“She’s not going to hurt us,” I said. Ilsa shuddered.
“Couldn’t if I wanted to,” she said.
I didn’t know if that meant I’d really bound her, or if she was too tired to make the effort. Either way, I believed her. I reached over, and with a burst of strength, yanked the collar apart.
Then I sat down hard on the floor and waited for the room to stop spinning. It was more than a bit anticlimactic, I have to admit.
“It hits some people hard,” I heard, eventually. The room was gray and fuzzy, and things felt too far away. “It takes a lot of strength, and you’re hurt. But it’ll come.”
I recognized the voice and looked up. Raoul was standing over the bed.
“Where the hell did you come from?” Ayu said, sparing me the trouble of asking. Pandora hoisted me up so I could see the whole scene: Ilsa sitting uncomfortably against the wall, rubbing her sore throat, but otherwise remaining very still. Raoul, beside her, looked as if he’d chomp her head off if she so much as breathed wrong.
Meanwhile, I was so glad to see him in one piece, I nearly leaped straight into his arms. His wordless response into the center of my head—mostly just a feeling, warm and intimate and reassuring—felt like he’d switched on the sun after years of gray.
While I buzzed with relief, Raoul explained himself. “Brandon’s friends didn’t have as easy a time catching up as he’d hoped. I kind of had a talk with them.”
I could tell from his tone exactly what kind of talk he meant.
“They kept on running by the time I was done. I got them to come around to thinking Brandon had a few things…wrong.”
“Yeah,” Pandora muttered. “Like the idea that locking the door in a room whose windows still opened would work to keep anyone in.”
We all looked at the window Raoul had climbed through. I hadn’t thought of it until he got here, and felt a little stupid.
“He’s distracted,” Raoul said, which I guess counted for all of us. “He’s getting sloppy.”
“But he wants to start creating werewolves?”
It was the first thing Ilsa had said since Raoul arrived. He nodded grimly. I’m not sure if he was more displeased over what Brandon was up to, or that Ilsa was awake.
He studied her, then asked me, “What were you planning on doing with her?”
Beyond not watching her die slowly, I wasn’t entirely sure. “Is there anywhere else she could go? Get out of the middle of this?”
“I don’t like it,” Pandora said flatly. “I don’t trust her wandering off alone.”
I couldn’t disagree. But it also jogged a memory. See, now, we’re trustworthy, Ayu had said once upon a time. You know what you get with us.
And they wouldn’t let Ilsa get away with anything.
“The two of you need to get Ilsa out of here,” I said, startling Pandora. “Brandon’s main problem is still me, so you could slip out while he’s preoccupied. As long as you know somewhere to take her.”
Ayu flicked a glance at Pandora.
Slowly Pan said, “I think I have an idea. It’s not too far away. But it might be far enough.”
“And do I get any input in this matter?”
I turned to Ilsa, for it was she who’d spoken, in a paper-thin voice that still managed to have an imperious edge. Even that much sounded hard-won, though. I took that in and slowly said, “Do you think you deserve any input?”
Ilsa returned my stare, then, perhaps in concession, looked away.
“All of you,” I said, “should get clear of here. Keep an eye out for any other threats heading our way. You’ll have to double as our new perimeter guard. I don’t want to find out too late that Brandon managed to piss off the cops or anything while I was locked up.”
Pandora nodded tightly. Ilsa didn’t react at all, at least not until I rounded on her again. “And I don’t want to see you again. Not after all the trouble you caused me.”
She almost managed a smile. “You may have to. The devil you know…”
Ayu raised a clenched fist. “You want to talk about knowing devils?”
“Quiet,” I said, and their jaws clamped shut. I hadn’t even tried to make that a command. I merely said it and everyone went along. Even in her most generous moods, Ilsa shouldn’t be that easy.
I shuddered, and rubbed my hands together, trying to warm them. It took me a minute to realize why: the space heater wasn’t working. No power. We had to move.
Raoul, who’d stayed quiet until now, picked up on that. “You should all get going,” he said.
