Blood Instinct (2 page)

J
ask kept
low as he headed across the top of the building. Kane and Eden were already lying side by side at the edge of the flat roof, binoculars held to their eyes.

‘What’s happening?’ Jask asked as he lay down on Kane’s left.

‘I think it’s safe to say the head of the Global Council is true to his threat.’ Kane handed him the binoculars. ‘They’ve spent the last couple of hours reinforcing the boundary. The whole lot is being heightened with coiled razor wire. They’ve already closed the border into Lowtown.’

Binoculars held to his eyes, Jask peered through the mist to where the military busied themselves atop the wall that had divided Blackthorn from Lowtown ever since the regulations had first been put in place eighty years before. Ever since the existence of the third species, as they were thereafter named, had been exposed.

The third species that had subsequently been relocated to the deprived cores of the newly formed locales, trapped in stratified society by walls that had been reinforced over time. Walls that had equally strengthened the social divide between Blackthorn and Lowtown residents and the privileged and exclusive Midtown beyond – not to mention the human-only Summerton on the outskirts of the locale.

‘They’ve increased security beyond at the Lowtown–Midtown border too,’ Kane added. ‘It seems Sirius is planning on penning them in as much as he has us.’

Sirius Throme – who was finally using the walls to his full advantage.

But Kane was never one to be restricted by walls.

Having known of the prophesied war for decades, the master vampire had spent the best part of fifty years focused below ground. With his most-trusted allies by his side, he’d been finding ways to join tunnels to more tunnels – knocking through to abandoned subways, cellars and defunct underground maintenance systems to create what eventually resembled a giant air-raid shelter. Because ultimately that’s what it was.

Kane may have been hell-bent on preventing the war, but the odds had always been strong that the Tryan, who they now knew to be Caleb, would rise to overthrow the human regime. According to the prophecy, the rest of the third species, as well as the humans, would be caught in the crossfire – not least when the vampire leader clashed with the catalyst to the war: Sirius Throme.

Subsequently, the priority had been offering protection to as many as possible when the time came, as well as creating a prime place from which to angle a defensive attack. As a result, a whole world had been created underground.

And now Jask’s pack had been allocated a part of that haven – a haven where Sophia was safely tucked away, along with her two sisters, as far away from Caleb as possible.

‘How’s your pack doing?’ Kane asked.

‘Still finding fourth species. Leila’s proving herself to be a real asset – there’s nothing that girl doesn’t know about those things or how to combat them.’ He scanned the length of the wall as far as he could before the mist finally obscured his vision. ‘Which is why you need to know she’s twitchy about the way this mist is intensifying, and I’m starting to feel the same.’

‘Yeah, well you’re not alone,’ Kane replied. ‘As commonplace as it is to see some mist leakage when there’s a breach in the dimensions, this isn’t looking good. How’s it going with her? Any progress?’

‘She’s still refusing her training, remaining adamant that she has no intention of killing Caleb. She won’t even pick up your sword. And she’s still insisting on the same thing she told us: that Caleb let her go so she could find the alternative to this prophecy, that one exists but that it’s not an option. I’ve left it to Phia to keep working on her.’

‘So still no clues as to what this alternative is?’

‘Not even an inkling. And I thought Phia was the stubborn one. It’s clearly a family trait. What about Caleb? Any news?’

‘He’s definitely back at the club, but he hasn’t attempted to leave as yet – not as far as my scouts can tell.’

‘What the fuck are they up to in there?’

‘I wish I knew.’

Jask homed in on the border again. There was no sign of the specialist army that had invaded his compound as yet. Possibly the same army he’d had to prevent taking Kane less than twenty-four hours before when Caitlin had lain dying in the vampire’s arms.

Instead, all he could see was standard military presence, aside from glimpses of Curfew Enforcement Officers mingling amongst them – the latter easily definable among the grey military uniforms by being clad head-to-foot in black leathers.

‘What do you think your boys are doing here?’ he asked Eden.

‘Navigating the lightweights’ arses safely around the dark corners of Lowtown and Blackthorn, I would imagine. Front line is the only purpose they ever have for us expendable grunts.’

