Grant’s head whipped up. “The defensive runes?”
Nate couldn’t blame Grant for his alarm. The runes were all that was keeping the hunters out of the building. “Get into the safe room now. It’s the best place for you.”
“And let you fight my battle for me?” Grant clenched his fists. “This isn’t your fight!”
“Please, Grant?” Charlotte wrung her hands. “You’ve been struggling on your own long enough. Now, it’s time to share the fight.”
“Turning tail while my friends risk their necks? No way.” Grant didn’t budge. “You’re putting your lives on the line for me. I have to prove that I’m worthy of the risk you’re taking—”
“For fuck’s sake!” Aki marched up to Grant, jabbing him in the chest with his finger. “Do not even start! These people are worried enough without you adding some more needless dramatics to the mix! You’re going to go into the box where you’re safe, and we can protect you more easily, and you’re going to stay there, concentrating on keeping your sanity intact. You can make it up to us—after the full moon. Got that?” It was not actually a question.
Grant tensed. His nostrils flared as he breathed in, his eyes narrowed at Aki. His body shook, a low growl escaping him.
Werewolf, Nate reminded himself. Full moon is super close. Even he knew that werewolves were much more dangerous around the full moon than at any other time. He saw George raise her crossbow out of the corner of his eye and edged toward Grant so that he was ready to tackle him should Aki seem threatened.
Abruptly, Grant sagged. “You—are right. It is difficult for me to do nothing, but it seems that is all I can do.” He looked up, his clear eyes resting on each of them in turn. “I won’t forget this. And I give you my word that I will do all I can to make sure you do not regret this.” His voice had a mellow note that seemed to swell, giving his words a larger-than-life air. “This is not my fight. It’s our fight.”
If Nate hadn’t been so worried, he’d have been impressed.
Grant stepped into the safe room, and Nate and George stepped forward to lock and bolt the door. They heard Grant pulling the bolts on his side shut as they closed the bookcase, hiding the door entirely from view.
“There.” George slapped the bookcase. “No one would ever suspect there’s a room hidden behind there.”
“But they’ll know Grant is in here. They’ve been watching the apartment—they’ll know he hasn’t left.” Charlotte twisted her hands. “If only we knew what had happened to the wards!”
Nate looked out the window. So far, it didn’t seem as if the hunters had noticed that the wards were down. “Can’t you redo them?”
Vazul snorted. “Obviously, you’ve never studied magic. Proper runes would take hours. That’s time we don’t have.”
Nate walked into the living room. The only thing they could do now was to barricade themselves in. He ran his hand down the surface of the Norwegian pine table. It was strong, solid wood. It would make a secure barricade—
“Nate.” Aki was at his heels. “I have an idea you’re going to hate, but you need to hear me out.”
Nate let his hand rest on the table. “What’s up?”
“It was what Charlotte said just now. The hunters aren’t going to leave unless they see Grant go—and the longer they stay here, the greater the chances of someone getting hurt. The police aren’t doing anything. It’s up to us.” Aki took a deep breath. “George. What’s going to happen if the hunters see Grant leave this building?”
George leaned in the doorway. “They’re going to go after him, of course. He’s one hell of a payload.”
“But they’re not going to see Grant go anywhere,” Vazul said stiffly. “He is going to stay in that room—”
“But the hunters don’t know that, right?” Aki scowled at them. “You’ve still got the collar you used to make him look like a dog, right? Could you do that again? Only, to make me look—”
“Like Grant,” Nate finished. “No way, Aki!”
George whistled. “Seriously?”
Aki folded his arms. “I don’t know why you’re all so surprised. It’s a great idea. And I’m totally equipped to pull it off.”
“But Aki, you’re—” Nate hesitated. How to phrase this?
Vazul had no compunctions about hurting Aki’s feelings. “You’re short, unarmed, and about as threatening as a limp rag.”
