by Laken Cane
She and the twins exchanged a long look. She hadn’t forgotten her promise to them. They’d hunt the slayers, and they’d kill them.
Yes, the church would die.
“Are we ready for Rock County?” Jack asked. The next battle was yet to come.
“We could wait a day or so,” Rune said.
“We’re good,” Owen said, putting his coffee mug on the conference room table. “I don’t think Horner has gathered his forces yet.”
“Yeah,” Rune agreed. “And I’d like to find him before they start trickling in.”
“I’m not taking chances,” Rice said. “Backup crews have agreed to help us out. My sources tell me COS is calling in slayers from all over the US. We’ll be ready.”
“Rock County would be a good place for them to hide a COS army,” Raze said, leaning against the wall. “We have a couple spies there but it’s a big county.”
Rune swallowed the last of her coffee. “Then let’s go smoke out the sons of bitches.”
Ellis sat at the table beside Levi. He rose with the rest of them and didn’t argue once about the twins not being ready to go.
Rune knew they weren’t ready, but it was going to be up to them to choose to go or stay home. They wouldn’t appreciate her mothering them, and they damn sure wouldn’t appreciate her ordering them to stay in their beds.
When they were ready to face COS, she had to be ready to let them.
Even if she didn’t want to.
“I’m going too,” Ellis said.
“Ellie,” Levi said, his voice soft. “You are not.”
But Ellis crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “I will stay in the car with a gun, but I am going. I’m not ready to let you wander far, Levi. Not ready.”
“Rune,” Levi said. “Tell him.”
She shrugged. “When he gets that look, he’s not backing down. And I’d rather have him in the car with some of the crew than following along behind us.”
Levi sighed, and Ellis smiled. He clutched the deadly fang through the fabric of his shirt, a gesture that was fast becoming a habit.
Join the club, Ellie. She pressed her fist against her stake wound. They all had their telling tics and mannerisms and habits.
“Be careful,” Rice said, rising as well. “And when you can, update me.”
Elizabeth wasn’t there—she was undergoing a home visit that morning. Her dreams of adopting Fie and George were one step closer to becoming a reality.
They piled into three vehicles and headed to Rock County.
Rune had been eager to search the Camp since Fin had told her that’s where she’d find them. He might have been lying. But maybe he hadn’t been.
Still, if she hadn’t taken time to relax and recover for two days, her crew wouldn’t have either. No matter how injured they were, they’d have loaded up with weapons and followed her to Rock County.
So she ground her teeth, paced a lot, and waited.
Fin had also promised to find her two nights ago and explain the circumstances of Lara’s torture and death.
He hadn’t shown up, and she wasn’t surprised.
“Even if Cree Stark had Lara killed,” Rice had said, “it doesn’t explain the second Other who was nailed to the bar.”
He was right, but she was too preoccupied with finding Horner to devote a lot of energy to the murders.
“I don’t think they’re in the Camp,” Owen said. He was riding shotgun. Ellis, Levi, and Lex were in the backseat.
Rune agreed, even if she didn’t want to admit it. “Even if they’re not in the Camp, they could be in the county.”
“The place is full of Others,” Owen said. “Misfits, outcasts, fugitives. If they saw COS anywhere near that county, they’d tear them apart.”
“Horner got the birds on his side,” Lex said. “He could have bribed Rock County Others.”
“The birds were different,” Levi said. “They don’t care about the Others, and they don’t care about the humans. They were up for grabs.”
The crew drove their small caravan toward the Camp, noting the differences that had happened already. The county had an abandoned, sullen look to it, and as they drove down roads surrounded by dark woods, they caught glimpses of darting figures, glowing eyes, and the occasional tall columns of gray smoke rising into the air.
When they arrived at the Camp, no one moved as they stared through the windshield at the high fence.
“Let’s go,” Rune said. She ignored her reluctance and climbed from the car, shaking off, with minimal success, the sense of foreboding that hit her.
“Nothing good ever happened in the Camp,” she muttered.
“You saved me in the Camp,” Lex said. “That was good.”
Rune grinned at her as Raze pulled his truck in behind her SUV, Strad right behind him. “Yeah. Yeah, that was good.”
Ellis let down the window of the SUV. “Be careful. I’ll be right here. If you need anything, call me.” He held his cell up and shook it at them. “Call.”
She did not want to leave Ellis alone in the car. The last time she’d done that, he’d been taken by Nicolas Llodra. She squinted at him, undecided. Finally, she opened the door. “Come on, Ellie. I can’t leave you here alone.”
“I have a gun,” he said, but hastened to jump from the car.
“You’d be more likely to shoot yourself than the bad guy, baby.”
And then, with her entire crew at her back, she took a deep breath and walked into the Camp.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The deeper they went into the Camp, the more changes they noticed. The buildings that remained had become quarters for the homeless, the outcasts, and the fugitives Owen had mentioned.
Campfires dotted the area. Tents were everywhere, and she spotted two decrepit campers, both with rusty, overflowing garbage cans beside them.
There was the distant sound of a barking dog, but other than that, the area was quiet. Too quiet.
