“If they had been, they’d be dead already,” Hunter
said in a blasé tone. “Humans are easy to track from their sweat scent and any
adrenaline in their bloodstream. So if it was a bunch of wannabe Vampire
hunters or idiot college kids on a dare, that would have been addressed with
the first grave that got hit. Therefore, if humans stay out of the way, then
they won’t be in immediate peril.”
“So, what do we do—declare martial law again and make
people stay indoors at night?” Colonel Madison looked from Hunter to Sasha and
then stood, unfolding his athletic six-foot-three body from the chair to begin
pacing. “If we do that, it’ll start a panic. If we do that, all the media and
crazies that are still down here trying to corroborate the existence of supernaturals
will stay and it’ll undo all of the public sanitization we accomplished after
the last debacle. I’d have to contact the Joint Chiefs to get clearance to do
that, and right now all we have is speculation.”
Sasha and Hunter stood. “I realize that, sir,” she
said, stepping away from the desk. “We’ll stay in close communication, but we
wanted you to know.”
Hunter nodded. “Our goal is to investigate, get word
to the Vamps, and try to keep human civilians out of harm’s way.”
“Thank you,” Colonel Madison said, looking at both of
them. “But just to be on the safe side, we’ll get more boots on the ground with
anti-Vamp weaponry in the highly populated areas, with orders to protect
civilians and clear the streets of pedestrians in the event of open warfare.”
“That went well,” Sasha said in a sarcastic tone as
they walked into a shadow on the base. “I think the man ages five to ten years
every time he sees us.”
“He didn’t look well at all when we left, but there
was no other way but to deliver the facts.”
“Yeah, but remember when we met him? He wasn’t gray at
all. Now he’s really salt-and-pepper.”
Hunter shrugged. “It could be worse. It could have all
fallen out from the shock or he could be on the verge of howling at a full
moon. Remember, he was passed over and left alive by a demon-infected Were.”
Sasha just shook her head as they walked deeper into
the misty shadow path. “One day I’ll have to deliver that cheerful tidbit of
information to the man over a beer.”
A slow smile crept into Hunter’s expression and it
lifted her spirits. It was the first time she’d seen him smile since they’d
woken up and started the day.
“Okay, you’re the master tracker,” she said as they
came out of a shadow cast by a huge shade tree behind the team house. “How do
we find something invisible that cruised us, and more important, how do we
gather new information from a Vampire crime scene that’s already been
thoroughly trampled through by the Vampires?”
Hunter shrugged. “Why don’t we ask them?”
Sasha placed both hands on her hips. “Be serious.”
“I am being serious.”
She looked at Hunter hard, but then her attitude
softened as he nonchalantly began walking toward the front of the house. “That
is genius.”
Hunter turned and looked at her for a moment.
Everything about him seemed calm, and he spoke as though his suggestion were
the most rational thing in the world.
“If one has nothing to hide, Sasha, then it stands to
reason that one can go in as a neutral party and simply state the facts—we
heard there were crimes committed against the Vampire Cartel. That is a fact.
Peace in the region is in every group’s best interest. That is also undeniable
truth. We do not support any group being attacked without cause, even if they
are our allies. Very simply, the way of the wolf. We also have reason to
believe the Fae whether the good Seelie or the bad Unseelie were not involved,
even though we cannot prove it at this time. Also a fact. We can offer to help
investigate as neutral parties, especially if it can avert the unnecessary waste
of resources and lives. Humans caught in the cross fire are expensive
collateral damage and could bring in the human military, which is already
panicked and prone to extremes. That is in no one’s best interest. The Vampires
know this, even if they don’t admit it to us. They can reject the concept of us
investigating, but the question will linger long enough to maybe buy us enough
time to learn more.”
“And you just came up with this out of thin air?”
Sasha folded her arms, amazed.
“No. I’d been thinking about it all along.
ever since whatever I’d chased eluded me back at the cabin.”
“But you never said anything.”
