Born to Love (The Vampire Reborn Series) (Entangled Ignite) (19 page)

“I’m surprised the traitors chose a meeting place where they might run into humans,” he said.

Diana agreed. “It’s a surprise, but a welcome one. We should be able to get heat signatures, possibly even a visual, to determine how many are at the meeting. Once we know that, we can assess whether the team goes in, or waits and tries to separate Jefferson from the rest of the group.”

Her optimism did little to reassure him, judging by the glower on his face. Still, he relented, stroking his hands up and down her sides, the tension in his body visibly easing.

“Let’s go home,” he said. “It would be nice to have some alone time with you for a change.”

“Promise me you’ll keep your vampire friends out of this,” she said. She’d be unable to rest without that promise.

He hesitated, but at length he nodded. “Okay. I promise. I know bringing them in may only cause more problems for you. So for now, it’ll be just me helping out.”

“Ryder—”

“Just me, darlin’,” he repeated, and she didn’t doubt his word.

But that only awoke the fear she’d barely been able to contain as they had outlined their plan of attack during dinner. Now it roared back even stronger, because even if it turned out the odds were in the team’s favor, Jefferson struck her as a psychopath, a man who would stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. One you could never fully anticipate what he might do if cornered.

Having Ryder as part of the team was a mixed blessing. She knew he was strong enough to protect her friends, but she worried about him getting hurt—or worse.

With a tug on his shirt front, she said, “You’ve got to obey orders and not take any risks. I don’t want to lose you.”

The first hint of a smile curved one side of his mouth and spread, erasing his earlier gloom.

“I promise. I’m not ready to leave you, darlin’. So how about heading home?”

With a weary smile, she slipped her hand into his and let him lead her from the war room.

“Home it is.”

Chapter Thirty

Maggie hesitated as David rolled to a stop by the bumper of his van in the parking garage. She wanted to be with him tonight in the event that things didn’t go quite as planned tomorrow. But she knew that wasn’t fair because she couldn’t promise him anything but tonight.

His fingers white-knuckled the wheels of his chair and jerked them back and forth a time or two, then abruptly let go. Thank God, he was as nervous as she was.

“I don’t know how to say this,” she began.

“I do. I’d like to come home with you, Maggie.”

Her heart soared, but she wrestled it back to Earth, not wanting to assume he meant more than the obvious.

“I’m not sure where this can go,” she said. For about the hundredth time.

“I understand. I’ve been there, remember?” he said, and in a surge, pushed up from the chair.

She greeted him halfway, meeting his lips in a kiss whose roughness was tempered by the smiles that followed.

When he sat again, he said, “I just need to get a change of clothes or two, my shaving kit. I’d rather not waste time coming home in the morning.”

She bent to brush another kiss across his lips. “I’ll be waiting.”

…

It took him less than an hour to go to his apartment, gather together some clothes and the toiletries.

He paused, smiling, at the thought of what he was doing, of what he and Maggie would soon be doing. His smile faded with uncertainty. He sensed her fear, and understood it all too well.

That same fear was what had driven him from her months earlier. He hoped in time they could find a way to deal with their complicated new reality—both his and hers.

Maybe there could even be something permanent for them. Call him old-fashioned, but he believed in marriage and all that it promised.

With a renewed grin that refused to leave his face, he left his apartment and headed for his van, but as he positioned himself in the driver’s seat, his cell phone rang.

It was Diana.

His gut tightened, knowing his partner would not be calling at this hour unless something was wrong.

“Harris,” he answered.

“Weasel lied, David. The meet’s going on right now in the tunnel off the City Hall Loop.”

He froze. “How do you know?”

“Rafe and Brendon picked up Jefferson’s scent when they were leaving our offices and decided to check it out. They guesstimate about half a dozen shifters are down there beneath City Hall Park, including Jefferson, according to the scent trail.”

“Where do you need me?” he asked, turning on the speakerphone and starting his van for the drive back downtown.

“Meet us back at Federal Plaza to get suited up and grab guns and ammo. Ryder and I are already on our way.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen,” he confirmed.

Half a dozen or so half-bloods. Not too bad.

With the duo of wolf shifters, Jesus, Maggie, and Ryder, that made it about even odds. David hoped the team could cull Jefferson from the group and take him down alone, without fighting the other shifters.

He worried for his friends, and hated that he couldn’t be more help. He knew Diana had the same concerns, but she had backed off from being part of the raid on his account—so she wouldn’t make him feel inadequate being stuck in the surveillance van. He appreciated her new sensitivity. The Diana of old might not have been so aware or so caring.

