by Mandy Rosko
Mine.
He nearly lost control of himself at that. The need to deepen the kiss was getting to him.
With regret and as much willpower as he could muster, he pulled away and looked her in the eyes, his hands coming up to her shoulders.
“Thank you.”
She opened her mouth to ask, what for? when a hard pressure in her neck suddenly made everything go black.
Gwen sunk in Shepard’s arms. He lifted her up and placed her gently onto the waiting bench she’d previously been sitting on.
“Was that really necessary?” Evey asked, the smile gone from her face.
Shepard made sure she would be as comfortable as possible and briefly touched her face before standing. “Yes, and you’re right, you need to come with me. You’ve got the blood. I don’t want to put her in anymore danger anyway.”
Evey nodded. “And, I don’t think you want the other wolves knowing where the Shepards are hiding either.”
“Well, that too,” he admitted sheepishly. They were still his family.
“So, where are they hiding?”
“Old barn just off the highway. It’s abandoned and nearly falling over. You know it?”
Evey nodded. “I know it. Let’s go, we have an hour and a half until the sun rises.”
Shepard didn’t notice Evey looking in the direction of the door where John was being treated, a door that had recently been cracked open for the person on the other side to listen to their conversation.
Chapter Nine
Gwen screamed when she woke up and found herself in a hospital bed, her father hovering over her. She screamed so loud that everyone close to her jumped back and covered their ears.
She leapt from the bed and noted that she’d been put in the same room Bill was sleeping in. Thankfully her scream didn’t stir him, but she wasn’t sure she would have felt any remorse even if it did.
She zoomed in on John who stared wildly at her. He stepped toward her, his hands out and questioning. She attacked him. She punched him in the mouth, sending him stumbling backwards, stopping only because a blinding pain shot through her knuckles when they hit his teeth.
“Ah! Damnit!” she screeched, clutching her shaking fingers. John backed away, holding his bleeding mouth.
She wanted to jump at him again, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and held her back.
“Let go! Let go of me!” she yelled, fighting against whoever was holding her back when another pair of arms went to help the first.
Her father’s voice growled in her ear. “You will stop it this instant! Don’t start fights when Bill is lying right there!”
He was right. As angry as she was, picking fights could wait until another time.
Gwen forced her body to go lax, willing her heart to calm down and her breathing to lessen for the sake of her pack master. Although there was no guilt before, the second she had control again, shame grabbed her and held on tight.
“Alright, I-I’m sorry. You can put me down now.” Eric, who’d been hanging onto her for dear life let go completely, but her father’s arms never left her shoulders. Gwen never stopped growling at the stunned John, whose hand was still over his mouth to stop the throbbing she hoped he felt. Di’s hands covered her mouth as well, only her reaction was from the shock of it all.
“Care to explain?” Larry said, his grip tightening. He wasn’t pleased with anything since Johnathan came in carrying her in his arms, explaining that the hunter had attacked her so he could go to his family of killers again.
He hated that their chance to question the man was gone, but what he hated even more was that Johnathan had apparently let him go on purpose, having heard the entire conversation from inside the room he was being treated in.
“I can track them,” he said. “Then, we’ll know where they’re all hiding. We can surprise them like they did to us. It’s perfect!”
Larry didn’t think so. The plan was seriously flawed, especially with the hunter turning. Sneaking up would be that much more difficult. Yes, he hated that the hunter got away, but he disliked the idea of another bloodbath even more. So, they took their loss and stayed put.
When he asked his daughter to explain, he didn’t expect her to burst into tears.
“It’s all his fault,” she sobbed, hiccoughing. “Because you had to scratch him, he’s turning. Why’d you have to do that?” She put her face in her hands and turned into her father’s chest. He held her close.
“Gwen, I’m so sorry,” John said, wincing and wiping the smear of blood from his jaw. He’d had no clue that she would react in such a way at the time. Even if she and the hunter were former lovers, they’d both attacked and turned people before.
But, it was obvious that she still had feelings for him when they kissed at Evey’s cabin, and by then it was too late for him to take back his actions.
He touched her shoulder, but she jerked away.
She sniffled and wiped her eyes, embarrassed. “How long have I been out?”
“Almost an hour,” Larry said.
“You gonna be okay?” Eric asked, but she ignored him and stomped toward the window, throwing open the curtains.
A whole hour? That meant the sun would be rising soon.
Just as she thought. Toward the East, she could see the sky turning purple and pink. The sun was getting ready to rise and Gwen felt her insides freeze.
“They didn’t come back yet?”
“Why would they?”
“Because Evey left with him! They went to get his friend! Who’s a vampire, too! They have to come back!” she snapped, ready to lose it all over again regardless of Bill.
Everyone looked at each other and Gwen glared at John. “They didn’t know she went with them?”
“I…” He looked stunned, but she didn’t care. “I didn’t think about the sun coming up, I thought she’d be fine!”
Of course he didn’t think of it. Why would he? So dead set on catching the hunters in their hiding spot that he completely overlooked Evey’s safety, as well as the safety of the vampire they were going to get.
