“I tried doing this the nice way, but you rejected my offer and then tried to kill me.” Mace paused, sighing into the phone. “So now you’ve got no choice. You have until midnight to hand yourself over to the Council. If you’re not here by then, you’ll never see Ebony again. No one will ever see her again.” Another pause. “I know you’d never let a friend down, so I look forward to seeing you very soon.”
I shut the machine off before the next message had a chance to start. Giving me any time at all sounded too generous for the callous bastard. What was he playing at? My stomach dropped because I had a feeling I’d never see Ebony again, either way.
The place I’d considered my solace for so long was suddenly filling with bad memories.
“Sierra, what the fuck are we going to do?”
I turned to look at Conrad. “What do you mean, we?” I’d almost forgotten he was still there. My mind felt as if it were a hundred miles away from this office, and already on its way to get my friend back. “I’m going to get her, right now!”
“Whoa, hold up for a minute.” He stepped in front of me.
“I’m not going to let Ebony get hurt, so get out of my way.”
“You can’t just rush over there without a plan. We need to—”
“Stop saying we; this doesn’t involve you!”
“Are you fucking kidding? You don’t think I’m going to let some asshole I don’t even know threaten my girl and not do anything about it, right? I’m not going to sit back and wait, just like I know you’re not going to hand yourself over to this prick.” His mouth was set in a grim line, and I knew he wouldn’t back down. “So, calm the fuck down for just a minute and tell me what the plan is.”
“I don’t have a plan.”
He looked at his watch and frowned. “We’ve got just over four hours to come up with one.”
Staring at him in the darkness of the office, I realized for the first time that this skirt chaser really did care about Ebony. And he wasn’t going to let me storm out of here without him.
As much as I hated including anyone else in this, he was right. I’d need all the help I could get to deal with the Council and beat them at their own game. I might not know how I was going to do this, but it was the only answer. Mace might be threatening me, but I knew this went deeper. I’d always been a thorn in the Council’s side. Ever since I walked away and set up shop to oppose theirs and provided competition they didn’t want, they’d been out for blood.
They wanted to eliminate me and didn’t care who went down with me.
Mace had somehow taken my grandmother, and I was pretty sure he was responsible for my grandfather as well. I wasn’t about to let him take anyone else away from me. If it was me this bastard wanted, I was going to give him just that. But I wasn’t about to surrender. I would go in with metaphorical guns blazing, ready to fight.
“Well?” Conrad cocked an eyebrow, waiting for my response.
I sighed and nodded. “You’re both right and wrong. I’m going to get Ebony out of there, if it’s the last thing I do…but I’ve got no choice about handing myself over.”
A shadow crossed over his face. “Look, we might not like each other very much and will probably never be friends, but you mean a lot to Eb and she wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “You heard what she said. You must have taught her well, or passed on your unreasonable insanity. Either way, I’m going with you.”
Who would’ve thought I’d ever accept help from this man, or that he’d offer it?
“Fine, it’s your life on the line.”
“And yours,” Conrad said with a wink. “If we come up with some sort of plan, we stand a better chance.”
He was right on both counts—we were both about to put a lot on the line, and we needed some sort of plan.
I turned my back on him and headed for my desk, my mind churning over how best to handle this without giving in to the impulse of just driving to the city to face Mace. I secured the spook-filled canisters inside the safe and pulled out the witch’s toolkit Oren had given me earlier, but didn’t bother moving the files.
Tonight, I might finally be heading for the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Chapter Twelve
With the rumble of Conrad’s motorcycle behind me all the way home, I felt a sense of ease I’d never thought possible where Vamp Boy was concerned. But with a common enemy and purpose—we both wanted to get Ebony away from Mace ASAP—I was glad to have him with me right now.
What the hell was happening to my life that everything seemed to be turning upside down and nothing made any sense? No point in puzzling something I couldn’t control. I was glad for any ally I could get.
I parked the car in my driveway and jumped out. The leather case was heavy in my hand, but it felt good to know I now had several weapons at my disposal. Conrad stopped his motorcycle right behind me, and at least I had someone else to back me up on this while Papan wasn’t home.
As soon as I stepped away from the car, something felt wrong. It wasn’t just that the front door lay open with light spilling out and Papan wasn’t supposed to be here. It wasn’t even the fact the side gate was hanging off its hinges. No, it went beyond everything I could see, and attacked my senses in a preternatural way.
Why was the front door open? Had something happened to Papan? No. He was supposed be somewhere else, running to the closest national park.
A warm breeze picked up around me and the first drops of rain hit the concrete path. The thunder and lightning I’d been hearing in the distance on the drive over now sounded like it had reached us, illuminating the dark and heavy clouds above.
I shivered. My body tensed, and it felt as if tiny ants were slowly crawling over me. I somehow knew every bit of added protection Oren had constructed both inside and outside the house was now gone.
The sound of gunfire made me jump.
Conrad appeared at my side. “What the fuck was that?” He looked around, but neither of us could see anything because the commotion was coming from my backyard.
There were no strange cars haphazardly parked on the curb, or any monsters lying in wait. Whatever was happening was going on right now.
