Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) (28 page)

“
Really?”

“
Really. And when Edie
catches on to what I’ve done, you’ll be the one I drag off the edge
of the cliff with me.”

“
Deal. Thelma and Louise.
All the way.”

“
Sometimes, Tara Godfrey,
you are way too willing to die.”

“
In there.” Victoria
pointed across the street.

I followed the track of her finger and
stared. “Are you sure? The sign says it’s a meat
factory.”

Victoria lifted a brow in
answer.

“
Makes sense to me,”
George said.

“
Ugh. Bad joke,” I
said.

Wes punched him lightly in the
shoulder.

They guys had been awfully chummy
these last three days on the road. I’d tried more than once to get
close and hear what sort of conversation needed to be hushed and
private on a bus packed with five other people, but they always
shut up when I came around. I’d even used George to eavesdrop
unknowingly once when I sent him back to ask the boys what they
wanted for dinner. But all I’d picked up was the word “metal” and
“fatal” from Logan. I assumed Wes must be getting his advice on how
best to kill whatever stood in our way upon arrival. Assuming that
obstacle wasn’t someone from our own camp.

We’d yet to hear from Grandma. Or Jack
and Fee. As far as I knew, they thought we were still in Colorado,
locked up tight in an invisible house in the woods.

Cambria had called me with the bypass
phrase: Vade Mecum. According to Logan, it meant “go with me” in
Latin. The message of it—that Grandma never intended for me to
leave that place without her—wasn’t lost on me.

Nor did it deter me.

We’d left that night. Logan, Victoria,
and Astor all thought Grandma had been the one to supply the bypass
phrase. George—and I suspected Wes though he hadn’t brought it
up—knew the truth. Emma seemed like she didn’t care either way, as
long as both George and I stayed close.

She was still jumpy, prone to periods
of restlessness and pacing, although I wondered if that was her
body’s way of coping with being human after holding onto her wolf
form so long. She was quiet, and while she tolerated Astor’s
questions, she lit up when George sought her out.

We’d taken shifts, alternating between
sleeping and driving, and had only stopped for gas and food across
five states. Despite the fact that we were all exhausted, we were
happy to be here. And hoping like hell Victoria’s tracking skills
were right.

I looked again at the building
Victoria had pointed to. It was long and narrow with a flat roof.
Nondescript except for the red-and-black sign that advertised it as
headquarters to a packing and shipping plant for meat. I sniffed
and let my wolf senses expand. Ugh. Raw cow to be exact.

And I knew one thing: if my pack was
in there, I was getting them out.

“
All right, let’s stash
this thing somewhere and see if we can get closer,” I
said.

Everyone stared at me.

“
What?” I said.

Wes shook his head. “You’re serious,
aren’t you?”

“
Yeah …?”

“
You want to what? Knock
on the front door and ask to see your pack?”

“
No, I …” I trailed off.
Nothing I could’ve said would make me look anything other than
reckless. “What’s your plan?”

Wes looked at Astor. “Him.”

“
What about him?” I
asked.

“
He can knock on the front
door and ask if the hybrids can play.”

I stared at him. “What? How does that
help?”

“
Because he can play crazy
long enough to give us the time we need to get in.”

“
He can play crazy longer
than that,” George muttered.

“
A distraction,” I said,
deadpan. “You want Astor to be the distraction.”

“
It beats dangling
yourself out there where you know Steppe is watching.”

“
Steppe knows
Astor.”

“
But he doesn’t know Astor
knows you,” Georgepointed out.

“
He knows we’re related,”
I told him. “And that we’re on the run from him. He’s not an
idiot.”

“
I’m counting on that,”
Wes interrupted. We both looked at him. “Steppe will know
something’s up no matter what. At least with Astor, it takes a few
minutes to sift through the crazy to get to the sane.”

I chewed my lip, hating the idea of
putting my helpless, albeit crazy, uncle in harm’s way.

“
He makes a point,” George
said. I eyed him, realizing he hadn’t said it was a
good
point. “Why don’t we
ask him? Astor,” he called before I could argue.

“
What now?” Astor shuffled
up to the front with a frown. “I’m in the middle of
something.”

“
I don’t doubt it,” Wes
said. “But I have a favor to ask.”

“
What sort of
favor?”

“
That building over
there,” Wes said, pointing, “is where Steppe is keeping the
hybrids. We need you to create a diversion at the front so we can
get in.”

“
A diversion,” Astor
repeated.

“
Yes. Can you do
that?”

“
How big of a diversion?”
he asked.

“
Big.”

“
Hmm.” He rubbed his palms
on the front of his pants and rolled his neck side to
side.

I took a step back for reasons I
couldn’t name.

“
You mean like this?”
Before any of us could answer, he shifted.

I’d never seen anything like it. It
wasn’t a complete change—more of a
halfway-there-Wolfman-Jack-thing.

His form shimmered but not just at the
edges. He shivered and shook all over, going in and out of focus.
When he solidified, he still stood on two legs but they’d become
knobby and hairy. His clothes were still on, stretched to the
limits over his bulging arms and thighs. All I saw was coarse fur
and gnarled ankles where his pants had ridden up. His arms were
shorter and his fingers longer; nothing but massive knuckles and
claws.

His face was the worst. Somehow, it
retained its human-like appearance, complete with a mop of white
hair on top, but his cheeks and chin were covered in fine hairs
that thickened into a full beard on the lower half.

He looked like he’d stepped out of an
’80s horror flick.

