Author: L.A. Witt
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Format: ebook, paperback
Excerpt:
“Ian.” Someone nudged my shoulder. Darius, my brain figured
out after a moment. “Hey, you awake?”
I burrowed my face into the pillow. “Do I have to be?”
“We’re here.”
And with that, I was awake. Apprehension burrowed under my
skin and dug itself in.
Sitting up slowly, I rubbed my stiff neck. The muscle would
loosen itself soon enough, and if I’d actually slept on it badly enough to do
some damage, it would be healed within the hour. This vampire deal wasn’t all
that bad sometimes.
Darius’s dark hair was disheveled, so he must not have been
awake long himself. He rested a hand above the bunk and swayed a little,
adapting to the slow rocking of the boat. That constant motion had alternately
nauseated me and put me to sleep since we’d left Levi’s grandmother’s house in
Sitka. Now that we’d arrived at our destination, a tiny island off the coast of
Alaska near Kodiak Island, it wasn’t the rocking that made me queasy.
I took a deep breath. I was so not ready for this. An island
full of wolves belonging to the same clan that had been trying to kill us did
not feel like safe harbor to me.
“This still seems like a really bad idea.”
“Relax.” Darius touched my shoulder. “We’ll be all right.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” I muttered, running a
hand through my hair in a half-assed attempt to straighten it.
He scowled but didn’t say anything. As much as he tried to
reassure me, I was pretty certain he wasn’t any more thrilled about this
arrangement than I was. He kept a calm demeanor and a relaxed front, but his
slightly elevated heart rate gave him away.
A pair of booted feet came down the ladder behind him.
Darius turned around and, a second later, Levi dropped into full view. He
looked better than he had recently. He was more put together than Darius, his
near-black hair perfectly arranged except for a few strands the wind had blown
into his face. Still, he was obviously exhausted. He hadn’t been a vampire long
enough to be quite as pale as Darius or myself, but what lack of sunlight
hadn’t yet done, pure exhaustion certainly had. The life of a fugitive wasn’t
an easy one, as we’d learned all too well recently.
Levi sank onto the bunk beside me. “Grandma’s going ashore
to talk to the Elders. They already know we’re coming, but she wants to make
sure everything is clear with this arrangement.”
“And if it is?” Darius asked. “I mean, what happens now?”
Levi shook his head. “No idea. I know this isn’t going over
well with the pack, though. And even if the pack on the island is okay with it,
the clan is going to be pissed.”
“Are we sure there’s nowhere else to go?” I asked. “This
just doesn’t seem safe.”
Darius shook his head, sighing heavily. “Remember? Levi and
I can’t feed off humans. Only wolves.”
I groaned. That issue was going to be the death of all three
of us. Levi and Darius were both wolves now, and both vampires; a bite to feed
the vampire would convert a human into a wolf. Without willing wolves, we were
fucked.
“So what happens if the shit hits the fan?” I asked. “Or if
no one allows us to feed? This is an island.
And there’s only a few hours of daylight at a time right now, but it doesn’t
take much, you know?”
Levi sighed, shaking his head again. “I don’t know. I really
don’t.” His shoulders sagged, and when he reached up to brush a few strands of
dark hair out of his face, that simple movement seemed to take all the energy
he had.
I wrapped my arms around him and let him lean against me.
Watching Levi like this was hell. He’d always been the stronger of the two of
us, but now he was so beaten down, demoralized, on the verge of total defeat.
As much as he’d tried to stay strong, he was cracking under the weight of
everything that had happened recently. His entire world had crumbled beneath
him in a matter of weeks, and he was starting to crumble right along with it.
“We’ll be okay,” I whispered and kissed his cheek, wondering
if he believed me any more than I’d believed Darius.
The boat listed a little to the left, and then heavy
footsteps thunked on the deck above us. All three of us looked up, silently
tracking the steps as they approached the ladder. Then a pair of faded baby-blue
arctic boots appeared, and I released my breath.
“How did it go?” Levi asked.
“Well,” Grandma said as she came fully into view. “They’re
not happy, but the Elders are explaining the situation to the rest of the pack
in the morning.”
“What do we do until then?” Levi asked. “Just…stay here?”
She nodded and stepped off the ladder. “I’m not taking you
into that village until every wolf in the pack knows they’re not to lay a hand
on any of you.” Her expression hardened. “There’s plenty left in that shotgun
for anyone who objects.” For a woman who’d originally turned us over to the
wolves before deciding at the last second to save our asses, she was certainly
protective of us now.
The three of us exchanged uncertain glances.
“Relax, boys.” Grandma patted the air with both hands. “The
Elders and I will keep the pack in line. You three keep your heads low and
don’t make any waves.” Her gaze landed on Levi, and she arched an eyebrow. “Am
I clear?”
All three of us nodded. Even Levi.
“All right.” She patted Levi’s shoulder before heading back
toward the ladder. “It’s just about dawn right now, so you boys hang tight for
a little while. I’ll be back when the sun’s down.”
