Blood From a Silver Cross (Kat Redding) (10 page)

Adrian slowed as we entered the alley. I caught up to him, miffed about how things had ended with the idiot kids.

“I could have handled myself back there,” I said. “You didn’t need to hurt them.”

“I know.” He sniffed the air again and then took off at a run.

I cursed loudly and followed after him. He vanished around the corner and I came out just in time to see him tear down another side street.

I could tell by the way he was acting that he’d caught wind of our targets and that we were close. I drew both my gun and sword and jogged after him, knowing this would probably end in a fight. I turned down the side street and nearly collided with Adrian’s back.

I was about to grumble at him about warning me next time when I saw what was happening farther down the street.

The woman was fiddling with her keys, standing in front of a door to an apartment complex. She didn’t look harried or rushed any longer. In fact, she appeared to almost be delaying herself on purpose.

At first, I didn’t see the man with the briefcase. There was a moment when I feared he realized he was being followed and skipped out. I was rewarded a few seconds later when the man came out of a small cubby across the street. A syringe was in his hand.

He moved so silently, it made me wonder if there was something supernatural about him. I knew the Left Hand were good at sneaking up on supes, but seeing it was almost freaky. The were should have sniffed him out before he came anywhere close, yet she didn’t seem to notice him inching ever closer.

The man got within a few steps without her turning. If I let him get any closer, he’d inject her with the serum and we might not be able to get to her in time to save her.

And then he made a mistake.

A small chunk of concrete clattered as his foot bumped up against it. He froze in place, but he’d already been discovered.

The woman spun and saw him where he stood, uncertain. Her eyes flashed yellow and she grinned.

The Left Hand man made a lunge for her. She easily batted the syringe from his hand. It clattered to the pavement, somehow not shattering when it hit. She grabbed him by both arms and headbutted him square in the nose. Blood spurted and he cried out, but not in fear. He cursed her and spit in her face, grinning all the while.

Fur sprouted from around her ears and her fingers extended into claws. Her face started to contort and I could hear the snap of bones and muscle from all the way down the street.

“Shit,” I cursed, raising my gun. I wanted the guy alive. “Stop!” I shouted. “Don’t kill him.”

The were glanced at me and I knew it was already too late. Her snout was almost fully extended now, her eyes wild with blood lust. I had but seconds before she would kill him.

“Adrian,” I growled. “Do something.”

He stood by, watching the scene. He didn’t make a move to help.

“Don’t kill him,” I said again. “I need him alive.” My aim firmed on the werewolf.

She snarled at me and before I could pull the trigger, she spun the Left Hand man around, putting him between us. He screamed once, and then blood splattered the pavement. His scream turned into a gurgle as she tore out his throat.

There was a moment when everything seemed to stand still. The guy jerked a few times in her hands and then fell limp. There were tearing sounds coming from the other side of him and I knew she was feeding.

Adrian stepped forward, putting himself between me and the were. He knew I was going to shoot the bitch the moment she dropped her meal and I think he was trying to protect her. He probably planned on recruiting her.

Just then, the sound of a window opening made me look up.

A face appeared, looking down at me. Yellow eyes gleamed in the faint light.

The woman dropped the dead man to the ground. Blood covered her snout and gristle hung from her teeth. She raised her head to the sky and howled.

The door to the apartment building burst open. A window shattered overhead.

Half a dozen werewolves poured into the alley, ready for a fight.

S
harp claws lashed out, just barely missing my fingers. My gun clattered to the pavement a few yards away. The wolf snarled and leapt forward, teeth bared. He was already fully shifted, as if he’d been waiting inside for this very moment.

I didn’t have time to think. I sure as hell didn’t expect to get into a fight like this tonight. I knew there were places where rogue wolves congregated together, but they were often off the beaten path. Having too many werewolves living close together—or like these ones, living together—would typically draw the eye of the local count. These guys must have been damn near model citizens to still be living together like this.

Until now, that is.

I ducked backward, losing my balance as the wolf barreled into me. Hot breath that smelled vaguely of spaghetti washed over me as he snapped at me. He thought he could overpower me with his bulk, but I surprised him by adjusting my fall and using his momentum to fling him over me. I took a knee to the chin and got up close and personal with his private parts, but otherwise, was unharmed.

As soon as I hit the ground, I rolled to the side. The wolf was up and moving almost as soon as he hit, so I had just barely enough time to spin. I kept low to the ground and swung my sword in a low arc. The werewolf tried to jump, but he was a tad too slow. The blade bit into his leg, just above his left ankle. He crashed to the ground with a yelp.

Normally, I would have finished him off so he couldn’t rejoin the fight the moment the silver ran its course through his veins, but I felt something coming at me. I ducked and swung around as the female were came at me. Her clothes were in tatters now that she was fully shifted. Blood splattered her maw and her teeth were stained red from the Left Hand man’s blood. There was a chunk of something in her teeth.

She dodged my swing and tried to loop around to grab me. I rolled back and sprang to my feet, sword at the ready. I was out of her reach for the moment, but the wall was at my back now. I’d run out of room.