Pandora nodded. She went to the open window, edged outside, and waited for Ayu to guide Ilsa out the same way. Ilsa paused, though, at the threshold. “Remember, B—imprisoning him won’t work, not now,” Ilsa said softly. “You’ll have to break him.”
I took that in unhappily, unable to say how afraid I was that she was right. Watch her well, I told Ayu and Pandora instead.
They both nodded, Pandora grim and Ayu almost sad. Then Pandora pulled the window shut. The makeshift curtain fluttered down after it.
The room got very quiet.
Raoul joined me while I was still staring at the empty space. Eventually I leaned against him, needing the support, and he gave it without question. For a minute there I just soaked up his warmth and tried to breathe.
“What next?” Raoul said.
I wished I knew. Brandon had Lacey and Grey in his grip, and I couldn’t do anything stupid, or I’d lose them both. I had to work this through carefully. “We need to get Lacey out of here,” I said. “I don’t know where Brandon put her, but it’s either back in his cabin or in the cellar, I’d figure. Think you could get her out without being seen?”
A distant look crossed Raoul’s face. He was listening for anyone around us, and not just with his ears. He’d been the perimeter guard for so long that he had a few extra tricks up his sleeve. “Coast is…” he began, then stopped, looking grim. “No. They’re back.”
I snapped a look at him, then strode across the room. I’d gotten a whiff of it too. Someone was nearby, and the sense of something not being right was palpable. I pulled the curtain back.
Brandon had come outside with Lacey, who looked exhausted and scared. And somewhere in the background I could hear the crunch of tires over gravel, and a low, sullen engine. I felt my stomach twist, but Raoul cut off my frantic thoughts: No sense in worrying. We just need to confront whatever’s out there.
His hand landed on my shoulder. I reached up to clasp it, too, and tried not to wince at how much it twisted my wrist. The warmth, at least, was comforting.
Then I heard Grey’s voice.
“We did what you wanted,” he snapped. Something was thrown down then, something that rattled. Undoubtedly it was the pills.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I stepped aside and geared up what strength I had, because I had to get this pent-up nervousness out of my system. I simply kicked the door down.
Immediately, all eyes in the pack were on me.
“Let him go,” I said.
We were all outside now, in the rain around the rebuilt bonfire. Brandon stood with Antonella and Lacey. Ronald the Wannabe was still manhandling my brother, and Raoul and I remained in our weary-but-still-standing state. The fire spat and sizzled, sounding as angry about the situation as we all felt.
I suddenly wondered why Brandon had lit the fire in the first place.
Brandon only laughed. “Out of the frying pan,” he said, nearly giggling at his own joke.
“B,” Lacey said unhappily. “He’s going to—”
“No giving away the ending!”
Brandon walked up closer. Everyone tensed, and Antonella tightened her grip on the metal baseball bat she was carrying. Ordinarily, that sort of thing would be useless against us. In our condition, though, it was worrisome. One of the few things I remembered about Antonella Carra, renowned tennis champion of Gilman High, was that the girl knew how to swing.
“Did you know it’s almost Thanksgiving?”
Brandon said. I winced. How had we lost so much time? “I wasn’t looking forward to it. Didn’t feel like I had much to be thankful for. But your brother’s been so helpful. He’s a much better person than you are, you know that?”
“I’ve always known that,” I whispered.
Grey’s mouth opened and he shook his head, looking terribly sad.
“So now we’ve got these.” Brandon picked up the bag. It rattled again, sounding like the struggling breath of something dying. “This will keep us going for months. It’ll give me plenty of time to get out of here, find somewhere new, somewhere better. Hell, I’ll go pick your doctor up and bring him along. Maybe even turn him. That would be motivation enough for him to keep working, don’t you think?”
“You bastard,” I snarled.
He bared his teeth in a smile. “Once and for all, B. You want to stop me? Try.”
I nearly obeyed before I realized what he was doing: trying to provoke me before I was ready. I clenched my teeth. “Uh-uh, Brandon. You’re not getting me that way.”
“Then how’s it going to be?”
