Dirty Blood (35 page)

“Whatever. If you can get away, and we’re tied up,
then you go. Jack’s orders.” Her tone made it clear she didn’t
really care if I complied, but at least she’d done her part. I took
the key and stuffed it into my pocket. “Let’s go,” she said.

I reached down to my boot and lifted a plain wooden
stake out before following her around the corner. I left the metal
tipped stake that Miles had given me inside my other boot. I wasn’t
sure what the deal was with metal, but I figured I’d use it as a
last resort.

We crept closer, staying in the shadows, searching
for movement. No streetlights shone and neither did any light from
inside the warehouse. The silence was eerie and deadening. Even our
muffled footsteps seemed too loud. When we came to the edge of the
building, Cord stopped. Only a few steps of open space separated us
from our destination. Cord and I waited, watching and listening.
Finally satisfied that the coast was clear, Cord pulled out her
phone and typed a text to Jack and the others, letting them know to
join us. She hit send and shoved the phone into the front of her
jeans, then waved me forward.

She led me to the side entrance, to the left of the
large bay door. She gingerly put her hand to the knob. The door
gave way easily, swinging open with a creak that seemed to echo
through the entire neighborhood. We exchanged an uneasy look and
then stepped inside. Again, I waited a few seconds, to let my sight
adjust, and dim images finally blurred into focus. With the shapes,
came a tingling sensation so strong I jerked and bumped into Cord.
She glanced back at me with a hard look, but I could see she
understood what was happening. Every single hair on my body stood
on end, and the tingling began pricking at me so hard it almost
hurt. In front of me, a few stray strands of Cord’s flowing blond
hair broke away and flew out behind her, giving the illusion of
static electricity. I knew the only reason for this kind of
reaction was Weres – a lot of Weres.

Cord gestured for me to turn, so my back stayed
against the wall, and I could see all sides of the garage at once.
The inside was huge, and empty from what I could tell. Across the
room, metal stairs led to a catwalk that wrapped around the back
and sides of the building, extending further into the blackness
than I could see.

Cord took a few steps to the side and gestured for me
to follow. When we’d gone halfway around the room, a door banged
shut somewhere on the second floor, and we froze. Silence followed
and after several seconds of listening – and barely breathing – we
started forward again.

That was when the howls began. They were muffled at
first, and came from every direction, echoing badly, so that I
didn’t even know where to look, as I whipped my head back and forth
towards the noise. Then, came the sound of doors being wrenched
open and the howls morphed into snarls and menacing growls, as
dozens of wolves poured out of the open doors on the catwalk,
heading for the stairs. Every single pair of glowing eyes was
focused on Cord and I as they rushed for the first floor.

Cord didn’t even hesitate; she ran to the center of
the room and planted her feet, producing a metal tipped stake in
one hand and curling the other into a fist. It took me slightly
longer, as I couldn’t seem to look away from the sheer number of
rushing wolves. Then, my muscles went taut and tense, as the Hunter
side of me took over and readied itself for the coming fight. I
repositioned the stake in my hand and stepped up next to Cord.

The first few wolves reached the bottom of the stairs
just as the door behind me crashed open against the wall. Jack and
Derek rushed in. I didn’t even have time to turn and look for Wes
before the first wolf was on me. It came fast with all the momentum
it carried from running to reach me, and jumped on me, knocking me
to the floor. Its claws dug into my shoulders as it pressed its
weight down fully, knocking the wind out of me. I managed to hang
onto my stake, though, and jammed it into the wolf’s side just
before it dove for my throat with its teeth. It jerked in pain as
the wood penetrated through its flesh. I yanked my stake back out
and shoved the wolf hard to my left, sending it rolling away. In
less than a second, it had righted itself and fell into a crouch,
teeth bared, ready to come at me again. Another one was in front of
me, also crouched and ready to spring. I took an automatic step
back, trying to keep them both in my sights.

They rushed me at the same time and all I could do
was step out of the way at the last second. When I did, the wolves
barely avoided running into each other, which probably would’ve
been funny if another two wolves hadn’t cropped up on my left and
were circling around behind me, already. I took another step and
turned, in an attempt to keep all of them in sight. Out of the
corner of my eye, I saw two figures rush through the door; one
human and one wolf. Miles and Wes? It was too dark to tell. They
threw themselves into the fight, without a pause.

