Ty padded up to Donovan. The clan scouts had been gone far too long and it was making him nervous. Where the hell are they?
Patience. Most of them won’t be able to hold a flux much longer. It takes too much energy.
It appeared Donovan was right. Within ten minutes the security team reappeared beside Ty and Donovan, their faces looking tired and drawn. Not good for fighting, Ty thought morosely.
Achilles stood between the two massive wolves, their heads nearly level with his own. “They’ve got a force of perhaps two hundred, which includes the Thralls.”
We’re going to need more men. Ty heard Donovan talking to his commander.
“Can you bring your pack in?”
Donovan nodded, his massive wolf head nearly knocking into Achilles. They’ll all be here by tonight.
Ty’s and Donovan’s heads both swiveled. Beneath their feet they could hear the rumble of voices within the bunker. Ty locked gazes with Donovan. They’re coming out.
Donovan blinked. Must be Thralls.
A crowd of perhaps fifty people filtered slowly out the concrete mass of the bunker, led by Lucien.
“That’s the lead vampire reporting to Eris,” Achilles said at a whisper. A vampire built like a brick wall with a blond buzz cut came up beside Achilles.
“None of the others look like full vampires,” he said.
“They might not look it, Mikhail, but that doesn’t mean the Thralls are any less dangerous, especially with a hive mind to control them.”
“Great. One brain to control them all,” Mikhail snorted. Ty and Donovan glared at him.
Mikhail shrugged. “What?” He shook his head. “Gods, you Weres are serious.”
Ty shifted back into his human form, tired of only being able to communicate with Donovan and not the others. He crouched down on one knee, looking at the slow-moving people who shuffled out of the bunker. “They look like they’re on drugs.”
“They are, in a manner of speaking,” Achilles said, his voice low. “Ichor is a powerful contagion. But those Thralls are salvageable and they are still mortals. Our mission is to take out as many reivers as we can and round up as many Thralls as possible. By the time we’re done with cleanup, Doc should have something she can use to detox them.”
As the last of the Thralls walked out of the bunker, Ty got to his feet. Several of them were wearing police uniforms.
“Shit. That doesn’t look good,” Mikhail muttered. “They’ve infiltrated local law enforcement.”
“Just like they will the military, if I know Eris,” Achilles muttered.
But neither of those things mattered to Ty in that moment. He spotted a face he knew. And that was way worse. Davis Brierly walked in and lined up with the others of his unit.
Lucien waved his hand and a table draped in red and covered by wine bottles appeared by his side. He lifted his hands in a macabre form of benediction. “Chosen ones, tonight you will drink to preserve your strength for our coming victory.”
One by one the assembled Thralls came and knelt before Lucien as he poured what looked like dark wine into their mouths.
Ty turned. He’d seen enough. “I’ve got to go. I have to tell Jess.”
Achilles put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Ty growled, his head morphing into his wolf shape. “Move your hand before I bite it off.”
Achilles’s fingers dug deeper. “Listen to me, wolf, you go in there now to save one man and you will lose the battle. Lose the man and you might win the battle.”
Ty morphed back. “But that’s Jess’s brother!”
“Look closer, they aren’t holding him down. He’s kneeling willingly.”
Ty let the angry haze dissipate, then zeroed in his vision on Davis. He drank deeply from the bottle they offered him, the dark liquid disappearing as he chugged it. Oh, no. No. No. No. Not good. Not only was it disgusting, but it painted the situation in a whole new color of Chicken-Little-the-sky-is-falling yellow. Ty muttered a curse. “He’s a goddamn Thrall.”
“Regardless, you’re staying here until this recon is finished.” Achilles’s tone was final.
Ty growled low in his throat. He didn’t like it, but what choice did he have? “Why would he want to be a Thrall?” he muttered.
“Eris can convince a man to want many things,” Achilles answered back. “The lure of power is an intoxicating thing.”
“It’s not that much different from being a Shyeld,” Donovan added. “Except as a Shyeld you at least retain your own will.”
Ty glanced at him, surprised by the knowing tone of Donovan’s voice. “You’ve been one?”
Donovan nodded. “Before they changed me into a vampire, I was a Shyeld for many years. Kind of the clan’s vampire-in-training program. You make it through proving yourself good as a guard and that you’ve got something to offer the clan, then they consider offering you the opportunity to become one of them.”
“Why the hell would you want to?” Ty said, the disgust in his tone clear as the process below continued.
“Don’t knock it, Grayson. It’s a hell of a rush when you’re a teen to be able to practically be a superhero. You’re faster, stronger, able to see things other people can’t see. Hell, the only things you can’t do are transporting, phasing and fluxing.”
“So you willingly give up your humanity just so you can travel faster, bring objects to you on call and turn invisible? Sounds like you just need better internet.”
A smile spread across Donovan’s face as he shook his head. “I don’t expect you to understand. Just like I didn’t understand what it meant to be Were until I accepted that part of myself. But look at him, man. He’s not being forced. He wants this.”
“What he wants is to get rid of the Were who knocked up his sister.”
Donovan chuckled. “You blame him?”
