Thirteen

by Kelley Armstrong

  "So replace them," Will said, "with proven members of the group."

  "Sami here is an Aspicio. Giles feels she will be an invaluable addition to the team."

  "Her supersight plus your superhearing," Jake said with a grin. "Gotta admit, that's a great combo. And Bri is a witch. That adds something we didn't have either." He put his arm around Lori and turned to the warehouse. "There it is, folks. The first big step. Who's ready? I know I am."

  It was a nice try, but Will wouldn't be deterred. He demanded to know more about who we were and where we came from and what on God's earth made anyone think we could be trusted. All perfectly valid questions, since no one had dug very deeply into our cover stories. Giles hadn't even asked where we'd gotten our facts. Will had a right to be concerned. But one look at the faces of the others told me no one else cared. Giles said we were in, so we were in. When Will kept pressing for details, Odele shut him down. This was her mission. Giles put us on her team. That was all he needed to know.

  We started toward the warehouse.

  "I have the keys, so I'm driving, right?" Jake said. "And Lori rides shotgun?"

  "Of course," Odele said. "That will be much more comfortable for her, I'm sure."

  "Oh, that's not why he's asking," Lori said, grinning Jake's way. "He needs his navigator or we'll end up in the Gulf. The guy has absolutely no sense of direction."

  Mom laughed. "I know someone like that."

  Lori looked back at her. "Has he ever gone for ice cream at the corner store and come back two hours later with a melted mess in a bag?"

  "Hey, I wasn't lost," Jake said. "I knew the corner store didn't have your favorite--"

  I felt a spray of something on my face. Then Andi screamed, and something hit the back of my legs. I went down face-first. As I fell, I tried to twist, but Mom landed beside me, her hand smacking the back of my head as she yelled, "Down!"

  Peter had dropped right in front of me. I looked over at him and for a second my brain didn't register what I was seeing. There was something covering his face.

  No, there was nothing covering his face. He didn't have a face.

  I touched my cheek and pulled back my finger. Blood. I'd been sprayed with blood. What kind of spell could--?

  Lori fell to her knees, screaming and clutching her shoulder. Blood oozed from between her fingers. Jake dropped beside her.

  "Get--!" Mom began.

  Lori jerked forward, hands flying out. Red blossomed on her chest.

  Not a spell. A gun. I looked around, but saw nothing, just us and the cars and a few buildings at least fifty yards--

  "Sniper," Mom whispered. "Stay down, baby. Please stay down. I cast a cover spell."

  "We need to get inside," I said. "We can inch toward the warehouse."

  "Okay. Just stay on your belly. I'll cast blur spells as we go."

  We started backing up. Jake was dragging Lori, screaming for someone to get help, call 911, anything. Mom's hand tightened on my arm.

  "You can't help them," she said.

  I looked around. Andi stood there, looking dazed, even as another bullet whizzed by her. Only Will lay on his stomach, a few feet away, partially hidden by a rusted oil drum.

  "We need to tell them to get inside," I whispered.

  "No, they'll draw fire."

  I could pretend she meant if I tried to help, they could draw fire to us. She didn't. It was like back in the jail, when Jaime and I let the witch--Keiran--leave, knowing she'd clear the way.

  "Get inside!" I shouted. "It's a sniper. You need to get in the warehouse."

  "No!" Will yelled. "In the cars. Get in the cars. We'll be trapped in the warehouse."

  "A sniper can see you in the cars. You need to--"

  "The cars!" he cut in. "Everyone in the cars." He drowned me out and sure enough Odele and Andi started for the cars, Odele in the lead. Then a bullet took her out. Andi froze and looked both ways. She took one shaky step toward the warehouse.

  "No!" Will yelled. "Andi, run for the cars!"

  Damn it, he was going to get them killed. No time to argue. I didn't see which direction Andi chose. We reached the warehouse door and Mom yanked me inside and slammed it shut.

  SIXTEEN

  Jake was already inside the warehouse, bent over Lori. I knelt beside her and felt for a pulse. There wasn't one. I crouched there, staring down at her lifeless body, her swollen stomach. Jake was sobbing that we needed to call for help, someone had to call for help, his voice barely audible now, just repeating the same loop.

