Blood Heat

by Maria Lima

  “That’s it’s some guy?” Tucker responded. “Yeah.”

  “So what is the coach doing at oh, just past midnight, at the local Walmart with someone other than his wife—with their heads close together like they were about to—”

  None of my companions answered me right away. Maybe they were waiting for the punch line?

  “C’mon, guys, it’s not that hard,” I said.

  “He’s cheating on his wife?” Adam ventured.

  “Not likely,” Tucker chuckled. “You saw his ink at the stadium, right? Semper Fi. Dude’s an ex-marine. What are the chances of an ex-jarhead, who lives in this part of Texas, married to a deputy/acting sheriff and still wears it high-and-tight being queer?”

  “Yeah, not so likely,” I said.

  “It’s just as likely as anywhere else,” Niko countered.

  “I didn’t get the right vibe,” Tucker said.

  “So now you’re the king of the gaydar?” I couldn’t help sounding sarcastic. “I seem to remember a certain time when I was still in high school that—”

  “Yeah, well, okay, okay, I was wrong once. That teacher wasn’t ogling me so much as you,” Tucker responded. “It never occurred to me that a fifty-year-old man would be interested in a fourteen-year-old girl. At least not in the late twentieth century.”

  “In any case, what the hell does it matter anyway?” I asked. “Rob Miller isn’t anyone we’re likely to hang out with.”

  “You were the one who brought it up, sis,” Tucker reminded me.

  “I was only wondering who the guy was,” I said. “It did seem as if they were going to kiss, but Tucker’s right, dude’s more than likely not gay.”

  “Ewww,” Gregor said. “Coach Miller?”

  “Gay bothers you?” I asked.

  “No, just Coach Miller and sex. He’s my coach,” Greg protested.

  I laughed. “I see your point. Mark, Dix, any thoughts on the guy?”

  “Not really,” Mark said. “Don’t know him that well. He’s a fairly typical guy, I’d say.”

  Dixxi nodded. “Yeah, I know he doesn’t like us much, but he doesn’t have to.”

  “He was rather nervous when he saw us in the store,” Adam said.

  “I know his kind,” Niko remarked. “I have no idea whether he’s ever thought of a man in a sexual way and don’t care, but he’s a bigot. Perhaps that’s why he was so anxious.”

  “Come again?” I asked.

  “He doesn’t like us, either,” Niko said. “Despite our living in the general area, we’re not what he expected. I’ve often found that men—or women—like him don’t know how to handle people like us.”

  “I think I get your point,” mark said to Niko. “He’s a bigoted, redneck former marine who thinks the corps was the be-all and end-all of life. He’s stuck here in this small town, assistant coaching a class B football team, and his wife is the one with the authority in general. He can’t be overtly rude or mean, since she’s the law.”

  Tucker laughed. “Definitely, Mark. Hell, from the little we saw of her tonight, I’ve no doubt she calls the shots at home. I bet he’s a holy terror over those boys.”

  “The team?” Gregor ventured. “Yeah, he’s kind of tough.”

  “Yuck,” I said. “Enough with the speculation. I don’t like to think about the macho-sadistic ritualism of Texas high school football training. It’s unpleasant to think about, and we have neither evidence nor say in the matter. Let’s talk about something else.”

  A loud bang sounded and the van skewed to the left, throwing me out of my seat and practically on top of Mark and Gregor. Tucker fought to control it as I fell to the floor, while Mark tried to hold Gregor in place. Adam and Niko braced against the windows.

  “What was that bang?” Dixxi’s voice sounded a little shaky.

  “Blown tire,” Tucker said. “Damn it.” He slapped the dash in frustration.

  “You are not going to say that you should’ve gotten the spare tire fixed, are you?” I asked darkly. “I’m not laughing here, ha ha, movie quote, and all that.”

  Tucker stared at me with a puzzled expression on his face. “No, it’s just bloody difficult to change the tires on this vehicle, in the pitch dark, with no actual shoulder on the road, plus we’ve got an injured werewolf to deal with.”

