Waking Up Dead (The Western Werewolf Legend #1) (7 page)

Two Bits’ face went slack. He twitched
as he considered Connors’ words. Glancing first at the gun pointed
between Grizzle’s legs and then up at his face, he shook his head.
“I… I guess I’m a comin’ with ya.”

Grizzle jerked around at his
coworker’s words. “Are ya daft? They’ll kill ya first thing, you
idiot.” He motioned at Connors. “This here Reb’s got the Fever. He
barely can move. Ya think he’s gonna be able to pull the hammer
back on that rusty excuse for a gun before you put a bullet in his
head? Where’s your senses, man? Shoot him!”

The sound of a hammer pulling back
echoed in the stillness of the room. It didn’t come from Two Bits
gun either.

Connors never took his eyes off Two
Bits as he offered up a wicked grin. “It’s up to you.”

Ty glanced from Grizzle to the guard
at the door. Sweat streamed liberally down Two Bits face and onto
his stained undershirt. His face, slack jawed, lost all
color.

Wondering if Two Bits may pee his
pants, he motioned toward the rebel with the gun. “Go on, Connors,
he can’t make up his mind. Shoot this one.” He motioned at
Grizzle.

Connors leveled the gun up against the
guard’s genitals and gave the barrel a shove.

Grizzle began to sweat. Giving his
shoulders a little shrug, he offered up a lopsided grin. “There
ain’t no need to get all crazy or nothin’. Hell, we can come to
some agreement, can’t we?” His hands he held over his head
trembled. “Maybe you can let both us go when we show you how to get
out, huh?” His head began to bob up and down as if attached to a
puppeteer’s strings. “See, the thing is, ya got several to get past
before ya clear the tunnels in this here place. You get lost and ya
dead for sure.”

Ty glanced at Two Bits. “Is that
true?”

Two Bits automatically nodded.
“There’s seven more like us.” He wiped quickly at his forehead.
“The vampires let us feed off ‘um and we watch during the day.” His
eyes, big now with nerves and truth, glanced up and down the
corridor. “What we gonna do with all the rest?”

“
Hell, set ‘um free. If we
can go with you – to hell with the rest. Damn vampires’ll be
lookin’ for deserters anyway.” Grizzle tone turned traitorous
quickly as he gazed anxiously at Ty.

“
Glad to see you’re such a
loyal employee.” Ty’s brow cocked with the statement. “Two Bits,
can you show us where the others are?”

Two Bits nodded rapidly.

“
All right, let’s go!” Ty
slowed at the cell door and glanced around. “Those of you who can,
carry somebody who can’t walk.”

The faces looking back nodded. Each
man gathered up somebody to help.

“
Connors, get the key.
Unlock as many as you can. Put the chains on that one.” He pointed
at Grizzle. “If he tries anything, gut him. Got that?” Making sure
Grizzle understood, he grabbed the keys Connors threw at him.
Ignoring the sputtering guard, he crouched to unlock a man’s leg
irons.

All the guard could do was stammer.
“But who… what?”

“
No need to worry, Yankee.
The vampires are gonna be glad to see your sorry ass either way.
Might as well help us out or die tryin’.” Ty grinned
wryly.

With the prisoners in the cell freed,
Ty passed the key to the cell next to theirs. Praying inwardly the
others would follow quickly behind them, he urged Two Bits to lead
the way.

They’d gone no more than a hundred
yards when the noise, which broke out gave rise to thoughts the
vampires awoke early. Prisoners plastered themselves against walls
in the darkened hall. Mice squeaked and scurried out of harm’s way.
Holding up a fist to halt those behind him, Ty used his amplified
hearing to scope which direction the sound came from.

No sound came.

Perhaps the noise didn’t mean what
they’d assumed. Hesitantly Ty dropped his hand in the advance
command. Up ahead was another Union foot soldier with his back to
them. The gift gave Ty swift, unseen reaction ability. The first
guard fell without a word as the next only had time to raise his
rifle. With lightning speed, which had the Rebel escapees blinking
in awe, Ty broke the second’s neck before searching the dark
corridor ahead.

