Land. Solid and real. Not sand, not sea, not rocks.
Land
.
I would have hugged it if I could.
After wasting several seconds simply enjoying the solidness under my body, I rose to my knees and shifted to my wolf shape. I needed her nose to hunt my quarry, and to do that, I needed to go back to the cliff top. Just the thought of it had my knees shaking.
But there was no other choice. While freeing Rhoan was a priority, getting the bomb control was even more so. Until
that
was destroyed, there was no point in pulling Rhoan out of his cell. And I doubted the twins would be hunting him today, given the injuries I’d inflicted on Jorn.
I turned and padded through the trees, my limp not quite as bad in my wolf form. I followed the coastline, keeping well away from the cliff edges as the land began to rise again.
Finding the area where I’d gone over wasn’t hard. Footprints marred the sandy soil and the undergrowth where I’d fallen and they’d stood was all broken and flattened. The scent of Jorn’s blood lingered on the air, a sweet aroma that stirred the hunter to life. I nosed around the ground until I caught a slightly sour, foresty scent. Yohan, undoubtedly. At least if I lost Jorn’s trail, I might be able to follow Yohan’s.
Nose to ground, I made my way through the trees, slipping easily through the underbrush, avoiding the sunlight so that my red coat wouldn’t gleam, melding with the deeper shadows of the forest. Hopefully making it harder for anyone to spot me.
Not that I thought they’d be looking for me, but I’d learned a long time ago never to underestimate the bad guys. They just didn’t think in the same linear patterns as sane people.
Jorn’s scent sharpened abruptly. I stopped, sniffing the wind, tasting the flavors that ran underneath it. He was still bleeding heavily, the blood smell thick and rich on the air. Twined around it was the reek of sweat and the musk of man.
He was close. I twitched my ears, trying to hear him. His scent was coming from my left, but given the way the wind swirled through the undergrowth, I wasn’t relying on it to give me position.
If he was making any noise, I couldn’t hear it—and as a wolf my hearing was pretty keen. So he was either unconscious, sitting quietly, or it was a trap.
I laid on my belly and crawled forward. It wasn’t exactly easy, given the undergrowth and the fact my wolf form was designed more to run than creep.
I ducked my nose through some thick greenery and discovered a small clearing. Jorn sat on a log on the far side, leaning back against a tree trunk. Blood caked his left arm and leg, his shirt was caked with sweat, and there was a decided look of pain on his face.
Couldn’t say I was sorry about that.
Though his eyes were closed, I doubted he was unconscious. The pain, the way in which he sat, the tension in his clenched hands—it all spoke of awareness.
I looked beyond him, my nose raised slightly, tasting the air for Yohan’s sour scent. It lingered—a memory more than a reality. He’d definitely been here, but not recently.
Which gave me my chance at Jorn.
Despite the rush of eagerness that had my toes twitching, I didn’t move. The clearing might be a small one, but there was still open space between me and him, and he had his rifle within easy reach. I wasn’t about to bet my speed against his, even if I
should
be faster. Not when there were silver bullets involved.
Which meant I had to try and provide a distraction, and hopefully give myself extra time to attack before he reacted. I carefully backed through the undergrowth, then rose and padded through the trees, making a wide, looping arc around the small clearing before coming up on his right side.
When I was close enough to smell the stink of his sweat and blood, I shifted to my human shape and reached down to pick up a nice big rock. With my fingers clenched around it securely, I crept forward until I was within throwing range.
This close, I could hear his breathing, see the blood still running from the wounds. Maybe Yohan had gone to fetch medical help for his brother, which meant I had to do this fast.
I raised my arm and threw the rock as hard as I could. It tumbled through the air so fast it was little more than a blur and yet, somehow, Jorn sensed it.
I should have known fate wasn’t going to let me off so easily.
He twisted around, avoiding the rock and bringing the rifle up in one smooth movement. I laid low and wrapped the shadows around me. Jorn frowned, his gaze sweeping the tree line, moving past my position with barely a twitch or pause.
He couldn’t see me. Couldn’t sense me.
Maybe Yohan was the one who could sense—track—nonhumans.
But Jorn still had extraordinary hearing, because he’d obviously heard the whir of the rock through the air. It had been warning enough to assume fighting readiness but not enough to fire randomly. For that, I had to be grateful.
Thankfully, the rock had disappeared back into the trees, and he wasn’t making any move to discover just what had flown at him. Maybe—hopefully—he thought it was a bird rather than the beginnings of an attack.
I waited until he settled down again—albeit more watchfully—then slowly, carefully, inched my way backward. Given he obviously had good senses, I’d have to do this the old-fashioned way—with speed and power and a whole lot of luck.
Once I had retreated deeper into the forest, I rose and padded around until I was roughly behind his tree. I could see his elbows to either side of the tree trunk, and underneath one was the butt of the rifle. He was ready for action, so I really would have to be quick.
I took a deep breath and released it slowly, then silently counted to three and moved forward. Fast.
He was going to hear me, but I was counting on my vampire speed and the cover of the shadows to fool his senses long enough. But a good hunter didn’t rely on sight alone, and given the thick carpet of debris lining the forest floor, there was no hope of ever remaining silent.
I felt the bullet even before I heard the gunshot. I leapt high in the air, making my body an arrow, flying straight at Jorn. The bullet ripped past my belly and disappeared into the shadowed forest.
And then I was on him, hitting him, knocking him backward. He grunted, the weapon flying from his grip. I hit the ground and tumbled to my feet, racing over to the gun.
I only barely beat Jorn there. I dropped beneath his blow, then swept low with my leg, sweeping him off his feet. He hit the ground back-first. I stepped on his left leg, flipped the gun around, and smashed the barrel down as hard as I could onto his knee. I had a whole lot of strength behind me thanks to my dual heritage, and his knee didn’t stand a chance. Bone smashed and splintered under the force of the blow, and he screamed, his body crumbling as he tried to protect himself.
