by E. S. Moore
“I’ll be home tonight,” I said. “If I’m not back by sunup, call Jonathan; not before.”
He nodded.
I started to walk past him, but hesitated. I couldn’t leave it at that. “I’ll see you tonight. And . . . thank you.”
I went up the stairs without waiting for a response.
The garage was stifling as I mounted my Honda and opened the garage doors. Cool air poured over me and I closed my eyes to it. I could feel rain in the air, but it did nothing to dampen my spirits. In fact, I almost welcomed it.
I took my time as I headed for the city. While I was out looking for the Left Hand, I wasn’t going to go at it with the fierce tenacity I typically did things. If I did that, I’d make a mistake. I couldn’t jump into something before I was ready to deal with the consequences of my actions. I needed to stop, evaluate, and do things the right way. I’m not sure when I got away from doing it that way.
As I headed for the main part of the city, I considered what I knew.
The Left Hand was in Columbus, that much was obvious. They hunted supes and if what Jonathan said was true, they were also going after Purebloods who spent time with supes. They’d somehow managed to get onto Cult property to set up a crucified werewolf.
But where had they taken him? Had he already been near the Den when they took him? Had he been out on a hunt of some sort? He was new and inexperienced, so I doubted he was out alone.
So how did they take him?
I knew within moments that I needed to go to the abandoned portion of the old college campus. There might be clues that would help me understand what had happened and how they’d managed to do so much, so fast, without anyone else noticing.
Since I was already heading that way, all I had to do was speed up. I could peek around the campus for a little while, maybe investigate the part of the college still in use, then head to the Den to ask Jonathan more questions. It was looking more and more like someone on the inside was responsible for this and I had a pretty good idea who to blame.
Keira. Her appearance was just too convenient. She might not have done the actual deed, but I had a feeling she was the one who’d disabled the cameras and distracted Jonathan long enough so that the wolf could be set up without the perpetrators being discovered.
I reached Cult property and slowed. The roads here were dangerous. Many were blocked off by debris intentionally placed so that anyone who might wander onto the property would be forced down a path the Cult could monitor. Someone on foot was okay, but no one would be getting around this part of the old campus with a vehicle.
Still, I did as good a job as I could, exploring. I’d hoped to find someplace where a broken-down car had been moved or a fallen tree had been shoved aside, but everything looked as if it hadn’t been touched. It would have been hard for the Left Hand to get a crucified wolf, unconscious or not, all the way in front of the Den. Either they had someone really strong carrying him, or they’d worked well together. I was sure they’d moved him at least part of the way in a vehicle of some sort.
That meant the garage. While the Cult were the only ones to use it, if there was someone working from the inside, helping the Left Hand, chances were good they would have told them about the garage. It would allow the Left Hand to park somewhere that wasn’t out in the open, that was relatively close to the Den itself, and still get Philip on his cross there.
I headed for the garage, not quite sure I bought it. They could have come at the Den from another angle. Maybe they’d come from the other part of the campus. As far as I knew, the Left Hand had set up headquarters among the college kids. Someone there could be housing them, someone who’d discovered the Luna Cult hideout by accident one night after a party.
I neared the garage, but didn’t pull in. Instead, I shut off the engine and sat there, looking at the opening. I tried to picture someone carrying a cross out of there.
I just couldn’t do it. It would have been too easy for someone from the Den to happen by them.
So where?
Before I could restart the motorcycle’s engine, someone appeared. He was walking briskly from the direction of the Den. He was big and kept his head down so I didn’t get a good look at his face.
Still, I would know that build anywhere.
He vanished into the garage. I walked my Honda back into the deeper shadows where he might not see me. A few minutes later, a car drifted out of the garage and turned down the road. I caught a quick glimpse of the face through the window and my heart started racing.
Nathan.
I waited until he turned a corner, started up the engine, and took off after him.
My first inclination was to race to catch up with him. I wanted to pull him right out of the car and demand to know what he was doing. Maybe Keira wasn’t the one who’d betrayed Jonathan this time. Nathan hadn’t been around when the Denmaster had needed him most.
Of course, if I were to try to catch him, he’d see me coming. In which case, I’d never learn where he was going.
I kept my lights off until we were out on the main roads. I made sure to stay well back, knowing that if he even thought I was following him, he would change direction. I tried to come up with reasons for why he’d leave alone, especially with everything that was going on, but I kept coming back to the fact that when I was at the Den, discussing the murder, Nathan wasn’t there.
He drove a good twenty minutes before turning off onto a residential street. I had to wait for him to go a long way down the road before I could follow. There was no one else on the road. I shut off my lights, knowing it would do little good against a werewolf’s sight, but hoped for the best anyway.
“Where are you going?” I muttered as I followed.
Just as I started to pull onto the road, I saw the red glow of brake lights reflect off a house. I quickly shut off the engine and walked the Honda off the road, behind a shed where he wouldn’t see it if he were to suddenly come back. I hopped off and hurried down the road, hoping I’d catch sight of him before he was gone.
