“What in Heaven’s name is going on?” Roland whispered, pointing a pistol at the three of us from his bed.
I paid no attention, spinning in a slow circle, studying every corner. Nothing moved.
“Well?” Roland growled. “Mind telling me how in blazes you just appeared in here? I know I wasn’t sleeping, so don’t even try to—”
“Has anyone knocked on the door? Where’s the spear?” Nate growled, not looking at Roland.
I slowly relaxed, finding nothing dangerous. Roland would have already shouted a warning if there was danger nearby.
He had put his gun away and was frowning at Nate. “I don’t think you need to know where the spear is, Temple.”
Nate rolled his eyes, but before he could argue, I forestalled him. “Roland, he doesn’t want it. Trust me. He told us you and the spear might be in danger, and I think he’s right.”
“It’s safe. That’s more than—”
“Just stop. I don’t have time for your lip. My gut instinct is usually pretty good about this kind of stuff,” Nate said, interrupting him. “And I think we need to get you out of here.”
“He’s right,” I quickly jumped in before Roland could lose his temper at Nate’s words. “Whoever warned the vampires might know exactly who I am, exactly where I spend my time. We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“I can take care of myself, girl. Do I need to remind—”
“You’re currently a handicapped old man,” Nate snarled, stepping in. “Stop being a part of the problem. Callie was attacked by a Demon on her way to the church. From here. Any sudden movements,” he leaned toward Roland with a glare, “even magical, could break open your wounds, leaving you to bleed out. Then, whatever protection you used to hide the spear,” his eyes tracked the room, and focused on the night stand we had dragged out into the living room, “Will likely evaporate, leaving the spear for all to see.”
Roland was staring at Nate in disbelief, not at his words, but at the tone of command, and that he begrudgingly knew them to be right. He quickly composed himself. “You may have a valid point. May…” he repeated.
Nate rolled his eyes. “Wherever you’ve hidden the spear, get it. Keep it warded against detection, but grab it. Now. I’ll turn my back.” And he did, facing the doorway, but I hadn’t imagined the sneer on his face as he said it.
Roland stared at his back for a moment, and then reached behind the night stand. He came back with the spear in his fist.
Right where Nate had been staring. Even though it had been under a ward.
Roland didn’t look pleased. I stared at Nate thoughtfully. How had he known? How had he seen through the warding?
I wasn’t sure if we were under any immediate threat, but the fact remained. Whoever was after us would soon retrace my steps — if they hadn’t already — to take Roland out, if for nothing else than to blackmail us somehow.
“But who?” I murmured to myself.
Nate grunted, turning back to us. “Vampires, Bears, Demon. Unless there is someone else who saw you. It had to be from the auction. That’s the only place where everyone was present. We’ll figure that out later. Right now, we need to be gone. We can all agree that someone is after you, and if they haven’t already, will soon learn about this place. And finding grandpa here in a sickbed will only excite them.” Roland was staring fire at Nate, but Nate merely smiled back. “I’m sure you’ve made a few enemies in your day, am I right? What better present than to find someone like you holed up in a sickbed? Vengeance for dinner and a spear of Christ for dessert.”
Roland finally dropped his gaze. “We’ll talk about your manners later, Temple, but for now, let’s move.”
“How?” I asked. “You’re injured.”
Claire was nodding. “Any substantial motion could break open those wounds, and with the minor infection, they aren’t clotting like they should. You’ll bleed out in half an hour.”
I arched an eyebrow at Nate. “Shadow Walk?”
“Shadow Walk? That sounds like dark magic,” Roland began, anger resurfacing.
Nate’s temper was catching, because I found myself snapping at Roland, too. “Can it, Roland. I know you know how to do it, and I don’t like the fact that you are playing me right now, pretending to be surprised.” His face paled as if I had delivered a perfect hit below the belt.
