by Laken Cane
“I guess I am.” And just like that, she decided. She ran with all the speed being part vampire afforded her, and was back inside the cave in seconds.
She’d heal those she needed to heal, but she’d never bring another person back from death. Never.
Cree jumped to her feet. “You’re going to heal him?”
“I’m going to try. Move out of my way.”
Cree stood against the wall, trembling and sobbing. “Hurry, Rune.”
“You’d better deserve this,” Rune muttered, and sliced her wrist. She’d give him enough to get him started healing. No more.
That was good, because when she put her wrist to Fin’s mouth, the pain hit her and her mind blanked.
When Jack pulled her back to awareness she was on the cave floor and Cree was crouched once more at Fin’s side.
“Did it work?” Rune asked, her voice thick and her mind groggy.
“What happened?” Fin asked.
“He’s conscious,” Cree told her.
Jack helped Rune to her feet. “Let’s go home, Rune. If the bird heals,” he said, looking at Cree, “you two are to meet us on the night of the new moon. Be ready.”
“Then you better keep the humans away from us,” Cree answered. “I don’t want to be arrested.”
“Take care not to be,” Rune said, her voice hard. “We’re going to have our hands full trying to keep the twins away from Horner.”
“He would like to have had the twins,” Cree said. “But he won’t need them.”
Rune let herself lean against Jack for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“He has your blood. He has the twins’ blood. He started collecting their blood the day he got those boys.”
“Oh fuck me,” Rune whispered. “I’d forgotten.”
“Won’t he need to actually sacrifice the twins? I wouldn’t think the blood would be enough.”
Cree shrugged. “He seemed to think it will be.”
“Either way, we have to stop him,” Rune said. “We can’t let him call that demon.”
“At least,” Cree said, “you don’t have to worry that he might snatch your boys again.”
Rune wasn’t convinced.
“What?” Fin asked, weakly.
“I’ll explain later,” Cree told him.
Rune put thoughts of the stolen blood away for later and leaned over Fin. “Cree has agreed that you both will fight for us on the night of the new moon. In return, I fed you. You’ll heal. Don’t let us down, bird.”
She drove back to RISC, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure she’d done what was right. But if it’d benefit the county, the Others, and the crew, it had to be the right thing.
“The birds are amazing fighters,” she said. “Against the COS army sure to come and the fucking guns, they’ll be our greatest assets.”
“That’s true,” Jack agreed. “And that’s not even counting the demon. You did the right thing, Rune.”
“Yeah.” But she didn’t have the greatest track record when it came to making good choices. “I fed a fucking bird. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Jack nodded. “They might not show. They didn’t deserve your help, and they know that. You’re doing your duty despite the shit they helped put you through. That makes you a great leader. Don’t doubt yourself.”
“When Rice finds out we saw Cree Stark and didn’t bring her in, he’s going to be pissed.”
“No he won’t. Bill wants all the help he can get against COS.”
Her cell rang, and she glanced at the display before answering.
And somehow, she knew it wasn’t good news.
“Elizabeth?” Her stomach began to knot with the familiar response to anxiety.
“Rune, the governor has commuted Karin Love’s sentence from death row to life in prison. And I think this is just what the church has been waiting for.”
Part Three
Winds Of Change
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“It’s not like they can just go in there and take her out,” Rune said, pacing Rice’s office. “It’s not easy to escape from a maximum security prison.”
“Unless you’re the leader of COS,” Lex said. Her voice was lackluster but when she met Rune’s gaze, her eyes were full of fire. “That might make it a little easier.”
“This is bullshit,” Denim said. “Fucking governor. I knew he was a friend to the church.”
“He’s corrupt,” Rice agreed. “That’s no secret.” Then his phone rang. “Excuse me.”
“If they plan to break her out for the ceremony, they only have a couple of days left to do it,” Levi said.
The new moon loomed over them like a mountain of death.
“Crews will be coming in the day of the new moon,” Elizabeth said. “We’ll have a lot of help.”
“I hope it’s enough,” Jack said, adjusting his eye patch. “Personally, I’d rather not meet a demon.”
Lex looked down at her hands.
“Dammit.” Jack put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not a demon, Lex.”
She shrugged. “Who knows what all is swirling around inside me? I’m not worried.”
But if anyone could understand what she was feeling, it was Rune, and she knew Lex was unsure.
Strad watched them all—especially Rune. She felt the touch of his stare all the way to her toes.
“I might as well tell you about my encounter with Cree and Fin now,” she told them.
Strad narrowed his eyes. “What encounter?”
Jack cleared his throat. “Elizabeth sent us on a run to Creeper’s Point. The birds were there.”
“Did they attack?” Strad asked.
“No. Cree begged for help. Fin had been attacked and was in bad shape,” Rune told him. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have survived. Jack called Dr. Haas, but she wasn’t inclined to do anything other than kill him. She wouldn’t come.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons,” Elizabeth said.
Raze saluted them with his coffee cup. “I wouldn’t help the bastards either.”
Rune took a deep breath. “I did help them.” She raised a hand as everyone started to speak at once. “It was a good trade. They’re going to help us fight COS when they attempt to call the demon.”
