The Amperdyne men slipped off into the nearby alleyway. I walked toward the corner that led to the front of the bakery. No other foot traffic. I thanked God for that small favor. Praying silently that he’d let me recover Vincent alive. I paused and glanced around the corner using a handheld mirror. Music started. Loud. I jumped with annoyance. It was like having an ice-cream truck in my ear.
“I don’t know if that’s gonna pass as normal.” I looked again. No one visible. They were watching from inside. We could get to the front before they saw us.
“Wait.” Chandler pulled me back. “Security camera. New. Hard to see.”
I glanced at him. He was staring at his phone. Or whatever the device really was. A red light flashed on a strange x-ray or infra-red image of the street.
“Can we block it?”
“That’s almost as good as announcing us.” He eyed me. “I can if you say so.”
“If we had time I’d suggest trying to loop a few seconds. If it could be accessed remotely.”
“That I can’t do. The cameras are set up for wi-fi but the encryption is top-notch. Probably stolen from Amperdyne. Or purchased.”
“Then we disable them and run like hell.”
He nodded. “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
We ran. I stayed in the front. Holding back my energy until I was almost at the door. The windows were boarded. Out of business signs plastered across everything. I didn’t test the wood, smashing through it with ease. My strength tore the deadbolt out of the metal frame. It clattered loudly into the bakery.
“Shit! The Feds are here!” A man’s voice. Vaguely familiar. Not Killian. One of my attackers from before.
I poured my power outwards. Felt three male werewolves just on the other side of an interior wall. Moving toward us. Not away. They appeared through a doorway.
I picked one. Let my hunger flow into him. He cried out. Crumpled to his knees.
Guns went off on either side of me. The other two werewolves dropped. Dead. That left the one I was feeding from.
“Shoot the bastard!” I said through gritted teeth. Filling myself up on one of them would make the others harder to stop.
Chandler stepped beside me. Aimed and fired. Middle of the forehead. A killing shot. I pulled my energy back. My stomach cold with delight at the heady food.
“How many more?” he asked.
I walked slowly, spreading my energy ahead of me. Through the building. Too slowly. They were crawling above us. Through ventilation shafts. Ready to drop behind us. “Watch out!”
I spun but two of Kamaguchi’s men died as quickly as the werewolves had. Their guns went off wildly. Chandler fired his weapon, still facing forward. They’d surrounded us.
I felt the cramps return. Feeding had triggered it. Pain that wasn’t hunger or anything else I’d ever felt. Like I was dying.
“How many, Bianca?” Chandler fired until his clip was empty.
I concentrated past my pain. “Ei—eight. With us anyways.”
“Why aren’t they dying?” snarled Kamaguchi. He fired two weapons, one in each hand with semiautomatic speed.
“Body armor!” Wisniewski had her back to a wall. “Aim for the heads.”
I cursed. “Damn it. Just because they’re werewolves!”
I was angry at myself. I’d fallen into another trap of prejudice. Lycanthropes were classified as wild and feral. It had never occurred me that they’d prepare for our assault like actual thinking and clever human criminals.
My anger helped me stand upright. Helped me ignore the cramps as I drew my guns. The fact that I’d waited so long to do it was worrisome. Relying on the men and woman behind me had relaxed my vigil. Not something I’d do again.
A shape lunged at me from the left. I dropped to one knee. Lashed out with my power. Firing in the second’s hesitation it bought me. My energy flared unexpectedly then. The cramps intensifying. My hunger pulsed like a biological EMP. All directions at once.
I was aware of everyone in the room. Tasted their lifeforce without hurting them. Even Wisniewski. Only Chandler’s totem kept him a blank spot of nothingness.
“What the fuck was that?” hissed the FBI agent.
“Sorry. Something’s wrong. I can’t control my energy.”
“Thankfully it hit the werewolves as hard as the rest of us.”
The remaining lycanthropes—six in total—circled us warily. Some had guns in their hands. Taken from the Amperdyne guards. Only Kamaguchi and one other black clad ninja remained alive. We formed a circle with our backs to each other. No one fired.
