I bit my lip, mulling over his idea. “Your palace is only about forty minutes from my house. So….”
“We can’t separate.” Dathan sliced his hand horizontally through the air, signaling that there was no point in arguing with him. “You, Zack and the rest are coming with me.”
“I’ll talk to the others about that.” I waved and slipped out the chapel door.
My dad met me in the hallway. “They’re still excavating where you found Dathan, trying to get to the parking structure through the park. Came across a few shape-shifters.” His gaze plummeted to the floor.
“Dead?” My eyes stung and a whimper escaped me.
My dad lifted a shoulder. “Blown apart by the bomb. But they were already dead before the explosion. Clean cuts at the neck.We’ll find some alive though, I’m sure of it.”
Which meant those bodies weren’t Egon, Sean, Yvonne or the others since they had been alive and fighting us before the bomb went off. At least there was that. I sniffed and wiped my cheek. “Have you seen any of Natasha’s guards?”
“I didn’t, no. But some of the other bodies, well, you can’t tell who they are.” My dad’s jaw tightened.
I didn’t expect much. Natasha’s guards may not have gotten far enough away. And I’d already figured that Ulric probably would’ve killed the younger, weaker shape-shifters since they wouldn’t have been useful against us. And he wouldn’t go out of his way to paralyze them when killing was more efficient. I forced down the lump in my throat. “What if Mortimer’s men come back? We need to get out of here.”
“They won’t. They’re all with King Mortimer,” my dad growled, “waiting for us to rescue Natasha.”
“If I were Mortimer, I’d keep plenty of men with me at the palace to hold the fort,” I said. “But I’d also send men to hunt us, just in case we decided to cut our losses and not rescue her.”
My dad shook his head. “He knows I’ll come for her.”
I gripped his arm. “He also won’t take the chance that she talks you into not coming after her. Not that you’d leave her there, but that’s totally what he’d do. He might expect everyone else to have the same heartless mentality.”
His brows arched up in surprise. “My clever girl. You’ve had to grow up too fast.” A sad smile touched his lips. “I’ll talk to Renzo and bounce this off him.”
I dashed down the hallway and found Zack in the cafeteria, standing in front of the fridge eyeing a blood bag in his hand. “Hungry?” I asked.
“Always.” He tossed the blood bag back into the fridge. “But I can’t do blood. We’ll be descending on the wolves soon and I probably shouldn’t smell like a vampire. As it is, the blood I’ve already consumed will take a while to lose its effect on my scent.”
“Right.” And I’d continue to abstain from meat so I could pass as human. “Smart.”
He grazed a knuckle along my cheek, his other hand gripping the waist of my T-shirt. “Tired?”
“Exhausted. Dathan says we need to leave as soon as we can. My dad’s talking to Renzo now, coordinating.”
“We still have to find everyone, make sure there isn’t anyone left who can be saved.” He threw his head back and groaned. “I’m starving.”
“Food I can handle. Go. I’ll bring you something in a few minutes.” I reached up on my toes and pressed my lips against his. “Maybe we can rest wherever we end up. Hang in there.”
Zack’s throat rumbled as he pulled me against him. “Hanging on is easy, so long as you’re with me.”
And to think that once we had alone time, I could do all the things with Zack that normal couples did. Except that I couldn’t. Because he still believed mixing species would hurt us. And I couldn’t tell him, otherwise I’d betray my mom. The next several weeks or months were sure to drag on. For now, I just had to get through the debris and bodies.
Chapter TWENTY
Autumn
Hours later, they’d removed enough of the rubble to sort through the bodies in the parking structure. Zack wouldn’t let me help. I didn’t fight him on it, too grateful not to have to clutter my brain with the gruesome sights. Renzo and Zack spent a considerable amount of time examining each head for any resemblance to anyone they knew.
I occupied myself being nursemaid to both Dathan and my mom, while also running around with my dad doing an inspection of the sleeping quarters. As we moved through each room, we checked it for bodies, as well as functionality. We made a list of damages. As we encountered a handful of the shape-shifters who’d survived, we patched them up as best we could, fed them and took them to the theater to heal.
