by Bianca D'Arc
“No, thank the Lady,” he confirmed. “When we get hit with silver, it’s like a human getting hit by a regular bullet. It hurts and it doesn’t heal the way we’re used to healing. In fact, it’s a little worse. You’ve got a bullet wound that can’t be easily healed, plus the poison. It’s not a good combination.”
“Wow.” She looked like she was thinking hard. “So the fact that they were using normal ammunition when they went after Colleen means they were just trying to slow her down, not necessarily kill her outright.”
“She was probably their first choice for a kidnapping victim. When she escaped, they went after Jimmy instead. Either way, they intended to kill a child. And as many Pack members as they could lure in. A bomb works just as well at killing werewolves as normal people. Rip us into enough pieces and even our healing powers won’t be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
A few of the men snickered at his graveyard humor. He had to get the plan in motion. Every moment delayed was another moment that bastard had alive. Jason firmed his resolve.
“I want to push him away from the Pack house, if possible. Without putting yourselves in the line of fire, I want you all to herd him toward the bear den. Blood has already been spilled there. I don’t want to foul our home woods with this bastard’s blood if we don’t have to.”
Murmurs of assent went around the group. The scent of blood was one of the most powerful to their kind. And the enemy’s blood would be spilled that night. Oh, yes, it definitely would.
Chapter Thirteen
“All right, same teams as before. Team 1 will spread out from north to west. Team 2 will do the same from north to east. Start above the ridgeline and work your way down toward the bear den. We don’t want him slipping past. Sally and I will come up from the south with you all either herding or leading him toward us. The Master will meet us there. He’s hunting with us tonight.” Murmurs of interest rose around them.
Jason continued to give orders as Sally watched. Looking at the circle that had formed around them she saw mostly men, but there were a couple women too. She liked that. The protective instinct ran very strong in females of most species. It was only right they be part of the group protecting their own.
They all scattered when Jason gave the word. He led her back toward the road where he’d parked his pickup truck out of sight. A few other vehicles were nearby so it wasn’t until they were both sealed in the cab that they were truly alone.
Jason started the truck and headed down the road in the opposite direction from the majority of the vehicles. As he drove, he began to speak.
“You took about ten years off my life when you went through that window.” He didn’t look at her in the darkness, staring intently at the road, but she could see his tension in the way he gripped the steering wheel. She didn’t know what to say.
“I was the only one who fit.”
“I know.” He banged one fist on the steering wheel. “If there was any other way, I would’ve taken it. As it is…” he trailed off.
“As it is, I’m still alive. So is Jimmy. So is everyone who took part in his rescue. I think it was a win all around. Though I will admit, it was a little hairy there for a few minutes.”
“You mean when that bastard was trying to rape you?” His tone was harsh. Raw. As if it hurt him to remember that moment.
“Yeah,” she agreed quietly. “That was probably the worst moment of the night, if truth be told.”
“So far.” He seemed to bite off each word.
“Thank you for saving me from him, Jason.” Her voice trembled and she did her best to firm her backbone.
It looked like he swallowed a few times before he could speak again.
“We’ll talk about it more later. For now, I’m just glad I was there.” He cleared his throat and continued to watch the road with a strange intensity as he drove fast down the mountain road. “Be careful of Dmitri.” His change of topic caught her off guard.
“How do you mean?”
“Vampires can get a little…difficult…when the bloodlust is upon them. I’ve never hunted human prey with him and I don’t know how he’ll react. He’s one of the older ones, so I assume he knows how to behave himself. I don’t think he would have lasted this long if he hadn’t. Still, be wary. Stay close to me when he’s around and blood has been shed. Once a bloodletter gets the scent, things can get dangerous real fast.”
“You mean Carly could…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought.
“Any of your newly turned friends. You have to be cautious around them all. They’re too new at this to really know how to handle all the impulses and instincts coursing through their bodies. I’d hope their link to their partners grounds them enough to shorten the learning curve, but I don’t know for sure. For now, just be careful around Dmitri. I don’t know how he’s going to act when the hunt is on.”
