"You're okay?" he murmured.
"Alive," I said. "Everyone is."
I gave Jeremy a full report, concluding with Leah's escape. Although I wanted to go after her immediately, Jeremy nixed that plan. He was more concerned with stopping Tyrone Winsloe and finding any remaining staff members. If Leah was on the run, she posed no immediate danger. It was a long walk to the nearest phone. We could stop her later. Right now we needed to make sure no humans left the compound and took our secrets with them.
"Clay and I will go look for Winsloe," I said.
"I'll come with you," Cassandra said. "We found only one guard, and Jeremy took care of him. Tyrone Winsloe may be my last chance for some actual combat."
"Elena and I can handle this," Clay said. "If you want something to do, Cassandra, go skulk around the second floor, see if you can find any warm food."
Cassandra only smiled. "No, thank you, Clayton. I'll wait for Winsloe. He should be quite warm when you finish with him."
"Oh, that reminds me," I said. "There's still one captive left. He might be a vampire, but we're not sure. Would you mind taking a look, Cassandra? If he is a vampire, you can tell me whether it's safe to release him. You'd know, right?"
She nodded. "There aren't many vampires in North America. If he's one of us, I should recognize him."
After we all returned to the cell block, I led Cassandra down the hall toward the remaining captive. As we walked, I tried to think up a way to keep Cassandra from accompanying Clay and me on our search for Winsloe. I didn't want her there. Winsloe was mine. I owed him for everything he'd done, everything he'd threatened to do. His death would be a private matter, something I would share only with Clay.
We arrived at the cell before I came up with a plan. Cassandra took one look at the man inside and blinked. Hard.
"You know him?" I asked.
She paused, seeming to debate whether to lie. "He's a vampire."
I interpreted that to mean she did know him. "Is he dangerous?"
"Not really. Not very useful either. I wouldn't be in any rush to release him. He'll only get in the way. We can come back later."
She turned to go. I grabbed her arm. Her skin was cool to the touch, like someone who'd spent the day in an air-conditioned office.
"What if something happens and we can't release him later?" I said. "Or is that a chance you're willing to take, like when I was being held captive?"
The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. Cassandra turned and studied my face.
"So Clayton told you," she said. "I'd have thought he'd want to spare your feelings. It wasn't like that, Elena. You're a werewolf. A warrior. A bright, resourceful warrior. You didn't need my help to escape. There was nothing I could have done."
"And the others? You counseled them not to help me. To let me rot here."
Cassandra sighed. "It wasn't like that, Elena."
"And the thing with Clay? Making a pass at him before my side of the bed was cold?"
"I wouldn't call it a 'pass.' Clayton is a very intriguing man. Perhaps I was a little too intrigued, but you can hardly blame me for that. Now you're back. He's your man. I respect that. You needn't worry about me."
I smiled, baring my teeth. "Trust me, Cassandra, I wasn't worried." I glanced at the man in the cell. "But I am concerned for this poor guy. I'm letting him out."
Cassandra blanched, then quickly recovered her composure. "Suit yourself."
She turned and headed down the hall, walking faster than I'd ever seen her move. Fleeing the scene? Hmmm.
I opened the cell door. The man turned and gave me a wary onceover.
"Yes?" he said, polite but cool.
"Hi, I'm Elena." I extended my hand. "Your rescuer for today."
"Oh?" Still cool. Brows arching. No effort to shake my hand.
"You want out?" I asked.
He smiled, a touch of warmth defrosting the chill. "Actually, I was getting quite comfortable here, but if you insist, I suppose I could tear myself away."
"We have an old friend of yours with us. She's eager to see you."
"Friend?"
"Cassandra… I'm not sure of the last name. Auburn hair. Green eyes. Vampire."
"Cassandra?" His eyes narrowed. "Where?"
"Right down that hall."
I leaned out the door. The man brushed past me and marched into the hall.
"Cassandra!" he yelled.
Halfway down the hall, Cassandra turned. Slowly.
"Aaron!" she called. Her lips stretched in a wide smile as she headed back to us. "My God, is that really you? How long has it been? All these years and you know, you haven't changed a bit."
"Very funny," Aaron said. "Now, Cass-"
She gathered his hands in hers and pecked his cheek. "I can't believe this. When did I last see you? Nineteen seventeen, wasn't it? Philadelphia?"
"Nineteen thirty-one, Romania," Aaron growled, disengaging himself from Cassandra's embrace. "Fifth stop on our Grand Tour. We could have gone to Prague, Warsaw, Kiev, but no, you had to stop in some Romanian backwater so you could amuse yourself playing Dracula for the peasants. And I'm sure it would have been very amusing if you'd been the one locked in a church cellar for three days and almost drowned in a vat of holy water."
"It was a mistake," Cassandra murmured.
