by L. L. Raand
Sylvan turned to Niki, who had followed her. “Give us space.”
Niki curled her lip, staring at the Vampires at Jody’s back. “I’m not leaving you outnumbered with them.”
Jody signaled her guards to back up. “Your Alpha is safe with me, little Wolf.”
“Imperator,” Niki said, locking eyes with Jody.
“Of course,” Jody said.
Niki stepped away and Sylvan said, “What else do you know?”
“One of Francesca’s Vampires was at the installation. She carried your young to me.”
“A rescuer or a jailor?” Sylvan snarled. The idea of Katya and Gray being at the mercy of humans and Vampires drove her wolf into a frenzy.
Jody paused. “I don’t know.”
“If Vampires are in league with the humans at the expense of the Weres, where do you stand?” Sylvan felt Niki move back to her right shoulder, a protective stance and a signal to the Vampire soldiers not to make any aggressive moves.
“You show little respect for your allies,” Jody murmured.
“Maybe because Vampires interpret the word differently.” Sylvan wanted to trust Jody, welcomed her solidarity in a world that suddenly wanted her and her Pack gone, but she couldn’t afford to be wrong. The welfare of her centuri was at stake in the coming fight. The future of her whole Pack could be at risk. “Funny that Francesca—your Viceregal—had someone there the very night we raided the place. I don’t like coincidences.”
“Are you accusing me of something?” Jody asked icily. “I’ve been patient with your insinuations and your insults, but I’m done defending myself to someone who claims to be my ally.”
“And I wonder why I’m just hearing about Francesca’s minion now,” Sylvan growled.
The door behind Jody opened and Becca stepped out with Lara and one of Jody’s guards—a human. Jody didn’t move, but her eyes glowed hot.
“Zahn,” Jody said, her focus still on Sylvan, “take Becca to the vehicle.”
“Yes, Lie—”
“What’s going on?” Becca asked, avoiding Zahn’s grasp and sliding up next to Jody.
“I believe the Alpha is spoiling for a fight,” Jody said.
Niki growled a warning.
“Stand easy, Imperator,” Sylvan murmured. She would not fight, with Jody’s mate in danger of injury.
“I don’t take my alliances lightly, Alpha,” Jody said, turning slightly so her body shielded Becca. “I assume you don’t either.”
“I stand ready to support you and your Clan.” Sylvan tested Jody’s resolve, adding, “We will need to confront Francesca about what you witnessed.”
Jody’s brows rose ever so slightly. “The Viceregal is a formidable opponent.”
“So are we.” Sylvan caught Lara’s gaze. “Where do you stand?”
Lara, dressed in a black shirt and jeans, her chestnut hair wilding around her shoulders and her amber eyes ringed with crimson, took a position opposite Niki on Jody’s left. “Your orders, Liege?”
“Warlord,” Jody said, her gaze never leaving Sylvan’s, “see my consort to the limo.”
“Yes, Liege.”
Sylvan snarled. “Lara.”
“Alpha Mir,” Lara said. She did not lower her gaze.
“You traitor,” Niki snapped.
Becca stepped into the gap between the Vampires and the Weres. “Well, now that we’ve all said our hellos, maybe we can get down to business. Remember the captives we’re trying to find?”
“Centuri,” Sylvan said to Lara, ignoring everyone else, “you swore a blood oath to me and to the Timberwolf centuri. Your bond is immutable.”
“If I may speak,” Lara said, directing her statement to Jody.
Sylvan’s wolf raged and she dragged her back. This was not the place to fight. “You ask permission of a Vampire?”
“I am a Vampire,” Lara said, her chin tilting upward in defiance.
“You are Were.”
“Warlord,” Jody said, “make your statement. We have work this night.”
“As of this night, I pledge my service to Liege Jody Gates and the Night Hunters Clan. I seek the wolf Alpha’s permission to be released from my oath,” Lara said, her voice emotionless, her face without expression. “I ask that I may be allowed to leave honorably, without challenge.”
“And if I refuse?” Sylvan said. Beside her, Niki trembled, fury coating the air with a haze of pheromones and adrenaline.