“So, the bitch figured out where we had the kid.” Killian stepped into the room. “Your power ain’t nothing against this many. And it’s still daylight. No vampires to come to your rescue this time.”
“Why, Killian? How much money are they paying you to destroy your whole pack?”
“I’m doing this for my pack! With the payday from this job, we’re set for life. Guaranteed income for twenty years. No more trailers and mangy animals to hunt.”
“The Feds won’t leave your people alone. They know you’re involved in the kidnapping.”
“What’s she talking about, Kill?” One of them men shuffled nervously toward the alpha. “You said no one would trace this back to us.”
“They won’t! Once they’re dead, it’ll all fall onto Anton’s faggoty little ass.”
I smiled bitterly. “How will Thrace explain your blood being present at the crime scene?”
“We got a clean up crew just waiting for us to leave.” Killian made some gesture and a gun went off. Wisniewski screamed in rage and pain. “Not that my guys shoot as well as they snap necks.”
The agent held her thigh. Blood spilling between her fingers. “My people know Thrace isn’t the one behind the kidnapping. I’ve been on the radio telling them.”
“No you haven’t. Radio blockers.” He held up a device.
“It’s one of ours. Damn that Mansfield!” Kamaguchi was furious. Watching the werewolves for another attack.
“Mansfield?” Killian roared with laughter. “Kill them. We’re running out of time.”
People fired. I was one of them. I hit Killian in the arm. A glancing blow before he disappeared into the rear of the building.
Another cramp tore through me. I screamed and my power flowed out in a torrent. Blinding me. I’d never experienced so much energy. My hunger consumed everything it touched. Seeking testosterone. Focusing on the strongest sources of sustenance.
Men cried out. Bodies hit the ground. A gun went off near my head. I winced. Partially deaf. My belly filled with fire. It drove back the cold spikes of hunger. My nerves burned and tingled with raw sensitivity. I screamed again, one final loud cry of agony.
Then the cramps subsided as unexpectedly as they’d started. My power came back into me. I realized hands held me. Chandler helping me stay on my feet. Everyone else was on the ground.
“What did you do, Bianca?”
I glanced at Wisniewski. Kamaguchi. They stirred. Not dead. I sighed with relief. “We can’t worry about them. The sun’s close to setting. We’ve got to find Vincent”
I struggled to walk. Sagging against him. For a change, I didn’t fight his touch. Together, we went into the back of the abandoned building. It looked very different from the front.
“That’s a vault.”
“Used to be a bank.” Killian was getting back to his feet. My energy hadn’t done as much damage back here. Or he was just that powerful. Nope. Distance had made the difference. A figure stepped into the room. Features obscured by shadows. A woman. Somehow familiar. I thought about Killian’s woman. The one who’d begged me to spare him. Only, the build was wrong.
The woman was flanked by another werewolf. Another muscular brute. She took a step closer. The shadows bled away. It took me several seconds to process the truth. “Maureen?” I shook my head. “Not Blake. He called you.”
She smiled hatefully. “Yes. My snivel
ing brother called me. So excited that poor little Vinnie had been located.”
“Damn. I should’ve realized. You warned me about werewolf bites. But you shouldn’t’ve have known I’d been attacked. I thought it was just a general warning for the future.”
She smiled with a shrug. “You’ve proven a formidable adversary. I suppose I’m glad you’re a woman. Men are the cause of all this.”
Chandler wanted to move forward. Reach for his weapon. But both hands were supporting me. Keeping me on my feet. It probably saved his life. The werewolves were waiting for a reason to attack. The only reason they didn’t was because Maureen and I were talking.
“This is about your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“And what, Vincent is collateral damage?”
“Unfortunately. Not that he’s entirely innocent. He never stood up to Grandfather. Never fought for me to have my place as heir.”
“He’s a boy. You’re the grown up. Maybe not by much, but—.”
“But nothing!” She aimed a small handgun directly at my chest. I hadn’t seen it in her hands. Even a bad shot couldn’t miss at this range. “There’s no way you’ll get the vault open in time. Vinnie’s dinner.”
