The Judah Black Novels Box Set

by E. A. Copen

  Abe shifted the flashlight and arched an eyebrow. “Ah, so you are the one who had it, as I suspected. Have you seen what was on it?”

  I swallowed and nodded slowly. “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Not on my watch!” Angel growled.

  Abe shifted the barrel of the gun to her, holding it there for a long moment before lifting it away. “Contrary to what you might believe, I am on your side.”

  I stumbled out of reach as quickly as I could and turned on him. Having my back to another predator made me uneasy. “Then explain why you beat the shit out of Judah, and why you were with those unmarked military guys.”

  Abe frowned. “That is a complicated answer, too complicated for the time we have, so I will give you a simple yet incomplete answer. Despite appearances, BSI is not one cohesive group. There are opposing factions within the organization. There are those of us who disagree with many of the policies in place, but doing so is dangerous. What I do is even more so. I work in Intelligence.”

  I blinked. “You’re a spy?”

  Abe’s whole chest heaved with a sigh, and he rolled his eyes. “Of sorts. That hard drive is important evidence. I must reclaim it.”

  “How do we know you’re not lying?” Angel muscled forward to stand between Abe and me, arms crossed.

  “You do not. However, if I do not get this hard drive tonight, things will get much more difficult for everyone. Those military guys—” Abe moved his fingers in the air, making quotes. “—are a suicide squad. In less than two hours, they will storm the Tribulation Adventists compound and neutralize everyone inside before setting the place on fire, erasing all evidence.”

  My mouth suddenly felt dry. I exchanged glances with Angel. “Judah is there right now.”

  “What?” Abe grabbed me by the shirt and tugged me closer.

  I might or might not have let out a surprised, very unmanly-sounding yelp.

  “What do you mean, Judah is there? She should be incapacitated! I made certain—”

  Abe stopped, his eyes widening with realization. He let go of my shirt, muttering something profane in Russian. “That woman’s stubbornness knows no bounds.”

  “Well, she’s not there of her own free will, you know.” I tugged on the hem of my shirt, straightening it. “And it’s not Hector who’s the problem, from what I saw. It was the kid. He’s got her and Espinoza hostage.”

  “Explain,” Abe demanded.

  “In a minute. First, I need my nunchuck,” I said and pushed past him.

  My room was on the other side of the kitchen at the end of a short hallway. I flipped on the light and took in the mess of candy wrappers, chip bags, and empty Red Bull cans. It’s a wonder we don’t have mice, Daphne would say. But I didn’t think mice would frequent a home where three werewolves lived. Not smart mice, anyway.

  The last time I’d seen my Wii remote was when Daphne was thinking about having a yard sale. She wanted me to sell them because I didn’t use them enough and put them in a shoebox with all my other old controllers. Daphne was like that, a clean freak, environmentally conscious, a Goody Two-shoes. I love my sister, but man, she can get on my nerves.

  Anyway, most of my shoeboxes went under my bed when I got my new chair a few months ago, so I got down on my knees, pushed aside the trash, and started digging. Video game controllers weren’t the only things I kept under there. I had to move whole stacks of old games, cheat codes, manga, and a couple of old game guides to get to the boxes.

  Angel sighed from the doorway. “You know, most single guys your age keep porn under their beds, not…” She picked up an old binder and flipped it open before spinning around to show it to me. “Pokémon cards?”

  I snatched the binder away from her. “Magic: The Gathering!”

  “Whatever.”

  “And I’m not single. Bad guys got my girlfriend.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Angel, crossing her arms.

  “Contrary to popular belief, not all nerds are socially awkward, live in our parents’ basements, and live to troll people on the internet who can’t spell.”

  “How is your sister’s spare bedroom different from your mom’s basement?”

  I ignored her comment, mostly because I found the shoebox I was looking for and placed it on the bed. The box was full of cables, batteries, and other odds and ends, with the Wii remote and nunchuck buried at the bottom. I grabbed both and hooked them up, waving them at Angel with a triumphant smile on my face.

  “Video game controllers?” She rolled her eyes. “You made us stop for that?”

