“I think it can stand a little blood,” he said gruffly, letting go of me.
“I… thank you.”
“Are you still in pain?”
“I’m much better, thanks.” Between the warm coat and that foul stuff Chris had made me take, I felt a hundred times better than I had ten minutes ago.
I looked around, seeing the carnage for the first time. Six hyena things – crocotta, Chris had called them – lay dead upon the road. Even in death the creatures were terrifying. I had never seen or heard of anything like them.
Ten feet from the truck lay Nikolas’s black motorcycle on its side and looking like he would not be riding it out of here tonight. My gaze fell on Roland’s truck and I sucked in a sharp breath. The hood was buckled and scarred by long deep scratches and the mangled door lay on the ground. Metal stood up in jagged edges from the roof making it look like someone had taken a machete to it. It was almost inconceivable I had come out of
that
with nothing more than a few nasty scratches.
“Only someone with warrior blood could have survived that,” Nikolas said as if he’d heard my thoughts.
“I’m not a warrior.”
“So you keep telling me.” He walked away before I could think of a reply. I watched him go to his motorcycle and lift it upright. When he started it up, I thought he was leaving but he turned it off and put down the stand.
“Sara!” Roland yelled, running toward us and looking a lot better than I felt. He had scratches on his face and one of his sleeves looked torn and bloody, but otherwise he looked alright considering he had been engaged in mortal combat. I held up my hands to stop him from grabbing me in a hug and concern flooded his face. “Are you hurt?”
“Yes, but I’ll live.” I tried to sound flippant and failed miserably.
He ran a hand through his wet hair and let out a ragged breath. “I nearly lost it when I saw it attacking you.” He stared at the closest corpse. “I studied crocotta but I never thought I’d ever see them around here. Fuck! They were strong.” He looked at me then cast a sad glance at what was left of his truck. “You were incredible, fighting it off like that.”
“I wouldn’t have lasted much longer without you guys,” I told him. “Where is Peter, by the way? There is no way I’m going out there looking for him again.”
Roland laughed. “He went to find his clothes. There was no one home when he got there so he grabbed a lug wrench and headed back. He was coming up the road when he saw us getting attacked.”
I didn’t want to think of what would have happened if Peter, Nikolas and Chris hadn’t shown up when they did. “How did you know?” I asked Nikolas.
“One of our men called to tell me a crocotta had been seen in the Portland area,” Nikolas said. “I knew that they could track you even if the vampires could not.”
“But how did you know where we were?”
“I put a tracker on your friend’s truck at the pizza place a few days ago,” Chris replied smugly. At my look of disbelief he said, “You didn’t think I was going run around town all week looking for you, did you?”
Peter showed up then and his appearance distracted Roland from whatever angry remark he’d been about to make. “I think we got them all. No worries about one of them reporting back to whoever sent them.” He stared at the mutilated truck. “Damn! What the hell happened to the truck?”
Nikolas dug through one of the compartments on his bike. “You three are like a disaster magnet.” He stopped searching and came over to reach into his coat pocket and pull out a cell phone. “I’m going to call for a pickup,” he said to Chris.
Somehow I didn’t think he meant a pickup truck. “A pickup for what?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Not what, who. Look around. It’s not safe here for you.”
I moved closer to Roland. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Be reasonable, Sara. You need to be with people who can protect you.”
Roland put an arm around me. “We can protect her.”
“I can see that,” Nikolas retorted. “Why is it that both times she’s been attacked is when you’ve been ‘protecting’ her?”
“Listen I –”
“Are you implying something?” Roland shot back.
“Look around you.”
“No one could have expected a large pack of crocotta to show up like that. And you couldn’t have held off that many alone either.”
“No, but if she was with her own people she wouldn’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m not –”
“Her people? We’re her friends. We care for her more than a bunch of strangers.”
“They wouldn’t be strangers for long. And she can train to protect herself.”
“Stop it,” I yelled, finally getting their attention. “Stop talking about me like I’m not even here. I’m not leaving New Hastings, so drop it.” Every part of me was tired and I desperately wanted to sit down. But there was nowhere to sit except for the truck and I really didn’t want to go near it right now. I was eager to put as much distance as possible between me and this place.
