The anger was a dull ache now, mixing with my homesickness and my despair. Muddling the fury I felt at Victoria for her forced betrayal. For the disdain I felt for Olivia and Lexington and even Alex. Every negative emotion melded into one and it made me sick. My stomach rolled with nausea. I needed out of this van. I needed Wes.
One thing my most recent failure had taught me was that I needed help and support. Someone on my side. My friends and family. A team. Not the one I was currently stuck with. Two Lexingtons, an enemy, and a mad scientist were not enough support for the mental war I waged. And maybe that team could think thoughts of victory for me since I wasn’t capable. I was lucky just to hold up and not give in against the whispered offerings of sharing world domination. How would I ever defeat an enemy that knew my every thought even as it entered my own mind?
Chapter Nine
The phone rang three times before someone picked up. Enough time for me to lose patience and begin pacing. I was more focused on finishing the conversation so I could hang up and dial the next person than to even hear her voice. I was only calling her first because if she ever found out I didn’t, she’d skin my wolf hide.
“Hello?” I heard after what felt like forever.
“Grandma?” I said. The wind seemed to rip the word from my throat as I offered it.
“Tara? Oh my God, Tara, is that you?” Before I could answer, there was muffled movement and then I heard, “Elizabeth, get over here. It’s your daughter.”
My mother’s voice in the background sent waves of relief through me. I hadn’t even realized the stress of worry until it unraveled at hearing them bickering in whispers over who got to hold the phone. Some things never changed.
“Tara?” my mother shrieked.
“It’s me,” I assured them. “I’m okay.”
“Where are you?” Grandma demanded. “We’ve been searching high and low.”
“I’m with Mr. Lexington and Steppe. In a van—”
“Tell us exactly where,” Grandma said. “We’ll be there faster than you can say tough titties.”
“Does he know you’re calling us?” my mother demanded.
“Just stop for a second,” I said and they fell silent. “Yes, he knows I’m calling.” I threw a glance back at the van in the darkened lot behind me where I knew Steppe waited, still tied and gagged. Which was mostly for everyone else’s benefit since I could still hear him loud and clear in my mind. Ragging on me for being “that girl who called her mommy when she got into trouble.” I ignored him and concentrated on filling them in.
“There was an ... incident. Astor helped. It’s kind of a long story. The important thing is that I’m free,” I told them.
“What kind of incident?” my mother asked, worry coating the words until they were barely recognizable out of her mouth.
“I’ll explain when I see you, I promise. I’m with Mr. Lexington. He’s helping me. And I have Victoria and Astor and—”
“Don’t trust Lexington,” Grandma warned.
“He’s working against us,” my mother added.
“Guys!” I let out an exasperated sigh. Two months of captivity, of not speaking to them, of them probably wondering if I was dead, and this was their idea of a reunion. “I can’t stay on the phone long. Mr. Lexington says we have to keep moving. It’s not safe. We’re going to meet up at his house so get in the car and drive. I’ll meet you there as soon as you can make—”
“Lexington Manor?” Grandma snapped. “No. You can’t go there, Tara. He’s right, it’s not safe.”
“Why not?” I shot a look behind me at where Victoria was pacing. She had a phone to her ear as well. Gordon’s actually. I couldn’t make out the words but I knew she’d try Logan first. I hoped she reached him. I hoped he was okay. That they all were—
“Tara, this world is a lot different than you remember,” my mom said gently. “We’ll explain everything when we see you. But don’t go to Lexington Manor.”
“Where can we go?” I asked. “There isn’t anywhere else safe. Mr. Lexington said all of our houses are being watched.”
“They are,” Grandma said. Her tone was grim and I wondered just how far I’d have to go in order to preserve Steppe’s life once the others found us.
“What about...?” my mom asked in a muffled voice. There was rustling on their end of the line while they whispered and probably tried covering the phone. Impatience got the better of me and I paced and huffed.