The wolf grinned and hunched her shoulders as if ready to spring.

That’s when Adrian hit her.

Once again he’d arrived to save me when I didn’t really need it. He smashed into her side, almost faster than the eye could see. He’d fully shifted at some point while I’d been distracted with my own fight. There were two crumpled bodies nearby. The amount of blood told me they weren’t going to be getting up ever again.

Powerful jaws closed around the woman’s throat. Their eyes met and something passed between them. The female wolf gave half a snarl before he ripped her throat out in a spray of blood and gristle.

He turned to me, still chewing on the flesh. I could almost see the glee in his eyes, something that was rare for him. He was usually so good at keeping his face calm and blank, it was a surprise to see anything else.

This was what he lived for. This was the sort of thing he reveled in. Violence. Death. It was all a thrill to him.

Which was exactly why I’d never become one of his.

There were two weres remaining. They were watching us, yellow eyes flaring. There was no way they’d run. Once shifted, werewolves can barely control themselves. They had enough sense not to attack their friends most of the time, but it was often a close call. It was damn near impossible for them to walk away from a fight, especially on their own territory.

“Bring it on,” I said, wiping at my mouth. There was blood there from where my fangs had extended during the fight. It made me wonder how different Adrian and I really were.

The wolves charged as one. One came at me, the other at Adrian. I felt flattered that the bigger one chose to rush at me.

I braced myself and drew a knife from my belt. The wolf snarled and leapt at me from a few yards away. His dark fur was wet, as if he’d been showering when he’d shifted. Water droplets sprayed from him as he flew through the air, muscles rippling, claws extended.

I waited until the last possible moment before spinning away. Using a backhanded motion, I struck out with my knife. Warmth spilled out over my hand as the blade sank home. I let the knife go and let the wolf fall face-first onto the pavement where I’d just been standing. He convulsed once as the silver began to work through him and then fell still.

Adrian was still fighting with the other wolf, though fighting might not be an accurate description of what was going on. He was toying with the smaller wolf, letting him get in close before batting him away. There was a wolfish grin on his face and his eyes gleamed as if he were laughing.

A scowl spread across my face. I might kill weres and vamps, but I didn’t torture them. I finished them off as soon as possible and moved on. Toying with them like this was like a cat playing with a mouse—if the mouse had sharp talons for claws and teeth that could rip through wood.

I glanced around and found my gun lying next to the open doorway. I walked over to it, watching the entrance, as well as the windows above, just in case more wolves decided to show up. I glanced inside the doorway, saw nothing, and picked up my Glock. There was a faint scratch along the side I knew would cause Ethan to complain, but it looked otherwise unharmed.

I turned, found Adrian still playing with the other wolf, raised my gun, and fired. The bullet took the smaller were in the side of the head.

Adrian jumped about three feet back and turned on me. Absolute rage filled his eyes and I turned on him, suddenly worried. His upper lip raised in a sneer and he took two threatening steps forward.

“That’s far enough, Adrian,” I said. My arm was shaking and a shudder ran through my gut.

It was the Oath. I couldn’t shoot him. Even if he charged me and grabbed me by the head and squeezed, I wouldn’t be able to shoot him. The best I could do would be to try to get away, but without being able to harm him, I knew I wouldn’t get far. To run would more than likely set off his hunting instinct and I’d stand no chance.

“Adrian,” I said as he took another step my way, “we need to go.” Someone had to have heard the fight. There was a chance the police would be on the way, if not a vampire count come to claim the survivors. Either way, it wouldn’t be good. Someone would get hurt.

A groan caused Adrian to stop and turn. The were I’d hit in the leg was trying to crawl away, though the silver kept him virtually paralyzed.

With a snarl, Adrian leapt at him and ravaged the poor wolf. Blood and gore bloomed all around the two almost instantly. It was the single most violent thing I’d ever seen, and I’d seen quite a lot of horrible things. I was forced to turn away lest I be sick.

A moment later, the sound of rending and tearing stopped. There were a few cracks and pops and, a moment later, the sound of bare, wet feet, approached. I turned to find Adrian walking toward me, blood covering his nude form.

“I want him,” he said, jerking a thumb toward the wolf who still had my knife stuck in his gut.

I glanced at the remains of the wolf Adrian had just ravaged and wondered if he planned on doing the same to the other. There was nothing left but strings of flesh and gore. It was almost impossible to tell it had once been human.

“Why?” I demanded, my stomach churning. “So you can toy with him like that other were? So you can torture him and rip him apart at your leisure?” I was angry. Adrian was a monster. If I’d ever questioned it in the slightest, I had more than enough proof of that now.

Adrian shrugged, his face back to being blank. “He could prove useful to me.”

I scowled. “You’re recruiting him?”

“He could find a place in my House, yes.”

“You just want him as another foot soldier to do your bidding.”

Once more he shrugged. “Better than dead.”

I wasn’t so sure about that.

