“I’m dead anyway, so why should I do as you ask?” Iva was pissed at herself for forgetting such a fundamental part of battle. Always make sure your enemy was dead had been pounded into her from the first time she’d drawn her sword, but she’d allowed her own pain to distract her.
“You lived through the labs, you might live through this.” The Van Helsing glared at her. “We should have killed you the moment your fucking monster friends attacked us.”
Movement behind the Van Helsing caught her eye but she kept her gaze on the Van Helsing. “Yes. You should have.”
Greer’s knives dove, driving deep into the man’s back, severing his spine. The gun fell out of the Van Helsing’s dead hand without firing a shot. “Shit, girl. I’m telling Noah on you.”
Iva smiled, leaning her head wearily against the back of Noah’s SUV. Damn, her arm hurt, throbbing in time with her heartbeat. “Go right ahead.”
Greer cursed under his breath. “Get rid of the Wolverine claws so I can check your arm.”
Doing as told, she relaxed as Greer began to sing. Warmth spread through her as the ache in her arm slowly began to ease.
“You’re an idiot,” Noah’s gravelly voice whispered in her ear. “You should have stayed in the car and directed us from there.”
“Hindsight blah blah blah.” Iva grinned tiredly at him. He was sitting next to her, pulling on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. “We got them, though.”
“Tell the locals we need body removal.” Greer sat back, sweat dampening his hair. “How’s your arm?”
“Eh. The throbbing’s stopped.” She concentrated, telling the dryads who’d offered assistance that they required a clean-up of the mess because Iva and the others needed to motor out of there before more Van Helsings showed up. She cautioned them to be wary of any strangers sniffing around the area. Once she got confirmation from them, she turned to the guys. “Who’s driving which car?”
Noah groaned. “Shit. I didn’t think of that.”
“That’s why we took Brainiac with us,” Greer chuckled. “I’ll take door number two.”
“Thank goodness they only took two cars.” Noah sighed and stood up. “C’mon. I’ll drive the dented car. You take mine. I trust my car to keep you safe far more than I trust theirs.” He held up his hand when she went to protest. “And if anything happened to you I’d be useless anyway.” By his expression of determined anger, there would be no talking him out of that decree.
“Fine, but don’t blame me when you go to get in your car tomorrow and you find yourself folded in half.” She gestured, pointing out their height difference. “Your legs are longer.”
“Just don’t blast the radio and then leave it like that,” Noah grumbled as he strode toward the car right behind his.
“No promises,” Iva yelled back, chuckling to herself as his grumbling got louder.
Conga-style, they managed to get the three SUVs back on the road, heading for home. To say that the operation had been a success was premature. They’d have to find if the fluids Greer had managed to snag would work in the spell or not. If they didn’t, they were back at square one.
Chapter Eighteen
Iva smiled as she handed over the cooler to Inigo, prepared to lie her ass off. Inigo was so anxious he was practically translucent. “See? We’re back, no problemo.” They’d arrived back at the lab a little late and a little worse for wear, but she chose to gloss over their fight with the Van Helsings. If Web and Inigo heard about that they’d probably shit purple kittens.
Web snatched the cooler from Inigo’s hands and walked away with it. Inigo sighed and turned back to them. “Which fluids did you manage to get?”
“Blood and urine,” Greer replied with a pained grimace. “And may I say ew. I had to ask stuff about how they collected the samples. The poo one was the worst. They showed me some. Made me hold the container and everything.”
“At least it wasn’t warm,” Iva replied with a grin.
Greer shuddered. “This is why I never got into the medical profession. Leave me with my plants and my fertilizer and I’m a happy man.”
Noah’s brows rose. “You know what fertilizer is made of, right?”
Greer sniffed arrogantly. “Yes.”
Noah just stared at him in disbelief.
“Don’t try and figure out Greer. You’ll give yourself a migraine,” Iva advised her mate. She rubbed her temple with her forefinger. “Trust me on that one.”
