Part 9 (1/2)
”Bad case study, dude,” Bradley said, sprawling in a chair. ”They're getting indicted.”
”Again, my point being, watch the news,” Clarissa said, shaking her head.
”Okay, okay,” Winters argued. ”Maybe I don't have all the angles worked out, but I'm not taking this smelly pile lying down!”
”Guys, knock it off. Heads up,” Sasha said, standing. ”Bra.s.s, incoming.”
”Love how you do that, Captain,” Woods said, get-ting to his feet.
Hunter looked at his cell phone again and then slipped it back into its holder. The only call he'd had was from Bear Shadow giving him an update on his grand-father's vision. This was unlike Sasha. Something wasn't right, and she hadn't answered his voice mail or texts. But he couldn't focus on that now. The information his brother and Sir Rodney were sharing was chilling.
”The poor b.a.s.t.a.r.ds never got fifty yards from their vehicles,” Sir Rodney said in a low, conspiratorial murmur as he glanced around The Fair Lady tavern. He took a sip of Fae ale and shook his head. ”Our archers were on bayou detail, heard the machine-gun report. By the time they got there, only bodies remained. The first thing they saw was an arm still attached to an M16 . . . after that they pretty much knew what they'd see. However, what they never expected to find was one guy left alive, clinging to his weapon and huddled in the mud against a burned-out car. We couldn't go to him, given his mental state. He would have shot first, asked questions later. Couldn't blame 'im.”
”d.a.m.n.” Hunter looked off into the distance for a moment, hoping that's what had delayed Sasha. If human military personnel had been attacked, no doubt they'd have her in war room meetings. Slowly, he relaxed, and then returned his focus to the table.
”The area is crawling with human military,” Shogun said. ”Rodney is right, we can't gel in close enough to be effective without detection. The entire site is hot.”
Hunter released a hard breath. ”The humans have got to get out of that area. They are s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up the tracking, walking through scent trails .. . d.a.m.n it!”
”I know. That's why we laid low,” Shogun said, ”hoping the lone survivor would just be freaked out enough to get in his vehicle and drive off to give us a few minutes to case the area, to do some tracking. But he called in reinforcements and held his position. Gotta give him that, the man had b.a.l.l.s. Next thing we know, a bunch of guys from the local naval air station came over and began sealing off the area, picking up bodies ...jeeps and Humvees where everywherea”boots on the ground The site is practically worthless now. We tried.”
”Hey, there's nothing you or any of us could have done about that without putting a bull's-eye on your foreheads.” Hunter pushed what was left of his burger away from him and polished off his beer. ”Brother, I know you're not going to like what I've got to say but, I think you and your men should stay in the sidhe at night until this is all over.” Hunter held up a hand to stop the objection he could already see forming in Shogun's eyes. ”Last night you gave me a piece of advice,” he added, locking gazes with his brother. ”I didn't like hearing it. but it was sound.”
Hunter waited until Shogun leaned back in his seat and looked away, unable for the moment to address Sir Rodney's glance of confusion. This was between wolves, this was between brothers.
”I listened to you,” Hunter pressed on, keeping his voice low and modulated. ”You were right. And you told me things because you were concerned for my welfare. Now I'm only doing the same.” He waited until Shogun's gaze returned to his. ”At night, under the full moon in wolf form, you and your men will be sitting ducks. You do not have the shadows as an added defense mechanism. The humans are frightened. They will fire on you if they even get a glimpse.”
”What Hunter says is true,” Sir Rodney chimed in, glancing at Shogun and then Hunter. ”My men report that they have the forest lit up like Christmas in July. They've even got dogs out there barking their b.l.o.o.d.y heads off. Forensics crews are combing the area. Military helicopters above have the area sectioned off as a no fly zone. My Fae archers could only get close enough using the glamour, but even that was risky because they've got so many hounds out there that can still smell what they can't see. You mix a Werewolf on a full-moon shape-s.h.i.+ft, who cannot hide in the shadows, with skittish humans who've got weapons we've never seen before, and I call that a not-very-bright idea, my friend. Take my two pence for what it's worth.”
Hunter simply opened his arms and shrugged. ”There you have ita”an impartial source who also loves you like a brother, man.”
”Then, what of you?” Shogun sat forward and grabbed his brother's forearm. ”Am I to abandon you? Don't ask me to do that.”
”By day, we hunt as one. By night, you lay low,” Hunter said. ”I'm leaving my own men back in the North Country for this very reason. This area is too hot right now, and I want to be sure that my local pack has strong lieutenants guarding it while I'm gone. In the sidhe, Sir Rodney could use reinforcement against potential Vampire incursion or whatever else they've got cooked up. By day, we can go lean on the sorcerers; maybe Rodney's men can help with a little glamour, until we smoke out the source or get some witnesses.”
Seeming unconvinced, Shogun looked at Hunter hard. ”I will send my men to help guard your local pack in the North Country, as you advise. It is possible that an attack could be launched against the closest wolf Federation, and I am already well fortified in Asia. But you are not invincible, brother. If their dogs pick up your scent, ifa””
”Don't worry, man. Dogs can't go through the shadow lands, last I checked.”
CHAPTER 11.
His worst fears had been realized as he held his cell phone to his ear and listened to Crow Shadow's breathless account. Sasha's apartment had been trashed?
”Was there blood?” Hunter waited, his gaze locked with Shogun's and Sir Rodney's.
