"I shouldn't have let her call you," he said when we sat down in the hotel hallway outside Weldon's room with our backs to the wall. My knees were pulled up to my chest and I was leaning my chin on them.
"You'd have found out sooner or later," I said.
"Go ahead, call me an idiot," he sighed.
"No sense telling somebody something they already know," I muttered.
"Now we have to have two children, Lissa. I don't know if I can survive that. I was ready to send her home, she was getting so bitchy, and now this happens."
"Winkler, she would have been the last person I'd have picked for you," I said. "Leigh Williams would have been a great match for you. She was in love with somebody else but I get the idea that he's not the one she's going to get."
"Yeah. Maybe I fucked this up all the way around. If Kellee hadn't been there, well…" he didn't finish his sentence.
"Kellee is a little on the imperious side and it will only get worse, I can almost guarantee it, Winkler. I hope you find some way to love her—something to love about her—because you're stuck now."
"I know. Lissa, in a perfect world, you and I," he left it hanging.
"We don't live in anything close to a perfect world, Winkler, remember?" I elbowed him a little. "Gavin isn't going to let me get away. That's all there is to it." I straightened up a little and fiddled with my engagement ring. It had probably cost a fortune; I couldn't find anything like it on the internet and the diamonds alone would be really expensive. I'd seen Kellee eyeing it on more than one occasion. There were times, especially when Gavin started cursing over the phone, that I would have gladly handed it off to her and walked away if I could. I couldn't. The Council would just declare me rogue again, hunt me down again and this time I would die. No question about that.
We talked a little more in the hallway before Winkler went back to Kellee. I was grateful I didn't have to see her sprawled all over his bed. I sighed, let myself into the Grand Master's room, picked up the novel I'd been reading (I can read just fine with little or no light at all) and resumed my guard duty.
Taos went like clockwork. Kellee even got to go skiing with the Packmaster and his wife. Winkler went too, during the day of course. Weldon and Glen begged off. Glen was developing a sense of humor, too, teasing me while I drank my meal after waking. "Gotta get those corpuscles," he'd say. I just swatted at him, put the blood I couldn't finish back in the cooler and went to clean up. Kellee still wasn't speaking to me, which was great as far as I was concerned. But if she caught Winkler looking anywhere near my direction, she made sure she got his attention, one way or the other.
We headed toward Santa Fe on Wednesday and my skin was already itching the minute they unzipped my bag on the way. What shocked me most, however, was what waited for me at the hotel. Merrill was there when we arrived.
He, Weldon and I went to the hotel restaurant where Merrill and I both ordered an obligatory meal. Merrill explained that he and the Council weren't taking any chances and that I would be left behind while Merrill performed vampire guard duty for the Grand Master during his stay in Santa Fe. To me, that meant they might be expecting trouble. I didn't care that Merrill had come to protect the Grand Master through this one because it worried me, too. And Merrill could put up with Kellee's pettiness while he was at it. Merrill had a room on another floor, but I was still keeping watch over the Grand Master at night for some reason. During the dinner and confirmation, Merrill would be there instead of me.
I leafed through pamphlets and tourist brochures while they went to dinner Thursday evening, wishing I had time to go out and visit some of the landmarks nearby. An old Adobe church had caught my eye, as had a few other things. Time had gotten away from me, too, and I realized (with a bit of shock) that it was February eighteenth, a month and a half after the anniversary of my turning and my husband Don's death. I didn't know what to think at first, before going to my laptop and powering it up, thinking I might be able to order flowers and arrange to have them delivered to Don's grave or something. There is actually a service that will do just that for you. Go figure. I ordered an arrangement, paid with my credit card and then answered email. Franklin had sent something so I wrote a quick answer and sent it. Then I amused myself, watching a little television and reading until they all came back from dinner. Don't get me wrong, my skin still itched; I just didn't know what to do about it.