Greer glanced at her and rubbed his temple with his middle finger.
She burst out laughing. Despite the seriousness of the situation and the battle in the forest, she’d never had more fun on a mission before. Noah and Greer seemed to delight in trying to one-up each other, giving Iva plenty of material to work with when she proved to both of them who exactly was top dog.
Inigo grabbed her attention once more when he spoke. “We’ll start running tests on both to figure out which will work better in the ritual. We’ll also analyze the blood to determine if it responds the same way the black blood does. If so, it should react to both Parker’s and Iva’s blood.”
“Tell me if you need a donation, doc.” Iva pointed to her cast-encased arm. “I’m still on light duty so I’d be happy to help.” Greer had taken away almost all of the pain, something she was tremendously grateful for. Already she could sense the slow knitting of her bones as the Singer’s magic worked on her injury.
“Thanks, but I think you’ll be helping Gideon and Selena with finding the rest of the demon’s true name.” Inigo frowned. “It’s a shame we couldn’t find anything about that at the Van Helsing facility.”
“So do I, but I’m not that surprised. It wasn’t like I got to check the demonic contract file drawer, you know.” Greer ran his fingers through his hair. “Speaking of files, Lore is still working on the names found in CHAMELEON, trying to find the families of those who lost loved ones to the Van Helsing’s experiments.”
“We need to remember to call him later and have him do something about the SUV’s we brought back.” Noah ignored Inigo’s inquiring glance. “They’ll need to be scrubbed, maybe scrapped. He’ll be able to block any police inquiries as well.”
Iva decided to change the subject before Inigo blew a gasket. “Did anyone ever figure out what they were trying to do with all of us?” Iva was still stumped. The Van Helsing’s experiments had a purpose, but she had no idea what that was.
Inigo shook his head. “No. Believe me, we’ve tried to, but we’ve got nothing.”
You. They were trying to make you.
Iva flinched at the voice in her head’s words. “No way.”
“No way what?” Noah immediately pulled her close, holding her so that her back was leaning against his broad, strong chest. “What’s going on, Iva?”
She shuddered. “The voice. It just told me that they were trying to make...me.”
Inigo gasped, his eyes wide in horror. “Holy shit.”
Noah’s brows furrowed. “You mean a dryad?”
“She means someone whose supernatural blood bonds with demonic blood,” Inigo whispered.
Greer suddenly cursed, his expression turning vicious. “A hybrid. A fucking hybrid.”
Noah’s arms tightened around her almost to the point of pain. “A demon-dryad hybrid, or a supernatural-demon hybrid?”
“What limits a demon in this realm?” Inigo asked, then quickly shook his head. “No, wait. We need Selena for this. She can explain it better than I can, and it might have an impact on parts of the dybbuk spell.” Inigo quickly left the room, pulling out his cell phone as he went.
“Iva?” Noah’s voice was a low growl. When she glanced up at his face she saw the golden eyes of his wolf. “What’s the voice in your head mean, they wanted to make you?”
She slumped into his arms, wondering if she’d ever again have the sense of safet
y she’d had before her abduction. Her tree rustled in her mind, sending her reassurance and love.
Noah rubbed his cheek against the top of his head. “Baby? I’ll protect you, I promise. But I need to identify who to protect you from. If it’s another demon...” He tightened his hold on her.
“I think...” How could she say this without making either him or Greer go ballistic? “The voice. It’s me now, no one else. It’s part of me, part of what happened when I assimilated the blood. And that means my body won’t try to reject black blood, but will make that blood its own.”
Greer’s nostrils flared as he took in a quick, angry breath. “Making you a perfect little demon host.”
Noah’s snarl ripped through the room, shaking Iva to her core. “If I have to step into Hell itself to stop that, I will do so. I’ll fuck him up so bad other demons will actually feel sympathy for him. No demon will take hold of your soul.”