“I’m taller than you,” Aki shot back at once. “And at least I’m fit. I can run—”
“Running’s not going to do you much good when you’ve got twenty odd crossbows leveled at your back,” George said slowly. She was watching Aki with a thoughtful expression, almost like she was taking his suggestion seriously.
“That’s where my talent comes in.”
“Talent?” Charlotte clutched her hands together.
“He’s got hunches,” Nate said flatly. “Aki, that doesn’t count!”
“Foresight, and for your information, it does too!” Aki took a deep breath. “You’ve only seen me in…standby mode. But this would be different. This time, I’d be using my ability.”
“This is a terrible idea,” Nate said. “Aki, are you looking at me? Terrible. Think about this. I am telling you it’s a bad idea.”
“But if instead of Grant in trouble, it was—” Aki paused, frowning. “It was—” Suddenly, his expression cleared, and he darted to the side.
“Aki—ow!”
A wooden practice sword bounced off Nate’s funny bone. He spun around to glare at George. “What was that for?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Testing Aki’s reflexes. They check out.” She eyed his hand, clutching his throbbing arm. “Yours don’t.”
“So don’t even think about using the ‘I’m less breakable so I should do this’ argument,” Aki finished. “I’m doing this.”
Nate shot George a sour look. “Charlotte and Vazul haven’t said it’s possible.”
Charlotte shot Vazul a look. “It is,” she admitted hesitantly. “But—”
“It’s for Grant,” Vazul said. “Let’s do this.”
Vazul hadn’t struck Nate as any more charitable than Aki—then again, he wasn’t recklessly endangering himself for someone he professed to dislike. There’s something odd about this. Nate glanced over at Aki, his arms crossed as he watched Charlotte hunt through Grant’s duffel bag for the collar. Aki looked serious, his expression set. He’s really going to do this. Nate felt a moment’s panic. He couldn’t lose Aki too!
Too?
Again, there was that feeling of something just out of reach—
“Move it.” Vazul urged him away from the table. “Genius needs space to work.”
Charlotte worked out the spell, consulting a runic dictionary she carried in her shoulder bag.
Vazul cast the runes, thoroughly enjoying himself in the process. “For best results, this should be heated in a blacksmith’s forge and hammered out beneath the light of a full moon,” he said. “And then the runes carved while the metal is still working. In the circumstances, you’re lucky you have me around.”
He held the collar beneath his hands. It glowed a molten orange, waves of heat radiating outward from him.
“You’re going to cool that down, right?” Aki tugged nervously at his neck. “I don’t want to be branded.”
“Nate!” George slid out of her watching place at the window. “The hunters have figured it out. They’ve made their way inside.”
“Right.” Nate took a deep breath. With one chair under each arm and another in his hands, he waded out into the hallway by the elevator. He planted the two chairs down, one after the other, in front of the elevator and stretched out his hands. Grow.
The power came readily. Just like it had when he’d shown—someone—important. Someone who’d stood at the windowsill of the bedroom of the apartment he was now protecting—
There was a cracking sound as the chairs expanded, drawing Nate’s attention back to the branches protruding from
the chairs. They expanded outward, spreading out into branches of their own. Distantly, Nate heard the elevator button chime below, as the hunters made their way toward the top floor. Faster! Nate urged the growing trees onward.
“Hey, Nate, you need a—holy crap!” George stopped in the open doorway to stare. “Did you just make an entire forest in here?”
Nate glanced over his shoulder at her, as the branches continued to twine and intertwine around the space. “What do you think?”
“Fire hazard,” George said. “But considering that they’re stuck up here, we’ll just have to hope they’re more into self-preservation than hunters usually are.”
The chiming elevator door put an end to their conversation. The branches were so thick that Nate couldn’t see the hunters, but he could hear their shouts as they discovered the barrier between themselves and the door.
“Inside.” George nudged him toward the door.
Nate carefully lifted the Norwegian wood table against the door, George watching.
“I like a guy who is good in an emergency,” she said. “You sure you don’t want to join forces, Nate? I’d look after you. Forty-sixty split on profits—and I don’t make that offer to just anyone.”