  “All right, all right. Keep your shorts on. Adam, could you please help Mark get Gregor out of the van so Tucker can jack it up?” I peered below the seats to check. Yep, there it was. “Dixxi, there’s a bag just below your seat with some towels so Greg can lie down on those outside.” I opened my car door and stepped down. “Careful, all, there’s a bit of a dip down into a shallow ditch.”

  “I’ll go get the emergency kit,” Tucker said and pulled the emergency brake on.

  “Could I help you by holding the torch?” Niko asked. Tucker nodded and went to the back of the van. “C’mon then.”

  Dixxi followed as Adam and Mark helped Gregor out of the van. They walked toward the back, placed a couple of towels on the ground and Gregor sat down. Dixxi helped him remove his shoulder pads and jersey.

  “Ouch, fuck.”

  “Language, kid,” Dixxi warned again. “It’ll just be a bit, Greg. Mark, there’s not much for him to lean on, could you sit behind him?”

  “Is he that bad off?” I asked as I pulled a small flashlight out of the glove box. One thing I’ll have to say for us Kellys, we were prepared as Girl Scouts when it came to our vehicles. I had similar kits in the back of my Land Rover. Full-on emergency kit in the back with a big Maglite; a smaller Maglite in the glove box along with tissues, wet wipes, and other gear.

  Dixxi leaned forward and peered at Gregor’s side, squinting in the red glow from the van’s taillights. “Hard to tell, it’s so dark. But I think the original wound’s broken open and is bleeding.”

  “Adam, here.” I handed him the flashlight. “You hang on to this and keep us lit.” I grabbed the wipes. “I’ll go see if I can do anything to help Gregor.”

  “Damn, there’s a full-on hole in the tire,” Tucker said. “Must have picked up a nail or something. It’s too big to patch up with that spray can stuff. I’ll have to use the spare. Niko, if you don’t mind?” As Tucker went around back to unbolt the spare, with a minimum of fuss, Niko loosened the bolts on the flat and jacked up the van.

  “I’m impressed,” I teased as I squatted down by Gregor. “Vampires changing tires.”

  Niko snorted. “I may not have been born in this century,” he said, “but I do have my uses.”

  I could picture the expression on Adam’s face, even though he was facing away from me.

  “That you do, cariad, that you do.” Tucker’s voice floated from the back. I rolled my eyes. Boys, no matter what age, still with the jokes. I leaned closer to Gregor.

  “Dixxi, could you help me get this pad thing off his hip? It’s in the way.” I could smell fresh blood along with the dried. Adam leaned closer, pointing the light more directly at Gregor’s hip.

  “Oh, dude, no.” Gregor squirmed a little, as if to move away from me.

  “What?”

  “You can’t just take the pad out,” Dixxi explained. “It’s tucked into the girdle thing.”

  “Girdle?” I peered at Gregor’s side. My night vision had improved quite a bit since my Change, but it was still hard to see fine details, even with the flashlight. The white pad covered part of Gregor’s hip and seemed to be tucked inside his football pants somehow.

  “You are not taking my pants off,” Gregor warned. “I’m tough. I can wait.” He lifted his pleading face to Mark, who was biting his lip, probably holding back a laugh.

  “Sorry, kiddo,” Mark said. “If Keira can help you, then let her.”

  “I’m fine.” Gregor moved to place a hand over his hip. With the movement, he cringed and let out a hiss.

  “Fine, my ass,” Dixxi said. “Hold still, I’ll do this.”

  “We probably should have just let him change before we took
off,” I said as Mark moved into a better position to support Gregor, who was totally pouting now. I couldn’t help but smile. The boy was utterly adorable.

  “We could have,” Mark said, “but I didn’t want those coaches to take a closer look. At that point, I thought Gregor was faking it.”

  “True,” I said. “Plus we had no idea this was going to be a journey of epic length.”

  Dixxi quickly unlaced the fastenings on the front of the pants and pulled them open enough to reach in and unlace the girdle. Egad, this uniform was worse than a 1950s maiden aunt’s gear. Talk about chastity belts …

  Eventually, enough gear was out of the way so I could place my hand just above the initial wound, about half an inch from his skin, ignoring Gregor’s deep embarrassment. I’m sure he was mortified, having a woman my age poking about near his bits.

