"I watched Jackson die," Ashe hung his head. "The first time he changed and he died because of it."
"But the rest of them are alive, Ashe. Think of that. And still with their parents instead of in a compound in Mexico, getting the sense beaten out of them if they didn't cooperate." Weldon sipped his coffee. Ashe went back to his food.
"I'm just asking you to come back with me; I'll take you to your mom and dad," Winkler pleaded softly. "Your mother sits around the house and cries all the time. At least that's what Marcus and Denise told me."
"You had to say that, didn't you?" Ashe's appetite had deserted him.
"Ashe, remember what I said—that you have to keep as much as possible as normal as possible? Let's take you back and do what we can on that front."
"Isn't the community moving again?" Ashe asked. "They know where we are."
"They don't want to. They like Star Cove," Weldon said. "In Marcus' words, we want to take a stand. They're not forcing us to move again."
"They think you're dead, too, I'm sure. So there's that," Winkler pointed out.
"Well, that's something at least," Ashe sighed.
"Come on, finish your dinner and we'll drive back. In fact, I'll let you drive the Mercedes to the Texas border."
"Really?" Winkler had said the magic words.
"Yeah. Here are the keys." Winkler passed them across the table to Ashe. "Eat. Then you drive."
* * *
"This is Weldon Harper, Mr. Evans," Weldon called the number Winkler had given him after watching Ashe drive Winkler's Mercedes away from Cordell. "We found your son in Cloud Chief. He was afraid he'd endanger the community again, so he ran away. They're on their way back now—he's driving Winkler's Mercedes to the Texas border."
"My baby's alive?" Weldon heard Adele Evans' voice clearly in the background. Aedan Evans was apparently too stunned to speak. "My baby's alive!" Adele was screaming, now.
"As you can see, this is good news," Aedan Evans finally said. "When can we expect him home?"
"I believe Winkler will have the jet warmed up and ready to go the minute they hit Dallas. And he'll call and give you an estimated arrival time," Weldon added. "It's good to speak with you again." Weldon terminated the call.
* * *
"We wanted to get you three together and tell you first," Adele was wiping her eyes with a tissue as Sali, Wynn and Dori sat on the sofa inside Marcus and Denise's media room. Marco had gotten a text from Winkler, so he knew already. Wynn's hand was gripped tightly in Sali's as they waited for the news. "Ashe is alive," Adele wiped more tears away. Dori drew in a breath.
* * *
"Mr. Winkler, I can get myself home," Ashe pointed out as they stood outside his jet at the Dallas airport. "We don't have to waste the fuel."
"But we're coming back down," Winkler said, pointing to Ace, Trajan, Trace and two other werewolves Ashe hadn't met. Winkler had driven straight to the airport after taking over driving duties at the Texas line. "Buck is sort of my Third, and he's my building contractor, too," he introduced a rather broad-shouldered werewolf with a good tan, light-brown hair and hazel eyes. "We need Buck to rebuild my beach house and what we lost in Star Cove. And this is Andy, my personal assistant," Winkler nodded to the last werewolf. Andy was perhaps five-nine, with dark-brown hair and eyes. Ashe thought he looked efficient. "We'll be setting things up to get the beach house rebuilt fast. Buck is a master at that. He'll make sure everything goes smoothly and gets done right. Andy will keep an eye on costs, so Buck doesn't go overboard." Winkler grinned.
"So there's a method to the apparent madness?" Ashe gave Winkler a curious glance.
"Yep. Buck will come back to Dallas for the next full moon and run the Pack for me if I don't come myself."
"The Pack knows Winkler will bust my butt if I don't do things right," Buck held out a large hand to Ashe, who took it. Ashe was surprised—few werewolves offered to shake with a young shapeshifter. Briefly, he wondered what happened to gruff Orville.
"Come on, kid, our bags are already on the jet," Trajan pulled Ashe into a headlock, hugging him quickly before letting him go. "We thought you were dead," he muttered close to Ashe's ear before stepping back.
"Yeah. I know," Ashe ducked his head. He was getting butterflies over seeing his parents. They'd be upset for sure and he hated to see his mother cry.
