“That wouldn’t have happened. Without a spore, the most they could do would be to get bigger or strangle you from the inside.”
“Oh, that’s a relief,” Cole growled.
“We’ll find a way out of this. I promise.”
“And what if we don’t?”
“Then you can nibble on me in your sleep. Or,” Paige added with a smirk, “you could try it when you’re awake.”
For once Cole didn’t even begin to rise up to that occasion. As much as he loved it when she smiled that way, there was something else that made it impossible for him to enjoy the moment or the offer attached to it. “Let’s just not let it come to that, okay?”
“It’ll get worse if you don’t feed,” she said. “It may not get as bad as if you had an actual spore inside you, but it’ll get worse. Daniels studied the tendrils on his own way before this happened, and he says they reflexively tighten when they go without blood from a source other than their host for too long.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. You just have to trust that I’m strong enough to manage on my own.”
She looked into his eyes in a way that made Cole feel as if she was staring all the way down to the thoughts he’d tried to cover. Placing a hand on his stomach and holding it there, she said, “It’s not a question of strength. It’ll hurt. A lot.”
When he took hold of her wrist, he intended on moving her hand away, but changed his mind. Her skin felt too good against his fingers, and they’d both learned to take their comfort whenever they could get it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When they’d piled into the SUVs again, Cole thought the Amriany were taking him, Paige, and Waggoner back to the club where they were ushered into the country. But the small caravan turned eastward and headed into a small town called Imola. Although the rural setting was much different than what he was used to, the occasional glimpses of Half Breeds running to the right of the vehicles reminded him very much of home. To the left, however, there was once again nothing but trees.
“What’s over there?” he asked while tapping the window.
Sophie was behind the wheel, and she only had to look at where Cole was pointing before replying, “We avoid that place.”
“Is it a forest?”
Her interest sufficiently piqued, Paige leaned across him to get a look out Cole’s window. “Doesn’t look like enough trees to be a forest. Pretty, though.”
Milosh sat in the passenger seat and chuckled. “Yes. Real pretty. Perhaps you will find out for yourself.”
He was silenced by a few terse words from Sophie.
The landscape that had caught Cole’s attention consisted of rolling hills covered in grass and thin layers of snow. Large clusters of barren trees were spaced unevenly to make the terrain look densely packed in some spots and wide-open in others. There were roads that led between the trees, and every now and then he caught sight of buildings that looked to be no bigger than two or maybe three stories tall. It was a tranquil scene, especially because he had yet to see any Half Breeds roaming on that side of the road. Having spotted packs or the occasional stray roaming the countryside, he had a good idea about the extent of the Amriany shapeshifter problem. Yet, this other side of the road presented a different picture. Not only did it look clearer, but his scars burned less as they drove closer to those trees. Neither of the Amriany seemed ready to talk, so he let it drop for the time being. Paige did too, and they enjoyed the rest of their trip across the cold Hungarian terrain.
On the outskirts of Imola, Sophie pulled to a stop in front of a cottage near what could have been a small farm. Once the motors of both vehicles had been cut, the air became deathly still. No sounds came from the cottage. No voices greeted the Amriany or their guests. No hinges creaked to announce the opening of a single door or window. Milosh led the Skinners to a shed only slightly smaller than the main cottage. The Amriany in the other SUV approached from another direction.
The instant Sophie got close enough to reach out for the cottage’s door, Cole felt his scars flare up. “Get back!” he shouted.
But even though Sophie moved away from the door, she wasn’t quick enough to keep from getting hit by it as a Half Breed exploded out of the cottage amid a shower of splinters and broken wood. She, Milosh, and George all drew their weapons, and Cole, Paige, and Waggoner already had their weapons in hand. There were more Half Breeds inside. Cole’s scars didn’t burn until they were almost on top of him.
Normally, three Half Breeds would have been enough to give a few Skinners a run for their money. But this wasn’t a normal situation. These werewolves were thinner and shorter than the normal breed. Also, they were overzealous and charged out through the doorway to knock aside the one that had smashed through it.
Cole hopped to one side and didn’t bother expanding his spear to its full length before driving it into the side of a passing creature. The Half Breed’s momentum carried it forward, opening a gash in its side as the spearhead raked along its ribs. Paige put a few rounds into it from her Beretta as soon as he had a clear shot, and after that, it was the Amriany’s turn. Milosh threw one of his knives into a werewolf’s eye while it was in mid-jump. As soon as it hit the dirt in front of him, he grabbed the handle protruding from the Half Breed’s face and started twisting.
Then two more Half Breeds emerged and went through a similar gauntlet. Paige caught the first by dropping the curved sickle blade down behind its head with a blow almost precise enough to put it down then and there. Its front paws crumbled beneath it, dropping it out of Waggoner’s range before he could swing the sharpened end of his longbow. It regained its balance as soon as Paige’s weapon was pulled loose, and by the time it climbed to its feet, George was there to meet it. His weapon was a collapsible steel pole almost as tall as he was. One end had a flat weight to counter the weight of the iron claw at the other end. Forged into something that wasn’t quite animal or human, the claw was capped with points at the end of each finger that ripped through the Half Breed’s flesh before the weighted end was spun back around to knock against the side of the creature’s head. George planted his feet and went to work with the claw as another Half Breed sprang through the doorway.
Cole jabbed at it with his spear but only managed to land a glancing blow.
One of Paige’s sickles would have finished it if the creature hadn’t dropped its head beneath it and kept running.
Waggoner loosed a hastily notched arrow that parted the fur on the werewolf’s back but wasn’t enough to prevent it from charging at Sophie.
She stood calmly with her bronze sword drawn. The Half Breed’s eyes were focused intently on her as Amriany bullets thumped into its gnarled body, using pain from the glancing wounds to drive it forward. With the last bit of strength it had, the Half Breed lunged. Long fangs dripped with saliva as they were bared and a hungry growl erupted from its throat. Sophie stepped back with one foot, scraped the curved end of her sword blade along the ground and then swept the weapon up to catch the werewolf in the chest. The strength in her arm as well as the momentum of the heavier end of the sword knocked the werewolf up off its front paws to land heavily onto its back. She finished it off with a downward swing and plunged the blade into the creature’s heart.
She issued orders in her own language to George, who moved in to clear the place out. When she saw Paige and Cole start to enter the cottage, Sophie barked, “Stay put! This isn’t Skinner business.”
“Soon as we came over here, this became our business,” Paige said as she shouldered past the remains of the door that hung from the top hinge.