For some reason, I looked again at Antonella. She looked unhappy, and she was lifting the bat—but not focusing on either Raoul or me. She was looking, in fact, at Brandon.
Keep his attention, I whispered to Raoul. He gave me a nod.
“Like this,” he said, and it began.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After the challenge between Ilsa and the Elder, I should have been at least a little prepared for what was coming.
I’d seen fights between werewolves. I knew how messy and violent and, well, feral they could get. I just hadn’t planned on getting into one myself. Not like this.
Not with my friends’ lives on the line as much as mine.
But when things began, Raoul came out swinging at Brandon. He hadn’t changed, but Raoul as a pissed-off human was more than scary enough. His eyes were blazing, and he came at Brandon so fast that he couldn’t duck the punch. Brandon fell back, sprawling on the ground. Raoul stood over him, ready to strike again.
Meanwhile, Ron the Wannabe—who was gaping as if he hadn’t figured things would go down like this—decided he had to do something. He went for his nearest target and grabbed my brother, tugging him aside despite Lacey’s protests. I went for them before he could get any further. This guy might not be a werewolf yet, but he was still a big, athletic guy, and way stronger than Grey. He could do more than enough damage if he got inspired.
He’d also be a terror if Brandon did turn him. I had to get him out of the fray.
“Stop right there,” I commanded—and he did. His eyes went wide. Grey wrenched out of his grip. As for me, I raised a fist.
“What kind of stupid name for a werewolf,” I demanded of him, “is Ronald?”
He didn’t answer. I growled, “Get the hell out of here,” and he ran scared, down the hill and away from all this mess. Brandon hollered. It didn’t stop him.
“Come on, Grey,” I said in that moment of confusion, trying to shake off what I’d just done. “Get to the truck!”
“But—”
I looked where he was pointing. Raoul and Brandon were struggling now, stumbling dangerously close to the fire. “Shit. Grey, get Cee and go!”
I didn’t look to see if he was planning to obey. I just barreled into Brandon, knocking him away from Raoul before he could push him into the flames. Brandon growled up at me. I should have replied in kind, or more to the point, commanded him to drop all of this, but I was too breathless to get another word out.
Brandon took advantage, and shoved me toward a nearby stump.
I tripped over it and stumbled backward, something in my spine cracking when I fell. The pain was unbelievable. Oh, God, I kept thinking, helplessly. Please let it go back together. Please go back together—
“We could have done so much together, B,” Brandon said, making my stomach twist. “But now—”
Raoul recovered before I could, and rounded on Brandon. “Enough of this,” Raoul growled.
“No.”
Raoul slashed one hand out. He’d let that hand go clawed, and when it caught Brandon across the cheek, thin streaks of blood erupted from the wounds. Brandon hissed in pain and anger both.
“Don’t hurt him,” Antonella shouted. I’d almost forgotten about her, but she still stood there on the sidelines, shaking. She’d dropped the bat, and was wavering between her boyfriend and us. “Just stop!”
Brandon just laughed. “You really think he can beat me?”
“I won’t have to,” Raoul said. “Your friends will do it for me.”
“Excuse me?”
Raoul turned to Antonella in response. “Is this really what you’d wanted?”
“Shut up,” she said, but she was wavering. Raoul stepped closer. It was difficult to listen to anything but him, because he’d amped up his persuasion to full force.
“This isn’t any way to get power. You’ll lose everyone, and it’ll destroy you. You know it. You have to break free of him—”
“Stop,” Brandon yelled. Raoul did, but I could tell from the glint in his eyes that it was actually voluntary. He was starting to resist Brandon’s commands.
Get me a better opening, Raoul whispered silently to me.
The best I could do was distract Brandon. I feinted toward him, then pretended that my knee was giving out, and fell before I got to him. It didn’t take a whole lot of acting, as it turned out. When I hit the ground, Brandon leaped forward to take advantage.
Somewhere behind me, Grey let out a shout of distress. I’m sure from where he was, I looked like I was in terrible trouble. But Brandon had forgotten about Raoul, and if we could time this right—
Raoul waited just long enough, then set himself loose.
