Page 37 of Meeting Her Mate
Will politely took the energy drink can from me and sat down, taking cautious sips from the can.
“And I’m in,” Maliha said, cracking her knuckles.
“What? That fast?”
“He uses an Android phone. What do you think? You can pretty much remote hack them from any terminal if you know the phone number and the IP address,” she gleamed at me. “And now, I’m mirroring his device onto this emulator. It’s genius. It’ll be as if you have his phone in your hands.”
“Can we take it?” Will asked.
“Sure. All my devices are disposable in case I get burnt. You can take this emulator phone with you and use it to snoop on Maurice. Don’t worry; my code will hold. The connection is secure,” Maliha said as she massaged her neck.
“Love you, girl. I owe you big time,” I said, hugging Maliha.
“Your efforts are truly appreciated,” Will said, nodding at her.
“Anything for my girl and her weird friend from Germany,” Maliha winked.
Before we could exchange any more pleasantries, as if right on cue, the emulator phone’s screen shone bright with the words “Blair” written across it. The phone accepted the call.
I yanked Will out of Maliha’s apartment and strode over to mine so we could listen to the call in privacy. Once we were there, I pressed the speakerphone option. We listened carefully; our heads almost pressed together.
“So what do the vamps say?” Blair asked.
“It seems that we’re all seeing eye to eye on this particular issue,” Maurice said.
“That’s excellent,” Blair said. “You know, your previous intel checked out. The girl was dear to him. He came as you said he would, and honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly didn’t expect to get beaten to death.”
“That was your mistake, wasn’t it? You should have had your men kill him with guns rather than take on him yourself,” Maurice sneered.
“Relax. I’m still alive. And I’ve got the perfect thing up my sleeve. One last gift from daddy dearest, it would seem,” Blair said.
“Will it help us all?” Maurice asked.
“Well, it will kill Will Grimm, so that takes care of your problem, the vampire’s problem, and my problem. You get to do whatever it is that you do without checking. The vampires can control more of the town. I get my sweet, sweet revenge. Perfect synergy, that’s what I call it,” Blair said.
“Tell me more about this potion,” Maurice said. “Color me intrigued.”
“Dad was a man of contingencies. He wanted to make sure that in case his plan didn’t pan out, he’d have a way to kill the monster that he had created. It’s a shame he never got to use it. Well, in theory, it could kill any werewolf. I just took dad’s recipe and perfected it in my lab. I call it Wolf’s Bane,” Blair said, and then soon after burst into sinister laughter.
“And you give me your word that you’re not going to use it on anyone else other than Will?” Maurice asked.
“I thought you didn’t care about the werewolves. I thought that was the point of your collaboration with the vampires. Wasn’t that the deal? You get a cut from the vampire’s business, and in turn, they can use this town however they please. They get to kill the werewolves and overtake that shabby old commune. So what do you care?” Blair asked.
“I’m not worried about them. I’m asking about myself. In case you didn’t notice, un-fucking-fortunately, I’m a werewolf too,” Maurice said.
“Ah, you’re a snake. You’re a sleazy politician, and you’re a corrupt smuggler. That makes you okay in my book. Relax, I’m not going to kill you. Who’d help me and the vampires run this town otherwise?” Blair continued laughing maniacally.
“Fuck you,” Maurice said.
“Fuck you, too,” Blair said.
Then the call cut off abruptly.
I could feel my throat clogging up. My worst suspicion had just been confirmed. Maurice had been a rat all along, working with the vampires and Blair Beckett. Why were they planning on killing Will?
“It’s not fair!” I yelled. I was about to chuck the phone at the wall in frustration, but Will held my hand back and took the phone from me. “Why do they want to kill you? It’s not fair. You just got out after suffering for seventy-six years. You don’t deserve this. What the fuck is wrong with this town? With these people? And Maurice? I knew he was a spineless jag, but I didn’t know he was capable of conspiring at this level. It’s simply not fair!” I yelled again and tried to stomp my feet, but Will held my body in an embrace, limiting my movement.
“Calm down, Alexis. Calm down,” he whispered in my ear.