The Bite of Winter (International Monster Slayers Book 2)

by Bethany Helwig

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t here before,” Jefferson sighs. “We were taking care of a few fanged loose ends in Duluth and Moose Lake.”

  “More vampires?” I ask.

  He nods and casts his gaze at Melody. “There were a few stragglers but we made quick work of them.”

  “And the selkies?”

  “Several injured but they’ll all pull through. Well . . . almost all of them.”

  “Right.” I swallow and glance at Celina who’s running her velvety hands through my tangled hair with a soft smile.

  I wet my lips before I ask my next question, afraid of the answer. “And the lamia? Epsilon?”

  Jefferson shakes his head and a fervent nervous energy wraps around my lungs, making me breathe faster.

  “She disappeared,” he says solemnly. “Must have ported past the barrier and fled. I guess our friend was too much to handle and scared her off.”

  “Who?” Celina prompts but the curiosity in her faces dies when Jefferson and I stare at her. I don’t know what she sees in our gazes but her ears flatten against her head. She pats my knee and clears her throat. “I’ll leave you to rest.”

  The faun trots out of the room and I turn back to Jefferson. His beady eyes narrow as they study me in return.

  “And what about our friend?” I ask. I remember Scholar’s last words to me. She said she’d come find me. Or maybe I dreamed that . . . or was hallucinating or something.

  “Vanished,” Jefferson says, a tinge of anger to his words. “My best guess is she needed to get away from the attention, and went after that lamia. But speaking of our mutual friend, who was supposed to be hidden and never revealed—” He sneaks a glance at Melody and Charlie who are too engrossed in a particularly thick book to bother paying attention to our conversation. “How did you find out about Scholar? What did you do?”

  A familiar twinge of guilt twists my stomach. Because of the secrets Hawk and I keep, we forced Scholar to disappear. We brought a war to her doorstep. I owe Scholar for everything she’s done, but I’m not ready to give up my most devastating secret yet.

  Hawk turns pale and hangs his head like he’s tired of lying. Before he can make the mistake of revealing what happened to Duke, I give Jefferson a half-truth that we can all handle.

  “We got impatient,” I say quickly. “Well, I got impatient about . . . well, you know. I went to the library dead drop and lied, said we had an emergency and needed to meet.”

  Jefferson runs a hand down his face, then through his hair before he lets out a long sigh. “Phoenix—”

  “I know what I did put her at risk,” I say and toss Hawk an angry glare when Jefferson’s focusing on his hands, warning him not to speak. “I’m sorry.”

  “One of these days your impulsiveness is going to be the death of you.” Jefferson shakes his head.

  I drop my gaze to my bandaged hands, still aching and sore from punching holes in Scholar’s floor and wielding that shovel in Duluth. “I know,” I say in a small voice.

  “You’re just lucky Scholar was your companion in that fight,” Jefferson continues. “She’s probably the only one—apart from a majestic—that could haul your butts out of that disaster and stop those lamia from gutting you both. Next time you won’t be so fortunate.”

  He doesn’t know. No one knows except Hawk and Scholar—and Epsilon. Scholar didn’t stop those lamia from killing us. I did. Jefferson’s been in on the secret of my blood, but at this point my lips are sealed until I can talk to Scholar again.

  A brooding silence fills in the spaces left by our conversation until Hawk clears his throat and tosses a broad smile at everyone in the room trying to lift the tension.

  “So, have we missed anything in Moose Lake?” he asks lightly. “Has the city managed to function without us?”

  Jefferson gives a slow nod of his head. “Nothing major. Deputy Graham has everything handled. I think Ashley’s dog went missing—” I do my very best not to react too strongly. “—and there was some freak fire, but other than that . . . oh! The school called wondering where the two of you ran off to. Guess you’ve missed too much school.”

  I’ll still stuck on the part about Duke, Ashley’s dog buried out in the snow, and can’t force myself to pretend to care what the school wants. Hawk, however, manages to let out an exaggerated groan and rolls his head around his shoulders.

