Taken by the Others (22 page)

None of the reporters noticed or followed us. Royce was right; they must not know all his means of transportation. I couldn’t get over the understated brilliance of having such a car. It wasn’t fair for a vampire to be rich, good looking, and smart, too. Two out of three wasn’t bad; three for three was just plain unfair.

“I have faced Max before,” Royce stated quietly, the sudden shift in mood and topic bringing me to stare at him. “I would appreciate it if the rest of you let me deal with him directly. He will have many servants there to protect him, so there will be others for you to fight. Leave Max to me.”

“I can’t let you do that,” I said. “You’re not the only one with a grudge against him.”

Chaz growled, sticking his head between the seats. “I won’t let anything happen to Shia. If she’s fighting him, so am I.”

“The other hunters wouldn’t be willing to sit back and let you guys handle him alone,” Devon said. “There should be enough of us to deal with the remaining vamps, but anyone who came to Shia’s rescue last night will want a piece of Max. Including me.”

Chaz’s cell phone went off. He’d taken it off vibrate while I was changing, and answered the incessant jingle with a low, “Hello?” I peered back as he listened to the other end, a cheerful smile replacing his angry scowl. “Of course. Tell Arnold he doesn’t get to sit on the sidelines this time. Can you meet us?”

After a brief pause, he tapped Royce lightly on the shoulder. “Where are we going? Sara and Arnold will meet us.”

Royce didn’t look very pleased with this news. “To the home of an acquaintance of mine. A neutral third party, if you will. I was intending on leaving you there, but it will serve as a meeting place for your friends just as well.” He gave the address and some simple directions to a home on–surprise, surprise–City Island. Devon was the most astonished at this news.

Chaz relayed the directions to Sara. “Great. We’ll see you there.” A moment later, he hung up, tucking the phone back in his pocket. “Sara says she and Arnold will be on their way right after he finishes casting something. They’ll take an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to meet us.”

“Okay,” I said, wondering privately what kind of magic Arnold was whipping up for the occasion. It was likely that Sara would expect to fight tonight. While that was worrisome, Arnold wouldn’t let her out of his sight until he’d had a chance to shield her to the best of his considerable ability. Those thoughts in mind, I turned back to Royce. “I know you won’t like this but we do need to let the White Hats in on this sometime. Maybe you should let Devon and me meet with them before we go to your friend’s place.”

“If you must insist on bringing them, then, yes, it may be wise to go see them in person rather than calling to let them know who you are with.”

Meaning, let them know ahead of time about the vampire and Were on our side so they wouldn’t freak out and hunt down or kill their allies when they found out. Or at least keep the inevitable explosion somewhere out of Royce’s immediate vicinity.

“Fine. I’ll tell them.”

Devon put a hand on my arm. “Why don’t you let me do it? They’re more likely to listen to me without instantly condemning the idea of working with these two.”

Chaz coughed into his fist. “Arnold, Shia. Don’t forget Arnold.”

I groaned and brought a hand up to slap my forehead. “Oh, yeah. We’re going to have to tell them we have a mage on our side, too.”

“A mage?” Devon was quite surprised.

“Yeah,” Chaz answered. “Arnold works for The Circle. I’ll be calling around the pack and asking for help from that end, too.”

“I’ll be bringing those of my number who have not turned against me,” Royce added.

“How do you know who is on your side?” I asked, unable to quell my suspicion. “How can you tell for sure, especially if some of them have turned on you already?”

Royce glanced at me, the flash of passing streetlights reflecting oddly in his eyes. Like pieces of black glass instead of the eyes of a thinking, rational being.

“I have ways.”

Shuddering, I looked away, unable to meet that gaze for long.

“Okay,” Devon said, cutting the uneasy silence. “City Island is small, so you can probably drop us off at Jack’s and we can walk to your friend’s place from there.”

“I’ll call Chaz before we leave Jack’s,” I said.

“I’d rather go with you,” Chaz muttered. “I don’t like the idea of you walking around without one of us with you.”

“I’ll be with her.” Devon scowled at Chaz, who flashed him an annoyed look.

“I meant someone strong enough to actually protect her.”

I had to laugh. The hunter looked like he was on the verge of exploding. Their tough-guy macho bull was more funny to me than anything else. I don’t think either of them realized exactly what I was capable of now that I was wearing the belt. Chaz should know better. He’d seen me in action.

“Guys, I’ve got enough weapons on me to make Rambo proud. Don’t worry, I can handle myself if we run into trouble.”

The belt gave me smug concurrence, even as I felt the waves of disagreement radiating from everyone else. The rumbling in Chaz’s chest started up again.

“I don’t want you going by yourself.”

“Hello?” Devon sounded even more irritated than before, if that was possible. “I said I’d be with her. She won’t be alone.”

Royce kept the amusement in his voice to a minimum. “I believe he means he does not want her without an Other on her arm, protecting her. Isn’t that right, wolf?”

“His name is Chaz, not wolf.” I shifted my position so I could look at my grumpy boyfriend huffing in the back seat. “Is he right? Are you worried I won’t be able to handle a bunch of White Hats without you protecting me?”

Chaz glowered at me, one hand lifting to brush fingertips against my cheek. I cradled his hand with mine, even while returning his disapproving look in kind. “Of course he’s right. I don’t want to see you get hurt, not even by accident.”

It was hard to be mad or feel stifled by his overprotectiveness with those sad blue eyes looking into mine. Puppy dog eyes. I had to steel myself against them.

“Well, I feel the same way about you. Trust me, as soon as those hunters find out what you are, their first reaction will be to shoot to kill. It’s best if you stay and wait with Royce.”