‘And all of this for you, you pain in the arse,’ Jask declared as he handed Kane back his binoculars.

‘Yet not a red carpet in sight,’ Kane quipped.

Despite the vampire’s fleeting smirk, they all knew it was the last thing they needed: the military invading Blackthorn at the same time Caleb was coming for Sophia.

But Kane could look after himself against Sirius’s army. Jask needed to stay focused on making sure Caleb didn’t get his hands on Sophia. He needed to prevent Caleb having the power behind him that would bring him head-to-head with Sirius and lead to the downfall of all species.

And keeping Sophia from Caleb was the only way to stop that happening.

That and persuading Leila to kill Caleb: Leila being the only one who could do so without blowing the fourth dimension open and destroying them all anyway.

‘How the fuck is Throme getting away with this level of threat?’ Jask asked.

Kane swapped the binoculars for his phone. ‘You need to hear the official line.’

Jask accepted and pressed play on the stilled video footage.

The female reporter stood in front of a concrete wall amidst the milling military. ‘In an unprecedented move since these walls were first erected almost eighty years ago, the military has cordoned off Blackthorn and reinforced its boundaries – as well as those of Lowtown.

‘The reasoning behind it is equally unprecedented. Late last night, the remains of two victims were found in a back alley on the north-east border. One is, as yet, unidentified. The other is that of Vampire Control Unit Agent Meghan Yale, new to serving in this locale.’

As Meghan’s face flashed up on the screen, Jask stared across at Kane, who she had helped save less than a couple of days before.

The agent who had helped save Caitlin’s life in the process.

The agent they had last seen pointing a gun at Matt Morgan, the acting chief of the Third Species Control Division since Xavier Carter’s prosecution.

‘It gets better,’ Kane remarked.

‘It is believed by experts from the Lycan Control Unit that these victims were the prey of morphed lycans,’ the reporter added, holding her hand up towards Blackthorn’s name plaque on the concrete wall. ‘Morphed lycans within these very boundaries.’

Jask’s heart skipped a beat. All of his pack had been accounted for. He’d also put a stringent plan into play to ensure every lycan in Blackthorn had received the dose – even the rogues banished from his pack over the years.

‘I have with me Mathew Morgan, the TSCD’s acting chief,’ the reporter continued.

Jask watched the camera zoom out to bring the familiar face into view alongside the journalist.

‘Lycanthropic morphing within Blackthorn is an unprecedented event, Mr Morgan,’ the reporter said, holding the microphone out towards him. ‘How has this happened?’

‘We have no explanation at the moment. The lycan pack within Blackthorn were issued their meds as per protocol.’

‘Could it be to do with the fact we’re in the midst of a blue moon? And with it reaching its peak in the next twenty-four hours, are we to expect more of the same?’

‘We are aware that the seventh blue moon in the Metonic cycle is a particularly challenging time for the lycanthropes,’ Morgan replied, the edge of empathy in his tone a mockery with what Jask now knew of him, ‘something that was taken into account in the altered formulation of the meds we issued.’

‘So either the formula was inaccurate or there were members of the pack who refused to take the meds?’

The only four who needed the meds had taken them. The four for whom their own concoction didn’t work. The four who couldn’t risk morphing, the severity of the allergy that prevented their concoction from working in the first place meaning that they were equally unlikely to survive a morphing, especially under a blue moon.

‘As we all know, the Global Council has always respected the lycanthropes’ request to utilise their own version of the meds. It has always proved effective, but unfortunately on this occasion, there has evidently been a failure somewhere.’

The whole interview felt so contrived, so rehearsed, their expressionless exchange adding to Jask’s suspicion.

‘Jask Tao is the leader of the lycanthropes here in Blackthorn,’ the reporter added. ‘Surely it’s
his
responsibility to oversee this?’

Jask shook his head slightly at the accusation, his chest tightening.

‘And he always has done,’ Morgan said. ‘Tao is renowned for his authoritarian approach to managing his pack.’

‘“Authoritarian”, huh?’ Kane said. ‘They couldn’t resist getting that one in.’

‘That’s me,’ Jask quipped. ‘Hard bastard to the last.’

