He chuckled and straightened, moving slowly toward me with the grace of a panther. “I like you more than I expected.”
“I have no idea what that means, but you better keep your fucking hands to yourself, Antonio.”
He stopped in front of me, resting his hand on the driver’s door. “You are this delicious combination of bark and bite.”
“You haven’t fully been introduced to my bite,” I said with a sneer. “But I can pull it out for you if you’d like.”
He chuckled again, then snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest. But I was ready for him. I spun away from him and assumed a defensive stance.
“Why can you not give me a chance, mi amor? We are good together.”
I rolled my eyes in disgust. “Save the happily ever after shit for someone who buys it. Besides, we have more important things to worry about. Like surviving.”
“I fully intend to survive, Rachel. And I fully intend for you to survive as well. I need a partner who is my equal.”
I snorted. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I already have a partner, thank you very much.”
“A partner or a yoke?”
“What the hell does that mean?” I shook my head. “I would love to leave you behind, but we need all the help we can get. So—against my better judgment—you can stay.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “I thought that was a given.”
“Nothing is a given. Nothing.”
His smile faded.
“When this thing is done, you fucking walk away, do you understand? You walk away. You touch a hair on Lea’s head before you go, and I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and kill you myself. Go it?”
His eyes darkened. “You don’t know what you ask, mi amor. I must free you of your bond.”
“That’s my decision, Cazador,” I snarled. “Not yours.”
“It was never your decision, mi guerrera. It was made for you.”
“What does that mean?”
But his body had stilled, his muscles tensed. He balanced on the balls of his feet, his fingertips twitching.
“What’s out there?” I whispered, letting my hands relax at my sides as I slowly dipped down. The tips of my fingers brushed the top of the blade in my boot. I didn’t sense anything, but he obviously did, and while I didn’t like this cocky bastard, he had far more experience with the supernatural realm.
He looked me square in the eye, his eyes full of…was that pride? “Werewolves.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
“Can you take them?”
His mouth curved into a sexy grin. “No, mi amor. But we will together.” Then he charged.
CHAPTER 23
LEA
Werewolves were not to be trifled with. Werewolves on leashes held by men I wasn’t entirely sure were human posed a whole other problem. From a low rolling hill, I watched them sweep the area. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were after.
Six pairs fanned out across a swathe at least the length of a football field. No matter how clever Antonio thought he was in covering our tracks, there was no way the wolves would miss our scent.
The werewolves were in wolf form, their noses to the ground, muzzles latched over their elongated snouts. The low whimpering in the back of their throats, the way they pulled on the chains; they already had our scent. I had hoped for a little more time.
“Shit.” I rose to a crouch. If Rachel had a transport coming at dawn, we had to wait. Which meant I had no choice. I had to kill the werewolves and their handlers. And I had to do it before—
“The dogs have the scent. Release B3, B7, C9.”
The click of chains being unlatched sounded as loud to my ears a bullet report. Three of the werewolves leapt forward. They tore each other’s muzzles off and then the center one tipped its head back and howled. The sound wasn’t the cry of a normal wolf—it was more of a guttural roar that twisted into a high-pitched scream.
I bolted parallel to the wolves; slow enough so they would see me, fast enough to stay ahead. If I could draw them away, Ivan might be able to handle the remaining three. At least he’d have a chance.
The wind shifted, bringing me the smell of their fur—musky and rank with urine. That was not natural to werewolves—by nature they were clean, almost fastidious in their...I shook my head. Not the time for tangents. The wind shifted again and brought me a scent that snapped my feet to a standstill. “Rachel, what the hell are you doing out here?”
Now that I knew she was outside, it only took me a moment to pinpoint her and Antonio down at the edge of the village. But in that moment of stillness, the first werewolf launched at me. Full of the shepherd’s blood, I was too fast for it. By a fraction of a second. I threw myself to the ground as I spun, driving my boot into the wolf’s ribcage as hard as I could.