“My dad surveyed the research room. “What a mess.”
“All that technology lost.” My throat swelled. “Years of hard work.”
“They’re good at keeping records and making sure the information is backed up. And we have Havers.”
“Yeah,” I said, as we backed out of the room.
My dad paused to listen to a voice in his head, then patted my back. “Renzo just told me they found Egon, Sean, Yvonne and a few of the others. Broken and battered but once they’ve eaten, it’ll probably only be a few hours before they’ve healed enough to take over. We can depend on them to make sure every inch is covered and everyone is rescued. Let’s see if we can salvage any of our belongings and get packed.”
All my breath expelled in relief. They had to feel bad for attacking us, and Egon would probably forever torture himself for allowing Ulric inside. Hopefully, in time they’d realize it wasn’t their fault.
***
Zack and me, my parents, Renzo and Dathan, plus five other vampires—with room to spare—boarded Cedric’s private jet. As we cruised down the dirt road before liftoff, the bumps jostled me. I glanced out the window to see the backhoe running and other shape-shifters moving debris by hand. And then we were in the air.
Keeping his promise to help Sean, Dathan had huddled with Sean before we left to plan out the next couple weeks. Sean agreed to consult him when needed and then Dathan extracted a promise that they wouldn’t try to rescue Natasha without our help. Dathan didn’t need to force the issue. Though their first priority was to retrieve their queen, they wanted to be smart about it. Their best chance at a rescue mission was to wait until everyone was healed and ready for battle.
Zack and I snuggled in the corner of the jet and managed a few minutes of sleep. When we descended toward Van Nuys airport, I yawned and stretched against Zack. “Hey, did you guys decide where we’re going?”
“No way can we allow our king to convalesce some place without decent security.” Kayla lifted her chin in challenge.
“Kayla is right,” my mom said. “King Cedric can keep him safer.”
“Damn straight we can,” Joseph said in a tone that dared us to argue. “Which is why you guys are coming with us too. You’re important to our king. Therefore, you’re important to us. Conversation over.”
Not like any of us would’ve argued anyway. But, oh, how I would’ve loved to go home and get some clothes that I hadn’t already been wearing the last several weeks.
“We have no choice but to go to the palace.” My mom’s mouth curved down. “As much as I’d love to be in my own home again.”
“You two aren’t sharing a room.” My dad sent Zack a dark look. “If His Majesty can’t spare an extra room, then one of us or Renzo will bunk with you guys.”
Having Renzo or either of my parents sleep in the same room with Zack and me had certainly worked to keep our hormones in check. All the more reason to rush my mom and Dathan’s recovery so we could descend upon the werewolf king and no longer have to hide or cower. The sooner we got started, the better. And then Zack and I could truly be together. That was something worth fighting for.
“They’ve been sharing a room for months, Quentin,” Dathan said as the jet eased to a stop on the runaway.
My dad’s head snapped to me. “What?”
I winced. “Thanks so much, Dathan. Not sure why we dug y
ou out of the rubble.”
Joseph opened the door and motioned us out of the plane toward three waiting limos. Wanting nothing more than to escape that topic, I bailed. My mom and Dathan were still weak and we hadn’t come all this way to be ambushed. I flanked my mom while my dad covered her other side. Zack and Renzo shielded Dathan as he shuffled toward the long black car. Kayla, Joseph and the other three circled us.
On the way to the vampire palace, I snuggled against Zack and dozed off, rousing as we turned up the long driveway.
“Welcome home,” King Cedric greeted us as we exited the limo.
The vampires helped us with our luggage and Cedric ushered us up to his suite. “I hope you don’t mind but I want to keep you all close by.”
“Reminds me of old times,” I said with a sigh. Sure, I was honored Cedric would make sure we were all safe, but I’d had enough of being crowded with so little privacy.
Dathan headed up the stairs and I followed. He’d have to unpack and needed to conserve his strength. I’d do that for him. He blocked me at the doorway to his room. “I’m not as weak as you may think. I’m merely reserving my strength to promote healing.”