* * *
"Stay inside the hotel," Merrill told me as they prepared to leave for the confirmation the following evening. I nodded, even though there wasn't compulsion with that order. "You may not follow us," he added, compulsion heavy in his voice. I blinked at him. And then blinked again. The compulsion slid right off my brain like a raindrop on a window. Merrill's compulsion was struggling to stay with me; it just couldn't, flying away from my mind like an exhaled breath. No way was I going to tell him about it. Not right then, anyway, since they were all loaded up and ready to go. I just nodded like a good girl and waved as they took off. Was it because I was older, now, as a vampire? I had no idea why it hadn't worked and Merrill's compulsions were stronger than anyone else's I'd encountered, including Wlodek's commands. Walking back to Weldon's hotel room, I pondered the situation, considering what it might mean and how it might affect my future. The whole thing was truly strange and I was about to call Gavin to ask him about it, but other things drew my attention first.
My cell phone was in my hand when the door to the hotel room was kicked in, causing me to leap to my feet immediately. I hadn't been paying attention; people had been walking up and down the hall all evening. Three women stood in my doorway; two werewolves, one human. The human woman? I knew right away she was Tate's mother. One of the werewolves? Kelvin's mother. Well Kevin's mother, I should say. Tate's mother held a Taser. Did she think that was going to stop me? What the hell did they want, anyway?
"Look what we have here," Tate's mother was smiling.
"Hello, ladies," I said, nodding at them. "What can I do for you?"
"You can't do anything for them," the vampire came up behind them; he'd been off to the side, hiding himself at first. "But you will come with me quietly. I have a use for you." he smiled. The compulsion was dark and heavy in his voice and I almost laughed with relief when it slid away easier than Merrill's had. He was old; I could tell that right off. Older than Wlodek, actually, and he had a stink about him; something that I hadn't smelled from any other vampire. Nyles Abernathy had something similar when I'd scented him in Florida, but this was overwhelming. If evil had a smell, this guy had it bad.
"I don't think I'll go anywhere with you, but thanks for asking," I said, backing up a little. The women were advancing into the room, the vampire right behind them. The vampire drew in a breath when he discovered his compulsion didn't work. Now, I was either going to have to go out the window behind me or fight my way out. Concentrating on turning to mist while I considered this, I headed straight for the window. It was a record, I know; seconds it took me, not minutes, and instead of breaking through the window once my mist particles hit the glass, that portion of it turned to mist with me and solidified again once I was through it and on the other side. That was a shock, let me tell you, and I wasted precious seconds bringing myself back to reality while my would-be kidnappers shouted inside the hotel room.
Realizing quickly that this was only one arm of an attack on all of us, I zipped through the air, high over the lighted parking lot of our Santa Fe hotel. Winkler said the confirmation would be held at some Packmember's business, but what was it? I was racking my brain; it was still addled at the attempted attack. I saw the vampire and the three women fly through the hotel door and rush toward a vehicle in the parking lot. Ten to one they'd be headed in the right direction as soon as they got the thing started. I decided to go along for the ride. Somewhere along the way, while I was flying over the top of their car, I gently lowered myself onto the top and rematerialized. Hanging on with one hand, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket with th
e other. I tried to get Merrill first but it went to his voice mail. Same with Winkler, Weldon and Glen. Fuck. Fuck cubed. I had a feeling Mr. Bad Vamp sitting in the passenger seat below was one of Saxom's get and still nobody had explained just who or what Saxom truly was. Now what was I supposed to do? I called Tony.
"Lissa?" He sounded like he was doing something while he talked to me on the phone.
"Hi, hon," I said. "I don't suppose you have any agents in the Santa Fe area armed with flamethrowers, do you?"
There was a moment of silence before he answered. "No flamethrowers, no," he said. "Do we need some?"
"You might unless you have some folks who can move mighty fast, armed with wood stakes," I said.
"Where?" he asked.
"That's what I don't know," I told him. "I'm on top of a car right now and they're headed in the right direction I'm sure, I just don't know what direction that is."
"I don't have time to get triangulation on your phone," he muttered.