Her alpha probably would try to fight the devil himself. Iva smiled, the emotional rollercoaster coming to a stop. Noah was a definite keeper. “A perfect supernatural vessel, without the limitations of a human host.”
“What are those limitations?” Greer asked.
“I have no idea, but I bet Selena does.” Iva tried to step outside the circle of Noah’s arms, but he wouldn’t allow it. His chest was still vibrating with barely audible growls. “Come on, big guy. Let’s have a seat while we wait for the witch doctor.”
Noah picked her up and carried her to a chair, where he promptly sat down and placed her in his lap.
“This works too.” Noah’s wolf seemed to not only needed her under his protection but within arm’s reach. Perhaps the best way the wolf could do that at the moment was by cuddling.
If that was what he needed, she’d provide, giving her mate all the hugs he needed. She put her head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent, all warm male with a touch of the wildness that represented his wolf. It was a scent she was growing to love.
Iva began to nod off, dozing as Greer and Noah spoke softly to one another. The fact that she considered herself secure enough to do so even though she was outside the Throne or Noah’s home told her exactly how protected she was in his arms. Nothing would touch her while her wolf watched over her.
“Iva, Selena’s almost here,” Noah whispered in her ear. “Do you want some coffee or something to help wake up?”
Iva sat up, yawning and stretching. She ignored Noah’s soft groan as she wiggled in his lap. It was harder to ignore the thickening cock under her ass.
Damn.
Just... Damn.
“Stop that. Inigo has a bathroom nearby and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Iva snickered at Noah’s whispered words, but she got off his lap without torturing him any further. “Coffee sounds good.”
Muttering under his breath he stomped off to get it for her. He was still muttering as he stalked back, handing her the cup of hot liquid carefully. “Sit back down, sweetheart.”
“Yes, dear,” she replied, taking her seat. He still seemed upset, and rocking the boat wasn’t currently on her agenda. Not until she’d spoken to Selena, anyway. He took a protective stance behind her chair, his hands gripping the back tightly.
She needed him to lighten the fuck up or he was going to have an aneurysm any minute now. Aware of how he was about his coffee, she decided to tease him a little. She stared at her cup glumly. “No milk and sugar?”
“Blech.”
Noah’s disgusted noise almost made her laugh. Now she really needed to drive it home. She tilted her head and tapped her fingernails on the side of the mug. “Do you think he has any hazelnut creamer?”
Noah leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I want a divorce.”
Iva threw her head back and cackled. “You can’t escape me, wolf man. You’re stuck with me forever. Me and my flavored creamers.”
Noah shuddered. “I’ll get you one of those one-cup coffee makers. You can get your k-cup crap off of Amazon. Just don’t touch my French press and we’re good.”
“Compromise is always a good thing,” Greer intoned. He’d clasped his hands in front of him as if in prayer.
“Amen,” Iva replied.
Just then Selena walked into the office, peering at them in confusion. “What are we praying over?”
“The state of American marriage,” Greer immediately replied.
“Uh-huh.” Selena shook her head, her hands on her hips. She wore a T-shirt that said Sorry For What I Said While Gaming, and her wavy hair was scrapped back in a high ponytail. “All right, children. What’s this about vessels and blood and Iva?”
Iva handed her cup back to Noah. She really did like flavored creamers. Drinking the stuff black, all bitter and crap, did not appeal. “The voice in my head spoke again.”
Selena held up her hand. “It’s not the voice in your head. It’s your voice.”
Both women ignored Noah’s low growls, but Greer was watching Noah with something like fascinated delight. Some days her brother was just too weird for cable TV.
“Anyway, you were saying?” Selena’s brows rose as she began to tap her foot. “And hurry up. Ash is cooking dinner.”
“We think that Iva might be what the Van Helsings were trying to create,” Noah replied.
Selena frowned. “How so?”