Ty frowned. “No. And that’s the hell of it. But this is still going to piss off Jess. She’s already mad I bit Riley. She’s going to throw a total bitch fit when she discovers Davis is a goddamn Thrall.”
“So don’t tell her.”
Ty locked gazes with Donovan. “How’s that work with you and Raina?”
Donovan frowned. “Okay, I see your point. Not anything you can hide from an alpha female.”
“Exactly.” Ty rolled his shoulders and turned to Achilles. “So what are we going to do? We can’t let him near Jess.”
Achilles nodded. “If he’s been inducted into the hive mind, he won’t hesitate to follow orders.”
Those Thralls that had already drunk the dark liquid were leaning against the bunker in a stupor. “Look at them,” Ty growled. “They’re vulnerable now, we should just take them.”
Donovan shook his head. “Just give them another half hour. They’ll be just starting to rejuvenate. By the time we get into it, we’d have amped-up Thralls and a host of vampires on our ass.”
“All this waiting sucks.”
Achilles pounded him on the shoulder with the flat of his hand. “Strategy is never a waste of time.” He looked at Donovan. “Take him back to his mate. Alert your people to join us here. We’ll move in at dawn tomorrow.”
Donovan gave one curt nod to Achilles, then grabbed Ty by the forearm. “Ready to roll?”
Ty frowned. “I hate this part,” he muttered as the now-familiar suck and pull behind his navel yanked him inside out and turned everything into a blur.
He shut his eyes against the onslaught of sensory input, concentrating on the sure, strong heartbeat in his own chest. This time when they reemerged, Ty landed easily on his feet in the Brierlys’ front yard.
“You must have been transporting a lot. You seem to have a good handle on it,” Donovan said as he cracked his neck from side to side, then started for the big whit
e house.
Ty stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Why are you and Raina in this?”
“Are you asking the vampire half of me or the Werewolf half of me?” Donovan shot back.
“Both.”
“We’re in this because we have ties to the clan and because these reivers are intent on wiping out Weres. You were once a member of our pack. Just because you’ve chosen to go your own way doesn’t mean the blood bond isn’t there. We take care of our own. And we still consider you and your pack part of our extended family.”
A great lump formed at the base of Ty’s throat. After having been on the outside for so long, knowing that the pack would still stand with him and didn’t consider him a qelaen—an outcast—touched something fundamental within him. It gave him strength. More than that, it gave him confidence. It wasn’t just him and the vampires against the reivers and a goddess bent on chaos, destruction and potential annihilation. It was him, the vampires and the largest pack of Weres on the West Coast. And as much as he thought the vampires would be good in battle, no one and nothing could outdo a Were in the woods when it came to fighting hand to hand.
Ty held out his hand to Donovan. “Then this is going to be one hell of a fight, brother.”
Donovan smiled and nodded, taking Ty’s hand in a firm shake. “I suspect it’ll be easier than the one you’ve got on your hands with your female.”
Ty rolled his shoulders and grunted. Donovan didn’t know the half of it. They walked up to the front door and Ty knocked.
Crawford’s face wasn’t what he expected to see when the door opened. “Welcome to the party.”
Ty pushed past him. “Where’s Jess?”
“Nice to see you again, too,” Crawford muttered. “She’s sleeping.”
He took the stairs two at a time and quietly opened her door. The sight of her curled on her side, peaceful and asleep, made his heart ache. Her hair spilled in a flow of gold over the pillow, the soft curve of her cheek a pale pink that matched the rosy hue of her lips. He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
Silently he closed the door behind him and sat himself down in the chair at her desk. He didn’t want to wake her by sitting on the bed or curling up beside her, even though he was desperate to touch her. For now watching the smooth, even fall of her chest and knowing that she was safe would have to be enough.
Somewhere in the night he drifted off in the chair. Her mutters and soft crying woke him. Ty rushed to her side, brushing the hair, damp from her tears, from her cheek. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s just a bad dream,” he whispered softly. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his neck.
Ty held her, gently running his hand up and down her back to soothe her. “It’s okay, Jess. I’m right here.”
She pulled back, the moonlight outside her window casting her face in a play of shadow and light across her pale skin. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
Her smooth hand cupped his rough jaw. “It was horrible. I dreamed you were in battle, fighting the vampires and you...died.”
Ty turned his head, kissing the palm of her hand. “It was just a nightmare.”
“It was just so real. And it wasn’t just you. Davis was there, too. He had these horrible red eyes that glowed.” She shivered and Ty tucked her in against his side, holding her.
“Well, right here, right now, it’s just you and me.” He leaned back, taking her with him to the mattress so that she was curled up against his side.
Jess leaned up on her elbow and kissed him. “I missed you.”
Ty chuckled. “I was only gone for the day.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be confined to a house with my brothers and Crawford.”
He could imagine. He hated to spoil the moment, but the burden of what he’d seen pressed upon him like a heavy weight on his chest. “Jess, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Her body went rigid beside him. “Why does that sound like something bad?”
He sighed. “Maybe because it is.”
She put her hand to his chest. “What’s wrong?”
“We saw Davis at the reiver nest.”
