“I don’t get it,” Sasha said, thoroughly agitated.
“This is what we do—combat. We’ve been in a hundred brawls before. What’s
different about this one, Hunter? You are on me like you’re my freakin’ shadow,
and we need to fan out to accomplish everything we’ve gotta do.”
“I
am
your shadow,” he said, not looking at her
as he stepped down harder on the gas pedal.
“Ha, ha, very funny,” she said, and then looked out
the window. “We can’t keep asking for Jeeps from the base, either, and not
bringing them back. There’s a pattern here that’s not gonna go over well with
the brass.”
“The shadow lands are too dangerous at present. Amy
Chen’s parents cannot physically withstand the distortion, because they are
human. Do you have another alternative I should explore?”
She hated it when he got snippy. “No. but
we could have saved time by—”
“We’ve discussed that option and I told you my
reservations.”
Oh, so now he was gonna try to pull the badass male
alpha wolf thing on her and put more bass in his voice than was necessary?
Sasha rolled her eyes. Pullease.
“And what if I just went to Amy’s house alone?” Sasha
folded her arms, not liking his tone.
“I would have followed you to be sure you were safe.”
His response was so bland, so calm, that she wanted to
scream.
“I do not want to fight, Sasha. I just want to deliver
the humans to the Sidhe and avoid a war. I should not have to become locked in
a confrontation with you now, simply because I seek peace.”
Sasha blew a stray wisp of hair up off her forehead.
Oh, brother. now her man had become the Zen master!
“May I come in, Mrs. Chen?”
The older woman stared out through the cracked door,
keeping the chain lock firmly latched. She could not place the man’s face, but
things inside her head told her that he was a friend of her daughter’s. His
face was handsome, his eyes strange and crystal blue. his hair
long, flowing blond so fair that it was almost white.
“Again, I ask for an invitation. May I come in,
please, Mrs. Chen?”
She cracked the door open a little wider. “Ah.
Well. ”
“No!” Mr. Chen shouted. “We do not know you!” He
slammed the door shut and shook his wife hard. “What are you doing? Sasha
Trudeau is on the telephone and says there are people trying to abduct our Amy
again. It is like the trouble before.”
“Heads-up,” Sasha said, bailing out of the Jeep.
“Vamps!”
Hunter swerved the vehicle to a stop and rushed up the
storefront stairs. “Mr. and Mrs. Chen, are you all right? It’s Hunter!”
Sasha swept the alley and then took a running leap to
catch a fire escape grate to propel herself up to the rooftop. A boot kick to
her jaw sent her sprawling backward. She answered the affront with a hail of
silver shells. But the quick-moving flash of white hair and black coat eluded
her. She watched him jump buildings, grab a fire escape, and swing to a landing
on the ground. Their eyes met. He gave her a toothy smile and then headed
toward the house.
A pump shotgun blast met him in the doorway, giving
Sasha just enough time to drop down behind the injured Vampire and cock the
hammer on her weapon. In a flash he was gone. Hunter spun and gave the shotgun
back to Mr. Chen.
“That only slowed him down. It was just a regular
shell, not hallowed-earth packed or silver.” Hunter nodded toward the Jeep.
“C’mon. We don’t have much time. They’ll be back.”
“Why does this keep happening? What have we done?”
Mrs. Chen cried as they hurried down the steps.
“They don’t want you; they want your daughter. Some
really, really bad men want her dead,” Sasha said, pushing the older couple
into the car. “And we don’t want that to happen.”
“But why?” Mr. Chen said, leaning forward. “We don’t
understand. We are simple people. Honest people.”
Sasha couldn’t answer; there just wasn’t time. A thud
on the roof rocked the vehicle and she renewed a clip, then shot skyward while
Hunter careened away from the curb. No matter how fast Hunter was driving, the
Vamp kept its footing and moved with grace, avoiding every shell. Frustration
tore at Sasha, making her fling open the Jeep door and flip herself onto the
roof before the Vampire could reach through the compromised metal to yank out
the Chens.
