Niki jerked at the shock, her eyes shifting to hunter green before her lids slowly closed. Moaning softly, she swayed, her grip on Jody’s shoulders loosening.
“Let me help.” Becca slid behind Niki and supported the enthralled Were against her chest. Niki’s head dropped onto Becca’s shoulder as Jody drank in deep pulls from her neck. Becca felt Niki tremble, heard her whimpering with pleasure. Jody’s eyes opened and locked on Becca’s, and Becca couldn’t look away. The force of Jody’s hunger held her captive, and Becca wanted nothing more than to satisfy her.
Suddenly the black of Jody’s irises flamed the color of the blood painting the room, and Niki arched violently. Jody snarled and bit deeper.
Niki roared and her hips jerked convulsively. Becca embraced the writhing Were, stunned and horrified to find herself aroused in the midst of carnage.
Sylvan twisted her hand in Jody’s hair and pulled her away from Niki’s neck. “Careful, Vampire. Don’t drain her.” Mindless with bloodlust, Jody snarled and thrashed in Sylvan’s hold.Niki protested weakly, “Don’t stop her.” Jody tried to bury her incisors in Niki’s neck again. Sylvan rumbled a warning and dragged her back a few more inches.
“More,” Jody growled, her chest heaving.
Becca released Niki, who curled up on the floor, her face slack with satiation. Carefully, Becca half crawled to Jody and caressed her cheek, unheeding of the dangerous incisors flashing inches from her hand. “Jody. Jody, it’s all right.”
“Need more.”
“I know, I know,” Becca murmured, stroking the back of Jody’s neck. “But you can wait, can’t you? You don’t want to hurt her, do you?”Jody shook as if in the throes of a violent chill and stared at Becca, recognition slowly dawning in her eyes. With a jolt, she broke Sylvan’s grip and pushed away from the others. “Get away from me. All of you. Get out.”
Sylvan grasped Niki by the back of the neck and lifted her upright.
Supporting Niki with an arm around her waist, she said, “My Pack is in your debt, Vampire.”
“You may not thank me when your centuri wakes up hungry,” Jody said. “I need to be there when she does. When I’ve taken care of my needs, I’ll come.”
“We’ll look after Lara until you arrive.”
“You need to see to your own wounds, Wolf,” Jody said, her gaze on the still-bleeding hole in Sylvan’s shoulder.
“Don’t be concerned. We’re not as delicate as you.” Sylvan sent a silent call to Andrew and the door opened.
“Alpha?” Andrew asked.
“Take Niki.”
Andrew carried Niki outside and Sylvan followed him to the door.
“Watch your back, Vampire. The shooter’s still out there. Perhaps he has more than one target.”
“His bullets were silver,” Jody reminded her.
“Enough bullets would put you down long enough to take your head,” Sylvan said. “And I need you in good health to look after my wolf.”
“Don’t be concerned. We are not as slow as you.” Sylvan’s eyes flashed at the challenge and she smiled. “We’ll see one day. Take care, Vampire.”
Once the room was clear, Jody gave Becca a flat stare. “You need to leave. Use the phone down the hall to call a cab. Take a raincoat from the closet by the door to cover your clothes.”
“I’m not leaving you like this. You were practically dead.” Becca got unsteadily to her feet. She was soaked in blood, but she wasn’t physically hurt. Jody no longer looked like she was on the verge of death, but her face was gaunt and hollow, her eyes sunken. She was dangerously weak and trying to hide it. “I know you need to feed more. Feed from me.”
“I don’t want you.” Jody gave her a mocking smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll be well taken care of.”
And then she was gone. Becca blinked, looking around the blood-drenched foyer. She was alone and the house was completely silent.
“Fine, you ungrateful bastard, I’ll go.” Becca stormed over to the antique phone and yanked the receiver out of its cradle. “But you haven’t gotten rid of me.”
As Andrew rocketed them north toward the Compound, Max sat with his back braced against the sidewall of the Rover with Lara, nude and in skin form again, in his arms. Niki slumped beside him, slowly regaining strength and awareness.
“How is she?” Sylvan asked.
“She shifted back as soon as we got outside,” Max said. “She’s unconscious.”
Sylvan struggled to stay upright on the bench across from him.
She needed to shift, and soon, if she was going to have any hope of healing her wounds. The acid burn spreading through her chest and abdomen signaled the toxin was spreading fast. She unbuttoned her shirt and examined the bullet wound high on the right side of her abdomen, the one she had been careful not to let the others see. Had her centuri realized the extent of her wounds, they might have been able to overpower her and force her back to the Compound, and she could not leave Lara or the Vampire to die. The flesh around both bullet wounds was black and festered. Silver. She shivered and broke out into a sweat.
The muscles in her abdomen and legs contracted violently and she fell to her knees on the floor of the van, barely catching herself with an outstretched arm. She couldn’t shift here. If she did, and the fever took her, she would be a danger to them all.
“Alpha!” Max cried.
Niki shook herself and crouched down beside Sylvan, circling Sylvan’s shoulders with her arm. “Alpha, you need to shift.”
“Not until we reach the Compound.”
“We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Niki insisted. “Please, Sylvan—shift.”
Sylvan held Niki’s gaze fiercely. “Secure our borders. This might have been the first wave of an all-out assault.”
“Andrew,” Niki called, her focus never leaving Sylvan’s face.
“Call Callan—tell him to reinforce our borders. General alert.”
“Yes, Imperator,” Andrew called back.
“Drake.” Sylvan coughed up blood, black with silver poisoning. “Safeguard her.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Niki said, her eyes wild with panic.
“I love you, Niki.” Gritting her teeth against the excruciating pain, Sylvan cupped Niki’s face in her palm and forced herself to stay conscious until she could give what might be her last order. “Lead my Pack. Protect my wolves. When the time comes, kill me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leo Revnik burst into the recovery room where Drake was hastily pulling on her clothes. “Sophia, Elena just called. You must return to the Compound immediately.”
“Why?” Sophia exclaimed.
“What’s happened?” Drake demanded.
“There are wounded.”
“Sylvan!” Drake winced as the pain in her chest exacerbated.
“She’s hurt, isn’t she?”
“I don’t know.” Leo hesitated. “But you are safer here. The Alpha would not want you in danger.”
Drake wanted to howl in rage. Ignoring him, she grabbed Sophia’s arm. She needed to be with Sylvan. Nothing else mattered. “Hurry.” The wait for the elevator was interminable. The huge ground-level atrium was filled with male and female Weres in gray BDUs, armed with sidearms and assault rifles, streaming toward the entrances. A dark-haired female stopped them before they reached the exit to the parking lot where Sophia had left her car.
“We’re needed at the Compound,” Sophia explained.