Ribs exploded under my boot, shattering like glass, and the beast’s side split open. The scent of decay rolled over me. The werewolf didn’t even whimper. It landed and immediately spun and faced me, its side hanging open, teeth bared, eyes glassy with a death it didn’t know it held.
“Fuck me, zombie werewolves?” I whipped my stake out as a second wolf shot forward, its belly skimming the sand as it lunged toward me. I stabbed the stake down hard and fast right before the wolf reached me, driving it through the creature’s brain until I felt the crunch of sand on the tip. A burst of blood, bits of flesh and a bright green liquid I couldn’t identify spewed out of its mouth, and I gagged on the rancid scent that coated my tongue.
The moment of distraction cost me.
The first werewolf grabbed my leg and jerked me off my feet. I hit the ground on my left side, and it dragged me, shaking me hard enough that the stars above blurred into white streaks. The third wolf bit down on my left shoulder, teeth driving through flesh and cracking the bone. Pain arched my back and a grunt escaped me as I swallowed the scream. No, if I screamed, it would draw them to me.
Away from Rachel and Ivan. I screamed, the sounded echoing into the night. The chorus of wolves that answered was loud enough that I knew it would work.
Now I had to move my ass.
I reached up with my free hand and grabbed hold of the wolf whose teeth were still locked into my shoulder. I dug my fingers into the thick, rotting ruff of fur around its neck, searching for the windpipe. The corded muscle quivered under my fingers and I grabbed hold, ripping it free.
The wolf didn’t let go.
“Fucking mutt!”
The wolf on my leg jerked hard enough that my knee popped out of joint. The scream this time was not intentional. One more pull like that and I’d lose my leg.
Wrapping my free hand around the neck of the wolf on my shoulder, I sat up and yanked it with me. Its body flipped over and landed on my legs, knocking its buddy off my foot. Then I booted its head with my good leg and scooted back on my ass.
With as much speed as I could, I grabbed my dangling leg and jammed the knee back into the socket with a grind of bone on bone. A hiss of pain escaped me, but at least my leg was mine again. For the moment.
The sound of paws thumping across the sand behind me sent a shiver down my spine. The two wolves in front advanced, their red eyes glowing, their teeth clacking together over and over. I pushed myself to a crouch, my stake gripped in my right hand. What I wouldn’t give for another weapon or two.
“Come on, boys,” I beckoned to them, and they obliged.
A dark furred shape shot between us, tackling the two wolves at the same time. His scent was as clean and pure as theirs was rancid and foul.
“Ivan! Take their heads. It’s the only way.”
I had to trust he could handle them. Because the other wolves hadn’t shown up, and the sound of fighting from the edge of the village was all I needed to know that Rachel was in trouble. Limping, I ran toward the snarling and snapping of teeth, the sound of Rachel cursing out the zombie wolves.
“You fucking bastards!”
Shouldn’t have been funny, but it made me smile for a split second.
I ran over a low hill, and there they were in front of me. Antonio and Rachel were standing back to back, each facing a wolf. There was no sign of the sixth and final wolf. Not good, but I would deal with it after—
Rachel spun away from Antonio, drawing the wolf she faced with her. The werewolf followed like a good doggy, and she caught it under the jaw with her boot, snapping its head back. Before it could even recover, she leapt forward and drove the silver stake through its brain.
“Good girl,” I whispered and made my way down the slope. Antonio...I didn’t really care if he survived or not, but if he fell, the wolf would be at Rachel’s back. I crept up behind the oversized canine and grabbed its tail. It let out a yelp as I reeled it in to me. Climbing onto its back, I clamped my legs around its torso and drove my stake sideways, in through the right ear and out through the left. The wolf slumped under me, blood and that strange green liquid pouring out in a rush of sewage that made me gag.
“Shitty time to have highly tuned senses, isn’t it?” Ivan said from behind me—back in human form. I nodded and stumbled off the wolf’s body.