“Okay.” It was a lot to think about. Not only were they going to be hunting a man who had no compunction about shooting anybody he came across in the woods, but now she’d have to worry that the vampire hunting with them might turn against them when he caught the scent of blood.
She wasn’t sure how justice worked in this new world she’d been introduced to, but she had a feeling it was more…um…Biblical…than in her world. More eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth kind of stuff.
Nothing had been said about the man who’d tried to rape her and she hadn’t seen any evidence of him since Jason pulled him off her. There’d been some smears of blood on Jason’s hands, but nothing to indicate he’d actually killed the man. Yet, the feeling persisted that he had.
Sally didn’t mind. A bastard who would commit those kinds of acts against innocent people deserved to die, to her mind. She’d hated the way the human justice system had all too often allowed violent criminals back out on the streets to do it again. Yet she’d sworn to uphold that law and she did so every day when she went to work.
But those laws never took into account things like vampires and werewolves. There was no consideration of penalties for those who could control magic. It was a square peg and round hole kind of situation. She assumed Jason and his people had their own laws and code of ethics. While operating in their world, she’d have to trust them to adhere to them.
“What are you going to do with the hunters once you find them all?”
“The two who kidnapped Jimmy have already decided their own fate.” His voice was grim. “The other two? We might let them run for a bit. See where they go. Try to find the source of the danger, if there is one. It’ll be up to Jesse. He’s better at dealing with covert operations than I am.” He turned the vehicle down another road she hadn’t been on before. Thirty seconds later, he stopped.
“Where are we going to meet up with Dmitri?”
“Just up ahead.” Jason grimaced, scanning the area with annoyance. “I’m going to park the car down here and we’ll hike up, okay? Belakov’s late. We’ll go ahead. He’ll have to catch up.”
She agreed and hopped out of the truck. The moment her feet touched the ground, she could tell something was wrong. The song in the trees was off. Way off.
“The forest doesn’t like him,” she said absently, listening hard as Jason came around to her side of the truck, closest to the tree line. “The hunter is back. Oh, God—” She took off running, pausing only to draw her weapon.
Jason easily kept pace with her, touching her arm to get her attention. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s got Leonora.” She paused, turning to him.
“How the hell did he manage that?” Jason seemed astounded by the news.
“She let him capture her. She’s got the trees working with her, but I don’t think she realizes just how dangerous this really is.”
Jason’s lips thinned in anger. “Lead the way.”
They began running again, slowing only to hide the sounds of their movements. The trees warned her to be quiet and she listened to them. She listened to the voices on the wind too. Leonor
a’s and the man’s as well. Leonora sounded remarkably calm. No doubt the trees had told her rescue was on its way.
Sally and Jason slowed to a crawl as they drew near. Leonora and her captor—the eldest of the hunters, Sullivan, who had been in the tree stand—were uphill from their position. Large boulders sticking out from the side of the hill provided cover. Sally understood why Jason had chosen to come up from the south. The terrain was in their favor.
She stopped behind a rock to take a look around. Jason did the same a few yards away. Her gaze met his and she realized how much he was adapting to her ways. He nodded, knowing without words what she had in mind—and vice versa. She’d never had a partner so in tune with her. Probably never would again. It would hurt to leave Jason for so many reasons.
Best not to think about it now. She listened to the song of the leaves. Leonora was just ahead on the side of a small clearing. Sullivan was tying her to a tree. Silly man. Sally almost laughed aloud. Trees were her friends. Leonora would be in good hands bound to one of them.
Sally concentrated and tried to send a message through the saplings above the rock where she hid. “We’re here, grandmother. Help has arrived.”
A moment later, the answer came back from the trees. “She knows. She will assist. She has a plan.” Sally got the idea that mere rope couldn’t keep her bound when there were small branches within reach that could untie knots or saw through bindings.
