by C. T. Adams
“Why should we?” came a man’s voice from the crowd. Eric turned his head to see who spoke, but couldn’t find the person. He realized then that Holly was plastered against him by the crowd, holding his hand so tight he could feel her nails dig in. The sensation made him more than a little dizzy and he didn’t think it was all from the situation. She was likewise scanning the crowd. But instead of smelling fear from her, the hot metal scent of determination bled from her pores. It occurred to him then, even more strongly, that she was no longer a shy human sibling in a family of wolves. She was an agent of Wolven—sent to a strange country to find him, and now prepared to take on whatever threat the crowd would offer.
Another woman shouted. Eric followed Holly’s eyes and a shock of awareness drifted on the breeze. “They tried to kill us! Why should we trust any of them?” It was Iris Sanchez, now Renault, who’d moved from the Boulder pack to Canada. He noticed Holly didn’t race toward her sister. In fact, she only rolled her eyes and turned back to face the group on the roof.
A third voice grew bold. “Kick ’em out before they slaughter our children!”
More murmuring started. This could easily turn into a riot. But Tony just fired off another short burst and dropped the automatic rifle across his arm when the talking stopped. He yelled to the crowd without checking with the others for permission. “Maybe you didn’t hear the nice councilmen. They said drop it. I’ll clear up any confusion you might still have. If any of you draw blood on anyone else here, I’ll draw blood. My shooting is one of the obstacles on the Wolven course . . . and I use silver rounds. We have one healer on site, people. It might take a while to get to you if anything untoward happens.”
Ivan stepped around Ahmad and took the bullhorn from Antoine. “If Eric Thompson and Holly Sanchez have returned, please report to the main building. We’re waiting for them to begin. And we would ask that any group leaders also report to the main building.”
Eric glanced behind him and Holly nodded. They started to push their way to the front of the crowd. He noticed that a few others were also moving through the sea of bodies. He recognized the Second of the Minnesota pack, Adam Mueller. Had he finally taken over as leader of that group? He certainly had the ability. Adam was supporting a small Latina that Eric didn’t recognize. The woman was obviously pregnant, and was limping enough that the Sazi around her were reacting to the scent of her pain. But her face was set with determination and she didn’t acknowledge the touches or helping hands offered.
Ivan continued to speak as they made their way up. “Finally, a few announcements: We have supplies on the way, but for those who stocked up before you started your trip, please share with others until food and water arrive. We’ll keep everybody updated with information as we hear it. Until then, please just relax as best you can. If you have injuries, Dr. Santiago has set up a triage site at the white RV with the sunset mural. Snake bites, open wounds, broken bones, and children first, please. We have two portable bathrooms right now, with more on the way, so do the best you can to keep them clean. There are three power hookups for those who need to charge batteries, but there’s no working cell towers nearby, so no signals. If anyone brought a portable generator or has outdoor-rated extension cords, please see Antoine.”
Ivan was still talking as they reached the building and were let inside by Bobby Mbutu. He grasped Eric’s hand in a solid shake but there was worry etched on his dark features. “Glad you both made it back safe. We were getting worried.” Bobby closed the door behind him and gestured for them to follow him.
“When did all this start?” Eric waved his hand to encompass the whole area. “I’ve only been gone for a couple of hours. Has your wife made it here yet?”
“Not yet. But I never worry when Asri’s late. She drives even slower than I do, and I’ve yet to see a situation she can’t handle—even pregnant, she’s scary. As for all these other people, it’s freaking weird. People started arriving just after you left. The first group was from Canada. They’d been told two days ago to pull up stakes and come here—without telling a soul.”
“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “I just talked to my mom earlier and she didn’t say a word about this.” Reality settled over him with mind-numbing suddenness. “Has anyone heard from her? Are they okay?”
Bobby shook his head. “The Quebec pack got hit hard and fast. We only have rumors at this point. We think your mother and brother survived, but a lot of the pack is just . . . gone. I’m really sorry, Thompson. I know it’s hard.”