Jess fidgeted, sitting upright and snapping on the bedside lamp. “Maybe he was there as part of his j—”
“No, Jess.” He hated to cut her off, but this was hard enough. “He was with them.”
“Davis wouldn’t—”
“Don’t you get it? That’s not Davis anymore. He’s a goddamn Thrall! She’s got him, Jess, and there’s nothing we can do about it. He’s part of the reiver hive mind—he won’t protect you, won’t stop at killing you. Hell, he won’t even recognize you. As of this moment, he’s the enemy.”
Jess’s eyes burned hot as twin points of blue-white flame as she backed away from him off the edge of the bed and stood. “I don’t care what he is.”
Ty plowed his hands through his hair. “Jess, he might kill you. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to protect you and my children, even if that means I have to take him out.”
All the color drained from her face, her body shaking. “If you kill my brother, I’ll never forgive you.” She paused, her breath rapid and shallow. “And you will never see these children.” Her hand pressed to the growing curve of her belly.
“Jess, be reasonable,” Ty pleaded.
She marched to her bedroom door and flung it open. “Get out.”
“Jess—”
“Out.”
Ty muttered as he heaved himself off her bed and toward the door. “I didn’t choose this, Jess, but I’ll do what I have to.”
Her mouth was pinched tight and she didn’t talk to him as she slammed the door behind him. Ty stood in the hallway for a moment, his body frozen. He didn’t need his superior Were hearing to pick up the creak of her mattress as she flung herself on the bed or the soft muffled sounds of her heart-wrenching crying into her pillows.
There was no good outcome to be had with this. It was a choice between sucky and suckier. He trudged downstairs, loathing himself for making his pregnant mate cry but knowing he couldn’t hide the truth from her, either. In some battles there were no victors, there were only survivors. He hoped Davis might be one, but if he had to make the call, he’d do anything to protect Jess.
He made it as far as the kitchen before his need to run overtook his common sense. “Crawford,” he said loudly, “I’ll be back. I’m going on a run.”
Ty didn’t wait for Crawford to answer. He headed out the front door of Jess’s house and wolfed out right in her front yard, his clothes blowing apart in shreds as his body changed and grew. With lupine eyes he glanced back at the lighted square of her bedroom window and howled out his anguish, then ran as hard and as fast as his legs would take him.
Chapter 16
The storm began to rage in earnest. Rain came down in soaking sheets, but Ty felt none of it. He was numb from the inside out, and his thick pelt with its heavy undercoat beneath the bristle-like outer hairs was practically waterproof.
He’d made a mess of things with Jess. Telling her about her brother being a Thrall hadn’t been smart, but how could he lie to her? They both had a lot to lose in the outcome of the battle. Possibly more than either of them realized.
With the rain it was hard to tell if daylight was approaching. Ty reached Jess’s house. All the lights were still off, the windows like dark eyes. He shifted, shaking the rain from his skin. He’d better get inside before the neighbors noticed the nude man on the Brierlys’ front porch. Ty touched the handle of the door and was surprised when it creaked open, unlatched.
The overwhelming stench of vampire and Thrall filled his nose, making his heart swell and fill his throat. A few dark forms lay crumpled on the floor surrounded by dark red pools of blood.
Jess.
He avoided the broken furniture and bodies that indicated a battle had happened and sped up the stairs. Her bedroom door stood ajar, her sheets a rumpled mess, but Jess was nowhere to be seen. On the bed lay a note.
She’s our sister. Not your whore.
Ty cursed and crumpled the note in his hand and tore through the house searching room by room, calling her name. Only the faintest groan alerted him to a door off the kitchen. Down in the basement, Ty found Crawford, gagged, bound to a chair in glinting silver chains, his head lolling to the side.
He pulled the gag from Crawford’s mouth and slapped him in the face to wake him. Crawford’s head came up, wobbly, but at least he was conscious. “Getchainsoff,” he slurred.
Ty didn’t dare touch the silver bare-handed. The stuff was dangerous on vampires, but deadly to Weres. He bounded up to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of oven mitts, then hurried back to Crawford. “What the hell happened?” Ty worked on the chains, but it was damn near impossible with the stupid oven mitts hampering his efforts. The silver was interrupting Crawford’s muscle and nerve function. If Ty could just get the damn chain off, he could start to recover.
“Damn, there has to be something better than this.” He shook off the mitts and looked around the basement. It was mostly storage. Boxes and trunks covered in dust and cobwebs. Exposed pipes and beams above. Near one of the small casement windows, he spied a workbench and a pair of leather gloves. Ty stalked over and grabbed them.
He pulled on the gloves and worked at the chains until they fell to the floor with a metallic clinking hiss. Crawford leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. He wrapped his hand over the base of his neck and groaned. “You never should have gone on that run, man.”
Fear was on par with the anger pumping through Ty’s system. “Where’s Jess?”
Crawford glanced up at him. “Thralls. Her brother Paul let the eldest one in. They didn’t realize what he was. He had a dozen more with him and a few vampires. I took out what I could. He took the brothers and Jess. Wrapped me up in silver and took off.”
One Night With the Shifter Page 19
