“There is no way I can talk you out of this, is there?”
“No. I need to do this.”
He’s silent again. “I know.”
“See you a mile from the cabin?”
“I will attempt to hold off the siege until you arrive.”
“Appreciate it.”
“And Connor?” Oliver asks.
“Yes, Oliver?”
“If any harm comes to her tonight, and I mean any, I will kill you. And nothing will stop me. Do you understand me?”
The always composed vamp actually looks frightened for a second. “I understand.”
“Good.” The line goes dead.
Connor reaches across, shutting off the phone. “I must say, there is never a dull moment around you, is there Agent Alexander?”
“Still think I’m worth all this trouble?”
He switches gears, and we zoom down the freeway. “Oh yes,” he says with a wink.
My vampire posse and I arrive too late. Jim, a burly, plaid-clad survivor-
man vamp with an arsenal in the back of his jeep, was the first to arrive and scouted the cabin. He made it just in time to find the F.R.E.A.K.S. walking out. Connor and I blow in five minutes later, not bothering to hide our arrival. Nancy and Carl sit on the porch with Agent Chandler. Agents Wolfe and Rushmore come out with a bunch of rifles. Will and vampire Jim stand at the hood of a car examining a map. Everyone welcomes me back, Agent Wolfe actually hugging me, but Will makes it a point not to look up.
“I gather we missed them,” Connor says.
“Their cars are still here,” Carl says.
It does look like a car lot. Seven cars, including the Gran Torino and Steven’s Jeep. All the tires are slashed, though. They’re not getting far.
“Then they must be at the mine,” I say.
“Wherever the hell that is,” Agent Rushmore says with his Jersey accent. “It’s not on any maps.”
“We can wait for them to return,” I offer.
“High on troll blood,” Agent Wolfe says. “And there’s no guarantee they’ll all come back here at once.”
“So we have to find the mine,” I say.
“Yep,” Nancy says.
“Wish I could help more,” I say. “I just sort of ran. Wasn’t paying attention to anything else.”
“Did you bleed?” Connor asks.
“Only toward the middle when I got shot. But Artie did.”
“Then that is how we locate them,” Connor says. “Follow the blood trail. Jim!”
Jim gazes up from the map over to his Lord. “Yes, sir?”
“Find the blood trail into the forest.”
“Yes, sir.” The vamp starts sniffing the air in search of blood.
Will glances at me, then back at the map. Still mad I see. I clear my throat. “Where’s Oliver?” I ask Carl.
“Inside.”
“Thanks.” I peer over at Will, who ignores me, before I enter the cabin. “Oliver?” I call out. He isn’t in the living room, or the kitchen, or either of the two bedrooms all decorated in rustic décor. Which leaves only one place. I have no desire to go back down those steps and into that room, but the desire to lay eyes on my friend is greater. I find him sitting on my cot staring at the blood and blue chemical on the floor. I sure did make a mess. He gazes up, but instead of relief or happiness, he just seems sad. “Oliver?” I ask.
“This is not your blood,” he says.
I sit next to him shoulder to shoulder. “Nope.”
“You look terrible,” he whispers.
“You should see the other guy.”
My quip doesn’t get a grin. We just sit in silence for a few seconds before I rest my head on his shoulder and stare at the ground too. His head lowers onto mine. “Never do that to me again,” he whispers. “Never.” I wrap my good arm around his and settle in. Amazingly, I feel at peace in this room.
The footsteps on the stairs a few seconds later break the mood. Agent Rushmore pokes his head in and says, “That vamp found the trail.”
I raise my head with a sigh as Rushmore leaves. “Oh goody.”
“What trail?” Oliver asks.
“Artie left us a breadcrumb trail to the troll only a vamp could find.”
“Blood?”
I smile. We stand up and start toward the stairs. “I was serious. Wait until you see the other guy.”
“You do not know how much I live for the moment.”