“Then I seek challenge,” Lara said.
Before Sylvan could answer, Niki said, “I will accept the challenge in the Alpha’s stead.”
Sylvan glanced at Niki, saw her pelt flare and her wolf surge. The blood addiction—or attraction—between Lara and Niki made the whole situation more volatile, but there was something else fueling Niki’s fury. She pulled air deep into her lungs. Sophia. All over both of them. No wonder they were half-crazy and spoiling to fight. Sylvan searched for Sophia, but she was not in the Compound. Just as well. “My centuri cannot rescind their oaths.”
“I am not centuri any longer,” Lara argued. “I ceased being centuri when I died. I choose to serve as I must live. I choose to fight as a Vampire.”
Sylvan raked a hand through her hair. “You don’t know how you can live.”
“I know for now, Alpha,” Lara said. The mask fell away and torment rode through her eyes. “Please, Alpha.”
“I do not release you from your oath,” Sylvan said. Beside her, Niki tensed, her claws erupting, her canines dropping. “But there will be no challenge. You are free to serve Jody, until such time as you relinquish the oath to her and return to the Pack.”
“Thank you,” Lara said.
“Don’t thank me. I’ve done you no favors.” Sylvan spun on her heel and vaulted from the porch. Over her shoulder she called to the Weres and the Vampires. “Let’s hunt this night as one.”
*
“Come.” Niki motioned to Jace, Jonathan, and Andrew to fall in behind her and Sylvan.
Leading her centuri across the Compound, Niki drew up short when she saw Drake waiting with another Were by the Rover just inside the fortified gate. Dasha Baran. Niki growled. Dasha straightened and snarled.
“The Prima will drive,” Sylvan said, pulling open the rear compartment of the Rover. “Dasha is with her tonight. The rest of you, with me.” She glanced at Niki. “Imperator, are your warriors ready?”
Niki stared at Dasha for another long second, waiting for Dasha to drop her gaze. When Dasha finally did cast her eyes aside, Niki said curtly, “Yes, Alpha,” and climbed into the back of the Rover. Inside, she settled on one of the long benches next to Sylvan, across from Jace and Jonathan. Andrew sprawled on the floor with his back against the front seats. Drake slid behind the wheel and turned to look back.
“What about the Vampires?” Drake asked.
“They have their own vehicles,” Sylvan said. “They’ll follow.”
“Good, then let’s go.” Drake eased the Rover through the partially open gates and stopped far enough away for the limos to exit. Two cars filled with Vampires and their guards and servants pulled in behind her. She waited until the gate swung closed, securing the Compound, before she set off into the forest. “Same approach as last time?”
“Yes,” Sylvan said. “There’d be no reason to guard that access road now.”
“Unless they know we’re coming,” Niki said.
Sylvan grumbled, reminding Niki of her place. “We’ll have Max run a satellite sweep of the area before we get there. If they have vehicles hidden along the way, he’ll find them.” Sylvan smiled thinly. “And if they’ve posted sentries, we’ll smell them.”
Satisfied, Niki settled back against the wall, closing her eyes as the Rover bounced over the narrow forest trail toward the highway. She could smell Dasha in the front seat, scent the aggression rolling off her. She slid her hand under her T-shirt and traced her fingers over the healing scratches on her chest. The scratches Sophia had made. Her clitoris tightened
as she remembered Sophia’s mouth against her skin, recalling the sweet torture of Sophia’s fingers stroking her to release. She wanted more. She wanted to know that no one else tasted Sophia, satisfied her. She rumbled and twitched, scraping her claws over tight nipples.
Sylvan said, “Now is not the time to be thinking about breeding.”
“That wasn’t what I was thinking,” Niki said without opening her eyes.
“Wasn’t it? Whatever you’re thinking, it’s loud enough for everyone to feel.”
“My apologies, Alpha,” Niki said, straightening.
“I need you focused.”
“I am.”
“Good. I need Dasha tonight—the Prima needs her.”
Niki couldn’t hold back the growl. “Sophia refused her. She should learn her place.”
“Niki,” Sylvan said quietly, “Sophia is not just any Were.”
