“Is everything really better for you in regard to Countess Baset?” He sounded genuinely concerned.
“Better?” I shook my head. “Not really. But she is no longer hunting me or those I associate with. You’re safe.”
He nodded and withdrew his hand.
I turned away to catch Bart watching me. We stared at each other for a few heartbeats before he nodded and looked away.
That simple gesture lifted my spirits a little more. Was I finally getting past all the grudges and anger? First Jeremy, then Mikael, and now Bart. I hoped everything else would fall into place just as easily.
I walked across the room feeling better than I had in a long while. It wasn’t as much of a peaceful feeling as I’d had in Delai, but it was something. Now I just had to finish this kill so I could focus on other matters.
I pushed through the doors of The Bloody Stake, mind churning, and walked right into a pair of Adrian Davis’s wolves.
18
“Not this again,” I groaned. “Don’t you have anything better to do than piss me off?”
These two weren’t identical twins like the last, but it amounted to the same thing. The woman was a tiny thing, her hair pixie-cut short. Heavy purple eye shadow made her eyes nearly gleam. The knot of scar tissue on her forehead was mostly concealed by makeup, but it was still visible.
The guy was big, but not too big. He was totally forgettable as well. I might have passed by him a thousand times and aside from the scar, I never would have paid him a second glance.
“Adrian wants to see you,” the woman said. Her voice was surprisingly deep and I wondered if there was more to her than the obvious.
“So I’ve heard,” I said. I was nervous as hell since we were still in The Bloody Stake parking lot. If they were to attack, there was a good chance Bart would have all our heads. Fighting in Polaris was bad enough. Fighting here was suicidal.
“We aren’t to hurt you.” The woman’s eyes flashed yellow for a split second. “Adrian’s orders expressly prohibit it, even if you are responsible for the deaths of the Garretts.”
“The twins?”
The man growled, so I took that for an affirmative.
“I didn’t kill them.” I kept my hands well away from my weapons in case Bart was watching. “They shouldn’t have come at me in Mephisto’s territory, just like you might not want to start something here. It won’t end well for any of us.”
I felt bad for what happened to the twins, but there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn’t even sure they were both dead. Last I saw of them, one was missing a head, the other unconscious. As far as I knew, Mephisto was keeping the one alive, syphoning information from him.
“We will force you to go if you try to resist us,” the man said. His voice wasn’t much deeper than the woman’s.
I waved a hand dismissively, hoping bravado would make them reconsider confronting me here of all places. “Adrian can wait,” I said. “I’ve got things to do.”
The two wolves looked at each other, frowning. Tension flowed between them, and I knew chances were good I wouldn’t be able to talk my way out of this.
“You
must
come with us,” the woman said. She appeared agitated. It was obvious she wanted a fight, but she wasn’t stupid. It was unlikely she’d attack me here against Adrian’s orders, but I’d been wrong before.
“It is important you meet with him,” the man added, as if that would change my mind.
They were standing between me and Jeremy’s car, though I doubted they knew the beat-up station wagon was my ride out of there. I would have to go through them both to get to it.
“I really don’t want to have to hurt you,” I said. “I’ll see Adrian when I have time.” I glanced over my shoulder at the bar. So far, it didn’t appear anyone had noticed anything through the window, but it was only a matter of time before someone caught wind of the situation.
Actually, that might not be such a bad thing. If Bart were to step outside now, I was pretty sure the wolves would step down. I just had to hope Bart would keep them busy long enough for me to put distance between us so they couldn’t follow me.
“No,” the male werewolf said. He took a step toward me. “We cannot return without you.”
I sighed and moved my hands to my waist. Maybe if I could just incapacitate them, Bart wouldn’t hold it against me. The silver wouldn’t paralyze them, I knew, but a knife in the gut would slow down even a werewolf.
“If you really thought you were going to be able to bring me in with just the two of you, you were sadly mistaken.” Being nice hadn’t worked, so I was going for intimidation. I was tired of Adrian thinking he could just send his wolves to collect me whenever he wanted.
The woman smiled. “What makes you think it’s just the two of us?”
I turned just as a fully shifted wolf jumped off the roof of the bar. He hit me in the chest and we went down in a tangle of limbs. We rolled a few times and I came out on top. Before he could get a good grip on me with his claws, I leaped off him, hands going to my waist.