Standing in the front yard with the rain falling and thunder booming around us wasn’t going to provide any answers. We would just attract unwanted attention from the neighbors.
Ducking back into the car, I was about to shove the leather case into the glove compartment when I decided this was probably a good time to take the silver dagger with me. I pulled it out and slammed the glove compartment shut before sliding back out and locking the door behind me.
I snagged the edge of Conrad’s leather jacket, motioning for him to follow me before releasing my grip. “Come on, it’s coming from the back.” I quickly slid the dagger, still in its scabbard, into my pocket. Never had I felt such a sense of apprehension on my own property.
Stepping past the broken metal gate and onto the concrete stairs leading down the side of the house, I watched my every step. The sharp decline from the front yard to the back of the house was wide enough for both of us to walk side by side, but hard to maneuver in total darkness and in the rain. The motion-sensor lights crunched beneath my sneakers—so someone didn’t want to be seen. It didn’t make a difference to me, I could see well enough in the dark.
Conrad slipped beside me, but I caught his arm before he hit the ground.
“Be careful, it’s littered with glass.”
“I can’t see a fucking thing,” he said, swearing some more.
“Just be careful. We’re almost there.” It didn’t take long to pass by the laundry door, which at least was still locked. When we finally strolled into the backyard, my heart sped up. The kitchen might be one floor up, but it faced the back of the house and this door was also wide open, spilling enough light from inside the house to illuminate some of the backyard.
What’s going on now? Why couldn’t I catch a fuckin
g break?
Papan wasn’t even supposed to be here, yet he was lying on the far side of the yard, clutching his left thigh. His face contorted in pain as blood ran down his right leg and the hand applying pressure.
“I’ve got you now,” said a familiar voice as Vixen stepped into sight.
“Oh shit.” She’d found him. And worse, she’d actually shot him! “What the hell are you doing?” I ran out of the shadows with the intention of smacking my shoulder against Vixen’s side, hoping to knock the gun out of her hands and send her sprawling to the grass. But she was too quick and turned on me a second before I reached her.
She had the barrel of the gun pointed at my head before I could do anything to stop her.
“Stay back or I’ll shoot you too.” Her eyes were wide and more than a little crazed. The immaculate high ponytail she’d sported earlier was now a mess of frizzy curls framing her face. “I mean it.”
“What the fuck? Put that gun down, Vixen.” Conrad was slowly making his way toward us.
“Don’t interfere with this. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“The hell it doesn’t! My girl’s in trouble and I need Sierra to help me get her out of it.” At least he was honest about why he wanted me safe.
“I don’t care about your problems,” she said, but I could see it in her eyes. Vixen did care, because she knew Conrad’s girl was Ebony—also her friend.
I raised both of my hands in surrender, turning my gaze to Papan. He was still dressed in a tee and jeans, barefoot. The dark stain spread across the denim as he continued to apply pressure. Another blossomed on his midsection. His hair was messy and as sweaty as his face.
He met my gaze and shook his head, as if in warning.
Still, I took a step. I couldn’t let him bleed out.
He shook his head again and Vixen cocked the gun, pressing the barrel against my temple. The heat from the tip made me wince.
“I swear, Sierra, if you make another sudden move…”
“What, Vixen? What are you going to do—kill me? Because if that’s what you want to do, you’re going to have to take a number. I’ve already got a fan club out for my blood. So if you have to shoot me—do it! But you’re not stopping me from checking on Papan. I told you he wasn’t hurting anyone but you had to come after him anyway. Why the hell did you come back here? I thought you’d already checked and didn’t find—”
“A scorned lover can be a very valuable asset,” she answered with a lopsided smirk. “The strange thing is…I didn’t even have to contact him. Jonathan came to me and told me you were hiding the wolf. After that, it was just a matter of waiting out the protection wards. I knew he’d come out sooner or later—it is the week of the full moon.”
My fingers itched to reach Papan. I wasn’t surprised by Jonathan’s betrayal. As far as he was concerned, I probably deserved it. He’d finally done something about his hatred toward Papan.
“You shot him, now what?” And why would waiting out the protection wards give her passage? From what I’d gathered, Oren’s magic didn’t come with a use-by date. Something else must have interfered with the protection barrier around the house.
“Now, I finish what I started.” She moved her arm so quickly I didn’t even see it shift, but her next shot missed Papan. He had fast reflexes. Injured or not, he stepped out of the bullet’s path. The gun was back at my head before I could shuffle away. “Come out, little wolf, or I’ll shoot your girlfriend.”
“This is bullshit,” Conrad said, sidling up beside me. “We’re not supposed to be fighting each other! Don’t we have enough monsters out there willing to do this already?”
A growl answered his question.
I trembled with fear. I’d heard the sound enough times to know the dog-beast had returned. The scar on my clavicle throbbed to the beat of my heart, speeding up with every new growl.
I swung around and caught sight of the beastly thing waiting near the back fence. Was it a trick of the absence of light, or did he look uglier every time I crossed paths with him? The backyard might contain other people, but he clearly only had red eyes for me. Drool dribbled from his snout in gross strands, canine lips curling back enough to expose the snarl accompanying his growl.