But I didn’t care. I felt hurt. He hadn’t told me. Then tried to act surprised? That was twice he had deviated from the truth with me. Not telling me about having to get the whole spear, and playing dumb with Shadow Walking. That was what truly bothered me. Not that he had known and not shared it with me. That was understandable. He probably knew a hundred ways to use his magic that he hadn’t told me. But to pretend he didn’t know something that he obviously did know? That was a lie.
Why?
Could I really trust him as much as I thought?
Nate had shivered at mention of Shadow Walking, but also seemed to be listening intently to the fact that Roland had apparently known about it, but had pretended not to. He gave me an approving nod for standing up for myself before speaking. “I don’t think Shadow Walking him in his state is a good idea. Even if we don’t feel it, I think our body… adjusts significantly for us to move like that. It could possibly kill him instantly, breaking open all wounds at once. I have no idea, but I don’t think we want to find out.”
I nodded. “We need something to carry him.” Claire dashed from the room, and I could hear her rummaging around in my bedroom closets. I did the same, heading to the entryway. Nate went to the guest bedroom. Finding nothing in the hallway, I returned, wishing I had skis or some hipster hobby like surfing. But I didn’t. I just had weapons. And that wasn’t going to help. Claire came back to the room, shaking her head.
I heard laughter from the guest room and frowned at Claire, then we moved closer, wondering what Nate found so funny, and why he wasn’t searching. We found him staring down at a wagon. One of those red wagons we all used to ride as kids, a Radio Flyer. It was stuffed to the brim with teddy bears and stuffed animals.
Nate met my eyes with a grin, then began tossing out teddy bears after a quick shrug. “Unless you found better?” he asked, not looking up.
I sighed, staying back as Nate rolled it into the living room for Roland to see.
His face purpled. “Absolutely not.”
I whirled to face one of the walls, sensing… something dark that was suddenly close. Near the front door of the building. Someone screamed in the distance, then cut off abruptly.
The monsters were here.
Chapter 34
I rounded on Roland. “Now, old man. This is no time for pride.”
Nate held out a stuffed unicorn with a very dark grin. “Grimm will keep you safe,” he smiled, tossing it at Roland.
“You named my unicorn?” I asked with a faint smile.
He grunted, but didn’t answer. Then we were all moving him, untucking the sheets to lift him into the wagon. It was much too small, but we tilted him so that his uninjured thigh sat in the bed of the wagon. Claire very carefully tied down his injured leg to rest as comfortably as possible on top of the other, his bare feet dangling from the edge towards the handle. She tied him down securely, but not tightly, but she had a worried frown on her face as blood began seeping through the sheets at even the slight motion we had given him.
Before Claire could speak, Nate unbuckled his belt, bent down to Roland, and wrapped it around his thigh above the wound. He met Roland’s eyes, then shoved the unicorn into his mouth. “Bite down and think of a unicorn shitting a rainbow.”
Roland’s eyes went wide at the bizarre command, completely caught off guard as Nate tightened the belt in one swift movement, buckling it tight around the wound as a makeshift tourniquet. Roland groaned, eyes almost rolling back into his head as he began to pant. Nate slapped his cheeks lightly to make sure he wasn’t about to pass out, and yanked the stuffed animal out of his mouth.
Roland was mutt
ering under his breath, eyes alive with pain. After a second, his glare locked onto Nate, and he had the pistol in his fist, pointed directly at Nate’s forehead. Nate didn’t even blink. “Thank me later,” he said, then stood, never taking his eyes away from Roland. I noticed he was fiddling with the coin again, and frowned. A nervous tic? Even though his face didn’t show it, he was obviously nervous.
Roland saw it, too, but he frowned, lowering the pistol. “Yes… later,” he said instead.
Claire let out a breath of relief, having been silent at the tension in the room. “It’s the best we can do. We just need to get him somewhere safe as soon as possible. We can take your truck, Callie. Somewhere no one will know to look for him.” Claire set a hastily packed medical kit on Roland’s chest, and swiped my keys off the night stand, hands shaking.
“Or the spear,” Nate added. “Nowhere she’s been.” He pointed a finger at me without looking. “In fact, it should be somewhere none of you even know. Good thing I’m here, huh?”