It was up to Sally and Jason to capture Sullivan’s attention to give Leonora time to work her magic on the trees. Sally looked at Jason and he nodded toward the right. She’d take the left. His hand gestures were adamant that she hold back and cover him while he forced the needed confrontation. It was clear to her what he had in mind. He’d distract the man while the women got to safety.
She’d go along with that as far as it went. Sullivan was going down and Sally vowed to be there if Jason needed her help in making that happen. She was all for Leonora getting out of the line of fire, but Sally would watch Jason’s back, whether he wanted her there or not. They were a team. The sooner he got that figured out, the better.
Counting down via hand signals, Sally judged their moment to spring their trap by what the trees told her. Jason probably had his own methods of detection—his sensitive werewolf nose and acute hearing were the most likely candidates. When this was all over, she’d like to learn more about how he saw the world. And she wanted to learn all she could from Leonora. That went without saying. They only had to make sure Leonora was still around when all this was said and done so Sally could continue to get to know her magical ancestress.
With a final nod, they were off. Sally felt more than saw Leonora take off into the leafy canopy with an assist from some helpful branches.
Jason went right while Sally went left. Jason would confront the hunter first and if all went well, Sally wouldn’t have to intercede at all.
It didn’t go well.
Sullivan seemed to be ready for them. He began shooting the moment Jason ran into the clearing. Only superior reflexes and a nearby rock saved Jason from being hit on the initial charge.
Sally fired above the man’s head to keep him off balance but Sullivan had his own plans. He was in a niche between two boulders that provided him an annoying amount of cover. Leonora, thank goodness, was nowhere to be seen. Sally knew she watched from above, safe in the tree canopy.
Jason was pinned down opposite her, stuck behind a rock with no other cover nearby.
“I got lots more where those silver beauties came from,” Sullivan chided. Silver bullets. Damn.
“Not enough, Sullivan,” Sally said from behind the wide old conifer that shielded her and brought her the news on the wind.
The wolves were gathering in a circle around them. They’d stay out of sight unless they were needed, but no matter how many of them it took, Sullivan would not be escaping this night. The Pack was out in force.
“I’ll shoot you too, bitch. Just give me a chance,” Sullivan yelled.
“Shoot me and you’ll go down for shooting a cop. That’s serious prison time.”
Sullivan laughed at her. “You think I’ll do time? You have no idea who you’re dealing with. We have connections all over the place, in normal human society and among Others. I’d never spend a day in jail, even if you could catch me before I killed you. One bullet. That’s all I need.”
“Silver doesn’t harm me,” she replied, willing him to come out into the open where she could get a clear shot at him.
“I bet bullets will. Step out here and let me see for myself.”
“Fat chance. By the way, good work on keeping your prisoner under control. Where’d she go, I wonder?”
For a moment, nothing but curses floated on the wind as Sullivan realized his prisoner was gone. Sally would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. The wolves were in true danger from the silver bullets this crazy jerk was firing indiscriminately. She was in danger from the bullets themselves and this guy had what looked like an endless supply in easy reach.
Another thing she noticed. The trees cried out when bullets hit them. Not loud enough for anyone but her—and Leonora, no doubt—to hear, but they were definitely injured by the silver bullets. Sally couldn’t let the forest suffer too. The madman had to be stopped as quickly as possible for all concerned.
“Use the power of the forest. Use your magic, granddaughter.” Leonora’s voice came to her in a whisper of wind that only she could hear.
“How?” she whispered back.
“Bind him,” came the simple reply. The trees whispered of their abilities and desires. They instructed her in what she should do.
She placed one hand on the wide trunk of the conifer, connecting herself to the forest. It probably would have been easier for her to touch the tree she wanted to take action, but this would have to do. The maniac could kill her, or Jason, or a member of his Pack at any time. And his silver ammunition was seriously injuring the trees. He had to be stopped.
