Chapter 65: The Three Covens
Ezra's fist passed through the place where the vampire had been and he stumbled from the lack of resistance. Shit! What the fuck was that?
He spun around, just in time to see the seven ladies be pulled into the dark portals, one after the other.
In a second, they were all gone. Ezra's eyes scanned the room, making sure that the robed vampire was truly gone, before dispersed his shadows, swearing. Olivia and Gen looked around wildly in confusion. "What happened?" Gen asked. "Where are they?"
"They disappeared." Ezra gritted his teeth.
"What do you mean they disappeared?" Olivia asked, her wings disappearing back into her back. "Eight vampires can't just disappear in the darkness."
"They had a fourth ring vampire!"
There was silence.
"In the darkness, the fourth ring vampire teleported them out." Ezra pulled off his mask. "I was this close to finding out who he was. I had him right where I wanted him."
"Our plan still worked." Gen grinned, slipping her hands inside the pockets of her leather jacket. "I recognize two of the ladies. They're from the Macmillan coven."
"The who?" Ezra stared at her in interest. Thank the Lord we got something.
"The Macmillan coven. Remember Sarah?"
Ezra nodded. As if he could forget the fiery woman with her red hair and distinctive armor.
"That's Sarah's coven."
"That's not all." Olivia spoke up. "I recognized every one of the seven women."
Ezra's eyebrows climbed up his head.
"The Vampire Society is very small. It's not weird to know most vampires in your city." Olivia tilted her head. "Two are from the Macmillan coven. Three are from the Aaron coven and the last three? Malachi coven."
"Malachi?" Ezra huffed in surprise. What's with this guy? Why is he everywhere? "What does this mean?"
"It means we found our hidden leaders." Olivia crossed her hands under her impressive breasts. "First, they obviously knew we were coming, seeing the fact that they banded together. Second, one of the hidden leaders is definitely either Malachi or Count Solomon." She looked around the control room. "Judging by the scale of the operation, it has to be Malachi."
"How can you be so sure?" Gen piped up from where she was examining the screen of one of the monitors. "I mean, the guy hates us. He would gladly tear Valaren from Ezra's gut given half the chance.
"Simple." Olivia nodded in confidence. "Remember how we met Malachi at Count Griffin's sanctuary before receiving our punishment? We thought he was only there to ask Griffin for Ezra. What if he was also there to cut a deal of his own?"
Ezra glanced at Gen. "I don't think I get it."
"Think about it." Gen opened a drawer, finding a small stash of cigars before closing it shut. "Griffin had to have known the identity of the hidden owners. Trust me, Griffin is meticulous. He would have done his homework and gauged the difficulty before giving us the punishment."
"Gen's right." Olivia agreed. "Besides, who said Griffin didn't accept whatever deal Count Solomon brought to him? Griffin can't publicly hand over a vampire under his protection to another count. That doesn't mean he can't provide the count an opportunity and look away when the time comes. The fact that he's working with not one but two covens under Griffin makes this a certainty."
Ezra stood there in realization. "Shit." He muttered. "We're currently fighting against Count Solomon, aren't we?" Gen giggled. He had thought that chapter over for now. He didn't know that all he did was take a short break. "Wait a minute, you said two covens under Griffin.
Did I hear that wrong?"
"No, you didn't. The Macmillan coven and the Aaron coven are both under Griffin. That's more evidence that Griffin definitely knew what was going on. The Macmillan and Aaron covens are very close, so, one of them has to be the other hidden owner."
"Close is simplifying it." Gen chuckled. "Those degenerates sometimes organize joint orgies." Ezra frowned in disbelief. Joint orgies? "I'm not the only one that finds this weird right?" She asked them.
"Not the only one." Olivia and Ezra answered in unison.
"Cool." Gen plopped into the seat in front of the desk with monitors. "Oh! Look what I found!" She reached below the desk and brought out a sniper rifle.
"Let me see that." Olivia walked to her and took the rifle, examining it. "This rifle is the same model as the one that fired the bullet that hit Ezra at the warehouse."
"What?" Ezra walked closer and Gen sat up in interest. "These are the guys that shot me?"
"Judging by the fact that Malachi was there when it happened, we already knew that he had something to do with it. We don't know who shot the gun though." Olivia dropped the rifle on the desk and began examining the monitor.
Ezra stood, staring down at the rifle. This was what shot me? He was more amazed than angry. I can survive shots from this? Hell yeah! He picked up the rifle and began examining it.
"So, who owns what?" Gen asked. "Is Malachi behind the Red Orphans or the Three Axe gang?"
"No idea." Olivia muttered. She brought out her phone and made a quick call. "Yes. We're at the location. We're taking anything that isn't nailed down."
"Fuck yes, we are!" Gen cheered from her seat.
"Where do we go from here?" Ezra asked.
"Simple. Malachi is already after a fight, so we have no choice but to fight him." Olivia turned back to the monitor. "However, we can remove his allies from the board." She straightened and turned to Ezra. "You would have to represent the Matten Coven in an audience with Griffin. Let's try to negotiate with the Macmillan and Aaron covens through Griffin."
Ezra nodded in understanding before looking around the room. There was no evidence of their short battle. "Gen, Olivia," They turned to look at Ezra. "We did well." He smiled.
Olivia and Gen nodded in agreement, matching his smile. "This isn't over but we made a huge leap forward. That's better than nothing." Sound filtered into the room and Ezra pulled his mask back on. "That's my cue." He saluted and disappeared through the back door. He had a meeting to prepare for.