“Oh shit,” Conrad said. “Is this another one of your friends?”
Vixen looked around, probably expecting to track Papan so she could finish what we’d interrupted. I didn’t know where Papan was, but hoped he’d had enough time to run.
“He’s in the I-want-Sierra-dead fan club.” The rain pounded against the grass, making everything much harder to see and the soggy grass uncomfortable to stand on.
“Fuck, you sure know how to get on people’s nerves,” Conrad said with a snort. “Remind me not to hang around you for too long.”
“That thing isn’t a person,” I said with a shake of my head, just as a flash of lightning lit up the yard, closely followed by thunder.
The beast was glaring at me one minute and leapt off his hind legs to pounce on me the next. Heavy paws smacked against my shoulders with so much force I lost my balance and landed on my back, with him on top. Saliva dribbled onto my cheeks as I tried to keep his snout out of my face.
I could barely see Conrad, swearing and trying to figure out what to do. He pulled a stake out from somewhere and plunged it into the dog’s back.
The black dog cried out, his spine curving and giving my arms a reprieve from attempting to keep him away. He stayed on top of me, huge paws now jabbing hard against the tops of my arms. At least his claws hadn’t gotten past the fabric of my T-shirt.
Shit, that hurts! If he kept it up, he’d soon tear past the fabric and would pierce my flesh. I couldn’t let him literally pin me to the ground like a dying butterfly.
The pain was so bad, my vision blurred and I wondered if I was about to pass out. The bite mark on my collarbone itched like crazy, and as much as I tried to buck my hips, I just couldn’t shake him off.
I took a shallow breath, once again feeling reality crinkle at the sides. My skin crawled with tiny electric shocks from the storm, the magic residue, and what I suspected was the dark patch slowly drifting past my barriers. Just like what happened inside Jonathan’s bookstore, I could feel my body lighten. It was so dark now that it was hard to tell where the backyard ended and the dark patch began.
This demonic dog was going down.
As I prepared to drag us in, a cream-colored blur passed right before my eyes and took the beast with it.
I sucked in a deep breath and rushed to my knees, letting the dark patch once again retreat. My whole body was trembling, aching. All I could do was watch as the light wolf and the dark beast went tail over snout, rolling from one end of the yard to the other, swiping sharp claws and biting at each other until they hit the side of the house with a thump and a crack.
I didn’t know if the noise had come from the weatherboards or one of them.
Papan’s wolf was beautiful—snarling and biting into the dog who tried to do much of the same back.
“Fucking wolves, they’re all the same,” Vixen spat, pushing past me. “These two just happen to be identical.”
“What the hell are you talking about, they’re completely different!” Conrad shouted. “Let’s get the fuck inside before they turn on us.” He snaked a hand around my forearm and I winced. I let him help me stand, but pulled out of his grasp when he tried to lead me away from the ongoing fight.
“No, I can’t leave him with this beast.”
“I’m pretty sure the wolf can look after himself,” Conrad insisted.
“I’ll take care of both of them.” Vixen drew her gun and fired twice before either of us could stop her. One of the bullets struck—causing one of the animals to make a whining noise—but the other hit the side of the house. “Shit!”
The black mass of tangled fur swung around, glaring in our direction with freaky, shiny eyes. Papan rolled out from beneath the beast.
This time, the black
dog’s red eyes were focused on Vixen.
She fired again. The bullet hit the spot where the beast was just a second before he sprang into the air and landed on top of her. She lost her gun. It fell onto the grass as the dog buried its snout deep into her throat.
As annoying as she was, I couldn’t stand by and let her die.
I rushed forward, ready to at least try to kick the dog off her, but Papan raced out in front of me and pounded his big front paws against the beast’s back. The black dog was ripped away from Vixen, but not before taking a huge chunk from her shoulder.
The wolf and the dog scrambled around the yard some more—fur and fangs exposed. As they tore into each other, the rain intensified and the lightning made their fight look like choppy, moving pictures. But it was the simultaneous sound of the gun going off, and the rolling thunder, that stopped them.
I looked up. Conrad stood with the barrel of Vixen’s gun still pointed in front of him.
He’d hit the beast in the back and left a red hole like nothing I’d ever seen before. The dog’s head fell back as he growled into the night, crying and moaning as it slowly pushed off Papan and struggled to make its way out of the yard. The hole didn’t seem to be closing, actually spread like a squashed tomato.
“Shoot him again,” I shouted.
Conrad nodded. The bullet struck the beast so hard that its spine curved and he collapsed in the shadows by the side of the house.
Silence filled the yard as we held our collective breaths, watching and waiting to see what the beast would do next. It didn’t move, but lay on its front like a shaggy carpet left outside in the rain.
I held my breath, waiting for him to do his best horror movie monster impression and rise to wreak more havoc.
When he didn’t, I dropped to my knees beside Vixen. She had both hands pressed against the side of her neck and blood dripped between her fingers in an ongoing gush. Her body trembled and the rain thinned out the blood, making it pool around her.
It wasn’t until then, when I felt the dagger still in my pocket, that I remembered I’d been carrying silver with me this whole time, and hadn’t used it. This was going to take some getting used to.
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