Murmuring her desire and injecting her own special power into the bark of the tree she touched, she watched with her mind’s eye as it was passed along from pine needle to pine needle and leaf to leaf until it arrived at her target. A lovely, pliable willow tree that was right behind the outcropping of rocks where danger hid.
It moved slowly at first, sinuously reaching downward from above and outward from behind. The branches swayed in an invisible wind, guided by Sally’s magic into useable shapes. The power gathered and struck without warning, plucking the rifle from Sullivan’s hands and hoisting it high up into the tree.
Sullivan went next. Bound at each limb, he was spread-eagled as he was lifted into the air, held in place by a myriad of twined tendrils. A leafy set of manacles that he could not escape. He would not be released until everyone was safe. Only when Sally—or Leonora—wished it.
Sullivan screamed obscenities as Sally stepped into the open. Jason rose from behind the rock and took in the scene, whistling between his teeth. At the low signal, a few of the wolves came into the clearing.
“Damn you to the farthest hell, bitch!” Sullivan ranted. “You and the filthy dog. You’ll both burn!”
Sally diverted a small bit of energy to cover Sullivan’s mouth, gagging him with another tendril of pliable tree branch. A moment later, Leonora descended from her leafy hiding place to drop gently to the ground, a broad grin on her face.
“Well done, granddaughter.” She gave Sally a hug.
“You could have done that at any time. Why’d you wait for me to do it?”
“I wanted to see if you could, for one thing. For another, the Pack needed to see your capabilities. They need to know that you truly are an Alpha female worthy of their respect.”
A shot rang out and Leonora clutched her chest. Chaos reigned as wolves scattered and Jason ran at full speed toward where the bullet had originated. Sally grabbed Leonora as she sank to the ground, dragging her to cover as best she could.
Stupid! She’d
been stupid to let her guard down. She’d never considered Sullivan might not be alone.
With her concentration blown, Sullivan tumbled from the tree, but she didn’t care. Her only concern was for Leonora.
But Sullivan had a new target. Dmitri swooped in from above in time to stop the man from rushing Sally and Leonora with the knife he’d drawn from his boot. It gleamed silver in the night. Sullivan rushed the vampire and the blade slashed downward, missing Dmitri by a mile as time seemed to slow.
Dmitri moved so fast, he was a blur. But he found his target with unerring capacity, dropping Sullivan to the ground several yards away. Sally looked away as Dmitri’s fangs ripped into Sullivan’s flesh. Wet sounds followed a gurgle, and that was the end of Sullivan’s evil.
Sally felt the violence on the air but refused to allow it to distract her again. The immediate threat was gone. Dmitri was finishing him off as Sally cradled Leonora in her arms. Jason was off somewhere with his Pack taking care of the shooter—whoever that was. The bastard. He’d shot her grandmother.
“Leonora. Talk to me. Tell me what to do.” She tried to stop the flow of blood, but Leonora’s blood was like nothing Sally had ever seen before. It wasn’t red. The wound spilled sparkling, clear, sap-like fluid onto the ground as it bled. It smelled of chlorophyll and growing things. Leaves and light. The scent wafted to her, subtle on the night breeze.
“Silver may not harm you, granddaughter, but it doesn’t agree with my magic at all,” Leonora grumbled in a low voice.
“I lied before. I don’t wear silver jewelry. It turns my skin black.” Sally babbled as she tried her best to take care of Leonora’s wound.
Leonora smiled. “Believe it or not, that’s good to hear. It means you have more magic than I thought.”
“What can I do for you?”
“You must remove the bullet.” Dmitri’s voice came from over Sally’s shoulder. He’d snuck up on her so silently, she jumped when he spoke. He had a tiny smear of blood on his chin and his eyes were dilated just the slightest bit. Probably signs of the bloodlust Jason had warned her about. “You’re the only one among us who is not poisoned by the silver. It might singe you a bit, but I don’t believe it will poison you the way it would the wolves or myself.”