  A car door slammed. Then I heard a shout, so hoarse I couldn't tell if it was Andi or Will. A moment later, someone hit the warehouse door, as if falling against it.

  "Let me in," Will croaked. "I've been shot."

  Mom cut me off, shoving me behind the door. "Stay there."

  Will pounded now. "Open up! Damn you, open the door!"

  I stumbled to the wall and plastered myself against it. I checked my cell phone. No service. Of course. Blocked, I was guessing. If you're going to launch an ambush, you're going to be smart enough to keep anyone from calling for help.

  Staying behind the door, Mom opened it. She didn't help Will in, just waited until he staggered through, then slammed it shut.

  "I've been shot, you bitch," he muttered, cradling his arm.

  "That's no reason to let the rest of us die with you. Not when you were the idiot who told them to get in the cars. I don't hear an engine running. Can I presume Andi won't be joining us?"

  "They got her."

  "Shot through the car window, right?" I said as I cast a light ball.

  He glowered. "Are you going to help me or do you want me to grovel first?"

  "Neither," Mom said. "Savannah? Get in deeper. I'm putting a perimeter spell on the door. Then we'll need to scout for more entry points."

  "Savannah?" Will said. "I thought her name was--"

  Mom snapped our glamour spells. Or I presume she did, because Will's expression went from "What the hell?" to "What the hell?" in an eye blink.

  "I know you," Will said, staring at me. "You're Lucas Cortez's kid."

  Mom's eyebrows shot up at that, but she only said, "Go deeper, Savannah. Now."

  I crawled back to Jake, ignoring Mom's protests. I touched his arm. "She's gone," I said.

  He shook his head, tears falling on Lori's body. "Sh-she can't be."

  "You know she is," I whispered. "And you know she wouldn't want you to sit here, waiting to get shot."

  "I don't care," he whispered.

  I looked down at Lori and I thought of her in the meeting house, talking about a new life for their child. That's all they'd wanted. All any new parents want, I suppose. Lori and Jake weren't stupid. They weren't evil. They were just two kids, not much older than me, in love, having a baby. They'd joined to secure the future of that baby, no matter how misguided that was, and now that child would never be born, and I think, of everything that happened, all the tragedies I'd seen since I met Giles, this was the worst. The one that made me want to run outside and scream, "I don't care what all of you want--look at what you're doing!"

  Instead I took a deep breath and told Jake, "She'd care. She'd want you to live. You know that."

  I took his arm. He let me lead him away.

  If you've seen one warehouse, you've seen them all. Well, not exactly, but when you run with the crowd I do, you see a lot of abandoned or little-used warehouses. They're the hideout of choice for supernaturals up to no good. This one looked like all the rest--a huge cavernous space filled with crap.

  "You're Savannah Levine," Will said, following us as I pushed aside a box to clear a path. "You work for Lucas Cortez. He's your guardian."

  "Savannah Levine," Jake whispered, as if to himself. "Your dad is--was--Kristof Nast."

  "It's bullshit," Will said. "Your mom tried to scam the Nasts by claiming you were Kristof's daughter."

  "Excuse me?" Mom walked out of the darkness, bow case in hand, the glow seeping through. "I didn'
t ever claim Kristof was her father."

  Will gaped as she strode past him and Jake to catch up with me. "You're . . . You're Eve Levine?"

  I looked at Mom. "I think that's the first time you've ever been identified after me."

  "I've been dead too long." She waved at a pile of refuse. "You boys crawl in there and hide, since you seem to be pretty much useless otherwise. Savannah and I will secure the building. They must be surrounding it now. Taking their time because we're trapped."

  When Will opened his mouth, I expected him to say that's why he'd advised against coming in here. Instead, he said, "So she's not a Nast, right?"

  "That isn't exactly important right now, but because I hate being called a gold-digging slut, I'll confirm it. She's a Nast. Now hide."

  Will looked like someone had hit him in the gut. Mom waved for me to join her as we circled the perimeter. There weren't any windows, which made it safer for us. We walked quickly along the walls, taking turns casting sensing spells. There was no one out there. Not yet. As Mom said, we were trapped, so they were taking their time closing the net.

