BANE

CHAPTER TEN - BARE (Part 2)

Corbin and Callista were at Victor's apartment that Saturday night to discuss what to do about Lorelei and Stella. Birgitta had gone to her research lab instead, to conduct some more tests on Holden's blood and give him another transfusion to aid in his healing.

"He wants to kill her?" Callista asked Corbin.

"That's what he told me at your place while he was sedated. I'm not sure how he plans to do it, though. Right now, his only idea is to take another look at the contract he signed with Lorelei, to check for any possible loopholes."

"Lorelei is smarter than that. She's playing a long game with Holden, she would have covered every loophole she could," Callista shook her head.

"The biggest one being that he can't hurt her," Victor returned from the kitchen with three bottles of beer. "If she was able to control him hurting himself when he was completely alone, then there's no shot of him doing any sort of damage to her."

Corbin sighed. "Did I ever tell you guys why we came to this city? Our doctor back home said her niece had moved here and that it was safe for non-humans. Layla and I both couldn't stand the thought of staying in that town, we had to get out of there, and this place sounded great... and it has been, for the most part. I'm glad I met you guys, but I didn't expect to find the majority of the community here so disdainful towards humans. You want to know the worst part? I think Lorelei is the niece she told me about."

"Really? You've never mentioned that before."

"I only started thinking about it again after everything that happened recently. She's the right age, and you've told me before that she arrived only a few months before we did. My doctor's mind-controlling power was the only reason nobody discovered that my family wasn't human after the deaths. I guess I was really naïve. It didn't even occur to me that someone would use that ability to cause so much damage."

"I can't even tell who is worse now, Lorelei or Stella. Lorelei seemed so normal when she first arrived, but I guess it's hard to tell what someone is actually thinking. She fell in with Stella pretty quickly, so if she didn't already feel that way towards humans, she must have been easily convinced. If anything, Lorelei made Stella more organized. Remember her old tactics?" Callista asked Victor. "Stella was brutal."

"I remember. Stella's goons stabbed me the first night we met her... After you made out with her on the dance floor," He added with a grin.

Callista smacked him on the arm. "Don't remind me," She walked to the kitchen and helped herself to a bag of popcorn. She called out over the noise of the microwave. "Has Holden given any indication as to when he plans to kill her? We'll have to act before he hurts himself."

"I think we're safe for the time being until he gets a hold of that contract. I'll let you guys know as soon as he does."

"If your family doctor has the same abilities as Lorelei, why don't we ask her for help?" Victor asked.

"You want me to ask for her help with bringing down her own niece?"

"Not directly," Callista walked back and placed the bowl of popcorn on the table. "Maybe you could put Birdie in touch with her. She could ask for a blood sample as part of her research, then we could give it to Holden and—!"

Corbin frowned. "I've told you already, that's not an option!"

"I know you don't like it, but it might be our only option. How else do you expect to get away with killing both Stella and Lorelei? Kevin was a fluke. We know Holden wants them both dead, wouldn't he be willing to help us with the cleanup?"