I knew the wolf. It was the one that had been held captive in the cellar of Havelock Manor. He simply stepped off the edge of the roof and landed on the ground, lashing out with his claws to tear a nearby vamp’s head off.
Suddenly the car park was overrun with wolves, coming at us from behind and leaping over the surrounding buildings. They flowed over the wall and fell on the vamps, tearing them apart with a savagery that left me breathless.
John appeared at my side, a struggling Anna held tight in his arms.
“Let me go, John!” she yelled. “I have to help with the wounded!”
“Not until we get a chance to introduce you, love of my life,” he replied calmly. “I don’t want one of our new friends to kill you just because you’re a vampire. If you want to help the wounded, fix the boss here.”
Anna broke free and rushed over to me.
“I’m okay,” I said weakly.
“Bullshit,” she said, turning my wrist over and wincing at the ragged wound.
“Okay, lads,” yelled John, doing a passable imitation of me. “We don’t want to let our new friends have all the fun, do we? Up and at ‘em!”
“John!” I yelled, pulling my SIG and the single remaining full magazine and tossing them to him.
He slid the mag into the pistol and nodded to me, then turned and hurdled the sandbag wall.
“Sit down,” said Anna firmly, pulling on a pair of latex gloves from her medical pack. “Shit, you always have to go the hard way, don’t ya?”
She bandaged my wrist, staunching the flow of blood and moved on to my neck.
My earpiece crackled as Happy reported in.
“Boss, I finally got word,” he said. “Backup’s on the way.”
I started laughing, ignoring the pain in my throat.
“Well it’s about fucking time,” I said. “Late as fucking usual.”
“I got a message for you from the good Colonel. He says he’s sorry but he’s breaking skulls and trying to find out if it was human stupidity or vampire interference. He’ll let you know.”
“Okay, pass on my thanks and warn him about our new friends. I don’t want anyone to start shooting unless they’re sure what their targets are.”
“Will do, boss.”
A werewolf strode up to us and changed into his human form. The fact that this left him stark naked didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.
“Are you in charge here?” he asked in a booming voice.
“For the moment,” I said with a grin.
“Our alpha wanted me to tell you to rest. The Pack will take care of the vampires. We’ll make sure none get away.”
“Tell your alpha I said thanks. And also that we’re expecting company. Some soldiers in helicopters. Our relief force.”
The werewolf nodded, resumed his wolf form, and strode away. Marie was watching him with a strange look on her face and I couldn’t resist. I slapped her on the calf with the back of my left hand.
“Hey, keep your eyes were they belong,” I said jokingly.
She turned and gave me a curious look. I felt the tension rippling through her fur as she shifted her weight.
“Marie? You okay?”
She blinked a few times and then shrugged.
I frowned. Anna kept working on me, patching me up and damming the leaks.
The rain had slackened to a light mist and eventually stopped altogether. Hunters started to drift back towards the inner wall. Most were injured in some way, from scratches across the face to blood soaked clothes speaking of the wounds beneath. Anna patted me on the shoulder and went to help the others. She worked efficiently from person to person and anyone who wasn’t too badly injured was pressed into service as a nurse to help the others. It had been so very close this time. If there was one lesson that tonight was trying to teach, it was that we couldn’t continue hunting the vamps one-by-one. We had to be ready to meet them in force.
The lines from the beginning of the St. Crispin’s day speech came to mind.
He that outlives this day and live t’old age,
will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
and say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian”:
then he will strip his sleeve and show his scars
and say “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.”
There would be plenty of scars to show off in the years to come. I foresaw many drinks being hoisted to those who made it through tonight, and many to those that didn’t.
“Eyes down for a full house,” said John, leaning against the wall like he was enjoying the view instead of recovering from a battle. “Looks like the king wolf’s on his way over.”
John was right, there. The big black-furred werewolf was coming towards us with several others surrounding him. He was wearing a pair of raggedy cut-off jeans that ended at his knees and there was the gleam of a necklace around his throat.
“I think it’s appropriate that I meet him on my feet,” I said.
John and Anna helped me up and I climbed over the wall, managing not to fall. The four inmüt formed up around me. Great, my own entourage.
“I’ll be speaking to you two later,” I said to Erik and Cameron.
They exchanged guilty looks. I took a deep breath and had started to walk when Marie came rocketing past me like her tail was on fire. She hit the big werewolf in the chest, bowling him over.
“Marie! No!” I yelled.
The wolves were rolling on the ground, fighting for the upper hand, their snarls and growls echoing around. Nobody moved, human or werewolf, as the two fought. The alpha male was almost twice Marie’s size but every time it looked like he was gaining the upper hand she would squirm out of his grip and tip him over.
I wondered why I wasn’t worried. It suddenly occurred to me. They were both grinning and neither was using claws.
I looked to David, who shrugged.
“They are old friends, it seems,” he said.