“Sara, I think you should come home with us tonight,” Roland suggested.
“But you guys got them all.”
“Yes, but you’re covered in blood and your clothes are all ripped up. You don’t want Nate to see you like this.”
I looked down at my wet, bloody jeans. My coat was hidden by Nikolas’s but I knew it had been shredded by the crocotta. First vampires and now a bunch of mutant hyenas. At this rate I wouldn’t have any clothes left.
“You’re right,” I told him. “Nate can’t see this.”
Peter went to the truck and found his phone which had miraculously survived the carnage. He hit a number and said, “Dad, you won’t believe what just happened here.” He walked away with the phone to his ear.
Nikolas looked displeased but resigned with my refusal to leave. “Is there anyone around here who can clean this up before the locals see it?” he asked Roland. “If not, we’ll bring in someone.”
“Yeah, I’ll call someone.” Roland produced his own phone and made a call. A few minutes later he hung up. “My cousin Francis will be here in a few minutes with a crew to take care of this. We’ll take Sara to my house.”
“Chris and I will come with you to make sure there is no more trouble,” Nikolas said.
“There is no need for that,” Roland said. “She will be safe in the Knolls.”
There was a hard edge to Nikolas’s jaw that I was beginning to recognize. “Forgive me if I have my doubts. We will accompany you.”
I looked at Chris. Nikolas had ridden up on his bike but Chris had arrived on foot. “How did you get here so fast?” I asked him.
“My bike is half a mile down the road. When I heard the crocottas’ hunting calls I decided to come in on foot to surprise them.” He slanted a wry look at Nikolas. “I had no idea some people would come roaring in and making enough noise to wake the dead.”
I leaned against Roland for strength and gave Chris a tired smile. “Thank you.”
Chris inclined his head. “And I thought small town life was boring.”
Minutes later headlights glowed around the bend up ahead and a silver Hyundai appeared followed by a large Ford pickup. Roland’s cousin, Francis jumped out of the car and stared in awe at the scene before him. Older than Roland by four years, Francis had the same dark hair but a slightly leaner build than his younger cousin. Watching his face, I couldn’t tell if it was the six crocotta bodies, the mangled truck or the presence of two Mohiri warriors that stunned him the most. “Fuck,” was all he could say over and over as he walked over to the nearest crocotta corpse and took in the sheer size of the creature.
Someone whistled behind him and I saw two guys I didn’t know in their mid twenties. “You guys did this?” one of them asked Roland and Peter as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
“Yes, with help,” Peter said and I could hear a little swagger in his voice. Hell, he’d earned the right to brag after what he’d done tonight.
I saw Francis and the two other guys turn hostile stares on Nikolas and Chris. “What are they doing here?” one of the guys bit out.
“They helped us fight the crocotta,” Peter replied and I could tell that he was torn between gratitude to the Mohiri and the dislike that had been ingrained in him his whole life.
“If you guys don’t mind,” Nikolas cut in coldly. “Sara is hurt.”
“You’re hurt?” Francis asked as if seeing me there for the first time. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“No hospital,” I stated firmly.
“Maybe you should go get checked out,” Roland suggested.
“She will be okay,” Chris said. “I gave her something to help with the pain and to speed healing.” At Roland’s look of doubt, he said. “Trust me. It is a very powerful medicine. The Mohiri have used it in battle for centuries. With her own accelerated healing, her injuries will go away in a few days.”
“Her accelerated healing?” Francis asked and Roland and I both answered at once. “It’s a long story.”
“Take my car,” Francis said handing his keys to Roland. “I’ll stay here with the boys to take care of this. We’ll need to call in a few more hands to get rid of all these.”
“Come on.” Roland helped me into the front seat of the car. Peter jumped in the back. I laid my head back against the head rest with a huge sigh, happy just to be off my feet and out of the rain. Roland handed me his cell phone to call Nate since I’d lost my own phone in the woods. His voice mail picked up and I left a message that I was going to stay at Roland’s tonight and I’d see him tomorrow. Nate would most likely be delighted that I was spending more time with Roland and Peter again.