"Come on, they're ready," Winkler jerked his head toward the jet, which was revving its engines. Ashe climbed aboard, flanked by Winkler and Trajan.
"What can you tell me about Star Cove?" Winkler asked as Trace handed out bottles of water and soda before sitting next to Trajan. Winkler sat beside Ashe across the aisle. Buck and Andy took seats nearer the front.
"Which part?" Ashe asked.
"All of it, if you don't mind."
Ashe began to describe what he'd found the moment he brought the kidnapped teens back to Star Cove. He told Winkler about the four Bright Elemaiya who'd shielded themselves so they were invisible to everyone else.
"You could see through their shields?" Winkler lifted an eyebrow.
"He could on St. Joseph Island, too, boss," Trajan pointed out. "We couldn't see the camp from overhead. Ashe saw it and took us lower."
"You're right," Winkler nodded. "What then?" He turned back to Ashe. Ashe spoke about the four Dark Elemaiya and the vision he'd had when they threatened Randy Smith. Randy would have died if Ashe hadn't gotten him away. Then he explained his next vision of Jackson, when he'd brushed against the four shielded Bright Elemaiya. The contact forced Jackson through the change for the first time. Jackson died from a hurled fireblast immediately afterward.
"I was out in the street as quick as I could get there, but Jack was already dead," Ashe sighed. "The four Dark Ones who threatened Randy followed me out of the house, and when they saw the Bright four, they started a firefight of some kind. There were other Elemaiya there, too, from both sides. Things weren't looking good, Mr. Winkler. They set a lot of houses on fire, I know that much."
"We're rebuilding those. Most of the important things were saved, kid," Winkler said gently. "We're even getting my insurance company to replace the boats. Doesn't hurt that I sit on the board of directors."
"I guess," Ashe shrugged. "In the middle of all the fireblasts," he continued, "Lavonna, Cori and Dori went after the Elemaiya, and Mom was diving down from overhead. I was afraid they'd be killed, just like Jackson was. I knew I was the target for both sides, so I started yelling. That got their attention right away. The Elemaiya came after me so I jumped to a boat in the canal. They came after me again, and that's when I set the water on fire."
"Uh, Ashe, did you just say you set the water on fire?" Trace stared at Ashe, disbelief plainly displayed in his eyes.
"Yeah. Those pages Tony Hancock gave me about the Elemaiya? The person who translated that stuff said something about manipulating the elements. He said somebody really talented in that area might be able to burn oxygen from the air. Well, water has oxygen in it, too. I just did a little extrapolation. I have no idea if there were any fish in the canal. If there were, they likely died of oxygen starvation." Ashe felt bad about that. He felt horrible about burning sixteen Elemaiya, too, but they were out to kill others and attempting to take him. Ashe couldn't let that happen.
"I didn't hear any reports of dead fish," Winkler said dryly.
"Mr. Winkler, I think I killed all those people," Ashe whispered. "All those Elemaiya."
"Ashe, you can't worry about that," Winkler's dark eyes raked Ashe's face. "They'd already killed some of ours and would have killed others, and then they'd have killed or kidnapped you. You did what had to be done; don't ever think otherwise." Winkler breathed a fatigued sigh. "Kid, I've gotten research from Matt Michaels; he tallied up the number of deaths related to that fertility clinic. We estimate at least six hundred eighty-five deaths of children, ranging from preteen to early twenties, and those are the ones we can confirm. Those are murders, Ashe, plain and simple. That doesn't include all
the reported kidnappings, or the human boy who died outside Cloud Chief's boundary. Who knows how many other humans have died just by being in their way? This is a war between them, and they don't care who falls."
Ashe couldn't speak around the lump in his throat. He settled for nodding instead. "Here," Winkler tapped the water bottle on Ashe's table tray. Ashe removed the cap and drank. He didn't say what he'd been thinking the past few days—that Earth looked to be the battleground the Elemaiya had chosen to pursue their wars. And people like the Tanners fell right in with them, working together to take whatever they wanted in order to further their cause. He thought about Sali and Dori in the clutches of drug runners and shivered.
"Kid, it'll be all right," Winkler patted Ashe's shoulder lightly.
