He lifted his weapon and fired. The demons turned on him. Silver had no effect. Without rowan or iron, he was an instant target. His men called out to him, shouting no. As the beasts lunged, Bear Shadow threw him an iron railroad stake, hurling rowan berries behind them like shrapnel.
Sasha’s chest sailed over him as he crouched down low, came up, and took her heart.
“Your arm!” Crow Shadow shouted. “Don’t let their contagion get into your wound!”
“Clarissa speaks from the other side. Silver Hawk sees here now, brother!” Bear Shadow shouted, dashing in with more supplies to take part in the battle.
With a quick pivot, Hunter spared his arm from his grandfather’s jaws, driving the stake into his temple. The beast howled as it exploded, sending embers and ash everywhere.
Seconds mattered, in the beat of a heart two more Shadow Wolves joined the fray. Hunter turned just long enough to see the regal Silver Shadow leap off the ground to collide with Bear Shadow’s demon wolf. Hunter was on the felled pair as they struggled on the ground, goring the demon in the throat as his grandfather sprang into action to chase Crow Shadow’s demon form. Crow Shadow didn’t hesitate. The moment his demon wolf lunged, he stabbed it in the chest. Both man and demon fell backward, leaving Crow Shadow beneath burning ash.
Silver Hawk pulled the younger man up with a hard yank, having shifted back into his human form. All men spun as screaming banshee-like demon forms of Doc, Winters, Woods, Fisher, Bradley, and Clarissa came running at them. The human beasts ran fast, moving in limb-distorted ways, with savage jaws, hollowed-out eyes, and hooked claws. The Shadow pack made a circle facing outward, stakes and rowan in hands. Then a voice made them glance over their shoulders for a second.
“Get down!”
Four men hit the ground; rapid machine-gun fire obliterated demon bodies. Green guck splattered everywhere, exploding into black slime. Then it became quiet, eerily so. The Shadow pack lifted their heads. Sasha stood wide-legged, breathing hard, holding an M-16 that had been loaded with iron shells.
“I got the call-not the cell phone variety,” she said, catching her breath. “I heard you in my soul, but thought I should make a pit stop to go get some of that ammo Winters and Bradley brought home from the occult shop.”
Hunter flipped himself up and pulled his grandfather up beside him. “Thank you,” he said quietly, beginning to weave.
“We need to get this man out of here. He’s lost a lot of blood, and with the demon doors opened around him…” Bear Shadow said.
Hunter looked at Bear Shadow. “I’m good.”
Crow Shadow and Silver Hawk caught him before he hit the ground.
Cartel Elderman Vlad opened his eyes, receiving Baron Montague’s telepathic transmission. His fangs lowered slowly as outrage caused his hands to tremble with fury.
“I don’t know who to be more vexed with!” he shouted into the darkness of his lair, also transmitting the message as a searing telepathic barb. “You would risk sending our nation to war during this precarious time of rebuilding in New Orleans-and for what, to toy with one of the wolves’ humans? Vengeance over a small taxation matter against your blood club? That is hardly worth the exposure to human authorities!”
“It was for much more than that, Elder Vlad,” Baron Montague shot back. “I had been monitoring the progression of Unseelie Fae dark magick, whereby, if they had been successful, we would have had a rare opportunity to break the Wolf Clan Federations that united against us, as well as break the back of the very fragile and newly united Seelie Fae Parliament, along with those third-world groups like the Mythics, The Order of the Dragon, and the others that sided with the wolves. My goal, sir, was to simply monitor the situation as the Unseelie magick weakened those allied forces, got them squabbling and at war amongst themselves, and thus… in time, we would have been in a position to be restored as a single voting bloc at the United Council of Entities. There was a larger objective than a mere blood club and a couple of casinos. However, we are not culpable for any of this, beyond the attack on the boy-to which I lost a lover… This illegal retribution was beyond the pale, and now they owe us for the offense.”
Deadly silence lay in wait between them. Baron Geoff Montague remained stone still. An infraction of this magnitude could cost him his life.
“Fix this,” Elder Vlad finally murmured. “You are a valuable member of our society and the Cartel… I would hate to have to witness your untimely demise. Make sure that it is clear, in court, that your hands were clean, so that none of this causes backlash on our Cartel.”
“It shall be addressed immediately upon sunset.” Baron Montague closed his eyes and released an inaudible breath of relief. “All that is necessary is the UCE trial and-”
“I don’t think so,” Elder Vlad said with a hiss in his tone.
“Sir? Pardon?”
“Several issues are at hand… Have you not been monitoring the human airwaves-their news reports-while in your lair?”
For a moment, Baron Montague couldn’t respond. “Uh, sir, I was battling for our lives using all available energy to keep my crypt concealed and to quell the inferno of the mansion and-”
“Well, let me give you a news update,” Elder Vlad said with a hiss. “The humans think there is Mexican drug cartel activity erupting in the area, since the establishment of Buchanan Broussard burned to the ground… and they found machine-gun casings, dead bodies, and drugs littering the property. Then, earlier this afternoon, smoke was seen billowing from Dugan’s Bed & Breakfast and Finnegan’s Wake, and there was an actual police shoot-out followed by an unsuccessful attempt to apprehend what the humans believe to be a vanload of drug terrorists that firebombed Ethan’s Fair Lady. However, like at the other establishments, the fire was immediately brought under control with minimal damage.”
The baron said nothing as the ancient Vampire drew a wheezing breath and continued his energy-sapping rant from his hidden crypt three parishes away.
“All of that would have been fine, except that there was a fire at your estate that left human bodies, shell casings, rocket-propelled grenade blasts, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That cannot be dark-glamoured away by your Unseelie friends. That cannot be removed from the collective consciousness of the entire American public. That is already in news archives!” the elderly Vampire shouted.
Elder Vlad didn’t allow Baron Montague to draw a breath to interject. His voice became punctuated by warning hisses as his rage spun out of control.
“That is a highly visible debacle that literally leads to your front door, which means it has led to our front door! It could possibly open us up to human investigation into all establishments, like our casinos, bars, restaurants, waste management contracts, oil companies, our military mercenary and security firms abroad, everything that is linked to you-which is way too much at risk. Do you realize that if the stupid humans believe that this is all a part of Mexican drug cartels moving into the southern region, crossing the border, with their economy in shambles and an aggressive new administration, they could nationalize a significant part of what we own? The war started at Buchanan Broussard’s wolf house-his lineage is from Texas-that’s been all over the news, including the mysterious disappearance of him and his daughter only months ago. The humans have made a leap in thinking-and it all circles back to us!”
“I will fix this, sir… You have my word.”
Elder Vlad drew a shaky breath. “You might want to ensure that you do before the trial.”
“Yes, Your Eminence.” Baron Montague sat up and then stood. “They must have clear evidence that we were involved, and they don’t.”