“I don’t have all night,” I said.
Even as I said it, my eyes scanned the trees for danger. I had no idea exactly who or what we were up against. None of them had been very specific in describing the danger, only to say that it was lurking everywhere. To always be on guard. And Lexington had insisted that we had exactly ten minutes at this rest stop to call everyone we could.
“Go to Flaherty’s,” Grandma said in a voice that brooked no argument.
“Professor Flaherty?” I asked. “My teacher from Wood Point?”
“That’s the one. We’ll meet you there,” she said.
“But ... how do you know...? I don’t know where she lives.”
“Astor’s with you, right?” Grandma asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“He can show you the way. We’ll see you there...” She paused, calculating, and then added, “In the morning.”
“Tara, be careful,” my mom said.
“I will. You too,” I said.
“We love you,” they said in unison and I smiled.
“Love you too.”
I’d barely hung up before punching the numbers that dialed my next call. Instead of pacing, I bounced. I didn’t even know if this number still worked. Victoria had said he moved to DC to look for me after the police let him go. Maybe he’d changed numbers.
One ring. Two.
Victoria sniffled and I looked over in time to see a tear escape before she brushed it aside. Our eyes met but there was no time to read what had caused her tears before the voice on the other end of my phone snatched my attention.
“What?”
My knees threatened to buckle. Despite the less-than-warm greeting, the sound of that one word was like honey over warm bread.
“What?” he said again, this time warily. In the background, I heard glasses clinking, voices humming in vague conversation. Country music. But none of it really registered. It was only him. Just there, through the phone, so close.
I licked my lips, my throat suddenly dry. “Wes?” I managed, my voice cracking. I tried again. “It’s me.”
The line went quiet for so long I checked to be sure the call hadn’t dropped.
“Tara,” he said. The sound of my name on his lips was like falling in love all over again.
“It’s me,” I said, warmth rushing up from my toes and flowing out into all the points on my body.
“Holy Christ. Where are you? How are you? Is this real?”
I laughed through tears that were already raining down my cheeks. “It’s real,” I assured him. “I’m somewhere west of the metro area. Near the mountains, I think. I’m free.”
“You’re free,” he repeated and now that the anger was gone, his shock sounded laced with something not quite steady. Something a little slower than usual. “You got away from Steppe?”
“Yes, I...” I trailed off, my thoughts racing full speed ahead as I tried to pick carefully what to share and what to save. His face, God, I wanted to see his face. Did he have day-old stubble? Was he wearing after-shave? Cologne? His leather jacket that smelled like his car and—
“Whoa, slow down,” he said, “Not so fast.”
My thoughts skidded to a halt and my brows drew together. “I didn’t say anything,” I said. There was a too-long pause and then he smacked his lips together on an appreciative exhale. In the background, ice cubed clinked.
“Where are you?” I asked, finally picking up the background noise and piecing it together with his slow reactions.
He sighed. “I�
�m in a bar.”
“What are you doing in a bar?” I snapped out before I could rein in my temper—or understand it. He was supposed to be looking for me, searching to the ends of the earth. Had he given up that easily and decided to drown himself in a bottle instead?
Something Steppe had said whispered through my mind, about Wes giving up on ever finding me and moving on, and I realized this wasn’t my own anger or suspicion. This was being planted. I exhaled and forced it away; Steppe was not taking this moment from me.
“Turning on the mute button,” he said and then hastily, “But now that I know I need the volume, consider me exiting.”
“Whatever,” I said, brushing it aside before I could dwell long enough for Steppe’s anger to take hold. “I’m with Victoria and Astor. We’re headed to Flaherty’s, my professor from Wood Point. Grandma says we’ll be safe to meet up there. Can you meet us?”
I decided not to mention Steppe. Or Victoria’s dad. Not yet. Better to wait until we were face to face. Wes responded with a growl-wrapped curse and I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear and looking at it in surprise. For the second time, I felt like we were having entirely different conversations.