“What was the trade?” Strad asked. “What did you do, Rune?”
“I fed him.”
He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were full of thunderclouds. “The birds shouldn’t have your blood.”
“It was what I needed to do. They can help us defeat COS. You know they’re great fighters.”
He strode to her and grabbed her shoulders. “But what they did to you. What they did to the twins. You can’t…” He let her go and ran his hand over his still healing face. “I’ll kill them.”
“It was the right thing to do,” she said. “We need them.”
“She’s right,” Elizabeth said. “We do what we have to do, no matter our personal feelings.”
Strad stepped away, but he didn’t soften. Rune figured if the coming fight didn’t kill the two birds, the berserker would.
“We have four nights to find Horner,” Owen said, “or another slayer who can give him to us.”
Rice hung up his phone. “There was another murder. A human male, nailed to the wall—inside, this time—of an abandoned warehouse.”
“In the Moor?” Rune asked.
“Right outside it. And the murder before this one, the detectives found a single fingerprint belonging to a COS member who disappeared three months ago. Guy’s wife claimed he’d left the church, and she thinks COS killed him for defecting. But this fingerprint would show otherwise. The guy is alive, in hiding, and helping COS murder not only Others, but humans.”
“Whoever the murderers are, they’re escalating,” Owen said.
“So now,” Rice continued, “we’re not alone in our search for COS and Bach Horner. The humans want him, and want him badly. With our combined informat
ion and resources…”
“We may have a chance at finding them before the new moon,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes.”
Something dark and secret flashed between Rice and Elizabeth, so quick and subtle Rune thought she might have imagined it.
She took a deep, cleansing breath. “With the world hunting the slayers, they’ll soon run out of places to hide.” Then, she smiled. “How the hell did we get here so fast?”
“Oh, my dear,” Rice said. “Ask the Others who’ve been persecuted for centuries how fast we got here.”
“We’re not anywhere,” Denim said. “We’ll be there when COS is dead. Not just when the world is beginning to fear them.”
“To hate them,” Levi added.
“It’s a good fucking start,” Rune said.
“I’ll ask Elizabeth to keep you all updated on the investigation into the murders, as well as on any COS sightings,” Rice said. “And while I have you all here, I wanted to talk with you about some plans for improvements Elizabeth and I have been discussing.”
No one said a word.
“For the crew,” Rice elaborated. “For you.”
They groaned.
“Why screw with a good thing?” Rune asked.
“To make better things,” Ellis said, smiling.
Rune glared. “Ellis, you knew about this and didn’t give me a heads up?”
He winked. “They’re all good, I promise.”
She sighed. “Okay. Out with it.”
Rice stood and clasped his hands behind his back. “You’re getting fully equipped vehicles. SUVs with lights, sirens, radios, computers. The design will be unique to Shiv Crew, as far as paint colors, door lettering, interiors. The cars will be black and silver.” He looked at Rune. “Except for yours. Yours will be pink and gold.”
She gaped. “Fuck you.”
He laughed, and the entire crew broke into guffaws. “I’m kidding, Rune.”
She cleared her throat. “Asshole.” But she grinned.
“Crew cars,” Jack said, nodding. “I can live with that.”
Denim and Levi high-fived each other, like old times, and Rune’s spirits lifted. They were going to be okay.
“Good deal, you guys,” she said to Bill and Elizabeth. “When do we get them? Tomorrow?”
Elizabeth smiled. “I’m happy to see your enthusiasm, Rune, but it’s going to be a few months. And there’s more.”
“I knew it,” Raze said.
Owen leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets. When he caught her gaze he shrugged and winked. “The cars will make up for the uniforms.”
“Uniforms,” Rune exclaimed. “Are you kidding me?”
Elizabeth and Rice looked at Owen. “How did you know we were doing uniforms?” Elizabeth asked.
Rice folded his arms and stared her down.
“I never said a word,” she said.
“It was just a guess,” Owen said. “I figured if you were putting us into crew cars, you’d be putting us into crew uniforms as well.”
“Seriously, though? You expect us to wear fucking uniforms?” Rune asked.
“Not until we get the cars,” Rice said. “And along with the other changes, it’s going to be a while.”
“But we do have pictures of the uniforms,” Elizabeth said.
“I can do uniforms,” Lex said.
“They’re not fancy,” Bill said. “Black pants and pullover tops, Shiv Crew written on the front left breast and across the back of the shirts. Many loops and pockets. Boots. Hooded jackets for cold weather. Also caps with Shiv Crew written on them, which you may wear or not as you choose.”
“And I’ll need all your sizes,” Ellis said.
“How can RISC afford all this?” Rune asked.
“Tell them, Bill.” Ellis clapped his hands, his eyes sparkling.
Rune lifted an eyebrow. Uniforms and cars. They already had a weapons room at RISC. What else was there?
“Soon RISC may no longer be a branch of the River County Sheriff’s Department. We’re being taken under the command of a government agency known as the Annex. Maybe you’ve heard of them.”