Adrian glanced around the alley and then walked toward me. “Watch him,” he said, nodding toward the downed wolf. “I need to find something to wear.”

Adrian’s old clothes were lying on the ground in shreds. There was no way he was going to get back into them.

He vanished into the apartment complex, presumably to rifle through the dead men’s clothes. A siren was wailing in the distance, but it was fading—it wasn’t coming our way. A few curtains swished in nearby buildings, but if anyone was watching, they weren’t getting involved.

I glanced at the incapacitated wolf. Knowing he wasn’t about to get up and walk away, I turned toward the Left Hand member, or what was left of him.

Like Adrian’s victim, he was a mess of blood and gore. Somewhere in the fight, someone had torn him up a little more than the female wolf had. He was barely recognizable as a man now. His face was gone. Only flaps of flesh clung to the bone.

I knelt beside him, doing my best to control my hunger. Out of everyone there, he was the only one whose blood wouldn’t taint me.

But I wasn’t about to feed on him. He was dead, which means he wouldn’t care, but there was something about feeding on someone else’s remains, lapping at cooling blood, that repulsed me in a way a normal feeding wouldn’t.

It wasn’t pleasant, but I checked the man’s pockets in the hopes of finding something that would identify him. Most of the damage to his body was on the upper half, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

There were a few coins shoved into his left pants pocket, but nothing else. I checked for a wallet in a back pocket, but it was empty as well. I scanned the ground nearby, thinking it may have fallen out, but if it had, someone had kicked it away. There wasn’t even a key on him to tell me where he might have been staying.

I rose and found the cubby he’d come out of. Lying on a low windowsill near the ground was his briefcase. It stood open and the first thing I noticed was the serrated knife resting front and center. It looked as though he’d taken the time to lay it out so he could brandish it at his victim before using it.

There were at least a dozen syringes and vials snugly placed in foam cutouts inside the case. There was an empty spot where the broken syringe had been and a spot that the knife would fit in. Other than that, nothing else.

I had no idea how long Adrian would take to find the bigger were’s room and get changed. I wasn’t even sure the wolf lived here. Maybe they’d congregated together for a party of some kind. I sort of hoped he came up empty and would have to sneak away, naked. I didn’t want him thinking he could follow me home.

I slipped the knife back into its spot and snapped the briefcase closed. Adrian wasn’t getting this one. I wasn’t even sure I’d take it to Jonathan. Ethan might have better luck figuring out what was in the mixture than Doctor Lei would.

Adrian appeared in the doorway just as I turned around. He was wearing a plain black shirt that was just a tad too tight and a pair of jeans that looked as if he’d had to sew himself inside them. He looked me up and down, eyes lingering on the briefcase. The faintest of frowns crept over his face before vanishing like smoke.

“We’ll have to be cautious taking the werewolf back with us,” he said, glancing toward the downed wolf. “We don’t want to draw more attention to ourselves.”

I still had my gun in hand and I wanted more than ever to raise it and shoot him. “No,” I said, angry at him for assuming we were leaving together.

He glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “No?”

“I wanted him alive.” I gestured toward the dead Left Hand man with my gun. “I asked you to do something to help and you just stood there and let her kill him.”

“There was nothing I could do.”

“Bullshit. You didn’t even try.”

“It wasn’t my place to interfere.”

Anger boiled. “If you wanted me to trust you, then maybe you should have made it your place.”

His eyes narrowed. “She would have killed him the moment I moved forward. You were the one with the gun. You should have shot her.”

He had me there. At the time, I’d been afraid of hitting the man. It would have been so much easier if Adrian would have at least distracted her.

“You could have tried to help,” I grumbled.

He shrugged. “Next time, I’ll know what you prefer.”

I laughed. “There will be no next time. I didn’t even want there to be a this time!”

Adrian walked over to the were and turned him over with a foot. “You will need to take your knife so as not to draw the eye of those we would wish to avoid. The blood will not help our cause, but I think we can manage it. Others will have heard the fight and we can tell them we are taking him to get help if someone should ask.”

I very nearly screamed in frustration. It was like he was oblivious to everything but his own concerns.

I stormed over to the injured wolf. I wasn’t going to let Adrian take him in so he could brainwash him into doing his bidding. I didn’t think. I didn’t let myself be swayed by pity.

I walked up right beside Adrian, raised my gun, and put a bullet right between the eyes of the paralyzed wolf.

The sound of the gunshot reverberated off the buildings on either side of the street. Adrian stared down at the now-dead wolf as I drew out my knife and wiped off the blood on his wet fur. I shoved the blade back in its sheath, knowing the remaining blood would cause it to stick later, but not caring.

“Now we’re even,” I said as I turned and walked away.

“Where are you going?” He didn’t sound even the slightest bit put out that I’d killed the wolf he’d planned on recruiting. In fact, I thought I heard respect in his voice.

I didn’t stop walking, though. I knew where I had to go if I wanted to learn more about the Left Hand. I didn’t like it, but I had little choice.

“Your place,” I said, angry at myself for having to stoop to this. “I need to speak to Davin.”