“They’re watching us,” Jack said, his voice a low rumble.
“They’re afraid,” Raze said. “These people aren’t going to harbor COS.”
“Unless they don’t know that Horner is COS,” Rune said. “He fled with the doctor and maybe a couple slayers. We killed the rest of the fucks.” She surveyed the silent area, her senses on high alert. “They might not know he’s COS.”
“Makes sense,” Owen agreed.
Strad walked up to stand beside her. “Let’s let them know why we’re here.”
She nodded. “Ellie. You’re the least threatening of all of us.”
He hurried to her side. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “Hello, everyone?” he called. “We don’t want to harm you in any way. We’re searching for Bach Horner, a human who leads the Church of Slayers.”
They waited.
Ellie opened his mouth to try again when Jack put a hand on his arm and nodded toward one of the buildings.
A man, around six feet tall, wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a bandana wrapped around his head, eased through the door and stood with his arms at his sides. Both hands held guns, but he kept them close to his legs. “COS isn’t stupid enough to show their faces around here.”
Rune caught movement behind him as more Others stood ready to either fight or run. “You wouldn’t know he’s a slayer.”
“Maybe not, but we’d know if he was human. Humans don’t hide out here.” He smiled. “It’s not safe for them.”
“Shit,” Rune muttered. “COS isn’t here.”
She’d known it was a longshot.
“We’re Shiv Crew,” Ellis said. “We’re on your side.” He pulled a card from his pocket and headed for the stranger before Raze grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him back.
“Ellis,” Strad said. “Stay put.”
“I know who you are, tiny man,” the Other said. “No COS pieces of shit are here. If they were, we’d have already killed them for you.”
More Others crept from tents and buildings, from behind trees and piles of
junk.
And suddenly, the Camp was teeming with people. They watched the crew with suspicious stares, some of them holding weapons, some of them poised to shift.
“They may be hiding somewhere else in the county,” Rune said. “But we were told they were in the Camp.”
“Then you were lied to,” the man said.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I get that feeling.”
Strad looked around at the Others. “Any ideas where a few humans might be hiding?”
No one said a word.
Finally, the man in the doorway joined them. He offered a hand to Rune, and as soon as she accepted it, the Others relaxed.
“My name is Michael. You freed my brother from the Camp,” he told her. “I owe you. If I could give you COS, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
She nodded. “Those bastards are hard to find.”
“We’ve heard some bad shit is coming to River County,” he said. “We’re willing to fight at your side, time comes for it.”
“That’s so nice,” Ellie exclaimed.
Rune grinned. “We’d appreciate it. We plan to take COS down.” She held his gaze. “Even if we have to do it one man at a time. COS is over.”
His eyes sparkled. “Open season on the slayers. Got it.”
Ellis frowned at her, but she ignored him. “If you hear anything, call me. It’s a big county, and we think Bach Horner and a few of his men are hiding somewhere, waiting for more COS to arrive. Six days from now, they’re going to gather in River County.”
“What are they planning?”
“What they’ve always planned,” Lex said, vibrating slightly. “To take over the world.”
Michael’s stare lingered on Lex. “We can’t let them do that, little girl.”
Raze took a step closer to the man, his face darkening.
Michael sized him up, then gave a crooked grin and stepped back.
“We don’t plan to,” Lex replied. “And I’m not a little girl. I’m Shiv Crew, and I will peel your face off if you fuck with me.”
Raze’s eyes lit up and he smiled his extremely rare smile. He grunted in satisfaction and crossed his massive arms.
Michael transferred his attention to Rune, sniffing the air. He tilted his head. “What exactly are you?”
She said nothing.
“Sorry,” he said, palms in the air. “That was rude.” He turned to walk away, but Ellis hurried to him and handed him a business card. “The numbers for RISC are on that card, and mine is on the back. Please call if you get any new information.”
Michael glanced at the card, then slipped it into the font pocket of his jeans. “You got it. Good luck, Shiv Crew. I hope you find the bastards.”
“Michael,” Rune said, “if you want to help us with COS, send some scouts. We need to flush him out before the new moon.”
“Six days,” he said, then nodded. “I’ll do everything I can.”
“Thanks.” The crew followed her from the Camp. “I didn’t think they’d be in there,” she said, “but I still believe they’re somewhere in this county.”
“We could search all day and not find them,” Denim said.
They stood by the cars, and before they could get inside, three wolves and a shifter streaked from the Camp.
“Scouts,” Rune said. “If Horner is here, the Others will find him now that they know to look.”
Levi wiped sweat from his forehead. It wasn’t hot out.
“You okay?” Rune asked him.
He nodded, but his face was pale and his eyes were hollow. “I know he’s here, Rune. I feel him.”
“In the camp?”
“I don’t know. Just here. Somewhere close.”
She frowned. “What do you mean you feel him?”
“I know I’m not Other,” he said, and again, wiped the sweat from his forehead. “But I…I sense him here.”
“The blood,” Lex said. “Rune fed Levi.”
Not only had she fed him, but she’d fed from him.
“She fed me as well,” Denim said, drawing closer to his brother. “But I don’t feel anything.”
