Dav didn't end up waking me up; a nasty yowl followed by a roar did that instead. I sat upright on the sofa, my heart instantly racing. My head swam from the sudden movement and I clutched at my head.
"Ow."
"Everybody needs to shut the fuck up. Keep him over there Velaku; I mean it. Ahsran, take your mate over to that corner before I kick his ass. He just woke his twin up, and I fucking swear that if any one of you gives him a migraine by stressing him out I will rip your god damn head off."
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Dav rushing over to me.
"Hey baby, you okay?" One of his hands went to the back of my neck while the other settled on my chest. My breathing slowed as I took in his scent, my tongue flicking out.
"What's going on?" I asked thickly, sleep still making me stupid.
"It's not posturing," Natham contested hotly to Velaku who was speaking quietly.
I looked around Dav to the lynx. He was standing against the wall with Velaku standing in front of him. The Falcon's body was much slighter than that of his mates but his white wings took up quite a bit of room. The bright red spots that looked like blood on each tip made him very intimidating in appearance. I'd met him though, and all the Carthera I'd spoken to thought he had been a very fair leader since he took over the clans the previous year.
I could hear the anger in Natham's voice and growling from across the room. I looked over to see Isiah standing behind Ahsran who was pushing him against the wall with his body.
I watched as Velaku reached out with one hand and tugged on the long braid Natham wore to keep his long dark hair out of the way. "Stop it. I'm just as upset as you are, but attacking someone is not the answer. No matter how much you want to." He cast a glare at Ahsran over his shoulder. "I remember you, don't think I don't. You told your father about us that day you saw us on the field; I know you did."
He turned his attention to my brother and then looked at me. "And obviously we're looking at the mysterious twin that Mishtar caught on film murdering an innocent human. You weren't supposed to be flying in until tomorrow." His gaze shifted to stare at Dav's back.
"What exactly are these people doing with you in my territory, Retic? I want answers, now!"
"You'll have them, once everyone calms down." Dav pulled the blanket off me. "But Ellis is still in danger; stress is bad for him. I promised him no one else would get hurt. That means I will stop you from attacking each other. We have bigger problems."
Dav had an evil glare of his own, his strange snake eyes falling on each person in the room until they nodded in agreement. His strength was more than every single one of theirs in the room, and none of them would make an enemy by attacking The Snake. I leaned against Dav's hip, watching everyone cast glares at each other, though they didn't say anything.
"First off, sit down Velaku, Natham." He waved his hand at another arrangement of couches and chairs in a room to one side with a sunken floor. "The den is set up for a little video presentation of our own."
It wasn't until that moment that I caught sight of an older Falcon female shifting nervously just inside the front door. I pulled away from Dav and stood up. "I'm fine," I said in answer to his protest.
I walked over to her and offered her my hand. "It's nice to see you again, Elalera." The quiet female was Velaku's mother, and lately I'd sensed her pulling further and further away from us. She was fidgeting; looking at the door like being inside was painful. She looked at my offered hand but didn't take it. I let it fall to my side.
"Mother, come sit down," Velaku called to her softly. "I need you here."
I watched as she moved over to the blue couch, her brown wings drooping a little. Velaku gave her a hug. Her behavior hit me hard. Would I become like that if I lost Dav? I was human; at least I thought I was, so could I go feral? Would Isiah if he were to lose Ahsran?
I shook my head. I couldn't think like that, especially knowing that our mates would soon have to fight against the true enemy facing them. They had to stop Mishtar and someone who had hurt innocents the way he had would not be convinced with words not backed by violence.
I shuddered.
Dav held out his hand and I went to sit by him, nestling under his arm on the middle couch. Natham and Velaku sat on our right with Elalera while Isiah and Ahsran sat on the left. Natham's ears were flat to his skull as he watched Ahsran with narrowed eyes.
"You said you had proof. Show us." His voice was a deep snarl.
Isiah looked at Dav who nodded back at him. "We hooked up the laptop to the TV." He pressed a button on the computer and the blue screen changed to a series of documents. "Do you recognize this number?"
Velaku frowned. "Of course. It's Mishtar's cell phone. So what?"
I stared at the phone record, trying to figure out how this was proof that Mishtar was a traitor to Velaku's family.
Isiah pointed to another line. "Do you recognize this date and time?" Velaku's wings rustled as he shifted on the couch.
He looked over at Dav. "Isn't that the day you raided the warehouse and found Bashta's niece with the smugglers?"
Dav nodded. He kept stroking my back, seemingly at ease with the question. He had to have seen all this already while I was sleeping. He was too sure. "It was."