Both knives came free and I had one in the air before my coat could settle. It hit the unshifted male wolf in the stomach. He jerked back a few steps and looked down at the blade sticking out of his gut. He reached down, touched the blood running from the wound, and stared at it for a moment before looking up at me.
“You fucking bitch,” he growled. “I’m going to kill you.”
“You can try.”
The female was using a car to shield herself as she moved around to flank me. She kept her head low so I wouldn’t have a target, though I could see her feet beneath the car. I backed up in the hopes of keeping all three wolves in front of me, but when I looked, the shifted wolf was gone.
“Shit,” I said. I tried to spin around, but he was already behind me. Huge, hairy arms encircled me, trapping the arm with the knife at my side. I managed to keep one hand free.
The werewolf with the knife in his gut laughed. He pulled the blade free and his laughter turned to a hoarse scream. He looked down at the blade in disgust and stupidly threw it to the ground.
“Get her in the car,” he said.
I didn’t give the wolf who had me a chance. He wasn’t nearly as strong as Baset’s man. I jerked my arm free and elbowed him in the muzzle. He howled as something broke. His grip loosened and I easily pulled away.
My fangs pushed through as the thrill of the fight coursed through my body. I drew my sword as I spun away from the were’s next lunge. One of his teeth was hanging from his mouth, shattered by my elbow. I kicked him in the back of the knees as he passed and he went down to all fours.
It didn’t slow him. He used his momentum to leap on top of a car, spin, and then leap at me in one fluid motion. It looked as if he’d practiced the move a thousand times before.
An explosion rocked the night just as he leaped. The wolf exploded in a mess of blood and guts that rained down over everyone. The force of the blast sent him spinning sideways and he crashed to the ground in a pulped mess.
I immediately dropped to the ground. There was a growl and another boom echoed in the otherwise silent parking lot.
Blood and brains splattered all around me. I covered my head with my hands, though it wouldn’t do a whole hell of a lot of good if the gun was turned on me next.
There was a long moment of silence. I stayed down, knowing there was a good chance that if I made any sudden moves, I would lose my head just as the two wolves had. I knew fighting here was a bad idea, and I was terrified I would end up paying for it.
“Get off my property,” Bart shouted. I looked up to see he had his gun trained on the female wolf. She was standing a few feet from the car she’d been using for cover. It looked as though she’d been about to come at me from behind when Bart blew her associates apart. “Or you’re next.”
She snarled at him, but when he firmed his grip on his shotgun, she decided it might not be a wise idea to growl at the guy with the gun. She bared her teeth at me before turning and running away, leaving her dead companions behind.
I watched her go and resisted the urge to yell something after her. I had blood on me and knew Bart wasn’t going to let me off the hook, but since he let the female wolf go, I hoped he might do the same for me. I stood slowly and turned around to face him.
He had his gun trained on me, a determined look in his eye. “Tell me why I shouldn’t just shoot you now and be done with you.”
I put away my sword and knife, making sure to make every movement slow and precise. I didn’t what him to think I was planning on doing anything stupid. He was already pissed as it was. Anything I did would only make it worse.
“They jumped me,” I said. “I was only defending myself. I didn’t kill any of them and didn’t want to. I just wanted to scare them off so they’d leave me alone.”
His gaze traveled to the bloody knife on the ground. “You bring trouble with you wherever you go, you know that?” he said.
“I know.”
Bart stared at me for a long minute, never lowering his aim. “I’ve let you get away with a lot more than I’d ever allow anyone else to.”
“I know,” I said again.
“I damn well don’t know why.” He spat on the ground, grimacing. “One of these days . . .” He shook his head, letting the thought trail off.
He didn’t do or say anything for the longest time. I just stood there and waited for him to make up his mind whether he was going to kill me or not.
There was a chance I could reach him and disarm him before he could shoot. But if I were to do that, then I would have to hurt him.
But I was done hurting people who didn’t deserve it. I waited for him to make up his mind, my hands held out before me in the hopes he would take me at my word.
Bart heaved a huge sigh and lowered his gun. “Go on,” he said. “Try not to get jumped on my property again. I might not be so forgiving the next time.”
I let out my breath in a huff and nodded. I walked over to my knife and bent down to retrieve it.
“Leave it,” he said. “I could always use a souvenir to remember you by.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a warning not to come back or if he figured I’d end up dead soon enough. I didn’t bother to ask, though I hoped he would let me return to the Stake. It was one of the few places I could go to get away from everything.
