Blood Winter (22 page)

“Well, okay, then. You can let the whole beast-outta-hell act slide now,” Thor said. The words were careful, questioning. One did not mess around with Alexander in this mood.

His jaw knotted. He drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I am trying,” he grated.

Thor sucked his teeth, then spit out the open window. “Driving with you is like driving with a family of pissed-off porcupines,” he said mournfully. “Wish I could get drunk. Hell, I wish
you
could get drunk.”

That won him a smile. “I wish you would stop driving like a blue-haired old lady going to Sunday church,” Alexander shot back.

“If I go any faster, I’m going to drive us into a fairy circle or take us off a cliff. Slow and steady keeps us all alive and in our own skins. Got any idea what Max would do to me if I got you hurt or killed because I was driving too fast?” He whistled low and shook his head, pushing his battered cowboy hat back on his head. “That’s one horror movie I have no intention of starring in, boss,” he drawled.

“I might just have a role for you in mine,” Alexander growled back.

Thor just grinned. “You’re scary, but you’ve got nothing on Max. She’s in a class of terrifying all her own.”

Alexander grunted and said no more. Instead, he eyed his phone on the dash. She had not called him. She had nearly died twice and had not bothered to call him either time.

Thor took the Orange Street exit. It was coming up on nine, nearly an hour later than they had planned to get back to Missoula. Alexander was opening and closing his fists, impatience spurring him mercilessly. He could see Max’s spirit flame and those of Tyler and Gregory. They had gone south of the river and were now angling back to the northwest. They must have picked up Sterling’s trail. Knowing Max, she would confront the bastard and get herself killed for her trouble.

He made a sound deep in his throat, his teeth grinding together.

“Almost there,” Thor said soothingly.

The truck nosed down under the freeway, and Thor pulled off on the side. “Snow’s too deep,” he said at Alexander’s questioning glare. “Gonna have to go on foot.”

Alexander shoved open his door. The snow came up nearly to his knee. He waited impatiently for Thor to get out and set the wards on the truck, and then they set off down the street. It was mostly deserted, with several cars and trucks sitting in the middle of the road as if they had run out of gas and their owners had abandoned them where they sat. The smell of woodsmoke drifted through the falling snow, along with the stink of sewage and rotting garbage.

They had just come to a narrow underpass large enough for only two vehicles to pass when a voice stopped them. “Wait just a second there. Where you boys going? Don’tcha know there’s a toll to walk on my streets?”

Alexander shook himself. He had been so intent on finding Max that he had not been paying attention to anything around him. The snow and other powerful smells covered the scent of their attackers, who stank as much like garbage and raw sewage as the real thing.

There were two groups of three men on either side of the road and several more inside the tunnel. Those on the sides were on the raised walkway about five feet above the level of the road.

“This is interesting,” Thor drawled softly.

Alexander cracked his knuckles. “I’ll take the right, you take the left.”

“Wait a bit,” Thor said, then raised his voice. “You know boys, I don’t often offer advice. I figure everybody’s got a right to be stupid now and again. But since we’re in a hurry and I’m sure you don’t really want to die tonight, I tell you this: you don’t know it, but you’ve dug yourself down into a deep hole. Best cut your losses now and stop digging. And by that I mean turn around and run before you get yourselves dead.”

“Fuck off!” came a voice from within the tunnel.

Alexander growled and he unleashed his Prime. Thor’s Blade rose, and the air turned thick with the ferocity of their threat.

“Holy shit,” one of the attackers said, and fear shook his voice. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know, but I ain’t hanging around to find out.” One of the men on the right fled, leaping up the bank through the snow and disappearing. His companions hesitated, then followed him.

“Williams?” someone in the tunnel yelled. “Williams! Royce! Garcia! Get your asses back here!”

Alexander lost patience. He lunged up over the rail onto the sidewalk on the left. Before the three men there could react, he slammed into them. He tore a shotgun from one and jammed the butt into his stomach before bashing it against the second one’s skull. He kicked the last one in the thigh. The man shrieked as his leg broke, and he dropped to the ground in a whimpering ball.

Alexander started prowling forward.