The drive to Roland’s house took less than five minutes. Roland went around turning on lights and I sank onto the couch, careful not to hurt my back. But whatever Chris gave me had worked its magic and I could feel no pain. I closed my eyes and wrapped Nikolas’s jacket tighter around me, then I kicked off my shoes and curled up against the cushions. Roland’s old couch had never felt so comfortable.
I heard the front door open. In the kitchen, Roland and Peter talked in hushed voices with someone else but I was too tired to care. Someone laid a quilt over me and I mumbled a thank you without opening my eyes.
I dozed restlessly and awoke in the middle of the night to a darkened room. Fearful, I tried to sit up but my body was too tired and stiff to respond. I heard a faint rustle and looked across the room to see the outline of someone standing by the window.
“Nikolas?”
“Go back to sleep.”
I lay back and closed my eyes again until I heard him shift position. Suddenly, I was afraid he might go and leave me alone in the dark. “Don’t go,” I said in a small voice, too desperate to care how plaintive I sounded.
His tone was gentler when he answered. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Relief and a profound feeling of peace filled me. Heaviness stole over me again and I fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
The smell of
coffee and bacon woke me the next morning. At first I was disoriented when I saw where I was, but the events of the night before soon came crashing back. I pushed back the quilt and got gingerly to my feet, aching all over but surprisingly well rested considering the night I’d had.
I looked down at the large leather jacket I wore. It smelled like Nikolas and warmth suffused me when I remembered him wrapping me in it. The scent also conjured a hazy memory of him here in the room with me last night. Was that real or had I dreamed it?
“Oh, you’re up.” Judith walked into the living room and gave me an appraising look. “Well you don’t look too bad considering. How do you feel?”
I winced. “Like I was attacked by a pack of giant mutant hyenas.”
She laughed softly. “I’m glad you can joke about it. What a goings-on. I’m just relieved you three are okay, though I hear you got the worst of it.”
“Yeah, lucky me.”
“Here, let me have a look.” She came over and reached for Nikolas’s jacket, sliding it off me and laying it across the back of the couch. Then she helped me out of my own ravaged coat and inspected my arm.
“I can hardly believe it. These scratches look at least a few weeks old.” She straightened and smiled at me. “Roland told us about your mother. I guess you inherited the Mohiri ability to heal.”
Her remarks were so casual, I had to know. “It doesn’t bother you – what I am?”
“Of course not. Just because we don’t associate with the Mohiri doesn’t mean we think they are bad people. Some of the younger hotheads like to hold on to the old grudges but they’ll grow out of it. In any case, your parentage doesn’t change who you are, just like finding out what we are didn’t change how you feel about us.”
“Never.” I reached for my coat when an object on the coffee table caught my attention. It was the knife Nikolas had given me – or one just like it. I picked it up and ran my hands over the finely made sheath before I drew the knife and marveled over the small blade that had helped to save my life. In the light of day, it was hard to believe all that had happened last night.
Judith stepped back when I flashed the silver blade. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” I rushed to sheathe the knife. “I forgot that you guys can’t touch silver.”
She waved dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. It burns but we heal fast.”
I tucked the knife into the pocket of the leather jacket. “I thought silver was deadly to werewolves.”
“Only if the silver gets inside and we can’t get it out, which is where the whole silver bullet legend came from. It poisons us and we can’t heal as long as it’s there.” She smiled. “Luckily, you don’t see many pure silver bullets.”
“There’s still so much I don’t know.”
“I think you’re doing pretty good.” She waved a hand at my clothes. “Now let’s get you cleaned up. I can’t believe Roland let you sleep on that couch and in your wet clothes.”
I grimaced at my badly wrinkled jeans and shirt. I didn’t want to imagine what my hair must look like. I’d been so worn out last night that I didn’t even realize I was wearing wet clothes when I laid down.
“My clothes are a bit big for you but they’ll do while I wash yours. I left some things on my bed for you. Breakfast will be ready by the time you’re done.”
I was suddenly ravenously hungry so I showered and changed as fast as I could. When I entered the kitchen, Judith was putting scrambled eggs, bacon and toast on a plate. I sat at the table and she laid the plate in front of me with a glass of orange juice. She disappeared for a minute and I heard the washer start up. Then she came back and sat across from me with a mug of coffee. I dug in and polished off half my breakfast before I realized she was watching me with an amused expression.