The brake lights glowed for a few moments before winking out. I didn’t hear a car engine, so I assumed he’d shut it off instead of driving off.
I came around a slight bend in the road just as Nathan stepped out of the car, which was parked just off the road. He sniffed the air and looked around. I managed to slip behind the corner of a wooden fence before he looked my way. I watched him through the crack.
A light mist started up. He looked to the sky, almost as if irritated by the extremely light rain. It would make it harder to sniff anyone out and would also force anyone inside who might be out.
Was he hunting? It was like a stab to my gut. Jonathan had assured me his wolves didn’t go out and hunt like this. I wasn’t sure exactly how they got their meat and blood, but from what I could tell, he hadn’t been lying.
So did that mean Nathan was going against orders? Was he responsible for some of the bodies that might have been attributed to the Left Hand?
As much as Nathan and I didn’t get along, I didn’t want to believe he could be capable of something like that. Jonathan had been betrayed more than once, the last being Gregory Hillis, a werewolf who’d joined with Adrian Davis. It had been a mess that had really done a number on Jonathan. If Nathan were to go against his Denmaster’s wishes, I didn’t want to know how it would affect him.
Nathan, seemingly satisfied no one was watching him, started suddenly forward. I slipped out from around the corner of the fence and gave chase, keeping myself low to the ground, using his car for cover.
While there were quite a few empty houses here, there were also some where the lights were still blazing inside. It was still early enough so that some of the more daring Purebloods had yet to shut down for the night. Perhaps some were planning on a night out, even now. There was a reason High Street and places like that were so popular.
Nathan darted in and out of yards, avoiding some entirely. One of the ones he skipped had a light above the back door. I knew without
having to test it myself that it was a motion detector light. It appeared the big wolf had done this before.
Unease grew the farther we went. Why had he parked so far away? Was he meeting someone out here? It seemed the only reasonable explanation.
I followed Nathan’s path as near as I dared. If he’d done this more than once, he would know where the alarms were. Just because some of the Purebloods here kept lights on, didn’t mean they were stupid. The moment an alarm went off, they could vanish into a bolt hole, perhaps a panic room built to withstand a werewolf or vampire until help arrived.
Something howled in the distance and Nathan froze. He sniffed the air again and I cringed back, thankful the rain was starting to pick up. Vampires didn’t put out much of a scent and the rain only helped to obliterate it, though my leather would be obvious if he got a good whiff of it.
I cringed back, knowing that if he turned around, he’d have me. There wasn’t anywhere to hide here.
Thankfully, he started forward again. He went about six paces more before veering off into a yard surrounded by a low hedge that looked as if no one had cared for it for years. He shifted his weight and slid along sideways until he was facing the house across the street. He remained crouched there as if waiting for something.
I moved as close as I dared before stepping off Nathan’s chosen path. I went the long way around the yard to where a rusted metal shed stood. I crept along the side and then peeked around the corner.
A light was on in the house across the street. A large glass back door gave a good look into the house. An old woman sat at a dining room table, sipping from a teacup. She was in a wheelchair and was clearly having trouble lifting the cup to her lips. Her hands were shaking so badly, it was a wonder she didn’t dump it into her lap.
A moment later, a younger woman came into view. She looked like she might be in her forties, but it was hard to tell at this distance. She patiently took the cup from the older woman’s hand and held it to her lips for her.
And that’s when the older woman started to cry.
Nathan started to lift from his crouch and I reached for my gun. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I would not let him harm either of those two women. I didn’t care that he might be only killing the elderly and sick, putting them out of their misery while sating his own hunger. I’d kill him before I let him hurt someone else.
The woman wiped at her eyes and smiled at the younger woman. Nathan eased back down as if the smile had changed his mind. He was breathing fast and hard, but wasn’t shifting.
Yet.
The young woman walked out of view again as the other woman started flipping through a book. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought it might be some sort of photo album. She sighed heavily and then looked toward the back door.
Nathan stiffened and ducked down, but before anything else could happen, the younger woman returned and closed a curtain over the back door.
My hand was still on my gun as Nathan rose from his crouch. He was facing the house and I could tell he was considering approaching. The light inside snapped off, leaving the home dark except for a single, upstairs light that looked as if it might be a candle.
A low growl was my only warning.
The wolf came out of nowhere. I managed to turn and raise an arm just as the were leapt at me from the other yard. She was fully shifted and, like all weres, was naked. She was tall, her fur dark.
The wolf was on me before I could pull my gun. She hit me hard in the chest, knocking my hand away from my Glock before I could draw. We slammed hard into the metal shed, causing it to clang loudly. Teeth snapped at my face and it was all I could do to keep an arm up so her fangs didn’t close on my flesh.
I reached down in an attempt to get at my sword or one of my knives, but my coat was trapped closed. The werewolf was strong and no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn’t get her to back off. She snapped and snarled in my face, splattering me with warm saliva.
