“What do we do now?” The man was regaining some of his composure, the agent in him returning to the fore to give him some stability.
“I go about my business with my team. You keep your mouth shut about your newfound reality. If you can do this, we might have an alliance at some point that’s mutually beneficial to both of our employers.”
Now he had the guy. He was all agent again, thinking on his feet. Assessing. “That could work. Okay. I’ll keep my mouth shut. May need to call on you guys sometime. My name is Kyle Garrett.” Fishing in his wallet, he gave Zan his card. “That’s got my cell phone on it.”
“I’m Zander Cole. I don’t have a card, but here’s my cell number.” He recited that while Garrett punched the contact into his phone.
As they finished up, Nick and Jax waded through the creek and came jogging over to them. As soon as Nick took in what was going on, he cursed.
“This is Agent Kyle Garrett, boss. He’s in the know.”
“Goddammit.” He pinned Garrett with a steely look. “You breathe a word about this to anyone—”
“I won’t. You have my word.”
“Good. Let’s get this shit cleaned up.” His gaze rested on the poor human’s body, and he cursed again.
The cleanup took longer than expected, so it was well after noon before they were ready to go. As the Feds prepared to take them back to the copters, Zan posed a question to Nick.
“Why did that rogue stay behind? What was his goal?”
“You’re assuming he had one. But yeah, that was odd.”
“Was he left behind to watch us from back there? And he was just stupid enough to leave the blood trail?”
Nick blew out a breath. “I don’t know. Seems more likely he wanted to lure someone else back there. Maybe he was working on his own, maybe not.”
There was nothing else to be gleaned from the scene. At the copters, another car arrived bearing a young man. He was dressed in jeans and a hoodie pulled up over his head, sunglasses on his face. To protect his skin and eyes from the sun, now that he was a new vampire. Poor kid.
The boy ended up riding with Zan and his group. Zan tried to engage him some, but between the noise and the young man’s trauma, it was a lost cause. He hoped the vampires would be able to help the kid start over.
What would it be like to be nineteen for eternity? What a strange thought.
The boy settled in and dozed, so Zan did the same. His thigh throbbed from time to time, but other than making a mess on the leg of his jeans, it looked worse than it really was. He could have it tended to at Prince Tarron’s stronghold.
He awoke fully when he felt the descent. They came in for a landing, putting down in a decent flat area close to the mountains. The sun was starting to dip in the sky, and the scenery was stunning. It wasn’t unlike where the Pack lived, but the prince and his coven lived in the mountains, not at the base of them, from what he understood.
The copters powered down and everyone got out, stretching. Zan was already tired and hoped they’d hold off on the meeting until tomorrow, but vamps were night creatures, so he didn’t count on it.
Within minutes, two stretch limousines appeared around the bend and drove up, rolling to a stop.
Aric whistled. “Now, that’s what I’m fuckin’ talkin’ about! Why can’t we have limos instead of SUVs?”
“Um, because we don’t want to attract attention wherever we go?” Nick said, lips quirking.
“Oh. There is that.”
Their banter was interrupted when a tall, impressive figure emerged from the first limo. If Zan had been expecting a dark cape, he would’ve been disappointed. The man he assumed could only be Prince Tarron Romanoff was dressed in a stylish dark suit and light blue shirt with a tie. His dark brown hair was touching his collar, all one length and tucked behind one ear. He had a youthful but handsome face and vivid eyes Zan could only describe as purple.
The guy looked like a movie star or a model. He was also wearing a wide smile, and his expression reflected genuine welcome. He strode forward to shake Nick’s hand.
“Nick Westfall? Tarron Romanoff. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”
“Likewise.” Nick smiled. “I’ve heard lots of good things about you from our mutual friend.”
Zan figured the mutual friend was Jarrod Grant.
“Thank you. He speaks highly of you as well. Shall we get going? I know you all must be tired and hungry. We’ll eat and then let your men rest tonight. There’s time enough for the meeting tomorrow.”
“That sounds just fine, thank you.”
Thank God!
The team split up, and both limos were more than enough to accommodate them all. Nick and the prince rode in the first limo, along with the newly turned young vampire, Aric, Rowan, and Hammer. Zan rode in the second car with Ryon, Jax, Nix, and Micah. Each car also carried several of the prince’s soldiers, who were not dressed in a military style at all, but in black jeans and long-sleeved shirts and wearing cool shades. Zan thought they looked like bouncers at a club, but refrained from saying so.
The interior of the limo was plush, the ride smooth, even on these roads. Soft music played through the speakers, making Zan sleepy all over again. He was about worn-out for the day, and he was getting a slight headache to match the pain in his thigh.
He was sitting with his head resting against the glass, eyes half-closed, when he saw something that had him sitting upright, suddenly wide-awake. He squinted, trying to see better—
And spotted the fading sunlight reflect off a long, green barrel that was poking through the underbrush. Shit!
“Stop the cars!” he shouted, scaring everyone awake. “Ambush ahead! Stop—”
A stream of smoke erupted from the brush, and there was a loud boom that shook the car they were riding in. Rocket launcher! From the side window, Zan watched in horror as the lead car skidded, flipped sideways, and rolled over into a gulley. His own limo skidded to a halt, and the team poured out the doors.
Straight into an assault by at least thirty rogues. Maybe more.
The fight was on, and there was no time to check on his Pack brothers in the first car. He could only hope they were all right as he engaged the first rogue, sliced its throat and stabbed it in the heart, and then fought the next one. And the next.
Exhaustion crept in, but he couldn’t stop. Finally, he spotted Nick and the others from the first car joining the fray. That was a relief, though he couldn’t spot the boy. Then Nick went down and didn’t get up. That moment of distraction almost cost Zan his head. But at the last moment, he whirled and deflected the killing blow and dispatched the attacker.
His arms were tiring, his head throbbing. But he couldn’t quit. At one point he was amazed to see that the young man had acquired a long blade from somewhere and was cutting a swath through the rogues like he’d been doing it all his life. Zan figured the kid owed the bastards for killing his family. Maybe he had found a new calling.
Slash, stab, yank out the heart. He shut out fatigue and emotion. Kept going until he and his teammates, and the boy, along with the prince’s soldiers, were standing alone on the blood-soaked battlefield, amid their defeated enemy.
Defeated for now.
Jesus, he hurt all over. He was tired and ravenous. Whatever the prince was serving, he was going to eat until he exploded.
Suddenly, a shout chased away thoughts of dinner. He looked around and spotted Rowan crouched over a prone body—Nick! Running, leaping over bodies, Zan made his way to his boss’s side and dropped to his knees.