Again he shrugged. “I don’t speak until I’ve fully
formulated my opinion or theories.”
She tried not to smile and only narrowed her gaze. For
the sake of peace she’d let the quiet dig slide. “’Nuff said.”
“Okay, this is freaky,” Clarissa whispered, pressing
her nose to the porch window.
Bradley rang the doorbell again. “This is the fifth
psychic’s tarot house we’ve been to and nobody’s home? Is there a psychic
convention in California or something that we didn’t hear about?”
“Not likely, and if there was, I would have heard
about it.”
Bradley looked at her. “Yeah, but then why didn’t you
pick up on this resource outage?”
“I don’t know,” Clarissa said quietly. “I should have
felt it, especially if all the area psychics were panicked enough to leave town
or go underground. Something is really wrong with this picture.” She turned
away from the window and stared at Bradley. “Better stated, something really
big and really bad is about to go down. That doesn’t require telepathy to
figure out.”
“Just come home, Son,” Doc said, and then glanced
around the empty lab. “We’ll figure out a way to make this all work.”
“You aren’t disappointed?” Crow Shadow’s question
lingered between the two men like a third party on the cell phone with them.
“I wish we could have talked about all of this before
it happened,” Doc said, carefully choosing his words. “But now that it is what
it is, we have to figure out the best way to bring Jennifer and the baby into
the pack.”
“I thought you’d be a little more welcoming,
Dad,
since you’ve been through this yourself.”
Doc released a long breath and coaxed patience into
his tone. “I am, as you young people like to say, being real. If she freaks out
and ultimately cannot handle what she learns, she becomes a security risk to
the entire North American clan. If she stays and a war breaks out—something
that could be in the offing and too sensitive to get into detail about over the
telephone—your new bride could be severely injured or worse, if our location is
discovered. So don’t read my hesitancy in congratulating you as some form of
prejudice. Frankly, because I’ve lived through this, I’m worried. I also know
that’s what’s going to be a concern for Silver Hawk and the other elders.
What’s more is, I worry about the future. I worry that my grandchild may come
out with the same disability I have—the inability to shape-shift into his or
her wolf. Then that child will know the pain that I’ve known all my life. That,
Son, will break my heart.”
“I’m sorry, Pop,” Crow Shadow said in a subdued tone.
“You didn’t deserve that earlier crack.. I’ve been thinking about
everything you said, too. Maybe that’s why I’m stressing.”
“Just come home,” Doc replied, and then stood to go to
the door. He could feel Sasha near. “You fly your ass in well before nightfall,
and if you can’t do that you and Jennifer and Bear get to hallowed ground and
stay there until morning, even if you’ve gotta go find a church mission or a
shelter and spend the night. You hear me?”
“Is it that bad. what’s actually going
on?”
“Yes, it’s that bad,” Doc replied, now looking out the
window at Sasha and Hunter as they rounded the house. “And God only knows
what’s going on. But trust me, whatever it is, it isn’t good.”
Even though she and Hunter could have easily entered
the house through a shadow, Sasha rang the bell. There was no need to
accidentally get shot if nerves were jumpy. But thankfully the nausea had
subsided.
Doc opened the door before she could draw her hand
away from the bell. “Good to see you. The world has gone crazy in the last
twenty-four hours.” He pulled Sasha into a hug and reached around her back to
clasp Hunter’s hand. “And I’m really glad to see you.”
“Likewise,” Hunter said, ushering the threesome into
the house. “We could all use a dose of your wisdom at a time like this.”
“Fresh out,” Doc said, shaking his head. “Silver Hawk
is on his way. Bear and Crow are coming in from Vegas with complications.”
“I heard,” Sasha said, jamming her hands in her back
jeans pockets. “Where’s the rest of the team?”
Doc glanced between Sasha and Hunter. “Clarissa and
Bradley went to try to pick up intel from any psychics in the area, and no
dice. Everyone they tried and had previous contacts with was gone. It’s like
all of the New Orleans tarot houses and palm readers simply skipped town.
