6
I
felt beyond relaxed when I headed downstairs the following night. For once, I was going to head out, do something dangerous, and wasn’t going to torture myself over it. Last night had done me some serious good. It was as if all the stresses of my entire life had bled away into a small little ball tucked in my gut. I could feel it there, but refused to let it expand and overwhelm me.
Ethan was sitting at the table sipping coffee when I came down. His hair was mussed and he looked as if he’d just gotten up a few minutes ago.
“Sleep well?” I asked, surprised at how chipper I sounded.
Ethan grumbled something into his coffee.
I laughed and stretched. My body creaked nearly as much as my leather. I was feeling a little stiff and there was a headache lurking, but I had a feeling that had more to do with what I drank the night before than anything major.
I grabbed my coat off the back of a chair and folded it over my arm. “I’m going to head out. I’ve got a few things to take care of tonight.”
“Where?” Ethan managed through a yawn.
“Not sure. I’m hoping once I get going, I’ll figure it out.”
He frowned slightly into his mug.
“I’m not holding out on you,” I said. “I really don’t know where I’m going tonight. I want to take care of the Left Hand, but don’t know where to look. I’ll drive around a bit, see what I can find.”
“K.” Ethan sighed and gulped down his steaming mug of coffee. I had no idea how he didn’t scald himself. “I’m going to have a shower.”
He lumbered past me as if his clothes were weighing him down. I wondered how long he’d stayed up after I’d gone to soak in the tub. I hadn’t paid much attention to whether he’d even gone to bed at all.
I watched him ascend the stairs and stagger into the bathroom. As soon as the door was closed, I headed downstairs for my gear.
Ethan had checked over some of the stuff the night before, telling me he’d stayed up later than he should have. The gun and weapons were resting on top of the table, looking fresh and ready. I checked the Glock to make sure it was fully loaded, and slipped it into the shoulder holster he’d set aside. I was in the process of putting it on when Jeremy came down the stairs.
“Do you want me to come?”
I glanced at him as I finished settling the holster in place. “Not tonight. You should stay here and keep an eye on Ethan.”
“I could call Jonathan and he could send someone else to sit with him.”
I paused with my belt halfway around my waist. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have someone watching my back. The Left Hand had snuck up on me before. They’d done the same to countless vampires and werewolves. As much as I wanted to believe I could handle myself, I knew it would be safer to have someone else there with me.
But could I really risk getting Jeremy hurt again?
“I’m just looking tonight,” I said. “I don’t plan on doing much else.”
“And what if you come across the Left Hand?” he asked. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t simply walk away.”
I sighed and finished putting on my belt. I grabbed my knives and sword and sheathed them. My coat came next. It settled around me, hiding the weapons.
“I can take care of myself,” I said. “I need to do this alone.”
Jeremy looked like he wanted to protest some more. He took a breath like he was going to speak, but it came out as a sigh. He bowed his head and stepped aside.
“I’ll be home tonight,” I said. “If I’m not back by sunup, call Jonathan; not before.”
He nodded.
I started to walk past him, but hesitated. I couldn’t leave it at that. “I’ll see you tonight. And . . . thank you.”
I went up the stairs without waiting for a response.
The garage was stifling as I mounted my Honda and opened the garage doors. Cool air poured over me and I closed my eyes to it. I could feel rain in the air, but it did nothing to dampen my spirits. In fact, I almost welcomed it.
I took my time as I headed for the city. While I was out looking for the Left Hand, I wasn’t going to go at it with the fierce tenacity I typically did things. If I did that, I’d make a mistake. I couldn’t jump into something before I was ready to deal with the consequences of my actions. I needed to stop, evaluate, and do things the right way. I’m not sure when I got away from doing it that way.
As I headed for the main part of the city, I considered what I knew.
The Left Hand was in Columbus, that much was obvious. They hunted supes and if what Jonathan said was true, they were also going after Purebloods who spent time with supes. They’d somehow managed to get onto Cult property to set up a crucified werewolf.
But where had they taken him? Had he already been near the Den when they took him? Had he been out on a hunt of some sort? He was new and inexperienced, so I doubted he was out alone.
So how did they take him?
I knew within moments that I needed to go to the abandoned portion of the old college campus. There might be clues that would help me understand what had happened and how they’d managed to do so much, so fast, without anyone else noticing.
Since I was already heading that way, all I had to do was speed up. I could peek around the campus for a little while, maybe investigate the part of the college still in use, then head to the Den to ask Jonathan more questions. It was looking more and more like someone on the inside was responsible for this and I had a pretty good idea who to blame.
Keira. Her appearance was just too convenient. She might not have done the actual deed, but I had a feeling she was the one who’d disabled the cameras and distracted Jonathan long enough so that the wolf could be set up without the perpetrators being discovered.
I reached Cult property and slowed. The roads here were dangerous. Many were blocked off by debris intentionally placed so that anyone who might wander onto the property would be forced down a path the Cult could monitor. Someone on foot was okay, but no one would be getting around this part of the old campus with a vehicle.
Still, I did as good a job as I could, exploring. I’d hoped to find someplace where a broken-down car had been moved or a fallen tree had been shoved aside, but everything looked as if it hadn’t been touched. It would have been hard for the Left Hand to get a crucified wolf, unconscious or not, all the way in front of the Den. Either they had someone really strong carrying him, or they’d worked well together. I was sure they’d moved him at least part of the way in a vehicle of some sort.
That meant the garage. While the Cult were the only ones to use it, if there was someone working from the inside, helping the Left Hand, chances were good they would have told them about the garage. It would allow the Left Hand to park somewhere that wasn’t out in the open, that was relatively close to the Den itself, and still get Philip on his cross there.
