Shiv Crew (15 page)

He smiled. “Good luck, Ms.
Alexander.”

Such an unsatisfying encounter.

Preston was one slippery bastard.

And where the
fuck
was Z?

She wanted to leave right then,
just walk out, go home, and sleep for about a month. “We can’t leave without Z.”
She pointed at the twins. “You two get Amy to the gates. Wait for us there. If
she tries to take off, handcuff her. Jack, come with me. Raze…”

Raze didn’t need backup.

Jack frowned after Raze’s departing
figure. “You know, you could send me off alone and take Raze as backup.”

She grinned. “You don’t like my
company?”

She tried getting Z with her radio,
but static was her only reply. Fucking Wormwood was a supernatural dead zone.

She and Jack started walking the
perimeter of the fence, and she hoped her men would stay out of the vampires’
and Dark Others’ way. The Others might wait until Shiv Crew left the graveyard
for a free-for-all, but the bastards were sneaky enough to try to take them out
one by one.

But she didn’t think Llodra would
let his vampires touch her and her crew. She was the only hope he had, even if
he wouldn’t admit it.

She wasn’t sure what the Dark
Others were up to. Normally Others wouldn’t come into strange territory and
pick a fight with the residents. She’d have to delve into that more deeply
later. She wasn’t afraid Llodra couldn’t hold his own against the shifters.
When it came down to a fight, a vampire was always going to kick shifter ass.
In her experience anyway.

“A moment, Your Odoriferousness.”

She stopped at Gunnar’s voice and
immediately patted a vest pocket for a bar of candy. It was a habit. She never
entered Wormwood without the chocolate. Gunnar had no use for cash, but she
could buy nearly anything from him with candy.

She and Jack waited patiently for
the Other to catch up to them. He held a hand to his chest, and when he finally
stood in front of them, he wiped his totally dry brow with a hanky that had
seen better days. Gunnar lived for melodrama.

Jack nodded. “Gunnar.”

Gunnar ignored Jack, his hollow
stare on Rune. “I know some things, Your Highness.”

She pulled the Baby Ruth from her
pocket and tossed it to him. “You always do, sexy.”

He sniffed at the wrapped bar for
only a second before he put it away. “It’s about your man, X. Or is it Y…”

She dropped her smile and shivered
as icy fingers slid down her spine. “Z? What has happened?”

He dropped his voice to a whisper.
“He’s in the north corner. You should hurry, Your—”

She ran, Jack at her side. Terror
lent her extra speed, and it didn’t matter that she was so much smaller than
Jack. He didn’t have to slow his pace. Much.

Still, every second seemed like an
hour as they sprinted past crumbling old headstones and ancient vaults.

“There,” said Jack, pointing with
his shiv toward a copse of trees. It was dark even with the scattered post lights,
but she could make out a shadow different than the others, and it was
struggling hard.

They raced toward him, and Jack was
already cutting through Z’s bonds when Rune reached them.

She threw herself at him and ran
her hands over his body, searching for fatal wounds or broken bones. There was
nothing but a swollen, purple bruise over his left eye that wrapped around to
his temple to disappear into his hair. “What the
fuck
, Z?”

He was groggy and disoriented, but
he’d live. “I don’t know what the fuck happened. Last thing I remember was
chasing a wolf. He was in human form.” He shrugged, then grimaced at the
movement. “I don’t remember anything else.”

“What made you chase the wolf?”

“He didn’t belong here. Didn’t you
notice, the vampires are fighting the Dark Others, not our wolves.” He
hesitated. “Dude did get my attention, though.”

“He wanted you to follow him,” Jack
said.

“Yeah,” Rune agreed. “I don’t know
why the visitors would pick a fight with vampires and don’t really care. That’s
between the Others and the vampires. But why would someone tie you up and leave
you?”

He started to shake his head, then
stopped, flinching. “Move away, love. I’m feeling the distinct need to—”

She barely had time to leap away
before he threw up. “Paramedics are waiting. You have a concussion most
likely.” She bit her bottom lip. “This does not make sense.”

“And you don’t like when things
don’t make sense,” Z murmured, leaning weakly against the tree. His voice was
becoming weaker. “I feel like shit. That makes sense.”