By now, Larry and Moe had recovered from the near
Three Stooges collision and had realized they were a part of a four
wolf attack now, instead of two. They all stalked towards me,
confident and determined. Larry or Moe – I wasn’t sure which was
which – came at me first, trying to pin me under his paws like he
had the first time. His massive paws caught me around the
shoulders, and I felt the sting of claws rake across my upper arms,
but I managed to stay on my feet and push him back. At the same
time, one of the others lunged towards my rib cage, and I didn’t
have any hands free to stop him, so all three of us went
tumbling.

I could hear the sounds of teeth gnashing and braced
myself for the white hot pain of fangs sinking into my flesh.
Somehow, maybe because they couldn’t get out of each other’s way, I
managed to keep their teeth out of me, and I twisted and turned
against their weight, trying to slide out from under their dog
pile.

Somewhere in the darkened room, I heard a distinct
click, and dim lighting flickered on overhead. I didn’t even let my
muscles pause as my sight adjusted. I slammed a fist into the
closest wolf’s face, right between the eyes, and his whole body
went slack for a second, a small whimper escaping his throat. I
pushed him out of the way and slammed my stake into the belly of
the other wolf, who was trying to hold me down by sitting on me. He
jerked in surprise and scrambled away, so I yanked the stake free,
and watched him retreat.

I took the opportunity to look up and see how the
others were doing. Cord was still in the center of the room, a blur
of blond hair, as she whipped her body around in impossible
positions while somehow managing to stay on her feet and stake a
Werewolf at every turn of her torso. Behind her, Derek the wolf
covered any gaps she left and sunk his teeth into any wolf that got
too close to her but had missed the pointy end of Cord’s stake.
Still, the number of charging Weres was daunting. For every one
they downed, two more appeared in its place.

“This is insane! They were waiting for us,” yelled
Derek.

Jack yelled something back that I couldn’t hear and
then rammed his head against an oncoming Were.

A blur of fur flew out in front of me, then, taking
my attention away the battle scene. Wes lunged, planting himself
firmly in front of me, as a particularly nasty-looking wolf cut a
path straight for where I sat on the floor. Wes caught him with his
teeth and hurtled him aside, a growl emanating from deep in his
throat as he jumped towards my newest attacker, and they rolled
away in a blur of fur. That was enough to re-focus me, and I
hastily jumped up and readied myself for another wave of wolves as
they ran at me, full force. All I had time to think was, this is
bad. Really bad.

I reached out and caught a leg of the first wolf as
it reached me, yanking on it and hearing the satisfying crack of
bone. The wolf went down in a shrieking howl. Two more were right
behind it, and I didn’t move fast enough. It lowered its head and
slammed into me. I felt my feet leave the ground for a split second
and then my back thudded against the cement wall a few feet behind
me. A grunt escaped my lips, and my stake clattered to the floor
and rolled away. My vision blurred and I blinked, disoriented; my
breath came in painful gasps, but there was no time to recover
fully as the wolf was holding me up with its clawed paws and
snapping its teeth at my face. I grabbed it by the scruff of coarse
hair that ringed its neck, in a desperate attempt to hold it off
me, pulling as hard as I could against it. I was able to hold it
steady, barely keeping it out of reach of my throat, but it wasn’t
enough to pull him off.

Panic slammed into me and just like that very first
night with Liliana, I realized my death was inevitable, and only
seconds away. I struggled to keep my hold on it and pulled for all
I was worth. It didn’t budge. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited
for its teeth to tear my skin. Stale breath puffed through its
nostrils, into my face. Then, all at once, the weight of the wolf
disappeared, and so did the stench.

My eyes popped open wide and I looked up into the
face of a boy I’d never seen before. He stared down at me for a
split second, and then spun around, lunging at an approaching wolf,
and artfully staking it right through the heart. He kept going,
wading through the furry bodies, without looking back. His hair
hung down over his forehead and his skin was deeply tanned. Even in
the chaos, I knew I’d never seen him before, and I wondered who he
was.