“Run now, boys, if you want to live!” Thor yelled. He was at the other end of the tunnel, having vaulted up to the top of the pass and dropped down on the other side. Now the tunnel insiders were trapped between him and Alexander.

A shotgun blast struck the wall near Alexander’s head, showering him with bits of cement. He launched himself. Thor struck from behind. In just a few seconds, the two waiting men lay still on the ground. Alexander did not wait to see if they were still breathing. Instead, he set off again. Thor fell in behind.

Suddenly, an explosion of Divine magic shook the air, and red flames shot high in the air. It blinded Alexander’s spirit sight. Max had been headed in that direction. He started to run.

He and Thor came to the river and raced along it. The tall red flames vanished, and they followed the sounds of gunshots, screams, and more explosions. Less than a mile down, they came abreast of a walled compound on the south side in McCormick Park. Along one side was a smoking gap. Fires burned within the camp, but the gunshots were dwindling. The falling snow made it impossible to see anything distinctly.

“Over there,” Thor called, pointing to a railroad bridge.

The two Blades skimmed across, over the invaders’ bridge and up over the rubble in the gap just as Max and Tyler appeared at the top. Both were plastered in mud and blood.

Alexander did not think. He snatched Max up against him, one arm snaking hard around her waist, the other holding the back of her head. He kissed her with all his pent-up need, fury, and fear. It was brutally hard. His teeth ground against hers, and he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her, devouring her. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut at the almost unbearable wave of relief and joy that swept over him at having her in his arms again.

The kiss went on, and he dimly became aware that she was holding him just as hard, her fingers digging into his flesh like grappling hooks. She pressed hungrily against him, her body taut and shaking. He felt her moan deep in her chest, and his arms spasmed tighter.

“This is all romantic and all, but don’t you two think we ought to get Gregory and get a move on?” Tyler asked.

Max stiffened and pushed herself away. Alexander forced himself to let her go. Her lips were swollen, he noticed with supreme satisfaction. She was
his,
whether she liked it or not.

“Good to see you, too,” she said, but her voice lacked the warmth he ached for. He found himself recoiling, his emotions snapping back like a broken rubber band. It sent him spiraling. He felt unmoored, like a ship adrift in a hurricane, and he had no means to bring himself to shore.

“Where is Gregory?” he asked, stepping back, his expression shuttering. He could not rein in his Prime.

Max’s eyes narrowed at his reaction. “Back at the signal shack.” She pointed.

The four of them crossed back over the moat.

“So,” Thor said, breaking the tense silence. “Anything new happening here?”

“Well,” Tyler said, “not really. There was the demon attack. Oh, and then Sterling got into Horngate again with his dust and nearly killed Max and Giselle. Both Xaphan and Tutresiel seem to be showing signs of life. So hardly anything, really. How about you? Anything interesting happen to you two?”

“Pretty much the same as you. Had a bit of an episode with a rock troll. It nearly killed Alexander. Isn’t that a coincidence? Then we were chased by a very fast enchanted forest, after which we got introduced to a family of salamanders. One of them snatched up Spike and disappeared into a fiery hole. The Grims followed, and the ground snapped shut. Really, just another boring night.”

“You were almost killed?” Max asked Alexander in a strangled voice.

“Thor exaggerates.”

“Thor does not exaggerate,” the man in question said.

“Shut up,” Alexander said.

“See what I have been putting up with?” Thor asked Tyler. “He’s worse than a grizzly bear with a sore paw.”

“Maybe he needs a little honey,” Tyler said suggestively.

“Shut up, Tyler,” Max said.

“I think she needs a little honey, too,” he whispered loudly.

Alexander tossed a blistering look over his shoulder.

They came to a small shack beside the railroad tracks. Max opened the door.

“All over, Gregory. Come on out.”

Nothing.

She looked inside, then wrenched back. “He’s not here.”

“Where the hell did he go?” Tyler asked.

“Damned witches,” Max said. She looked at Alexander. “Can you see his flame?”

He pushed his senses outward but could see only gray. “That explosion of magic seems to have fried my circuits for the moment,” he said.

“This way,” called Thor. He had found tracks leading away along the front of the livestock enclosure. The four of them broke into a jog.