We all nodded. She disappeared onto the upper deck, and the
three of us sat in apprehensive silence for a moment. I wasn’t sure which was
worse: the constant running for our lives, or waiting to be running for our lives, especially since I wasn’t yet
convinced that the whole running-like-hell part was over yet.
“Well.” Darius exhaled hard and ran a hand through his hair.
“I guess now we wait.”
“Yep,” Levi said.
I chewed my lip, then looked at Levi. “As long as we’re just
sitting here, there’s something that’s been bugging me the last few days.”
“Only one thing?” Levi smirked. “Lucky you.”
“Very funny.”
He squeezed my leg. “Sorry. What’s on your mind?”
“When we got cornered up at your grandmother’s house, and
one of the wolves had me pinned down, why did you and Darius surrender? Why
didn’t you just tell him that biting me would kill him too?”
The brief flicker of humor in Levi’s expression was long
gone, and he slid his hand over my leg, a gesture that was as affectionate as
it was protective. “Because the wolves had the upper hand, and reminding them
that vampirism is contagious would have just gotten us all killed. Starting
with you.”
“Not that biting me would have done him any good.”
“Shooting you—or me or Darius—through the heart would have.”
I shuddered.
He slid his hand up and down my leg. “I thought about it.
Believe me, I did. Whatever I had to do to save you, I was willing, but that?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t take the risk.”
“We got out,” Darius said. “All three of us. That’s all that
matters.”
“Agreed.” I put my hand on top of Levi’s. “I was just
curious. Not making any accusations.”
“I know.” He kissed me gently. “I’m just glad we all made it
out.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Definitely,” Darius said quietly.
And though no one said it, I had no doubt we were all
thinking it.
We’d made it out alive, but how long would that last?
Since winter days in Alaska were incredibly short, sundown
was only a few hours away. Shortly after, as Levi and I were sitting at the
small table belowdecks and Darius was restlessly pacing back and forth, Grandma
returned.
“Coats and boots, boys,” she said as she stepped off the
ladder and into the cramped quarters. “We’re going ashore.”
Levi’s heart sped up. “And everyone knows? They’re…okay with
this?”
“They will be,” Grandma declared. “There’s going to be what
amounts to a town meeting tomorrow, with all of us and everyone in the
village.”
Leaning against the bulkhead near the ladder, Darius shifted
his weight. “No one’s bringing stakes, are they?”
“I dare them,” Grandma said.
Levi laughed. “I’ll take that.”
“Good.” Grandma squared her shoulders. “Now let’s get you on
land so we can all sleep in real beds tonight.”
I pushed myself up out of my chair and reached for my
sweatshirt. As I put it on, I gave myself a moment just to savor the soft
warmth against my skin. It seemed like a silly thing, enjoying the feel of a
sweatshirt, but then again, it was amazing how quickly things like this could
become priceless luxuries. Tyler and Levi’s grandmother had gone ashore in one
of the small towns between Sitka and here, and they’d brought back an armload
of parkas and some clothes that weren’t saturated with half-frozen blood. I’d
never take a clean, warm shirt for granted again.
Especially since even after the last few weeks—had it been that long?—of running around in Canada
and Alaska in the dead of winter, I hadn’t begun to get used to being cold. If
we were going to be here for a while, I supposed I’d better adapt. And I would.
Tomorrow. Maybe.
But for now? Sweatshirt. Heaven. I’d take any little
creature comfort I could get.
Once I was dressed—ahh, I’d have to thank Tyler again for
these arctic-grade boots—I headed abovedeck to join everyone else.
The boat was moored at the far end of an old pier. One by
one, we stepped onto the graying wood, and once everyone was off the boat, we
started toward the shore. Tyler and Grandma walked ahead, and Levi stayed
between Darius and me. All the way down the long dock, the pointed bows bobbed
and rocked on either side of us like a fiberglass gauntlet, each hull eerily
bright against the darkness, thanks to this vampire night vision. Everything
was clear, like in daylight, but against a dark sky and deep shadows.
And thanks also to that sharp vision, I had a completely
clear view of what waited for us at the other end of the pier: a large group of
people standing on a patch of ground that was only partially snow covered, like
it had been trampled numerous times since the last snowfall. The northern
lights cast an eerie green glow over all of them, the light rippling across
faces and glinting off narrowed eyes. Most of them were in human form, watching
with everything from curiosity to outright contempt. The few who were in wolf
form growled quietly. Their lips curled up over their impressive teeth, and the
hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I remembered a few too many
instances of being on the wrong end of a wolf’s fury.
As we stepped off the dock, our boots crunched on the
semifrozen ground. We halted in front of the gathered crowd. I tried not to
think of them as a mob. Least of all an angry mob. The glares, though, and the
vaguely threatening semicircle they formed around us didn’t help me get that
thought out of my head.
One of the wolves in human form stepped forward, hands
tucked into a zipped-up parka. “I’m Martin, one of the Elders of this pack.”