But this was a new Diana, he realized. Stronger emotionally. Outwardly more confident, while at the same time more fragile beneath the surface. He was looking forward to exploring the changes in his old partner, as well as those in Maggie.

Maggie. A
werewolf
. Talk about a curve ball. He definitely hadn’t seen that one coming. Life had a way of throwing the biggest challenges at the least-expected moments. But he was up to facing them. Now, anyway. With Maggie’s help.

All that mattered was to get her back in his life, no matter what it took.

As for tonight, he would keep her safe and alive. Himself, too.

They’d come through too much to lose each other now.

…

The team prepped for the raid in the armory, slipping on bulletproof vests and the windbreakers with the FBI logo emblazoned on the back. Diana and David passed out new earwigs for communication, and once those were tested, everyone exchanged their regular bullets for silver hollow points to ensure maximum takedown power.

After a quick white-board review of the team’s entry strategy, they all hurried to the surveillance van. Diana got behind the wheel and they made the short drive to an overgrown area close to the second skylight access point, as planned.

Parking the van, she climbed into the back where the others were preparing to head out.

“As soon as David has eyes inside the tunnels, we’ll finalize our plans,” the ADIC was saying. “For now, get into position and let us know when you’re in place.”

The other three jumped from the back of the van and disappeared into the night, but Maggie and Ryder hung back for a moment.

Diana went to her husband, grasped his face between her hands, and said, “Please. Don’t do anything stupid.”

He grinned, displaying his boyish dimple. “I guess that’s your way of saying you love me?”

“Maybe,” she said, but smiled and kissed him hard, leaving no doubt about it.

As she reluctantly broke away, she caught the tail end of Maggie and David’s kiss, but before she could say anything, Ryder and her friend raced away to their assigned positions.

Diana and David closed up the back of the van, and he settled in front of the bank of monitors and their control panel. He scooped up the fiber-optic cameras they’d be using and handed them to her. The cement of the tunnels was too thick to detect heat signatures, but the small, infrared cameras would easily fit through the gratings and provide visuals—if they could locate a break in the skylight to slip them through. She slid from the van and crouch-ran to one of the gratings. Slipping the devices through a hole in the crisscrossed metal, she followed David’s instructions over the com as he watched the monitor and directed her threading the cameras downward.

“Just a little more. That’s it. We’re through the skylight and have views of both ends of the tunnel. Infrared is registering several heat signatures in the center of the passageway, but they’re huddled close together.”

Diana secured the camera in place and hurried back to the van. Glancing past David to the monitors, she tried to get a sense of how many shifters were in the tunnel. “I see at least five, close to the loop track.”

“Yep. Safest bet is for the team to move in from the far access point through the ventilator area.”

“Did you copy that, Jesus?” she asked. Their ADIC was with Maggie and Rafe in that portion of the park. Brendon and Ryder were positioned close to City Hall, at the entrance to the closed-off station.

“Negative,” Brendon immediately countered. “There’s a slight breeze blowing this way through the tunnel. If they enter upwind, the weres will smell them and make a run for it.”

And if they did make a run for it, Brendon and Ryder would be overpowered.

Diana grimaced. “Copy that, Brendon. Can you and Ryder flush them out and force them toward the rest of the team?”

“I think a little fang and fur might accomplish that, darlin’,” Ryder said drolly.

His humor did little to calm her fears, but now was not the time to let her emotions control her. She had to stay level-headed and get them all home safe and sound.

“Roger that, Ryder. Let us know when you’re a go. Keep your heads low and remember to be careful of that deadly third rail.”

And please. Don’t do anything crazy.

“We’re heading in now,” Brendon said.

In her head came Ryder’s silent reply,
Don’t worry about me. I love you too much not to come back to you.

On the monitors, the infrared showed two barely noticeable shapes creeping in just beyond the half-blood group. Ryder and Brendon. Brendon’s signature was a strong, deep red, while Ryder’s reflected the cooler blue of his lower body temperature. So far, the half-bloods hadn’t noticed them.

“Almost there,” David said as Ryder and Brendon inched closer, barely ten yards away.

“Get ready to move in,” she told the team over the com.

David said, “Stay safe everyone,” then switched off, and murmured quietly, “Love you, babe.”

Diana laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “They’ll be fine.”

She had barely uttered the words when a burst of activity registered on the monitors. The half-bloods had finally sensed the team. They broke from their huddle, forming a straight line to intercept Ryder and Brendon.