"Mistake? You left me there! "
"She abandoned you?" I said. "Fancy that."
"Oh, no," Aaron said, his glare boring through Cassandra. "She didn't just abandon me. She gave me to them. Her little prank got out of hand, and when the mob came, she saved herself by handing me over."
"It wasn't like that," Cassandra said.
"I'm sure it wasn't," I said. "Well, I guess you two have a lot of catching up to do. Go ahead, Cassandra. Clay and I can handle Winsloe on our own."
As I walked away, Cassandra tried to follow, but Aaron grabbed her arm. They were still getting reacquainted as Clay and I left the cell block to find Winsloe.
RETALIATION
The dog was in the kennel.
We smelled Winsloe as soon as we got within twenty feet of the outbuilding. We scouted the perimeter as I whispered my plan to Clay. Before I finished, he reached for my arm, stopping me.
"You sure about this, darling?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm sure. Aren't you?"
Clay pulled me closer and tipped my face up to his. "I'm sure I want to do it, and I'm damned sure the bastard deserves it. It's certainly poetic justice. But is it really what you want?"
"It's what I want."
"All right, then. If there's any trouble, though, I'm taking him down."
"No, I will."
Clay hesitated. "Okay, darling. If we have a choice, he's yours. But I won't hold back if you're in danger."
"Agreed."
We headed for the kennel.
***
Winsloe sat in the rear of the middle dog run. His back was to the wall, knees up, pistol trained on the door. Once we'd determined his position by peering through the dusty windows, we chose a course of action. Obviously, barreling through the door was out of the question. We weren't bulletproof. Since the entrance was to Winsloe's left, I selected the window closest to his right. Clay hoisted me, and I carefully unhooked the latches, pulled the pane free, and handed it down to Clay. The opening was roughly two feet square, too small for Clay, so I had to go it alone. He boosted me higher, and I wriggled through feet first, straining to hear Winsloe below, ready to yank myself out if he so much as moved. He didn't. Once my lower torso cleared the window, I grabbed the upper sill with both hands, swung sideways, and pounced, landing on Winsloe's head and shoulders. He screamed. I grabbed his gun and flung it over the wire fence into the adjoining cage.
"Nice scream, Tyrone," I said as I brushed straw from my jeans. "Very macho."
Clay strolled through the doorway. "Sounded more like a shriek to me, darling."
Winsloe jerked around to stare at Clay.
"Yes, that's Clayton," I said. "Looking pretty good for a dead guy, eh?"
As Winsloe struggled to stand, Clay strode over, grabbed him by the neck, slammed him against the wall, and patted him down.
"Unarmed," he said, dropping Winsloe.
"What?" I said. "No grenade? No nail gun? And you call yourself a hunter."
"How much do you want?" Winsloe said. His voice was steady, edged more with anger than fear. "What's a life worth these days? One million? Two?"
"Money?" I laughed. "We don't need money, Tyrone. Jeremy has plenty and he's more than willing to share."
"A combined net worth of maybe two million bucks?" Winsloe snorted. "That's nothing. Here's the deal. You caught me fair and square. I'm willing to pay a forfeit. Ten million."
Clay frowned. "What's this? You never said nothin' about a deal, darling. You promised me a hunt."
"I'm sorry, Ty," I said. "Clay's right. I promised him a hunt, and if I don't deliver, he'll sulk for days."
"Hunt?" Trepidation flashed through Winsloe's eyes, but he quickly doused it. "You want a hunt? Okay. That's fair. Like I said, you caught me. Here's the deal, then. Let me get my equipment and we'll have a real hunt. If I kill both of you, I win. You corner me and you'll get fifteen million."
"The man has balls, darling," Clay said. "Gotta give him that." He hauled Winsloe up by the shirtfront. "You wanna deal? Here's the deal. We let you go. You run for your f**king life. You make it off the game field and we let you go. We catch you first, we kill you. Okay?"
"That's not fair," Winsloe sputtered.
Clay threw back his head and laughed. "Hear that, darling? It's not fair. Weren't those your rules? The rules you planned to use if you hunted Elena. She'd be released and hunted by a team of trained professionals. If she escaped the game field, she'd live. Otherwise, she'd die. Am I missing something?"
"It's not the same," Winsloe said, glaring. "I'm not a werewolf. A human can't fight without weapons."
"What about those equipment lockers you have out there?" I said.
"They're locked."
"Fine," I sighed. "Let's make it 'fair,' then. We wouldn't want it too easy. No challenge, no fun."
I walked into the adjoining cage and picked up the gun. Upon examining it, I figured out how to open the chamber and dumped the bullets onto the floor. Then I returned to Winsloe and handed him the empty gun.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" he said.