He turned his back. The whole thing had taken only a minute or two.
“They should be here by now…” I growled, ready for battle.
“Claire, you’re on sled duty, Callie, watch our ass and be ready to fling crosses or whatever you warrior nuns do. I smell vampires.” I didn’t even care to argue with him, although I could practically taste Roland’s displeasure. He clutched his pistol and the spear in either fist, looking ready to meet death. “Wait for it,” Nate murmured, staring at the door, seeming to listen. As if on cue, a large thump rattled the walls and a few plates on the counter. A picture even fell off the wall.
“What the hell?” I blurted.
Nate had already ripped open the door, and was motioning for us to hurry. “I put some minor wards up around the apartment. Just to be safe. I also put some up at your dad’s house.” I didn’t bother arguing, because his initiative might have just saved our lives. But… how had he known where my dad lived? Nate’s mention of my dad only increased my sense of urgency. What if he was in danger? We needed to get Roland safe. Now. So I could go check on my dad.
Claire followed, tugging Roland as gently as possible. He still grunted, which meant that it must be truly painful, because he was not one to show his pain.
For the first time, I was thankful I lived on the first floor and near the back parking lot, because the explosion I had heard had come from the street, towards the front of the building. Right where I had sensed the dark presence moments before. As I left the apartment, I glanced down the hall towards the front of the building and saw only a cloud of dust from the explosion, but I was willing to bet that dust consisted of disintegrated vampire. Doors were beginning to open as neighbors peeked outside to discover the source of the noise.
They stared open-mouthed at our procession as Nate led the way down the corridor, Claire and Roland behind him. I heard him kick open the back door, a sudden shriek of pain, and then the roar of Roland’s pistol, but I was too busy watching our rear. Still, I itched to run and help.
At the sound of the pistol and scream, the doors in the hallway slammed shut, and I saw two sets of eyes appear in the dust behind us. Then they began to run, much faster than humanly possible, claws biting into the stone floor as one went to all fours.
Vampires.
I began flinging bolts of energy, not daring to use fire and risk catching the building in flames.
I continued jogging backwards, and felt my heels bump against the wagon, causing Roland to grunt softly as the rear wheels of his wagon were shoved over the raised lip in the floor beneath the door. Then he was outside. I stood in the doorway, watching the vampires race closer.
Thinking of Roland, and Nate’s snide comment, I flung up a hand and threw a blast of power much different from my energy sticks. Similar to what I had done at the auction. Three crosses bloomed into existence, flaring out as they screamed down the narrow hallway. They struck the two pursuing vampires. The vampires exploded on contact with the glowing crosses, and twin clouds of dust erupted in their place. A shockwave of power from the explosion sent me skidding on my ass out the doorway and onto the damp pavement.
I scrambled to my feet, spinning quickly to see that Claire had already started the truck and backed it up to us. Nate was flinging his whips at two vampires darting back and forth just out of reach, willing to do anything to reach the man in the wagon. Roland had his pistol out, waiting for a clear shot, but he looked very pale and was sweating profusely.
I placed my hands on the back of the wagon just as Claire scrambled out of the truck, stumbling up to the wagon to grab the front. I heaved with all my strength, and felt a sudden burst of heat deep within my chest. The wagon jolted as I tossed it into the back of the truck, Roland hissing with pain. Claire just stared at me, stunned.
I turned my back on her, having no answer to the sudden burst of strength, and began flinging more crosses at the vampires. They struck true, and Nate glanced over his shoulder, flashing me a smile. Then his face transfixed in horror as he stared past me.
I was supposed to be watching our rear, not helping Nate.
I began to spin, but Nate was already flinging one of his hands my way, and I saw his whip sailing at my face, but it wasn’t fire or ice. It was pure white, like stepping from pitch darkness into a sunny land of snow, momentarily blinding me.
