Chapter 39

The werewolves led us to a small cabin. As this was their territory, I suspected it was less a hunting cabin and more a place for them to crash after a particularly tiring day running as wolves or gorging on deer.

After a quick note that the cabin was adorable and well-constructed, I followed the wolves inside. I’d gawk later. We had lives to save first. The door latches were levers, and the wolves easily worked the mechanism with their noses.

One wall of the cabin had several large bunks with comfortable looking beds. I lay Nimbus on the bottom one. He woke up long enough to make a nest with the comforter and the pillows before he was snoring softly in that adorable way only a dog can manage.

“So, what do we do?” I turned to Bridger.

The werewolves both gave full body shakes before shifting back to human form. I averted my gaze to give them a bit of privacy. My assumption that this cabin belonged to the wolves was further strengthened when the man grabbed some sweats out of a cabinet and handed them to the woman before dressing himself. I hadn’t had time to meet all of Davin’s wolves with everything else that was going on, but these two looked familiar. I couldn’t place their names, though.

“Now, we figure out how to bring the sun back,” Bridger answered.

“Yes, that has to be our main priority. Davin will be hunting the magic caster, but without vampire backup, we may be outnumbered,” the male werewolf confirmed.

The pressure of their gazes as they studied me was almost too much. I turned away and hunched my shoulders, trying to think. With a little rest, I could likely create more sunlight spells, but that was a very small thing with as big as this fight was.

As I racked my brain for ideas, the feeling that I needed to meditate tickled at the back of my thoughts.

“I need a minute.” I sank to my knees and focused on my breathing until I could turn my thoughts inward and chase them down into the transitional place where I’d unlocked my magic and met Twister.

I found myself walking down a path between a forest of apple trees, branches heavily laden with fruit. I picked one and took a bite. Crisp, sweet flesh crunched between my teeth, and flavor exploded in my mouth. By the time I’d finished the apple, I reached the end of the pathway. A round door I’d never seen before stood in my path. It was golden with coppery highlights flickering along the surface as if sunlight played over the surface.

Approaching, I clasped my hands together in front of me. “We need help. The vampires are attacking my friends, and they’re hurting countless people and beings besides those of us in Beechworth. I’m not practiced enough to do this alone. Please?”

I bent over and put my hand on the round brass knob, feeling its smoothness under my fingers and the warmth that radiated out from it, and the door. I didn’t fear anything in this realm, but I hesitated to open the door. With no idea where it led, I just hoped the answers I needed were on the other side.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly twisted the handle.

The door opened inward under its own power, and I released the handle. I got the impression I wasn’t supposed to go through the door, but to wait. It wasn’t a human-sized door—unless that human were a child. The light through the door flared blindingly bright, and I averted my eyes until it faded.

When I blinked the sparkles from my eyes, the door had vanished. In its place sat a dog. This dog had a boxy face with a long snout, floppy ears, and short, burnished golden brown fur. She wagged her tail, thumping it on the ground.

I held out my hand, and she came forward and pressed her head under it for pets. She radiated warmth much like the door had. If this obviously magical dog had anything to do with sunlight, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Are you going to come help us?”

The dog nodded.

“Thank you.” I scrubbed her ears again then took a step backward, intending to retrace my steps to my body and consciousness.

Instead, I was jerked back. I snapped my eyes open to see Bridger shaking me.

“Sorry, Hannah. We just got word from Beechworth and it’s bad. We need to go. If nothing else, we might still need to use you as bait.”

“Great,” I muttered.

“I will stay with Nimbus,” the man said. “I will guard him with my life.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t want to leave him, but he’d likely be safer here than with me.

After a moment, I remembered what I’d seen in the transitional place and looked around, but I didn’t see the dog anywhere. Pushing away the feeling of disappointment, I went outside and immediately felt like an ass. The dog waited for me at the door, tail wagging.

“Hello.” I ruffled her ears, and she dropped her jaw in a doggy grin.

“Who’s this?” Bridger asked.

“She answered my call for help. Otherwise, I don’t know.”

“Good to meet you.” Bridger also gave her a scratch behind the ears then we fell in behind the female werewolf and headed toward town.

***

“Fuck,” the werewolf cursed.

It didn’t look good. The darkness had allowed Vito’s vampires to come out and play. All the streetlights had come on with the unnatural darkness, illuminating a line of heavily tinted cargo vans waiting in the streets of downtown. I guessed that was how the vampires traveled. Now they were loading captured townsfolk into them. Many were people I recognized from the various shops around town. They were not combatants. The screams and shouts of battle sounded from the direction of the coffee shop.