  “Great,” he grumbles. “So, we stop a massive vampire attack and a pair of supposedly extinct lamia, and we still have to go back to school and get in trouble for saving everyone?”

  “No need to fret,” Melody cuts in. “I took it upon myself to invade their offices, flash my FBI credentials, and sort the whole thing out. They won’t call in the truancy officer now that they know you’re a couple of undercover agents working a massive sting operation. You won’t have any more trouble from that old bag of bones—what was his name?”

  “Principal Tippy,” Jefferson interjects.

  Well, that certainly manages to elicit a reaction from me. Hawk and I both bark out a laugh. I can only imagine Melody blowing through like a storm and coming down on the principal and his snippy secretary. If only I could have seen it myself. At least that’s one less thing to worry about.

  Jefferson rises from the chair and gives my knee a single pat. “As soon as you’re on your feet, we’ve got work to do,” he says in low conspiratorial tones.

  He doesn’t elaborate but beckons to Melody. She sets down the book she and Charlie had been gossiping over and joins Jefferson at the door.

  “I’ll come round again later,” she announces to the room. “I’ve got a few loose ends to settle with the selkies before they head out now that their charge has disappeared. You keep healing up, chaps.”

  We all chant our goodbyes and then it’s just the three of us. There’s too much to think about, too much to agonize over, but I’m too tired to do any of it. I need some mental peace and quiet.

  I slide my legs off the bed but when my feet hit the floor, my knees buckle and the cold tiles ice my feet. Hawk’s at my side faster than I can see him move and holds out his forearm so I can brace myself against it. He’s clearly recovering well—freakin’ werewolf healing powers.

  “Where are you trying to go?” he asks.

  I nod towards Charlie’s bed. “I need to get up and move my legs. And I really want to see what all those books are.”

  “Hey, who says I’m sharing?” Charlie says sharply but then smiles. Guess he’s finally warming up to us.

  Hawk helps me walk carefully to the other side of the room and I sit in the open chair next to Charlie’s bedside. Hawk perches on the end of the bed, despite Charlie’s protests, and proceeds to burrow through the books, holding them out for me to see the covers. Whenever one catches my eye, he passes it over so I can read the description on the back.

  Charlie runs both hands through his caramel hair, as if agonized we’re laying our hands on his miniature library, but a smile seeps onto his face—I don’t think he even realizes he’s doing it. Hawk gives me a grin and tosses another book at me. I catch it with a grimace and stick my tongue out at him.

  After a minute of silent shuffling, Charlie gazes over the books and picks up one tucked under his elbow like he had been harboring it from our curious reach. It’s a well-worn sci-fi story and he looks at it like an old friend. He taps the spine of the book in his hand and looks like he wants to say something but the words are too hard to swallow.

  “Try this one, Phoenix,” he says at last and holds it out to me.

  I grin and toss the book in my hands back to Hawk to take the one Charlie’s offering. He grimaces at the rough handling.

  “First names?” I say and hold a hand over my heart. “Hawk, did you hear that?”

  “I think we finally made the friend circle!” Hawk says and holds out his fist so I can bump it with mine.

  “So, are we just first-stage friends? Or are all friends the same?” I ask and Charlie’s face puckers into a frown. D
espite that, his eyes are bright and humor dances there. “How do we reach the mystical rainbow island of besties?”

  He laughs and shakes his head, turning a book over and over in his hands. “I owe you.” He pushes out the side of his cheek with his tongue and brushes his thumb over the pages of the book. “You hauled me out of that building on your back. You saved my life.”

  “And you got me past that dragon’s barrier to save this ginger idiot.” I cock my head towards my brother. “I’d call us even.”

  After that, we fall into a comfortable rhythm and Charlie actually joins in the conversation. We talk about books, movies, the creatures we’ve met in our adventures, and all the things normal friends would talk about. We sit in a loose group, each grabbing a book for ourselves, and challenging each other to finish first. Food comes and we act like the typical goofy teenagers we are—except Charlie who’s legally a young adult.