I ignored him, swooping and snatching the bag out of his hand. “Good. So save your strength while I unpack for you.”
“I have people who will do that for me. Leave the bags there.” But Dathan didn’t object while I steered him to his room and unzipped his bags, laying some items in drawers and hanging his shirts in the closet. “I’ll be fine,” he said after I finished.
“If you need anything, call one of us. I want you conserving your energy.” I raised my brows in warning then made my way back to Cedric’s office where everyone had gathered. By their grave expressions, something bad had gone down. I met all five sets of eyes. “What did I miss?”
“Zack volunteered to join the werewolves and make himself available to King Mortimer.” My mom’s eyes were uncharacteristically shiny.
“You’re joking.” I glanced at Zack but he avoided making eye contact with me. My stomach bottomed out.
Cedric sighed. “Terrible idea.”
“Ridiculous. Doesn’t merit even a second of our consideration,” Renzo growled, glaring at his son.
My mouth dropped open and I tried to speak but only one thought echoed through my brain. Once Zack left, I might never see him again. I forced my lips to move. “That’s the stupidest thing ever. Nothing is worth being alone there and unprotected.”
“Well said, Autumn.” Renzo scowled at Zack. “When we infiltrate Mortimer’s palace, it will be painstakingly planned and we’ll do it together as a group.”
“However…” Dathan raised an index finger as he dragged himself through the doorway and into the office, then sunk to the couch. “As a new recruit, Zack will be treated decently enough, as long as they believe he’s one of them. No one will suspect he’s there to study the layout and take notes on people—who’s who and their routines. By the time we get there, he’ll have all the information we need to attack and win. Possibly even Natasha’s location. If he’s already been there a while, they’ll have no reason to suspect he’s with us.”
It was a brilliant plan, in theory. Yet the worst one I’d ever heard. “No, Zack. Hell, no. We can’t risk anything happening to you. This isn’t just your responsibility. It’s all of ours.”
“Okay, okay.” My dad waved to get our attention. “None of us want Zack to go anywhere. But…” He risked a glance at me and my stomach lurched.
Please don’t, Dad. I can’t lose him.
You won’t. If I believed he’d be in any real danger, I’d never allow it. My dad refocused on the others. “I spent time with King Mortimer ages ago and I know how they operate. The risk is minimal for a rookie. They have no reason to assume he’s there for any other reason than to serve his king. They’ll treat him like a newbie, educate him, train him. So long as he’s careful and doesn’t take any chances—which will only happen if he talks too much—they’ll never suspect him.”
My eyes burned with unshed tears. “We agreed to stick together. We need to get Natasha out of there, but we can’t sacrifice one person for another.”
“Autumn.” Zack reached for me but then backed away. “I’m not surrendering to the enemy. They’ll think I’m their friend, so there’s no sacrifice. And this isn’t just for Natasha. It’s for every shape-shifter out there who lost his life too early, every shifter who slaved for decades, only for their existence to end in a cruel and senseless death. It’s for you and me, so we can be together without fear.”
And Zack was the only one who could do it since the werewolves were already aware of Renzo as a traitor. Having Zack spying on the werewolves could mean the difference in failing and Natasha dying, or succeeding and winning our freedom. Still, I hated it.
“They’ll smell the vampire on him and know something is up.” Even if they still wanted to go through with the plan days from now, that would give me several more days with Zack. And I’d know he was alive and well.
My dad shook his head, sending me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but he passes the sniff test. Almost anyway.”
No argument there. I’d never noticed any vampire smell on him unless he’d had blood very recently.
Zack averted my gaze. “If anyone gets close enough to me and comments, I’ll tell them I encountered a newbie vampire along the way, and I was hungry.”
“They’ll know who Zack is.” I searched their faces, my eyes pleading for them to see reason. “Ulric had infiltrated the minds of the shape-shifters. He had to know about Zack long before he set his plan in motion. He would’ve relayed everything about us to his king.”