Everyone has amassed around Will including Neil, the bouncer from Gaslight, and two huge vamps I’ve never seen before. All humans hold automatic weapons or shotguns, standard in a raid of this kind. “About a mile through the forest and—” Will stops mid-
sentence when he spots Oliver and me coming out, but he quickly recovers. We stand next to Connor. “And then there should be a field, a hill, and the entrance to the mine near a stream. There’s just the one entrance, so I’ll want Jim and Wolfe to wait out there in case any make it past us. And I want two people to stay here. Bea and Nancy.”
“Trixie is coming with us,” Oliver says before I can.
“No,” Will states plainly.
“She is the only one of us with knowledge of the layout of the tunnels. You know this.”
Will’s mouth opens to protest, but he bites his tongue when every vamp straightens his back and glares at him. Connor smirks at me. “Fine. Oliver? I want you to go ahead of us as a scout. Follow the trail and wait. Jim will lead us non-corpses.”
Oliver turns to me, and I smile. “I’ll be fine,” I say, squeezing his hand. “See you there.”
“Do not worry, Oliver,” Connor says. “I will not let anyone touch so much as a hair on her head.”
“You had best not,” Oliver says before vanishing into the woods.
Will rolls his eyes. “Nancy, you and Carl stay here.”
“If they do come, do we shoot them?” Carl asks.
“No,” I say before anyone else can. “Only if you have to. Stun them if possible.”
“Sir?” Neil asks Connor.
“You heard the lady,” he says, not so subtly emphasizing the last word. “Only kill if there is no other option.”
“All of you,” I say, my eyes burrowing into Will’s.
Will sneers before looking away. “Let’s go. I’ll take point behind Jim.” He raises his pistol to the ready, as does everyone else. Connor hands me a .38 special, which I take with a smile. Will’s lips purse before he follows the vamp with everyone else carefully walking behind.
“He is in love with you, you know,” Connor says as he pulls the slide back on his 9mm.
“You think so?” I ask, staring at Will.
Connor follows my gaze. “Oh. The wolf is as well.” He mischievously grins and walks into the woods before I can even process those last words.
Neil and the bouncer flank me as we make our way through the trees and bramble that I was running through for dear life just hours ago. An owl hoots and twigs crackle, but otherwise there’s no noise. Connor walks a few feet in front of us, and I have a million questions for him, but every time I move up to him and open my mouth, he presses his finger to his lips to shut me up. But when all of this is over …
This trail seemed to take forever when Artie was after me, but it must have been just a few minutes because it takes only fifteen minutes walking. When we reach the hill, we crouch down and walk up it, stopping right at the crest. We all lay on our stomachs and peer over. The mine is lit up inside, I think from the gas lamps I saw on the wall, and Oliver hides off to the side, his back to the mine. Will waves his arms to signal, and Oliver vanishes, only to reappear with us on the hill. He lies between Will and Agent Chandler.
“They appear to be in the chamber Trixie discovered,” he whispers. “The troll is unconscious, and there is a dead human next to it. I counted six people, including Officer Weir.”
“Only six?” I ask.
“Four men and two women. All appear to be distracted.”
“How?�
� I whisper.
“One is off to the side staring at nothing, one is unconscious, and the others are … enjoying one another.” Oh. Eww. “I made it through the tunnels to the chamber undetected before you arrived. It is a straight walk down, and then a left turn at the fork. If we wish to capture them, now is the time to do it.”
“Looks like we don’t need you,” Will whispers to me. “Oliver, lead the vamps in first and wait by the entrance to the chamber. Rush, Chandler, follow me in and then Oliver and his team. Understood?”
Everyone nods.
“What about me?” I ask.
“Cover us from above.”
“Will … ”
“I won’t be able to concentrate with you in there. Please,” he says through gritted teeth.
I sigh but say, “Okay.”
“Thank you.” He looks at Oliver. “Ready?”
Oliver turns to Connor, who nods. “See you inside,” Oliver says before he and all the vamps but Jim stand up and vanish, becoming nothing but blurs in the field.
Will glances at the rest of us. “Let’s go.”