Nate straightened up, putting a hand against the table to make sure that it would stay put. “George—this is going to sound like a weird question, but what are we doing here?”
“Saving Grant?”
Nate nodded. “I know me and Aki met him at the park. But you—” He considered her with a frown. “How did you get in on this?”
George snorted. “Doubting my hunting skills? Thirty-five-sixty-five then. I’m a professional.”
“I’m serious, George. I didn’t call you in on this.”
George opened her mouth and paused. “I—huh.” She stared at Nate. “I know one of Wisner’s goons seriously pissed me off. Locking me in a kennel. I don’t quite remember how I got out—but I know that Wisner’s going to regret setting his wolves on this hunter.”
“Can you two finish your conversation later?” Vazul’s voice was pitched at an even more grating level than usual. “Aki is ready to go.”
Nate looked up and stared. “Shit. Aki?”
Grant folded his arms across his chest. If it wasn’t for the fact that he wore Aki’s hot-pink running shorts and T-shirt, and was tapping the toe of his sneaker against the floor as Aki did while waiting for Nate to catch up to him, Nate would have thought Grant had gotten out of the safe room. Even knowing what he knew, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
Grant rolled his eyes. “Who did you think it was? Seriously, Nate. You were here when I outlined my plan.”
“Yeah, but—this is really unreal.” Nate put his hand on Aki’s shoulder. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Grant glared at him. “I have put more thought into this than you have any of your ridiculous decisions, so don’t even start, Nate.”
“Yeah, but—” Nate glanced at their companions. Vazul and Charlotte were pantomiming tidying up their tools, while George made no secret of the fact that she was watching the two of them argue. “In here.” He pulled Aki into the master bedroom.
“We don’t have time to waste,” Grant—Aki—protested. “The hunters—”
“Are going to be fully occupied hacking their way through my forest,” Nate said. “This is important.” He frowned at Aki. “You’re not—I mean—”
“Am I doing this out of an attempt to impress Grant?” It was strange seeing Aki’s thin, ironic smile on Grant’s face. “I can see why you’d think that. My track record isn’t doing me any favors here. But, you have to believe me. Dating Grant is about the last thing I want to do.”
Nate stared down at him. He could read Aki pretty well—but his current appearance was throwing him off. “Then why?”
Aki picked at the sleeve of his T-shirt. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to work it out myself. All I can tell you is that supporting Grant—it feels right. You know—he’s got something I haven’t seen in someone before.”
“Something?”
Aki shook his head. “I don’t mean that sexually—or even physically. It’s like—well, look at us. Charlotte’s a magical pacifist, George an unapologetic supernatural hunter. Vazul’s got all the attitudes of a supernatural supremacist, and you’re the most humble guy I know. And me—I am the last person to do anything for the common good. But Grant’s got us working together against Wisner. I don’t think anyone else could do what he’s done.”
Nate turned to look at the closed bedroom door. Now that he thought about it, the fact that such a disparate group had even come together at all was kind of incredible. “Grant’s definitely got something. Leadership, maybe?”
“Whatever it is, it’s enough to stop Wisner for good,” Aki said. “And that’s why I’m doing this, Nate. Because if I hadn’t had you there to spot me, there would have been nothing to stop that werewolf wiping the floor with me. And I’m selfish, but I’m not selfish enough to let someone else take that fall.”
Nate put his hand on Aki’s shoulder. “I get it. I wish—you didn’t have to do this, but—”
Aki elbowed him. “You’re just mad I’m stealing your self-sacrificial thunder.”
There was a knock at the door, and George pushed it open. “It’s about time we made tracks.”
Nate quirked an eyebrow at George. “You’re going too?”
She grinned at him. “You missed this part of the discussion setting up your forest. I’m going to provide backup should Aki need it.”
“You realize you can’t claim the bounty if it’s not Grant you capture?”
“Details.” George grinned. “Well, Aki?”