Clay shook his head. "I thought this guy was supposed to be bright. Let's think about this. We need to Change forms to hunt you. That means we'll be occupied for a while. We're not going to leave you with a loaded gun so you can shoot us while we're Changing."
"You could find us and beat us over the head with the empty pistol," I said. "But I wouldn't recommend it. We'll take turns Changing. If you come near us, we'll kill you. While we're busy, you'll have time to do something. How much time? Well, I'm not going to tell you that. What I will tell you is that you have time to do something. You can run for your life. Or you can go back into the compound and find ammo for that gun. Or you can race to the nearest equipment locker and try to spring the lock. Or you can head for the garage and see if you can get one of the disabled vehicles running."
"There," Clay said. "We spelled it out for you. Fair enough?"
Winsloe stood eye to eye with Clay. "Twenty million."
"Twenty seconds," Clay said.
"Twenty-five mil-"
"Nineteen seconds."
Winsloe set his jaw, looked from Clay to me, then stalked from the kennel.
"He's taking this remarkably well," I said when Winsloe was gone.
"Disappointed?" Clay asked.
"I must admit, I had hoped he'd piss his pants. But this isn't so bad. At least he'll try. More challenge."
Clay grinned. "More fun."
***
We weren't stupid enough to Change in the kennel. We went outside and found a clearing about fifty feet into the forest. Clay Changed first while I stood guard. Then we switched. When I finished, we returned to the kennel, where I picked up Winsloe's scent and followed it.
Winsloe hadn't returned to the compound. Nor had he tried the garage. He'd gone straight into the woods, either running for his life or entertaining the pitiable hope that he could jimmy the lock on an equipment shed before we caught up with him. Worse yet-at least, worse for Winsloe-he'd taken the main path. Had he cut his own trail through the undergrowth, he'd have slowed us down. On the wide path, we could run full-out, side by side. Which we did. There was little need for caution. With only an empty pistol, the worst Winsloe could do was hide in the bushes and pitch it at us as we raced past. Not exactly cause for grave concern.
We passed the lookout tower. Halfway to release point two I caught a whiff of metal. My memory looped through that initial hunt with Lake, and I remembered the next landmark: an equipment locker. So that was Winsloe's plan? Unless he had lock picks handy, he was in for a big surprise. And we were in for a very short hunt.
I rounded the corner and saw the locker ahead. No sign of Winsloe. Had he given up and run? As I drew closer to the shed, I noticed something on the ground. Night-vision goggles. Beside them, a carton of ammunition. And binoculars. I skidded to a halt. The locker doors were open. Sunlight glinted off a metal key in the lock. Winsloe had had a key all along, or he'd known where to find one. Now he was armed with god knows what kind of artillery.
"Alive," I said. "Everyone is."
I gave Jeremy a full report, concluding with Leah's escape. Although I wanted to go after her immediately, Jeremy nixed that plan. He was more concerned with stopping Tyrone Winsloe and finding any remaining staff members. If Leah was on the run, she posed no immediate danger. It was a long walk to the nearest phone. We could stop her later. Right now we needed to make sure no humans left the compound and took our secrets with them.
"Clay and I will go look for Winsloe," I said.
"I'll come with you," Cassandra said. "We found only one guard, and Jeremy took care of him. Tyrone Winsloe may be my last chance for some actual combat."
"Elena and I can handle this," Clay said. "If you want something to do, Cassandra, go skulk around the second floor, see if you can find any warm food."
Cassandra only smiled. "No, thank you, Clayton. I'll wait for Winsloe. He should be quite warm when you finish with him."
"Oh, that reminds me," I said. "There's still one captive left. He might be a vampire, but we're not sure. Would you mind taking a look, Cassandra? If he is a vampire, you can tell me whether it's safe to release him. You'd know, right?"
She nodded. "There aren't many vampires in North America. If he's one of us, I should recognize him."
After we all returned to the cell block, I led Cassandra down the hall toward the remaining captive. As we walked, I tried to think up a way to keep Cassandra from accompanying Clay and me on our search for Winsloe. I didn't want her there. Winsloe was mine. I owed him for everything he'd done, everything he'd threatened to do. His death would be a private matter, something I would share only with Clay.
We arrived at the cell before I came up with a plan. Cassandra took one look at the man inside and blinked. Hard.
"You know him?" I asked.
She paused, seeming to debate whether to lie. "He's a vampire."
I interpreted that to mean she did know him. "Is he dangerous?"
"Not really. Not very useful either. I wouldn't be in any rush to release him. He'll only get in the way. We can come back later."
She turned to go. I grabbed her arm. Her skin was cool to the touch, like someone who'd spent the day in an air-conditioned office.
"What if something happens and we can't release him later?" I said. "Or is that a chance you're willing to take, like when I was being held captive?"
The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. Cassandra turned and studied my face.
