Хлоя Нейл - Twice Bitten

Adam’s fate apparently decided, Gabriel blew out a breath that seemed to push the weight of the world off his shoulders, then glanced at me. “It seems I owe you another goddamned apology for bringing you into another Pack dispute. I don’t care for owing apologies. I’ll have someone call Sullivan so he’s briefed when you get back. I’m guessing if he doesn’t get that debriefing, you’ll be spending the next two hours in his office, replaying events.”

I nodded. “That’s pretty much how it seems to work.”

“And when he does ask you for your version of events, how much are you going to tell him?”

I gave the question some serious consideration. There was no way I was going to lie to Ethan. But omission? Maybe. Especially if I explained to him why I was omitting certain details.

“I’ll tell him only the things he needs to know,” I answered honestly. Gabriel seemed satisfied by that.

“Good enough. Although he’s going to shit about this, about your being involved in something this goddamned stupid and dangerous.”

“I’m an asset,” I said remorsefully. “If he gets pissed, it’s because you’ve endangered his weapon.”

“Merit, if you really believe that, I have been giving you way too much credit.”

His expression was serious enough to put surprise in mine. “Then he has an odd way of showing it.”

“Babe, he’s a vampire.”

Why did everyone keep saying that?

I’d been about to ask for a ride home when my beeper sounded. Curious, I unclipped it and glanced down.

It read “CADGN. BREACH. ATTACK. 911.”

I stared at the message; it took a moment to wrap my brain around the content. And then what should have been obvious from the first dawned: there’d been a breach, an attack, on Cadogan House.

“Oh, God,” I said, my mind suddenly racing. Then I looked at Adam. “What did you do?”

“Merit?” Gabriel asked, but I put up a hand and kept my gaze on his brother.

“Adam, what did you do?”

He looked back over his shoulder, meanness in his eyes. “It’s too late. The plan was in place. I already sent them to attack.”

My heart nearly stopped. Even Gabriel paled. “You sent who?”

“Shifters. Some humans. Those who wanted to take down the vamps a few notches.”

“Oh, God,” I said. “There’s a party going on. They’re outside the House.” Unprotected. “I’ve got to get back.”

“Okay, okay,” Gabriel said. “Nick, keep an eye on Adam. And call the Pack.”

“And my grandfather!” I put in.

“Get as many to Hyde Park as you can. I’ve got my bike. We’ll get you back, and we’ll stop this.”

God willing, we still could.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE It was a good thing it wasn’t yet close to dawn, since my way home was open air. I took a moment to use the bar phone and put in a quick phone call of my own while Gabriel prepped his bike. By the time I made my way outside, he sat on an Indian motorcycle, a low and long line of gleaming chrome, black studded leather, and silver enamel.

I pulled the extra helmet from the back of the bike, then swung a leg over.

“You ever ridden before?”

“Not in a while,” I said.

Gabriel snorted, then revved up the engine. “Then I suggest you hold on tight.”

I pulled on the helmet, climbed on, and wrapped my hands around his waist.

“Not quite that tight, Kitten. We’re only going to Hyde Park.”

“Sorry. Sorry.”

The bike thundered, a hollow, rumbly sound. But even over the din of it, I thought I heard him mutter, “Vampires.”

Ten terrifying minutes later—on a trip that should have taken twenty—we made it back to Hyde Park. Gabriel drove as if the fires of hell were on his tail. From the column of smoke we could see rising from the neighborhood even blocks away, I worried they were.

The street was riotous—trucks and bikes were parked in the middle, probably to keep out the cops, who were nowhere to be seen. But the paparazzi were plentiful, snapping pictures of the vehicles and the shifters that emerged from them.

And, more important, from the smoke that billowed from the first floor of the House. My chest felt hollow. I was the Sentinel. This was my House. And I had been tricked into leaving it unsecured—leaving the vampires inside unsecured.

God, please let him be safe, I prayed, whipping my dagger from its sheath and jumping off before Gabriel had time to come to a full stop. He called after me, but I was already running, dagger in hand.

I made it only steps before a shifter came at me, bearing a katana that had probably been pilfered from one of our vampires. My vampish ire rising quickly and fiercely, I dropped to one knee, fangs descended, and forced the attacker to vault over me. As he stumbled through the air, I stuck an elbow upward into his chest and yanked the katana from his loosened grip.

I stood up again and rolled the katana in my hand, its weight comforting even if it wasn’t my own. I turned on the man, who’d rolled to a stop, but in the most inconvenient location—at the boots of the Apex predator of the North American Central Pack.

“I got this one, Kitten,” Gabe said, his narrow-eyed gaze on the shifter before him.

I hoped the man had sense enough to stay down.

With a nod of acknowledgment, I set off at a run, katana before me, sirens finally ringing out behind me. It was the fire department, I hoped, if I was still going to have a place to bed down before sunrise.

As I slashed at two more attacking shifters, I tried to quiet my mind enough to connect to Ethan. But although I called his name twice, then three times, I couldn’t find him.

He wouldn’t answer me back.

I made my way through marauders to the House’s front gate, and found Luc there with two fairies, the three of them battling back the crowd of shifters who were trying to push through. Given the smoke, some must have made it, or else they’d snuck over the wall on other parts of the grounds.

“Luc!” I called out, giving an attacker a foot to the chin and watching him crumple.

Luc glanced around. “Sentinel, thank God. Some of them are humans, but I think the rest are shifters. They attacked the House!”

I had to yell out over the din of sirens and clanging steel. “It was Adam! He had a plan—we’ll talk about it later. Is everyone okay?”

“I don’t know. We left Lacey at the back of the House with Lindsey. Ethan, Juliet, Kelley, and Malik are inside.”

“Merit!” I glanced behind me. Catcher, Jeff, and my grandfather, his gait a little slower, moved toward us amongst the dark-clad cops who were finally beginning to emerge from cars and wrangle the perpetrators together.

That raised a good question: how in God’s name were we going to explain this to the cops? I guessed that was my grandfather’s department.

“Just worry about your duties,” my grandfather said, as if anticipating the question. “Nick called and explained. We’ll get this calmed down out here. You do what you need to do to keep your people safe.”

I nodded, then pointed a finger at Jeff. “You ready to fight?”

He grinned wildly. “Damned skippy.”

“Then let’s do this.”

We moved inside the gate, my borrowed katana in hand and a shifter at my side. They swarmed us as we entered—half of them bearing the electric sizzle of agitated shifters, but none of them in animal form.

“Why haven’t they shifted?” I asked him, raising the katana and preparing to strike.

“Paparazzi,” he said, which made sense. Jeff bounced on his heels, fists curled. It was an odd-looking position for the lanky computer programmer, but I knew Jeff could take care of himself.

And unlike the convocation, where we fought on different sides of the room, this time I got to watch. While I fought off the perps on the right, Jeff took the left.