  I turned and dug around in the plastic bin beside my bed where I’d collected all the things Mara had left in my room. Lipstick, nail polish, a bobblehead… My fingers caught something metal. There it is!

  I pulled out the pair of brass knuckles and tossed them to Angel, who caught them and whistled. “Now that’s more up my alley.”

  “Don’t mess them up. They’re my girlfriend’s.” When Angel gave me a curious look, I added, “She used to have a dangerous job.” I didn’t tell her Mara used to be a stripper and had nearly been killed by a stalker because Angel would have just poked more fun at me.

  She tucked the brass knuckles away. “You have everything you need?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  I stood, Angel turned, and we both paused when we saw Abe waiting in the doorway with his arms crossed. “She went back to the compound,” he said, referring to Judah.

  “Pretty sure Hector and his goons have them,” I answered. “We’re going to go and get them back. You feel like helping?”

  Abe’s lips rolled back, revealing vampire fangs. “Judah is my partner, and my employer would not be happy if something were to happen to her. I also happen to like her a great deal.”

  Angel and I exchanged glances. “Is that a yes?”

  “That is, as you would say, a hell, yes.”

  Bran got out of the car when he saw us coming back with Abe. “Look who we found,” Angel reported.

  “He’s with us,” I clarified. “And our little rescue just got a lot more complicated. We need to get Sal and the others up to speed.”

  We piled into the car while Abe waited outside. His truck was parked down the street, he said, and he’d follow us as soon as everyone was on the same page. Bran dialed Sal on his phone. I told him what Abe had said. After a moment of silence, Sal answered, “That doesn’t change anything. It just adds a layer of urgency. You guys need to meet us here yesterday.”

  “Wait,” I called before Sal hung up. Everyone froze and looked at me. “Shouldn’t we come up with a plan or something?”

  “I think the plan is…” Bran started.

  Angel made a fist and hit the palm of her hand. “Tear the place apart board by board if we have to and get our people the hell out.”

  “And if they’re hostages? What then? They might shoot Judah, Espinoza, and Mara as soon as they see us.”

  “We will meet with Sal and the others at the rendezvous point and discuss strategy,” Bran agreed. “We have to be prepared for a hostage situation.”

  “We have to be prepared for anything,” Abe agreed and tipped his hat.

  The first rendezvous point was outside of the rez on the side of the road. Sal had pulled over there. Shauna, Daphne, Hunter, and Reed sat in the bed of the truck with Reed huddled near the cab. Sal leaned against the tailgate, smoking. Three cigarette butts sat, crushed on the side of the road at his feet. Bran pulled up behind Sal and Abe stopped behind us.

  Sal pushed away from the truck when he saw Abe get out and snarled, showing gold eyes and teeth. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  “I am here for Judah, not you.” Abe adjusted the collar of his coat. “Besides, what protection do the rest of you have against the spell that reduced Gideon Reed to little more than an attack dog?”

  Sal walked back to the cab, where he grabbed a Tupperware bowl. He opened it when he came closer, revealing a thick, gray paste.

  Abe recoil
ed and coughed. “Really? That crude magick is the best you could come up with?”

  “These are sacred herbs, used for hundreds of years to—”

  Abe cut Sal off with the wave of a hand. “I’m well aware, but we don’t have time for war paint and chanting.”

  Sal narrowed his eyes.

  Abe turned, grabbed me by the wrist, and yanked my arm forward. I yelped as something cold slapped against the inside of my arm, just above the elbow and slid across it. It didn’t hurt so much as it surprised me. The stinging scent of sharpie made me wrinkle my nose, but another scent hung underneath it—the itchy, cinnamon spice scent of magick. When Abe leaned back and took his hands away, I saw he’d drawn something there in hurried lines and curves. “What the hell is that?”

  “A symbol that by itself has no meaning unless imbued with power by an expert in protective runes. I happen to be such an expert.” Abe held up his sharpie. “Anyone else?”

  Sal stuck his fingers into the gray goop and drew a line with it across his forehead. “You’ve got your protection, and I’ve got mine.”