Niki swung her head slowly until her eyes glanced over Sylvan’s face, as close as she would come to warning her Alpha not to come between her and this female. “I know what she is.”
“No, Niki,” Sylvan said, “you don’t. Listen to her. Trust her. She knows what she needs.”
Niki gritted her teeth. Now was not the time to challenge. Sylvan couldn’t know what she felt. She glanced into the front seat, saw the Prima at the wheel, where she had no business being when she carried the Alpha’s young. Drake should be back in the Compound, where she would be safe and protected. Maybe the Alpha did understand that one female could change everything, even instincts borne over centuries. It made no matter to her what the Alpha thought. She would not watch Sophia satisfy her needs with others. When she returned, she would make sure Sophia understood that.
*
Drake sniffed the air and turned to Sylvan. “I don’t scent anyone in the woods.” The last time they’d stood on the ridge overlooking the experimental installation, they’d discovered cat Weres posted throughout the forest, mercenaries hired to guard the far perimeter. Tonight, all she smelled were deer, fox, opossum, and smaller prey.
Sylvan surveyed the labyrinth of buildings through night binoculars. “I don’t see any guards along the fence.”
The sprawling complex was illuminated sporadically by halogen lights suspended on poles in uneven intervals along the expanse of concrete that extended fifty yards in all directions from the building. A huge parking lot, eerily empty, stretched from one end of the complex nearly to the tree line at the foot of the mountain. Surveillance cameras were mounted along the fence line and on the eaves of the building. Anyone approaching the building would be exposed long enough for the cameras to capture them, unless they were Vampire-fast.
“The surveillance cameras aren’t moving,” Sylvan noted.
Drake rested her hand at the base of Sylvan’s spine. Anytime she wasn’t touching her, an ominous sense of foreboding spread through her. As soon as she felt the heat of Sylvan’s skin beneath her fingertips, the disquieting sensations disappeared. She’d always needed contact with her, but now the physical need was acute. “It looks deserted, but that doesn’t make sense. I wonder if that’s not just a lure.”
“No one knows we’re coming,” Sylvan said.
“Not necessarily. I agree with Niki—the anonymous caller could be trying to trap you. Anyone who knows you knows you will come if there’s any chance at all there are Weres held prisoner in that building.”
Sylvan glanced at her, moonlight dancing over the surface of her golden eyes. “That would seem a very elaborate ruse. It’s not as if I’m not exposed at other times.”
“Yes,” Drake said, the muscles in her jaws tightening painfully. She was well aware of how vulnerable her mate was whenever she walked into the capitol building, when she appeared on television, when she was interviewed by friend and foe alike. Just as Sylvan wanted to keep her safe in the den until the young were born, she wanted Sylvan to do all her business from the headquarters building, secure in the heart of the Compound. Neither was possible. “But out here we’re isolated. This is the place for a clandestine attack—I doubt whoever built this place wants publicity. You’ll be a huge target until you’re inside, and then you’ll be a potential captive.”
“Then we’ll have to be very careful.” Sylvan stroked Drake’s face. “I promise.”
“I think I should bring the Rover down to the edge of that parking lot over there,” Drake said, pointing to the vacant expanse. “We can stay under cover right at the tree line but be nearby in case you need to evacuate injured.”
Sylvan rumbled. “I don’t like you being that close to the building.”
“We’ll have a clear view of anyone who might be coming,” Drake said. “We’ll have plenty of time to evacuate if we have to.”
“All right, but you don’t break cover for any reason.”
Drake remained silent. If Sylvan was in danger, she was not going to stand by waiting. “We send the Vampires in first?”
“With their speed, they’ll be able to reach the installation without being seen—if anyone inside is monitoring the perimeter.”
“You’ll go in skin?”
“Unless there’s some need to shift. Easier to handle the mechanics of the building with hands.”
“Just be careful.”
Sylvan kissed her. “I will.”
Drake and Sylvan walked back to the vehicles. Jody leaned against the front fender of her fortified limo with Lara and three of her soldiers. The second vehicle had continued on to Albany with Zahn, Becca, and several soldiers.