  Mom took her sword from the case and slung it on her back. "It won't help against guns, but it's easier than lugging it around." She left the case on a crate. "Now, we need to figure out how to get a message to--" She stopped. "Cell phones. Have you called--?"

  "No service. That's the first thing I tried."

  "Right." She shook her head. "I really have been dead too long."

  "I'm sure Elena saw what happened. I only hope they didn't get grabbed by whoever's out there."

  "Oh, we know who's out there. Benicio Cortez decided not to let us handle this after all."

  "Lucas would never--"

  "Benicio would. And he'd go behind Lucas's back to do it."

  I'd like to think Benicio would never order a team to open fire while I'm in the vicinity, but it's never wise to presume on your importance to him. But I could presume on the importance of someone else.

  "If he puts me in danger, he loses Lucas as heir," I said. "That he can't risk. With Hector and William dead, he's only got Carlos, who'd find a way to overthrow him, then run the Cabal into the ground."

  My mother made a noncommittal noise in response.

  We continued our rounds. There were two more exits--one small door and one set of big drive-in ones. Both locked. Both guarded, according to Mom's sensing spell.

  "Okay," I said as we came around to the front of the warehouse again. "I say we use the van. Break out the doors and keep going. I'll drive--"

  "I'll drive. You'll be in the back."

  "With the others."

  "I don't give a rat's ass about--"

  "I do. Not enough to risk my life, but enough to take the time to tell them to get in the van." I looked at her. "I know that's not what you'd do."

  She patted my back. "Like I said, you're not me and I don't want you to be. We'll spare the extra minute to get them to the van. Jake's got the keys anyway. Now--"

  Mom yanked me behind a pile of planks. We peeked out just as light seeped through the darkness ahead, the door opening. Two figures entered. When the door shut again, everything went dark. I could hear the faint shuffle of their footsteps.

  How could they see? Without Mom's sword, we'd be blind. There weren't any night-vision spells--

  Night-vision goggles. First sniper rifles, now high-tech surveillance gear. There was no way the anti-reveal folks were that well equipped.

  A Cabal would be. The Cortezes certainly were.

  Was I wrong about Benicio? No. Lucas says never underestimate his father's capacity for duplicity, but nothing was as important to Benicio as his Cabal, shortly followed by his youngest son. I may doubt Benicio's affection for me, however much that stings, but I don't doubt Lucas's and Paige's.

  Betray Lucas's and Paige's trust by sending in snipers without warning me, and Benicio would lose Lucas and ultimately his Cabal.

  Could Carlos be behind this? He was pretty inept, but he had his supporters, those who'd rather have a guy in charge that they could control. They might do this for him. Then blame Benicio, and drive a wedge between him and Lucas.

  For now, it didn't matter who these guys were, only that they could be from a Cabal, meaning very well armed and very well organized.

  To the van, then. First, though, to Will and Jake. We weren't getting far without those keys. We also weren't getting far with that big-ass sword glowing like a neon sign on Mom's back.

  "I can do that," she said when I suggested a blur spell. "But it's still going to show in the dark. I should go back for the case . . ."

  She squinted into the gloom of the warehouse.

  "The glow doesn't penetrate far," I said. "Just use the blur."

  She shook her head. "You go. I'll distract and slow them down."

  "No--"

  "Yes." Her tone changed to one I remembered well, the one that said I wasn't having cookies before dinner and if I kept bugging her I wasn't having cookies at all. "I'll be right behind you, baby. Remember, the worst thing they can do to me is send me back where I came from." She touched my cheek. "As much as I love being here with you . . ."

  "You want to go back."

  She blinked. "I didn't mean that. Only that--"

  "Yes, Mom. You want to go back. Not this second, but eventually." I managed a wry smile. "I'm a big girl. I can handle that. Your life is there. He--Dad's there."

  She paused. "I don't think I've ever heard you call him that."

  I hadn't. But from the look on her face, I should have. Even if Kristof wasn't "Dad" to me, that is what he was to her--father of her child, love of her life. She loved me, too, but he was there and her life was there, and she knew I was fine without her. We were fine without each other.

