn't put this feeling he had about her to bed. He would remember the red hair, though it was something else about her. He read down the list of her powers. Mind reading?
"What? What is it?" Declan took a step toward him.
"The Oliver Pratt assignment, when we were ambushed by other vamps." He paused, looking more closely at her features. "She was there. I mean, she wasn't lore and she damn sure didn't look like this, but it's her. I know it."
"Who were the vamps?" Declan's skin prickled at the possibility of a new lead.
"Don't know, never seen him or his crew before. We took out both his people, but he decimated our team when we went after the human woman. He was like a man on fire, and she wasn't too bad of a shot either. Funny thing, her bullets were laced with something. They incapacitated us. Between the two of them we had to leave, but Pratt wasn't there anyway."
Declan turned away from them as he tried to keep his temper under control. Rowan was running with lore and didn't even know it. Of course, chances were they hadn't known who she was either. They were testing her. They were trying to figure out if she was lore searching for a particular person. Only person he knew who had sent teams out in search of a woman was Deisha. "Deisha."
"Haven't heard that name in a while." Reyid turned to Driscoll. She'd come to them once, looking for a tracker. They'd given her a name of a man who spent a lot of time in their bars, Dexus. Of course, they'd never seen him after that.
"She's Rowan's aunt, which means one of you needs to be on her now." Declan stared into the stone before him, a portal waiting to be accessed.
"I'm not here for stake-out duty. I'll go after the girl." Saxet started to back out of the room and down the darkened tunnel.
"She's my bride Saxet. Do not harm her. Just bring her to me." Declan couldn't shake the feeling that Saxet had his own agenda.
"Of course...master." Saxet smiled, nodding his head once in understanding just before sifting out. He'd never been a team player, and he wasn't starting now. He was smarter and faster than Declan's other men. For starters, he knew Declan hadn't given them all the information. He was hiding something. Declan was always hiding something. It just went with the territory. So, first things first, he needed to get some intel.
"I don't have a good feeling about him." Declan stared into the empty darkness where Saxet vanished.
"He won't cross you. You'd kill him." Anlaf stepped forward.
"Maybe that's exactly what he wants." Declan had tried everything to make amends with Saxet, but the bastard was too hard headed. He'd given him the gift of immortality, and it was high time the man started appreciating what he'd been given.
"Kroy, Driscoll and Reyid start with recon. Find out anything you can, let me know where it leads you. And you two," Bhaltair nodded directly at Driscoll and Reyid, "keep your eye on Kroy. Don't let him go Ripper on us. The last thing we need is for the police to get involved. And remember, she is the only mission right now, so don't fuck around."
Kroy smiled at him, "We got it." He hated Bhaltair, the ever rule follower, falling at Declan's knees to serve him. Bhaltair had been the one who had convinced Declan to throw him out of their group before they headed to America. Too dangerous to live with them, but just dangerous enough to call in for vampire hunting duty. 'Fuckin' hypocrite.'
"Anlaf, you're with me." Bhaltair turned to his oldest friend, "Declan, why don't you go back to the club so you can be reached. She may try calling you."
"Optimism doesn't suit you Bhaltair, but I appreciate the sentiment old friend. Call me if you find out anything." He shook Bhaltair's hand and headed down the dark corridor in the same direction Saxet had gone.
"We'll talk to you soon. We will find her." Bhaltair could feel Declan's frustration growing, fueling a rage that lay dormant just beneath the surface. The angst in the room diminished with each step Declan took away from the meeting room in the tomb. Bhaltair had seen him in many states, but somehow he had the feeling he'd never seen Declan's true face of rage, but it was warming up to take center stage real fuckin' fast.
"Thank you, Bhaltair." His forlorn words were spoken softly as he began to regret bringing Saxet in, unsure now of what he may do if he found her first. He hadn't even considered that Saxet would still be angry and wanting revenge,"Work swiftly my friend."
Innately Declan knew he needed Saxet in on this because he was strong and centered and even though he may be driven by revenge, his moral compass pointed due north which meant he may threaten to do something, but in the end he wouldn't. Declan would use the resourceful and motivated Saxet watching every move he made, following him directly to Rowan, and he had no qualms about ridding this realm of Saxet if he got any vengeful ideas.