Marie spun free and leapt on the big wolf’s back, pinning one arm behind him and working on the other. The wolf let out a guttural laugh and stopped moving. Marie held on for a second and then released him, still grinning hugely. The big werewolf changed into human form as he stood. Black fur receded to reveal a tall, rugged-looking man with a shaved head and bright, intelligent eyes. His body was corded with the kind of tough, ropey muscle that comes from hard work rather than working out and his grin was easy and relaxed. Marie changed and ran into his arms, the two hugging fiercely, the alpha’s hand stroking her hair as he whispered into her ear.
I felt a surge of jealousy. Old friends? Or old lovers? I grit my teeth. Would this wolf save my life only to take my love away from me? Not without a fight, he wouldn’t.
Marie pushed away from him and grabbed his hand, almost towing him towards me.
“Jack!” she yelled, giggling. “Jack, this is Liam, my brother. Liam, this is Jack, he’s my mate.”
The resemblance was there for anyone to see. I was, apparently, an idiot. I covered my embarrassment by sticking my hand out and grinning.
“We’ve met,” I said brightly.
He shook my hand carefully, eyeing the bandage around the wrist.
“Indeed we have,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Thank you for releasing me.”
Marie was giving us a shocked look.
“The werewolf in the cage in the cellar at Havelock Manor?” I reminded her. “I told you about that, right?”
“That was you?” she asked her brother, incredulously.
“I guess so,” he said. “Your man here came in, sliced Hans up good and proper, then let yours truly out. And here I come to repay the favor.”
“Oh, no,” I said, shaking my head. “I owe you now. We were already even, the way you drew off those guards so I could escape.”
Liam shrugged and his grin widened.
“Well, apparently we’re family now, so don’t worry about it,” he said. “How’s the stomach? From what I saw that looked like a nasty wo
und.”
“Yeah, left a nice scar but it’s not giving me any trouble.”
Marie suddenly gave a squeal of delight and ran off to leap on a female werewolf she’d spotted.
“She’ll be doing that for a while,” said Liam affectionately. “There’s lots of old friends out there. When you let me out I went to find our pack. We were broken and scattered by the suckheads a few years back but I managed to track most down.”
He gave me a speculative look.
“Did Marie tell you about Dannor?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, she did,” I said darkly.
“I hear from our inmüt friends that she got her revenge on him.”
“Not nearly enough revenge for me,” I said. “I want that little bastard to die.”
“No,” said Liam with a grim smile. “She emasculated him and sent him running. That defeat will burn inside him the rest of his life. We wolves fight to win, not to kill, and Marie beat him so badly he’ll never be able to forget it.”
“Somehow,” I said, looking out into the night, seeing the helicopters that were bringing our much-delayed relief force, “I find that a cheery thought.”
CHAPTER
47
We’d made a big pile of indominati and wood, and reverently laid our fallen on top. There wasn’t much to say but I said it anyway. I read their names, said they were good soldiers, praised their courage and thanked them for their sacrifice. I looked around at the faces, old friends and new, and saw the pain and grief there.
“I don’t pray, I think most of you know that,” I said to the gathering. “But you also know I don’t object, so if anyone wants to say something, go ahead.”
Siren stepped forward and nodded to me.
“Almighty God,” she said, her words carrying over the silent group, “our Father in Heaven, receive our fallen comrades into the courts of your heavenly dwelling place. Let their hearts and souls now ring out in joy and peace, O Lord. This we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.”
Several voices echoed the close. I kept my eyes on the pyre, seeing my old friend’s blonde hair stirring in the breeze. I blinked tears back as I picked up a torch—a three foot length of tree limb, one end wrapped in oil-soaked cloth—and pulled Albert’s lighter out of my pocket. I spun the wheel and touched the flame to the torch. With the spitting, crackling flame held high I walked to the pyre and stood there, lost in thought for a few moments before pushing the burning brand in between the bodies.
They had been liberally sprinkled with spirits from the inn, a gesture we felt Norse would have appreciated, and the flames spread easily. I stepped back and tossed the torch on top of the burning piles.
“Company,” said John, his voice strained. “Ten-hut.”
All the hunters came to attention as one, boots striking the concrete in unison.
“Company, present … arms!”
With well-drilled moves we brought our weapons into position, holding them in salute while one of Spartan’s hunters—a young woman named Helen—played ‘Last Post’ on a bugle. The haunting melody never failed to bring a lump to my throat, but this time it spilled tears down my cheeks.
When the last note had died away John’s orders rang out again.
“Company, shoulder … arms.”
The fire had burned brightly for a while, and was now flickering low. We threw more wood on, building up the blaze. We also threw more indominati on. With over a thousand bodies around it would take a long while to work through them. Happy had raided the inn’s cellar and produced large mugs of mulled wine, spicy and warming in the cold night.
Marie had wrapped her right arm around my back and settled under my arm like it would take a crowbar to part us. That was fine by me. People were drifting by us, saying hi to Marie, being introduced to me. Long lost friends, relatives and childhood playmates, a long list of names that I wouldn’t have been able to remember if I was fit and healthy. With my injuries and several glasses of booze floating around in my bloodstream I didn’t stand a chance.