“
Arghhhhhhh!” he yelled,
bending low to growl in George’s face.

George’s expression remained deadpan.
When Astor finally quieted, George looked from Wes to me to Logan.
“He’s like Teen Wolf meets Doc Brown from Back to the
Future.”

“
But did I scare you?”
Astor asked.

“
Um.”

It was all I could do not to
laugh.

“
How do you … I mean, you
look so …” Victoria gestured to him. I could only imagine what sort
of insult she had ready.

“
Different,” I finished.
We couldn’t afford to offend Astor right now. We needed him. I shot
Victoria a look that would hopefully shut her up. “How do you do
it?” I added.

“
Years’ worth of
practice,” he said proudly.

George eyed him skeptically. “So, you
did it on purpose?”

“
Absolutely. It’s the best
of both. Two legs. Opposable thumbs. Scares the mess out of those
damned Jehovah’s Witness bastards.”

Wes chuckled.

“
So. What do you think?”
Astor asked, his eyes alight. “I can try it again if you
want.”

Astor’s chest puffed up as he sucked
in another deep breath.

“
It’ll work,” Wes said
quickly. He patted Astor on the arm. “It’ll work.”

***

The only way to get Astor to shift
back while we waited for nightfall was to take him for a Slurpee.
He said it was the one thing he missed about civilization. I
thought he might also have missed the memo on not wearing socks
with sandals but I didn’t say so. I had my own agenda for passing
the time.

George held the door for us all to
file into the convenience store. I went last. He caught my arm
before I could get past him. “I know what you’re thinking and it’s
a bad idea,” he said.

I met his stare and yanked my arm
away. “Those are the only kind I have.”

I wandered along the first aisle I
came to. I didn’t really want anything and my concentration was on
how to approach Wes with what I wanted. I’d already thought about
sneaking off but rejected the idea. Even I knew better than to
wander off alone in the DC metro area. This was Steppe’s territory.
I had to be careful. Didn’t mean I couldn’t get what I wanted, as
long as I could convince my boyfriend.

“
He’s not going to go for
it,” George said in my ear.

I jumped and swatted him but he danced
out of reach. “Get out of my head,” I hissed.

I glanced at where the others were
gathered around the frozen drink machines. Wes was helping Astor
fit a lid on his cup. Victoria and Logan stood shoulder to
shoulder, trying to decide on flavors. Emma—

“
Where’s Emma?” I
asked.

“
Bathroom.”

“
Oh.” I relaxed. What a
great alpha. I couldn’t even lead a pack of one.

Wes finished with Astor and joined
George and me by the window. He inspected the merchandise displayed
and gave me a strange look. “Why are you looking at
skullcaps?”

I stared blankly at where he pointed
until I realized I stood in front of a large display of bandannas
and neckerchiefs with an array of designs ranging from flames to
skull-and-crossbones.

“
Are we starting a biker
gang and no one told me?” When I failed to react, his smile dimmed.
He came closer, his nose almost touching mine. “What’s
wrong?”

I caught myself twisting my hands
together and let them fall to my sides. “Um, okay, so you know how
Astor’s one request was that he be allowed to have a
Slurpee?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Since, you know, it’d
been so long since he’d had one.”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
And he really missed it
and needed that before he could move forward with the
plan.”

“
Is this going
somewhere?”

“
And really, if he hadn’t
gotten the Slurpee, who knows if he would’ve been able to focus on
the plan later so—”

“
You want to see
Alex.”

“
Bingo,” George called
loudly. The cashier stared.

“
Tara—” Wes
began.

“
George wants to see him
too,” I blurted.

“
I do?” Even George looked
surprised. I resisted the urge to wrap my hands around his
throat.

“
Yes,” I said.

“
How do you know?” Wes
asked.

“
I read it in his mind. A
few days ago, when I first told you he woke up. You were mad at me
for wanting to leave, remember?”

George’s head cocked sideways while he
thought it over. “Huh. Okay, maybe the thought crossed my mind. But
obviously not for the reasons you do,” he said. “I want
answers.”

“
So do I.”

Wes and George both rolled their eyes.
I pretended not to notice.

“
I’m not asking to go
alone. And I’m not sneaking away or doing anything stupid. I’m
asking for everyone to agree,” I said.

Victoria walked up. “Agree on what?”
she asked around the straw in her mouth.

“
Tara wants to go see
Alex,” Wes told Victoria.

Astor and Emma joined us, both sucking
their icy-sugary concoction from neon green straws.

“
So does George,” I
added.

Victoria shrugged. “Let’s
go.”

“
We can’t exactly walk
into the hospital,” Wes said.

“
Maybe you can’t,” she
said. “I can go where I want.”

I stared at her. “She has a
point.”

Wes sighed and rubbed a hand over his
face. “What are you thinking?”

“
The simplest solution is
often the best. My mother used to say that to me,” Victoria
said.

“
What does that mean?”
George asked with Emma’s drink halfway to his lips.

“
Well. Can he walk?”
Victoria asked.

“
Uh. Guys?” Emma cut in.
“Should we maybe discuss this somewhere else?” She pointed to a
flyer taped to the window behind me and we all turned to
look.

“
That’s a horrible picture
of you,” George told Wes.

“
Shut up,” Wes said. We
all eyed the desk clerk, who was obliviously ringing up a customer
for lottery tickets. Wes turned to Logan. “Give me your
hat.”

“
So you know, this is my
favorite hat,” Logan said, reluctantly handing it over.