  “Gregor, I’m going to have to pull off this bandage,” I said. “Sorry about this. It’s liable to—” With a tug, I peeled the tape away, taking more care in lifting the corner of the gauze. “Hang tight, this may hurt.” The bandage was stuck; fresh blood welled up and dripped from the wound I’d uncovered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “FUCK.” GREGOR WHISPERED between clenched teeth. No one chastised him about his language now.

  The scent of old blood and wounded flesh assaulted my nostrils. Concentrating and trying to remember everything my aunts taught me, I focused, letting the rest of the world fall away. The sounds of Niko and Tucker fussing with the tire dimmed; Dixxi’s feet crunching gravel as she worked to get a better angle to help me, began to fade away. Red, angry, pulsating heat rose from Gregor’s side, disturbing his otherwise calm energy. I moved my hand around, trying to find the exact center of the wound …

  There it was, deep, raw—much more damage than he let on, just as I thought. Calling on my own energy, I pushed golden light, purple light, healing coolness toward the boy’s side. No ritual here, just energy pushing energy, healing visualization taking away the burning, the part that was broken and didn’t belong. I focused more intently, the red fading only a little at a time. More energy, more—

  “What the hell—? Adam, did you hear something?” Niko looked up from his task, his words breaking my focus.

  I fell back onto my ass, my hands automatically down to catch my fall as the world rushed back into my awareness. “Fuck.” My palms scraped across the rough surface, breaking skin. “Niko, what—?” Then I heard it, too. Feet scuttling across dry dirt, twigs breaking, rocks disturbed as something crashed through the underbrush.

  “Wait here.” In a flash, moving as fast as only a vampire can, Adam disappeared into the brush, making no noise. Behind him, my brother stripped off his shirt and shorts and quickly shifted into wolf, following Adam in less than a minute.

  “Where the fuck—” Dixxi began.

  “Shh, quiet. I could swear …” Niko shook his head, then bent to his task and quickly removed the bolts. “Quick, Keira, hand me the spare. Let’s get this done and everyone back in the van as fast as possible.”

  “What?” I whispered as I scrambled over to him and handed him the tire. Picking up the large Maglite where Tucker had dropped it, I pointed it out toward the brush. “I thought you guys would be done already.”

  “Light, Keira,” Niko said. “No, not done. We were trying to figure something out.”

  I turned and gave him the light he needed. “With the tire?”

  “Yes. The hole’s pretty big, a gash really, more than I thought a nail would cause. Then I heard—”

  “Someone was out there, I heard the brush rattling,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  Dixxi and Mark still sat on the ground, both with anxious expressions on their faces. Gregor lay slumped against Mark, his fly still open, shirt rucked up. Poor kid, he seemed so vulnerable. I hadn’t been able to finish the little healing I could do under these conditions; he was probably wiped at this point. “Dixxi, Mark, get Gregor put back together again and get him up.”

  “What is it? What’s out there?” Mark carefully held Gregor as Dixxi leaned in to refasten everything she’d undone. “Not a deer, I take it?”

  “Human. I know I heard footsteps, not hooves,” Niko said curtly.

  “Your brother, he shifted …” Mark said with awe. “Just …”

  “Flowed,” Dixxi said, her voice mirroring Mark’s expression. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

  “Our change is a lot harder,” Mark explained. “Nothing that seamless.”

  I didn’t know what to say to them. Sorry? I’d not seen werewolves change but had heard it was more work than not. After all, they were hybrids, human and wolf, not naturally magick as we were. I strained my ears to listen for Adam and Tucker. Nothing. But not surprisingly, as they were the best of stalkers. I needed to figure it out, though, had to try something. All my instincts wanted me to shift to a predator shape, join Adam and my brother, but I had people here I had to help watch out for. “Keep an eye out?” I asked Niko as I made a decision.

  “Done.” Niko took the light from my hand and tucked it between his ear and shoulder, head bending to hold it like a phone.

  I braced a hand against the side of the van for support and carefully lowered my shields, reaching out my awareness, keeping control as much as I could. Cedar mixed with the distinctive smell of mesquite, arid dusty ground. A whiff of deer scat and musk slid by as I instinctively followed Adam’s unique feel. He crouched low to the ground, a finger reaching out to touch something wet, something—blood, the taste of fresh blood on the tip of my tongue, its tang making my nostrils flare. Rank sweat of at least one human male accompanied it. It was a man’s blood, not a lot, just a few drops as if he’d scratched a hand on a mesquite bush. Adam stood and listened. I withdrew and returned my awareness to the van, realizing Niko was touching my hand.