“There’s one more. I counted six,” I said.
Rachel nodded, her whole body vibrating. “We caught the first one off guard. It’s dead.”
“And those who held the leashes, did anyone see them?” I asked.
Ivan shook his head. “There was no one else, Lea. Just the wolves.”
I blinked and touched the side of my head. I was not seeing things. I couldn’t be. Because if that started…
I swallowed hard, but Antonio spilled my secret.
“If she’s seeing things, she’s more dangerous to us than ever before. Vampires, as they age, grow stronger. But the years they live weigh on them and they slowly lose their minds. Isn’t that right, bloodsucker?”
Fuck, I did not want to have this conversation, certainly not in front of Ivan and Rachel, both of whom were staring me down.
“Partly true, Cazador,” I said, letting myself slump to the sand. “Partly true. With great age, a vampire can lose their mind. But not if they know what they are doing, and I assure you, I know what I am fucking doing.” I lifted an eyebrow at him. “Rachel, walk with me a minute.”
“Do not do it, Rachel. She’s not safe.” Antonio stepped between us, but Ivan dropped a hand on the Cazador’s shoulder and yanked him back.
“Don’t get between them. Ever.”
Madre de Dios, I did not want another reason to like Ivan. But he made it damn hard. Rachel held a hand out to me and helped me up. It worried me that I needed her help. Already I could feel the bites from the wolves coursing through me, like a sickness tightening its hold second by second. Vampires didn’t get sick...I could only imagine what was happening to me.
How long would I be able to remain standing?
“How much of what Antonio said is true?” Rachel asked. “And don’t blow me off. I’d like a real answer.”
I kept a hand on her shoulder, steadying myself as we walked up the slow sloping sand dune and out to where I’d seen the handlers with the wolves. I’d seen them; I knew I had.
“Vampires can lose their minds. But it happens to those who do not bond with a human from the era they live in. I was bonded to Calvin, and he helped me adjust to how much the world had changed from when I was turned. Without him to steady me, I would have lost my mind.”
“Fuck, but you don’t have anyone now? How long can you go without a human bonded to you?”
I closed my eyes as disappointment flowed through me. Apparently I hadn’t communicated the truth to her after all. I’d wanted to believe Ivan was wrong, that Rachel had understood what I’d told her on the plane.
For now, I would let her believe she would be free of me one day. “I have time. Calvin has not been gone long. Barely a few weeks.”
“So when?”
“In the next year. What I saw on the dunes, though...I think I might know what they were, but I need you to look. I...I want you to see what I saw.”
Because if I wasn’t going crazy, then what I saw was a big fucking problem. The kind of supernatural problem that was legendary even to a vampire of my age.
I found the spot where I’d first seen the handlers and their wolves, and I pressed my fingers lightly into Rachel’s arm. “There, do you see the wolf tracks?”
“Yes. Big-ass motherfuckers that they were, they’re hard to miss, aren’t they?”
I guided her toward a chunk of chain and leather half buried in the sand. “Get that.”
She moved away from me and I swayed where I stood. Whatever good the shepherd had done for me, I’d lost it and then some in that fight.
Rachel scooped the leash and bits of muzzle up. “Fuck me. Who could hold a werewolf on a leash and survive?”
I went to my knees, my throat convulsing as the sickness from the werewolves spread. I knew what I needed, but there was only Rachel. “Shadow men. They...” I couldn’t get the words out. “I need to feed, Rachel. Now.” I put some weight on the words, but I couldn’t look at her. Shame filled me that I had to ask my friend for her blood. Shame and fear. If she turned from me, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t tackle her and take what I needed regardless of her wishes.
She dropped to my side, going to one knee, though her movements were heavy with hesitation and unease. “Will it hurt?”
I shook my head and grabbed her arm, the pulse in her wrist beckoning me. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t fucking apologize. Just don’t turn me into a vamp.”