"Mr. Winkler, there's something else you need to know," Ashe heaved a shaky sigh.
"What's that?"
Ashe peeled back the left sleeve of his knit polo, revealing the biceps and triceps that Trajan had been working on in the weight room. Surrounding his upper arm, much like a tattoo might, were eight square gold medallions with unusual markings. They shone with the brightness of newly minted gold coins.
Winkler swore when he saw them. "What the hell is that, Ashe? Did you get a tattoo?"
"No, sir. These were on my arm the morning after the whole Star Cove thing. I went to sleep in my old bedroom in Cloud Chief and woke up with these. They're not tattoos. As far as I know, there's no ink that will come out gold like that." Ashe lowered his sleeve over the flat, gold images.
"They look like some of those transfers—you know—like the ones they wear at football games and stuff?" Trajan was up and lifting Ashe's sleeve again.
"But these don't scrub off—I've already tried," Ashe muttered. "They're not going anywhere. And if I pick at 'em, I start heaving."
"You're kidding?" Winkler stared at the eight medallions, moving Ashe's arm this way and that to see them more clearly.
"Not kidding. I don't know what they are, but they're here to stay." Ashe pulled his arm away. The medallions were beginning to itch and burn with all the handling. He felt immediate relief when people stopped touching them. Now more than ever, he wished that the Vampire Council had given him more information on the Elemaiya. The three pages they'd offered weren't nearly enough.
"I have to make a phone call," Winkler unbuckled his seat belt and walked to the front of the jet where Buck and Andy were seated. Ashe watched as the Dallas Packmaster pulled out a cell phone and made a call. With the noise of the jet and Trajan suddenly asking more questions about what happened in Star Cove, Ashe couldn't make out Winkler's words.
* * *
"He has eight square medallions circling his upper arm, like a tattoo," Winkler said. "He doesn't know where they came from and it upsets him if anybody touches them. He said he tried to pick at them and it made him nauseous. Is there anything in the information you have that explains this?" Winkler had dialed the Head of the Vampire Council immediately. Night still lay over England—perhaps one or two hours remained before dawn arrived. Winkler wanted to insist that all information be given to Ashe, but knew better than to demand anything from the vampires. It was tricky dealing with them. At the moment, Winkler was playing his hand carefully with Wlodek. At least Wlodek was answering his calls. For now.
"Give us time to do research," Wlodek replied smoothly, making Winkler want to curse. Wlodek, like most vampires, had a very good memory and likely knew much already. For whatever reason, he wasn't willing to give information to Winkler.
"Thank you for your assistance, Honored One," Winkler said respectfully. Wlodek ended the call.
* * *
"Charles," Wlodek leveled a glance at his assistant, "Go through the records and learn what the precedents and adverse effects are regarding underage turning." Charles stood in shock for seconds before going to do as the Honored One requested.
* * *
"Mr. Winkler will bring him here; he has transportation waiting at the airport," Marcus reminded a restless Sali. The young werewolf stalked a path through the kitchen, media room and then through the patio doors to the deck. Marco shook his head at Sali's impatience. Sali wanted to drive to the airport and meet Ashe there, but Marcus held him back. Nathan and Lavonna were doing the same—keeping Dori and Cori inside the house. Dori was also upset, for many reasons. Marco's cell buzzed.
"It's Winkler," Marco whispered and answered the call.
"We're on the ground. Probably be there in forty-five." Winkler hung up. Marcus heard Winkler's voice clearly on the other end.
"Come on, they'll go to Adele and Aedan's," Marcus jerked his head toward the door. Denise, Marco and Sali followed him as he left the house.
* * *
"Aedan, please stay calm. He thought to protect us," Adele's hands shook as she attempted to calm her husband. Aedan was pacing, much as Sali had been. When the doorbell rang, Adele went to answer it, ushering the DeLucas and the Andersons inside. Marco had called Cori quickly as he followed his father out the door, and she'd shared the information with Dori and her parents. Now they were all gathering inside the Evans home to wait. Adele offered drinks, but there were no takers. All of them were waiting for Ashe to arrive.