I carefully didn’t mention that I was also worried that, thanks to his being hyped up and on edge from his recent run-in with the cops, he might lose it and shift if Jack acted up around me. We had to give the hunters a chance to let the idea of working with the enemy, this one time, sink in. I sorely hoped Devon could get them to see reason and get the rest of the White Hats willing to temporarily work with Weres, magi, and vampires. I had some slim hope, thanks to Jack and Devon’s attitudes toward me, that we might be able to talk some of the others into helping stop Max.

“Fine.” Chaz snarled and pulled back from me, folding his arms across his chest as he glared out the window. “I’ll stay. But if you don’t call or come back within an hour, I’m coming to get you.”

“Okay,” I said, wondering why I felt so bad about this.

‘You don’t want to leave him behind,’ the belt said in answer to my unspoken question. ‘You want him to play knight in shining armor for you, that’s why. You don’t want to take your turn being the knight.’

“Nobody asked you,” I hissed under my breath. Resuming what I hoped was a normal tone, I asked Royce, “Where are we going after this?”

He glanced at me with a grin, and I had to suppress a chill at the sight of his extended fangs. He must be more agitated than his demeanor let on. “To hunt for Max, of course.”

“Of course,” I echoed back hollowly. Of course.

Chapter 23

Royce had pens and paper in the glove compartment. I wrote down Chaz’s cell phone number and the address where we were to meet before Royce dropped us at Jack’s house. Chaz and Royce would pool their resources while Devon and I convinced the rest of the White Hats to join our cause.

All the lights were burning in Jack’s windows, but deep shadows managed to hide any occupants on the wraparound porch from prying human eyes. The benches and barrels and plants were probably no more than dim outlines against the dark brown paint of the house to Devon, but I could make out the details perfectly clearly. Having night vision was odd, but useful in its way.

Devon took the lead. I trailed slowly behind, unable to tear my eyes off the sedan’s tail lights until they disappeared around a corner. The salt breeze wasn’t doing anything to clear my head or steady my nerves, and I wondered dismally if an hour would be enough time to convince the White Hats that Alec Royce could, at least temporarily, be their ally.

Devon rapped lightly on the front door before walking in. Jack was seated in the living room along with Tiny and Nikki. They’d been in the middle of a conversation that died out as soon as we entered the room.

“Good to see you back. We were worried,” Tiny said, smiling at me from his seat by the fireplace. He eyed the stakes on my belt appreciatively. “Decided which team you’re on, huh?”

Devon seated himself on a chair as far from the others as possible. I sat on the opposite end of the couch from where Jack was settled. He spoke, one pale brow arching in question.

“How’d you keep the police and the newshounds off your tail? By the time I heard the reports and sent someone to check, you were gone.”

Nice to know he was keeping such close tabs on me. I kept my gaze firmly focused on my clenched hands in my lap–a precaution against glaring at the arrogant prick. After all, I want him on my side tonight. I think.

“We ran into some trouble, but got away with some help.”

“Help?” Nikki said, the skeptical note in her voice bordering on derisive. “What sort of help?”

Jack shot her a warning look. I didn’t want to appear guilty for this part, especially considering to whom I was talking. Despite wanting to ignore Nikki’s flinty look, and to stay in keeping with my image of badass, I met her gaze squarely and spoke as lightly as I could.

“The kind of help only Alec Royce can give.”

The quiet that descended on the room was deafening, the silence punctuated by crackles and pops from the fireplace. I waited, taut as a bowstring, for one of them to respond. Devon broke the tension, his own voice quiet and composed as he stared moodily into the flames.

“We’ll need him tonight. There’s going to be a hunt, one we don’t want to miss.”

Jack’s voice was empty, flat, more frightening for the lack of emotion. “We don’t work with vampires.”

“This time, we should.”

There was a teeny, tiny part of me that was relieved Devon was fielding this argument. I kept as still and quiet as possible in the hope I would be overlooked or forgotten by the others as they hashed out the details.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good idea,” Tiny said, masking his distaste with puzzlement. “Why should we turn our backs on everything we’ve ever stood for?”

“I know you don’t like it. I don’t particularly care for the idea much either.”

“So why do it?” asked Tiny.

“The vampire we’re going up against is just as old and just as strong as Alec Royce. The same one we rescued Shiarra from. He doesn’t play by the rules, not like Royce. Personally, just for this fight, I’d rather have one of them on our side instead of two against us.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Nikki said. She rose, folding her arms and glaring down at Devon’s calm visage. “We’ve never needed to work with vamps before. Why start now? We’re supposed to be hunting these things, not kowtowing to them.”

“Who said we were going to kowtow? All we’d do is work together to take down a threat. It’s just a temporary alliance.”

Jack leaned back in the couch, holding out a hand to forestall further argument. He was looking at me when he spoke, though his words were directed to Devon.

“What if we don’t go? What if we decide not to fight this thing, to let the vampires kill each other off?”

Looks like it was my turn to speak up. I met Jack’s gaze squarely, not giving him the satisfaction of showing him how riled I was. Instead, I drew on the strength and certainty the belt was radiating to temper my response and keep myself composed. It was sure that, if I said the right things, these hunters would be just as eager as it was to hunt down Max.

“You know as well as I do that Max Carlyle is after me. You wanted me for something, and if we don’t help Royce stop him, Max might succeed in killing me before you get what you want out of me. Or he might just end up taking over the city, leaving an even bigger threat than Alec Royce in charge of the darkest Others in New York. That’s why you’re going to agree to this and help us tonight.”

Jack’s thin lips curved in a passable imitation of Devon’s mischievous smirk. “Tiny had a good point. How can I agree to such a thing when it would go against all that we stand for? Regardless of who wins, both vampires are nothing more than our prey. Not our friends, not our allies, not even human. We’ve come very close to ridding this world of that parasite, Royce. It would suit us just fine if they killed each other off, or left only one of them standing so there’s less work for us later.”