Then it hit her. Even if they did come back to the hospital, would it, with all the windows and white reflective walls, be able to provide total darkness for two vampires? Not likely.
“We need to get them. Take them somewhere else, this place isn’t going to help.”
“Maybe we should just leave them, Evey knows how to take care of herself,” Di said.
“The only other place to bring them would be the cabin and you know what would happen to Shepard there,” John said carefully, his hand still on the sore spot of his mouth in case she decided to attack him again.
Of course she knew. They would question him, deny him medicine that would ease his pain, and lock him up. But, there was no other place to bring Jacob and Evey; her home was riddled with bullet holes, the city was too far away, and with the sun getting ready to rise, their bodies would heat up and smoke soon.
Still, David would be questioned. At least she would be there with him, knowing he was safe, for the moment.
“Alright.”
***
Garrett Shepard never imagined himself shooting at his own son, his son who’d teamed up with another vampire to attack them. A lot of things hadn’t been going as planned, but none of them should have brought them to this.
He’d decided to wait until sun up to kill Jacob, giving Jimmy and Allen enough time to get back and tell him that David had lost his mind. He was actually fighting with the werewolves and attacking his own brothers.
There was no doubt in Garrett’s mind that his son had been bitten. That left him with only one choice.
Jacob was on their side of the fighting, on his knees with a camera in his hands, watching the film on the small screen. He came from a time before such things existed and never cared for them, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the red haired woman. Her face and body were blurred with the age of the film, but he knew it was her. The last person he ever
fed from.
His Angela.
No, it couldn’t be. They’d told him she’d betrayed him. That’s why he fed from her! They tricked him!
Jacob dropped the camera, fangs extending. Garrett Shepard had just enough time to turn around before he sunk his teeth into the old man’s neck.
***
Because of morning traffic and how close the towns were, the highway was busier than usual. When Gwen saw a truck fifty yards ahead of them screech, the tires twisting, causing the truck to turn over and roll down the highway at a hundred miles an hour before slowing to a stop on its roof, she knew they didn’t have to go any farther.
John slammed his foot on the brakes and turned to the other side of the road. “Guess we found them.”
Gwen jumped out of the car, immediately recognizing Evey and Jacob by how their bodies smoked under the rising sun. Another vampire was climbing out of a broken window, his body was steaming as well, but she didn’t recognize him until she saw him close up.
It was one of David’s brothers and he didn’t look too happy to see her. His fangs extended and he went to jump at her until Eric tackled him to the ground, tying his hands behind his back with plastic ties. She was so shocked she could hardly move. When did he get bitten?
“Gwen! A little help here?” John was busy trying to pull David out of the driver’s side, his face was bleeding and her heart stopped at the sight of him.
“What happened?” she shrieked, immediately at his side. Just the look of him made her want to burst into tears again. Was he dead? Was anything important broken? She didn’t know because she wasn’t trained to handle such things. Elaine would have to take a look at him when they got him back to the cabin.
Evey was rummaging through the trunk of the car they came in, pulling out blankets to shield herself with. “He was driving and he just passed out! We couldn’t stop that one there,” she nodded her head toward Jimmy, “from trying to escape. He grabbed the wheel and we flipped.” She threw the extra blanket to Jacob for cover, but gave nothing to the former hunter.
“And where the hell were you?” she screamed at John, though with the blanket covering her she wasn’t very intimidating. “You were supposed to be right behind us! We were in there by ourselves!”
“I’m sorry! Okay?” They both carried David, none too gently, toward the car and Gwen eagerly stood over them, inadvertently getting in their way.
“Careful! Be careful!” she snapped, her heart dropping when it looked like they would drop him.
“Get out of our way and we will be!” Evey yelled back, hoisting David’s legs up while awkwardly trying to keep the blanket over her head. It almost slid off until Jacob came up from behind and pulled it back up.
Gwen backed up and, for the first time, decided to put what John and Evey had said together. He really did let them go on purpose. She would have to give him hell for that later.
“Sorry isn’t going to cut it.” Evey immediately went back to yelling at John when Gwen was out of the way.
“The pack decided it was too dangerous to send anyone else,” he muttered in his defense.
“I’m going to remember that the next time you guys need any help from me.” She and Jacob climbed into the backseat while Eric wrestled Jimmy into the trunk. The car could only carry so many people. With David knocked out, it was going to be a cramped ride. “I actually had to use majick tonight to defend myself. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve had to do that?”
Jacob stared at her when she said the word majick, and leaned his head in to try and look at her face, a task made difficult with the blankets.
Evey noticed him trying to look at her and turned away. “Is there something I can help you with?” she snapped.
He quickly turned away, careful to keep his body hidden under the blanket. “I’m sorry. No, nothing.”
Eric sat up front so Gwen could stay in the back with David, cradling his head and searching for broken glass while his legs lay sprawled over Evey and Jacob. Gwen never wanted to kill someone more in her entire life, and when Jimmy banged against the inside of the trunk, she felt no pity for him.