At the last outpost, Two Bits hailed
the guard as a group slid past on his blind side. Gaining the
information, they needed to continue, Two Bits motioned for the
rest to move forward. The third guard with a sudden change of
loyalty and joined them.

Footfalls padding down the corridor
pricked Ty’s attention. Someone was coming. Bracing for an attack,
Ty waited. The sounds grew closer but the feet weren’t a man’s,
they belonged to a female. With his rusty shank in hand, Ty forced
himself around the corner and rolled to the other side of the
hall.

The small screech, which erupted,
echoed through the dank corridor despite the owner’s effort to
quell the errant noise. “Ty?” Sonja’s voice strangled but
undeniable reverberated through him. “Is that you?”

“
What in the hell are you
doing here?” Needing desperately to rub away the pain gripping him
just behind his ribs, Ty stared at the one person who could drive
him to do things he’d regarded as foolish only a week before, Ty
faced Sonja with a grim set to his mouth. “Well?”

“
God, am I glad to find
you. Come on, we have to hurry.” She started to turn, but he snaked
a hand out and grabbed her wrist.

Like a physical blow, she stopped his
heart, no matter how many times she appeared, she managed to alter
his world. The need for her never waned nor sated. Actually
glancing about, Ty cursed low. The circumstances for such a tryst,
at the moment, proved impossible. But soon – soon she would rest
under him and open for him to sink deep into the heat which only
she could offer.

“
What?” Sonja searched his
face. “We have to hurry. Come on!” Tilting her head in question,
Sonja waited impatiently.

“
I’ve got about twenty men
with me,” Ty explained as some of those men appeared behind him.
Abram and Connors nodded at her.

“
Ma’am.” Clemmons never
failed to address a woman with respect, even if the timing proved
less than social. He epitomized the decorum of a true southern
gentleman, Ty mused. Giving his head a slight shake, he grinned
inwardly. The world could be going to hell in a hand basket, but
manners would rule the day.

“
Connors, how you doing
back there?” Ty glanced behind him as he took Sonja’s
arm.

“
Right as rain,
Lieutenant.” Connors toothy grin shown in stark relief against the
dark walls of the cave. “Gots me a real live Yankee prisoner of war
here. Can’t say, as I want to make him a pet though. He’s filled
with vermin.”

Snickers rippled up and down the
corridor.

“
All right men. This is it.
You’ll be on your own if we get separated. Take the road leading
south to the swamp and I’ll meet you in the clearing near the
creek. Don’t dally. The sun will be going down soon. We’ll be
deciding where to go when we get there. It’s every man for himself
but I’ll do my best to keep them off your tails until we reach the
cover of the swamp. Set as many fires as you can to ward off the
vermin, do you understand?” His words needed no explanation. These
southerners, who’d cut their teeth on hunting and living off the
land, didn’t need to have it spelled out for them. It was clear
which vermin he meant. They hobbled down the road. Ty prayed he’d
made the right decision.

Turning to Sonja, he pulled her close.
“Why did you take the chance of coming here?” Running his hand
through her golden curls, he sighed. “Are you taunting them or
simply trying to give me a heart attack?”

Sonja’s brow knitted and she gave him
a petulant rebuttal. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of
myself.” Shoving from his arms, she turned away, taking several
steps before wheeling to face him. “I extinguished a whole regiment
of them yesterday without help. Yours or Guardian’s.” Ignoring the
scowl on his face, she waved a slim hand at him. “Besides, I
learned several interesting things about mine – our powers during
the skirmish.” Giving her long tresses a toss over her shoulder,
she turned from him as the Guardian and Hortence appeared. Ty could
never get used to their silent arrivals.

With a low curse, he gritted his teeth
before stepping closer. “We aren’t through with this discussion. Do
you hear me?”

Sonja merely took another step out of
his reach and turned to her mentor and her tutor as they
approached.

The Guardian met Ty’s gaze. “You
managed to escape. Good. Hortence leveled a spell, which removed
the other prisoners’ shackles. Any lingering guards are fast asleep
thanks to her and I directed the men to leave the area post
haste.”