“Let him lean on you, Jack. Let’s
get the fuck out of here.”
What was it? Why would someone…

“They wanted to delay us,” she
said, still frowning. She had to walk fast to keep up as Jack ushered Z along,
half carrying him.

“Brilliant mind at work,” Z said.
His words were slurred, but he didn’t seem overly confused.

“Why would they want to keep us
here?”

“I don’t know, Jack. We’re all
accounted for.” She spotted the twins and Amy by the gate. The twins stood with
her between them, and they’d had to cuff her after all.

It hit her with a suddenness that
nearly knocked her to her knees. She stopped walking. Forgot to walk. “Oh fuck,
no.”

Jack stopped walking, but Z pulled
out of his grasp and went on toward the gate. Jack let him go, his concerned
stare on Rune. “What?”

“Where’s Raze?” she whispered. Her
lips felt numb and made it difficult to speak.

He looked up and around. “I
don’t—there he is. He’s coming, Rune. He’s okay.”

He thought she was worried for
Raze. “
Ellis
, Jack. They wanted to delay us because some-fucking-one
wants to mess with us. And the best way to do that is to
hurt
one of us.
Ellis…”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her
toward the others. “Open the gates.”

Once outside the gate he dug his
cell out of his pocket and punched in Ellis’s number.

It rang, and rang.

“Oh God,” Rune said.
No. No,
please no.

Raze joined them. “What’s wrong?”

All her men stared at her with
dread-filled gazes. They knew her. She wasn’t the type to get hysterical over
nothing. “Ellis.” Her words were whispered—she couldn’t seem to make her voice
work. If something happened to Ellis…

But then Jack spoke. “Ellis, are
you—”

Rune snatched the phone from him. “Ellie,
tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay. What’s going on?”

She wobbled on her feet and handed
Jack back his phone. He muttered a few words to Ellis and clicked off.

She waved over the paramedics and
pointed at Z. “He was knocked unconscious. Take him in.”

“I’m okay, Rune,” Z said, but his
face was pale and his eyes were slightly unfocused.

“Go to the hospital, Z.”

He sighed but didn’t argue further,
climbing onto the stretcher.

A sudden flash of light caused her
to jump. “What—”

The fucking reporter was still
there. And taking pictures of them. He snapped another one of Z being hauled
away, then another of the still-dazed Rune. She turned her back, ignoring him.

“I’m sorry, guys. I thought they’d
gone after Ellis.”

“Who, Rune?” asked Denim. He stood
with a hand on Amy’s shoulder, and Rune realized the reporter was going to
write that they’d brought the human out in cuffs. The human they were supposed
to have gone in to rescue.

She didn’t want Amy having to deal
with the scorn of the city. She already had too much on her bony shoulders. “I’m
not really sure, Denim. Put Amy in my car. Levi, walk behind to hide the cuffs
from that annoying bastard.”

She took a deep breath and tried to
make herself relax. But she couldn’t. Something still wasn’t quite right.
“Raze, can you take the twins home? I’ll take Amy to the hospital to be looked
at, and I’ll look in on Z. Jack—”

“I’m coming with you.”

She only nodded. “I’ll check in
with you guys later.”

It had been a long day. Hard to
believe that just a short few hours earlier she’d been standing on stage all
dressed up.

Now she was covered with goo from
her dead father, a cold sheen of nervous sweat, and graveyard mud. “I need
coffee.” Like someone there could conjure her a cup.

She climbed into the driver’s side
of her car, cranking up the heater. Amy wasn’t dressed for winter. Hell, she
was barely dressed.

Jack took the cuffs off Amy, then
jumped into the backseat. “Let’s go get your coffee. I wouldn’t mind having
some dinner.”

“We all should meet somewhere after
we get Amy settled in and check on Z.”

“I’ll call Raze.”

She glanced at Amy while Jack spoke
with Raze. “How are you doing?”

Amy shrugged, but leaned toward the
heat blasting from the vents, shivering. “I’ve been better.”

“Is there anything else you can
tell me about the extorter?”

“No. After you check on Z, take me
to your house. Maybe I’ll remember something.”

Rune frowned. The poor girl’s
desperation was obvious. She needed to belong with—and to—someone. “Jeremy
isn’t going to be finished with you that soon, and I doubt the hospital will be
either.” Amy was probably dehydrated and appeared half starved. Jeremy would be
thrilled about the vampire bites all over her body. Just one more reason for
the purge he’d ordered.