“A perfect vessel, one who had none of the limitations of a human body, whatever those might be.” Iva could hardly believe that was what the scientists wanted, but it made a sick sort of sense. “Someone with powers of their own that could either feed the demon or could be used by the demon without destroying the body.”
Selena paled, answering Iva’s unspoken fears. Shit. It really was a possibility after all. “If it could take your body it could corrupt your tree, and by doing that it could take over the whole Throne.”
Iva balled her hands into fists. The consequences of the Throne being compromised were catastrophic. “Every dryad under Mina’s rule would be compromised. Their mates, children, their friends...” She shook her head. “All right. I have two questions. Can we make me safe, and if so, how?”
“There are some spells Gideon and I can cast on you that should help.” Selena’s expression was thoughtful as she stared at Iva. “I want you to remain calm over this. After all, it’s only a possibility. Besides, I’ve been told that your blood absorbs the black blood, so we may be worried over nothing.”
“Meaning?” If she was somehow already safe that would be awesome.
“If a demon tried to take over your body it’s possible that your body would just repel him, or, even weirder, absorb him. No demon would want that.”
“Iva wouldn’t want that either,” she replied, shuddering. Ick. Yew silently voiced it’s own disgust with the idea, making Iva shiver even harder as her emotions were essentially doubled in force.
“To answer your other question, demons who take over humans have the same problems that a computer would have that’s not plugged in to a surge protector.” Selena’s lips twisted into a pained smile. “There’s a chance that the power the demon puts through the human host could burn it out, rendering it useless for the demon. Demons need a working brain and heart to keep the body going. Once those go kablooey, the demon is expelled and the body dies.”
“Let me guess.” Iva closed her eyes, already knowing Noah was going to lose it. “A supernatural has a built-in surge protector.”
“Exactly.”
“Doesn’t that mean that Peter Bradley was once one of us?” Greer whistled. “He must have been a psychic, possibly a medium. A strong one.”
“Strong enough to endure long-term possession,” Selena replied thoughtfully.
Iva opened her eyes as Noah’s snarl reverberated through the room. “There is no fucking way she’s going to become demon food.”
“I won’t, Noah.” Iv
a stood and turned to her mate, walking around the chair so that he could hold her again. She needed it as much as he did. The thought of being back in the hands of the Van Helsings, being turned over to a demon to become his host, had her trembling in terror. It wouldn’t take much to throw her right back where she’d been, strapped to a table and being tortured by a sadist. Or just as bad, crouched in a cage barely big enough to hold her, listening to the cries of her people all around her. “I swear I’ll kill them all before I let them take me again.”
“I believe you, but you’ll have to get in line behind me, sweetheart.” Noah placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, the gesture totally at odds with the rough, determined tone of his voice. “And every wolf I can muster. You’re their alpha mate. They’ll protect you to the death.”
“I don’t want that.” She stared at Noah, saddened by how grim his expression had become. “I don’t want others to suffer for me. I saw that every day I was being held, dryads dying for lack of their trees, wolves forced to change because the pain became too much for them to endure. I’ve seen witches lose their touchstones. Fire elementals freezing to death because their powers had been subdued. The list goes on and on, Noah. I never want that to happen again.”
“Neither do I, which is why we need to stop Bradley and the Van Helsings here and now.” Noah glanced behind her. “I think Greer and Selena agree with me. We’ll all stand in front of you and take the hit so you don’t have to.”
Iva put her forehead against Noah’s chest, her hands gripping the front of his shirt. “You don’t understand, Noah. If they hurt you...” Iva would unleash all of her power if even one of Noah’s claws got so much as chipped. “You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
He cupped her cheek, smiling when she leaned into his touch. “Neither do you. I’m not the called the big, bad wolf for nothing.”
“Yeah, well, if they hurt you they’ll find out why dryads were so feared back in the day.” The four of them, Mina, Iva, Greer and Ash would take their gifts straight to the Van Helsings and push them to the brink of extinction.
Hour of the Wolf Page 18