The sound of his pain echoed through the forest, and I had no doubt it would bring Yohan. It would have called me, had it been my brother lying there screaming.
Which meant I didn’t have a whole lot of time to do what had to be done.
I hit his chin with the heel of my hand, forcing him backward, then straddled his belly and dropped down onto it, my knees pinning his arms and preventing him from moving. I didn’t really have the time—or the strength—to waste cutting through his shields, but my guardian training under Jack had taught me some neat little tricks, and one of those was a means of preventing him from contacting his brother telepathically.
I reached out psychically, skimming his shielded thoughts, wrapping them in a field of power. It wouldn’t stop Yohan from knowing something was wrong, but it sure as hell would stop Jorn from telling him the details. My tired state meant I probably wouldn’t be able to hold the shield for long, but it would be long enough to do what I had to do.
And Jorn hadn’t yet seemed to realize what I’d done. “You will—”
“Yeah, yeah,” I cut in. “I know the song, you’ll make me pay for your pain, yadda, yadda, yadda. In the meantime, you’re going to answer a few little questions.”
He spat. Unpleasant fellow.
I wiped the spittle from my face, then hit him. Hard. “You want to do this the hard way, we will.”
“My brother will fucking kill you.”
“Your brother isn’t here yet.”
“He’s coming.”
Of that I had no doubt. Once I’d cut the telepathic link between them, Yohan would have immediately turned back to see what was going on. I would have, had it been Rhoan sitting here. I hit Jorn again, smashing his nose and sending blood flying.
He swore and bucked hard, trying to dislodge me. “Your partner is
so
dead.”
“You haven’t got the controls, Jorn. Yohan has.” It was a guess, nothing more. It was too dangerous to release him and pat him down.
“Yeah, and it’s only going to take one little press—” As power surged across the shield I’d raised around his thoughts, he stopped and frowned.
The realization that he had no telepathic link to his brother had hit. His gaze jumped back to mine. “What the fuck have you done?”
I smiled benignly. “Never underestimate the powers of a guardian. And if you want to live, you’d better tell me how to disconnect that bomb.”
“It won’t help you. You’re dead, whether you kill me or not. Yohan will get you.”
“So humor me anyway. What have you got to lose?”
He smiled. It was still an arrogant and confident thing. Not believing he would die, even now. And, for the moment, he was right. I couldn’t kill him just yet—not until I’d ensured the bomb unit was out of Yohan’s way and my brother was safe.
“The unit is only dangerous when it’s activated. Turn it off and it’s as safe as can be.”
“And Yohan has it?”
“Of course.”
I saw the flick in his eyes. Tasted the lie.
Yohan wasn’t running toward us as I’d presumed. He was running back to activate the unit.
I thrust a hand against his neck and began to squeeze, my fingers digging deep into his flesh, cutting off his breathing. Cutting off his blood supply.
“Where is the unit kept?”
“House. Safe,” he gasped.
“Where in the house?”
“Trophy room,” he said, voice little more than a wheeze as his face began turning an interesting shade of purple. “Far end.”
I hit him then, knocking him out cold. It would have been good to kill the bastard, but I just couldn’t risk Yohan getting to the controls first and taking revenge on my brother.
I rose and ran. Down the hill, through the forest, ignoring the pain in my leg and the pain in my body, my feet flying as I ducked and weaved through the trees and undergrowth. Yohan might have had a head start, but I had a vampire’s speed and I was using every bit of it.
Still, the house was on the other side of the island, and even the fittest vampire can run out of breath occasionally. And I wasn’t even full vampire, so I was blowing hard and dripping sweat by the time I ran down the last slope and onto the main driveway that led to what they quaintly called their lodge—a massive, sprawling series of connected buildings that was undoubtedly built from their blackmailing activities.
Something pinged near my toes before skittering away into the nearby trees. I looked up, and saw the gates and the armed guard in the security box next to it.
That bullet hadn’t felt like silver, meaning they wouldn’t be deadly unless they hit something vital. Not that I was intending to get shot if I could help it. Without breaking stride, I bent and scooped up a largish stone with my free hand. Bullets ripped through the air—several so close I could feel the burn of them as they passed by my arms and legs. If that guard wanted to kill me—or at least bring me down permanently—he would have been trying for torso shots. Yohan must have wanted me alive and wriggling, and that was just fine by me.
I threw the stone hard. It whirled through the air, little more than a deadly blur. If the guard had any awareness of it, he certainly didn’t show it. The stone smacked into his face and blood spurted. He barely had time to howl before I was on him. I ripped the weapon free from his grip, then hit him with the barrel of Jorn’s rifle. He slumped to the floor, out cold before he’d even hit it. I tugged him onto his side so that he didn’t drown in his own blood, then looked around the small box until I found the gate switch, and threw it.
I bet the gates of hell itself didn’t open so quietly or quickly.
I grabbed the guard’s rifle, broke it open to grab the bullets, and shoved them into my pocket. It never hurt to have spares. The weapon I tossed into the forest—at least it was one less that I had to worry about.
I raised my nose and tasted the air. The tang of eucalyptus was strong, combining sharply with the salty freshness of the ocean. I couldn’t hear the crash of waves, but if that scent was anything to go by, we were close to a beach. The island wasn’t that big, after all, and I’d just run through the heart of it.
But Yohan’s scent was absent, as was the hint of any other male’s. I didn’t trust that information one bit—they were here somewhere. I could “feel” them, feel their growing sense of anticipation.
They were probably setting a trap, waiting for me to walk right up to it. I might still be considered green when it came to guardian skills, but I wasn’t stupid.