The door to the café opened, and Noah headed back outside with the vampire at his side. She knew that vamps could walk in the light if they’d fed on the blood of a species that wasn’t sensitive to the sun, which meant this guy had likely downed some human blood in the past few hours. Strangely enough, the thought didn’t disturb her nearly as much as it would have a few days ago. She kept remembering how Noah’s fangs had looked and how she’d ached to know what it felt like to have them sinking into her flesh.
Shaking off that crazy thought, Willow studied Ashe Granger. He was wearing jeans and a gray T-shirt that matched his silver eyes, with a black backpack slung over one broad shoulder. He was tall, like Noah, with a lean, muscular physique that’d been earned through experience, instead of bought in a gym. He was also gorgeous. Not even the shadows under his eyes or the severe cut of his thick, sable hair could detract from the fact that he was sinfully good-looking.
It was said among the clans that the complex nature of the Deschanel was a delicate balance between the light and dark aspects of the world, and Ashe Granger appeared to be a prime example. He was a thing of outrageous beauty, and yet…she could sense that this was a man who could be ruthlessly violent when necessary. Which made her damn glad he was on their side, and not fighting against them.
From what Noah had told her, she knew that Ashe had flown over with his brother to help out with the latest Infettato attack in Wisconsin, and had been in Cartersville to deliver the personal possessions of a young businessman killed in the attack. He could have mailed the man’s belongings to his widow and little boy, or even left them to be tossed out in the trash. She knew how cleanups like the one taking place in the small Wisconsin town were handled. There just wasn’t time to deal with the little things. But Ashe had thought this situation deserved his personal attention, which meant he had a good heart, and Willow thought there was a strong chance she was going to like the vamp.
She climbed out of the truck, intending to move to the backseat, so that he could sit in the front with Noah. Somehow, she didn’t think the idea of putting the vamp in such close proximity to Damon was a good one—at least until she’d had time to see how they got along. She smiled as Noah and the vampire approached, and Ashe smiled back with a slow, wicked curve of his lips. “So you’re Winston’s new mystery woman,” he said in a low, decadent rumble as he took her hand and pressed a warm kiss to her fingers. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Noah’s voice was little more than a whisper, but the warning in the soft words still gave her chills. “Don’t even think about it, Ashe.”
The vampire laughed, and seeing a fresh opportunity to be a pain in the ass, Damon couldn’t leave well enough alone. Sticking his head out an open window, he said, “I don’t know why you’re warning off the vamp, Winston. I thought Low was still on the market.”
“Leave it alone,” Noah muttered, then cut a puzzled look toward Will. “I can’t believe you said this bloody jackass reminds you of me.”
She shrugged, fighting back a smile. “I think it’s an attitude thing.”
He snorted, giving her a long, hard look that did nothing to disguise the blatant hunger smoldering in his eyes. He suddenly looked like there were a thousand different things he wanted to say to her, but then he glanced at the vampire and the demon, and changed his mind.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, pulling his keys from his pocket and heading around to the driver’s side of the truck.
Willow didn’t say anything as she climbed into the backseat, but she couldn’t stop thinking about that look Noah had just given her. Damon slid her a knowing smile that said I told you so, and she pressed her hand to her chest, where her heart was trying to pound its way through.
Was Damon right about Noah? Did he want her? For more than just sex?
And what the hell was she going to do about it if he did?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THEY TOOK TURNS driving through the day, stopping only for gas and drinks. It was late afternoon when they finally crossed into Kansas, still about a hundred miles from the rendezvous point where they were meeting up with the others. After so many hours on the road, they were all eager for a shower and some hot food. The shower would have to wait, but they found a diner to take care of their rumbling stomachs when they stumbled across a picturesque little town off the old county highway they were traveling.
The town seemed unusually silent as they climbed out of the truck and made their way toward the diner’s entrance. They were parked on the street, along with several parked cars and a van, but there was no one walking along the sidewalks or pouring out of the quaint Main Street stores.
“Anyone else have a bad feeling about this?” Damon murmured as they headed inside.
Noah glanced around the diner’s empty interior, and stated the obvious. “Something’s wrong.” He took a deep breath and grimaced. “It doesn’t smell right in here.”
Willow shivered, getting the creeps. “This definitely doesn’t have that ‘welcome to our little hometown’ atmosphere.”
“There’s still food on the tables,” Ashe pointed out, his black backpack slung over his shoulder. “Meals only look half-eaten. Looks like people left in a hurry.”
Wearing a serious expression for a change, his broad shoulders hard with tension, Damon said, “We should take a look around. See what we can find.”
Noah agreed, saying he would search the back of the diner with Damon, while Willow and Ashe kept watch on things out front. He gave the vamp a speaking glance before walking away, as if warning the guy to keep a close eye on her. Or maybe he was warning Ashe not to try any more flirting. In some ways, the vamp had been as bad as Damon during the trip there, getting a kick out of pressing Noah’s buttons as soon as he’d realized just how easy it was.
Noah and Damon were only just heading into the diner’s kitchen when Ashe suddenly grabbed Willow’s arm and yanked her to the wall beside the front window, practically shoving her into the corner. “We’ve got a problem,” the vampire called out to the others, peering around the edge of the diner’s homemade curtains.
