I shifted back into a wolf and bit him again, this time taking out half his neck and shoulder.
He cried out in agony.
I jumped back in the car, shifted again, and floored the gas.
We roared out of the city and onto the highway.
We were free.
CHAPTER TEN
Getting onto the other side of the fence was our next problem, but I did know that there were gates in the fences that I had sometimes noticed. As a little girl, I had never been sure what they were for, and I had asked my father, who told me that in order to do maintenance, it was sometimes necessary to get to the other side of the fence. “It’s very dangerous, of course,” he said.
So, we drove until we saw one of those. I half-expected us to be pursued by bloods or vamps or even the nearest local human police department. But no one came after us, and we drove for about a half hour before we found a gate.
We opened it and drove the car through.
Luckily, there was a road on the other side of the gate that we were able to get to fairly quickly.
I pulled onto it, and I drove for a few minutes before I glanced at Landon in the rearview mirror. “I have no idea where I’m going.”
“Yeah, maybe pull over,” he said. “We’ll get our bearings in the morning.” He yawned.
I pulled off the road and turned the car off. “You have a lot of wine to sleep off.”
“I actually feel better than I thought I would,” he said. “My bloodhound metabolism is burning it off.”
“Must be nice,” I said. Now, with the car off, I was getting cold. I shivered. “If we’re going to sleep, I’m going to shift. I’ll be warmer that way.”
“Sounds good,” he said. He stretched out on the back seat.
“Landon?”
“Yeah?”
“What you said to the bloods back there? How we were going to come back and free them? Where the hell did that come from?”
“Oh, I was improvising. I figured if you were able to make a deal with the bloods in the woods, maybe it would work with them too. I know that I was desperate for freedom when I was back in the city.”
“But… will we actually do that?”
“I don’t see how we could possibly free all the bloods.”
“So… we lied to them.” I felt guilt sink through my insides.
“Come on, Camber, we can’t change the entire world. The fact that they thought we could shows that they’re desperate too.”
“Well, it wasn’t fair to promise them things.”
“And it wasn’t fair that we were held captive in the city in the first place.”
“I just…” I sighed.
“I’m sorry I got us out of there,” said Landon. “I guess you’d rather be recaptured by Viggo and possibly dead right now.”
“No, of course not,” I said. “I’m glad we got away. Thanks.”
“Your little move at the checkpoint was pretty great,” he said. “No need to thank me.” He yawned again. “In the morning, we’ll go to Vivia’s place. Get that spell from her. Keep your pack hidden.”
“That sounds great,” I said. At least I could do something.
* * *
In the morning, I woke up in wolf form to the car moving. I was on the passenger seat and Landon was in the driver’s seat. He was driving the car down the road. I stood up and stretched, shaking out my fur. I wanted to shift into human form. I’d be more comfortable that way. Cars weren’t made to accommodate wolves. But I didn’t have any clothes, so wolf form it was.
“Morning,” said Landon.
I made a wolfy sound at him, a kind of half-howl of greeting.
He laughed. “Now that you’re awake, we can crank the tunes.” He reached over and turned on the radio. “Do you want me to roll down the window so you can hang your head out?”
I yipped disapprovingly at him. It was cold out there. I wanted the windows up and the heat on, thank you very much. I shifted around on the seat until I could settle down, resting my head on my front paws. I whined a little. I was afraid my wolf form might be prone to carsickness.
Landon just laughed again. He turned up the music.
We drove.
The road wound through the woods, and it seemed as though we drove for a long time, but it was harder to pay attention to things like reading the clock in wolf form. I was bored, and I wished that I could talk, but that would require shifting back. I thought that I should ask Landon to give me his shirt or something, but that, too, would require shifting. I let it be.
Eventually, we came to a familiar stretch of woods. Landon slowed the car, and he rolled down the window to touch one of the tree trunks. His fingers danced against the bark.
Ahead of us, the air shimmered and Vivia’s house came into view.
“Well,” said Landon. “Here we are.”
I got up on my haunches. What was the plan?
Landon didn’t move the car forward. He gripped the steering wheel and stared forward. “Look, why don’t you hang back and let me handle this?”
Handle what, exactly?
“It’ll be easier if I do it,” said Landon. “I mean, I’m a bloodhound. I’m practically indestructible.”
I was a werewolf. I was pretty indestructible too. I hopped into the backseat, and I shifted.
“Whoa, hey!” Landon put up a hand, as if to block out the sight of me.
“Gee, thanks,” I said, laughing a little.
He shook his head, looking annoyed. “A little warning would be nice is all.”
“How am I supposed to warn you? Howl?”
He sighed. “If you think you’re going to talk me out of doing this on my own—”
“What exactly are we doing?”
“We’ve got to subdue Vivia,” he said.
“Okay,” I said. “How are we going to do that?”
“I am going to go in there and attack,” he said.
“She’s a powerful witch,” I said. “What if she hurts you?”
“Well, all the more reason for you not to be in there,” he said.
“I’m just thinking we should maybe have a more detailed plan is all,” I said. “I mean, thus far, our wing-it plans? Not always the greatest.”