Aki swung himself up and over the windowsill. “Jesus, Nate. You realize that people are going to want to use this fire escape—”
“You’re going to be really glad I moved my plants out here in a minute.” Nate caught Aki into a brief hug. “Be careful. If anything happens, don’t be brave, be safe—”
“Don’t worry.” Aki slapped him on the arm. “I’m not that far gone that I’m going to pull a Nate.” He jogged down the fire escape.
Nate became aware that George was watching him. “What?”
“Don’t I get a hug?”
She was joking, but Nate felt a sudden ache. He pulled George into a quick hug. “Take care of him—and you.”
George breathed in appreciatively. “Forty-sixty, Nate. Remember that.” She made her way after Aki, and Nate heard the fire escape rattle with the sound of their footsteps.
Just in time. There was a rhythmic banging from the front door, each crash making the apartment shudder. Nate winced. He felt the moment the door gave way, and the table was heaved aside. A moment later, the hunters were in the apartment.
Nate heard Charlotte’s panicked yelp. He moved toward the door, only for it to be flung open.
“Hands where I can see them!” A burly hunter raised a crossbow at Nate. “Well, well—if it isn’t our friend from the park.”
Nate gritted his teeth. It was one of the pair that had interfered with them picking up rubbish. He raised his hands above his head. “You’re wasting your time. The werewolf’s not here.”
“Yeah. Like we believe that.” The hunter scanned the room, his gaze falling on the open window. His eyes widened. “Calvin! In here!”
His partner appeared. “No sign of him in any of the—shit.” He’d also noticed the open window. “Fire escape?”
“Check it out.”
Nate kept his face impassive as Calvin leaned out the window.
“I can hear someone on it—Damnit! It’s him!” Calvin jumped out the window. “Come on!”
His partner followed suit. The sounds of their boots thundering down the fire escape caught the attention of the other hunters. Most followed them, but a few scattered for the stairs and elevator. In a matter of minutes, the apartment was empty.
“Charlotte? Vazul?”
“In her
e!” Charlotte had taken shelter beneath the kitchen table. She held Nate’s arm, trembling as he helped her to her feet. “Are they—?”
“Gone.” Nate helped her into a seat. “I’m going to look for Vazul.”
He found Vazul sprawled in the study. He had a bleeding nose and swayed when Nate got him on his feet. “Hunters—ha! Common thugs is more like it—barging into private property—who is going to pay for this damage, I ask you?”
Nate looked around the study with a sense of hopelessness. The boxes were knocked over, their contents scattered, and the desk had been tipped in an effort to discover anyone hiding behind it. He looked at the bookcase.
Vazul smirked and shook his head. “No one gave it a second glance.”
Nate breathed out.
Vazul limped into the kitchen in search of the first aid kit, and Nate followed suit. “Vazul—this isn’t your apartment, is it?”
“Of course not. I live with my grandparents—an arrangement that is beneficial to both of us and not indicative in any way of an inability to keep an apartment of my own. I simply prefer to remain close to my own people.”
“Your people being?”
“I don’t share that information.” Vazul stalked into the kitchen.
Nate decided to let it go. He looked around. The dining room, usually so dignified, was a complete mess. The table was badly damaged, and the furniture kicked about. A thin haze of smoke hung about the room. One of the hunters had announced his presence with a smoke bomb.
Nate opened the windows, drawing back the curtains. The late-afternoon sun fell on his face. Nate stood a moment, savoring it, letting it restore the energy he’d expended. He tried not to think of Aki and George, making their way across the city, but he couldn’t suppress his worry. I should be out there. If I hadn’t promised—
Nate raised his head slowly. His reflection stared back. “I made a promise.” To stay with Grant—I made it here in this apartment. But who had he promised?
Grant was the obvious person—but somehow Nate didn’t think it was him. He shook his head, but the feeling stayed. There was something wrong. Something even bigger than the fact that Aki and George had every hunter in New Camden in hot pursuit, while Nate waited in safety in the apartment, gearing for a fight against something none of them had any clue about.
Life After Humanity Page 35