His deep baritone voice reverberated
through Ty’s already agitated nerves. Nodding absently before
returning his gaze to Sonja, he considered his sanity. The woman
would drive him to drink, he mused. A more headstrong, obstinate
creature, he’d never met. Unable to fathom why she continued to
disobey him, Ty could only grunt his agreement before stalking off
to relieve himself behind the nearest bush. In consideration, he
spoke over his shoulder, “We’ll need fast horses and weapons. I
can’t leave those men. The vampires will kill them. They need
training in defending themselves against this new
enemy.”

“
Leave that to me,”
Guardian suggested.

“
No, they’re my men. I
should be the one to see to their safety.”

“
You know you weren’t
responsible for their capture. No need to keep beating yourself up
for what happened.” The Guardian laid a hand on Ty’s
shoulder.

The Guardian appeared as sympathetic
as a wolf-god could, Ty supposed. “I don’t recall you coming to my
aid when my own side wanted to court-martial me for treason.” Ty
spat on the ground as if something distasteful lodged in his
throat. No, I don’t think you came to my defense as Stewart gave
the order to fire.

“
Perhaps not, but I can
state emphatically, I was wrong.” Stewart’s roan appeared prancing
in place as he materialized in front of them.

Ty fought the urge to salute and at
the same time, tried to control the disbelief on his face. Old
habits died hard, but if he wasn’t mistaken he was talking to a
ghost. “You’re dead.” Glancing around to see if anyone else saw the
same haunt, Ty squared his shoulders. No figment of a stress-filled
imagination was going to get the better of him.

Sonja stepped closer and laid a gentle
hand along his sleeve. “This is what I wanted to tell you.” She
glanced back at the general seated atop his fiery steed. “The
general stopped by Briann’s early this morning.” She paused to give
him a chance to catch up. “He wants to help.”

“
He’s dead!” His quizzical
glance slowly turned to horror as he stared at the man on the
horse. “You’re a vampire?”

Stewart nodded solemnly. “Not
something I’d dreamt of happening, but one has to make the best of
all situations. Agreed, Werewolf?”

Ty’s accusing glare turned to
bemusement as he struggled with who’d given away his secret. He
compounded his lot with a questioning look for Sonja. Immediately
regretting the move, he tried to regroup. Reaching for her hand,
she slipped from his grasp and walked away, leaving him to bear his
humiliation alone.

“
You know, Loflin,” Stewart
said, “For an intelligent man, you can be thick-headed sometimes.”
A chuckle and the general slipped nimbly from his horse. His great
strides ate up the ground between them. “I owe you an apology,
Lieutenant.” Extending his leather covered hand, he waited for Ty’s
answer.

Under the scrutiny of those nearby and
with a profound sense of ignorance toward every thread of reality,
Ty took the general’s cold, dead hand and shook. “My apologies,
Sir.”

“
No need.” The general
smiled warmly. “I’m glad things turned out the way they did for
you.” He flicked a glance at Sonja. “You’re a lucky man, er… wolf.”
With a conspirator’s grin, he leaned a fraction closer. “In more
ways than one.”

Following the general’s meaning this
time, Ty agreed. He was a lucky wolf. Now if he could figure out
how to get her to forgive his stupidity they could go back to
killing vampires.

“
We best be going, soon the
sun’ll set and night will fall.” The Guardian addressed them as a
man once more and Stewart blinked.

Stewart’s eyes widened before he
dropped his head in amazement. “When I think I’ve seen it all…” he
trailed off. With Ty grinning in agreement, he accepted the reins
of the horse Hortence handed him. Giving Ty a salute, Stewart
hoisted himself back in the saddle and followed the menagerie of
warriors.

***

Convening near the glade where Ty’d
rescued Sonja from the first night she’d experienced the change,
the small band of ragtag refugees huddled close to listen to plans
for the next day. Each man among them had long ago relinquished
dreams of the future. None among them held any far-flung notions of
tomorrow. No, there was only survival and each minute a precious
reminder of how quickly their fates could change.