Truk looked up as Lash and Narcist walked with purpose across the lobby towards him.
"All set?" he asked, falling in with them as they stepped across the threshold and headed for the SUV from the garage.
"The wolf lady has an unlimited credit card, a burner phone, and her marching orders," Narcist said after a quick look up at Lash. "She's going to head for Switzerland, or Italy and dig around some more after the White Flames while she waits for us to sort out Amyra and Anna van Tallert."
Truk nodded in understanding.
"Good. And I took the time waiting to move all of our gear into the garage SUV so we're ready to roll right now."
"Then that is exactly what we will do!" Lash declared.
****
Ballan looked up at the flash of headlights coming out of the trees to approach the gate and glanced down at his chrono. Almost forty minutes right on the dot. Nodding in appreciation, he turned to call into the large transport plane's belly from his position on the open loading ramp.
"Prep for departure!" he shouted. "Wheels up in five!"
Once inside the fence, it didn't take long for Lash to park the SUV beside the buses and the other two SUVs the rest of their caravan had traveled in. Then everybody was tumbling out to grab their duffel bags out of the cargo area, Ellie taking Narcist's backpack to lessen the nestari's load.
As they heard the transport planes begin to throttle up in preparation to move, Lash strode towards the nearest one. And in doing so, spotted three figures standing at the bottom of the cargo ramp, backlit by lights inside the cargo hold, which was almost full of anxious breeders.
Ballan he recognized right away. But who was this tall, long-legged, athletic figure with the flawless silhouette to his right? And the slightly shorter but equally flawless outline beside the first?
Only when he got close enough to see the shaved sides of her head and the beautifully intricate braid on the first woman did he know it was Druzha. And the voluminous flow of red hair marked none other than the Irish lilith, Faidh. The Nosferatu lilith was sheathed in snug leather, a double underarm holster tied around her upper body, a utility belt slung low on her hips, and knee boots breaking up the seamless leather catsuit look.
Faidh, on the other hand, was dressed less like a rockstar super spy and more like a rough and tumble Ventru nestari, clad in Silver Legion fatigues with a holstered sidearm on her hip, a kevlar vest over what was likely her neuron armor, gloves and combat boots. But she was no less beautiful or alluring than the sleek Druzha. And both wore dazzling smiles in greeting as they stepped closer.
"I thought the liliths were evacuating NachtFeuer," he said as they stopped just short of the ramp. "The two of you should be hundreds of kilometers from here."
"Atrix managed to convince the senior sisters to stay after Captain Kingsguard successfully intercepted the White Flames covert team and prevented their lasing the fortress," Dru said, her brilliant smile becoming something much more warm and sensual as Lash's eyes turned to her.
"So no evacuation."
"But when we heard you were heading north in an attempt to rescue a Ventru lilith, we thought you might need help," Faidh spoke up to say, partly to pull Lash's attention back to her and avoid getting shown up by her more experienced Nosferatu sister."
"We don't know how to shoot very well," Meredith said as she appeared out of the transport's hold, dressed much as Fiadh was in a more tactical outfit. "But I know how to use a knife in close quarters."
Lash chuckled as he looked up at the blonde lilith who had fought Anka to the death in a duel to prove the Nordstrom had plotted to kill an infant, breaking their most sacred law.
"That, you are," he agreed wryly. He then looked to Dru and Fiadh. "Well, since I know it's useless to try to convince a lilith not to do what she intends on doing, we might as well get this circus on the road! And he hopped onto the ramp and began walking into the interior.
"Who are they?" Ellie leaned close to Narcist to ask in a whisper, troubled by the obvious affection all three liliths had for the big vampire. How was she, a breeder, going to compete against three Queens of the Night for Lash's affections??
"The redhaired lilith is Fiadh, an Irish queen we rescued from first a Hand assassination attempt on a train, then a White Flame hostage situation in Dublin. With her m'tada dead to the man, she asked Ventru to give her protection to Salzburg. She kind of stuck with us after that."
"And the blonde? The one who can fight with knives?"
"That's Meredith, a British queen. We rescued her from a Hand and White Flame assassination attempt at Heathrow International in London. Her m'tada were also wiped out so we offered her protection as well. The one with the braid, though, the Nosferatu; she I don't know. But, judging by the looks she's giving our man, it's my guess she went into season while they were in NachtFeuer together and he was her choice to resolve the situation. And she ended up enjoying it much, much more than she thought she would!"
That thinned Ellie's lips. Unfortunately, Narcist's evaluation felt completely accurate. But how could she blame any of them? A tall, gangly boy when they parted after she tested positive for fertility and was taken to the creche at thirteen, Lash had matured into a perfect man, a deliciously handsome and powerful alpha prime with an exquisite bloodline directly from the Ancient One himself. With all the High Lords and powerful vampires she had been called on to be with, none of them were remotely worthy to even stand in his shade. It was no surprise the liliths were climbing over each other in an attempt to get his attention. If she could control her pheromones like they could, she'd be doing the same thing.
Then she had to push her thoughts and feelings aside for the moment as the ramp started to lift, forcing her to hop in or be left behind.
After reaching a cruising altitude of about 25,000 feet and leveling off, the three planes turned north and began driving towards their target. Which was:
"Here," Narcist said as she tapped a spot on a map of Denmark. The holographic map was projected from the small map table in the pint-sized war room sitting just behind the cockpit on a platform overlooking the cargo bay. Standing around the table with Narcist was a frowning Lash, an intent Dru, a thoughtful Fiadh, and a calculating Meredith.
