Part 17 (1/2)

And little Skye cried, too, as her foot stepped over the threshold.

But being ostracized was the least of her worries. Because her b.a.s.t.a.r.d ex was still out there. And the Cursers still walked the earth.

And Jamie knew they'd be lucky to survive the coming night.

CHAPTER NINE.

And all our plans

You now shall see

The world is ours

The land, the sea

None can stop us

No man, no G.o.d

Upon your lives

We now do trod

THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS, EN ROUTE TO THE MONASTERY OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW.

JENN, HOLGAR, AND ANTONIO.

”Red wine, drink it,” Brother Cristian urged Jenn as he pulled back the blanket they had strung across the back of the panel van to give her privacy. They wanted her to eat red meat and drink red wine to restore her blood. It wasn't that Antonio had taken so much; it was that the tear he had ripped in her neck had made her bleed badly. They had st.i.tched up the wound and covered it with bandages.

”Later, I think,” Holgar said.

Brother Cristian sighed and let the blanket drop back into place.

In the four days since Antonio had attacked her, he had refused to see her. Unable to reach Father Juan, the four brothers of St. Andrew had held several long discussions with Jenn and Holgar, trying to get a better understanding of Antonio's current ”spiritual condition.” Jenn had been in a state of shock, unable to speak, to believe that Antonio could have done what he had done. She lay still and silent. At night Holgar held her, murmuring to her in Danish, promising to keep her safe.

They chained Antonio's wrists and ankles, blindfolded him, and locked him into the back of an old military transport vehicle very like the one they had used in Russia. Jenn thought about telling them that chains couldn't hold a vampire, but she couldn't make herself speak. Her mind slid over fears that the Brotherhood didn't know what they were doing. Or that they might decide he had sunk too far into evil and stake him. Sometimes when she touched her bandages, she wanted them to stake him. Then tears of shame and grief would roll down her face, even though she remained as still and silent as ever.

The vehicle they transported Antonio in was old, struggling as it chugged up the steep mountain pa.s.ses. The four monks took turns driving. They had to stop often to let the engine cool down. Their journey was torturous. Holgar told her that a monk guarded Antonio night and day, telling rosary beads, praying without ceasing for Antonio to find his way back to them. She didn't ask Holgar if he thought it would happen, and he didn't say.

Then one night, after Holgar had changed her bandage and settled her against his chest, the howls of wolves shattered the coc.o.o.n of her sickbed. She jerked, hard, as their shrill cries grew louder, closer, wilder. Holgar held her fast; she felt his heartbeat beneath her cheek, and heard him swear in Danish under his breath. His arms tightened around her until it was almost painful. When she s.h.i.+fted, he loosened them and rested his chin on the crown of her head.

”Lille skat,” he said gently, ”I have to leave you for a little bit. Just a little while.”

There was tension in his voice, and it dawned on her that Holgar hadn't been simply comforting her all this time. He had been guarding her too, and making sure that Antonio couldn't get anywhere near her.

”What do they want?” she asked. They were the first words she had uttered since Antonio had bitten her, and her voice was hoa.r.s.e and scratchy.

He hesitated.

”Tell me,” she insisted. ”I'm still your leader.” Then she burst into sobs. She cried hard, her body contracting, and Holgar crossed his arms over her chest, cupping each shoulder, allowing the release she had so desperately needed. In her mind she was back in the safe house, alone with Antonio; his eyes were crimson, and he opened his mouth wide, as if daring her to turn away from the sight of his fangs coming at her. Deliberately mesmerizing her, taunting her, and then . . .

”Oh, G.o.d,” she ground out. ”Oh, my G.o.d.”

”Ja, it's good to face it,” Holgar said into her ear. ”Ja, Jenn.”

She cried for another minute or so, then forced herself to dam her tears. She wanted to weep and scream forever, but she knew they needed to discuss the crisis at hand. ”I'm okay,” she said firmly, wiping her face. She molded her hands around his and squeezed them. ”Tell me.”

”Well, you know there's a price on my head,” he said. ”And this pack, well, they've come to claim it.”

”So it's a werewolf pack,” she said. And something clicked back into place inside her. Something worked again. She was being called into action. It was time to do her job-to lead her team, even if it was just a team of two. ”How many?”

”I think six,” he said. ”The alpha and his mate, three males, and one female. The alpha's saying that they know who I am, and that we're trespa.s.sing on his territory.” He c.o.c.ked his head, listening to the howls. ”And that there is a vampire named Lucifer who will pay handsomely for my pelt.”

”Lucifer,” she said, chills running down her spine. Always Lucifer. They had thought Solomon was their biggest problem, but Lucifer was d.o.g.g.i.ng them. Solomon baited Jenn by parading her traitor father, Paul Leitner, on TV and having him beg Jenn to turn herself in for a crime she didn't commit. But it wasn't Jenn whom Solomon wanted. It was Antonio. And Lucifer wanted Antonio. Maybe if they found out that he'd attacked her, they'd lose interest in him.

She hitched a couple of breaths, forcing herself not to lose her composure. Holgar grimaced in response.

”I knew I shouldn't have come,” he said, but she heard the mixed emotion in his voice. If he hadn't been there when Antonio had attacked her, she'd probably be dead.

Unless Antonio stopped himself, she thought. Maybe he would have been able to. Maybe- Holgar pulled away the blanket. Jenn slowly sat up by herself and looked at Brother Cristian, who smiled with delight at the sight of her. But his smile faded as Holgar repeated the werewolves' demand. Brother Cristian's eyes widened, and he made the sign of the cross in the air.

”If the driver can slow down the van just enough for me to jump out, then you can put some distance between everybody and the pack,” Holgar added.

”Everybody else, you mean. Holgar, you can't wolf at will,” Jenn insisted. ”They'll rip you to shreds.”