Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When we returned to the complex, the yard swarmed with men I didn’t recognize.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Who are all these people?”

“Help from other packs,” Shepard said as he parked. “I sent a message to Doc to have everyone meet here. Orphia gave us twenty-four hours, not that I believe she’ll keep her word. So, we don’t have any time to spare. We need to find and exterminate the big nests so Orphia doesn’t have the numbers to do whatever she has planned. We must stop the situation before this escalates any further.

“Everyone, stay here.”

He opened the door, and I saw he already had everyone’s attention in the yard.

“Open the window so I can hear,” Vena said from behind me. She was sandwiched in the back seat with Anchor and Cross.

Rolling down the window, we heard Shepard greet the masses. “Thank you all for gathering quickly. We have a serious vampire infestation on our hands. Give me a few minutes to coordinate our search efforts and put together groups. I’ll get you out of here and hunting in a bit.

“Also, the rumors about me working with a vampire are true.”

A collective growl rose, and I glanced back at Cross who winked at me before resuming his study of the men outside.

“He has been an invaluable resource, gaining information we couldn’t have found on our own,” Shepard continued. “Although it goes against everything we were made to do, I’m humbly asking you to refrain from attacking him as he helps us hunt down his own kind.”

I glanced back at Cross again. “Refrain?”

He grinned at me, and Vena waved for me to hush, which was very unlike her. However, I saw that every eye in the yard was now on me. At least, Shepard’s gaze was amused in the sea of distaste-filled stares. He motioned for us to join him.

The low rumble of growls increased at Cross' appearance, but no one made any move to attack him as we joined the group.

“Grab something from the kitchen,” Shepard said. “Eat. Drink. Use the next hour wisely, and be ready to head out when we return.”

I glanced back at Cross, who was walking between Vena and Anchor. Vena briefly saluted me before resuming her scowl at the men who were eyeing Cross, and I loved her even more for her unconditional support.

Shepard led us inside to his suite where Doc, Buzz, Detroit, Tank, Army, and Boulder waited with a map of the greater D.C. area. Vena lit up when she saw it.

“Vena, if you’d do the honors, please,” Shepard said, motioning to the map.

Her excitement fell as her gaze bounced between the map, the guys present, and Shepard.

“You’re going to use me to find the locations, and Everly and I will get stuck sitting in a city devoid of shifters while you go hunting.”

Shepard sighed. “You were in the room when Effora offered to watch over you, and as you mentioned, I’m not stupid. The only safe place for you and Everly is with us. You have my word you won’t be left behind.”

Her suspicion vanished. “Okay. I’ll scry.”

She removed her crystal and dangled it over the map, moving it in a slow circle that grew bigger with each pass. The crystal suddenly stopped over a spot to the northeast of the city.

“That’s not far from one of the dump sites,” Doc said.

She repeated the process until the crystal had covered every inch of the map and found five more locations, each within ten miles of the dump sites that had already been discovered.

Detroit removed that map and unfolded another one. I watched Vena’s crystal slowly circle over the entire East Coast, one state map at a time, until Shepard had a good idea of where all the nests were located.

“I felt a subtle vibration in the crystal’s chain when it was over the locations closest to D.C.,” Vena said. “It didn’t vibrate as much over the other ones, except this one in northern New York.” She pointed to the spot on the map. “I think the vibration means more vampires and not nearness.”

“Agreed,” Shepard said. “It would take more than six hours for our people to get there, so I doubt that nest would be part of Orphia’s plan. But I’ll notify New York’s Alpha and have him put eyes on that location. For now, we’ll deal with the larger nests closest to D.C.”

Shepard assigned locations to Buzz, Detroit, Tank, Army, and Boulder and said he would take the one west of D.C. himself.

“Cross and Anchor, you’re with me. Anchor, your only job is to stay with Everly and Vena. Doc, you stay here as our main point of contact.”

“You got it.”

“Everyone checks in with Doc before they go in and immediately after clean-up.

“We’ve got six hours of daylight left. Let’s get in and out of these locations before sunset to minimize the risk.

“No fewer than twenty-five wolves in each group. Find your volunteers outside. If the vampire presence in your assigned location is bigger than your group can successfully take on, wait. Call for backup. No risks. Do you understand?”

Everyone agreed, and the others left to coordinate their volunteers as Shepard’s phone rang. As he answered it, Cross took my hand and led me to a chair where he pulled me onto his lap.

“Will you be all right?” he asked.

I knew what he meant and nodded. “Vivian put a lot of effort into tracking me. I’d rather be with you than left behind where he’s probably lurking, waiting for another opportunity to grab me.”

“Our thoughts, too,” Cross said, looking at Shepard.