  "This is my fault," she said. "I should have made you leave with Jaime. I was being selfish. I wanted more time with you."

  I hugged her.

  "I'm sorry, baby," she whispered. "I shouldn't have let you stay when it wasn't safe."

  "I wouldn't have gone." I pulled back and kissed her cheek. "Try not to get killed too quickly, okay? I could do with a little more Mom time." I paused to clear my clogged throat. "But I'll understand if I don't get it."

  She squeezed me. "I'll always find a way to stay in touch, no matter what happens."

  "Good."

  Another moment, lingering there, hugging each other. Then she sent me on my way.

  SEVENTEEN

  We should have left a trail of bread crumbs. All I had to see by was a light ball the size of a spark. I didn't want to risk a bigger one.

  As for how Mom would distract our attackers, I expected a whole lot of banging and shouting and maybe some shooting. I heard nothing. Not even the sound of footsteps, which meant they weren't coming after me. Whatever she was doing, it was working.

  I found Jake and Will after checking only two refuse piles. I motioned for silence, then whispered our plan.

  "You can stay here if you want," I said. "When that van leaves, they'll figure we're all in it."

  "I need a doctor," Will said. "You're going to get me out of here, then you're going to take me to a clinic for half-demons over on--"

  "You're not giving orders--"

  "Did you forget about these?" He dangled the keys he must have taken from Jake.

  I snatched them from his hand. "Thank you. Now come with us or stay behind. Your choice."

  He came. So did Jake, who was still too lost in grief to question anything.

  As we crept along, I felt a tingle vibrate down my spine. It felt oddly like a perimeter spell being triggered. Except I hadn't set any. Mom had, along with--

  A howl reverberated through the warehouse.

  "A werewolf?" Will spun on me. "Did you bring a werewolf--"

  I slammed him face-first to the floor. "No, it's not a werewolf," I whispered in his ear. "Now zip it."

  A werewolf would have been nice, especially if it was one of the two lurking outside. But the howl w
as coming from the trigger hallucination Mom had set up at the rear entrances. An apparition of a hellhound.

  "Stay here," I whispered.

  I crawled forward with my light spark. Both guys followed. I considered locking them in binding spells, but that would zap too much of my limited power.

  I didn't need to go far anyway. We were closer to the back than I'd thought, and within a few feet I could make out the very dim outline of shapes moving in the near dark. I looked around, then ducked behind the closest piece of whatever and extinguished my spark. The guys stayed close.

  The "whatever" that we'd taken refuge behind seemed to be broken crates. I leaned out and tried to get a better look at the intruders. If they were from the Cabal, they'd be in uniforms. Intra-Cabal regulations. Each had to wear a distinguishable uniform so they could be identified by another Cabal if they bumped into each other on a mission. Presumably, it was to keep them from killing each other, but I suspect the Cabals agreed to it only so they wouldn't accidentally slaughter their own men.

  These guys were shapeless black wraiths against a dark gray landscape.

  I needed light.

  I calculated angles and trajectories and potential outcomes. Then I launched a small light ball in the invaders' path, but drew it toward me instead of whipping it away. They saw it. And I saw them.

  I pulled back behind the crates.

  "It's a Cabal."

  "The Cortezes?" Jake whispered. "They came after you, right?"

  I nodded.

  "What?" Will said. "No, it can't--"

  "Can't what?" I said. "Can't be the Cortezes?"

  "I just mean, you might be making a mistake. It might not even be a Cabal."

  "I know the uniforms. Those are the Cortezes."

  Will struggled to keep his breathing steady. Sweat trickled down his face, glistening in the dim light of my spark.

  "It's okay," I said. "I can handle this. It's a mistake--they didn't know I was here. I just need to tell them it's me and you'll be safe--"

  Will leaped up to run. I grabbed the back of his shirt and slammed him to the concrete floor. Then I straddled his back and pressed my palm against his shoulder--the one that had been shot. He started to yelp, but I stifled it.

  "Keep your mouth shut or I press again," I whispered. "The Cortezes will come running. You really don't want them to come running, do you?"

  "They won't hurt us, right?" Jake said. "We're with you."

  "You're okay. Will? He's not so okay, considering he's the one who set you up."