Chapter 167 - It's A World Class Menagerie

"Tell me, Dragonslayer, what is THIS?" Avarice made a broad gesture that could've been pointing out at either Ghost, Panda or Andrey, or maybe all of them at once. "I asked you to come. I expected her to be there," she jabbed her finger at me, "because for whatever reason the two of you appear to be closer than it's wise, but what is this… menagerie?"

"Mistress, please, calm down. You have to keep yourself together," her loyal bodyguard Alexey spoke from Avarice's side. One of his hand laid on Avarice's arm in a supportive gesture that invoked in me thoughts of "appearing closer than it's wise". These two certainly did right now, as weird as it was to imagine.

Neither of them looked their best, I had to say. Avarice's homely dress was crumbled and torn in several places. Her demeanour was a complete opposite of the well-composed and self-assured loan shark I knew. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, and her jaw was clenched tight.

Alexey's suit held even more damages and had long tears at its seams. I imagined it wasn't made for an active fight. He looked much calmer, but there was a deep crevice between his brows. It fitted well with the long gash on his cheek.

But besides that, both of them seemed to be alright.

They weren't the only people at Avarice's abode at the time. Our group had to walk past four more people, in different states of battered, on our way in. All of them shone with inhuman power in their auras, and none belonged to any category of supernaturals I knew. On the first glance, they appeared to all be human, though.

The grounds themselves were as battered as the people who lived on them. Outside, grass was trampled to the ground with heavy boots. Inside, furniture and art pieces were thrown around by, what I imagined, were massive bodies, wrestling.

"I believe it will be best for me to step aside for now. Ma chèrie, I will trust you to do this." JJ took my hand in his, and lifted it to his lips. "Negotiate as you do so well."

I blushed, both from the compliment and the public display of affection—and in a company like that, no less!—and had to swallow a lot of embarrassment before I could turn to Avarice with a straight face. By that point, JJ had walked out of the parlour where Avarice met us, but I felt his aura just outside, well within his earshot. Andrey went with him, like a leashed dog.

Avarice let out a long hiss, like a steam boiler letting out tension. "Menagerie. What is this all about, Diana? A werewolf, a human, and a witch?"

"You asked JJ for help. We… are a package deal. This is Sveta. She mans the counter at my store. Alexey, you would've met her when you came for Avarice's money if she was on the shift that day… And she wasn't, because I wrote that schedule myself for her not to be."

Panda huffed. "And what was the point? I can't see a vampire when I work with them for a month."

"And this is Ghost, he is my teacher. They are both trusted people, so calm down, Avarice. We do want to help, you know? I know A—" don't call him Anon in Avarice's face, she's like his mother, try to remember his name, what was it? D, D, Dima, Denis, right, "Denis, too. I don't want to see him dead. I don't want to see anyone dead."

For a few seconds, Avarice just kept silent. "And the wolf?"

"We kidnapped him, you can say. He's under hypnosis. JJ thinks he might help track Denis by scent."

Avarice nodded. "That might work. The attackers were wounded. Bleeding." Her eyes flashed. "They didn't all escape. I assume they had transport nearby, but my sentries didn't spot it. It's possible they walked in on foot and then stole a car to get out. I believe Denis wasn't their target—it was me. He just got caught in the middle. Snatched as they retreated, because there was an opportunity for it."

"How many exactly there were?" I asked, part out of curiosity, part to clear up the picture of the attack. The house was enormous, but not big enough for a crowd to fight.

"We counted sixteen. Six won't go anywhere now." Avarice bared her teeth in a cruel smile. "But they won't talk, either. Since you don't want to see dead people, it's good that you came here late enough that my people disposed of them."

I swallowed a lump in my throat and caught Panda paling a little and shifting closer to Ghost. "Yeah, just amazing."

"I also sent a couple of my people to follow the attackers back to their base, but they didn't report back. Unfortunately."

"Do you or any of your people need healing, Avarice?" Ghost asking, wiggling his fingers in the air. "Since it's the best thing I'm at, I am just bound to ask."

"Thank you for consideration, but we are well enough," Alexey replied in his mistress' stead. He brushed a finger on the gash on his cheek. "This is nothing. Mistress' other people can heal well enough on their own, too. They wouldn't trust an unfamiliar witch, either."

Ghost's hands dropped to his sides. He shrugged.

"If this is it, then we will go search and rescue," I said. "You better hold the fort for now, Avarice."

She huffed. "I know better than to work together with another vampire on an important operation like that. My efforts are better spent researching on these attacks. It's possible that someone else already made the steps and found the shapeshifters' base. Go. Hurry." With these words, Avarice turned on her heels, shaking off Alexey's hand, and walked out of the room.

"It must suck for her," Panda said. "To worry about her nephew like that."

If her family were all vampire hunters, she'd be the one to understand. It must be a special sort of worry, one for a family member in a dangerous line of job. A different sort of grief from just losing a close person all out of the sudden. Still…

"Panda, she can still hear you."