John and Anna had wandered over. John had an arm casually draped over his wife’s shoulders, but the tightness of his eyes indicated how nervous he was. The werewolf pack and the relief force barely knew Anna, and either group might kill her without thinking. Her badge was prominent on her chest and John was never more than a few feet away.
Albert was having the time of his life. He was working the crowd, shaking hands and making friends.
“John?” I asked as a thought occurred to me. “Did we ever get any update on those people missing from the safe houses?”
“Yeah, there was a message on the ‘net about twenty minutes ago. Still no change, people still missing. Each of the safe houses has a hunter team or two stationed there, just in case, but so far, nothing.”
“Damn, I wish I knew what that was about,” I said softly.
“Might I venture an opinion?” asked Albert, who had been walking past, going from one group to another.
“Sure,” I said.
“Well, think about this, if that Marcus character had lived, how long would you have held out against his little army?”
I shrugged, giving it some thought.
“Maybe ten minutes,” I hazarded. “If the indominati had been organized, controlled, they’d have overrun us easily.”
“So, tonight owes much to the fact that you killed the leader. You cut the head off, so to speak.”
“Right.”
“So, think on this: how certain would Marcus’ victory had been if all of those hunter teams had been here instead of waiting at those various safe houses?”
I closed my eyes and groaned.
“The bastard divided our forces,” said John, halfway between disgust and admiration.
“And did a masterful job of it, if I might say so,” said Albert. “If anyone except our friend here had been in charge, Marcus Demios would have returned to the North with trophies to display and a victory to boast of.”
I turned my head, looking at the funeral pyre. Suddenly I swore and shook my head.
“What is it, love?” asked Marie.
“I knew there was something bothering me,” I said. “I knew there was something.”
Everyone was giving me blank looks.
“All of the dead and wounded were men. Marcus must have given his indominati orders to avoid harming the women.”
“Ah,” said Albert philosophically. “One of the oldest themes in warfare; kill the men and capture the women.”
Then Liam came back. He was chatting amiably with everyone he passed, werewolf or hunter, shaking hands and patting backs. Someone had found him a combat jacket and a pair of boots from somewhere. He spotted us and came over with a smile.
“We’ll be leaving soon,” he said. “Will you be coming with us, little sister?”
“No,” she said, squeezing me. “I’ve found my alpha male and I’m staying here.”
Liam nodded and smiled at me.
“He is worthy of you, Marie,” he said.
“Excuse me,” said Albert. “Did you say you were leaving?”
“Yes, sir,” said Liam politely. “The pack needs a place to live.”
“Well, what’s wrong with right here?” asked Albert. “We have plenty of empty houses and farms, plenty of space to live in. Frankly, we’d appreciate you being around here.”
“As guard dogs?” asked Liam softly.
“As friends,” replied Albert firmly.
Liam looked around. Some of the pack had been close enough to overhear the conversation. They were looking at each other and talking it over. Some were nodding, at each other and at Liam.
“I’ll discuss it with the pack, although I can tell you that I think I know which way they’ll decide. Will we be accepted?” Liam asked.
“I’ll see to that,” Albert promised.
Liam looked at me. Albert looked at me. Marie looked at me. The werewolves who had gathered around looked at me. The hunters that had gathe
red looked at me. Everyone looked at me.
“Well, it’ll make you easy to find for birthdays and Christmas,” I said.
Liam laughed and turned to the waiting wolves.
“Okay, tomorrow at dusk we’ll meet and everyone’s opinion will be heard before I make a decision,” he said.
The wolves seemed satisfied at this and started to break up. I noticed that some were already making friends amongst the hunters. I saw Hacker trading Rolo chocolates with a werewolf who had a tin of peppermints in her pocket and there are few things more indicative of progress in this world than the free and frank exchange of confectionary.
“Albert and Jack,” said Liam. “As the alpha I invite you to participate in the discussion at dusk, to speak for the humans and answer any questions the pack may have. Is that okay?”
“But of course,” said Albert instantly. “I’d be honored.”
“As would I,” I said with a smile.
“Thank you,” said Liam. “Thank you both. Oh, and the inmüt want to stay with us. Well, three of them do. They want to join the pack and they asked me to speak to you.”
I shrugged and smiled.
“Their decision,” I said. “What about the fourth?”
“Cameron wants to become a vampire hunter,” said Liam. “Think you can help him with that?”
“Sure, he’ll be an asset,” I replied.
“Okay, thank you, I’ll tell them.”
He and Albert walked away a little to speak to a group of wolves and hunters who were—it had only been a matter of time—busily pouring tea from a huge urn.
Marie slipped both arms around me and hugged me tight.
“You’re looking pretty pleased with yourself, my love,” she said.
“Well, in a month we’ve killed four of the most powerful vamps in the country, broken Glavidia’s organization beyond repair, made some great allies, and I found a soul mate.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in soul mates?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t,” I replied. “But I am beginning to wonder.
Pagan (MPRD Book 1) Page 28
