“You all have five minutes to pack your stuff,” I told the group. “After that we have to go.”
Yvonne nodded her head. “We’ll hurry.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Kerbasi,” I called out.
He came wandering out of the woods invisible to everyone but me.
“I don’t suppose,” he said, making his way around a couple of unconscious commandos, “that we can get pizza before you tend to your wounds.”
I steered him away from the DHS agents to a place they’d be less likely to overhear me talking.
“Glad to know where your priorities are, guardian.” I spoke in a low tone. “But there is a way you could get your pizza faster.”
His eyes lit up. “What is it?”
I pulled my keys from my pocket and gestured at Cori. She came rushing over.
“Flash her to the Jeep so she can bring it to us.”
“You must be joking.”
“Time is wasting. Not to mention the last report you gave to me was ridiculous. I might not make you re-write it if you help me out.”
Indecision swirled in his eyes. “Very well, but do not think I can be manipulated so easily every time.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
I handed Cori the keys and leaned in close to her. “Get the Jeep and pull it up to the front of the drive. We’ll meet you there.”
“You got it.” She handed me the shovel and stepped up to Kerbasi.
He had a sour look on his face, but he took her by the arms and flashed her away.
A radio chirped nearby. Up until now I hadn’t heard anything from them, but these guys probably should have checked in by this time. Taking painful steps, I headed toward the nearest guy lying on the ground where the squawking came from and leaned down to grab the ear piece.
I listened for a moment. What I heard had me back on my feet and staggering toward the house. It had been the base station checking in and there’d been a mention of sending reinforcements. We had to go.
Before I reached the steps, Yvonne and her family came out of the house loaded with bags in their arms.
“Come on.” I beckoned them toward the road. “We’ve got to get out of here now.”
They didn’t argue, just followed me as I shuffled down the drive using the shovel to support my steps. It was only about a hundred meters, but it felt like ten times that by the time we made it to the highway. Cori and Kerbasi were waiting for us off to the side.
“Everyone pile in,” I ordered. “Kerbasi, you’re in the back.”
The guardian begrudgingly got out and moved to the cargo area of the vehicle, along with Yvonne’s grandson. The rest of us took the remaining seats.
Soon we were under way. I took deep, steady breaths and gritted my teeth through every bump we hit. Without my adrenaline to fuel me anymore, all the wounds hurt even worse. Yvonne used my cell phone to call ahead and let Nik know to expect us. She didn’t give details, but he’d know by her contacting him from my line that something bad had happened.
My stomach wound had bled over onto the seat by the time we got there. Other parts of me had probably stained it as well. Clean up was going to suck, but I had some shampoo that worked every time.
The master vampire and Kariann, one of his lieutenants, were waiting outside for us when we drove up the circular drive. A porch light illuminated them, but everything else was in shadows. Most of the windows were permanently shuttered to reduce the risk of sun exposure to the vamps. During the day it would be easier to see the large, two-story house with blue siding that stood behind them, but at the moment it looked a little creepy.
The two vampires rushed up as soon as Yvonne’s daughter opened the Jeep door for me. Nik looked me over, frowning at my wounds.
“Help get Melena inside,” he ordered. “I’ll get the kitchen table cleared for her.”
He zoomed off to the house.
Kariann helped me climb out. “Hurts to be the one to get shot, doesn’t it?”
Kerbasi walked alongside us as we made our way to the house. “It was good for her to be on the receiving end of those blasting devices for once.”
“Cori, can you shoot him for me?”
She didn’t hesitate to pull her gun from under her pant leg.
He held his hands up. “I shall endeavor to keep my thoughts to myself until the sensor has recovered from her wounds. There is no need for rash behavior.”
“If only you could do that all the time,” I said, nodding at Cori to lower the gun.
Kariann got a tighter grip on my uninjured arm and led me into the house. Once we stepped into the foyer, she guided us toward the kitchen. Nik stood waiting.
He helped me get onto the table while Kariann went and grabbed a knife from the drawer. When she came walking toward me, I braced myself. Now that I wasn’t mortal and didn’t have to worry about infection, bullet removal was done the primitive way. I made a mental note to avoid getting shot in the future.
“Do you want me to call Lucas?” Nik asked.
“Don’t you dare. He might go over and kill all the DHS agents if he finds out.”
He might have shown restraint at the werewolf bar, but he hated humans with an intensity I’d yet to understand. No way was I risking him finding out about this.
“You should have called someone to help.” The master vampire gave me a stern look.
“There wasn’t any time.”
“Did you consider following them instead of fighting?”
“The thought crossed my mind.” I looked up at him. “But they might have gone to a place with tighter security. These guys had dark magic potions on them that are strong enough to work on most supernaturals. Who knows what they’ve got at their base of operations.”
Nik ran a hand through his hair. “That is a point. I haven’t heard of such a government group before, but it appears the supernatural world hasn’t hidden itself well enough. I’m surprised the angels haven’t caught onto this.”
I gave a small shrug. “You’d have to talk to them.”
“I’d rather not.” He nodded at Kariann. “Go ahead.”
She leaned over me, holding the knife with a determined look in her face.
“What? No alcohol first?” I lifted my head. Nik had the good stuff that could work even on immortals.
He gave me a considering look. “I’ll get it for you, but she’s pulling the bullet in your stomach out now. You’re bleeding all over my table.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, because that’s never happened in a house full of vampires before.”
He grunted and walked off.
Kariann cut my sweater away and examined the wound. I caught the darkening of her eyes just before her blond hair swept over her face. It was a good thing sensor blood was bad for vamps or she might have been tempted to take a drink. There was certainly enough of it leaking from me to feed her.
