2
Do we need lights? asked Jesse.
Ill get the big kit in the shop, Gabriel said, and ran for it. Night was dark to him, but he knew his way around, and the first-aid kit was on the wall just inside. He wouldnt be as fast as me, but I was attached to a werewolf at the moment.
I knew what Adam would say about turning on the lights when we were possibly hiding from some unknown group capable of taking on a pack of werewolves and coming out on top. But my night vision wasnt up to first aid in the dark.
Flashlight, I said. Under the counter. Also get the box cutter next to it in case I have to slice his clothes. I put my hands on either side of Bens face and tried to make him look at me. Ben. Ben.
Yes? It came out clear and crisp-upper-crust-British, as Ben, with his excellent four-letter-laced vocabulary seldom did. But he didnt let me pull his face up so I could see it.
Where are you hit?
Tranq. Arse. That one wasnt as clear, but I could understand him and assumed the last word was a location and not an epithet, though with Ben it was a risky call.
No. Not the tranq. A tranquillizer dart wouldnt have left him bleeding this much later. Someone shot you, Ben. Where?
Jesse aimed the flashlight.Leg, she said. Just above his right knee.
He wouldnt let me go, so Jesse sliced through the fabric of Bens khakis with the box cutter. Gabriel took the flashlight and got a good look at the wound.
In and out, he said, sounding calm, though his face paled and took on a greenish tinge.
It hadnt healed, so either whoever had shot him was using silver bulletsor the silver in the tranquilizer mixture was slowing his healing. Whichever way, we needed to get the bleeding stopped.
Telfa pad, I told Jesse. Its important not to use anything that might stick on the wounds. Bens skin could grow over it if he started to heal as fast as he should be healing. Then gauze, then vet wrap. Well pack up, go to Samuels, and hope that hes home.
Samuel Cornick, who was both a doctor and a werewolf, would know best what to do for Ben. He wasnt answering his phone, either, so hed probably gotten the message from Bran. He also wasnt pack. There was a good chance that hed been overlooked when they, whoever they were, had gathered up the rest of the wolves. I hoped desperately that hed been overlooked.
I needed to get Ben to Samuel, then I needed to get helpwhich hopefully would also be accomplished at Samuels. I needed to find Adam, the pack, check on the other wolves who hadnt been at Thanksgivingand make sure that no one else had been taken or hurt, like Warrens boyfriend or Mary Jos fellow firefighters.
If our enemies had known to find Mary Jo and Warren, then they knew more than they should about who was a werewolf and who was not. If they were humansand Ben would have told me if hed noticed that they were anything elseand they were willing to kidnap damn near thirty wolves, then they were either crazy, planning on killing everyone all at once, or at least armed and very, very dangerous. And they might be feds, despite Bens recollection of Adam accusing them of lying.
Can you stand? I asked Ben, when Jesse had finished making a pretty good job of the bandage.
He grunted.
Weve got to get out of here. If they knew enough to get Warren and Mary Jo, weve got to assume they know about this place.
Danger, he said, sounding bad again. In danger. You. That thought seemed to inspire him because with a sound that was more wolfish than human, he stood up, then sort of sagged until he was draped over me.
Its not the leg, he said, overenunciating a little. Its the drug. Weak. Weak. Weak. He was tensing up, his eyes bright gold with the wolfs drive to protect itself. No predator likes to be weakened and vulnerable.
Its all right, I told him firmly, because it was important that he believe me. If he didnt, hed get aggressive, and we would have even more trouble. You are among friends. Gabriel, grab the keys to the Mercedes parked in the garage and help me get Ben to the car.
Marsilias dark blue Mercedes, an S 65 AMG, was parked inside my garage lest anyone walk by the parking lot and decide to key the paint or toss a rock. It was three months old, here to get its first oil change, and I could have bought a second shop for less than its sticker price.
The AMG? Gabriel said, though he retrieved the keys as he spoke. Youre going to let Ben bleed all over a Mercedes AMG?
Hes already bleeding all over a Mercedes, Jesse said dryly. Then she turned to me. Wait a minute. The AMG? That AMG? Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, what are you thinking of? You cant let Ben bleed all overMarsilias Mercedes.
Marsilia the vampire queen? Gabriel choked. Mercy, thats just stupid. Take my car.
Shes not a queen, shes the Mistress of the seethe, I corrected him. That car seats four and doesnt scream VW mechanic on the run with wounded werewolf. What I didnt say, because I didnt want to panic anyone, was that because the vampires were a lot like the CIA crossed with the Mob, the Mercedes also had bulletproof glass. More importantly, if we were really dealing with an attack by a government agency, this car was clean of tracking devices. Between me and Wulfethe magic-using vampire who served Marsiliaall the tracking gadgets that were routinely attached to new cars all the way down to the RFID tags on the tires had been disabled.
And right now I had bigger things to worry about than offending Marsilia, scary though she was.
Get Ben to Samuel, who could treat what was wrong with him.
Take Jesse and Gabriel to someplace safe.
Find whoever had taken my mate and get him back.
Adams pain was a roar in my heart, and I was going to make everyone who hurt him pay and pay.
It was like triage. Decision onepreserve those who were safe. Decision tworetrieve the rest. Decision threemake the ones who took them regret it.
On that thought, I ran back into the office. At Adams request, Id taken to keeping my 9mm Sig in the safe. Being married to the local pack Alpha gained me some notoriety, and it made Adam feel better knowing I was armed. I shoved two spare (loaded) magazines into my purse and grabbed the extra box of silver ammunition. If Id had a nuclear bomb, Id have grabbed it, toobut I would make do with what I had.
Jesse had settled in the back with Ben. Smart girl. Ben knew Gabriel well enough under normal circumstances, but Jesse smelled like Adam. Ben couldnt sit in the front with me because the combination of drug and wound made him too volatile, and he was too strong for me to wrestle with while I was driving. Jesse had also found an old blanket to cover the seat.
I backed the Mercedes out of the garage and waited for Gabriel to close the door and get in.
Your eyes are gold, Mercy, said Gabriel as he slid into the front seat. I didnt know they did that.
Neither had I.
Samuel lived about twenty minutes from my garage, but it felt like hours. The temptation to put my foot down on the accelerator was strong. Marsilias car topped out at 250 mphI had also, at her request, taken care of the electronic governor that limited the car to more human-reflex-safe speeds. But there were a lot of cops out even at this rarefied and still-dark hour because the shopping crowds were starting to increase again. I needed to avoid getting pulled over as long as I had a man with a gunshot wound in the back seat.
At sixty miles per hour, we purred slowly along the side of the river to Samuels house in Richland.
Before Id married Adam, Samuel had been my roommate. He still came by to visit a lot. A wolf, especially a lone wolf, needed the presence of others. Though Adam was Alpha and Samuel was very dominant, they had a cautious friendship.