Levi looked at him, and the dawning realization in Denim’s eyes made Rune unable to breathe.
“What is it?” she asked, pretty sure she really didn’t want to know.
But the twins just stared at each other and said nothing.
“Levi feels Horner because Horner…attacked Levi. And when you gave him your blood, it made him sensitive,” Lex said, her voice wooden.
And then Rune understood what Lex meant by attacked. “Fuck me,” she whispered.
She hadn’t been the only one raped on that mountain.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ellis clutched his talisman. “Levi. Oh, God, Levi. Can I hug you?” Then, without waiting for an answer, he ran to his love and threw his arms around him.
Levi looked at Rune.
She couldn’t tear herself away from his drowning gaze but she couldn’t bear the agony, either.
At last, he closed his eyes, freeing her.
“I’m ruined, Ellie,” he said, his body stiff in Ellis’s embrace.
“No,” Ellis murmured. “You’re Shiv Crew. You’re the love of my life. And most of all, you’re mighty. Lex was right. You and Denim, you’re mighty, and COS cannot make you fall. No one can.” He pulled away and cupped Levi’s thin face. “You hear me?”
But Levi was not convinced.
Jack cleared his throat, clapped Levi on the shoulder, then got them back to business. “So Horner is here.”
“Somewhere,” Rune said.
“Maybe I can sniff him out.” But Levi’s eyes said he’d much rather go home. “The closer we got to Rock County, the stronger the feeling.”
It must have been the worst feeling in the world.
Rune shook her head, her insides quaking with rage. “Let’s go home. Michael will call if they pick up the trail.” She wanted to get the twins out of there.
But the twins had other ideas. “Rune,” Denim said, his voice steady. “We want to kill Horner.”
So she capitulated. “I understand.”
Personally, she didn’t care who killed the bastard. She just wanted him dead.
“Then let’s go see if we can find him,” Levi said.
But the closest they got to Horner that entire day of searching was to find the house he’d been staying in.
“He was here,” Levi said. “We lost him.”
“If it comes down to it,” Rune said, “we know he’ll be in River County trying to call a fucking demon in less than a week. We’ll get him then.”
“He thinks his minions will protect him,” Denim said.
Strad, his scarred, stitched face making Rune flinch with pain, smiled. “He’s wrong.”
“Let’s go home,” Rune said, checking her phone. She hoped Michael would hand Horner over. But if the Others found any trace of a COS member, they’d most likely destroy him themselves.
Tired and hungry, the crew went back to River County. They’d get COS. It was just a matter of when.
As she pulled into her driveway, her cell rang. She glanced at the display, and when she saw unknown on the screen, let it go to voicemail. She was an Other and the leader of Shiv Crew, but she was not immune from telemarketers.
“I’ll order delivery,” Lex said, and she and the twins disappeared into the recesses of the house.
Rune made coffee and drank two cups before heading to the shower. The shower did nothing to settle her nerves, and after she wolfed down the dinner Lex had waiting, she buckled on some weapons and went for a walk around the Moor.
As she walked the dark streets she was constantly watchful, unable to shake the itch between her shoulder blades or the anxiety tying knots in her stomach.
The longer she walked, the louder a voice inside her mind screamed at her to run. There was danger near. She was in trouble.
“Fuck,” she muttered. Her capture and time in the cage had made her paranoid. She didn�
�t like it.
So she walked more slowly, forcing herself to amble along like nothing bothered her, nodding hello to the people she passed.
She would not let COS make her afraid.
Even though the world had picked up on her weakness, her terrible weakness, she would not be afraid.
“Hey, sexy.” The voice, male and thick, came from a darkened doorway she was walking by.
Suddenly and intensely angry, she stopped and probed the shadows with her Other gaze, trying to see the man who’d spoken. “What do you want, sexy?”
He took a couple of steps toward her. “I want…” Then he peered across the sidewalk at her, held up his palms, and melted back into the darkness. “Nothing,” came his voice. “Nothing at all.”
Feeling somewhat better, she decided to run. Running would work off some of the nervous energy plaguing her. She needed a fight. A consuming, bloody fight. That had always been her—
She heard the click and whirr of a vgun a millisecond before a dead on shot sent a splinter through her back.
Into her heart.
“Once a-fucking-gain,” she muttered, even as the pavement came up to scrape half the skin off her chin.
She heard the hollow echoes of running feet, and then the street was silent and empty.
“Sorry,” a smooth male voice said, and her attacker was upon her.
But something was different this time.
It hurt. Oh, it hurt.
But she could move, think, and…
With a hoarse growl she turned, her crazy vampire speed not slowed by the splinter. Before he could react, she had him by the throat.
His eyes were like pieces of shining steel through the holes in the black mask he wore. “I was told staking you would control you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and unfamiliar.
She smiled. “Once upon a time.” She pulled him close to her face, her fingers digging into his throat. “Or maybe someone wanted you dead.”
“Maybe.” His voice was even. He didn’t sound remotely scared, and only a little resigned.
“The church send you?”
“Church?”
He wasn’t even Other. She could smell everything that made him human, and he smelled delicious.
She dropped her fangs and went for his throat.