They passed a few VampLycans as they got closer to the lodge. Kira smiled and waved. They appeared stunned to see her but she wasn’t sure if it was because they hadn’t heard she’d survived the Vampire attack, or if they had, and just couldn’t believe it was possible for someone who’d been turned into a Vampire to roam around in the sun. Either way, she didn’t care. At least the latter would make Brista look bad for accusing Lorn of being an idiot for taking advice from other clans.

They entered the lodge and Lorn breathed out a deep sigh of relief and released her hand. “Are you well?”

“I’m great.”

“Come.” He headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

She ran behind him. Her father waited upstairs in the office, the door open. Garson had arrived too. He stood near the map, talking on his cell phone. It took her listening to him for a few seconds to realize he spoke to Kar.

“He hasn’t called back,” her father announced.

Garson turned. “I’m sending everyone to the area where the fight took place. Do you think those damn Vampires might be hiding on our territory somewhere?”

Lorn strode over to the map and fingered it. “No. We’d have smelled them. He used a phone, so I’m thinking the human areas on this side of the borderlands.” He stared at Davis. “Kira can answer the phone. Does the main line ring up here?”

“It does now. I had it transferred up. It’s line three.”

Lorn studied the map again. “He’ll probably try to reach humans. It would be easy to take control of one of their minds, possibly borrow a vehicle to return to us faster.”

“Unless he’s hurt or still drugged. It could mess him up. He might be unable to take control of one. Veso might not be a fan of humans but he’d hate to have to kill an innocent person if they saw too much, and he had to stop them from contacting others.”

Lorn scowled at her.

She shrugged. “I got to know him in training and from working with him. He can be an ass but he only likes to inflict damage on poachers. I’m not broken up over that. They’re scum.”

Lorn addressed Davis and Garson. “Take an off-road vehicle and check these areas here.” He circled an area on the map with his finger. “There are a lot of caves hidden and not a lot of human dwellings, but enough for Vampires to find a food source. They may have chosen this part of the human territory to hide in. Don’t shift until darkness comes. We don’t want any humans to see more than they should. Just tell them a friend went missing if you run across any, and question them about strangers.”

“I’ll have Kar meet us.” Garson spoke quietly into the phone, nodding.

“I want you to call in. Take satellite phones. The signals are iffy in those regions,” Lorn ordered.

“I have mine downstairs.” Davis stepped next to Kira, peering at her. “How are you doing, baby girl?”

“Not burning.” She smiled and gave him a hug.

He inhaled. “Mated.”

“Yes.”

He winked and let her go. “Good. Stick close to your mate. I don’t trust everyone in the clan yet.”

“She won’t be leaving my side,” Lorn promised.

Lavos and Bran arrived after Garson and Davis left. Kira took a seat at the desk, watching her mate give orders to both men, sending them to search the same area as the other two. They left fast and her mate came to her, sitting on the edge of the desk.

“I feel as if I should be doing more.”

“Call everyone you think might help.”

“I don’t want to leave our territory unprotected. I’ve assigned every able guard to the night shifts, worried about more Vampires. I can’t see why they would have invaded our lands unless they were planning a full attack. Most of those guards are sleeping after last night. They need a bit of rest. It’s early.”

He would be a fantastic clan leader. Kira felt proud of him. He actually cared about their people. Decker wouldn’t have given a damn if anyone slept or not. She rose up and walked to him. He spread his legs and she stepped between them, wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her as she snuggled into his chest.

“Veso is one tough VampLycan. You have capable men searching for him in the area he’s most likely to be.”

“What if I’m wrong? I could have sent them to the wrong place.”

“I’ve had to learn a lot about the human areas on the other side of the fences, since I patrolled where some of them breached our territory. There are no easily accessible roads. Those Vampires would have had to run miles to reach where they found me. I know they can move fast but it would have been another story to carry one drugged-up heavy man. Veso would have slowed them down a lot. They would have reached the road and not had a lot of time to drive before the sun rose. They have to be holed up in those caves or in one of the human-occupied cabins. You were right on, having them search where they are. I’d have done the same. It makes the most sense, Lorn.”

He pulled back a little and she lifted her head, holding his gaze. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“Never. I know all the areas where humans could breach. The old logging roads within a few miles of the fences are a mess. They haven’t been kept up so even if the Vamps had an off-road vehicle, they couldn’t have made it very far before dawn approached. They’d have broken an axle or something if they took them too fast. Parts of those roads have been washed out due to flooding or just winter damage. Most of the humans who come in are on dirt bikes or ATVs. Can you imagine trying to lug a two-hundred-and-sixty-pound man?” She shook her head. “They couldn’t have taken him that far by morning. I doubt they would have moved him a second time, since no one came after them. They probably felt safe. We thought Veso was dead.”

“That was my fuck up. I should have sent someone to search for him the moment I took over the clan.”

She hated seeing remorse on his handsome face. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Don’t forget that. How were we to know? I spoke to the Vampires who confronted me. They implied the other ones were going to kill Veso. Stop beating yourself up. Hell, it’s Decker’s fault those Vampires even came here! They said Decker contacted their council. They also know he took our strongest members with him, so they think we’re just a bunch of wimps. I bet they were in for a surprise when Veso woke up. He escaped, which means he likely killed even more of them in the process.”