Instead of the platinum blond male vamp, a dark-eyed
female terror stood before Sasha baring fangs. Wind from the hurtling vehicle
and supernatural energy lifted the Vampire’s black coat and suddenly two
razor-sharp daggers slid into her palms. She smiled at Sasha and then slashed
forward the second Sasha lifted her weapon and fired. A burning, stinging pain
shot up Sasha’s forearm. Fuck. She was cut.
The Vampire’s smile widened. “Just give them to us and
you’ll live, wolf.”
“Sorry. Can’t do that, bitch.” Sasha lunged and the
Vampire tumbled over her, now standing at the front of the vehicle with Sasha
crouched on the roof above where the Chens sat in the backseat beneath her.
“This is no business of yours, wolf!”
In a split second, Hunter’s hand crashed through the
roof and grasped the Vampire by her left leg. The Vampire screeched and yanked
to get away while the Jeep perilously swerved.
“Oh, but it is,” Sasha said, holding on, and quickly
unloaded two slugs in the center of the Vampire’s forehead.
Burning ash immediately covered the top of the vehicle
and Sasha hunkered down as soot and debris flew over her. At the intersection,
Hunter slowed down and Sasha jumped off the roof and got back into the vehicle.
She looked at Hunter’s bloodied fist. “Thanks..
You need to have Garth or Silver Hawk take a look at that.”
Hunter grabbed her arm and turned it over, looking at
the deep slash. “And you.”
“Yeah. She got me.”
“I smelled it. the blood. If we didn’t
have human passengers I would have come up there and ripped her worthless
throat out.”
“Now the wolves are officially involved!” Elder Vlad
paced away from the long onyx table in his dining room and waved for his
servants to take away the nude dead woman littering the furniture. “That is a
good thing, given the recent developments. But the one thing I have yet to understand
is how you have allowed them to destroy my Mara? Is this what you have come to
grovel at my feet to explain?”
“Yes,” Caleb said through a labored breath, holding
his injured chest. Black blood oozed through his fingers as he clung to the
ravaged flesh destroyed by a close-range shotgun shell. “But I must feed, Your
Excellency.”
“And so you shall,” Elder Vlad said, slitting his
wrist over a golden goblet. He watched Caleb lick his lips and stared at the
trembling hand that reached for the goblet, somewhat amused. “Where are the
Chens?”
“Still with the wolves that escaped, Master.” Caleb
dropped to one knee, weakening by the moment as the pool of black blood around
him widened on the cold stone floor.
“And you were not able to do such a small task for me
alone?”
“I came directly here once I was injured.
but not before telling Mara. We work as a team.”
“And you left her to be incinerated by the most
troublesome pair of wolves in our region!” Elder Vlad flung the goblet away to
the stone floor. “All you had to do was collect Amy Chen’s parents—two weak
humans—and bring them to me! To avoid more Vampire losses I needed them
tonight! Do you understand that there is no negotiating with demons once they
are owed and feel betrayed?”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Caleb stammered, beginning to
wheeze. “But the wolves were an added complication.”
“Added complication?” Elder Vlad swept away from
Caleb, trembling with rage. “You have
no idea
about what it means to
endure a so-called added complication! Will Elder Kozlov understand that we
were in error? That our initial assessment of the situation was incorrect and
that we unnecessarily baited the Fae into a global confrontation—all because
you and Mara were sure that this was an attack by the Unseelie but were wrong?
Will our Transylvanian Council understand that we overlooked demons on a
vendetta—demons whom we owe? No, Caleb,
that
is a complication of the
highest order. and all that I’d asked was that you rectify the
situation that you created, and you couldn’t even do that.”
Caleb gasped and lay down prostrate on the floor in
his own blood and began to weep as he dragged his body toward Elder Vlad’s
feet. “I will make this right. I swear to you. I will make amends.”