“I forgot how good your appetite is. When you kids were younger I used to make extra whenever you stayed for dinner. You and Roland were quite the pair.”
I smiled at her sheepishly. “Where is he by the way?”
“He and Peter went with Max to show him where you were attacked. We’re all shocked that something like this could happen so close to us.”
‘Shocked’ was a polite way to say it. Werewolves are very territorial and other predators rarely cross their boundaries. Even having the Mohiri here last night had raised a few hackles despite the fact that Nikolas and Chris had helped to fend off our attackers. A pack of crocotta hunting in werewolf territory was probably unheard of.
“Did you guys find anything in Portland?”
Judith’s smiled faded a little and it looked like she was trying to decide how much to tell me. “We found no vampires but there were signs that they were there for a week, maybe longer.”
“By signs you mean the missing girls?” I suppressed a shudder. I was the same age as those girls, exactly Eli’s type.
“You know about them?”
I nodded. “It’s not hard to guess what happened to them.”
Judith ran a finger along the rim of her mug. “You are handling all of this amazingly well.”
“I’m coping.” If you didn’t count the nightmares. Strange that I didn’t remember having one last night. I would have expected to wake up screaming about giant hyenas.
“I’m not sure many girls your age could cope as well.”
“Well to be fair, it’s not like I didn’t already know this world existed. I just never realized how sheltered I was here.” I made a face. “And most girls don’t have their own bodyguards following them around.”
She watched me pensively over the top of her mug. “And how do you feel about your new relations?”
I had to think about it before I answered. How did I feel? I was still coming to terms with the things I’d learned about myself. All my life I’d known that the dark thing in my head was bad and had to be repressed but the idea that it was a demon still repulsed me. I had to keep telling myself that it did not change who I was. I didn’t know why that was so hard for me. When I looked at Nikolas and Chris I saw men, not demons. Good men if I was honest. If I wasn’t so annoyed with them for following me everywhere and if Nikolas would stop being so damn high-handed, I might actually like them. It didn’t help that Nikolas’s suspicions last night had been right on the mark and I would have been toast if he hadn’t showed up to save my life… again. Was it possible to resent someone and feel grateful to them at the same time?
“Honestly, I have no idea what to think of them. If Nikolas had his way, I’d be having Thanksgiving with them… if they even celebrate Thanksgiving. They just seem so focused on hunting, like that is all they do. I don’t think I could live like that.”
Judith nodded in understanding. The werewolves were hunters too but I’d spent enough time with them to know that they lived a normal life otherwise. Their families were close and they had regular jobs like anyone else; a far cry from the warrior lifestyle of the Mohiri.
“Judith, why do you think the vampires came to Portland in the first place with it being so close to you guys? Why would they risk it?”
“Our best guess is they were searching for someone or something. Not you,” she added quickly. “I think you were just unlucky enough get their attention.”
I pushed my eggs around with my fork. “Do you think… is it possible that my dad’s murder had anything to do with my mother being a Mohiri? I mean vampires hate the Mohiri, right? Maybe one of them came looking for her and found my dad instead.”
Judith’s hand went to her throat and her expression told me I’d hit on something. “If you know anything you have to tell me,” I begged her.
“Sara, you need to leave this to Maxwell. I can see how you would want answers about your father’s death, but he wouldn’t want you getting hurt over this.”
“I just want to know what you found. Please. I have a right to know.”
She got up and poured herself another cup of coffee then sat across from me again. “We’ve been in touch with some of our contacts around the country since Roland told us about your mother. The Mohiri are too closed off to tell us anything about her, but our network is very large and we did find some details. Not a whole lot but it’s only been a few days.”
“We know that your mother spent a lot of time in California, Texas, and New Mexico after she left you and your father. Then a week before your father was killed, we believe she was in Portland for a very short time. We have no idea why she went back or if she even saw your father while she was there.”
