Roane saw me in the next second and jerked his head towards the door. As I grabbed Pippa's hand and pulled her with me, Gavin hurried across the club to grab Kates' arm too. She yanked it back, but when he whispered something in her ear, she relaxed and looked for me. I gestured towards the rest of the group and watched as she switched from best friend to vampire slayer. It was shocking, but also not. Before Gavin found her, Kates had been laughing. A different look now slithered over her face and her eyes sparked in anticipation. She was born to hunt, much like Roane. It was what she loved.
As she met me at the door, chills went down my spine. She was once again the stranger that had kidnapped my friends not long ago. Emily stood behind her with frightened eyes and I knew she recalled the same event. Brown was beside her. She stared in befuddlement at Gregory. Her eyes trailed up his giant form and back down, and then repeated. As the group started outside, Brown scurried to follow him.
Gregory looked at her and his eyes narrowed. The rest of his face was emotionless, but he glanced at me as we followed Roane into a back alley. I shrugged.
Wren and Tracey fanned out to stand at one end of the alley. They both passed me, but Tracey met my gaze for a brief moment. She was taller than I had realized and wore darkened red armor with her long blonde hair pulled into a braid to fall at her waistline. When she passed Gavin, I saw they were built the same. Tall and muscular. Gavin was lean for a guy, but she was sturdy for a female.
'The wolf told you?'
I looked at Roane, who stared at me with hard eyes. He was brimming in fury, but it was suppressed. He asked again, 'She told you? A pack of wolves are coming. We need to move. I don't want to fight them in town.'
'The Alpha went to the Mother Wolf and told her about me. I don't know what he said, but he knows I'm different. He doesn't like me. Pippa came to warn me about them. How did you know?'
'Some wolves are loyal to me.' Then Roane barked at Gavin, "We'll cross the park. Kates, you'll drive their car back to the dorm. We'll follow and transport everyone somewhere safe."
Gavin nodded and walked to the front of the alley. Gregory took position next to me and Brown followed behind him. The other vampire trotted back in, past Wren and Tracey towards the group. He swept cold eyes over me and spoke to Roane, "They're coming in fast. If we hurry, we can meet them in the park."
Roane's jaw clenched together, but he gave a brisk nod. As soon as he did, Wren and Tracey rushed past us. Gavin ran with them and they went in three different directions.
"My orders?"
Roane glanced at me and then said to the vampire, "I'm staying with Davy. Gregory, you—"
He jerked his head behind him and everyone looked at Brown, who was nearly pressing into his side. She scurried back a couple steps and gave everyone a sheepish grin. "He's like the jolly green giant, but not green."
"—can stay with the witch," Roane finished with a frown.
Brown perked up. "Gee, thanks. You know I'm a witch."
"Lucas?" The other vampire stood to the side.
"Gregory, keep Emily with you too."
"And the wolf?" Gregory glanced at Pippa, who stood behind the group. She looked unsure.
Roane's eyes hardened. "I'm sure they won't hurt their own."
"Lucas?"
He jerked his head in a nod. "Bastion, circle behind us. Wren, Tracey, and Gavin will set up a perimeter. Anyone who gets through them, Gregory and I can handle. You'll scout around and sweep back. I don't want anyone trying to get us from behind."
"And me?" Kates asked in a firm voice. "I can fight too."
With a smug look, Roane told her, "There's no decree against them."
A bright smile filled her face. The anticipation in her eyes doubled. It sent a shiver down my back as she purred, "That's what I thought."
'Lucas, they're here!' Wren's thought warned the vampires.
As one person, Roane, Gregory, and Bastion jerked around. Emily squeaked. Brown grabbed hold of Gregory's shirt and flew with him. Her body picked up in the air as if she were a balloon. Kates jerked forward, but stopped at the sight. As the vampires disappeared down the alley, she held back.
Kates looked at me. "Your friend is crazy."
I had enough time to shrug before she shot after them. Pippa, Emily, and I were the only ones left in the alley.
"What's going on?" Emily hugged herself tightly.
Pippa stood next to her, but didn't say anything. She looked at me instead. They both looked at me. "What?"
"They're here for you. What's going on?" Emily gave me a 'duh' look. "Are we under attack?"
"Oh my god!" Pippa burst out. "You're not stupid, Emily. You know what's going on. That's why you're not that scared. I can tell when you're scared and you're not."
"What are you talking about?" Emily's lip trembled.
"He just said 'what about the wolf?' and the other guy said 'I doubt they'll hurt their own.' You know we're under attack. They're all acting like they're going to war. What does that mean? That they're going to war! Figure it out, or at least stop acting like you haven't because I know you have. You're just acting like this so that people will take care of you. God forbid that you'd have to fend for yourself."
Pippa started to walk away when Emily cried out, "What do you mean by all of that?"
"Davy!" We turned at the fierce command. Roane stood a few feet away and he gestured to me. "Let's go!"