Watching him was terrifying. I’d never seen anyone move that fast. Brandon had raw power on his side, but Raoul was somehow everywhere at once—ducking, swerving, slashing out. Brandon howled when Raoul ripped one clawed hand across his torso. The sudden sting of blood tainted the air again. Raoul was on the edge between forms, holding himself just before the point of transition, and in that moment I felt like I understood something about him. He always had been on the edge, not quite one thing or the other, but he was finding his balance and getting every bit of strength he could from it.
Once he’d driven Brandon nearly into the fire, Raoul stopped, holding Brandon there with the sheer force of his stare.
“The Elder was right,” Raoul said, his voice stronger than I’d ever heard it. “My father was right. It’s all about choices. So I want to hear you say it—is this really what you want?” He cast one hand out at the whole mess around us. “Is this really your choice?”
I wish I could say Brandon looked uncertain, or afraid, or even angry, but all he did was spit back, “I am not going to bend to anyone anymore. Least of all you.”
Raoul swung, but Brandon ducked. I was afraid he was going to hit back. Instead, with a tight, vicious laugh, he spun toward Lacey instead.
My heart thudded to a stop, seeing her there. She should have run by now. But of course she hadn’t let Grey take her away. Of course she would stay to try to fight when her friends were in trouble. She was standing out front like she was trying to guard Grey and Antonella both. I saw Brandon’s girlfriend’s face as he approached, and it was contorted into terrified, furious tears.
And Lacey had taken up the discarded baseball bat.
Brandon seized it by the other end and pulled.
Cee was holding on so tight that she came right with it. I yelled and lurched forward, but this time, my knee really did give out. I stumbled, and I wasn’t fast enough to stop Brandon when he snarled into Lacey’s ear, “You first.”
He changed form in a violent rush, let his fangs emerge and bit down hard.
I stared in horror and screamed.
B, Raoul shouted, desperate. We have to make him stop—
With Raoul at my back, yelling at the same inst
ant I did, our bellow split the air. “Let go!”
Brandon reared away. He kept his feet, but not exactly his shape, and stretched up into a mostly-human form, his clothes hanging shredded off his frame. There was so much blood smeared across his angry mouth that I actually heard Antonella scream. There, I thought, that’s what Raoul meant. This is what you were asking for when you joined him—
Cee slumped to the ground, unsupported. Her glassy eyes stared at the sky.
I was so angry and terrified I’m not even sure what I said. I don’t think it was even a real word. I just turned to Brandon and roared. He reeled and went down hard, clutching his head. I focused my thoughts and drilled them straight into the center of his brain.
STAY DOWN.
He didn’t get up.
My senses went fuzzy then, and everything blurred. I’d pushed myself too far. I didn’t realize what was happening until Raoul urged me to move.
Get up, he said, soft and persuasive…and desperate. Please.
The next thing I saw was Grey, who’d made his way to Lacey, and was pressing his wadded-up hoodie to her neck. The slate-gray fabric was rapidly turning black.
To my utter shame, I nearly salivated at the smell.
“Come on,” Raoul breathed. “We’ve got to get her out of here.”
I didn’t know where to take her, or exactly what to do. Raoul was trying to get Antonella out of the way while she shrieked and flailed at him, entirely without effect. Finally he left her and helped Grey hoist up Lacey. Raoul grabbed my hand next, and we ran with Grey past the blazing fire. It wasn’t far to Grey’s truck, but we were all fighting ourselves to get there—especially me on my unstable legs, and Grey carrying so much fragile weight.
Raoul wrenched open the door to the truck bed. Grey got Cee to lie on her back inside, with some difficulty. She made a thin, high-pitched sound of pain. “Can’t stop the bleeding,” Grey gasped. “Someone has to—”
“Keep pressure on it,” I said. “I know.” I crawled in after her and took up his task. My hands kept trembling, damn them—mostly because I’d begun to realize the entirety of what had happened. Brandon had bit her. Right at the throat.
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