Sylvan said, “We don’t see any guards. We’ll follow you down. As soon as you clear the side entrance, we’ll come in behind you.”
“Something is off,” Jody said. “An installation this size should have at least a skeleton security crew at night. There are always people working—maintenance, engineering, if nothing else. This looks like a trap.”
“It might be,” Sylvan said. “But if it is, we need to know who set it. Without getting inside, we can’t be certain who—or what—we’re facing.”
“How much damage are you willing to accept to find out?” Jody asked.
Drake’s stomach tightened at Sylvan’s slow, dangerous smile.
“These bastards took my young. Now they may be holding more Weres. Damage is not an issue.”
“These might not even be your Weres,” Jody said.
“That’s going to change,” Sylvan said.
“Then I can see I’ve chosen the right ally.” Jody motioned to Lara. “Take point. If there are cat Were guards down there, you may scent them sooner than we do. Kill any you find.”
“Yes, Liege.” Lara didn’t look at Sylvan as she turned, signaled to the soldiers, and misted into the trees.
Sylvan turned to Niki and Jace. “You’ll take the front with me. Jonathan and Andrew, guard our flanks.”
“Yes, Alpha,” the centuri answered in unison.
And then they were gone and Drake was left alone with Dasha, wanting nothing more than to follow. A stirring in her belly, warm and strong, reminded her of why she had let Sylvan go alone.
Chapter Seventeen
Sylvan crouched at the edge of the tree line with Niki beside her. Jace had circled through the forest to watch the main access road, and Andrew and Jonathan guarded their flanks. The Vampires had been gone almost a minute—more than enough time for them to cross the five-hundred-yard expanse to the loading dock entrance in the rear. She hadn’t seen anything happening at the installation that suggested Jody and her soldiers had been observed or intercepted. “Let’s go.”
They broke from the underbrush and streaked across the open expanse of concrete, sticking to the shadowed areas beyond the floodlights. On their last foray, the entire place had been brightly lit, but now half the lights were out around the perimeter, providing them plenty of cover. They vaulted up onto the loading platform, keeping close to the wall and away from the immobile security cameras. Sylvan tried the handle below the big red sign declaring “Security Alarm
Will Sound—No Entrance.” The handle turned. She pushed on the windowless metal door, and she and Niki slipped into the wide, empty hallway. The door swished closed behind them and Sylvan lifted her head, scented. Her nose wrinkled. Industrial waste—acrid and sour, cleaning fluids, recirculated air that was flat and stale. She growled, thinking of Katya and Gray trapped in this lifeless place for weeks. “If we find them, show no mercy to whoever is holding them.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Niki said swiftly. “Let me search this wing. You should stay—”
“Let’s not waste time,” Sylvan said and strode down the dimly lit corridor. A few doors stood open on darkened rooms. Most were closed. The blank faces of the motionless security cameras turned blind eyes on their passage. They reached the far end of the wing that ended at the central elevator shaft. “Clear.”
“And empty.” Niki slid the Glock she carried in her right hand into the waistband of her BDUs. “We could search faster in pelt.”
“Yes,” Sylvan agreed. “And stamp our signatures on any dead we leave behind. Bullets and blades carry no names.” Sylvan halted, sensing a disturbance in the air.
Jody appeared from around the corner. “Did you see anyone outside?”
“No. Anything in here?” Sylvan asked.
Jody shook her head, frowning. “Nothing. All the upper levels appear to be empty. They’re mostly engineering and maintenance. The few labs seem to be very basic and mostly unused.”
“For show, maybe,” Sylvan said. “We know the real experiments were going on underground.”
“If we go down, our escape routes will be vulnerable.”
“I’ll go down. Niki will stay here to guard our rear.”
Niki’s eyes sparked, but she knew better than to question Sylvan’s orders in the field.
Jody nodded. “Lara and I will go with you. Rafe can stay with your imperator.”
“Agreed. According to Becca’s drawings,” Sylvan said, “several wings extend from the central tower with fire stairs adjacent to the elevators. This is the wing we were in last night, where we found our young below us. There are more we haven’t searched.”