  When the lights go out and Charlie’s asleep, Hawk sneaks over to my bedside and pulls out the pendant around his neck to show me it’s still there, then presses a finger to his lips, winks, and slinks back to his own bed.

  The next couple of days we’re stuck in the medical ward recovering. The doctors and fauns tell me I’ll have scars around my neck from those stupid bites and maybe across my cheek from the lamia’s claws, but other than that, I’ll make a full recovery. Hawk’s discharged early but is confined to our side of Underground which is the furthest away from where Dasc is being held. My brother still manages to slip away and return with food or candy to share with the rest of us.

  Melody and Celina come to visit frequently, bringing in treats and news of what’s going on outside our seclusion. Through them we learn of the battle that unfolded on the eastern seaboard with the leviathan. Well, battle makes it seem like a fight actually occurred. As soon as Draco flew in, the leviathan disappeared into the depths of the ocean. Agents are still searching for it. Its appearance and that of the lamia has shaken the legendary community. Monsters thought to be long extinct have returned, and everyone is scrambling to figure out how and why. Then another big question looms. What else might come back?

  The leviathan isn’t the only thing that can’t be found. Melody informs me there’s been no sign of Scholar or Epsilon but I know they’ll surface sooner or later. Scholar said she’d come find me. As for Epsilon, I hope she never finds me again.

  At long last, we’re discharged from the hospital and there’s a general sense of relief between us all. Melody walks us out and treats us to lunch at a seafood restaurant topside—we would have gone to the market in Underground but Hawk isn’t allowed that close to the penitent cells where Dasc is being held captive. So, instead we act like a normal group of friends discussing movies and books over tilapia and biscuits.

  When it’s time to finally part ways, I find I’m loath to say goodbye. Now that we’ve become friends with Charlie and Melody, I’m sad to see them go back to Duluth. Melody gives us both hugs and warns us to take care of ourselves. We promise and she slips away to start up the SUV. Once it’s just us and Charlie outside, he clears his throat and turns the goodbyes awkward fast by falling silent.

  “You all right there?” Hawk asks and leans against the SUV, getting a good coating of salt along his back.

  Charlie nods slowly. “I’m not good at this part.”

  “You mean making things seriously awkward?” I say. “Because I think you’ve nailed it.”

  He crinkles his nose at me but we all laugh.

  “It’s not goodbye,” I say. “I’m sure we’ll end up helping each other again. And then we’ll be going through the trials together this summer.”

  Hawk holds out his hand and shares a handshake with Charlie before saying, “And we’ll have to return the books we stole from you at some point, too.”

  “What?” Charlie’s eyes go wide and he instantly starts to dig through the duffle bag slung over his shoulder bulging with the books he kept with him in the hospital. “What did you take?”

  I give him a wicked grin. “I guess you’ll find out once we’re done reading them.”

  “Oh, come here you big boob,” Hawk says and pulls Charlie into a hug. When Charlie’s face goes deep red, I burst into laughter and can’t stop until my brother lets him go and Charlie wheels towards me like I’m going to attack him as well. Instead I thrust out my hand. He looks at it with relief and gives my hand a single firm shake.

  “You’re not so bad, Charlie,” I say.

  A smile spreads on his face. “Likewise.”

  “Stay safe out there. Now, go get ‘em unicorn.” I give him a good slap on the shoulder, which makes him stumble from the force, and he climbs into the SUV next to Melody. We wave as they pull away—Hawk fake crying as he waves a napkin he took from the restaurant—until they disappear down the road. We stand in the chilly winter air as the familiar noises of Minneapolis surround us. I soak it in and let the cold brush my face.

  “Guess it’s just us again,” Hawk says.

  “I guess so,” I say and tilt my head in his direction until our matching green eyes find each other. “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you. I’m sure you noticed how I managed to stop Epsilon from killing you.”

  “It was kind of hard not to notice,” he admits.