“You pretend not to care. But you didn’t just shoot him. Didn’t even order Killian to do it. You don’t want him dead. You aren’t that heartless.”
“Stop telling me what I am and am not! People have been doing that my whole life.” She laughed bitterly. “Even Vinnie told me I could do whatever I wanted. That I didn’t have to be stuck working for Grandfather. He wanted me to leave. To run away from my inheritance. Said he’d come, too. And that’s when I came up with this glorious plan. Vinnie was a willing participant. I told him Anton felt the same way.”
“The origami wolf.”
She nodded, pleased. “A love token from Anton that I was asked to deliver. Because the werewolf could never express it on camera. Vinnie believed every word.”
“Drop your weapon, Maureen.” Chandler held his gun pointed at the woman. He’d managed to slip it into his hand without dislodging me. “Tell Killian to stay back. You’ll be dead before he reaches us.”
“Oh, I think you should drop your weapons. One squeeze of the trigger and she’s dead, too. Even if I die, Killian will rip you apart. He’ll get paid for doing the job regardless.”
“This is what they call a stalemate.” Killian preened with his imagined wit.
“No. We have the advantage.” Maureen took another step out of the shadows. “Grandfather always failed to realize that I was the smart one in the family. I prepared for all sorts of contingencies.”
“What do you mean?” Killian took his eyes off of us for a moment.
“I knew the Feds might find this place. If they figured out your connection to Vinnie’s abduction. Once Bianca confirmed that you were in the frame, I decided better to just take care of all witnesses at once.”
“What’s she saying, Kill?” The other werewolf stepped away from her. As if she were suddenly dangerous.
“Amperdyne has so many great gadgets. It was easy to adapt them to my specific needs.”
Maureen did something because there was an electric hum. She fired her gun at me. I felt the bullet snag in the jacket. Punching into my shoulder with enough force to make me scream. Chandler had to drop his to catch me.
The Glock was wrenched out of my hand. It flew across the room as if by magic. The same force caught my jacket and jerked me off of my feet. I was dragged out Chandler’s arms and across the room. I slammed against a panel built into a wall. Hard. Stunning me for a moment. Some kind of super-magnetic device. Reacting to the wire mesh. The guns in the room.
I struggled out of the jacket. Dropped to my feet but it took precious seconds. Killian held Chandler up in the air by one fist. His other hand had formed into claws. Drawn back to slice into the MI-6 agent’s handsome face.
Maureen stepped back and dropped a cannister at the alpha’s feet.
Killian snarled with confusion. Hesitating mid-strike. “What the fuck is that?”
“Silver nitrate!” cried Maureen gleefully. “No loose ends I’m afraid.”
The room clouded with the gas. Lethal to werewolves. Only painful to me. Probably nothing more than annoying to humans.
Killian released Chandler. Staggering after Maureen who fled. The alpha didn’t make it more than a couple of steps before he collapsed onto all fours. The other werewolf had hesitated. Waiting for Killian’s instructions. Breathing in the fumes instead of holding his breath. I watched him fall face-first onto the cement floor before the smoke obscured him. Dead.
I heard the sound of crackling. Fires had been ignited along all the outer walls. Front and back. Maureen had set the place up to become a death trap. She’d always planned on eliminating the werewolves. Chandler and I were the only ones who knew Maureen was involved. Even if Kamaguchi and Wisniewski managed to escape the fires through the front.
I had to stop her. But Chandler had dropped to one knee. Choking. Clawing at his throat.
“Paul?”
“Not just silver.” He crawled toward me. “Get out, Bianca.”
“No.” I closed my eyes. Felt the fire like a living creature that my power could taste. Could touch. The cramps in my gut returned. Daggers of pain rode along my spine. I moved toward Chandler. Fell onto him. Carrying us both the rest of the way to the floor. He kissed me. Cold, without any humanity. That blasted totem. I kissed him back. Trying to reassure him.
I screamed into his mouth. My back exploded with agony and my power spiked again. It even drank in the heat of the fire blazing all around us. Soaked up any energy it could find.