I did the same and caught Shepard’s scowl.

“It’s Effora testing his patience again,” Cross said softly. “She’s cooperating, though, so we should be able to leave soon.”

Shepard hung up the phone and looked at us.

“Ready?”

Cross helped me to my feet as I checked the time and saw it was just after three in the afternoon.

“Got somewhere to be?” Shepard asked with a smile.

“Yeah, safely home in bed before dark. Are you sure six hours will be enough time?”

He kissed my cheek. “It will be. I promise.”

Outside, Tank, Army, Detroit, Buzz, and Boulder already had their groups set. Shepard wished them all good hunting, reminded them not to take risks, and watched them leave. Once they were gone, he signaled to the remaining twenty-seven men.

“Let’s head out.” They divided up between the seven vehicles while we went to Shepard’s SUV.

Cross drove so Shepard could answer any messages, and Anchor, Vena, and I sat in the back. Vena used the drive to sharpen the knives she kept in a leather roll, and the scrape of metal against stone slowly drove me crazy.

When I couldn’t stand the sound anymore, I elbowed her.

“What?” she asked. “I have to be ready.”

“Weren’t they already sharp.”

She shook her head. “Not sharp enough for what I have planned.”

“Which is nothing,” Shepard said. “Right?”

Shepard waited for Vena’s defeated nod before once again reminding Anchor he was responsible for keeping us in the vehicle.

“It’s coming up,” Shepard said. “Let’s drive through first and get a feel for where they might be. If we need to, we can split up and do a grid search to cover every street. The town doesn’t look that big according to the map.”

I leaned toward Vena to get a view of the town around Shepard. The century-old brick buildings were beautiful and mostly businesses. A few cars were parked on the main street, but I didn’t see any people. The businesses were all dark and had the signs turned to closed. Just after four on a Sunday? Maybe.

We turned down a more residential street and found the same thing. Cars in driveways or on the street, but no people. It was a beautiful day.

“Where are the kids?” I asked.

“This is eerie,” Vena said. “It’s like the start of a zombie apocalypse movie. Where are all the people?”

Shepard rolled to a stop. “I’ll have our group search one building at a time. I don’t know how long it will take. This town isn’t big, but even a small town with a group our size sweeping it might take more time than what we have. Move fast, but stay alert.”

“Wait,” I said before he could get out of the SUV. “Remember what Hugh said. If Orphia’s been taking people and turning them, not all of them were willing. Don’t assume every vampire is bad.”

Cross looked back at me. “He doesn’t. But right now, we don’t have the luxury to question each one. Newly turned vampires are hungry, Everly. Whether they want to or not, the majority would kill you on sight. And that’s not a risk we can afford.”

“Then watch for the ones who don’t want to fight. They deserve a chance to be on our side, right?”

I knew it was a long shot to ask, but it didn’t seem right to blindly kill either. What if I had been turned into a vampire? What if we never gave Cross a chance?

I couldn’t imagine life without him now.

“We’ll try,” Cross said.

Shepard and Cross both shot Anchor a weighted glance before slipping out of the SUV. They met with the other wolves and divided into smaller groups.

I watched Shepard motion to one end of the street and then the other. Cross nodded and led half the men toward the end of our caravan while Shepard’s group went in the opposite direction.

“Is it smart to split up like that?” I asked Anchor softly.

“Yeah. While the sun’s up, the vamps will be slower and easier to kill. And”–he tapped his nose–“we’ll know where and how many there are. Don’t worry, everyone here, except for Cross, has a lot of experience with cleaning out nests. They’ll be careful.”

Vena and I watched Shepard’s group disappear into a distant house.

She sat back and tucked the knife she’d been sharpening into its place in the leather roll. I heard her mutter under her breath about wolves having all the fun as she took out another knife to sharpen.

After a few minutes, Shepard’s group came out of the first home. They were splattered in blood but didn’t look like they were in a panic as they quickly moved to the next house.

“Are some partly shifted?” she asked.

“It happens during hunting, especially to the younger wolves who can’t control their shifting as well,” Anchor said.

The sun was sinking lower to the horizon as the groups went from home to home, working their way toward the middle. When they cleared the street, a few of the guys ran back to the vehicles to move them to the next street.

Anchor drove Shepard’s SUV, which was a good thing, considering the amount of red on Shepard.

Everything progressed quietly for the next several streets since most of those homes were empty.

“Not as big of a nest as Shepard hoped,” Anchor said from the front seat as we drove to the next street over.

Shepard and Cross’ groups had just reached the opposite ends of the street and disappeared into the houses when Vena suddenly tossed the knife she’d been working on to the seat between us and reached into her pocket.