"Wait," I said, "we're pulling into a parking lot. The sign says Galloway Recycling. Gotta go." I ended the call and turned to mist again. Mr. Vampire was sure to hear me once the road noise quieted a little. I floated off the car—far above it, in fact. The vampire's scent offended my nose more as time went along. He and the three women parked the car and raced toward the building. The business was a single-story brick with high, narrow windows and looked a bit like a warehouse with plenty of fluorescent lights burning brightly inside. The confirmation was probably in progress if it hadn't been interrupted already. What scared me as I floated closer (and would have made me shiver horribly if I'd been in a corporeal state), was the seventeen vampires and the twenty-six werewolves clustered against a brick wall adjacent to the front door. They all looked ready for battle; most of the werewolves were naked and ready to turn. And their numbers were being increased by Mr. Vampy and his three bitch companions. What were they hoping to gain from all this? I had no idea.
Merrill? I sent. Merrill, if you can hear me, there are eighteen vampires, twenty-eight werewolves and one human outside just waiting to come crashing in, I think. What was I supposed to do now? I'd tried to send Merrill mindspeech once before and he hadn't heard me then. He wasn't hearing me now, either. Would those people inside the building even have a chance when the army outside burst through the door? I misted toward the front and peeked in through a high window. They were in there, all right and it looked like the ceremony was going on as it normally would. Merrill was standing off to the side, completely oblivious. I misted to the opposite end of the building, watching as at least twenty people were sneaking along and crawling up a deep ravine on that side. They all were moving silently, rifles strapped to backs. If those were regular guns, good luck on getting those to work against the vamps. I misted lower and discovered that a few among those crawling along, scattered here and there, were vampires and werewolves. Those guys might have a chance against what waited on the other side of the building. I smelled Townsend and Renfro among them and then, well, I smelled Tony. He was here. Somehow, the information he'd gotten from Kevin or somebody had tipped him off, I guess. He was here now but I had no idea what his chances were against the ones on the other side of the building. I misted down beside him; he was crawling up the ravine, just like the rest of them. Tony was dressed completely in dark clothing. A gun strapped to a wide belt was around his waist and a rifle was at his back with lots of bullet clips to go with it. What the hell had this guy done before he started doing what he was doing now? I had to admit to myself that my brain wasn't functioning at its best at the moment; it was mist particles, as it were.
Taking a huge chance, I solidified next to him. I had to put a hand over his mouth; he was so shocked at my sudden appearance he gasped. How was I going to tell him what was on the other side of the building? Tony? I sent. Hell, it was all I had.
Lissa? What the hell are you doing here, Lissa? What the hell are you, Lissa? His silent words were coming in loud and clear as he stared at me with those beautiful, gray-blue eyes.
Tony, there are eighteen vampires, twenty-eight werewolves and one human on the other side of this building, I replied, blinking at him as earnestly as I could. He flipped out some sort of communication device and sent something like a text message, I guess. All the other guys crawling in front of us whipped out their little communicators and got the message. Holy crap.
Lissa, you were supposed to stay at the hotel, Tony was grumbling inside my head.
And I would have stayed there if it hadn't been for the visit from Mr. Vampy and his three bitches, I returned snippily. We were still crawling along.
We need to get inside that door over there, Tony nodded toward a side door in the building—we'd gotten to the top of the ravine while having our mental conversation. It's locked, though, Tony went on, and it'll make noise if we knock it down. It would make noise, all right—the thing was made of steel.
I'll get it, I said and turned to mist right in front of his face. He looked quite shocked when I disappeared and flew over the heads of his advancing army to the space beneath the door. I unlocked all three deadbolts, and hoping the door didn't creak when I opened it, cautiously cracked it open. It only creaked a little so I opened it as wide as it would go, finding a concrete block sitting next to the wall. Somebody had obviously used the cinderblock for that purpose before so I grabbed it to prop the door open. The army was nearly at the door, still crawling along. I ducked inside so they couldn't see and turned back to mist.