"From the analysis the Legion's electronic intel team did on the original captured signal, they put its origin here, outside the Ventru enclave of Blutholt on the western coast, just south of Esbjerg."
"Coastal plain, some forests, fairly pastoral," the tech went on to say, looking at her tablet that had a full description of the area. "Ventru has had holdings there for centuries. Our early ancestors apparently had a taste for viking blood!"
"How big is that city?" Dru asked, arms folded beneath her generous breasts. "Esbjerg, I believe you called it."
"Yes, Mistress. One of Denmark's largest ports and fisheries, it has approximately 114,000 in the city and surrounding area."
"A good size, then," Meredith said musingly. "Big enough for a small group of desperate vampires to get lost in."
"How about the Dark Edge? Does the community have a significant presence there?" the Nosferatu lilith then asked.
Narcist nodded.
"As a large port city, it's a transit hub for a number of the smaller races, such as shape shifters and chameleons. But it's only a couple hundred years old so no vampire colony in the city itself. Werewolves occasionally pass through but no pack calls the city home. There is, however, a small, unaffiliated group of psionics that reside there."
As she said that, Narcist hazarded a look over at Lash, the big vampire silent to this point. And found him grimly thoughtful, as expected.
While learning about a local Dark Edge presence was interesting, it was also irrelevant. Only psionics and werewolves challenged their supremacy in the Dark Edge. And neither were in position to stop an investigation of Blutholt even if they wanted to. So Druzha's questions, while obviously not made out of a lack of intelligence or drive, the Nosfetatu known for high amounts of both, were just as irrelevant.
Unfortunately it also revealed her inexperience with an actual combat situation. Powerful enough to be called a senior sister amongst her peers, Druzha commanded hundreds, if not thousands of Blood Guard. They would be the ones doing the fighting for her. She hadn't been in a single battle. Her slinky outfit, worn more for Lash's benefit than her own, confirmed it: Druzha of the Nosferatu was no fighter.
Nor was Meredith, as evidenced by her willingness to ask the same sort of questions. The blonde lilith, however, had greatly benefited from her stay at NachtFeuer, with a majority of her strength and confidence as a queen of her people restored. Something must've happened in there that healed her mind and soul, putting her back together.
Out of the three, only Fiadh had seen a decent amount of combat, thanks to her time in their company. While she didn't fire a weapon herself, she learned how to move on the battlefield, take directions, and participate in real planning sessions. Which was why she, like Lash, remained thoughtfully silent.
Then Lash was finally speaking. And, as expected, it had nothing to do with their mission into Denmark.
"Before we make a move into Denmark, we need to find a safe haven for the breeders we pulled out of the fallen Night Market," he said firmly. To their credit, all three liliths quickly nodded in agreement.
"There's a creche hub in Switzerland," Dru indicated. "I know the local mistress. She can take a plane load and get them cleaned up and sorted before putting them back into the network. And Sasha, one of the senior sisters from the Conclave, can get us in touch with her Vorinov contacts to get another plane sent to one of their hubs."
Lash frowned at that. Ventru and Vorinov seldom got along, even less than with Nosferatu vampires. For good reason: the Russia-based clan was ruthless, taking every opportunity to improve their position and increase their power. They had quickly moved in to take Toreador's chair on the Council when the western clan faltered under pressure from the Brotherhood, even though they weren't Original Three. Knowing the kind of leverage having a plane load of breeders would give them, he'd rather look at almost anything else as an alternative.
But, as Nosfetatu, Dru would've seen Vorinov aggression against Houses in her own clan. Ventru disliked Vorinov but seldom went to war against them. Where Nosferatu shared a border with them and were in constant combat with the aggressive Russian vampires. Vorinov should've been the last clan she would've suggested as a possible safe have.
"I see that look," Dru said with a raised brow before he could put any of that into words. "And normally I'd rather drink pig's blood than to say that name. But Sasha I trust. She'll get the girls safely back into the network and neither Drago nor Moskva will be any the wiser!"
"That leaves just this plane then," Meredith said. "I wish I could offer options of my own, but the Hand has possessed my estate and I'm not as established on the continent as Druzha."
"I, unfortunately, must echo that," Fiadh said with an unhappy twist of her mouth. "The Hand and the White Flames took everything from me."
"I'm aware of several refuges and sanctuaries in Ventru territory, our clan strongly supporting and protecting the network as a key to our future," Lash said before his expression tightened. "But our heartland is under assault. We would only be putting them in further danger."
"What about Romania?" Narcist spoke up to say. "Nosfetatu has traditional strongholds in several cities there, including Bucharest. Do any possess a sanctuary?"
Dru slowly nodded as she considered Narcist's suggestion.
"My own personal holdings are in Bucharest," she said. "And while many Nosferatu Houses would seek to take advantage of having so many breeders in hand, I know a few that have an eye on our people's future, not growing their power. But, I'll need to make some calls."
"Please do so, Night Mistress," Lash respectfully directed. "I could not go to Denmark before I knew every little sister was safe!"
Dru nodded.
"It will take some time," she warned. Lash quickly nodded in understanding.
"Perhaps a little time free and safe will be just what the little sisters need!"