“What is it?” Willow and Noah asked at the same time.
Before he could answer, Noah started across the room, but Ashe motioned him back. “Stay down. We’ve got Death-Walkers out in the street. Hiding behind the van parked near your truck. Looks like they’re trying to get a better look at us.”
“Shit. How many are there?” Noah growled, moving to the far side of the room, where he’d be out of sight. With a fierce look in his eyes, he started making his way toward Willow, weaving through the maze of tables, with Damon right on his heels.
“Can’t tell how many.” Ashe shifted his position for a better look. “Maybe around ten.”
Noah gave another gritty curse, not liking the number, and looked at Damon. “Can you do that spell thing again with the Marker? Knock them into another county or something?”
Shaking his head, Damon said, “’Fraid not, man. Since we’re both from hell, my demon mojo won’t work on these assholes.”
“What about weapons?” he barked, turning his attention back to Ashe. “I’ve left my damn flasks out in the truck. You got any on you?”
Willow frowned, wondering what they needed flasks for.
“I’ve got something better than a flask,” the vamp rumbled, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a handgun that looked as if it had undergone some serious modifications. Noah and Damon both leaned closer for a better look. “It’s Kellan’s latest design.”
Willow knew from her conversations with Ashe during the drive that Kellan was some kind of techno-genius who designed weaponry and security gadgets for the unit.
Taking out the clip, Ashe showed them one of the bullets. “You can screw the top off these babies and fill them up. I tried it out when Gid and I were up in Wisconsin and it was damn effective. A single shot to the chest takes one of the Walkers down for about twenty minutes. A head shot even long
er.”
Willow started to breathe a little easier. “That’s plenty of time for us to get out of town. After we shoot them, that is.”
“There’s just one problem,” Ashe told them. “These bullets are all empty.”
Noah ran a rough hand over his eyes. “You’re shitting me.”
“Sorry, man. We got hit hard up in Wisconsin and I used up my stash. This is just an empty clip that I tossed in my bag. I’ve been keeping my eye out for a place where I can load the rounds.”
Scratching his chin, Damon asked, “What do you need to fill them with?”
Despite the danger they were in, Ashe was actually grinning as he glanced at the demon. “Holy water and salt.”
Damon’s expression registered his surprise, then he shook his head and laughed. “That’s classic. A holy water water gun. I’m liking you guys more every minute.”
Willow frowned as she pushed her hair out of her eyes, thinking the weapon didn’t sound all that impressive. “I don’t understand. What are holy water and salt going to do to the Death-Walkers?”
“It burns them. The combination is the only thing we’ve found that will send them running,” Noah explained. Then he shook his head and grimaced. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you that before.”
“You’ve just had a lot on your mind,” she murmured, glaring at Damon when he snickered.
“If holy water’s what we’re after, there’s a church on the street behind this one,” the demon said, jerking his chin toward the back of the diner. “I saw the steeple when we drove into town.”
Noah took a saltshaker off one of the tables and grabbed Willow’s hand, saying, “We can go out the back and make a run for it.”
The plan turned out to be a good one, since they made it to the church without any trouble. But Willow knew better than to think the danger was over. The Death-Walkers were still out there, and the monsters would search the town once they realized their prey was no longer inside the diner. She didn’t imagine it would be long before the hideous creatures sniffed them out.
While Damon went to see if there was anyone else in the building, Noah and Ashe opened the bullets and filled them with salt and holy water from the font just inside the church’s front doors. Left with a moment to herself, Willow walked a little ways down the center aisle. The inside of the church was silent and cool, and her breath caught as she stared up at the breathtaking panels of stained glass that ran the perimeter of the nave. She’d always thought there was something lovely about churches, especially the older ones, like this. Fresh flowers in shades of rose and cream lined the aisles and altar, the colors making her wonder if there’d been a wedding planned for that morning. She should have been trying to help the others, but she couldn’t stop herself from taking a moment to simply stand there and appreciate the beauty of her surroundings.
Lives had begun and ended in this sun-dappled room. New chapters, and old ones. A place of birth and death and celebrations, and she wanted her share of it, damn it. She wanted it all.
As she turned and locked her burning gaze on Noah’s rugged profile, Willow realized she wanted it with the man she loved.
Her lips parted on a gasp as the realization slammed through her, making her dizzy. She reached out with her hand, anchoring herself on one of the pews as she tried to calm down and just breathe. But this…it was too huge to simply accept with ease. She’d known she loved him once, with a girl’s heart. And since he’d walked back into her life, she’d known she felt things for him that she’d never felt for any other man. But she’d let her anger and her bitterness cloud her mind, until they had masked the truth of her feelings. Until she couldn’t recognize that the crazy, out of control, terrifying emotion he made her feel was so much more than lust.
It was love.
As if he could feel the press of her gaze, he turned his head, a crease forming between his dark brows as she stood there trembling and giving him a watery smile. He probably thought she’d lost her mind. He said something to Ashe, who nodded, his attention focused on the bullets he was loading into the clip, then turned and headed her way. She had no idea what she was going to say to him when he reached her, and was saved from making a complete ass of herself when Damon’s deep voice rang out from somewhere in the back of the church.