I thought about going after him to find out but then
my attention was diverted by a petite redhead near the door,
pulling a wolf off of her and stomping on it with her heel before
staking it and moving on with a satisfied smirk. Walking through
the door were three more strangers, all with metal tipped stakes in
their hands, all dangerous looking and undaunted by the scene
before them. They jumped into the fight without the slightest
hesitation or surprise. Had other members of The Cause arrived?
Hunters I’d never met before? I thought Fee said everyone else was
out on assignment?

Miles shoved his way in front of me, blocking my view
of the newcomers as he fought off a Were that was already bleeding
profusely from his ears and nose.

“Who are they?” I asked, almost yelling to be heard
above the growling background that hummed like white noise.

“Who?” he asked, without looking up. He swung out
with a fist, and connected with the side of the wolf’s head. The
wolf shook it off but came at him more slowly this time.

I pointed. “Over by the door. They just got
here.”

In a movement almost too quick to see, Miles’ stake
shot out and sank deep into the wounded wolf’s rib cage. He yanked
it free, and the wolf fell without a sound. Miles turned to glance
at the Hunters streaming through the door. He stared for a minute
and then shook his head. “I don’t know them.”

Any reply I would’ve made was cut off as a fresh
group of Weres approached. Miles melted back into the chaos of the
fight, drawing them away. I knew I should’ve gone after them,
catching them from behind and taking them out easily, but at that
moment, a familiar silhouette darkened the doorway, and I froze.
The figure scanned the room and stopped when she spotted me. Her
petite shoulders visibly relaxed. She strode into the mayhem,
cutting a path directly for me.

“Grandma?” I whispered.

Behind her, several more Hunters streamed through the
doorway and jumped right into the fighting, stakes raised high. I
watched Grandma weave her way through and around the fighting, and
it dawned on me that it was really her; she was really here, right
now, in the middle of all this. I broke into a run, trying to get
to her, to protect her. Before I could reach her, a wolf appeared
in front of her, blocking her path, and crouching to attack.

“No!” I yelled, knowing I wouldn’t reach her in
time.

The wolf sprang at her and Grandma didn’t budge an
inch. Her hand shot out and locked around the wolf’s throat,
pulling it up short, inches from her face. It made a gagging sound
and twisted, trying to free itself. Grandma didn’t give it time.
Her other hand shot out, and a stake sunk into the wolf’s chest. It
sagged, like a deflated balloon, and then dropped to the ground in
front of her. I was close enough to see her expression now. There
wasn’t a trace of fear in it. Annoyance, maybe. Fear, no. She
smiled at me, as I hurried over.

“Grandma, what are you- I mean, how did you do that?”
I asked, breathlessly.

“Same way you can, dear. Now, listen. As much as I’d
love to sit and catch up, there really isn’t time right now.” When
I just stared, she said, “Fee told you I was coming, right?”

“Yes, but what are you doing here?” I asked, waving
an arm.

“I’m here to help get your mother out, and I brought
some friends with me, to do it.”

“These Hunters are with you?”

“Yes. They should be enough to hold Leo’s Weres back.
Let’s you and I go find your mother.”

“Okay.” I took a step and then stopped to look at her
again. “Some of the Weres are on our side. Do your people know
that?”

“Of course, dear. Now, come on, let’s get moving. I
have a few words for Leo.”

I wanted to ask what they were, and how she knew
about him. I wanted to ask a thousand things, but right now wasn’t
the time, and I knew that. Instead, I led the way, weaving through
gnashing teeth and swinging stakes, and heading for the stairs at
the other end of the warehouse. The second floor was lined with a
row of heavy metal doors. My bet was that Leo had to be hiding in
one of those rooms up there, and wherever he was, my mother
wouldn’t be far.

We made it to the stairs, and I hurried up, only
having to kick aside three wolves in the process. The last one
didn’t go down as easy as the others, and I realized we were going
to have to stop and fight it. Then, Jack appeared and charged it,
shoving it out of our way and changing the focus of its
attention.