“Sounds good.” Alex nodded with the speed and elasticity of one of those wobbly-headed dol s. “I’l be back as soon as the moon starts to set.”
“Take care of yourself.” Chloe stepped forward, lifted up on tiptoe, and popped a kiss on his cheek. “Try not to get in any trouble.”
He flashed a quick grin, which bared his long, curved fangs. “I never do.”
“I know.” She stepped back while he paced in a restless circle. “You’re an awesome kid. Young man.
Whatever.”
“Thanks.” That wild smile shone again, then a shudder rippled through him as the last rays of the sun began to fade from the horizon. “Gotta go.”
Spinning, he al but flowed into the tepee, his body so primed to Change it’d probably taken al his control to stay in human form as long as he had.
Merek tensed as he heard the kid shifting, and held his breath, waiting to see if Alex made it over or if they lost him right there. Chloe reached back for his hand blindly. He took her hand, hauled her to his side, and felt her flinch at each sound of a bone breaking. Sweat popped out on his forehead, trickling down his temple and sticking his shirt to his back. His gut churned as the silence stretched on for long, long moments and there was no sign of Alex.
Somehow, this hadn’t occurred to him as a possibility, that they might lose the contained young wolf just because he was a wolf. Merek’s jaw clenched. He should have seen it coming. The boy’s mother had died the same way, Chloe had told him so. He let go of her hand, met her haunted gaze for a fleeting moment, and then strode toward the tepee. “I’l check on him.”
Check and see if he’d made it through, but the eerie silence was damning. Every footfal rang too loudly in his ears. He didn’t want to go in, didn’t want to see, didn’t want to know. His heart pounded in slow, painful thuds. Sucking in a deep breath, he braced himself as he reached the tepee’s opening.
I’m here. Alex’s telepathic voice sounded in Merek’s mind, and relief hit him with the subtle force of a freight train. The wolf stepped outside, but ugly memories lurked in the pale eyes as they met Merek’s. It’s always . . . harder at first at full moon. And then it’s way too easy.
“I understand.” He laid a hand on the wolf’s back, one of the few times he’d deliberately touched the wary boy. The muscles twitched beneath his hand.
Do you? The question was sharp edged, brittle.
“I have my own powers that are a bitch to control. They don’t threaten my life, but I can relate to some of what you go through.” Leaving his hand where it was, he sent a wave of soothing calm to the vibrating young wolf. Ful moon fever wasn’t easy for a wolf to fight, and with his pack in Seattle, Alex wouldn’t have had to work as hard, would have had older wolves to help and guide him. He’d have had the protection and freedom of running on pack land.
The muzzle dipped in a nod. Maybe you do get it.
He kept up the stream of discipline and control that flowed from his hand to the wolf, knew from the way Alex quivered that he felt the magic, but didn’t try to escape it. Good. Anything Merek could do to help, he would, and he wanted the werewolf to know it. “Chloe and I can never understand exactly what you go through, but we’re here if and when you need us. Believe that, if nothing else.”
The wolf’s eyes closed, and he final y leaped sideways and shook. I believe you, but I have to go. Now.
The need to run is ripping me up inside.
“Go. We’l be here.”
Alex shot forward, passed Chloe, and slid to a stop at the lake’s shore to fling back his head and bay at the moon.
The lonesome sound ended in a howl of agony when the lupine body jerked sideways as though struck by an invisible sledgehammer. The report of a rifle came a split second later, fol owed by the reverberating gut-punch of Merek’s warding spel being breached, and then time assumed the elastic quality of battle.
Merek launched himself forward, knocking Chloe to the ground in the same motion as he pul ed his weapon from his concealed holster and fired into the stand of trees north of their campsite, just beyond the stretch of his warding spel s.
“Fuck,” he snarled. How many of Smith’s men were there? He stretched his senses, found four distinct energies lurking beyond the line of trees. Not good.
“Alex!” Chloe screamed; terror and rage rang clear in her voice. Wel , at least she wasn’t going hysterical on him. Then again, it was Chloe.
She tried to crawl out from under him, and he shoved her back to the ground. Bul ets slapped into the dirt around them, made it spray in their faces. “Stay down, damn it!”
“Alex was shot, damn it,” she retorted, flinching as he returned fire on the terrorists.
“I’d like for him to be the only one, so stay where you are.” He felt the bul ets exploding through his shields, then the hot slicing blade of the Magickals combining their abilities to rupture the warding spel entirely. They were powerful; he could feel the strength that only came with age.
Sweat filmed his skin, made his clothes cling to his flesh. He ignored it, shoved the discomfort away. That didn’t matter now. Only Chloe and Alex mattered. He could see the kid convulsing on the beach, his lupine body jerking spasmodical y in the flickering firelight. Fear coated Merek’s tongue, but then he locked any emotion away until there was nothing left but the heightened senses and intensified magic of battle fever.
The overwhelming silence pounded against his ears. Gunfire had ceased, but he knew they were moving, separating. He waited, every muscle tense, and he leaned more heavily on Chloe, silently tel ing her to be stil . Alex’s harsh groans made her quiver, but exposing themselves on the beach would be suicide. Merek prayed harder than he ever had in his life to any deity who would listen that the kid hung on until Merek could get to him.
A twig snapped, far too close for Merek’s comfort. He threw out his free hand, and a bal of flames exploded outward. It hit a man, highlighting him and the deadly rifle he carried. This was the one who’d shot Alex. Cold rage coalesced inside Merek, and he blasted another stream of fire into the Magickal. The scent of cooking meat made his stomach jolt, but the flaming corpse hit the ground before the guttural scream finished echoing against the surrounding mountains.
Something moved between Merek and the fire, a shadow almost too fast to be anything but another flicker of dancing firelight. It was an enemy, he could feel the magic, taste it in his mouth. Vampire. Half-shifted, so it had enormous bat wings stretching from its back. Meaning they didn’t give a shit that a Normal might catch a glimpse. Anyone that careless was especial y dangerous. Even most Magickal criminals obeyed the laws against Normal interactions because if you fucked that law in a big enough way, it carried an automatic death sentence.
They needed to get out of here. Now.
The vampire swished through the air above them, dropping something large on the far side of the fire.
Another terrorist? He couldn’t tel . The bloodsucker came back, sweeping forward to hover right over them, and Merek knew they were caught. He flipped over, weapon extended, aiming for the wings. A few shots hit, the explosive ammunition designed for Magickals lighting up the night. Blood rained down on him in hot torrents, drenching his clothes. Shock showed in the red eyes that gleamed like embers in a pale face. The vampire screeched, its broken wing contorting so he dropped to flop like a great wounded bird on the ground.
Snapping a fresh clip into his gun, Merek rol ed into a crouch. He wrapped an arm around Chloe’s waist and hauled her up next to him. He scuttled to the far side of the tepee, dragging her in his wake. The cover was pretty fucking feeble, but vampires could see in the dark, and he couldn’t. He kept his senses open as wide as possible, trying to pinpoint the other terrorists.