“What shall I do with you? This isn’t even my debt, technically,
but with Erinyes there is no such thing as a technicality. They only understand
absolutes. Such as it is, demons do not understand fine points, shades of gray,
or compromise. Nor does Elder Kozlov, whose reputation precedes him in zero
tolerance for error. The demons were promised the pristine soul of the Chen
girl. Period. Or they will exact the price of retribution in that which Baron
Geoff Montague sought their services for. The toll of not paying the demons
what they’re due is the total destruction of this region’s Vampire and Unseelie
population—just as the baron had colluded to wipe out the Seelie Fae and the
wolf federations with that little slug Kiagehul. It is all very simple, not
that complicated at all. Bring me the Chen girl.”
Caleb grasped Elder Vlad’s ankles and pressed his blue
lips to Vlad’s boots. “Just allow me to regenerate and I will make this right.”
Elder Vlad kicked him away. “Drink your fill from the
floor like the pitiful dog you have become. Why is it so hard to find good help
these days?”
“Okay. this is going to be a really
delicate dance we’ve gotta do,” Sasha said in a private whisper. She came in
closer to Hunter as she looked over her shoulder at the Chens.
“I know. They are already frightened out of their
minds. Plus, they probably now believe their daughter is marrying someone from
the Korean mafia, or something equally insane.”
“And marrying a Werewolf is better?”
Hunter stared at Sasha for a moment. “How can you make
jokes at a time like this?”
“I’m just saying.” Sasha let out a long breath. “Okay,
I’m sorry. But it keeps me from just losing it altogether. Battlefield humor.
Learned it while in the Service and it’s a hard habit to shake.”
“We have to split up.”
Sasha just looked at Hunter.
“I know, I know,” he said. “But I’ve got to get to my
brother and Amy while the Fae roll out the red carpet for the couple’s parents.
We can have the wedding, feed Amy’s parents, get them nice and relaxed.
you know, distract them so they don’t have a heart attack.”
“Sooooo. I get to stay with these very
freaked-out people in the castle and make up all the explanations while you go
tell Shogun and his wife to get ready.”
“Right.”
“And this is the better end of the deal how, Hunter?”
“You’ll know better what to say to these humans..
You do damage control and diplomacy far better than I do—and you were the one
who helped them think this was just an oasis before. a small
village in the bayou. A little yeast that helped the bread rise is what you
told me before. I cannot lie.. You. have a more
dexterous way with words, Sasha.”
“Watch it,” she said, pointing at him within the
inches between them. “Calling me a good liar does not win you brownie points,
mister.”
Hunter glanced over his shoulder at the Chens, who
were huddled in a tight, frightened hug only ten feet away. “You know what I
meant.. ”
“You owe me, big-time, buddy,” Sasha said as the Fae
guards came to collect them. “And later I’m cashing in on that for all the
points that’s worth.”
Hunter waggled his eyebrows. “I’m banking on it.”
Ditching the Chens in a comfortable suite with food
and wine was not as easy as she thought it might be. Amy’s parents now had
questions, like 3 million of them, all delivered in rapid-fire broken English.
The sumptuous environs of the sidhe now were being equated to a drug dealer’s
hacienda—and the Chens swore that they’d somehow been abducted through the
swamp across the border to Mexico.
Rupert, Sir Rodney’s trusted valet, stood at the door
confused, trying to read Sasha’s eye signals and facial expressions. But the
man was clueless. He didn’t understand what the Chens were babbling about or
why the more hospitality was thrust on them, the more Amy’s mother cried and
father protested.
“You need to give these people something to relax,”
Sasha finally whispered, stepping in close to Rupert. “But I doubt they’ll
drink or eat anything you offer. It’s a matter of principle. They are very
honest people who are completely freaked out.”
“I would imagine,” Rupert finally said in a dignified
murmur, peering over Sasha’s shoulder and dispassionately watching Mr. Chen try
to comfort his near-faint wife. “They did, after all, have a run-in with
Vampires. Unpleasant sort, especially for red-blood bleeders.”
“Exactly,” Sasha said, trying to bridge the human–Fae
cultural divide. “They don’t understand any of this and can’t tell a Vampire
castle from a Sidhe stronghold. so can you just make them chill out
so I can go get my arm healed? I also need to talk to Sir Rodney, stat.”