The minute the first of Tony's troops slipped through the side door, the rogue vampire/werewolf army crashed through the front. Chaos wasn't the term. Chaos to the tenth power might come close. People were screaming, growling, hissing and fighting. I was still mist and having trouble sorting out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys for a bit until I finally relied on my nose. The bad vamps were my first targets, but I was shocked to see Radomir, Russell, Robert and Flavio, all fighting alongside Merrill. Dalroy, Rhett, and a couple of other vampires I didn't recognize were also fighting. I knew they were good, plus they didn't have the taint like Mr. Vampy did. Weldon, Winkler and Glen were all fighting too, while Tony's troops were doing their best to shoot the bad wolves. Some of them were already inside the building during the confirmation, I think. They'd just waited for their cronies outside to come crashing in before attacking.
Claws were formed on my hands that materialized out of thin air, taking the head from Mr. Vampy, first thing. He was the one I wanted to die first, so I tracked him down. Then came Tate's mother, Kevin's mother and the female werewolf that had been with them. They were quite surprised; there was definitely shock in their eyes when they saw claws form from nothing and take their heads. Swift. Clean. Too bad I didn't have time to question them, but they threatened too many others.
Winkler was fighting beside Glen and he was shouting at Glen to go back and protect Kellee who was cowering in a corner. Glen didn't want to stop fighting but he did as he was told and went back to Kellee. I followed to see what I could do in that area, swiping off a couple of vamp heads while I was at it. The shrieking started when some of the bad vamps and werewolves pulled out crossbows loaded with wooden arrows and started shooting. There were six bad vamps left but I wasn't sure how many rogue werewolves remained. Most had turned to werewolf, but those from the inside were still in human form. Tony's men were having quite a bit of success in that area, at least. And Merrill? Wherever he was, it was like a tornado had been loosed in the place—he and Flavio both. Those older vamps had some moves, let me tell you.
Right about that time, I noticed we had a mister with us. The Council must have sent one of them; he was off to the side, rematerializing slowly so he could help out I'm sure. In slow motion, almost, I saw two of the remaining bad vamps take aim with crossbows loaded with wooden arrows—one at the mister, the other at Glen. I was between both of them at the moment and time stood still for me right then. I could save one but not the other. Glen was to
o far away to do anything other than stand in front of Kellee, who was whimpering and cowering behind his back. The mister was solid enough to take a hit but not completely solidified. I had a choice to make and I prayed it was the right one; an arrow in Glen's torso might not have as devastating an effect as one to the mister. Both bolts were shot at nearly the same moment so I streamed toward the mister, my hands materializing out of thin air as I knocked the wooden shaft away. It had been aimed right at the center of the vampire's chest and would have killed him I think, if I hadn't deflected it. The one aimed at Glen? If I had known, my choice might have been different, I think. What do you do in that small moment? When time stands still and you find yourself transfixed while the train wreck happens before your eyes and you're helpless to do anything other than cry out? That image plays in your mind at times, for the rest of your life. Glen took the arrow in his left eye and he was dead before he hit the floor.
That infuriated me past anything I had ever felt as a vampire. The mister was shocked, I'm sure, when I materialized fully in front of him in less than two seconds, wading into the fray and slashing heads off anything unfriendly. I had the scent of Saxom's get in my nose that night, and anything that smelled like that died. They couldn't move fast enough. I'm sure I was shouting something as I killed, I just didn't know what it was. The rogue werewolves? Same thing. If I knew they were bad, they died. When I finally ran out of something to kill, I think I knocked out the front of the building. It blasted out in front of me, I know that much, and I was still enraged. I stood on the empty sidewalk in front of Galloway Recycling, screaming my lungs out in fury. The owners might have some recycling of their own to do if I took down the entire building. After my lengthy scream ended, I paused a moment just to catch my breath. That's when Merrill and Flavio came to stand nearby, one on either side of me.
"That was impressive," Flavio observed calmly. "But you disobeyed your sire. There will be consequences." As first words spoken after a battle go, those sucked.
Blood Passage (Blood Destiny #2) Page 23