“We have to stop the vans.” I pointed at them urgently.

Before I could say more, the new dog burst into motion. She sprinted out of the underbrush we crouched in and sped toward the nearest vampire. The dog was astonishingly fast, and she skidded to a halt in front of the vampire.

He turned and glanced at her before baring his fangs. Instead of being intimidated the dog opened her mouth but instead of a massive bark, blindingly bright light poured from her open jaws.

The vampire didn’t stand a chance. He went up in flames, screaming out his death as others looked his way. At first his companions didn’t seem to understand what was going on, but after the dog unleashed her weapon on the next vampire, they clued in. ‘Panic ensued’ was a mild way of putting how the vampires amongst the enemy reacted to a dog wielding literal deadly sunlight. The less-impacted members of the party managed to switch their focus to attacking the dog, but the vampires scattered.

For a moment, I was worried about the dog’s safety, but she skillfully evaded each attack. As the vampires scattered, wolves came out of hiding and attacked. Others shifted to human form to help rescue the captives.

“Okay, so, let’s head toward the coffee shop.” I glanced at Bridger, and he nodded, so we hurried in that direction. “Wait, do they get cell reception when they’re underground?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t spent that much time texting Katsuro.”

I dug out my phone and called Katsuro.

The call went to voicemail. “Damn. Either they don’t, or Vito had one of his goons take out their connection.”

“Probably the latter. Katsuro strikes me as the type to want internet access for his people. If nothing else.”

“Yeah.” I sent him a quick text letting him know what was going on, just in case, before turning my attention back to our surroundings.

Though it was darker in this part of town, we got to Oliver’s apartments with little trouble. The main fighting surrounded the coffee shop, and we could see what was going on while remaining crouched in the shadows.

I guessed that quite a few of the enemy were inside the coffee shop trying to get through to the sanctuary. Or, at least, they were keeping the entrance blocked while the rest of Vito’s people took over the town.

While we watched, Vito himself, with several vampires and Drake, his shade, came out of the coffee shop.

It seemed as if Davin and a few of the others had been waiting for this opportunity. They charged out from wherever they’d been hiding, a few in human form, most in wolf. Oliver slipped from the shadows and launched himself at Drake.

My heart was in my throat as I watched them struggle. With their shadowy natures and the unnatural darkness, it was more that I caught flickers of them as they blocked out the light.

Davin and the other wolves went for Vito and the other vampires. I thought they were going to succeed, but then Vito pulled out a gun, and he was vampire-fast and deadly accurate.

Two of the wolves fell without a sound, reverting to their human forms. Davin took a hit and fell back, shouting in anger and pain.

“I really wish I had my rifle,” Bridger muttered.

I wished he did, too.

Vito leveled the gun at Davin. The other wolves backed off. Oliver had Drake in an arm-lock. He let the shade go when Vito pointed at them.

As though I were glimpsing the future, I could see what events would unfold if nothing changed. Vito would kill Davin with the silver in his gun, then Drake would get the upper hand with Oliver. They would find Bridger and me and kill us. Nimbus would be in danger again, and my vampires would fall. All of that would happen if I didn’t do something in the next few moments.

But what? What could I do against an ancient, powerful vampire?

I had no time to think, so I did the only thing I could. I played bait, or at least a distraction.

“Hey!” I shouted as I raced toward them.

I wasn’t in bad shape by any stretch of the imagination, but it had been a long day, and I wasn’t a runner. Still, I made good time and had everyone’s attention. Davin held his hand to his side and stared at me as if he couldn’t quite figure out what I was doing.

Bridger shouted something, and Oliver, well, I could feel his terror through our bond. Drake grabbed him before he could come to me.

I just hoped that the dog with the sunlight powers would catch up before this latest idiocy got me killed.

Gasping, I stumbled to a halt between Davin and Vito, his gun now pointed directly at me instead of the werewolf.

Davin growled unhappily, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do.

“I’m pretty sure you want me more than you want some werewolves. Looks like you’ve won. There’s nothing we can do against your magic and your vampires. Why don’t you let Davin go?”

“My dear, you’re in no position to bargain,” Vito began.

Just then I felt a soft brush of fur under my hand on my left, and a vibrant warmth on my right. The dogs had arrived.

“I think I am,” I shot back. “Let Davin go, and I’ll tell Nimbus to back off. You can get your revenge on me.”