She had me pinned to the side of the shed, one hand completely useless. The other I had jammed at her throat and I pressed with all my might in an effort to keep her from biting my face off and to choke off her air supply. I was beginning to tremble and knew that if something didn’t give soon, my arm would give out.
I opened my mouth to call out for Nathan, knowing he would be pissed at me for following him, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I needed help.
Before I could yell for him, another snarl brought both our heads around. A new were, this one smaller than the one holding me, crashed into the female wolf. Her grip on me loosened and both wolves went rolling out into the open.
I drew both my gun and sword as soon as I was able and took aim at the fighting wolves. Neither was familiar, though it was hard to tell in their wolf forms. I only was sure that neither was Nathan.
The fight was quick and I didn’t have to shoot, which meant I still might avoid Nathan’s detection. I wasn’t sure if he’d stuck around to watch the fight or if he’d taken off at the first howl. I wasn’t about to look either. I kept my gaze locked on the snarling wolves.
Werewolves are violent naturally, but something about this fight went far beyond the normal. The little one wasn’t as strong as the bigger female, but he fought with a tenacity the other couldn’t match.
With a yelp, the female rolled away from the male and took off running. The smaller let her go.
He turned to me and I raised my gun. “Don’t try it,” I said, ready to pull the trigger at the first aggressive move. He might have saved my skin, but that didn’t mean he would let me walk away. He might have simply wanted me all to himself.
The werewolf studied me a moment and then started shifting. He cried out as the change overtook him and I was forced to look away. It was an extremely painful process that wasn’t pleasant to witness. I was thankful as a vampire I didn’t have to go through that.
A moment later, a man stood before me, nude as the day he was born. Sweat and rain glistened on his body. He turned his face up to the sky and took deep, gasping breaths, before locking eyes with me.
He didn’t say anything. He stared at me for a good five seconds before turning and walking away.
Surprisingly, I let him go.
I lowered my gun, but kept it in hand, waiting for him to vanish completely from sight before risking a look around the corner. I doubted he would have stuck around, but I needed to know for sure.
The hedge was empty.
Nathan was gone.
7
My first instinct was to drive straight to the Den and confront Jonathan about Nathan’s activities. I didn’t care whether the Cult’s second was there or not. I’d accuse him just like I would anyone else. If he was up to something, Jonathan deserved to know about it.
Then again, hadn’t Jonathan acted as if he knew what Nathan was doing when I’d asked about him the other night? Did that mean he was allowing his weres to hunt again? Was that even what Nathan had been doing?
I wasn’t sure what I would do if Jonathan were letting the Cult werewolves feed. I don’t think I could kill him, but it would put a pretty quick halt on us working together. Werewolves weren’t like vampires, who could simply drink a little blood and leave their victims alive if they chose. They needed the meat too. Hard to keep someone alive when you’re eating their flesh.
I went as far as to start in the direction of the Den, but turned for home instead. I wasn’t positive Nathan was up to anything sinister and if I were to go to Jonathan without thinking about what I planned on saying, chances were good I’d fuck things up.
And that’s not to mention the fact that Keira might be there. I had a sinking feeling she’d been the female wolf who’d attacked me. Going to the Den now might end up in a bloodbath.
It was a surprising moment of clarity for me. The old me would have gone straight to the Den to demand answers. I would have alienated the people who might actually be my friends, all because I didn’t know what was going on. Cooling down seemed like
a far safer course of action for everyone.
Still, it wasn’t easy to turn away from the confrontation. The beast inside demanded blood and it was hard not to give in. I’d have to feed soon or I wouldn’t be able to control myself at all. I’d probably end up hurting someone I cared about, all in a hunger-induced frenzy.
The rain was really falling by the time I pulled up the driveway. It just added another reason to get somewhere cozy and warm while I sorted through things. If I’d gone to the Den, I would have had a longer drive to get back home and would have been soaked even worse. I had a feeling this was going to be one of those night-long rains.
There wasn’t a dry bone in my body as I parked in the garage. I shivered and shut off the engine. I sat there for a long moment, calming myself down. I was angry. I couldn’t go inside pissed at the world. This was the sort of thing I was trying to avoid.
It took me a few minutes before I felt like I could face Ethan and Jeremy without finding something to nitpick. I entered through the side door and peeled off my coat. Despite the leather, it felt as if my underclothes were just as soaked as the rest of me. It felt like I might never get dry again.
I sludged my way into the dining room and deposited my coat on the table to dry. I should have asked Jeremy if I could take his car since I knew it was going to rain. There’d been no reason for me to go driving around in the downpour on my Honda when I could have kept myself nice and dry in the car.
Then again, I might not have been able to follow Nathan if I’d been in the car. He would have spotted the black car almost immediately.
I sat down to peel off my boots. They came away with a plop. My socks were soaked through.
“Wet night,” Jeremy said from the couch. I hadn’t even seen him there when I’d come in.
“Very.”
“Find anything out?”
I shook my head and set my boots under the table. I’d have to take them down and light a fire later so they could fully dry. Otherwise, I’d be walking in wet boots tomorrow night. The same went for my coat and leathers.