“You guys need to get back here,” he shouted. “I’ve found something you have to see.”
Ashe stood guard near the entrance, while she and Noah followed the direction of Damon’s voice. They found him standing in a narrow hallway, his shoulder propped against the wall outside an open door. He was pale, the strain on his face an expression that Willow had rarely seen on the demon. It usually meant that something horrific had happened—something he was powerless to do anything about.
As they made their way down the hallway, Damon jerked his chin toward the open door. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he scraped out, running a shaky hand roughly over his mouth.
With her heart lodged in her throat, Willow peered into the room, her soft gasp drowned out by Noah’s guttural curse. Inside were the mutilated bodies of a young bride and groom, their flesh ripped and torn, as if something with powerful jaws had fed on them. The groom had wrapped his bride in his arms, and it was clear he had taken the brunt of the attack.
“He was trying to protect her,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. “Those bastards!”
Noah pulled her against his chest, his deep voice soft in her ear. “At least they weren’t infected.”
She nodded, knowing what he meant. As if the Death-Walkers weren’t bad enough on their own, they could use their bites to infect their human victims, turning the humans into the Infettato. The infected humans became little more than walking zombies, living only to consume flesh, and forced to obey the orders of those who’d made them.
Damon shut the door to the room, and Willow pulled herself out of Noah’s arms, well aware that he didn’t have time to comfort her. Damon told them that he’d found more bodies in a few of the other rooms, and she pressed her hand to her stomach, sickened by the senseless loss of life.
“Do you think there are any Infettato in the town?” she asked, walking beside Noah as they headed back to the nave. She could hear Damon walking behind them.
“I don’t know,” Noah answered, reaching up with one hand to rub the muscles at the back of his neck. “I think maybe they tore through this place on an eating frenzy. I’ll call in the local Watchmen unit and have them contain the area. I’m sure there are a helluva lot more bodies to be found.”
Shivering at the thought, she rubbed her eyes, feeling more exhausted than she’d felt in years. Physically. Emotionally. She was drained. And Noah looked the same, the bruise-colored shadows under his eyes darker than ever. She was just about to reach out to brush back the dark strands of hair falling over his brow when the window above the altar shattered, sending stained glass raining down on their heads. She got a quick glimpse of the pale, yellow-eyed creatures, their corpselike bodies covered in festering wounds, as they swarmed in through the broken window—and then she was being shoved into Damon’s arms.
“Get her the hell out of here!” Noah roared, and the demon immediately tossed her over his shoulder and started running. She had no idea where he was taking her as they traveled deeper into the long hallway, her mind locked on the sounds of fighting she could hear coming from the nave. Damon carried her into a darkened room that smelled of paper and ink, slammed and locked the door behind them, then set her on her feet and flipped on a light switch.
Blinking against the harsh fluorescent glow, Willow saw that the room was a small office, probably used by the church secretary. Damon stood in front of the door, ready to take down anything that came through, and she stumbled back, in shock, until she came up against the wall. She sank to the floor, arms around her knees, and started to rock. Damon said something to her in a low voice, but she couldn’t respond. She was stunned silent, trapped in layers of fear, unable to ac
cept what was happening. That she was on the verge, again, of losing something that mattered to her. Something that mattered more than…well, than anything else. Even more than it had mattered twelve years ago.
If Noah survived the Death-Walker attack, was she really going to let her fear of heartbreak keep her from him?
Was she that much of a coward?
She bit her bottom lip, unable to stop the tears that slipped through her lashes, waiting…and waiting. God, how long would it take Noah and the vampire to shoot those hideous monsters? She wanted to be out there fighting beside him, but knew she’d only be a distraction he didn’t need, her fighting skills useless against this enemy. She prayed they would hurry, and couldn’t choke back her cry of relief when there was a hard rap on the door followed by the sound of Noah calling her name. She practically shoved Damon out of her way as she ran to the door and tore open the lock, throwing herself into Noah’s arms, holding on as if she never meant to let go.
He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, and she forced herself to release her hold, knowing they needed to get out of there. She swiped the tears from her eyes as Ashe joined them, the men keeping a sharp lookout for trouble as they made their way back to Noah’s truck. They didn’t know for certain how many Death-Walkers were in the town, and Willow knew she wouldn’t be able to take a deep breath until they were on their way.
Climbing into the backseat, she locked her door, then shoved her tangled hair out of her eyes. “Well,” she said a little breathlessly, “that was certainly…eventful.”
With a gritty laugh, Ashe said, “I just hope we can make it to Sampson before any more psychotic assholes come after us.”
“I’LL RUN THEM down if they do,” Noah muttered, enjoying the brief smile that touched Willow’s mouth as he turned the key in the ignition. But she didn’t say anything more, and that silence deepened as the afternoon wore on. She seemed lost in her thoughts, and from the small crease between her brows, which he could see every time he glanced in the rearview mirror, he didn’t think they were good ones.
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