“You make no mention of the vampires?”

“I think I’m more valuable to you than the werewolves, but I doubt you want me more than you want Katsuro.”

Vito chuckled. “You are surprisingly clever and wise for a human. Maybe I’ll turn you and make use of you that way.”

I didn’t bother to hide my shudder. Vito studied me, his oily gaze coating me in an imagined filth as he surveyed what he thought would be his next prize.

Nimbus rooed softly, and I sensed him gathering his energy. The new dog huffed, and before Vito could agree or disagree with my terms, they attacked.

Nimbus yanked Vito’s gun skyward with his powers. The new dog dashed forward, blasting the vampires with the sunlight pouring from her mouth.

Davin grabbed me and dragged me away from the fight. “You’re crazy, Hannah,” he snapped, now sheltering me with his body.

“It worked.”

“Where the hell did you get a sunlight-puking dog?” Davin shoved me around the corner of the coffee shop.

I snorted but otherwise didn’t answer. There would be time enough for questions later. Especially since I wasn’t exactly sure myself.

“Stay here. They still need me.” Davin glanced at me, and I nodded. The werewolf dove back into the fight. I peered around the corner, watching and grabbing for my magic. If I was recovered enough, I might be able to help.

Bridger had used my distraction to join the fight. He and Oliver were guarding each other while they fought the vampires. The new dog’s sunlight weapon was devastatingly effective, and the coffee shop had emptied as Vito called more vampires to shield him. He sported burns but was too powerful to simply kill that way. Too bad.

“Nimbus!” I called my cloud dog to me.

He popped into existence next to me.

“We need to see if we can free our vampires.”

He rooed in agreement.

Hoping the guys and the sunlight dog had the battle in hand, I crept back and headed for the service entrance. Nimbus trotted along ahead of me, his tail curled over his back.

When we got to the service entrance it was predictably locked. I pushed on the door a few times just to make sure and pulled once. Nothing.

Nimbus huffed before vanishing. Moments later, he pushed open the door, front paws on the crash bar. His teleporting abilities were handy.

I slipped inside and we let the door close behind us. Emergency lighting gave just enough illumination that I could see. Nimbus knew where we were going, too, so he led the way as we crept through the hallways. We would likely run into at least one vampire, and I prepared myself as best I could to fight them.

The hallways were empty, but the storage closet that led to the entrance wasn’t. They knew I was coming, so I charged in and blasted outward with my own version of the sunlight spell. Vampires screamed as the motes stuck to them and burned.

Nimbus kicked up with his wind powers, clearing a path, and I ran through while they were distracted.

In the entry room where the control pad was, I saw two more vampires. I blasted them with the sunlight spell and, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake, slammed my hand down on the pad.

Nimbus stood at my side, pelting the vampires with torrential wind to keep them back.

A speaker crackled.

“It’s me! Hannah!” I shouted. “We have them distracted.”

The doors glided open, and an entire horde of very angry vampires boiled through.

They moved quicker than I could follow, but flickers of color and form blurred past me. Nimbus dropped his wind attack and sank to the ground. I kneeled next to him, burying my fingers in his ruff.

“Very good boy.” I hugged my cloud dog close.

Jaz appeared next to me, practically out of thin air. “Go below. We will handle the rest.”

Before I could agree or disagree, she was gone and the wind of the enraged vampires passing faded. The door slid shut, but I suspected it would open for me if I put my hand on the reader. I didn’t want to simply hide, but I knew I was out of power. Really, what else could I do but get in the way. Though one thought did occur.

“Nimbus, that new dog, she needs to know that some of the vampires are friends.”

He huffed, ears perked, tail flagging over his back in alarm before he ran off and vanished. The cloud dog would warn her. As soon as he came back, we’d retreat below to rest and wait.

All in all, a solid plan. Until Drake swirled out of the shadows next to me.

“Shit!” I grabbed for any thread of magic I had left, but it was gone.

The shade’s hands closed on my arms in an iron grip I had no hope of breaking. Still, I tried, using all the techniques the FBI had taught me. They would have worked against a human, but Drake was nearly as strong as a vampire, or so he seemed at that moment.

He twisted one of my arms up behind me and wrapped his arm around my throat, cutting off my air. Either would have been enough to subdue me. I went still.

“Let’s go end this, shall we?” he hissed.

With no choice in the matter, I let him drag me out through the coffee shop. I thought about one last attempt at freedom, but Drake nearly dislocated my arm, and I gave up. This time, someone was going to have to save me.