  Abe sighed as Sal swiped more of the ash paste over Daphne’s and Shauna’s foreheads. One by one, everyone, including Bran and Angel, went to Sal, accepting his method over Abe’s.

  I swallowed. It felt weird to be the only one who didn’t have the same gray mark on my forehead, and I didn’t want Sal to think I trusted a stranger over him, so I stepped up last. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

  Sal grinned and marked me with the ash paste.

  “What about you?” I asked Abe.

  Abe pulled off his hat and flipped it over before waving a hand over it. The inside lit up with dozens of silver-blue runes like the one he’d drawn on me.

  I nodded. “Functional fashion. I like it.”

  “Do we know where in the house they are keeping them?” Abe re-donned his hat.

  “I saw a bright light in one of the upper windows,” I said. “It was definitely magick.”

  “They might have opened a Way.” Abe drew his lips into a thin line. “That makes sense. That’s where he would be safest.”

  “That leaves just one problem.” Sal put the lid back on his container and set it in the bed of the truck. “Getting inside. How I see it, there’s two ways in. Either we fight our way in, or sneak in. I think everyone knows which one I’d choose.” He cracked his knuckles.

  I shook my head. “If we go in guns blazing and this is a hostage situation, there’s going to be bodies on both sides.”

  “Bodies I will have to explain away,” Abe said and rubbed his chin.

  I turned to Abe. “Can you open the Way if you know where it is?”

  Abe shrugged. “I cannot open Ways, but I could tell you where one was should I be looking for it.”

  “A Way, you say, lad?”

  I jumped half a foot at the sound of a new voice. Pretty sure everyone else did to except for Angel and Sal, who turned to growl at the elf who’d appeared out of nowhere. He leaned on an ugly, twisted piece of wood and smiled at us.

  “Creven,” Sal growled. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in the hospital?”

  “I got better.” The elf frowned and leaned back from the staff. “The rest of you only know half of what’s going on. You’re walking blind into a trap.”

  “Hector’s expecting us?” I asked.

  “Someone is, aye, but not him. Seamus has a hand in this. He wants the sword the priest carries.” Creven’s eyes slid to Gideon Reed, who clutched his sword tighter. “I expect he’ll be making his move soon. He might even be using this situation to his advantage if he’s made any deals with Hector.”

  Sal’s upper lip twitched. “He’d trade her for the sword.”

  “Aye.” Creven nodded. “Might be best if the priest hangs back.”

  “I won’t,” Reed said, pulling himself up. “Especially not on a hunch. I can help. There is more than one immortal in that compound, and they aren’t easy to kill. Even your claws and teeth might be ineffective, but I know this sword can do it.”

  “I believe you.” Sal rubbed his injured side. I could still smell the blood on it. He wasn’t fully healed. “And we need all the help we can get. If Seamus makes his move, we’ll deal with it.”

  Abe narrowed his eyes at the elf. “You are privy to a lot of information on both sides, elf. How is it you know about Seamus’ deal?”

  “Because I know Seamus better than anyone. I know how he operates, and I might just be the only one of you who can stand up to him in a fair fight. So,” he said, lifting his staff and planting it in the ground again, “if ya need a Way opened, if you need to get in and out of anywhere unseen, I’m your elf. But I don’t think I can take all of ya. Even my powers have their limits.”

  “How many can you manage?” Abe asked.

  Creven rubbed his chin and surveyed the crowd. “Myself and two others. I might be able to do more, but I figure Sal here wants to go after his woman, and no offense, but your magick and mine will be oil and water. Cutting through that means extra work.”

  Sal nodded. “You’ll take Abe and me into the house and through the Way.”

  Angel crossed her arms and leaned back with her bottom lip out. “What about the rest of us? You expect us to just sit while you boys get to have all the fun.”

  “No,” Sal said. “Your job is to have all the fun you want as loud as you want. Draw everyone away from our position so that we’ve got a clear path. Think you can do that?”

  Angel smirked and looked at me. I nodded. “We can do that.”

  “Good.” Sal struck the side of his truck and stepped back. “Let’s load up.” He turned as if to go back to the cab.