”No,” Crow Shadow replied. ”But when I went to fine her team, they were all gone, too. Then I began asking their neighbors stuff, playing like I was family . . .well, technically I am, by way of Sasha. People said that military police had rounded them all up. I thought she was with you ... I'm so sorry, man. I backed off my detail when I heard you howl for her last night. I knew you were headed to the cabin and I waited till noon to just check in, Ia””
”It wasn't your fault,” Hunter said, closing his eyes. ”You did what was right, what I had asked. Stay there in North Country with Bear to protect Silver Hawk and the rest of the pack. But do not, I repeat, do not engage the humans. There has been a situation down here that could have possibly changed everything. I will fill you in later. If I do not hear from Sasha soon, I'll go in and get her myself.”
”Buta””
”Do not disobey me on this, Crow. It is critical that you listen!” Hunter lowered his voice as his canines crested, ignoring the concerned stares from Shogun and Sir Rodney. ”You can only shadow-jump in quick evasive moves without an alpha or an amulet. You cannot shadow-travel long distances or stay within a shadow too long, you know this. The demon doors will claim you and you have no idea if they've stripped her of her amulet yet. I don't need to have to go searching for you and her. If she's in mortal danger from the humans, I will go in. Are we clear?”
She looked around the teahouse with delight. Chaya was beautiful. . . The manicured gardens offered lush balm to her senses as she stared out the window admiring the mirror-like carp pool. Lady Jung Suk lifted a tiny, porcelain cup to her lips with a delicate hand and sipped the fragrant white tea. It had been so long since she'd enjoyed a body ... so long since she'd felt youthful and exquisite. And now she'd been immortalized.
Stroking her own cheek, she relished the softness of her new skin. It was supple yet fragile, just like the pretty rice paper screen that hid her within her private room. She ran her graceful fingers through her spill of onyx hair, allowing the silky strands to fall through them, and then sighed. Every feature of her heart-shaped face was lovely; her feet were tiny and possessed perfect little toes painted in a sheer cherry-blossom pink. Her figure was daintily alluring ... oh, how she would enjoy seducing men again with it. Elder Vlad had chosen well. Elder Vlad had done well.
”Heal, Sir Rodney. Heal, Clarissa McGill.” Queen Cerridwen reached out her hand and drew the poisonous black possession into her icy grip, seething. With a quick bolt of ice lightning from the end of her frozen wand, she watched it die a screaming death on the floor of her private chambers.
”So, you did not trust me and sought to go between husband and ex-wife, and then attacked the frail human female to also set the wolves against me ... all so that I would have no choice but to side with you? And this is your offer of a trusting alliancea”to go behind my back and make sure that I am blamed for that which you claim I should be exempted from? Duplicitous b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, the lot of you.”
She strode away from the smoldering green ash on the floor and clucked her tongue. ”Silly Vampire. Don't you know that even according to human laws, possession is always nine-tenths of the law!”
”Captain Trudeau, your personal possessions have been cleared for return, and we will need you to sign for them,” an MP said. ”We will also need each of your team members to follow us and to claim their possessions so that we can process you out, and then the colonel will see you, along with General Westgate and Doctor Xavier Holland.”
She gathered her disgruntled team, and they all followed the MP down a series of long corridors to an empty interrogation room, where plastic bags containing wallets and cell phones were distributed on a metal desk and thick stacks of in-triplicate paperwork were handed out. Sasha signed her name at the bottoms of the proffered forms without even looking at what the legalese said. It didn't matter anywaya”it was sign or stay cooped up without her stuff, and she was so out of here.
The moment he left the group and locked them in the interrogation room, Sasha went to Clarissa.
”How are you feeling?” she asked, checking her friend's eyes and her brow for signs of fever.
”Really way better, which doesn't make sense, given where we all are right now,” Clarissa said, glancing around.
”Why?” Bradley said, stepping to Clarissa's side to stare at Sasha. ”What happened to her? What aren't you telling us?”
Sasha let out a hard breath. ”Somebody picked up the tail end of that possession spell that hit us from the Unseelie court last month, and tried to boomerang it back on Sir Rodney and Clarissa. He was a target because he's still the Fae monarch, and obviously his ex-wife is in cahoots with the Vamps, and she's not happy about his reign. They hit Clarissa to give us a wake-up call that, if my Shadow Clan sides with the Seelie Fae, then our team is vulnerable. But Garth, Sir Rodney's man, caught it in time.” Sasha ruffled her hair up off her neck and let out a long breath. ”But that's why we're in here. I had to head down to New Orleans after I got the Fae missive, but that's all I know. I didn't really have a lot of time to learn more before things sorta got insane.”
”I knew something was wrong,” Bradley said, holding Clarissa by both arms. ”Next time I ask you to, humor me!”
”Okay, okay, just everybody fall back,” Sasha said, too weary for any additional emotional turmoil. ”She's fine now, we're ninety percent sure. So keep an eye on her, but I suggest you keep your voice down unless you want her to be kept here for testing.”
Bradley simply hugged Clarissa, crus.h.i.+ng her against him as the others went to find chairs.
Every second that ticked by on the huge wall clock in the barren room made her feel like she was about to scream. Sasha began pacing; it was a nervous habit that couldn't be helped. The waiting was torture enough. Right now she felt trapped, and the last thing wolves could stand was being trapped. It also still didn't matter that she finally had her cell phone on her. Down in the bowels of NORAD's underground city, it did her no gooda”reception didn't exist.
Rather than make herself crazier than she'd already become, Sasha turned her mind to solving the puzzle of how to get evidence to clear the wolf Federations' record.
They'd already lost a precious twenty-four hoursa” partly due to military politics, but the rest of it was personal. That was the part that was kicking her a.s.s; it was probably kicking Hunter's, too.