She counted a half-dozen standing shoulder to shoulder, facing the entrance to the loop. Their infrared signatures shivered and shook, growing hotter, brighter, no doubt as they shifted forms.

“We’ve got six targets. Two species, judging by their sizes,” Diana reported.

“We’re moving in,” Brendon said. And his long, eerie howl filled their ears.

Chapter Thirty-one

It had been years since Ryder was inside the City Hall Station. Back then he’d been a passenger on the subway, checking out the amazing new stop with its Revival Romanesque architecture of arched ceilings, brass chandeliers, and skylights. Even in the present stale air and dim light, the beauty of the station still shone.

Not the time to appreciate it.

As the huddle of shifters in the middle of the tunnel broke apart and reformed, Ryder sensed a sudden surge of heat in their bodies and heard their agitated snarls and squeals. The half-bloods were shifting in response to the intrusion.

Beside him, the werewolf leader transformed in the blink of an eye, only partially assuming his were-form in deference to the bulletproof vest he wore. If possible, the alpha was even more frightening in that state—his immense size, lethally wicked teeth and claws combined with his half-human body and powerful upright stance.

Again, Brendon’s chilling howl filled the tunnel. Instantly, the half-bloods’ defensive formation tightened. It was an odd collection of sizes and shapes, with red and gold eyes gleaming bright and menacing in the meager light of the passageway.

Ryder let loose his demon, which burst forth to stand beside his wolf ally, his vampire senses almost gagging on the ripe fur scent of the half-bloods that permeated the tunnel.

From deep in Ryder’s throat a warning growl exploded, joined by another from the wolf beside him. Their growls were echoed in a cacophony of warlike sounds from down the tunnel, but a second later, all were drowned out by the deafening rumble of a subway train passing right behind them on the loop. As the train sped below to the uptown platform, the vibrations traveled up Ryder’s legs and settled in his gut, tightening it to a hard knot.

Four shifters, two wolves and two rats, came racing toward them. Ryder stood his ground beside the werewolf, bracing himself for the attack, careful of his boots on the uneven tunnel floors. “Mind the rails,” he reminded Brendon.

As the four weres charged toward them, the other two rats peeled away from their companions and raced in the opposite direction. As they scampered down the tunnel, they met the rest of the team.

“FBI. Freeze!” Jesus shouted, but the two small weres ignored his order and kept running, attempting to scurry past the team.

Rafe shifted in mid-stride, and Maggie emitted an inhuman wail that made the two half-bloods stop dead in their tracks.

Satisfied, Ryder swiftly turned back to the four shifters nearly upon him and Brendon. The long strides of the werewolves ate up the ground, their smaller companions lagging behind. Their excited high-pitched squeals bounced off the walls, painful to his acute vampire hearing.

He gritted his teeth and held his ground, bracing himself for the right moment. Over the com, Diana instructed, “Target spotted. Jefferson is the lead attacker. Repeat, Jefferson is the first wolf.”

“He’s mine,” Brendon growled, and shot forward, his powerful legs propelling him through the air. He and Jefferson collided in a bone-jarring
thud
, their bodies falling to the ground.

Tangled together, they rolled along the tracks, dangerously close to the deadly third rail. They crashed into the legs of the second werewolf, who scrambled for footing, claws flailing for purchase. But he went down.

The wolf hit the tracks hard, the momentum carrying him right onto the third rail. His body convulsed violently from the 625-volt blast of current, jerking once, twice, before lying there, still, silent, and smoking.

Seeing the gruesome sight, the two were-rats coming at him skittered to a halt, blinking between their fried wolf comrade and their escape route.

Not going to happen.

Ryder sprang into action.

…

“Damn it, Ryder. Stay back!” Diana commanded, fear slamming into her gut as hard as any blow.

“Sorry, darlin’,” he murmured a second before he leaped onto the small duo, taking them down. Brendon and Jefferson continued clawing and tearing at each other, and the smell of blood filled Ryder’s senses as bits of fur flew into the air and the sharp white of fangs gleamed in the light…along with the alluring crimson and copper taste of blood.

…

Maggie rushed forward to help Rafe and Jesus as they wrestled with the two were-rats they had tackled, attempting to pin them down and get them secured with flexicuffs.

“Watch out, Mags!” David called over the com as one of the were-rats suddenly threw off Jesus. The boss flew a few feet through the air, surprisingly no match for the smaller, but far more powerful shifter.

The warning distracted Rafe, who had finally subdued the second were-rat. The split second of inattention was all his captive needed. Maggie watched in dismay as the animal surged up like a wrestler, reversed their positions, and went for Rafe’s throat.