Eric couldn’t quite wrap his head around that. He’d spoken to her just a few hours ago! How could so many be dead?
Now Holly’s voice was shaking a little. “I saw Iris outside. Has anyone heard from Pansy . . . or from my dad?”
Bobby just shook his head and she nodded grimly. Eric could smell Holly’s worry, but she shook it off after a moment, apparently determined to not think about it. They passed through the kitchen on their way to the stairs. Several Sazi cats he’d met before from the California pride were stirring massive pots of what smelled like beef stew. Holly dipped in her finger as she passed by. “Needs garlic,” she said to the tall blond woman. “And put in a few whole peeled potatoes to soak up some of that oil and salt. We don’t need people drinking extra water when we’re already low. And hello? Why isn’t there bread baking? It’s cheap and fills people up so they don’t need as much meat.”
Eric looked at Bobby and shrugged. “Holly did run the pack restaurant in Boulder. She’s a hell of a cook.” Actually, he was starting to realize she was a hell of a woman.
Bobby nodded his head at the questioning cat with the spoon. “Well? You heard the lady. There are plenty of spices in the pantry and another bag of potatoes in the bin in the corner. The flour’s brand new and I know there’s at least a few cakes of yeast. C’mon, everybody! We’re going to have people beating down the door pretty soon. We need to be ready for them.”
With Bobby barking the orders, the others scrambled to obey. Holly shook her head and kept walking while muttering under her breath. “Figures they’d put people who’d never cooked for a crowd in charge of the kitchen.”
Bobby let out an exasperated noise and spun Holly around to face him. “Back off, Sanchez. We’re doing the best we can. It all happened pretty damned fast. We’re trying to take it one crisis at a time. It’s not like we’ve ever had to plan for this sort of thing before.”
And therein lies the problem. But Eric didn’t dare say it out loud. Instead, he just bit his tongue and tried to keep his emotions blank. He heard a metallic bang behind them and turned to see the four men from the roof coming in the back door.
Tony followed in the wake of the others, but seemed perfectly at home with them, as though a three-day wolf was equal to council members. Oddly, none of the others disputed his position. “About time you made it back.” Tony dipped his head to Holly. “Good to see you again, Ms. Sanchez. What strange and wondrous things did you find on your walk around the perimeter?”
“Shit!” Eric slapped his forehead with his palm.
“With all the confusion, I completely forgot to take her around. But surely there can’t be anything left at this point, could there? I mean, all the people tramping around would have ruined any evidence. Shouldn’t we just go ahead with the hindsight?”
Ahmad flicked his eyes in Tony’s direction. “Didn’t you say that was a direct order from Charles—through his goddaughter?”
“Yeah, but she didn’t mention anything about all these people, either. I tend to agree with Thompson. But still . . . you guys are in charge now. You make the call.”
After a long pause, where the council members shrugged and pursed their lips, Ivan finally spoke up. “Go. Catherine was clear, and Charles undoubtedly knew there would be people. Do the best you can.”
“What am I looking for? And why me?” Holly sounded justifiably confused, in his opinion. Eric didn’t understand what the goal was either.
“That part is not so c
lear,” Ivan admitted with a rueful smile. “Apparently, it’s something you will see that others can’t.”
Eric looked at her, startled. Holly realized what it could be at the same time. “Like I saw Larry!”
“Larry?” Antoine and Ahmad said the word simultaneously, and both sounded worried.
Holly nodded. “A black snake who attacked me in Australia. Well, not so much attacked as . . . accosted, I guess. He forced me to take him along on the trip back to the States, but I ditched him at the airport. He doesn’t know where I am.”
Ivan let out a growl, and Tony asked the same question that was on Eric’s lips. “Larry? Not a very tough name. Should we be worried?”