  “It would be best,” Abe said, “if you and I traveled with the elf, I think.”

  Sal tossed his keys to Shauna. “Take care of her.”

  Shauna caught them and hopped over the tailgate to go to the cab.

  The rest of us piled into our respective rides and our caravan took off, with Abe’s truck bringing up the rear. After a few minutes of cruising down the road in silence, I turned around to check on the truck behind us. It had disappeared.

  “Fucking elves,” Angel muttered.

  “Fucking fae,” Bran added and sped up.

  Angel fidgeted, trying her fingers in the brass knuckles a minute. I plugged the nunchuck into the Wii remote and closed my eyes to concentrate. “What’s with the controller?”

  “It’s my magick wand.” I cracked open an eye to see her stifling a laugh.

  I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been laughed at and underestimated my whole life. People see me and think they push me around. Even well-meaning people like Angel didn’t take me seriously. Well, I was done with that.

  I pulled the nunchuck and the remote apart, stretching the cord between them, and concentrated really hard to send a burst of magickal energy down into the nunchuck. Please work this time.

  A blue bolt of lightning shot out of the transmitting end of the remote. The headrest of the front passenger seat exploded into a mess of foam padding and torn fabric. Smoke filled the cabin, and we all started coughing. Bran swerved a little but kept us on the road, partially thanks to Angel’s quick thinking when she rolled down the window.

  When the smoke cleared, the headrest was nothing more than two bits of metal sticking up out of the rest of the seat.

  “Umm,” I said and looked down at my nunchuck and remote. “I’ll pay for that.”

  “Holy shit, kid,” Angel said, still coughing. She waved a hand in front of her face to clear more of the smoke. “Glad I didn’t sit up front. That would have been my head!” She raised an eyebrow at me and slowly smiled. “You’re more dangerous than you look, aren’t you?”

  Bran frowned into the rearview mirror. “Point that thing somewhere you can’t do any damage until we get to where we’re going, okay, kid?”

  I lowered both the remote and the nunchuck, pointing them at the floor. “Yeah, okay.”

&n
bsp; We turned down the long driveway leading back to the compound at what might have been a hundred miles an hour. The back end of the hatchback fishtailed out. Angel and I were tossed around in the back but righted ourselves pretty quickly. Bran slammed his foot on the accelerator and swerved to the side of the driveway, carving out a spot right next to Sal’s truck.

  The huge three-story house loomed ahead. We were close enough that I could make out the ugly floral pattern on the curtains.

  “Um…” I started.

  “Brace for impact!” Bran shouted.

  I fell back and fumbled to get the seatbelt buckled. I had just enough time to secure it before the front of the car swerved and slammed into one of the greenhouses with a deafening crunch. A white marshmallow exploded in the front as the airbags deployed. The impact sent me straining against my seatbelt. The remotes went sailing in front of my vision, and for some reason, all I could think about was grabbing them and making sure I didn’t lose them.

  I don’t think I blacked out, but memory gets a little fuzzy directly after an impact like that. Next thing I knew, the car was sideways in a pile of metal and plastic and Angel was pulling me out, screaming at Bran, “He said to be loud, not kill us!”

  “Nobody is dead,” Bran countered from a few paces away. He grabbed his shirt and ripped it off, tossing it in a wad to the ground beside him. “But they are aware that we are here. Hurry. I can smell the others. They are already around back.”

  I hopped down from the side of the overturned hatchback, still clutching my remotes, and looked around. Shauna had been a little gentler with Sal’s truck, opting instead to pull up against the house sideways and lay on the horn. She stood on top of the hood of the truck now, halfway through her shift into wolf form.

  The house came to life. Lights flipped on. Curtains shifted aside, and curious faces peered out. We had only seconds before they’d be out on the porch with guns aimed at us, guns with silver bullets. I spotted movement in the front of the house near the windows, exactly where they’d gathered to shoot at me last time. Everyone else was still climbing out of the back of the truck, getting ready. Shauna and Daphne were in the middle of shifting and wouldn’t be done in time. I had to do something to keep whoever was coming through that door busy to protect my pack.