I straightened and left the knife where it was. Bart could have it. Since he worked around supes all night, it might come in handy someday.
I slowly walked across the parking lot and got into Jeremy’s car. I could feel Bart watching me and it made the back of my head itch. He might have said he was letting me go, but he could change his mind at any moment.
The sad thing was, I couldn’t hold it against him. I knew the rules. I should have been more careful. I never should have let the shifted wolf get the jump on me.
I started Jeremy’s car and backed slowly out onto the road. I was lucky to be alive and knew that later I would have to thank Bart for not killing me. When I glanced back to check on him, Bart was already gone.
19
As I put the bar behind me, I couldn’t help but wonder how Adrian’s wolves knew where to find me. I guess I could understand them finding me at The Bloody Stake since Adrian knew I frequented there. He could have had his wolves watching the place for months.
But Polaris? I’d never gone there but once or twice in my entire life, and even then, I only drove through it. How would he have known to keep two of his thugs there waiting for me when I had no reason to go to the mall there? Could it have been a coincidence? Or was it something more?
I looked in the rearview mirror, half-expecting to see a car tailing me, but the road behind me was empty. Someone pulled out of a side street as I passed, but they turned the other way.
The lack of a tail only agitated me more. Someone following me, I could understand. Wolves showing up wherever I went was just a little too convenient to be coincidence. He was tracking me and I really wanted to know how.
I immediately thought of Gregory Hillis. He’d once been a member of the Luna Cult who’d supplied Adrian with information until he was decapitated by the guy he was working for. Could someone else be feeding him information now? It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Adrian had someone else on the inside.
My thoughts drifted to Jeremy, but I refused to believe he could be helping Adrian. The kid was too green to defect like that. It wasn’t as if he’d known where I was going either. All he could have told Adrian was that I’d returned and then tell him of my comings and goings.
So, if it wasn’t Jeremy or someone in the Cult, then how did Adrian know?
I considered calling it a night and heading home to sort things through. I didn’t like the idea of anyone knowing what I was doing before I did. The only way Adrian could get his wolves in position, especially at Polaris, was if he knew where I would be and planted them ahead of time. I hadn’t been there long enough for him to get his men mobilized in time.
In the end, there was nothing I could do about it right away. I wasn’t about to just go home either. I wanted to get this kill done for Baset so I could put it behind me. Once I finished with Count Strinowski, I would hopefully figure out how to break my deal with Baset without getting anyone else killed. I might kill vamps and wolves, but I didn’t do it for vampire Countesses.
But Baset wasn’t a normal vampire. She’d died and come back. Her body’s decay was proof enough of that. How could I kill something that was already dead? If I tried, I might only bring down more misery upon the heads of everyone around me. I couldn’t be responsible for that.
I made a turn and slowed as a certain little sign came into view. I pulled off to the side of the road, transfixed by it.
What was I going to do about Delai? Part of me just wanted to turn down the road and forget all about Baset and Strinowski and Adrian and everyone else sticking their noses into my life. I didn’t need that kind of stress anymore. Ethan was right when he said all the killing was getting to me and here I was, adding to it. It would be so easy just to put the car in gear and coast into oblivion.
Yet, I couldn’t get past the thought that something was wrong with the town, that Ethan’s demon might be right about the place. Could I really just forget about everything and let Levi keep doing whatever it was he’d been doing to me?
I couldn’t bear the thought of letting the demon do something to me either. I knew Sienna and Eilene weren’t bad people, yet I wasn’t so sure about Levi anymore. I’d seen what he’d done to Ronnie. What else had he done I didn’t know about? Whom else had he hurt?
My stomach started churning and I felt like throwing up. The urge just to drive down the road was so strong, I found myself starting that way.
I stopped just before I made the turn. I closed my eyes and rubbed them with my palms.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” I mumbled. I took a deep breath and swallowed the bile that filled my mouth. I could do this.
I drove past the sign slowly, refusing to look down the road. If I were to look, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist. I would have to know. I would want to see Sienna, make sure she was all right. I’d want to confront Levi, to ask him about what it was he really was doing to me and those around him.
As soon as I was past the road, it felt like something ripped open my guts and tore them from my body through my throat. I slammed on the brakes so hard the entire car jerked and skidded on the road. I was gasping for air, unable to breathe, let alone think.
And then the nausea hit me. I threw open Jeremy’s door just in time. I leaned out and heaved. Not much came out since I hadn’t eaten much, but it was enough to leave a horrible taste in my mouth. I spit over and over, wishing I had water.