  “Step back?” he said quietly. I nodded and complied, watching him let the jack down. The van settled onto the dirt and the new tire held. Using his strength and speed, Niko finished tightening the lug nuts.

  “Mark, Dixxi, inside. Now, please.” I kept my tone low and even, but with a touch of urgency.

  Mark, to his credit, just stood and helped Gregor to his feet. The boy put an arm around Mark’s shoulder and with Dixxi on his other side, limped back to the van. Mark got in first, then helped Gregor. Dixxi climbed back into her original seat and situated herself so Gregor could lean against her.

  “Where did Adam and Tucker go?” Gregor mumbled. “Did they leave?”

  “I’m right here,” Adam said as he climbed in. I took my own seat as Niko started the engine. Tucker emerged from the brush a moment later, shifted back into human shape, and joined us in the van, clutching his clothing in one hand. As soon as he slid shut the side door, Niko put the car in gear and with a lurch, he pulled off the soft dirt and headed back toward Rio Seco.

  “We’re going to the Wild Moon,” Adam said after a few moments. Tucker swiftly reclothed himself and climbed around Adam to get to the far back seat.

  “Why?” Mark sat up and glared at Adam. “We told Bea we were going to her place. The Wild Moon—”

  “Is the safest place for you right now,” Adam said. “That puncture was no accident.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out something and handed it to Mark. I smelled the fresh gunpowder, burnt paper, and plastic immediately.

  “Fuck,” I said to Adam. “Poachers?”

  “It’s well past midnight,” reminded Niko. “This was no poacher.”

  “There were at least two men,” Adam said. “They headed for a truck and before I could get there, they drove off.” In Adam’s terms, that meant he didn’t chase, he didn’t catch up to them. No way would a couple of guys in a pickup outrun a vampire at full speed.

  “I agree with Adam,” Tucker said. “I smelled two, maybe three human men. They had guns. One of them had scratched himself on the brush.”

  “I smelled the blood,” I said. “Hurt badly?”

 
; “No, just a few drops,” Tucker said. “Probably enough to identify him again, though.”

  “Good. We just have to find them.”

  “Fuck, indeed.” Mark dropped the shell back into Adam’s hand. “Deliberate.”

  “This certainly changes things,” I said. “I was going to suggest that your missing wolves had gotten themselves lost in a cave or an underground grotto looking for a way out of the heat, maybe passed out and now can’t find their way back, but if someone’s out here taking potshots …”

  “We don’t know that Mark or his pack were the target,” Adam pointed out.

  “True,” I said. “But we’re not the ones missing people.”

  “We did think that our wolves got lost, but Adam’s right. I’m now positive that someone’s trespassing. Maybe we accidentally flushed them out when Margery, Stephen, and Maki went out on the land.”

  “Yeah, but, Mark, there’s been nothing more than wolf sign out at the property,” Gregor argued. “Luka and I went everywhere, trying to find scent that isn’t wolf. No human scent for acres, just a lot of fresh wolf scent.”

  “Fresh? Like perhaps another pack?” I asked.

  “I’d know if there was another pack in my territory,” Mark glowered. “Didn’t you sense me?”

  At that, I had to smile, because yeah, as soon as I’d gotten within distance, I’d known he was there. “I did, indeed. So this remote hunting, why did it stop?”

  “Guy got killed in an accident,” Mark said.

  “An accident?” I couldn’t help but think of another “accident” last year—the one that killed the former deli owners and their two other human victims. The accident I helped arrange.

  Marcus met my questioning glance. He’d dropped the semishift, now appearing as breathtaking as I remembered, if somewhat more mature. “Nothing to do with us,” he said. “That land wasn’t ours then, nor did I have any beef against the man. Hunting by machine is disgusting, yes, but at the time, perfectly legal. He died skiing in Colorado.”

  I shrugged. “Makes little difference to me. I just figured perhaps someone was connected to him.”