Embrace the Heat (25 page)

As if reading his mind, Ian said. “Let’s pick
up our gear from the training center. We’ll be gone for a several
hours. That should give your woman time to get over her desire to
castrate you.”

Simon chuckled. “Keeping my fingers
crossed.”

“I’m beginning to think we’re wasting our
time,” Ian grumbled as they scouted the area close to the old
vampire reservation. Ian hadn’t lived there, but Simon could tell
he was still uneasy getting close to it. Simon understood his
unease. Even though Ian hadn’t lived in that particular
reservation, he’d still lived in one. No matter how many years
passed, you didn’t really get over what happened in those places.
Being within a mile of his own personal nightmare was making
Simon’s skin crawl.

Simon agreed that this was a waste of time.
He wondered if the turned vampire attacks were actually nomadic
humans who had moved on. That happened from time to time. Some
humans didn’t settle down and tended to be more feral by nature. A
skittish human could mistake one of them for a turned vampire.

After six hours, they hadn’t seen any sign of
turned vampires. No dead humans, no dead animals, and no turned
vampires. They hadn’t even seen signs of a smaller human encampment
with any recent use close by. The only one they’d come across, was
nearly five miles away and had obviously been deserted for several
months or more. That was strange after the recent run in Shelby,
Carla, and Layla had with humans just a couple of miles from where
they were at.

“Yeah, we’re probably wasting our time.
Still, there were attacks near here, so there should be some
evidence of the attackers, vampire or human. What’s really bugging
me is that we should have run into some signs of a human camp
that’s still in use around here by now too.”

Ian shrugged. “Smaller encampments don’t
always stay in the same place.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just that they
seemed a little too territorial to be drifters. Maybe the survivors
packed up after their run in with the shifters. Maybe the shifters
ran them off.”

It was hot, and Simon was more than a little
uncomfortable in the Kevlar. Damn things were great to have in a
fight but sucked for hiking around in the heat. That was probably
why he was so irritable. No, that wasn’t the cause of his bad mood.
The problem was he hadn’t made peace with Layla before leaving the
settlement. At the time, he’d convinced himself that it would be
better to give her time to cool off, but he really should have
talked to her. At the very least, he should have apologized.

They’d been out for hours, which had probably
given her plenty of time to get even more angry with him. He was
tempted to send her a message, but that seemed wrong. He needed to
talk to her and calling wasn’t an option while on patrol. Connor
would be pissed if he broke that rule. When he got back, he’d make
it up to her.

“You’re awfully quiet today,” Ian said and
leaned against a tree to enjoy the shade.

Simon decided his friend had the right idea
and got out of the heat too. “Since when do we have long
conversations when we’re out on patrol?”

Ian gave him a knowing smile. “You know as
well as I do that you’re quieter than usual today.”

Simon didn’t bother arguing. “I’ve got a lot
on my mind.”

“Bet you can’t wait to get back to your woman
and make up with her,” Ian said with a grin. “I used to feel the
same way when I fought with Kate before going out on patrol. No
matter how many times it happened, I was always too dumb to
apologize before I left. Then I spent the entire time I was out
regretting leaving her like that.”

Simon was shocked to hear Ian mention his
wife twice in one day. In more than a decade, Ian had probably said
her name three other times. It wasn’t that Ian didn’t think about
her. The truth was, Ian thought about his wife and daughter who had
been murdered by humans all too often. Most days Ian had been so
caught up in his own personal hell that even the mention of Kate
would have thrown him over the edge. One thing had brought Ian back
from the darkness he’d existed in for so many years.

“Mitchell seems to be doing really well,”
Simon said.

The smile Ian gave him proved that Mitchell
was the cause, not that Simon had ever doubted that.

“I still worry,” Ian admitted, “but he seems
to do great as long as he’s getting enough blood. When he skips a
meal, he gets confused. It’s a little scary, but I have alarms set
so he doesn’t forget. You know what he asked me the other day?”

“What’s that?”