Winters went with Woods and Fisher to try to see if they could get any info
from the graveyards, but based on the last call I got from them, everything was
cleaned up and locked up tight as though there’d never been a grave invasion.”
“Figures,” Sasha said, beginning to pace. “The Vamps
are really private and will handle it with their own brand of justice.” She
stopped walking and stared at Doc. “Which is why I want you all to hunker down
at NAS. I’ve already made arrangements with Colonel Madison for you guys to go
there just like the old days when we were part of the Paranormal Containment
Unit—and if I had enough time, I’d be sure you guys went back to NORAD.
but there’s not enough time for that today. But tomorrow, first light, you guys
are—”
“Whoa, whoa,” Doc said, gesturing with his hands. “Our
job is to work as a team to avert any human catastrophes as a result of
paranormal activity. So how do you expect us to make that happen sitting in
Denver?”
“I’m thinking selfishly,” Sasha said in a quiet tone.
“I’m thinking like a civilian, and I want our families out of the hot zone. I
admit it.”
“And I agree with her,” Hunter said, lifting his chin.
“If I could coax Sasha to go to Denver with you and get her to stay at that
huge underground human facility until all of this was sorted out, I would. But
you and I both know Sasha well enough to know she won’t do that.” Hunter gave
her a pointed look with a sad half smile. “So, the best I can do is support her
decision to try to keep her family out of harm’s way. Her family is my family;
her people are my people.”
“You’ve discussed all of this with Silver Hawk?” Doc
looked between Sasha and Hunter again.
“No,” Hunter admitted. “But when he arrives, I will.”
“I see the two months away from the team did you both
well. as far as strengthening the mate bond,” Doc said, sounding
slightly peeved. “You’ve clearly already made up your minds.”
“We have.” Sasha walked over to her father and hugged
him. “I don’t know why, but something about this feels more. I
don’t know. more dangerous than before, and I just want all of you
away from it.”
Doc held her tightly and released a weary sigh. “And
me and Silver Hawk want to make sure that the two people we love most in this
world survive. We’re both old wolves. You hold the future of the pack, of the
clan, of the way of the North American Shadow Wolf. Beyond all of that, you’re
still my only daughter.”
Sasha and Hunter stepped out of a shadow behind the
Blood Oasis club. For a moment they said nothing as they sized up the seemingly
deserted building. The instant the sun went down the establishment would spring
to life—or into living death, as the case may be. But they weren’t so foolish
as to believe that the premier Vampire blood club in the area was vacant. There
would be lower-level Vampires in the building as security forces, as well as
human guards. The question was how did one leave a message for the club owners
by day without breaching security and risking getting one’s head blown off?
Turning to Hunter, she searched his troubled
expression for an answer. “Thanks for having my back with Doc,” she said, and
then glanced at the building. “Entrance strategy?”
“I meant what I’d said. I wish you weren’t here right
now, Sasha. with all my soul I wish you weren’t.”
The tone of his voice and the level of quiet urgency
it contained stunned her. They’d been through so many battles together and had
experienced so many near misses, but she couldn’t recall ever hearing outright
fear in Hunter’s voice until now.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” She touched his arm and was
surprised that he pulled her against his stone-cut chest in a protective stance
and then nuzzled her hair as his gaze swept the terrain.
“I don’t know,” he murmured. “All I am sure of is that
every sense within me registers a threat to you. I want you gone, Sasha. After
we go in here and speak to the Vampire Cartel’s human helpers, I don’t want you
on the hunt with me when the sun goes down. Not this time. Don’t ask me why,
because I haven’t one logical reason to give you. It’s just my gut. Go to NAS.
Please.”
She looked up and cradled his cheek with one palm.
“I’ve never, ever heard you sound like this, Hunter. but you know
that I can’t leave you and just go sit at NAS waiting for word. I’ll lose my
mind.”