‘Yet this is not the first time there has been an issue,’ the reporter countered. ‘We know in the case of Arana Malloy that the lycans involved in her death had had their meds tampered with – thus allowing them to be targeted by the TSCD agents convicted of her murder.’

Targeted and used as scapegoats.

‘A one-off incident,’ Morgan replied.

‘So could this be the result of rogue lycans? Pack members refusing to comply?’

‘Like fuck it is,’ Jask hissed under his breath.

‘We are not able to ascertain at this time whether the lycans responsible
are
rogue or are current members of Tao’s pack,’ Morgan replied.

‘You’ve not yet spoken to him?’

‘The Lycan Control Unit visited the compound shortly after the discovery of the victims. The place was found vacant for reasons as yet unknown. We have put a call out for Tao to come forward and aid us with our enquiries.’

‘Whilst there, is it true that your team also discovered alarming evidence that the lycans’ version of the meds had been destroyed?’

‘The greenhouse was found to be damaged, yes.’

Jask glanced at Kane and read in his expression that he shared the same thought: that the media would never have gained access to that information unless someone had wanted them to know.

His skin crawled at the indicators of yet another set-up; that his pack
still
remained the scapegoat in Sirius’s unrelenting fight to get Kane.

‘Is there any indication as to why?’

‘We don’t know if the sabotage occurred after their departure or prior to their leaving the compound,’ Morgan responded. ‘And we can only speculate until we are able to talk to Tao or to a member of his pack.’

‘But you’re not ruling out that this was intentional?’

‘We are all aware there have been some fractions between the third species and the TSCD since the murder case of Arana Malloy. We have been working on bridging that gap.’

Jask exhaled tersely. ‘I don’t fucking believe this.’

‘Hard bastard
and
unreasonable,’ Kane teased.

‘Are you intimating that this could have been an act of rebellion on the part of the lycans?’ the reporter asked. ‘Is that the real reason the military presence is here?’

‘I’m not intimating anything, but we are treating it as suspicious considering the disappearance of Tao’s pack since. Until we know more, we urge the communities in Blackthorn to remain within their homes and to cooperate with the military in their questioning – and, of course, to report any sightings of Jask Tao or members of his pack. Again, we urge Jask Tao to come forward to assist us so we can bring this matter to a close quickly.’

They flashed up a photograph of him, one that was taken as he entered the courtroom in the Arana Malloy trial, his aggressive glower dominating the image.

Even more carefully selected propaganda.

‘Thank you, Mr Morgan.’ The journalist looked back down the camera. ‘Dr Sirius Throme, Head of the Global Council and overseer of this locale, also made this statement earlier today.’

The hairs on the back of Jask’s neck stood on end as the camera switched to Sirius, sitting behind a conference desk. More enraging was his feigned forlorn and concerned demeanour as he stared directly down the camera lens.

‘I want to reassure residents of Blackthorn and Lowtown, and indeed the rest of the locale, that safety measures have instantly been put in place in light of this recent news,’ Sirius stated. ‘We are already working closely with representatives of the Higher Order to manage this situation. Together with the cooperation of Blackthorn’s community, we will bring this under control quickly and effectively.

‘To do so, I have assigned my most efficient and highly trained team to deal with the situation. Blackthorn is now under martial law until further notice. I ask residents not to be alarmed. A safe evacuation strategy is already in hand should it be required. In the meantime, I would
personally
like to urge Jask Tao to come forward and work with us to see to a safe outcome. For us all.’

Irritation tightened Jask’s throat as he handed the phone back to Kane.

‘You accounted for every rogue?’ Kane asked.

‘And they all took the dose exactly like we did. I’m not sloppy, Kane – especially not around a blue moon. I’ll pull some of my pack off the fourth-species hunt and assign them to checking this out though. If something has gone wrong, I’ll find out. But you know as well as I do that this is just a convenient justification for invasion.’

‘And safe evacuation my arse,’ Eden piped up, his attention still down the binoculars. ‘Legalised interrogation camps more like.’

‘Or to reduce retaliating numbers for when the invasion really begins,’ Kane added, sharing a knowing look with Jask.