I heard a shriek behind me as his whip lashed past my shoulder, and then a flash of heat washed over me, sending me crashing into the back of the pickup truck, where I struck my stomach, knocking the wind from me. Nate didn’t waste any time, grabbing my hips with firm hands and throwing me up into the truck. I lay on the floor for a second, staring up at the sky. Roland was staring down at me with concern, but also a mask of pain at the mad rush from the apartment.
I heard the bed of the pickup slam closed, and then two thuds as Nate pounded the metal bed with his fist, letting Claire know to get us the hell out of here.
I climbed to my knees unsteadily, gulping air, my back tender from the wash of heat, and my hip bones aching where they had struck the metal of the truck. Nate was staring at me with concern, but then I saw something launching out of the back of a parked truck as we slowed for the exit to the parking lot. I grabbed his shirt and yanked him towards me as I flung up my other hand, the black fan blooming into existence before me.
Nate’s face slammed into my chest, but I didn’t let go. The vampire’s claws swung through empty air, and then they hit the fan.
He exploded into a cloud of dust, the force flattening me to the pickup bed, with Nate still atop me, face pressed into my cleavage. I couldn’t move, exhausted.
Nate began laughing into my breasts, and then rolled off me to stare up at the night sky.
“Bucket list,” he murmured under his breath, folding his hands over his chest, still laughing.
Even Roland chuckled lightly before wheezing in pain at the motion. I just lay there, too exhausted to even laugh. Or shout.
But also because neither of those had been the first reaction I had to Nate’s face pressed against my chest.
It had been a flash of heat. A merging of hope and desire.
I had never felt anything quite like it before, but I remained silent, simply breathing as the truck drove on. It wasn’t simple lust, and definitely not love, but it was… something. I heard Nate directing Claire where to drive through the now open back window of the truck.
He had saved me.
I had saved him.
And now I had to trust that he could keep Roland safe, hidden. Claire would help make sure he remained alive. While Nate and I raided the home of the bears. I hoped our plan was enough. But there was still the third piece of the spear, and if Roland spoke true, the pieces called out to each other…
Sooner or later, we were going to have to find the Demon bitch that had attacked me.
I shivered involuntarily, watching Nate as my thoughts rippled like a pond after a pebble had been thrown in. Well, more like a boulder.
As soon as Roland was safe, I would check on my dad. After all, if Roland wasn’t safe, no one was.
Chapter 35
We secured Roland in a storage unit Nate had acquired in the distant past. Under an alias corporation that was owned by other corporations, and yet other corporations, masking his ownership in a web he said would take months to untangle. He had boxes filled with battery powered lights, water, and other bug-out items. When asked about it, he had replied simply, “This is one of many shelters I have in Missouri.”
Ah, the power of money. But if it kept Roland safe, I couldn’t be too disgusted by the strange world Nate lived in. But with money like he had, why did he spend time picking fights with monsters? Helping me? Going to auctions? Starting schools? He could have just as easily sat back on his mountains of money and done nothing, watching the world spin on by.
It was curious.
Nate had stepped outside for a few minutes while Claire and I saw to Roland. When he came back, he sat on a box, resting. It took Claire twenty minutes to feel confident he wasn’t about to die, and I told Nate I was going to check on my father.
“He’s safe. I saw to it,” he said in a soft tone, eyes still closed.
“Those wards didn’t stop the vampires at my apartment.”
“I took additional measures,” he said, waving his phone, eyes still closed.
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
“Let’s skip past the part where you yell at me, angry I didn’t ask your permission first, and focus on the fact that your dad is safe. His safety is more important than your pride. Right? Give me a sliver of trust. I’m not the one who has lied to you, so stop taking your anger out on me.” He did open his eyes, then. And they were challenging, daring me to argue. And with the last statement, he did shoot a meaningful glance towards Roland, reminding me of the real source of my anger. I didn’t say anything, biting my tongue. He nodded satisfactorily. “I’m going to go get some rest. There’s roll up mats, blankets, and pillows in those boxes,” he pointed absently. Then he Shadow Walked, leaving us staring at each other.
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 1 Page 18