“Yeah,” said Strad. “Whispers. Gossip, mainly. I’ve heard it’s an offshoot organization made up of people from different government agencies. They’re taking control of Other management?”
Rice nodded. “They have been for some time. Others are moving up the food chain, and the Annex is all over it. I will answer to them. We will answer to them. And they are powerful. We’ll have jurisdiction in all the United States—not just River County.”
He glanced around at them, but when no one said anything, he continued. “The changes will be gradual as the talks continue and the kinks are worked out. But local law enforcement won’t be able to keep us out of human cases if those cases have any bearing on ours. We’ll no longer be under their thumbs. That’s not to say we won’t butt heads with them, or that they won’t try—at least at first—to flex their muscle. Hell, we’ll be flexing our own muscle. The director of the Annex reports directly to the president. And fools don’t want to screw with us.” He smiled. “Not anymore.”
Chapter Forty
“Levi and I knew before you took us on that the crew was going to be something big.” Denim picked up a forkful of food and studied it absently.
Rune smiled at him. “I remember.”
“Are we sure this is a good change?” Lex asked. She sat beside Levi at Rune’s kitchen table, her dinner of Chinese takeout untouched.
“No,” Rune said. “We’re not sure of anything.”
“Does it piss anyone else off that Rice and Elizabeth didn’t bother getting our opinions about any of this? Changing hands, new cars, uniforms…they planned everything without giving any of us information.” Levi eyed Ellis. “Most of us, anyway.”
Ellis dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry, Levi. I apologize to all of you. I haven’t known for very long. I overheard Bill talking after he brought me in to take over for Elizabeth, and—”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Ellie,” Rune said.
“I thought it would be a great surprise,” he murmured. “The Annex is powerful. Now we are powerful.”
“We are still tools,” Rune said, gently. “Used by the higher ups.”
“But more powerful tools.” Ellie could be stubborn when he needed to be.
She took a sip of her coffee. “I guess we are.”
Strad wasn’t the only one who’d heard whispers. She’d heard those same speculations. About how the Annex controlled their people—especially their field ops—through fear. How the Annex was above the law. How no one really knew what went on within the Annex because the employees weren’t talking and outsiders were never allowed inside any of the Annex buildings.
It made her worry that the Annex was the Other version of COS.
But maybe that was all just gossip. Maybe.
“You get new crew cars,” Lex said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
Cars or not, if they came under control of the Annex, that would mean new people coming into River County. New bosses.
“It’s good the humans are helping us search for COS,” Rune said. “I hope that means that when the bastards gather for their ritual, the humans will help us fight them.”
“Karin is no longer on death row. COS can get to her. Anyone want to talk about that?” Levi’s voice was bitter, angry.
Rune couldn’t blame him. Karin seemed destined to stay the nightmare that plagued them with unrelenting regularity. Just like fucking COS. “Slayers aren’t the only ones who can get to her, baby.”
They all looked at her, silent, allowing her words to sink in.
“Yeah,” Denim said, slowly nodding. “That’s right.”
They said nothing more, but the seed had been planted. It began to germinate into hope.
COS didn’t play fair. Neither would Shiv Crew.
“There will always be bad guys,” Lex said. “The world is full of evil. Even
tually COS might become hunted, scared men living on the fringe of society. Eventually Karin Love will be dead. But there will be others to take their places.”
“And we’ll fight them, too,” Ellis said. He smiled at the others. “Remember—we’re Shiv Crew. It’s what we do.”
Rune’s cell rang. She glanced at the display, and when she didn’t recognize the number, almost let it go to voicemail. But she didn’t. “This is Rune Alexander.”
“Rune.”
She frowned. The voice was familiar, but rusty and strained. “Who is this?”
“Sam Cruikshank. The man your crew almost murdered.”
“Who is it?” Ellis asked.
She stood and left the kitchen. “What do you want? An apology? I’m sorry you were hurt. I did warn you.”
“I need to warn you before your dog succeeds in killing me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you still in the hospital?”
He laughed, or tried to. “I was never in the hospital.”
“I sent Owen to take you in. He painted you with some pretty grim colors. He didn’t expect you to live.”
“And I wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t managed to escape when he and that brute Matheson left me for a while.”
She took a breath and rubbed her temple with her free hand. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“Your two men came to my house and knocked me out when I answered the door. They dragged me back inside and tortured the hell out of me. All night long.” He paused and took a shaky breath. “They left me when they got a phone call. I guess it was because you were found. Owen told me he was coming back to finish me off.”
“They won’t bother you now.”
“Owen will. He wants me dead.”
“Why?”
“Maybe he knows what I want from you. What you want. He came back but it wasn’t to take me to a hospital. I was waiting in a house across the street and I watched him. I have pictures if you want to see.” He hesitated. “He has a killer’s eyes.”
“Sounds like you need to find a new city,” she said, but she was uneasy. “I’ll talk to him.”
“I’m not calling for you to make him back off. He won’t care about your orders. I’m calling to warn you about him. I started digging into the crew members’ backgrounds when I first got interested in you. I know more about their pasts than you do.”