I headed for the garage, not quite sure I bought it. They could have come at the Den from another angle. Maybe they’d come from the other part of the campus. As far as I knew, the Left Hand had set up headquarters among the college kids. Someone there could be housing them, someone who’d discovered the Luna Cult hideout by accident one night after a party.
I neared the garage, but didn’t pull in. Instead, I shut off the engine and sat there, looking at the opening. I tried to picture someone carrying a cross out of there.
I just couldn’t do it. It would have been too easy for someone from the Den to happen by them.
So where?
Before I could restart the motorcycle’s engine, someone appeared. He was walking briskly from the direction of the Den. He was big and kept his head down so I didn’t get a good look at his face.
Still, I would know that build anywhere.
He vanished into the garage. I walked my Honda back into the deeper shadows where he might not see me. A few minutes later, a car drifted out of the garage and turned down the road. I caught a quick glimpse of the face through the window and my heart started racing.
Nathan.
I waited until he turned a corner, started up the engine, and took off after him.
My first inclination was to race to catch up with him. I wanted to pull him right out of the car and demand to know what he was doing. Maybe Keira wasn’t the one who’d betrayed Jonathan this time. Nathan hadn’t been around when the Denmaster had needed him most.
Of course, if I were to try to catch him, he’d see me coming. In which case, I’d never learn where he was going.
I kept my lights off until we were out on the main roads. I made sure to stay well back, knowing that if he even thought I was following him, he would change direction. I tried to come up with reasons for why he’d leave alone, especially with everything that was going on, but I kept coming back to the fact that when I was at the Den, discussing the murder, Nathan wasn’t there.
He drove a good twenty minutes before turning off onto a residential street. I had to wait for him to go a long way down the road before I could follow. There was no one else on the road. I shut off my lights, knowing it would do little good against a werewolf’s sight, but hoped for the best anyway.
“Where are you going?” I muttered as I followed.
Just as I started to pull onto the road, I saw the red glow of brake lights reflect off a house. I quickly shut off the engine and walked the Honda off the road, behind a shed where he wouldn’t see it if he were to suddenly come back. I hopped off and hurried down the road, hoping I’d catch sight of him before he was gone.
The brake lights glowed for a few moments before winking out. I didn’t hear a car engine, so I assumed he’d shut it off instead of driving off.
I came around a slight bend in the road just as Nathan stepped out of the car, which was parked just off the road. He sniffed the air and looked around. I managed to slip behind the corner of a wooden fence before he looked my way. I watched him through the crack.
A light mist started up. He looked to the sky, almost as if irritated by the extremely light rain. It would make it harder to sniff anyone out and would also force anyone inside who might be out.
Was he hunting? It was like a stab to my gut. Jonathan had assured me his wolves didn’t go out and hunt like this. I wasn’t sure exactly how they got their meat and blood, but from what I could tell, he hadn’t been lying.
So did that mean Nathan was going against orders? Was he responsible for some of the bodies that might have been attributed to the Left Hand?
As much as Nathan and I didn’t get along, I didn’t want to believe he could be capable of something like that. Jonathan had been betrayed more than once, the last being Gregory Hillis, a werewolf who’d joined with Adrian Davis. It had been a mess that had really done a number on Jonathan. If Nathan were to go against his Denmaster’s wishes, I didn’t want to know how it would affect him.
Nathan, seemingly satisfied no one was watching him, started suddenly forward. I slipped out from around the corner of the fence and gave chase, keeping myself low to the ground, using his car for cover.
While there were quite a few empty houses here, there were also some where the lights were still blazing inside. It was still early enough so that some of the more daring Purebloods had yet to shut down for the night. Perhaps some were planning on a night out, even now. There was a reason High Street and places like that were so popular.
Nathan darted in and out of yards, avoiding some entirely. One of the ones he skipped had a light above the back door. I knew without having to test it myself that it was a motion detector light. It appeared the big wolf had done this before.
Unease grew the farther we went. Why had he parked so far away? Was he meeting someone out here? It seemed the only reasonable explanation.
I followed Nathan’s path as near as I dared. If he’d done this more than once, he would know where the alarms were. Just because some of the Purebloods here kept lights on, didn’t mean they were stupid. The moment an alarm went off, they could vanish into a bolt hole, perhaps a panic room built to withstand a werewolf or vampire until help arrived.
Something howled in the distance and Nathan froze. He sniffed the air again and I cringed back, thankful the rain was starting to pick up. Vampires didn’t put out much of a scent and the rain only helped to obliterate it, though my leather would be obvious if he got a good whiff of it.
I cringed back, knowing that if he turned around, he’d have me. There wasn’t anywhere to hide here.
Thankfully, he started forward again. He went about six paces more before veering off into a yard surrounded by a low hedge that looked as if no one had cared for it for years. He shifted his weight and slid along sideways until he was facing the house across the street. He remained crouched there as if waiting for something.
I moved as close as I dared before stepping off Nathan’s chosen path. I went the long way around the yard to where a rusted metal shed stood. I crept along the side and then peeked around the corner.
A light was on in the house across the street. A large glass back door gave a good look into the house. An old woman sat at a dining room table, sipping from a teacup. She was in a wheelchair and was clearly having trouble lifting the cup to her lips. Her hands were shaking so badly, it was a wonder she didn’t dump it into her lap.
A moment later, a younger woman came into view. She looked like she might be in her forties, but it was hard to tell at this distance. She patiently took the cup from the older woman’s hand and held it to her lips for her.
And that’s when the older woman started to cry.
Nathan started to lift from his crouch and I reached for my gun. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I would
not
let him harm either of those two women. I didn’t care that he might be only killing the elderly and sick, putting them out of their misery while sating his own hunger. I’d kill him before I let him hurt someone else.