We all rise and run toward the mine, stopping at the entrance. Will listens for a second then points to Jim and Agent Wolfe, signaling them to stay put. The he points at me and signals toward the hole. I nod. Finally he signals Agents Chandler and Rushmore to go in. The three men take a step, but I hold up my finger at Will for him to wait. He looks confused and shrugs. But when I press my lips to his, kissing him as deeply as the hole he’s about to go into, all his confusion vanishes. It’s quick, seeing as we have, you know, bad guys to catch, but sweet. “For luck,” I mouth. I give him a quick peck on the cheek before running off to my hole. When I look back, he’s gone.
The hole is easy to find; it’s lit up like a spotlight against the pitch-black night. I’m very careful with my footing in case there are more weak spots but make it without incident. As best I can with my arm in a sling, I rest on my stomach and peer in. The troll lies on his side in the corner fast asleep. Beside him is what was once a human. I can tell from the severed leg and exposed rib cage. That could have been me. I suppress a shudder.
The most fudged-up bowling team in history is entirely accounted for. Mel sits with his back against the wall examining his hands as if they have diamonds on them, he’s fascinated. And stoned. Mostly stoned. The rest, well … Jawan’s naked butt pumps up and down on an unconscious Leslie. Right next to him Kristen’s mouth works on the blissed-out Steven with Nick behind her, doing something I think is illegal in some states. This makes me want to throw up more than the corpse. They’re all covered in black liquid, which must be troll blood. Steven tosses his head back and groans three times. He’s done. I recognize the sound. Kristen releases him, but Nick doesn’t stop. Yuck. My groggy ex stands up, exposing his everything. I close my eyes. I never want to see that thing again. Too many boring memories. Someone else grunts, and I force my eyes back open. Steven is putting on his pants, but Nick finishes with Kristen. I’m going to be watching kitten videos non-stop for a week to cleanse my palate.
I hear the footsteps the same time as they do. All four tense and don’t move until Will sprints in, shouting “FBI! Hands up!” In their fogged minds the group doesn’t understand what’s occurring as the good guys enter the chamber with their weapons pointed at the naked people. “Don’t move! Don’t you fucking move! Hands on your head!” Will says before grabbing Steven. “Give me a reason. Give me a fucking reason!”
Neil pulls the barely awake and naked Leslie up, and I scoot closer to the edge to get a better view. Bad move. I let lose a barrage of dirt and almost fall in again. Everyone below looks up.
Distractions are never a good thing in situations like this. The supercharged Steven grabs Will’s gun and cold cocks him across the jaw. Another distraction. The rest of the bad guys seem to magically come out of their stupor and attack. Steven opens fire, shooting wildly at whatever moves. I barely have time to duck before he points the gun at me. The bullets hit where I was, and I cover my head. There are more screams and gunshots echoing below. The troll bellows and all the noise ceases but his cry. A second later the gunshots resume. Okay, coming here was a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do.
By the entrance, Agent Wolfe shouts, “What’s going on?”
“One of you, get in there now!” I scream as loud as I can.
Jim vanishes.
I wait five seconds before forcing myself to resume my post. Fudge. The troll has Mel in his arms and breaks the man’s back over his knee before biting his head off. Below the troll’s foot, the bouncer from Gaslight struggles to push the appendage off. Neil drags one of the vamps, who is missing an arm, out of the cave. A still naked Kristen fires at Connor with a stolen shotgun, missing as he speeds around the room. He reappears behind her, teeth plunging into her neck. Leslie’s bullet-riddled body lies on the ground with a vampire feeding off her. Agent Chandler takes one in the vest from Jawan, but Agent Rushmore returns fire. Oliver and Nick punch each other. It’s bedlam. There is no sign of Steven or Will.
Time to earn my paycheck.
As Nick throws his fist back again, I lift him up and launch him across the cavern right into the troll. The force frees the bouncer, who rolls away. A bloody Oliver slumps against the wall. He looks up at me and shouts, “William!” He points to the right tunnel. I am so on it. I jump up and sprint toward the mine.
“What?” Agent Wolfe asks as I run past him.