His voice was as taut as his expression, and he didn’t offer a handshake. I
told myself it was because of the biting cold. “We’ve heard about
your…situation.”
Levi cleared his throat. “And we appreciate you allowing us
to stay here for the time being.”
“Well.” Martin glanced at another man beside him, who
offered a subtle nod. Martin shifted his attention back to Levi. “Before we
guarantee that the three of you will be allowed to stay—”
“Hold on just a minute,” Grandma broke in. “This can be
discussed tomorrow, but they need to rest. Tyler and I need to rest. The world
won’t end if we let everyone catch their breath and get some sleep before we
hash this out.”
“Sleep?” Someone scoffed. “With them in our community?”
A low growl rose in Levi’s throat. I touched his arm, glove
to sleeve, and he quieted. He rested his hand over the top of mine, which drew
some contemptuous looks from the crowd in front of us.
“She’s right,” Martin said. “This will be better handled
when everyone has had a chance to rest and settle in.”
A wolf in canine form beside Martin snarled and gnashed his
teeth. A wave of Martin’s hand silenced him, though, and the dog lay down on
the frozen ground with a soft whine.
Martin turned back to us. “We’ll discuss this after everyone
has rested. Julie will show you to the cabin that will be yours for your
visit.” He emphasized the word visit
in an odd way, as if to make sure we all knew damn well we wouldn’t be staying
here long.
A woman stepped forward, brown hair tied up in a loose
ponytail and her expression as taut as the Elder’s had been. She gestured
sharply for us to follow her. She must have been the one named Julie.
“This way,” she said tersely.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” A broad-shouldered guy, hair and
eyes dark like Levi’s, elbowed his way through the crowd. “She’s not going off
alone with them.”
Julie glanced at him, her expression a mixture of annoyance
and relief, like she was thankful not to be stuck alone with us, but also
irritated at the intrusion.
“Fine.” Martin gestured dismissively. “Just go. Show them to
their cabin, where they will be left alone. Is that clear?”
A few people nodded; others murmured affirmatives. Levi,
Darius and I exchanged uncertain looks, but it wasn’t like we had a lot of
choice, so we followed Julie and the other guy.
The night was deathly silent except for our boots crunching
on the snow and the subtle chorus of heartbeats that only the three of us could
hear. Darius’s and Levi’s would always be more pronounced to me since Darius
had converted me and I had converted Levi, so I felt every bit of their
apprehension, underscored by the varying degrees of nervousness coming from
those who quietly watched us walk into their settlement.
As we crested a small hill and entered the village itself,
my skin prickled. Whoever hadn’t come out to see us in from the boat was
watching us now. I could feel their stares. It was a creepy feeling that
reminded me of the day Levi and I had gone to the temple for that ill-fated bonding
ceremony. People had watched me so intently I swore they were burning holes in
my skin. I knew damn well they didn’t want me there, in their community or in
their temple, and the whole place had vibrated with quiet contempt.
We followed Julie into the village, and I hoped against hope
that wherever they put us would be at the very edge of the small settlement.
Maybe near the forest or something.
But no, we got a cabin right smack in the fucking middle,
just a few doors down from the island’s temple, the huge structure that loomed
over everything from the center of several rings of houses and buildings. Far
too close to everyone else. Maybe that was the only empty place. Or maybe it
was conveniently located so the pack could keep tabs on us. Either way, I
wasn’t at all comfortable with the arrangement.
The cabin was a lot like the ones at the farm where Levi’s
pack lived back in Washington. Though the blackout curtains over the windows
relaxed me about the impending sunrise, they also made me wonder who had known we
were coming. If this pack was anything like Levi’s—which they probably were,
since they were all part of the same clan—they wouldn’t be happy about vampires
in their midst.
Especially not the three of us.
Levi, who’d insisted on bonding to a human male instead of
his predestined female mate, which had been the catalyst for this endless
disaster.
Darius, who’d converted Levi’s bonded human mate into a
vampire.
And me, the mate who hadn’t been able to withstand the year
apart from Levi after that hellish bonding, and had ultimately gotten Darius
entangled in all this and had pretty much secured my spot as the wolf clan’s
public enemy number one for the foreseeable future. The fact that I’d shot a
wolf in Oregon hadn’t helped matters, even if it had been in self-defense. And
not long after that, the death of Selena, Levi’s clan-chosen mate, had been
another nail in all our coffins. All the bodies we’d left in our wake? More
nails.
The last place in the world I felt safe was among wolves.
Keeping us here smacked of dropping some mice into the middle of a pride of
lions and insisting it was for their own good. Levi’s grandmother had turned on
us once before. She’d been the one to sound the alarm and bring in the wolves
who’d damn-near killed us all. Yeah, she’d turned around and been our savior in
the end, but who was to say she wouldn’t change her mind again? Or that this
wasn’t part of some elaborate plan to get us to complacently, quietly,
willingly face the clan’s judgment?
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like it one bit.
But I didn’t have a choice.
None of us did.
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