I took a shuddering breath and another wave of nausea hit. I swallowed it back. The bile burned going back down, and it was all I could do to keep from retching.
I closed my eyes as the shakes hit. They were so bad I nearly fell out of car. I grabbed the wheel, held it tightly as wave after wave hit. It was like I was having a mini-seizure, though I was conscious of everything happening to me.
And then, just like that, it passed.
My stomach settled and my head cleared. The bad taste in my mouth was still there and I was a little shaky, but the worst had definitely passed.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and sat back, simply breathing. It took me a good ten minutes before I felt stable enough to drive again.
I had no idea what had just happened, and part of me feared it had something to do with Beligral, yet I was no longer marked. I didn’t think he could affect me that way without his mark connecting us.
But if it wasn’t him, then what was it?
I considered turning around and going home but nixed the idea immediately. I had to take care of Strinowski now so I didn’t have it hanging over my head any longer. I could worry about the implications of my sudden bout later.
It only took a couple more turns before I was on the road that supposedly led to Strinowski’s place. The street was mostly deserted, and the snow had started to drift onto the road, obscuring it completely in some places. It would have been hard to drive even on my motorcycle.
The houses appeared empty on either side of the road. Some had caved in, others had broken windows, doors hanging open on busted hinges. One small cottage looked inhabitable. The lights were out, but curtains hung in the windows. They fluttered ever so slightly, as if someone had a fan or a space heater sitting under the window.
Most of the mailboxes were gone, though a few still stood. I could just make out the numbers on them, giving me an indication as to how far down the road I’d have to go to find my mark.
The cluster of houses gave way to farmland long since abandoned. Where the land wasn’t flat and ruined, it was hilly. The houses became fewer and farther between. Before long I’d reached a spot where it was impossible to see one house from the next. If someone wanted to hide, the barren stretch was as good a place as any.
I turned off the headlights and hoped I could stick to the road as I got closer. Only the lump of once-plowed snow kept me from ending up in the ditch. Snow crunched under my tires as I worked my way closer to Strinowski’s hideaway.
I crested a rise and started a slow descent down the other side. I could just make out a house tucked away behind a barrier of pines. If I hadn’t missed my guess, that was my target.
I skidded a few feet down the rise and parked at the side of the road. I shut off the engine and just sat there, listening.
There were no sounds of the night here. It wasn’t the peaceful silence I was used to. The quiet here was unsettling. It felt as though there should be more sounds, even if it was just a winter owl hooting in the trees or the sound of a branch breaking as a doe scampered through the trees.
But it was completely and utterly silent, as if the entire area was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
The house was dark. Even if a light had been on, I wouldn’t have been able to make anything out from where I sat. The trees were too dense, planted to act as a screen against anyone casually driving by. Whoever had lived here before had valued their privacy.
I got out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition. I had no idea what I was going to face, and just because Mikael said the guy didn’t have anyone under him, didn’t mean he was helpless. I might have to make a quick getaway. I wasn’t worried about someone stealing Jeremy’s car; not out here.
I stood out starkly against the snow as I moved toward the pines. I moved as quickly as I dared, hoping I was as difficult to see from the house as the house was to me.
I got a clear view of the house as soon as I reached the pine barrier. As I’d thought, the place was completely dark. Strinowski was a vampire, so he didn’t need light to see by. And since he was hiding, he wouldn’t want the light to clue anyone who happened by to know someone was living there.
Then again, he might not be home at all. He could be out, searching for another victim, or simply out for a stroll in the snow. Just because I wanted him to be here didn’t mean he would be.
I drew my sword and gun and scanned the grounds. As far as I could tell, there was nothing there. I could see no cameras, no watchdogs of any sort. Just an empty old farmhouse that looked as though it hadn’t been occupied in quite a few years.
The windows were almost completely black in the night. He must have put up some heavy drapes to keep out the sun during the day. A farmhouse like this probably had a cellar, but the vamp might not stay down there all the time and would want the extra protection on the other levels.
I prepped myself to move. There was nothing to hide behind the twenty yards from the trees to the house. I’d have to run it and hope Strinowski didn’t happen to peek out the window just as I made my move.
I tucked my sword under one arm, checked my gun to make sure it was fully loaded even though I knew it was. I slammed the magazine home, took a deep breath, and started forward.
It was game time.