"Okay, I'm already tired of the twenty questions. Just explain what is going on to me, right now." Velaku's toned arms crossed over his chest, his vest exposing a deep triangle of remarkably defined flesh.
"This phone took a call from your home at eight twenty pm."
Velaku's foot began to tap on the floor. "I know. I called him after Davis called me and told me that he had destroyed the smugglers and was returning with an infant. I wanted him to arrange security to meet them at the airport and to contact the doctor for some of the serum they'd developed from Bashta's blood."
Isiah tapped another key on the computer and the phone records switched to a map. "My computer guy tracked the phone's gps. Where was Mishtar supposed to be when you called him?"
"At his home, of course. He told me he was reviewing the Falcon's latest Jintue battle exercise."
"Yet, if you look at this map you can see that the cell phone company towers triangulate his location to just a few miles from where Davis discovered the smugglers."
"This is your proof?" Natham asked with a sneer, looking between Ahsran and Isiah. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"No," Ahsran said shortly. "Show them Isiah."
A video montage began to play. Numerous clips of Mishtar committing acts that sickened me. I couldn't watch and buried my face in Dav's chest. The horrors were all committed in the name of power; it was a dangerously seductive force and one that corrupted those weak of will.
Long minutes passed in silence. I was thankful the videos didn't have sound.
I jumped when Natham snarled. "Enough. What is this supposed to prove? We have a video of you killing an innocent human. Though that was before you mated to this piece of offal." He glared at his brother; the disgust in his voice was clear as he refused to say Ahsran's name.
Ahsran made a sound, but he didn't respond to Natham's insult.
"That was my partner," Isiah said. "The whole delivery and attack was a set up. I won't say that he wasn't hurt because he was a little, but he didn't die. Not even close. We had to get me in with the inner circle of whoever the leader was. Nothing else was working but if I killed in the name of their cause I knew they'd feel like they could trust me. He was willing to make the sacrifice and take the risk."
"It worked too. I got a call telling me that I'd been picked for a special task by the group's leader. I got there early to scope it out and saw him when he showed up. It was Mishtar."
"What was the mission?" Dav asked.
Isiah took a deep breath before he spoke, "To kill you. Both of you."
"What the fuck!" Natham sprang to his feet with a roar. The second he was up Ahsran was on his feet as well. They both stood in front of their mates snarling at each other, their claws and sharp teeth exposed. I had to stop it before someone got hurt.
I leaned forward, but Dav's arm tightened around me to keep me sitting. I didn't fight him but I wasn't going to stand for this stupid male posturing any longer.
"Knock it the fuck off!" I shouted. That stopped the growling as everyone turned to stare at me with wide eyes.
"They haven't made a single move to kill either of you and they've been in town several days. If Isiah and Ahsran were here to harm the clans they would have done so. They had plenty of opportunities. They're here to help. I understand there is a lot of bad blood here, but you have to stop fighting and learn to work together and fast.
"Someone attacked Ahsran and Isiah at the hotel they were staying at. The only ones who knew they were there were me and my best friend Matthew. I asked Matthew to go talk to Isiah and tell him what was happening to me. He left me a message on my phone yesterday saying that he'd talked to Isiah and everything was fine.
"Now Matthew is missing. He's my best friend and I want to find him. I want to find out exactly what Mishtar's plan is and stop him." I turned to Velaku and Natham. "Ahsran hurt you Natham, but he told me he tried to protect you when he could. Your father hurt him too. My brother is not a bad man, and he's mated to your brother. He can help us.
"I know there are things you will need to discuss, personal things, but you have to put this aside for now and be as objective like the situation demands. We may not have much time, and the alphas will be showing up any minute."
I made eye contact with each person in the room. "If we don't work together people are going to die."
I leaned back into Dav's arms. He rubbed one hand on my shoulder. "Well said, baby."
He fixed his unnerving slit eyed stare on the two cats who were still standing in front of their mates. "Sit down," he ordered them.
Reluctantly they both sat, avoiding eye contact with everyone. I watched Velaku shift one wing to trail it down his mate's arm. Natham shivered. Isiah took Ahsran's hand, twining their fingers together.
"I think Ellis is right," Velaku said, "but so is Natham. How are we supposed to believe that these videos aren't edited or staged? You already admitted to staging the attack on the human."
Ahsran looked at Isiah, his shoulders slumping. Isiah spoke softly, "We have to show it to them. I know you didn't want to, but we have to. It's the only thing they can't deny the truth of."
