When Cole responded to that, his voice was more grating and intense, as if he was practically chewing on his phone: “Because we know next to nothing about him, that’s why!”
“He was the one at that prison where you, me, and Lambert were being held,” Frank offered.
“I remember.” Cole pulled in a deep breath and let it out. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like Esteban said more to you a few minutes ago than he has to anyone else. He’s not like the other Full Bloods. He’s not making demands or finding one of us to threaten. Liam, Randolph, even Henry hunted us down, but this one just wants to kill. He didn’t say anything to us when he showed up in Colorado.”
“He was there for whatever was being held beneath that prison,” Frank said. “And judging by his newfound ability, he found it.”
“I don’t know about all of them, but Esteban and any shapeshifters following him are way past the stage of calling us out or forcing us to hand anything over. They want us dead. Plain and simple.”
“Have you learned something along those lines?”
“Yeah,” Cole said. “It’s too much to get into now, but the Full Bloods just want to wipe us out because they’re sick of sharing space with us and they don’t need to bargain or explain a damn thing to anyone else.”
Frank’s tan and yellow scales flattened against his face, and his creamy yellow eyes fixed upon the distant cityscape. “I’m going to see what I can do in Shreveport.”
“Thanks, Frank. Whatever you can do to help will go a long way.”
“Just make sure I’m not here on my own for long.” With that, he hung up, stuffed the phone into his pack and broke into a run to make up for lost time.
Chapter Eleven
Louisville, Kentucky
Cole hung up and was immediately slapped on the shoulder from the seat behind him.
“What did he say?” Paige asked. “What happened? Where are they? Is Adderson still alive?”
They were driving in the car they’d taken from the Lariat Club. Cole was behind the wheel, Waggoner beside him, and Paige in the back. It was an uncharacteristic move for her to opt out of the driver’s seat, but that way she could keep an eye on Waggoner while checking over their weaponry. “Adderson and the IRD were deployed to Shreveport, Louisiana,” he told her. “It got pretty rough. Esteban showed up and turned most of the soldiers.”
“Didn’t they get a shot off?” Waggoner asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cole replied. “He’s powerful enough to turn a human without having to bite them. With Full Bloods being so fast, it’s hard to say if Esteban is the only one who can pull off that trick. From what we’ve seen, he can do it from anywhere within fifty to sixty yards. Usually goes for the heavy equipment first. Helicopters, large caliber mounted guns. Tanks.”
“They can take down tanks?” Waggoner asked.
“They turn the drivers. Adderson mentioned something about using remote controlled drones on loan from the Air Force, but they can’t come anywhere close to a Full Blood’s speed. It’s a joke.”
“So what happened in Louisiana?”
Cole gave them the short version as the scenery rolled past his window. Louisville, like any other city, was quiet during the day and quieter at night. There were still cars going about their business, but they moved swiftly and drivers gripped the steering wheel as if something would jump out at them at any moment. A few months ago that would have been excessively paranoid. Now it seemed about right.
“So you got some other shapeshifters to work with you?” Waggoner asked.
“Mongrels were against the Full Bloods way before any of this crap happened,” Paige said. “Frank signed on after Cole helped break him out of a prison, and he’s trying to get the rest of the Squams to join the cause.” Before Waggoner asked, she added, “Squamatosapiens are lizard people.”
“And the whole prison thing?”
“Long story. Right now, you just need to worry about getting back to your buddies before you’re gone for too long.”
Waggoner looked out the window, even though they’d driven several miles from the Vigilant base. “Some of the men I knew back in Oklahoma swore by these fellas, but now I’m not so sure about them.”
“Then leave.”
“And go where? I can handle myself and I’ve been practicing with the whole stick thing, but I can’t exactly run like a lot of these younger men. Sticking with a group seemed to be a good move for me. The men I really trusted back home were killed when Atoka was overrun, and now I find out the Vigilant may be backstabbing pricks.”
“Maybe not all of them,” Cole offered.
“Oh, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Waggoner shifted in his seat. The closer the car got to Spring and Payne, the more nervous he became. “The only ones that haven’t given me reason to distrust them are you two. Mind if I tag along for a while?”
Paige watched him carefully from the backseat, as she had for most of the drive. Much to Cole’s surprise, she said, “We could get you out of town if you like, but I’m not talking about deputizing you.”
“Why not?”
“Yeah,” Cole said. “Why not? I mean, he’s already gotten this far. What’s the worst that could happen if he tries to screw us over or doesn’t work out? The world ends? Too late for that.”
“Nice,” she said. Looking at Waggoner, she finally slumped back into her seat, resigned. “Fine. He comes along for now, but I’m too tired to train anyone for a while. If he can’t take care of himself, we leave him wherever he drops.”
“He likes that idea just fine,” Waggoner said. “From what I heard, it ain’t too healthy to stay with you two for long anyhow.”
“You got that right,” Paige said while leaning forward to nudge Cole’s shoulder. “We also need to talk to someone who knows a lot more about the Torva’ox than we do. Someone who’s already used to working with it or at least storing it.”
“Someone who might have created the Jekhibar?”
“Yep. Someone other than the military or a bunch of radical Lancroft fanatics, who might be able to lend us a hand in fighting the Full Bloods. Someone, I might add, who owes us a few big favors.”
“You want to make the call or should I?”
Chapter Twelve
Sixty miles west of Great Falls, Montana
The two powerful beasts had been running in ever-widening circles. Randolph did his best to keep Kawosa’s scent fresh in his nose, but had lost it on a few occasions. Whenever that happened, the trickster snuck up on him to attack from another angle. Claws slashed through flesh and fangs ripped meat from the bone of both creatures as they circled and launched themselves into the next onslaught. Kawosa was always the one to break off when things got too rough. He needed to find some way to lose Randolph or defeat him. There was no third alternative.
When the Full Blood slowed his pace again and the snowy terrain became more than a white and gray blur, the peaks of the Rocky Mountains loomed before him. Blood surged through Randolph’s body, feeding his senses with an elemental fire that allowed him to see in total darkness or stare straight up into the sun. At the moment, he simply took his bearings by looking at the sky and allowed the wind to spill across his panting tongue.
“You . . . can’t . . . find me.”
Despite the power entwined within those words, which would have made them believable to almost any living thing, Randolph continued his search. But the force of that suggestion had a weight that made his head droop and his next breath seep like tar all the way back down to his lungs. Yet still he searched.
“And you can’t escape me!” he bellowed. “If there was a way, you would have taken it already. Step out and face me!”