"But…" I looked back. What would happen to Emily and Pippa?
Pippa waved me to go. "I'll take care of Emily. We'll be fine. Be safe."
I opened my mouth to ask if she was sure, but there wasn't enough time.
Roane grabbed me around my waist and flew out of the alley. We were in the park within moments. When he stopped, I was plastered against him and a wolf was in the air. He had leapt in the air with his mouth opened, fangs extended, but Roane reached up, grabbed his hair and flung him across the park. The wolf bounced against a tree. As it snapped in two the wolf threw his head back up and snarled at us. He took off again. Bounding towards us, he tried to go around us this time. Roane bent down and sped towards him. He met him halfway and caught the wolf unaware. With another throw at the same tree, the wolf was impaled on the broken stump. The body twitched and jerked to get free, and a high pitched whimper came from its mouth as it did. Two more wolves snapped to attention. They had been stalking Wren, but whirled around. As one went to its mate the other flew at us.
Roane tucked me behind him. 'Under any circumstance, no powers. You are human and only human. Got it?'
I gave him a mental salute, but the wolf was on us. Roane ducked underneath the massive jaws, caught him around the neck and twisted. It snapped in two and the giant body fell limp at his feet.
Five wolves froze in place. As one body, they turned and regarded Roane. Wren plunged a dagger into one of their necks. Gavin took hold of another and threw him, but the other three bounded towards us.
"Gregory!" Roane called out.
The Viking vampire looked up, saw the situation, snapped his wolf in two and took three long-legged strides towards us. He jumped and grabbed me from his leader’s arms in mid-air, just as the three wolves ascended on Lucas. Brown smiled at me from underneath Gregory's long arm. She held onto one of his belt loops with a knife in hand.
"Hi, Davy. Isn't this exciting?"
"Brown." I shook my head at her. "You are crazy."
"I tried doing spells, but they didn't work. So then I tried to twist their tails when I caught them. I distracted a few, but one of them just swished me away." She showed me a red welt on her cheek. "It got me good so now I just hold onto Green's belt."
"Green?" I said faintly, but was distracted when Gregory deposited us both of the ground. We were away from the fight now and I expected him to return. He didn't move. I knew his job was now to guard us.
"It's my nickname for him. I think the leader called him Greg, but I like Green." Brown spoke as if we were shopping for a couch.
"
Not much fazes you, does it?"
She let out a puff of air. A strand of her hair flew back in place. "Not much, no. You fight. You either live or die. It's easy to know what to do. Other stuff's harder to figure out."
Gregory glanced back and we quieted.
From there we watched the fight unfold. Roane was quicker than the others. He reacted faster and with more strength than the wolves expected. The body count grew around him, but the fight continued. Wren and Tracey had their own system. Wren would distract the wolf and lure it in while Tracey would come behind with the fatal stab. After the first one they killed, I saw that Tracey knew where to hit their heart. The wolves fell instantly. Gavin and the other vampire, the one who Roane had called Bastion, didn't fight with weapons. They threw the wolves around or were thrown by the wolves. Eventually, each of them would have enough of a hold on the necks to snap them. They just weren't as quick at it as Roane.
Kates fought her own way. She punched, twisted, rolled underneath them. I realized that she used her smaller size against them and moved around until they couldn't keep up. That was when she'd bring her gun up and shoot them in the head. Her arm was steady, her feet planted apart. She knew what she was doing and she had no qualms about it.
For some reason, the other vampires didn't bother me when they killed the wolves, but watching Kates brought chills down my back. She was human, but she wasn't at the same time. Was that how I was going to be? Was I going to become like her? I shuddered at the thought, but I knew I couldn't hide much longer.
When only seven remained, the wolves began to disperse. A few tried to drag their fallen comrades with them, but then Roane announced, "We will allow you to take them with you as long as you do not come back. This is my territory. No wolf will come in and take what is mine. Take that message to your Mother Wolf. Tell her that she's mine."
All of them stopped in their tracks and then turned to one in the back with a fur coat of sleek black. He padded forward and lifted piercing blue eyes.
Roane waited and held his gaze.
The wolf lowered his head in submission. The fight was done, simple as that.
I looked to my far right. Pete stood in an alley with his fists bunched at his side. He wanted to go out and fight with them. I felt the immense control it took to keep him where he stood, away from the fight. It was costing him. Sweat poured down his body to puddle around his feet.
His eyes caught mine and he jerked back in surprise.
As I held his gaze, I let him see inside of me. I wanted him to see inside of me. I was strong. I wasn't afraid. And I knew, without a doubt, that I'd have to deal with him at some point. Pete felt all this from me. I didn't let him go too far, not far enough to sense the Immortal, but I wanted him to know that I wasn't scared of him. The vampires had defended me this time, but there was going to be a time for my fight. I was starting to look forward to that now.