“Which is why he’ll have a new identity. His papers will be ready shortly.” Cedric gave me an apologetic look. “And no one outside this room will know Zack left to join the werewolves. We can’t risk any spies informing Mortimer. Everyone, including my people, will think you and he broke up, and he’s with his family.”
More pretending we’re not together. I could hardly wait. But as much as I loathed every part of the plan, this wasn’t a battle I could win, not when I was grossly outnumbered. I’d failed. My throat ached. “When are you leaving?”
“Tonight, after I visit with Trevor and Aunt Cara.”
The already tense muscles in my shoulders began cramping. “Why so soon? You haven’t even caught up on sleep.” Not even tomorrow would be sufficient time to say goodbye.
“Because Dathan and I will be ready for battle in about a month,” my mom answered, caressing my cheeks with her palms. “Zack needs every second of that month to do what he needs to do. He has all day today to rest before driving out.”
Which meant that I wouldn’t even get the day with Zack. Because he’d be sleeping instead of spending that time with me. Frustration smothered me like plastic wrap.
“Sweetheart, this can’t be easy for you. But Zack has only a few weeks to absorb so much in order to make it possible for us to rescue Natasha and defeat Mortimer.” She stroked my arm. “Not much time, Autumn. We need to make every moment count.”
“Especially since it’s not a quick drive there,” my dad added. “It’s in Glendale.”
Hope sprung within me. “That’s a twenty minute drive. He can leave in the morning and get there in time for breakfast.”
Dathan winced. “Glendale, Utah. Seven or eight hour drive, depending on the length of his stops. If Zack leaves by midnight, he’ll arrive first thing in the morning. Each hour Natasha is alone and suffering…” Dathan’s jaw clenched. “The sooner Zack gets there, the sooner he can contact her and she’ll know she’s not alone, that help is on the way.”
My heart pounded and my ears roared. I flew past the door, raced down the hallway and down the stairs, then headed outside through the back. I didn’t have much time to say goodbye to Zack, but I couldn’t speak to anyone. Not even him. Not yet.
Slouching on the cement bench beside the flowerbed, I stared up at th
e sky. Just months ago, I’d been experimenting with my superhuman abilities, wondering what I was and why I had all these crazy powers. Zack had been practically a stranger, just some smokin’ hot guy who’d been rude to me. And now, we were on the brink of war, about to fight for our own lives as well as all shape-shifters. The magnitude of what we’d taken on hit me like a club and my chest squeezed.
“I want to spend time with my family under different circumstances other than my mom’s funeral. I may not have another chance for a while.” Zack slipped beside me, gently sliding an arm around my waist. “I want you to come with me.”
I sniffed and reached deep down inside myself for a smile to offer. Zack didn’t want to join King Mortimer any more than I did. He was doing it to help rescue Natasha, and possibly help my species. His willingness to go on this solitary mission made me love him even more. “Sure. I’d like to see your family. But I think we’d better rehearse our story first, make sure we have everything straight.”
“Any ideas?” His fingertips glided up my back.
“We’ll tell them my mom and dad are considering another job out of town but they want to scope the place out first, make sure the situation will work for them. And they invited us to come along. How could you resist a free trip?”
“And why do I need the Jeep?”
Crap, yeah, he’d need a car to drive to Utah. How would we explain that? “Actually, I won’t be needing the Mustang since they’ll never let me go anywhere alone and Dathan will probably want to travel in something bigger.”
He leaned his head against mine. Silence lengthened and I hated the uncomfortableness of it. But I wouldn’t break it. Because once someone spoke, that meant progression. And progression meant taking the next step, and soon after Zack would be gone. For now, I wanted to pretend Zack wasn’t going anywhere.
“I should get to bed. I need to sleep as much as possible to drive all night.”
Except for the nap on the jet and a few moments of rest in the limo, we hadn’t slept since the day before the explosion. Zack couldn’t drive straight through without stopping. And stopping for breaks would increase his chances of running into another werewolf. Since that species had a reputation for having no compassion, if Zack were spotted, he might not make it to Mortimer. He had no choice but to catch a few hours here.
Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5) Page 92