I swallowed and lifted her wrist to my mouth. “Deal.”
CHAPTER 24
RACHEL
I prepared myself for the puncture, telling myself it would be over in a short time. But the bite dredged up memories of the first time I’d come face to face with a vampire. How he’d almost bled me dry. And how Lea had saved me.
So while I hated every fucking minute of feeling my blood being sucked out of my veins, I was willing to do it for her. And while I wasn’t about to volunteer the information, I’d do it again if the need arose.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Antonio snarled, grabbing Lea’s shoulder, and throwing her off me.
Lea hissed, but I had rolled to my feet, and the blade from my boot was already in my hand and pointed at him.
“Stay out of this, Cazador.”
Lea looked stronger than before and ready to attack, but I shot her a glare. “Lea. No. Let me handle this.”
She showed me her fangs, and I suspect anyone else would have had their head ripped off.
I turned my full attention to Antonio, who seemed more than ready for a fight.
“You let that parasite feed from you.”
“I helped my friend, something you don’t seem to understand.”
He burst out laughing. “That abomination doesn’t know the first thing about being your friend.” He spat the word out like he’d choked on spoiled milk. His glance darted to my blade and he growled. “How many times do you plan to threaten me with the blade I gave you? Can you not see that I am only trying to protect you?”
My eyes narrowed as I continued to hold out the blade. “You neglected to tell me the blade came with strings, but if you want it back, too damn bad. It’s mine now.”
“Strings?” he demanded. “I gave you a way to protect yourself when your friend—who knows the world you dally in—did not. I was the one to watch over you when Stravinsky’s men followed you after you met Hades in the Financial District.”
“I can take care of myself!” The insinuation that I couldn’t pissed me off. I didn’t need to prove anything to him.
His expression softened, but only slightly. “My blade helps you do that, mi amor. What has the bloodsucker given you?”
“Why do we keep having this conversation?” I snarled, my grip tightening on the blade. “I’m sick to death of talking about it. I’ve made my choice, and if you can’t
deal with it, go the fuck away! It has nothing to do with you!”
“Choice,” he snorted. “You think you have been given a choice?”
“Enough.” Lea stormed past me and grabbed his arm. Dragging him backward, she said, “We need to chat about boundaries.”
“Nice knowing you, Antonio,” I called after him, surprised he wasn’t giving Lea more resistance.
“Why do you hate him so much?” Ivan asked from the darkness, moving slowly toward me. He was still limping, but it didn’t look so bad considering he’d had a broken femur an hour before.
I squatted and stuffed my blade into my boot. “Jesus, Ivan. I don’t have superhuman sight or hearing like you and Lea. A little warning would be nice.”
“Sorry, but you evaded the question.”
I shook my head and groaned. “I refuse to discuss my feelings for that asshole.”
“Your feelings could get us all killed.”
That pissed me off, and my exhaustion sure didn’t help. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. “Don’t you ever suggest I would do something to intentionally hurt any of us.”
“I didn’t mean you’d do it intentionally. All I meant was that you need to face why you hate him so much. And this—” his eyes shifted to my hand, “—looks pretty damn intentional.”
I shoved him away, cursing under my breath. He was right. Antonio threw me off balance. “I hate him because he represents everything I ran away from growing up. The kind of men who always told me I wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t good enough. That I was weak because my chromosomes were different than theirs.
“I’ve busted my ass to prove them wrong—in everything I’ve done. When I was a reporter here, I had to be tougher and stronger and braver than all the men just to prove myself their equal. I’ve proven myself over and over, and I’m done. So if that asshole finds me lacking, he can go fuck himself.”
What I didn’t add was that I’d let men use me and trick me, and I was officially done. Men were good for two things: opening jars and a good fuck. As far as I was concerned, Lea could open all the jars I needed and my vibrator would take care of the second.
Replica (The Blood Borne Series Book 2) Page 14