“Tris, Geoff Brewer, and Doris Lydman jacked a ride with the guys we picked up in the demon attack. They’re going hunting for Kyle, Tory, and Carrie,” Max said. She ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Alexander.

He stopped, scowling. “Guys you picked up?”

She nodded. “Ex-soldiers, it looked like. They’d been tracking the demons that killed Simon. We joined them.”

That killed Simon
. So that was who had died. He wanted to offer her comfort, but she clearly did not want it. Instead, he focused on what she was saying. “Do you trust them?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. They handled themselves well enough. But who knows what they’re about to run into, or if they’ll have Tris’s back when the shit hits the fan? What the fuck was she thinking?”

“She wants to protect her daughter, and she does not like sitting and waiting. She is your sister, after all,” he said, his mouth twisting in a sardonic smile.

“Giselle thinks they won’t make it into town with the snow. I think they’re probably already here. Tris is too stubborn not to get her way, and Liam and his crew are motivated. They witnessed the thing at the River Market, too. They wanted to get back to their families.”

“So they might leave Tris, Geoff, and Doris high and dry once they get here.”

“They could. I don’t think it’s their style, though.”

He nodded and then spun around and started following the tracks again. Thor and Tyler had outdistanced them. Suddenly, Alexander stopped and confronted Max, unable to stop himself.

“You did not call me,” he said, his voice full of rusty nails.

She recoiled, then her shoulders squared, her expression turning stubborn. “No. Was I supposed to?”

“You almost died.” His voice went flat. If he let his emotions out, he would not be able to control himself. He would pick her up and shake her. Or kiss her. Or maybe fall on his knees and beg.

“I almost die a lot. It’s not exactly breaking news.”

“I do not like it.”

She snorted. “It’s not like I enjoy it. I’d rather be in Tahiti.”

“You could have fooled me,” he ground out.

“If it bothers you so much, why don’t you just hop a ride on a different roller coaster?” Her head tilted as if she was genuinely curious.

I would if I could.
“Maybe I should.”

“My, but you’re in a crap mood, Slick. Did you get your period or something?”

“I do not know who I want to kill more right now—you or me,” he growled.

“Sounds very healthy. Maybe you should call a shrink. I hear Dr. Phil is available.”

He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut, giving a frustrated shake of his head. There was no point to this. He turned and started off again.

“I missed you,” she said.

The words sounded small, as if they hurt to say. For Max, it was a big step. She did not often reveal her real feelings. For Alexander, it was not nearly enough.

“You miss Ben and Jerry’s,” he said in disgust. “Not to mention avocados, chocolate, and Taco Bell. I am pretty sure I’m down on the bottom of the list of things you miss.”

She ground her teeth.
Good.

“Mother of fuck, Slick. What crawled up your ass and died?”

“Let us just say I got slapped with reality,” he said, and jogged away. Inwardly, he sighed. What had possessed him to fall in love with such a stubborn, annoying woman?

Gregory had found a bridge and crossed back over the river, winding through a dark neighborhood.

“Is it me, or is there a path cleared for him?” Tyler wondered out loud.

“It’s not you,” Thor answered.

“So he was lured,” Max said. “Sterling has to be behind this. We need to hurry.”

Magic swelled in the air like a storm. Alexander broke into a fast run, with Max at his shoulder and Thor and Tyler hard on their heels. They passed the cemetery, the magic thickening around them. The hair on Alexander’s body prickled like a wire brush. A growl reverberated deep in his chest.

The world went still. The snow hung motionless as a photograph.

Alexander drew a breath. The air was molasses.

“This is not good,” Max said, her voice elongated and slow.

“What else is new?” Alexander’s voice was distorted as well.

They could still move. The snow was a curtain that clung to them like thick cobwebs. Alexander dashed it from his eyes. It felt sticky and strange. They wandered through it, searching for Gregory.

Alexander’s spirit sight began to return. Ahead, Gregory’s spirit flame was cream and green. It burned incandescent, as did his magic, which lit up the night like a small star. Near him was something else. It oozed along the ground in thick blue vines, winding and twisting in a mystical weaving. It circled the witch, trapping him in place.