“We don’t have time to make it more detailed. We’re right outside the house. They can see that we’re coming. We need to move, or we’re going to lose the element of surprise.”
“Aha! We need to move. You want me to come along.”
“No, I don’t. I can’t be worrying about you in there while I’m trying to fight.”
“Are you going to rage out or something? Because you can’t kill Vivia. We need her to do the spell.”
He grimaced. “The more you talk, the more confused I get. Let’s just do this, okay?”
“I’m coming with you,” I said.
“Do what you want,” he muttered. “You always do anyway.” And then he pressed on the gas and the car surged forward, and I was plastered against the back of the passenger’s seat.
We roared up the driveway and skidded to a stop in front of the house.
Landon threw open the driver’s side door and jumped out.
I opened up the back door, shifted, and leaped out behind him.
He took off running for the steps, and I was right on his heels. We ran onto the porch and Landon tried the front door.
Locked.
He put his shoulder into it.
The wood splintered and the door gave way. He ripped the door off its hinges and tossed aside the pieces.
We went inside.
At the top of the steps, Rachel and her son Nick appeared, both wide eyed and worried.
Oh, no. I didn’t want them to get hurt.
Vivia came from behind them. She pushed them behind herself, and her skirt flared out and her hair blew back from her face from an unseen wind. Her eyes flashed. “Bloodhound,” she said.
“Witch,” growled Landon, and he was sprinting up the steps for her.
I hung back, unsure. Rachel was too close. Her little boy was too close. If anything happened to that kid—
Vivia put her hands together at her belly, muttering something in another language. I saw blue energy gather there, glowing and crackling.
Landon cleared the top of the steps, lunging for her.
She thrust forward her hands and the energy soared through the air and hit Landon in the chest. He halted in midair and fell to the floor in a heap.
I yelled.
Vivia stepped forward and kicked him in the stomach. “Get out of my house.”
Landon grabbed her ankle. He hurled her over his shoulder.
She flew through the air, over the steps, tumbling upside down. But just before she was about to crunch head first into the stairs, she yelled out some foreign words and she stopped in the air and gently came down, landing softly.
Landon was already rushing down the steps to her.
She was getting to her feet. She lifted her hands and opened her mouth.
Landon dove into her, shoulder in her midsection.
They both went tumbling down the rest of the steps.
Vivia screamed—in anger or pain, I couldn’t be sure. She was tangled up in Landon’s arms and legs and fighting to get free.
They landed at the bottom, and Vivia grunted. She pushed her way free of him.
They both got to their feet.
Landon bared his teeth at her.
She began to speak words.
Okay, no. I couldn’t let her do another spell. I took a running leap at her and I slammed my wolf’s body into hers. I knocked her over sideways. We landed on the floor, my teeth at her neck.
She twisted, her voice shrill as she spoke words of another spell.
I was airborne and all of my bones and muscles were being stretched apart. Everything hurt. I howled in pain.
Landon leaped on her, straddling her body. He seized her shoulders and slammed her head back against the floor.
Immediately, the pain I felt stopped. I crashed to the floor.
Landon smashed her head against the floor again.
Vivia didn’t move.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Vivia was still unconscious. We had her in one of those rooms in the basement where she’d taken me to do the test to see if I was an alpha. She was chained up and we’d put tape over her mouth. We didn’t know if she needed to be able to speak to do spells, but it had seemed as though whenever we’d stopped her voice or her hands, her magic had stopped, so we were hoping for a break.
Landon was sitting in the doorway, staring at her.
I had found myself some clothes and then locked the other occupants of the house up in their bedrooms. I found Vivia’s cell phone. After logging into my online account, I was able to find Desta’s phone number. I really needed to memorize that. I stood behind Landon, eyeing him and Vivia. I called Desta.
“Hello?” came her voice, confused.
“Hey, Desta, it’s Camber.”
“Oh, hell, Camber! You’re all right?”
“Yeah, we’re okay,” I said. “Look, I’m coming back for you. We would have gotten you out with us this time, but we didn’t really have a plan, and we didn’t think we could get to you safely—”
“Don’t be crazy. You know I’m never leaving here,” she said.
“But Viggo. Is he angry with you?”
“He’s angry,” she said. “But he doesn’t think I had anything to do with your escape. He questioned the bloods who let you go, and they told him that you promised to free them. He had them beheaded.”
“No!” I felt my stomach tighten. Well, at least they’d never know that we had lied to them, but that was a cold comfort.
“The vampire who let you out of the city is dead too,” said Desta. “But me? He hasn’t done anything to me. And I think he’s relieved, honestly. I don’t think he liked having Landon around.”
“Desta, you can’t stay with that madman.”
“I can’t leave either. I’m glad you’re safe. If you’re smart, you won’t ever come back to the city.”
“Well, I’m not really that smart.”
“Please. Stay out there with your pack and go into hiding. Maybe after a few decades have gone by, none of this will matter to Viggo anymore and you and I can reconnect.”