Amy rubbed her face. “Why haven’t I
turned?
Why?
”

Rune stared straight ahead, silent.
She had no idea why Amy was one of the few people difficult to turn. Usually a
bite was all it took. Amy had been chomped on for weeks and nothing.

“Being immortal is living in
unimaginable pain and knowing you will never, ever find peace.”

Before she pulled away from Wormwood
she sent her father a silent farewell. She wished talking with him that one
last time could have helped settle things within her. But no, that horror wound
around her like a silver coil and refused to loosen.

Jack leaned toward the front seat. “Raze
and the twins will meet us at the steakhouse in an hour. Sound good?”

She nodded. “Amy, it would be
better for you if you told Jeremy the vampires mesmerized you and gave you the
bites.”

Amy’s stare was hard. “So I should
lie and get the vampires in trouble, give the cops another reason to slaughter
them all. That’s what I should do.”

Rune sighed. “It won’t go well for
you if you tell the truth.”

“Fuck you.”

She didn’t blame the girl for being
pissed. “Rest tonight. I’ll come see you tomorrow. Llodra gave you permission
to tell everything. You need to tell me everything you know or have heard.”

Amy sneered. “Oh? Why should I do
that?”

“Because I might be able to save
the vampires.”

Amy said nothing, and Rune knew
she’d dig deep and think hard. The chances were slight but better than nothing.

She asked Jack to call Jeremy. She
couldn’t talk to him. Not yet.

She took Amy into the emergency
department, showing her badge when the doctor on call eyed Amy with a sharp
gleam of contempt in his eyes and refused to admit her. “RISC is coming to
question her. Believe me. You’ll want her hidden away in a quiet room before
they get here.”

As soon as Amy was settled in, Rune
went to find Z. He’d been admitted for observation.

“Go,” Z said. “They’ve given me
something that will cure my woes. Go eat.” He lifted a hand and brushed back
her hair. “You look like you’ve had a hard night, sweet thing. And not in a
good way.”

Z looked small and pale in his
hideous hospital gown, but he was alive.

“Don’t call me sweet thing.” She leaned
over to kiss his forehead, surprising both of them. Rune had never been the
physically affectionate sort. But when a person came close to losing someone,
she might want a few touches. She pressed her lips against his skin, lingering
on the warmth. Life. Life was warm.

Jack urged her away. “Get better,
faker,” he said to Z. “May your night be filled with enemas and long, fat
catheters.”

Z’s eyes closed and he grinned.
“Get out.”

They met RISC coming in as they
were leaving. When her cell rang, Rune was happy for the excuse to ignore
Jeremy as he marched before his team. “Yeah.”

“Rune. It’s Raze. Something…”

She strode to her car, Jack beside
her. Her mind was still on Jeremy. “Raze? You cut out. What?”

She unlocked the car door and was
in her seat before Raze spoke again.

“It’s Lex, Rune.”

Tremors started in her hands, and
she nearly dropped the phone. “No.”

“What now?” Jack asked.

“Tell me.”

“She’s alive. The twins are taking
her to a clinic for Others.”

“Where?”

“Twenty-one Rue Canyon Road. In
Willowburg.”

“What happened?”

Jack stayed silent, knowing she’d
tell him when she could.

“While we were in Wormwood, she was
attacked.”

It wasn’t Ellis. It was Lex.

She could barely force the words
past her numb lips. “How is she?”

He hesitated. “She’s bad, Rune.”

“Fuck,” she whispered, and handed
her phone to Jack. “Someone attacked Lex. She’s hurt badly.” She repeated the
address of the clinic. “Call Ellie.”

“What did—”

“That’s all I know.”

Jack punched in Ellis’s number.
“You think someone delayed us at Wormwood just so he could attack Lex? What the
fuck?”

She shook her head, muttering words
she wanted to scream. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. It’s fucked-up.”
Jack didn’t even hear her. He was on the phone dealing with Ellis.

She heard Ellis shouting and
understood his panic.

Lex, little Lex.
What kind
of monster could hurt the girl?

When she found out, he was dead.
But first she would make him suffer.

If, of course, she got to him
before the twins did.

“Rune,” Jack said, his voice
emotionless.