The crystal she withdrew danced in the palm of her open hand.

“What the heck?”

“Um, that can’t be good,” I said.

We both looked up as a man ran out of the home Shepard’s group had entered. He immediately burst into flames in the sunlight and let out an unholy scream.

I covered my ears.

“Lock the doors,” Anchor said.

The SUV rocked as Anchor sprinted out faster than I could see. I clamped my eyes closed when his blur reached the flaming vampire.

“Holy crap,” Vena said. “I think we’re in trouble.”

I opened my eyes, and she showed me the crystal was no longer vibrating but wildly spinning.

Vampires suddenly poured out of buildings all around us. Some ignited instantly in flames. Some had wrapped themselves in blankets or tarps and were running toward the parked cars.

“Lock the doors!” I said, already slamming mine down.

Vena nimbly stretched forward to hit the main lock.

“It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll be okay.”

I didn’t believe her.

A vampire ran past our car and paused, only momentarily, but it was enough to show they could smell us. Something crashed behind us, and I swiveled to see one of the escaping cars had backed into one of ours.

Fully shifted wolves sprinted from the house Shepard’s group had invaded, joining the growing chaos outside the car. They fought furiously with Anchor, killing the vampires as they tried to escape.

However, a few vampires still managed to run for the woods at the end of the street.

And more just kept pouring out of the buildings. Hundreds, easily.

“That’s him,” Vena breathed, drawing my attention.

I looked and saw a man dressed in all black emerge from a home. He was completely covered with a hat and veil thing that made it impossible to see his face. However, the black leather pants and the way he moved struck a chord in me.

Vivian.

Fear shivered through me.

The black cat at his feet surveyed the mayhem.

“You’re not getting away this time, fleabag,” Vena said under her breath.

The cat’s head turned toward our vehicle, and it hissed before running and jumping onto the hood of our SUV. Then, it sat, lifted a leg, and started licking itself.

Vena exploded. “Mother fucker, you’re mine.”

She had the door open before I could stop her.

“Vena, no!” I slid across the seat to grab her, but she was too fast.

She bolted for the front of the car as I clasped the open door. From the corner of my eye, I saw Vivian’s veiled head turn toward me.

It felt like the world dropped out from under me. Everything slowed.

Vivian blurred. I heaved back on the door. Then, he was there, in the opening, his hand holding the edge of the door. A red glow emanated from under his veil.

I couldn’t see his face, but his low laughter sent a shiver through me as he easily opened the door again. I heard him inhale deeply, and what he’d said the last time played in my mind.

You smell delicious when you’re scared.

Twisting, I tried scrambling across the seat. His hands closed over my calves, and he jerked me backward.

My belly slid along the seat, and I scrabbled for anything to hold onto. My fingers caught on something hard as he shifted his hold to my waist and plucked me free of the vehicle. I held onto the object as panic and fear flooded me.

He flipped me to face him, and I lashed out without thought while screaming my terror.

Vivian screamed and dropped me, clawing at his veil and the shiny handled knife sticking from it. Vena’s knife.

I screamed again and tried crawling back to my seat…to safety. I didn’t get far. The sound of Vena’s yelling and a cat’s screeching barely registered over Vivian’s cursing and the feel of his hand closing over my ankle.

His grip vanished suddenly, and I was left panting and shaking on the seat. I didn’t linger there. Bolting upright, I twisted around to grab for the door. Instead, I saw the back of Cross' very bloodied shirt filling the opening.

He jerked a few times then disappeared.

Eyes wide, I stared at the spot where he’d been. The harsh sounds of my gasps filled the interior of the car.

Where did he go?

I wanted to look but couldn’t tear my gaze from where he’d been…from where Vivian had been.

“Everly!” The sound of Cross’ voice snapped me out of my daze. I blinked and saw him in front of me.

He carefully removed the bloodied shirt, leaving his clean chiseled torso bare to my gaze. After mopping off his arms and hands with the shirt before tossing it to the side, he stretched a hand out toward me, and a tormented cry ripped from me as I threw myself into his arms. I pressed my face to his chest as I closed my eyes.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, smoothing a hand over the back of my head.

“No.” The word warbled. “Is he gone?”

“Vivian is gone. He ran.”

A shaky exhale escaped me, and I leaned back to look at Cross.

“Thank you for stopping him.”

He tilted his head and looked at me.

“I didn’t stop him. You and Vena did.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you stabbed Vivian with the knife, it was the distraction Vena needed to end her fight with Adriel. His death cry distracted Vivian.”

He nodded toward the front of the car. I followed his gaze and saw Anchor holding a crying Vena with one arm and a limp cat out to the side with the other.