“Larry is Nasil, Tony.” Ahmad spit the word, and Eric winced as some of the venom from the great snake landed on his arm. “We should be very worried. The snake attacks are growing more clear. Nasil is very powerful in his own right, and if the lesser snakes consider him to be the successor of my father—”
“Dammit!” Tony’s voice was worried now too, and more than a little pissed. “I thought we killed him in Atlantic City.”
“Nasil is very . . . sturdy, it appears.”
“He’s . . . damaged, if that helps any.” Eric noticed Holly was careful to not mention that he wasn’t as damaged now as he had been when she met him. “Half of his body doesn’t work right. But he was still alpha enough to freeze me and . . .” She paused, and Eric wondered if she was going to tell them about her sister. She took a deep breath while the others watched her intently. “He threatened my sister if I didn’t cooperate. But I called her before he got to the airport and told her to leave town.”
Ahmad sighed in frustration. “She might as well have remained. There is no hiding from Nasil. He is as clever and dangerous as any man I’ve ever met.” A woman walked into the room just then—a stunning beauty of Middle Eastern descent who lowered her brows at the look on Ahmad’s face. He glanced at her and let out a hiss. “Nasil still lives, Tuli. This young wolf encountered him just today.”
“Merciful Anu!” she hissed. “No wonder the snakes of the world have gone insane. It’s a very good thing Tony’s wife is still safe, but we’ll need to put extra guards on her. She was the one who nearly killed him. He’ll want revenge.” Tuli shook her head in frustration. “He must have managed to get the compliance drug distributed more widely. The snakes probably won’t even remember attacking. But why? Why now?”
“Bet the egg’s still alive then too.” Tony was tapping the butt of the automatic on the floor, making an odd, ominous echo through the room. “It’s no wonder the attacks were simultaneous. It must be time for that . . . thing to be born! We need to get all these people out of here. We’ll be nothing but a smorgasbord for that thing when it hatches.”
Eric wished he could figure out what was going on. He was getting hints and pieces of something large and frightening, in a nameless, faceless, monster-under-the-bed way. “But where would we send them? They were sent here for a reason.”
Ahmad raised his eyebrows and looked at Antoine, who shook his head. “There isn’t the slightest possibility Josette would have anything to do with helping Marduc be born. She’s fought snakes her whole life.” He glanced at Ahmad meaningfully. “As you well know.”
The snake representative merely shrugged fluidly. “I know that our raptor representative, Angelique, is quite insane from that drug. Who’s to know for sure? Your own twin, Fiona, betrayed us after ingesting the drug. Why not another sister as well? She hasn’t checked in, after all.”
“But,” Ivan amended. “We have only a few testimonies that it was actually your sister calling. It could easily have been an associate of Nasil’s posing as her—what easier way to get a large number of Sazi in one place for the creature’s first meal?”
Antoine nodded. “I’ll make some calls.” He motioned toward Eric and Holly. “You two should go walk the perimeter. Look for anything unusual.”
Ahmad removed a small walkie-talkie from his pocket and held it out for Eric to take. “If the creature has already been born, do your best to warn us before you’re eaten. I don’t expect you to survive. I don’t expect most of us to survive. Nobody except Lucas and Charles have ever encountered a quetzalcoatl in the flesh. Marduc is the bringer of storms—a Sazi so powerful she’s the equal of the whole of the council. And we don’t have the whole of the council to fight with.” He grimaced. “Apparently, Nasil has seen to that.”
A quetzalcoatl? A half-snake half-bird creature like the one worshipped by ancient peoples? It was a Sazi? He stared at the others, where shock and fear mingled on the faces of the best of their kind. “Or,” Eric felt himself say, more musing to himself than addressing the group, “maybe we were all sent here because we might stand a chance. The group seems to have been pretty selective. Even pack leaders didn’t know which people were being culled.”
“As good a hope as any to cling to,” Ivan said with a nod. “Go and do your walk, and then we’ll see what Charles has on his mind. He’s in stable condition. He can wait until you return. Take your time and find what there is to find.”