Then Roane stood in front of me and blocked my view. He snarled at Pete, "Leave."
I grabbed Lucas' arm. "No. This is my fight."
"It's not!" He turned on me and grabbed my arms. "It's really not, Davy."
"Yes." I took his fingers and lifted them off my arm. "It really is." But when I moved around him, Pete was already gone.
I was conscious of Brown's gaze. She watched every interaction between Roane and me, but I didn't feel judgment from her gaze. Then she took my hand and I felt her calm slip into me. Immediately, my heart slowed down. Rational thought returned and then I was able to remember Emily and Pippa.
"Where's Emily?"
Kates had come over. She pointed down a hill. "They're safe. The Werewolf Wonder didn't stick around for his mate. I wonder why."
"Because she's not his, not yet." I held Roane's gaze as I spoke, "She's still my friend more than she's his girlfriend."
I moved forward, but Kates stopped me. "She's going to have to pick sides, Davy. Or you're going to have to let her go."
"She's not a part of this. She's not supposed to be a part of it. She shouldn't have even been here."
But then Roane pulled me closer. "Enough." He turned towards Gregory. "Take them to the estate."
"All of them?"
"Wren, Tracey, grab the other two. Yes, all of them."
"Roane," I started.
He turned and walked away. Gavin gave me a soft grin before he followed behind him. Bastion went next and then Gregory spoke up, "Davy?"
Brown patted my arm.
"Yeah," I sighed.
Kates laughed, "Road trip."
"Shut up," I snarled at her before I followed the jolly green giant. Brown was already going after him. Pippa and Emily got into a car with Wren and Tracey while the rest of us climbed into the back of Gregory's car.
"Where are they going?"
Gregory didn't answer.
Kates did. "They're following the werewolves, making sure they leave town."
Why wouldn't they? I should've thought of that in the first place. I rolled my eyes at my own sarcasm. What was my problem? Roane had come to protect me. He did it for me. If he hadn't, I would've used my power and the truth would've been out. Everyone would know it was me. My friends would know too and maybe that was my problem. Maybe I was sick of hiding? Maybe I was tired of being protected like I was some helpless weakling? I wasn't one, not any longer.
I sighed and then settled back in my seat. As I turned to look outside, I bolted back up. Saren stood on a hill. She was watching our car and I knew she'd been watching me the whole time. When our gazes met, she grinned and lifted two fingers in a salute. Then she disappeared and something in me went with her.
It was over. I knew at that moment that my normal life was gone. Werewolves had attacked. Vampires had defended. And one of my guides had stood back because she knew I could handle it on my own.
I couldn't stay out of the war any longer. I was the entire reason for the war.
A tear slipped down my cheek and I felt someone take my hand. Brown gave me a smile and then squeezed my hand. 'I might be going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure you can hear thoughts. Maybe you can't. If that's the case, then I'm just thinking to myself which is normal. I do that a lot, but I know something's different about you. Maybe this is it or maybe this is a part of it. I don't know. All I know is that whole fight was about you. And the other thing I know is that when I'm not around you, I don't feel the magic in me. Okay. I feel it a little, but I always thought I was just fooling myself. But when I met you, I felt the magic in me. It was the first time I knew it was really there. I always feel it when you're around and that means something. So whatever's going on, I'm always going to be grateful to you. You made me not believe everybody when they said I was crazy.'
Another tear fell down my cheek.
'Thank you, Davy.' She squeezed my hand once more.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Everyone was quiet when we arrived an hour later. Even Wren seemed withdrawn as she showed the rooms to everyone. Tracey stayed in the foyer, which was big enough for a tennis court, but I felt her eyes. They hadn't left me since we'd arrived and despite the private room I was shown, I still knew she could see me. When someone knocked on my door, I wasn't sure if I should answer. I didn't know if I wanted to talk to Talia's sister or not, but then Kates burst through the door.
"That was a welcoming invite." She flung herself on my bed and flashed me a smirk. "What's your problem? Your honey came to your rescue and now you get to sit back and wait for him to come to bed tonight. I don't know about you, but that would give me the shivers, the good shivers."
"I was just attacked by werewolves. Unlike you, I don't find that thrilling."
"You should." Kates sat up. "What's your problem?"
"Have you seen what's going on?" My voice went shrill.
"Have you?" My childhood best friend shook her head and got off the bed. "Davy, this is what happens. We fight. We deal. Then we wait for the next fight. Why are you acting all shocked and bothered by it? Wait. I should'v
e thought of it before, but I didn't." Then she sighed. "You can't deal, can you?"
"Shut up."
"You can't." She stood behind me. "I can't believe it, but you were the one that lit Craig on fire. It's not like this is the first time you've had to deal with something bad."
"Craig wasn't bad. Craig was a nuisance. He didn't mean that my entire life would change. I did what I did so that my life wouldn't