“Stay here!” I shout as I run inside the tunnel. The shouts and gunshots are even louder in here, resonating so I can’t pinpoint where they’re coming from. The rock vibrates all around. Loose earth creates dust all through the tunnels, causing me to cough. Even the gas lamps on the walls flicker. I have no plan. I just know I have to save my past and my future from each other.
I find the fork Oliver mentioned but make a right instead of a left. The gunshots cease a few seconds later. I hear nothing. But I run. Soon I’m at the killing grounds. Thousands of bones of animals and humans along with rotting carcasses fill the place. Good lord. Wish it was still pitch black. I sprint though it as quickly as I can toward the water that saved me last time. One more corner, and I see them.
No. Oh God no.
Steven stands over Will’s lifeless body by the edge of the river, pressing his face into the water. I react without thinking. I raise my gun but not in time. Steven must have heard me because he spins around, gun in his free hand, and fires at me before I can squeeze the trigger. I duck behind the stone just in time. After a second I peek around the corner, see him, and I shoot too. I hit the wall where Steven was. He fires twice more, and I do the same.
“Give up, Steven!” I shout. “You can’t get away.”
“Bea? Is that you?” He chuckles. “We thought you were dead.”
“Nope.” I peek again and fire, but he returns the gesture.
“No wonder the troll was so hungry. Poor Artie. He thought for sure you were dead.”
“You killed him?”
“He failed. We did what we had to.”
I peek again and he fires, the bullet hitting closer this time. “First your ex-girlfriend, then your best friend. You’re gonna run out of people who care about you pretty soon.”
“Fuck you, Bea. You never cared about me.”
“Yeah, I did. I really did.”
“Bullshit! You lied! You dumped me!” He shouts again, “I loved you. And you led me on! Tried to make me the butt buddy of a vampire. I was never enough for you! For any of you! I fucking hate you all!”
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I made you think I had feelings for you when I didn’t. I’m sorry. It was horrible of me, and I’m sorry. But please put the gun down and let me check on Will, okay? He’s hurt. Please.”
He’s silent for a second, then chuckles like a maniac. “Him? This asshole is the one you want? You’re risking your life for him? I mean, what the fuck is he? I shot him through the eye, and he didn�
��t die. He turned into some half human, half wolf thing. What? Humans not good enough for you? You want to fuck dogs?”
“Steven, please,” I plead as I glance around the corner. He fires, and I fire back. One bullet left. Crap. “You can’t make it out of here. It’s surrounded, and they all want to kill you. Will you please let me get you out of here? I can. I don’t want you to die here, okay? Let me help you.” He doesn’t say anything. “Steven?” I inch around the rock, but a hand grabs my hair and someone knees the gun out of my hand. Ow.
Steven tosses me to the ground on my bad arm. I scream. Not missing a moment, he bends down, grabbing my hair and pressing the gun to my head. “I don’t need jack shit from you, you bitch.” He jabs the gun deeper into my temple, cocking it for effect. “If I shoot you in the head, will you live, you fucking freak?”
“No,” I say, my voice quaking.
“God, I hope not,” he says, shuddering with revulsion.
“Don’t you fucking touch her.”
We both glance back just in time to see a claw punch through the back of Steven’s chest. Will, more wolf than man—with hair all over his body with viscous fluid matting it, half a snout, a bullet hole in his left eye—rips Steven’s heart clean out the back of his chest. Blood geysers onto my face and body, pooling all over me. A shocked Steven slumps onto me a moment later. Dead. Um …
Will collapses to the floor, clutching his stomach in one hand and the heart in the other. Shuddering, I push Steven’s body off me and back into the wall, too stunned to move any more. Will trembles a few feet away. For the first time, he looks like a monster to me.
As if reading my mind, the man I love looks up, snarling at me. “Don’t look at me!”
I thrash my head to the side. “Okay.”
“It’s not silver. I’ll be fine. But I can’t hold off the transformation,” he pants though the pain. “You need to go.”
“You’ve been shot,” I say lamely.
“I don’t want you to see me like this. I can’t … the blood … ” He doubles over in pain, howling like a madman. He takes a deep breath and groans. “I want to eat you.” He cries out again and whimpers as more fur grows like weeds. “Go.”
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