“Were the hunters following you?” John asked, pulling away from the wreckage and nearly hitting another car that had been trying to drive around the overturned truck in his haste.
“They have enough to worry about,” Jacob said.
Chapter Ten
When they opened the trunk to let the Jimmy out, they’d forgot he’d been bitten. By then, the sun had completely risen and the first thing he did when the rays of light hit his skin was let out a roar of blind pain as it burned his skin. Eric slammed the trunk shut again, holding his nose against the smell of cooked flesh.
“I’ll need some blankets over here!” he yelled while everyone else made their way inside. Evey and Jacob were quick to get out of the heat of the daylight while Gwen and John carried David inside.
Elaine came rushing out to have a look at him. She’d come back from the hospital along with Larry, who’d been assured by Doc that it was alright to leave Bill for the occasion.
He didn’t move to get the blankets for Jimmy, but two other men who’d been at the cabin all night did. Soon enough, they had him wrapped up and inside with the others.
***
There was a spare room in the basement, more of a holding cell designed to look like a spare room, in case someone who shouldn’t see it did. However, that didn’t mean it had the comforts of one. There was an old lamp on a plastic nightstand and the bed was just a small fold out cot. Another cot had to be brought in from the upstairs closet so David could have something to lay on.
Only two paintings hung on the wall to give the gray concrete slabs some decoration and the only thing new and nice looking in the room was the blue carpet. The door was made of thick wood with a steel frame, making binding anyone in the room unnecessary.
The blinds were shut for Jimmy’s sake, but enough light still penetrated the room to make it hot for him. Elaine took pity on him and brought him a bowl of ice to chew on before getting to work on David.
Gwen watched the entire thing from the doorway while biting her nails, seeing to Elaine’s needs in case she should need something to help him. She couldn’t stop staring at his bloodied face, wishing he would just wake up and tell her he was alright. The very sight of him made her stomach churn. Out of everything she’d seen and all the things she’d done for her pack, most she wasn’t very proud of, she’d never had that reaction before.
“Is he going to be okay?” Jimmy asked.
The question pulled her back to reality. It was the first time he spoke to anyone that didn’t involve raging threats or loud screaming. He’d fought and clawed the entire way into the room, not stopping until the blinds were opened just enough to let in small streams of light above his bed. One wrong move and he was toast.
The part of her that was still angry over the accident hoped he would move and burn himself. If he hadn’t stupidly grabbed the wheel, the truck wouldn’t have flipped over like it did. She wanted to blame him for David’s condition, but she knew that, no matter what, she wasn’t entirely innocent either.
“He’ll be just fine,” Elaine answered for her. They both gave a sigh of relief. “It looks like he banged his head is all. I’ll just clean him up and he should be …” she stopped before she could finish, the word “fine” hanging in the air. The truth was, he wouldn’t be fine. In fact, whether or not the crash did any real harm to him, the odds of him living for very long were against him.
Evey had said that he passed out at the wheel, probably feeling the first effects of his change, making the accident partially John’s fault too. If he hadn’t been so jealous, he wouldn’t have scratched him and David wouldn’t have passed out.
Heart sick, Gwen decided that she couldn’t watch anymore and left the room. She slipped upstairs and heard rage filled yelling. She must have been too preoccupied with David to notice from downstairs. When she foll
owed the sound to one of the spare rooms, she heard her father reprimanding John for lying to him about Gwen’s earlier whereabouts. Loudly.
Di was standing outside the room looking freshly showered with her red hair pulled back into a pony tail, but she didn’t seem alright at all. Gwen spared her a sympathetic smile and padded out of the way.
She ended up walking right into Elaine who was ghost white and covering her mouth with her hand.
“What are you doing up here? Who’s watching David?” she asked, a horrific thought occurring to her. “Something didn’t happen, did it? Is he alright?”
Elaine didn’t bother looking at her before shoving past her and letting herself into the room Larry was in uninvited.
John was pushed out seconds later, still red in the face from his argument, only now with a confused look about him.
“What’s wrong with her?” Gwen asked.
“She didn’t say,” John said, his normal color returning as he calmed down. The three of them were staring at the door now, but all they could hear was Elaine’s sobbing and Larry’s gentle questions.
“That hunter didn’t bite her, did he?” Dianna said.
The idea hadn’t occurred to either of them. Gwen and John stared stupidly at each other before rushing back downstairs, expecting to see blood on the floor and an angry, burned up vampire.
What they found was nothing at all what they expected to see. Everything was the same as it was when Gwen left. The new vamp was still lying on his cot and David was still unconscious, only his face was cleaned up of blood and his head was bandaged. Nothing appeared out of place or worth causing the scene Elaine had caused.
John wasn’t impressed, he marched toward Jimmy before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him just close enough to the window for the sun rays to scorch him.
“What did you do to her?”
Jimmy tried clawing his way free, to get away from the light that was burning his skin, but the werewolf holding him was stronger than he was.