The wind whipped by in a particularly sharp gust. Goose bumps broke out over my arms and neck, shocking me with the intensity of their discomfort as I shivered. It’d been so long since I’d felt that sort of...
Wes let out a string of fast curses and in the background, glass shattered. Someone yelled something about paying for it. The line was jostled.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“No, everything is not— Tara, get out of there.”
Behind me, Victoria’s voice rose in a yell that cut off, and I turned, half-curious as to what was going on between her and Logan. But Victoria wasn’t on the phone. I let out a growl of my own when I saw what had startled her.
In the darkness of the empty lot, orange beams played light and shadow off each other in a slanted graph. At the edges, I caught slippery movement before it slid away. The goose bumps on my arms rose as I spotted the object of her horror.
“Tara, there’s someone there with you,” Wes said. “Get out.”
I had a fleeting moment to wonder how he’d known before the shadow emerged and spoke. “Put the phone down, sweetheart.”
The wolf was enormous. Dark fur, powerful muscles that bunched when he shifted his paws, and teeth that glittered in the light of the street lamp. Two more like him crept from the shadows behind Victoria, but she never wavered from her wide-eyed stare at their leader. Her face was pale, stark white broken only by the brilliant purple bruise along her jaw and the harsh red marks slashing down her cheeks and throat. She was almost scarier than they were—if not for the fear in her eyes and the way her hands trembled at her sides.
I stared back at the wolf. He stood less than three feet from her, his jaw hanging open, flashing his ample canines to intimidate her—and me.
It was working.
“Tara?” Wes called through the phone that now hung suspended a foot away from my ear where my arms had flung out in a defensive position.
“I’m here,” I said. The wolf’s ears twitched.
“Everything’s jumbled, I can’t hear you,” Wes said, his voice distant, like being filtered through a funnel. My inner wolf whined, willing Wes to sense the danger and come. But wherever he was now, it was too far to help us.
This one was all me.
“This is between us. Let her go,” I told the wolf.
“Gladly. We’re not here for her,” the wolf growled. He took a step away from Victoria—toward me. My relief was short lived. Behind him, two more wolves moved in. I threw a desperate glance behind me and then backed away in a slanted retreat, trying to draw them away. I couldn’t let them surround us.
I took another several steps sideways, away from the van where the others waited.
“Tara, talk to me,” Wes yelled. “Tell me where you are.” I ignored him but left the call connected. The wolf’s eyes flickered to the phone.
“Tara?” one of the other wolves repeated from where he stood near Victoria. “Tara Godfrey?”
“Yes. What do you want?” I asked.
His head tilted and he shot a look at his friend. “We found her,” he growled.
Victoria blinked as they drew closer, coming out of her frozen shock, and let out a small whimper. Inside my head, Steppe’s presence was open curiosity. The only hint of concern seemed to be whether I would tell them he was here with us.
What a guy.
“Two minutes,” Wes said, the words muffled by movement. I sighed. Wherever he thought I was, there was no way he could know for sure. Or get here. Or—
The wolf snorted. “He’ll never make it in time.”
“What do you want?” I repeated, my voice rising with desperation.
“We didn’t want anything but to be left in peace,” he shot back. “Look what we got instead. New laws that made us outcasts, fugitives. We are criminals simply by the fact that we exist. What do I want? For being convicted before I was ever guilty, I want justice.”
“None of that is my fault,” I said.
“Don’t even think about denying it. I know who you are. I’ve heard all about your war with CHAS. I’ve seen the footage of your destruction. It’s your fault, your act of treason to your own kind that drove them to change the laws in the first place.”
I had no idea where he was getting his information, but the look he wore made it clear he believed his own theory. Utterly. “Killing me won’t change the law,” I said.
“No, I’m not naïve enough to think anything will. I’m not here to change things,” he said, creeping closer on silent paws.