I gripped the table and stared up at the ceiling.
Be brave, Melena. Can’t let them see you be weak over a little gut wound.
It took all my willpower not to scream when the blade started digging around. To Kariann’s credit she found the bullet and took it out quickly, setting it off to the side. I looked at her in astonishment.
“I’ve done this a few times.” She grinned.
She cut the rest of my sweater and t-shirt off before continuing her examination. I rolled to my side when she nudged me.
“The one in your shoulder went clean through, but I’ve got to dig this other one out.” She brushed her fingers near the shot that had lodged close to my spine.
I took a deep breath. “Get it over with.”
The knife dug in and sawed back and forth as she worked to get the tip under the bullet. I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms. Kariann muttered under her breath for a few seconds before making an “aha” sound.
“You want this?” she asked, holding the slug up for my inspection.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Okay.” She grabbed the other one and tossed them both into the nearby trash.
I flipped back over and sat up. “The rest of the wounds should be fine.”
“Even if they are, we still need to clean them.”
Kariann helped me pull off my jeans and checked over my other wounds. Thankfully, the rest were free of bullets and already healing. We’d just put the last bandage on when Nik arrived with the alcohol. He handed it over and I took several gulps right away.
“What the hell took so long?” I asked.
“Josslyn needed something.”
Of course she did.
Nik eyed me up and down. I had my bra and underwear on, but there was still plenty to see. He never missed an opportunity to look even though he knew I was off-limits and he had his own woman.
“Ready to give me the full story?” he asked.
I looked at Kariann. “Can you loan me some clothes?”
Her gaze shifted between me and Nik. “Sure. Explanations can wait a few more minutes.”
Nik sighed.
I took the bottle of alcohol with me and followed her to the wing of the house opposite Nik’s quarters. The hallway looked the same as the other one except there were more doors. A few vamps were behind them, but I didn’t sense any other sups around. Kariann took me to her room and dug a black t-shirt and sweatpants out of her dresser.
“Here.” She held them up. “You can keep those. I don’t want any sensor blood on my stuff.”
I grabbed the clothes and put them on. She had a bigger frame than me so they fit loosely.
“Thanks.” I gave her a grateful smile.
Kariann and I made our way back toward the foyer, hearing Nik’s voice grow louder as we got closer. He was speaking to Cori, Yvonne and the others in the living room. We stepped through the large entryway to find them seated on the leather couches near the fireplace. Heavy burgundy drapes covered the windows and oil paintings depicting medieval scenes covered the walls. The master vampire changed up the décor every so often, but always kept a masculine sense of style.
I winced as I took a seat next to Diane. She gave me a sympathetic look until I took a big gulp from the bottle of alcohol still in my hand. Getting shot really sucked. It was no wonder Kerbasi had backed down when Cori aimed her gun at him a short while ago. If he experienced even half as much pain as I was feeling, he’d want to avoid it.
Speaking of which, the guardian had already left. My senses told me he’d headed back to his shed behind my house. Emily and Hunter were coming toward Nik’s, though. They must have figured out something had gone wrong since I hadn’t returned with their dinner.
I looked at Cori. “Is there any chance you can go pick up some pizza? You can take my Jeep.”
She stood up, pulling the keys from her jeans pocket. It was just as well I hadn’t asked for them back yet.
“Yeah, sure.” She glanced over at the others, who’d stopped talking to look at us. “I already gave Nik my version of what happened so you can have fun giving him yours.”
“Pizza?” The master vampire asked, glancing down at my stomach. “Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“I’m not, but the kids are. I was going to get them dinner when I drove past Yvonne’s and saw she was in trouble.”
“Kids? As in plural?” Kariann looked at me incredulously. “Did you adopt more?”
Geez. It wasn’t like I took in every stray teenager I found. Cori shook her head and left.
“Just temporarily.” I gave them a brief recounting of what had happened with Derrick.
Nik bared his teeth. “Your werewolf has gone too far.”
“He’s not my werewolf,” I gritted out. “And he’s got his reasons—even if I don’t agree with his methods for handling them.”
Plus, I was still thinking over the accusations Derrick had made against Nik. I’d have to confront the master vampire about it, but couldn’t do it now. We had other issues to focus on and bringing that up would only divide us more.
The front door slammed open and everyone’s gazes swung in that direction. It was just Emily and Hunter, but Kariann should have been guarding the entrance, considering it was her duty on weeknights. We’d inadvertently distracted her from it. Nik mumbled something under his breath and left the room. The teenagers brushed past him on their way through the foyer.
Emily looked me up and down as soon as she reached me, focusing on the bandage covering my neck. It was the only visible wound other than a healing cut on my arm.
“What happened?” she asked. “Kerbasi came by and said you were all shot up.”
She might be in a rebellion stage right now, but I could see the deep concern in her blue eyes.
“I was.” I patted the empty seat next to me. “Sit down. We were just about to discuss what happened and you guys need to hear it, too.”
After Nik returned with a vampire to guard the front door, we went over the story from the beginning. I included the part about O’Connell showing up at the herb shop and questioning me. Nik already knew about it since I’d called and told him, but some of the others didn’t.
Once I’d finished, Yvonne told us her version of what happened. There wasn’t much to tell other than men in black bursting into her home and splashing a potion at her and her daughter while they sat watching television. They caught Patrick as he was coming out of the shower. Things went fuzzy after that for her until I brought her out of the spell. I hoped the DHS agents had the same side effects.