Chapter 90 The Mysterious Letter
CALLUM
The letter arrives at 6 AM through a human courier I've never seen. He's terrified, shaking, clearly doesn't want to be here.
"You Callum Brennan?" he asks.
"Who's asking?"
"Nobody. I'm just delivering this." He shoves an envelope at me. "From someone at Madame Violette's blood club. That's all I know."
He runs before I can ask more questions.
I open the envelope. Inside: hand-drawn map, guard positions marked, ward locations noted, timing recommendation.
And a note: "Valentina Corvino is being held sublevel one, cell three. Mordaunt expects you at midnight. Come at dawn. Vampires are weaker. I've unlocked her cell door halfway and placed weapons around the building. Good luck. -A friend you don't know"
I read it three times.
"Who sent this?" Tom asks, looking over my shoulder.
"Don't know. Someone at the blood club. Someone trying to help."
"Could be trap. Lure you in with false information."
"Maybe." I study the map. "But the guard positions match what we know from surveillance. The ward locations line up with typical vampire security. This looks real."
Isla joins us. "Real or not, are you seriously considering attacking again? We just barely escaped yesterday."
"Yesterday we went in blind. Unprepared. This is different. We have intelligence. Specific timing. Insider help."
"We also have nine wounded wolves against twelve hunters plus magical wards." Isla's practical. "The math hasn't changed."
"The math changed when someone on the inside started helping us." I point to the note. "They've unlocked Valentina's cell. Placed weapons. Given us exact timing when vampires are weakest."
"Why would someone help us?"
"Don't know. Don't care. We need advantages. This is one."
Tom reads the letter again. "Dawn attack makes sense. Vampires are sluggish during daylight. Hunters will be tired from night watch. Magical wards might be weaker."
"It's still suicide," Isla argues.
"Everything we do is suicide." I fold the letter. "Question is whether we try and maybe succeed, or stay safe and definitely fail."
"Fail at what? Valentina's not going anywhere. We can wait, prepare properly."
"We waited before. Every time we wait, the situation gets worse." I look at my crew. "How many of you can fight?"
Tom raises his hand. "Stitches are holding. I'm mobile."
Valentina limps forward. "My ankle's taped. I can manage."
Danny. Three others. Seven total who can fight. Plus Isla for medical support.
Eight against twelve. Better odds than we've had before.
"What about the wards?" I ask Tom. "Can you break them?"
"Fae magic counters human magic. Usually. But I need to see the wards to know for sure." He studies the map. "Letter says there are five ward points. I can probably break three before magical backlash knocks me out."
"Three is enough to create a gap."
"Maybe. Or maybe the remaining two wards trigger alarm systems."
"We'll deal with alarms when they happen." I make the decision. "We go at dawn. Two hours from now. Small team, precision strike. In and out before Mordaunt can respond."
"This is insane," Isla says.
"Yes. But it's our only shot."
I gather the team. Show them the map. Explain the plan.
"Tom breaks wards. Creates entry point. Four fighters breach. Extract Valentina. Two fighters guard our exit. Isla stays with vehicles for immediate medical evac. If anything goes wrong, scatter and regroup at the Whitechapel safe house."
"What about the hunters?" Danny asks.
"Avoid if possible. Engage only if necessary. Priority is extraction, not combat."
"And if we run into Mordaunt?"
"We don't. He'll withdraw at dawn. Vampires don't fight in daylight if they can avoid it."
"What about Professor Fell?" Valentina points to where he's chained. "Are we bringing him?"
"No. He stays here. If we don't come back, kill him."
Fell goes pale but doesn't protest.
We prepare. Weapons check. Silver bullets, stakes, UV flashlights. Fae-blessed blades Tom provided. Everything we need to kill vampires and fight hunters.
I strap on body armor. Won't stop silver bullets but might slow them.
At 7:15 AM, we move out.
Three vehicles. Eight fighters plus Isla. Driving through London's early morning streets.
Dawn is breaking. Sunlight weak but present. Vampires will be retreating to darkness.
We park two blocks from the blood club. Approach on foot.
The building looks quiet. No obvious guards outside.
Tom examines the first ward. It's invisible to me but he can see it. Shimmering barrier of magical energy.
"Standard defensive ward. Designed to alert on supernatural entry." He pulls out a small knife. Fae-blessed silver. "This should break it."
He cuts the air. The barrier sparks. Dissolves.
"One down. Four to go."
We move to the second ward. Same process. Tom cuts, barrier dissolves.
Third ward is stronger. Tom struggles with it. Takes two minutes and leaves him sweating.
"That one fought back. Magical backlash." He wipes blood from his nose. "Two more and I'm done."
"Can you manage two more?"
"Have to."
Fourth ward nearly knocks him unconscious. I catch him as he staggers.
"Last one," he gasps. "Then I'm out."
The fifth ward is at the main entrance. Tom cuts it with shaking hands.
It dissolves. All five wards down.
"Alarm?" I ask.
"Don't know. If there is one, it's silent." Tom leans against the wall. "I'm done. Can't do more magic for hours."
"You did enough. Fall back to the vehicles with Isla."
"I can still fight."
"You can barely stand. Go."
Tom retreats. Leaves me with six fighters.
We enter the blood club. Main floor is empty. Performers gone. Customers departed. Just silence.
"Basement," I whisper. "Sublevel one."
We find the stairs. Descend carefully.
The corridor below has three cells. Two empty. One occupied.
Valentina Corvino. In cell three. Exactly like the letter said.
I approach the cell. The door is unlocked. Slightly ajar.
Another gift from our mysterious helper.
I pull the door open. Valentina looks up.
"Callum." Relief floods her face. "You came."
"Of course I came." I help her stand. "Can you walk?"
"Yes. Let's go."
We turn to leave.
That's when the lights come on.
Twelve hunters surrounding us. Weapons drawn.
And Mordaunt, stepping from the shadows.
"Callum Brennan. So predictable." He smiles. "Did you really think I wouldn't prepare for a dawn attack? That I'd fall for such obvious misdirection?"
The letter wasn't help.
It was bait.
And we walked right into it.