Judith didn’t say what both of us were thinking. It was too much of a coincidence that Madeline went back to Portland the same week that vampires showed up and killed her husband of all people. Madeline had led them to us – maybe not intentionally – but it was her fault they found us. First she abandoned us and then she led those monsters right to our door.
“Is she still alive?” I asked, almost spitting out the words.
Judith hesitated then said, “Yes. We believe she is somewhere in South America now.”
“My dad was murdered and I might as well have been killed too for all she cared,” I said with so much bitterness that I didn’t recognize my own voice. “How could he have loved someone like her?”
“I’m sure she must have had some good qualities. And as for your father, people will overlook a lot when they are in love.”
“What kind of person does something like that?” I said almost to myself. “Are all the Mohiri that unfeeling?”
Judith set down her cup. “I don’t know much about the Mohiri so I can’t speak for them but don’t judge them all by the actions of one. I will tell you that the man who gave you his coat and stood guard over you all night can’t be all that bad. Maybe he’s not as friendly or easygoing as the people you are used to, but he’s certainly not unfeeling either.”
So I hadn’t dreamed it. Her revelation confused me even more. Nikolas was like two different people in one body: the cold, hard warrior and the kind protector. It was hard to know which one would appear when he showed up.
“He feels responsible for me since he was the one who found me. I don’t think he even likes me because I don’t fall in line like a good little orphan.”
“I see.”
I got up and carried my dishes to the sink. “The Mohiri have this thing about orphans,” I explained as I rinsed my plate. “They find their orphans and raise them and train them to be warriors. Only I’m not like most orphans because I’m older. I can’t be persuaded to join the Mohiri like little kids can and now Nikolas feels like he has to watch over me until he can get me off his hands. I don’t think he knows what to do with me.”
Judith chuckled softly and came to rinse her cup. “I think you may be right about that.” She nudged me away from the sink. “I’ll clean up here. Go throw your clothes in the dryer.”
I spent the rest of the morning helping Judith with housework, although she wouldn’t let me do anything too heavy because I was still recovering from the attack. There was something comforting about doing mundane chores after such a crazy night. Laundry and vacuuming have a way of grounding you when your life seems like it’s about to spin out of control.
By the time Roland showed up for lunch, the house was spic and span and I was learning how to make a chicken rice casserole, which Judith guaranteed that Nate would love. It was the kind of thing I should have learned from my own mother, if she’d cared enough to stick around. I hoped Judith saw how much it meant to me because as usual I couldn’t find the words to say it out loud.
After lunch, Roland borrowed his mother’s car to make good on a promise he’d made to me. We drove down to the small Presbyterian Church in the Knolls and he spent two hours teaching me to drive. Judith’s car was a stick and it took me most of the lesson to get the hang of the gear stick and all the pedals. By the end of the lesson, I’d managed to drive once around the parking lot without stalling or popping the clutch.
“Can’t I learn on an automatic?” I whined after the car jerked forward for the hundredth time.
“Not if you want to learn anytime soon. Looks like the truck will be out of commission for a while – a long while.”
I quit complaining after that. He had worked and saved for two years to buy that old thing and now it was ruined because of me. When I tried to apologize he dismissed it. Apparently, he and Peter were some kind of local heroes after last night since few werewolves get the chance to tangle with a crocotta, especially a pack of them. I wasn’t sure if that honor was worth losing his wheels but Roland seemed to think so.
At three o’clock I decided I’d hidden out at Roland’s long enough. Judith put my casserole in a carrier and I rolled up Nikolas’s jacket and stuck it in a plastic bag with my ruined coat so Nate would not see them. Roland drove me home in his mother’s car and I couldn’t help but wonder more than once where Nikolas and Chris were today, if they were following us right now. After last night, I was torn about them hanging around. I definitely felt safer knowing they were nearby, but I couldn’t spend my life being followed and watched all the time. There were things in my life, secrets that I couldn’t share, and they would be hard to conceal if I was forever under surveillance. Hopefully, the vampires would give up soon and the Mohiri could leave and let things go back to normal. Judith told me that Maxwell had beefed up patrols in New Hastings today. The crocotta had struck too close to home and the werewolves were worried about their own families. With the increased werewolf presence and the Mohiri warriors, New Hastings was probably safer right now than it had ever been.