“He asked if he could call me Dad,” Ian
sounded a little choked up. “The kid was worried that I’d mind. You
know it’s like I’m getting a second chance at life. I still miss
them. Not a single day goes by where I don’t miss them, but I don’t
wake up wishing I’d died too. I wake up looking forward to hearing
what Mitchell learned. He’s so full of curiosity. Once I taught him
how to use a computer, he couldn’t stop researching. Next week he
starts school, and he’s really excited about it. I’m lucky to have
him.”

Simon nodded his understanding. “You’ve
changed a lot in the last few months. Not to sound all emotional,
but it’s good to have you back.”

“I don’t know how any of you put up with me.
I was so full of hate for so long. That hate clouded my judgment on
a lot of things. I still don’t agree with some of Connor’s
policies,” Ian continued. “We shouldn’t be out worrying about
attacks that are nowhere near our own settlement. I get Treasure
Island because they provide blood for us. Camp Parks? That’s far
enough that it shouldn’t be our problem. Those humans chose to live
on their own. Why should we take care of them?”

Simon had to agree, especially when they were
already short on fighters. Most days he wasn’t even sure about
helping Treasure Island. They gave a lot more than they got from
Treasure Island. “I think some of that’s political crap. Those are
Connor’s territories, and he still has to report to our main
government. You know, I’m glad I didn’t take Connor’s job from him.
I’m not sure I could be that diplomatic.”

Ian laughed. “Me either, but then again
Connor never struck me as a diplomat.”

“He’s not,” Simon admitted. “Con is
practical, and he’ll do anything to protect his people. You know I
never thought I’d see the day when you had human friends.”

Ian looked aghast. “I never said I was
friends with any of the humans. Still, I don’t feel so much hatred.
I finally get that it’s not all humans. Being around Raven’s
friends helped some. They aren’t a complete waste of good
oxygen.”

Simon just stared at him.

“Fine, I really like most of them,” Ian
admitted. “I hang out with Danny and Mark sometimes. Don’t ever
tell Raven or Connor I said that.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Simon assured
him. “Wait! Did you just call Mark by name?”

Ian’s catlike green eyes narrowed. “He can be
just as annoying as Danny when he wants to be, so I’ve agreed to
use his name.”

Simon chuckled and shook his head. After
wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked around. “Maybe we should
head back in. I’ll message Connor and see what he thinks.”

Just as Simon started to take out his phone,
the unmistakable sounds of movement alerted them that they were no
longer alone. Simon pulled out the handheld crossbow and a knife.
Ian drew two throwing knives. The footsteps approached steadily,
and it sounded like there were at least twenty people approaching.
Simon smelled the sweat of humans. They were most likely from
Treasure Island since there was no sign of any small human
settlement nearby. Still, only a fool assumed they were being
approached by friends, especially when they were being approached
from all sides. When you were being boxed in, it was usually a bad
sign. That’s when Simon caught the faint scent of death and blood.
It was the unmistakable scent of turned vampires.

“Well, isn’t this a stroke of luck,” called
out a human as he emerged from the woods. The human was followed by
six other humans. Not enough to pose a threat, but Simon had no
idea how many turned vampire were approaching from the other
directions.

“Are you having some trouble, human?” Ian
asked casually. His hands had dropped to his sides, but he was
still holding the knives. To anyone who didn’t know Ian, they might
think he’d let his guard down. Ian never let his guard down and
could throw those knives with deadly precision before anyone could
draw a weapon.

“I think you already have,” the human said.
He was dirty, like the other humans with him. They weren’t the
nomadic type that wandered around with no real settlement. These
were more organized and obviously armed. The human’s black hair
hung unevenly around his wrinkled face. His brown eyes held a
malicious gleam. This was obviously the leader, but the sentiment
seemed to be shared by the others with him. They all hated vampires
and were looking forward to the kill with a twisted sort of
anticipation.

Ian turned away from the humans and put his
back against Simon’s as the footsteps of those approaching from the
woods got closer. It was obvious that at least some of them were
turned vampires, but they had no way of knowing how many or if they
were really all together.