* * *
"Winkler, I think the boy's about to be sick," Trajan warned. Sam Sheridan, Winkler's brother-in-law, had come to pick them up at the airport. He jerked the van over and Winkler shoved the door open just in time for Ashe to lean out and heave. Winkler accepted a bottle of water from Trace and handed it to Ashe when the bout of nausea looked to be over. Ashe rinsed out his mouth, embarrassed that this had happened in front of a van loaded with werewolves, including Winkler, Trajan and Trace.
"It's understandable," Winkler offered a wad of tissues so Ashe could clean himself up. Feeling shaky, Ashe climbed back in the van and the journey continued. Twenty minutes later and feeling sick again, Ashe arrived at his home in Star Cove.
"Here he is, a little shaky and nauseous," Winkler said quietly as he and Trajan brought Ashe inside the Evans home. Ashe was grateful for Trajan's arm around his shoulders. He wasn't sure he could walk into the house on his own without it.
Adele ran straight to Ashe and hugged him while Winkler and Trajan stepped out of the way. She was weeping, just as Ashe feared she would. His father stood nearby, a stricken look on his face. Nathan, Marcus and both families were in the background. Sali was growling; Ashe heard it over his mother's crying. Adele finally stepped away. Ashe was about to apologize for worrying everyone when Dori rushed forward, slapped him as hard as she could and ran out the door.
* * *
"Son, we're all upset. We thought the worst," Aedan handed an ice pack to Ashe, who held it to his throbbing jaw. Who knew Dori could hit that hard? It stood to reason, though—she was an ocelot shapeshifter with a lioness mother and a vampire father. Ashe figured there was more of Nathan in Dori than anyone knew. Adele hovered nearby—Nathan and Lavonna had hurried out the door after Dori. Cori, Marco, Sali, Marcus and Denise were still there, and Wynn had come in with her parents. Now, Sali was holding onto Wynn while they watched Ashe curiously. Winkler and his small group of werewolves were doing their best to stay out of the way.
"Dad, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. You have to believe that." Ashe's queasiness hadn't gone away—in fact, it was worse. He worried that he might have to mist to the bathroom.
"Honey, I know you were trying to protect all of us. But we're stronger than you think," Adele soothed. "We lost a few, but they lost a lot. Ask Mr. Winkler. That Tanner jerk brought at least fifty wolves with him, and he had Elemaiya there, too. Only three werewolves got away, and they were swimming. There's a good chance they didn't make it. Mr. Michaels had his agents send out boats, but we haven't heard anything."
"He found Congressman Jack Howard floating unconscious in a raft, but that's it so far," Winkler said. "The esteemed Congressman is now in an Austin jail, waiting to be sent to D.C." He didn't add that the Grand Master had passed
information to Matt Michaels on Tanner's compound outside Juarez—only time would tell if that information paid off. He also didn't add that Jack Howard admitted to Matt's agents that Ezekiel Tanner was still alive. That fact was one of several reasons Winkler was back in Corpus Christi—Weldon Harper asked him to stay in the area in case help was needed to track Tanner.
"They need to lock that creep up forever," Ashe muttered, meaning Jack Howard.
"Honey, you shouldn't worry about that right now," his mother said. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? You look tired."
"He was sick on the way here," Trajan said. "Probably from not eating properly." Ashe silently thanked Winkler's Second for not saying it was nerves.
"Not hungry, Mom," Ashe mumbled. The ice pack was numbing his jaw nicely.
"He's been sleeping on the floor," Winkler pointed out. "Might be nice to lie on a bed for a change."
"Certainly. We can sort this out later," Aedan said. Everyone scurried from the Evans home shortly after, while Aedan pulled the ice pack away to examine Ashe's jaw. "Might be bruised a little," he assessed, allowing Ashe to replace the pack. "Take a shower and get in bed, son. We'll talk tomorrow."
"All right." Ashe slid off the barstool at the kitchen island and walked toward the stairs.
* * *
Ashe glanced briefly at his computer after stepping out of the shower and toweling off—it felt good to be clean. Sighing, Ashe ignored the computer, pulled the covers back on his bed and climbed in. He fell asleep immediately.
Vendetta (Legend of the Ir'Indicti #4) Page 2