  “I’ve never done something like that before,” I say quietly. “My abilities have been strictly strength and whatever it is that helps you with the werewolf disease. But lately it’s been more than that and stopping the lamia. When Charlie ported me past Scholar’s barrier, there was nothing of the intense pain you felt. And before that, I think I stopped a berserker from, well, berserking in Underground during the interrogations.”

  I heave a sigh and struggle to find the words I’m searching for. My brother waits patiently for me to put my thoughts together.

  “I don’t know what I am,” I say at last. “But I’m getting stronger. Whatever’s in me is more than a potential werewolf cure, Hawk. I don’t know what I’m becoming.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I can’t keep lying to the IMS. I can’t keep this to myself.”

  He shifts his jaw back and forth before he says, “I want you to promise me something.”

  “Depends.”

  My response earns me a glare.

  “Don’t do anything rash,” he growls. “Scholar said she’d come back to find you, so wait. We’ve bought ourselves time.” He pats the top of his sternum where the blood pendant lies beneath his jacket. “I’m good. And after all the warnings from Scholar and Jefferson, I think it’s best if we let Scholar figure this out first.”

  “You know, what I’ve become—everything we’ve done—it isn’t going to stay hidden forever.”

  “I know.” He sets his hand on my shoulder. “But when we need to, we’ll handle it. Together.”

  I set my jaw. That, at least, is something I can get behind.

  “Together.”

  Chapter 25

  Jefferson sits behind the wheel as we head out in a van like the one on our last visit to La Crosse. This time Hawk sits across from me along with three other agents and a cooler between our feet containing the head of Zeta. It’s the key to Jefferson’s plan, one he managed to convince the director to let us try. The last time we went I was all nerves. I’m still nervous but there’s a certain calm I’ve managed to achieve. I’ve defeated my share of vampires and stopped a pair of lamia. I can do this.

  Once we reach La Crosse, Jefferson, Hawk, and I get out to place the red ribbon on the bridge to signal the vampires that we want to meet. It’s a long shot but if this works, it’s going to save a lot of people. We wait in a stoic group on the other side of the bridge for what seems like hours before another one of the agents buzzes us to let us know that a vampire made contact and placed a black ribbon.

  “It’s show time,” Jefferson murmurs and we make for the warehouse where everything went to crap last time. We’re better prepared for any kind of assault this go arou
nd. Not only do we have the agents we brought with us, but there’s a slew of agents hidden all throughout the warehouse district and the building itself where the meet is about to go down. We won’t make the same mistake twice.

  Despite what happened before, a pair of vampires still come to our meeting in the same place we slaughtered a group of their kind. This time it’s a wizened crone of a man and a slender woman as his bodyguard. Jefferson and Hawk both come in as my seconds despite the one bodyguard rule. We aren’t playing by their rules anymore. They need to know we mean business. Dasc wanted me to deliver a threat, so it’s time I do.

  “Is red the color of war?” the lead vamp asks and they take off their sunglasses to reveal their bloodshot eyes.

  “It’s the color of the blood I’ll shed in victory,” I respond with the required phrase. “Although, technically the color of that blood would be black.”

  I open the cooler at my feet, and kick it over. Zeta’s head rolls across the floor and comes to rest at their feet. Thin trails of black goo line its path. The vampires’ fangs come out and they stumble backwards. In unison, Jefferson and Hawk draw machetes from hidden pockets in their jackets. There’s unbridled fury running through me and I let these monsters see it in my stance, the curl of my fists, the fire in my gaze. The lead vampire looks towards the door but two other agents in disguise block the opposite exit. The walkway overhead creaks under the weight of a dozen boots as more agents make themselves known.

  “Oh, and that other group of vampires you sent to surround the building,” I say and cock my head. “They couldn’t make it to the party.”

  The two vampires crouch slightly, flexing their hands and baring their teeth like the monstrosities they are. Their eyes jump around the room looking for an escape or an enemy to attack. When no one moves to strike them down, they focus on me. I cross my arms over my chest and glare.

  “You’re not going to kill—” the vampire starts but I cut him off, a tactic Jefferson suggested earlier that I use.