Victoria backed away, but it only drew the other two wolves toward her. I took a step back, hoping to lead them toward me instead. But they didn’t stray from their target. I bit my lip. Through the phone, I heard a car door slam and an engine rev. I couldn’t allow myself to hope. There was no more time.
The black wolf opened its massive jaw and leaped for my throat.
I dropped the phone and sidestepped his angry teeth, closing my fists around a handful of fur as we both went down. Behind me, I heard Victoria yell over the sound of screeching tires and squealing brakes. Headlights cast a bright beam of light over me and the wolf, illuminating a patch of grass where the concrete ended and the picnic area began. I angled toward it as we fell. If I was going to be knocked over, that was the best place to hit the ground.
I managed only a glance of a rusty red fender before the momentum of my fall sent me rolling. I hung on and prayed I’d be at the far end of the wolf’s open mouth when we righted ourselves again.
We both landed on our hip, side by side, limbs tangled. The wolf growled and twisted, intent on pinning me down. I knew if that happened, there’d be no getting up again. The wolf’s jaw snapped and I scuttled backward, just far enough to avoid the teeth. The air between us echoed with a loud snapping sound as his jaw closed on empty air instead of my forearm.
There wasn’t time to feel relieved before he twisted and arched out to bite at me again. I shoved him away, barely holding him back by the handful of neck fur I held. But then his weight shifted and I felt my shoulder rolling awkwardly. I tried pushing against his momentum, but my piddly hundred and ten pounds were no match for his mass. I rolled onto my back and his paws came down painfully in the fleshy space just below my shoulders. I cried out and fell still, pinned.
The wolf stared down at me with zero remorse in his wild eyes. There was no hesitation, only methodical purpose. He wasn’t drawing it out. He wasn’t hurrying. It wasn’t about me. It was about justice. A fact I knew made arguing pointless.
I strained internally, willing, begging my wolf to take over. I could feel it rising, slowly, as if through mud. But it wasn’t fast enough—or capable enough—to give me the form I needed in order to stop the inevitable. The wolf let out a low sound from deep in its throat, a growl turned h
owl, and it leaned in.
I gave up and shut my eyes and waited.
Hot breath washed over me and my muscles tensed in anticipation. I waited for the agony of sharp teeth cutting into my flesh—but it never came. A second later, the weight pinning me suddenly vanished. I heard a grunt and then a set of scuffling growls.
I opened my eyes and blinked at the empty space where the wolf had crouched a moment ago. In its place, a hand appeared.
I followed its arm up and my mouth fell open. “Cambria?” I said.
She stood over me, a flash of teeth gleaming in the glare from a new set of headlights. “In the flesh,” she said. “And I come bearing gifts.” She pointed to where Derek, fully Werewolf, was locked in a head-over-tail wrestling match with the wolf that had just tried to eat me.
“Derek,” I said, my shoulders sagging now that the danger was being taken on by someone capable. “But how did you know I was here?” I asked, squinting up at Cambria again.
“GPS Barbie called Logan,” she explained, nodding to where Logan and Victoria were locked in an embrace so tight, they looked like a two-headed paper doll. “You want some help up or are you going to hang out down there for the duration?”
I grinned at Cambria, took her offered hand, and let her pull me to my feet. The moment my body was upright, I threw my arms around her and squeezed tight. There was a suspended moment of indecision and then Cambria’s arms wrapped around me, awkwardly patting, before morphing into a full-on death grip.
When we finally stepped back, her eyes brimmed with tears. “Are you crying?” I asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
Cambria sniffled. “Shut up. I thought you were...”
She didn’t finish and I smiled crookedly. Until this moment, I hadn’t appreciated how glad I was that I could answer, “Well, I’m not.”
“Good. Because I’ve come to realize Logan is pretty sucky at a lot of BFF things, and you couldn’t have come back at a better time. My hair color is fading and I can’t choose the next one. Logan doesn’t know the difference between fuchsia and firebrick.”
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