Going on fear, instinct, and pure adrenaline, she whipped up her weapon and fired. The sound of the gunshot reverberated along the tunnel walls. The were-rat about to bite Rafe howled in pain. Her silver bullet had hit him high in the shoulder, taking out a chunk of flesh. He grabbed the wound and fell to the ground, squealing and rolling in agony.

“Got him,” Maggie said with a grunt of satisfaction.

Rafe murmured his thanks and leaped up to help Ryder and Brendon. Maggie waited, her gun trained on the wounded were-rat and keeping an eye on Jesus, who’d managed to grapple the other were-rat to the ground. After cuffing him, Jesus secured the wounded were-rat.

“Go,” Jesus said, and she took off to help the others.

“Good job, Mags,” David said over the com.

“Not done yet,” she said, racing through the tunnel to reach Ryder and Brendon.

“Damn it, Maggie. Hold your position,” David warned.

“Ryder needs help.” Maggie followed the tracks to where Ryder was fighting off the two were-rats. They had swarmed over him, biting and scratching, drawing blood. His shirt was shredded, showing pale skin and tracks of scarlet from his wounds.

Maggie dropped into a shooting position, sighting another shot. But Ryder and the were-rats were so tangled together, it was impossible to draw a bead on the shifters. She couldn’t risk hitting Ryder. Silver was deadly to him, as well. Frustrated, she moved closer.

Rafe appeared, and managed to rip one of the were-rats off Ryder. The vampire grabbed the other shifter and threw him aside, the little beast leaving deep claw marks along his arms and chest. Together, they kept the shifters at bay, lashing out at them as they circled, looking for an opening to attack again. Maggie followed the moving targets with her gunsight, still hoping to get a shot.

A few feet behind them Brendon and Jefferson had broken apart, and she could hear them snapping at each other, angling for a weakness to exploit. She could smell the blood and sensed their battered exhaustion from the close-quarters fight.

Time to put a stop to this crap.

She inched to within a few feet of Ryder and Rafe, and fired a warning shot close to the feet of the two smaller shifters.

The loud blast brought the fight to an abrupt stop.

“Next one is between your eyes, rat-face,” she said calmly.

The two were-rats looked at one another, then at Maggie, then at the body of the fallen werewolf still sizzling on the third rail. They glanced farther down the tunnel, to where Jesus stood guarding their two captives.

“Don’t even think it. Hands in the air,” Maggie commanded.

“We’re dead men if you take us,” one rat said, his high-pitched voice a grating whine.

“Hands up.
Now
,” she ordered again, with an upward jerk of her gun barrel.

“They’re going to bolt, Maggie,” Diana warned over the com.

An ear-splitting welter of howls came from Brendon and Jefferson. Their wolf bodies spun toward Ryder and Rafe and the were-rats, landing in a tornado of claws and fur between Maggie and the shifters. The two rats grabbed their chance to turn tail and run, leaping over the battling bodies of the werewolves. They smashed into her, and all three went tumbling backward.

Maggie saw Ryder and Rafe jump forward to give chase, but their path was blocked in every direction—by her as she fell, by the dead werewolf, and the rolling bodies of Brendon and Jefferson. Their arms wheeled, and they started to go down, too.

…

Diana’s stomach knotted with fear as she took in the falling bodies on the monitors
. Oh, shit
. David cursed as the realization hit him, too.

She called out over the com, “No! The third rail!”

She and David watched in horror. As if in slow motion, Ryder grabbed Maggie and pulled her back from the deadly rail. They landed in a sprawl on the other tracks.

Seeing an opening, the two were-rats doubled back, barreled over Rafe, and took off toward the City Hall station.

Nearby, Brendon and Jefferson broke apart and jerked to a halt, sides heaving.

“Give it up, Brad,” Brendon said, still in half-human form, unlike the fully transformed Jefferson.

Jefferson gave a toothy grin and a low, throaty laugh. “No.”

Diana’s gaze skimmed across the two monitors. Jesus had subdued his two prisoners. Maggie, Rafe, and Ryder were coming to their feet, their suspects long gone down the tunnel leading to the City Hall Loop.

Jefferson was as good as captured. Both ends of the tunnels were contained by their team.

But as Jefferson’s gaze darted upward, Diana realized his intent.

“Don’t let Jefferson get to that skylight,” she called over the com, aware that if he did, she and David were the last line of defense to stop him.

She swiped up her gun and charged from her seat.

David was already on the move toward the back of the van.