Simon was torn, and he suspected Ian felt the
same. Killing the humans was probably their best bet. They were
obviously up to no good. Still, they hadn’t done anything
threatening. The idea of killing without cause never sat right with
Simon, and he knew the same was true for Ian. That was a mistake.
What stepped out of the woods was more than a dozen turned
vampires. Now, they were surrounded on all sides. He could tell
right away that these weren’t the crazed turned vampires they were
expecting to see. These were the newer human creation, meaning they
were likely under the control of the humans standing in front of
Simon.

Simon wasted no time. The humans were the
least of his worries. He fired the crossbow taking out one turned
vampire. Based on the grunts behind him he was sure Ian had let
loose both throwing knives, and Simon had no doubt that they’d hit
their marks. Ian was likely already grabbing another weapon.

There was no way they were getting out of
this alive, but they might as well take as many of the bastards as
they could with them.

Ian wondered if this was what Kate had felt
before death. The panic setting in wasn’t about the end of his
life. He wasn’t afraid of the pain of death. All he could think
about was Mitchell. How could he leave his son behind? That fear
made him fight even harder as the turned vampires closed in around
them, making it impossible to throw another knife. Still, he
managed to get knives into the chests of two others before he felt
pain slice through his chest.

As he collapsed to the ground, he watched his
friend fight with all he had, probably feeling the same fear of
leaving Layla behind that Ian felt leaving Mitchell.

“Take the blond alive!” shouted one of the
humans. “Damaged is fine, but he has to survive with no damage to
his face!”

With the last of his strength, Ian reached
into his pocket for his phone. Keeping it carefully concealed, he
typed out a quick message to Connor. Ian knew he was dead, but they
might be able to save Simon. The humans wanted him alive for some
reason. After sending the message, he clawed in the dirt beneath
the leaves and buried the phone. The tracking would still work in
there, but no one would hear the noise when Connor tried to contact
him.

Ian saw Simon hit the ground. His eyes were
closed, but he was still breathing.

“Should we finish off the other one?” asked
one of the humans. “Looks like he’s still alive.”

The leader laughed. “Looks like he’s in a lot
of pain,” he said.

That was an understatement. A knife in the
heart hurt like hell, and Ian was relieved that he was starting to
feel numb. It hadn’t been dead center or he’d already be dead.
Funny that they wore these vests now. Not a lot of guns around, and
a knife went right through. They’d been improved to work on arrows
and stakes, but never knives. Ian knew he was losing it when he
started to think about how much more logical chainmail would be.
Yeah, there was a lot of chainmail around.

His eyes were heavy as he watched them drag
Simon away. Hopefully, Connor would be able to save Simon. Ian felt
the phone vibrating under the dirt, but it was too quiet for anyone
to hear. His only regret was leaving his son behind.

His eyes closed and then opened when he heard
footsteps. Surely, Connor couldn’t have sent someone this quickly.
Maybe the humans had changed their minds about killing him. That
was when he saw her.

“Kate,” he whispered as the fiery redhead who
had stolen his heart the moment they’d met seemed to drift out of
the woods.

“Don’t worry,” she said, and her voice
sounded different. It was almost like it had a soft lilt to it now.
“You’re going to be okay, but we need to get you out of here.”

A light surrounded them, followed by a warm
floating feeling. Finally, there was only darkness.

“Sonofabitch!” Connor shouted and threw the
phone across the room. Fang immediately came to his side, and Luna
moved to his other side. Both wolves were obviously surprised by
his out of character outburst. A year ago, he never would have
imagined finding such comfort from an animal. He stroked Fang and
let out a shuddering breath.

Raven raced down the stairs. “What
happened?”

“Ian sent me a message,” Connor said softly.
Fang leaned in close to his side and whined in sympathy.

“Do they need help?” Raven asked anxiously.
“We can head out now.”

“I think Ian might be dead,” Connor said and
found the words hard to believe. No matter how many people he lost
over the years, it never got easier. This time was worse, because
he’d sent them out there without backup.