The smoke grew thick. Not just from the cannister. From the fire as well. It overwhelmed me. I felt Chandler grow still before me. My heart bursting with unfamiliar grief as I imagined him dead. Then I felt myself slip into darkness. No air. Or whatever was in the cannister.
I passed out. Which meant the smoke would kill me. I prayed to God that Chandler would live. But I wouldn’t know if it worked because I’d never wake again.
Chapter Forty-Three
Cool hands lifted me off of the ground. “Bianca?”
I opened my eyes. Blinking. “Paul?”
“No. Dusty.”
I shook my head. “I’m not dead?”
“No. Neither is your boyfriend.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“Chandler. He’s alive. You protected him somehow.”
“The gas?”
“Expelled from the building.” Chilton stood beside Dusty, surveying the charred building. Then he pointed at me. “Probably by those.”
“By what?” I stared down at myself. My blouse was ripped at my shoulders. Leaving me covered in only a bra and tatters of silk.
“Your wings.” Dusty stared at me sadly.
“I don’t have wings!” I laughed but reached involuntarily around at my side. Felt a thick flap of something leathery. “What the blazes?”
“You do now.”
The cramps were gone. So was the energy I’d soaked up from the werewolves. And the fire. My mind reeled. Stunned to be alive. Even more stunned at this!
“Is Agent Wisniewski okay? Kamaguchi?”
“Alive. Barely.” Bonnie, the redhead came into the room. “The Feds are almost here. Someone gave them the wrong address. A radio intercept.”
“Killian?”
Bonnie shook her head. “A woman.”
I nodded. Maureen. “What happened to him? Killian?”
“Don’t know. Which one is he?”
“Set me down.”
Dusty was reluctant. “Can you walk?”
“If I can’t, then help me. Otherwise—.”
He put my feet on the ground and I stumbled forward. He held my elbow. Balanced me. I walked toward the exit. There weren’t any bodies there. Killian had made it out.
“What about the boy?” Chilton touched my arm tentatively. Then
he removed it as if remembering I was dangerous.
“The vault. Oh shit. It’s after sundown. I need the vault opened now!”
The vampires worked together as a team. Even Bonnie. They tore the vault door open after a few moments of straining. The metal ripped easily in their powerful hands.
I went in first. Just in case. Anton was huddled in a corner. Furry. Looking up at me. Another smaller shape was curled into a ball, arms over his face in the opposite corner.
“Get him out.” The werewolf’s shout was animalistic. Urgent. “Out!”
I went to the boy. He screamed when I touched him. Calmed when he heard my voice. “Vincent, you’re safe. You’re grandfather sent us.”
Dusty helped me get him to his feet. Vincent pull his shirt down, sobbing. As if embarrassed to show skin. Hiding a scratch. Or a bite. I wasn’t sure which I’d seen, but he was alive.
“Are you alright, Vincent?”
He nodded and threw himself into my arms, weeping. I pushed him off. “Can’t!”
I fell backwards onto my ass. Dusty chose to catch the boy instead of me. I couldn’t blame him.
I waited to feel the intangible drain on the boy’s life from that touch, but it had been too brief. I’d jerked away fast enough. That and the fact that I didn’t feel hungry at the moment.
“You did it, Bianca. You saved him.” Chandler leaned against the torn frame of the vault door.
“We did. Everyone gets the credit.” I smiled at Chilton. “Maybe there’s a way Amperdyne and the Atlantic Street Revenants could work together on Gibraltar’s security.”
“With all that’s happened, we gave up on that idea. Especially not with Joseph in charge. We’re trying an alternative approach.”
He reached out and I took his hand. He pulled me gently to my feet. “Thanks.”
“I want everyone isolated for questioning.” Hardwicke came into the building with a swarm of helmeted FBI agents. Weapons drawn. I glanced at the wall panel. Nothing happened. The magnet had been deactivated. My jacket and the guns were piled on the floor beneath it. She looked to me for answers. “What the hell happened to Olivia?”
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