“I DON’T THINK they meant for us to go this far.” Holly looked back at the encampment, just a bright light in the distance. “It’s pitch black out here.”
Eric flicked on a flashlight and handed a second one to her. “We have no idea where the fight started. Even Tony said he heard fighting in the distance before the screams and snarls started. We’ll circle the camp in a spiral and move closer with each pass.”
They walked in silence as the minutes ticked by, moving their lights among the cactus and sagebrush. Eric was looking for scattered sand—signs of a struggle that might lead to clues. He didn’t know what Holly was looking for, and likely would never spot it anyway.
“Worried about your mother?” Holly said after a time.
“Yep. And you’re probably worried about your dad.”
“Yep. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I couldn’t find Iris again in the crowd. But at least I know she’s safe.” Comfortable silence fell over them. The crowd in the distance became white noise in his ears as they picked their way through the brush. He glanced up in a never-ending check for silent raptors riding the night winds, or the glint of the spiderwebs that Tony had warned about. “The sky looks a lot like Australia here. Big and wide and open.”
“I liked Australia.” He could hear the smile in Holly’s voice and turned to look at her for a second. He didn’t dare look at her too long. There was something about those deep brown eyes, the color of dark caramel, that kept sucking him in. Apparently he telegraphed his thoughts because she asked abruptly, “Did you ever want to kiss me? I mean, back when we were kids?”
Why not be honest? Nobody could hear them. “Pretty much every day I saw you. Still do.” The last two words popped out before he could stop them. She stopped cold and turned her flashlight on him. He didn’t look at her. Couldn’t look at her, but the smell of shock and sudden desire flooded his nose.
No. There was too much going on right now to risk getting close to anyone—much less Holly. But once again the image of her lying naked and ready for him, writhing in anticipation, sprang to his mind for the tenth time since he’d left Crocodile Annie’s house, and for the thousandth time since he left Boulder. He’d wanted her even then. Lord, how he’d wanted her. There was just something about Holly he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. But her father, rightfully, had threatened him with harm if he’d acted on his feelings. She’d been a minor, and he an adult who should know better.
But she isn’t a minor now.
She’d also been human then. So when Lucas insisted he join Wolven to get him out of town, he’d gone without argument. And he’d never come back.
His hands twitched with a need so strong he had to shake them to stop it. He nearly dropped the flashlight in the process, and walked even faster.
Fur against fur, flesh against flesh.
He pushed away the thought.
He didn’t dare risk being with Holly. There was too much danger. Even the council considered him a weapon.
Were her nipples peaking right now in the cold breeze? Would she taste like honey and spice?
Pain erupted in his face. The jagged points of a massive yucca ripped through the cloth of his shirt and sleeve and nearly took out his eye. The scent of coppery blood filled the air and dozens of cuts stung like fire from the mild poison in the razor-sharp spines. “Damn it!” He hissed the words as quietly as he could and wiped at the blood running down his face. There seemed to be a lot of it.
“Oh!” Holly raced forward and shined her light on his face. “Ouch! That must sting.”
“Yeah, but I’ll heal. Let’s get back to work. They’re waiting for us.”
She clucked her tongue at him. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Just stand still a minute. I am a healer, after all. And we need you in top shape in case we run into something.”
Holly touched his face before he could stop her. Warm, soothing healing magic coated him, filled him. It was a softer sensation than Dr. Santiago’s. He felt her magic seal the wounds, making his skin tingle as cuts turned to scabs and then to tiny scars in the wink of an eye.
Her hand slid down his face to his neck and then to his shoulder. Had she been standing that close a second ago? He could smell the sweet wildflowers and berries that made up her true scent. He remembered it well. She had been a bright spot in a building filled with fur and grease and meat. But now she smelled of fur too, along with emotions that she shouldn’t be feeling. Surely she can’t feel the same about me as—