“Decades?” I said. “You think I’m going to leave you there that long? There’s no way.”
“I don’t need you to save me, Camber,” she said.
“I will anyway.”
“Don’t,” she said. “Look, I love you, but I’m hanging up now. Don’t call me again.” And the line went dead.
I took the phone away from my ear, feeling a little dejected. I should have gotten Desta out. I should have risked it. She was trapped there now, and it was all my fault. Anyway, I would go back for her. I had to go back for Aston Waterfield. I would get her out.
Landon turned to look at me. “How’s Desta?”
“Like you care,” I said.
“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t care.” He turned back to Vivia. “I assume she’s not dead, since you were talking to her.”
“She’s okay,” I said.
“Too bad,” he said.
“Landon…” I clenched my hands into fists.
He didn’t say anything.
I stuck the phone in my pocket. I was keeping it. I needed a cell phone. This one would hopefully last for a while until I could come up with some kind of replacement.
It was quiet.
“When do you think Vivia will wake up?” I finally said.
“No clue,” he said.
“I’m going to go check on Rachel and her son,” I said.
“Knock yourself out,” said Landon.
* * *
When I came back downstairs, I could hear Landon’s voice, low and urgent. “…or I will hand-deliver you to the Northeast pack, and they will rip you to shreds.”
Vivia’s voice was muffled. I guess she still had tape on her mouth.
I hurried over to the door to the room, but it was shut and locked. I pounded on the door. “Landon, what are you doing in there? Let me in.”
“I could rip you to shreds myself,” said Landon, “but I think they’d like the satisfaction of killing you.”
More muffled sounds. It sounded like she was in pain.
What was he doing? How was she supposed to tell us anything or do a spell for us if she couldn’t talk? I pounded on the door again. “Landon!”
The door opened. Landon poked his head out. “Why don’t you go watch some TV or something?”
“What are you doing in there?”
“The last thing I need is a good cop to my bad cop,” he said. “Never you mind what I’m doing.”
“If she can’t answer you—”
“Go away.” He shut the door in my face.
Well. He tried. I wedged my leg inside.
He almost slammed the door on my leg anyhow, but then he saw just in time and stopped, and I got inside.
Vivia was wide-eyed and her nose was bleeding. It also looked as if Landon had raked his claws down her neck. I found that I didn’t feel sorry for her. I glared at her. “You got members of my pack killed, you know that?”
Vivia swung her head up to look at me.
“Our village was attacked. Buildings were burned. People died. You did that. And you convinced me to mate with Judah, telling me I was meant for him and he was meant for me, and the two of us feel nothing for each other. You made me consent to have sex with him. You violated me.”
Vivia flinched from me, strands of her hair falling into her face, getting stuck in the blood that was trickling out of her nose.
I punched her. “You disgust me, you bitch.”
Landon pulled me off her. “Okay, okay, we don’t need bad cop, bad cop either.”
I glared at him, breathing hard.
He gently pulled me back to the back of the room, next to the door. “Okay,” he said q
uietly. “I think we have to take the tape off her mouth. You do it. But if she does a spell, I’ll be ready to tear her throat out.”
“No, Landon, how’s she supposed to talk without a throat?”
“Okay, rip her arm off,” he said.
I nodded. “Sure. Good.”
Landon turned to Vivia, smiling. “Got that? No magic, or we start tearing off your limbs. Clear? Nod if you understand.”
Vivia nodded. A tear was trickling down her cheek.
Landon went to her and took hold of her arm. “Go ahead,” he said to me.
I moved forward and ripped the tape off Vivia’s face, steeling myself for magic.
But nothing happened.
Vivia let out a sob. “Please,” she said, sounding pathetic.
“Stop that,” said Landon, getting in her face. “We don’t feel sorry for you, and we won’t. You did this to yourself. You sold werewolf lives for money. That makes you a monster. We don’t feel sorry for monsters like you.”
Vivia sniffed. “I’m only doing the best I can. I help werewolves—”
“Yeah, and charge them for it,” I said. “How much money did you make off of Sinead’s family? She said you were charging them monthly for room and board.”
“I took you on for free,” she said, looking at me. “And you think it’s cheap to feed someone? Clothe someone?”
“I really wasn’t here that long,” I said.
“Well, I had to pay for what you ate somehow,” she said. “That’s all the deal with the bloods was. Business.”
“Rip off her arm anyway, Landon,” I said through clenched teeth.
Landon chuckled. “Then she might be screaming too much to help us.”
“What do you want?” demanded Vivia.
“We want a spell that cloaks the werewolf village,” I said. “This time, though, I don’t want it tied to my bond with Judah. Tie to it Judah’s bond with Tempest. She’s the one he loves. Can you do that?”
“No,” said Vivia.
“Maybe I’ll rip off a finger,” said Landon. “You think I should start with her finger?”
“I really can’t,” said Vivia. “That’s not how the spells work. To protect the entire pack, they have to be tied to the alpha. And the alphas’ bond is part of that.”
“It would be tied to an alpha,” I said. “To Judah.”
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