"So Clayton told you," she said. "I'd have thought he'd want to spare your feelings. It wasn't like that, Elena. You're a werewolf. A warrior. A bright, resourceful warrior. You didn't need my help to escape. There was nothing I could have done."
"And the others? You counseled them not to help me. To let me rot here."
Cassandra sighed. "It wasn't like that, Elena."
"And the thing with Clay? Making a pass at him before my side of the bed was cold?"
"I wouldn't call it a 'pass.' Clayton is a very intriguing man. Perhaps I was a little too intrigued, but you can hardly blame me for that. Now you're back. He's your man. I respect that. You needn't worry about me."
I smiled, baring my teeth. "Trust me, Cassandra, I wasn't worried." I glanced at the man in the cell. "But I am concerned for this poor guy. I'm letting him out."
Cassandra blanched, then quickly recovered her composure. "Suit yourself."
She turned and headed down the hall, walking faster than I'd ever seen her move. Fleeing the scene? Hmmm.
I opened the cell door. The man turned and gave me a wary onceover.
"Yes?" he said, polite but cool.
"Hi, I'm Elena." I extended my hand. "Your rescuer for today."
"Oh?" Still cool. Brows arching. No effort to shake my hand.
"You want out?" I asked.
He smiled, a touch of warmth defrosting the chill. "Actually, I was getting quite comfortable here, but if you insist, I suppose I could tear myself away."
"We have an old friend of yours with us. She's eager to see you."
"Friend?"
"Cassandra… I'm not sure of the last name. Auburn hair. Green eyes. Vampire."
"Cassandra?" His eyes narrowed. "Where?"
"Right down that hall."
I leaned out the door. The man brushed past me and marched into the hall.
"Cassandra!" he yelled.
Halfway down the hall, Cassandra turned. Slowly.
"Aaron!" she called. Her lips stretched in a wide smile as she headed back to us. "My God, is that really you? How long has it been? All these years and you know, you haven't changed a bit."
"Very funny," Aaron said. "Now, Cass-"
She gathered his hands in hers and pecked his cheek. "I can't believe this. When did I last see you? Nineteen seventeen, wasn't it? Philadelphia?"
"Nineteen thirty-one, Romania," Aaron growled, disengaging himself from Cassandra's embrace. "Fifth stop on our Grand Tour. We could have gone to Prague, Warsaw, Kiev, but no, you had to stop in some Romanian backwater so you could amuse yourself playing Dracula for the peasants. And I'm sure it would have been very amusing if you'd been the one locked in a church cellar for three days and almost drowned in a vat of holy water."
"It was a mistake," Cassandra murmured.
"Mistake? You left me there! "
"She abandoned you?" I said. "Fancy that."
"Oh, no," Aaron said, his glare boring through Cassandra. "She didn't just abandon me. She gave me to them. Her little prank got out of hand, and when the mob came, she saved herself by handing me over."
"It wasn't like that," Cassandra said.
"I'm sure it wasn't," I said. "Well, I guess you two have a lot of catching up to do. Go ahead, Cassandra. Clay and I can handle Winsloe on our own."
As I walked away, Cassandra tried to follow, but Aaron grabbed her arm. They were still getting reacquainted as Clay and I left the cell block to find Winsloe.
RETALIATION
The dog was in the kennel.
We smelled Winsloe as soon as we got within twenty feet of the outbuilding. We scouted the perimeter as I whispered my plan to Clay. Before I finished, he reached for my arm, stopping me.
"You sure about this, darling?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm sure. Aren't you?"
Clay pulled me closer and tipped my face up to his. "I'm sure I want to do it, and I'm damned sure the bastard deserves it. It's certainly poetic justice. But is it really what you want?"
"It's what I want."
"All right, then. If there's any trouble, though, I'm taking him down."
"No, I will."
Clay hesitated. "Okay, darling. If we have a choice, he's yours. But I won't hold back if you're in danger."
"Agreed."
We headed for the kennel.
***
Winsloe sat in the rear of the middle dog run. His back was to the wall, knees up, pistol trained on the door. Once we'd determined his position by peering through the dusty windows, we chose a course of action. Obviously, barreling through the door was out of the question. We weren't bulletproof. Since the entrance was to Winsloe's left, I selected the window closest to his right. Clay hoisted me, and I carefully unhooked the latches, pulled the pane free, and handed it down to Clay. The opening was roughly two feet square, too small for Clay, so I had to go it alone. He boosted me higher, and I wriggled through feet first, straining to hear Winsloe below, ready to yank myself out if he so much as moved. He didn't. Once my lower torso cleared the window, I grabbed the upper sill with both hands, swung sideways, and pounced, landing on Winsloe's head and shoulders. He screamed. I grabbed his gun and flung it over the wire fence into the adjoining cage.
"Nice scream, Tyrone," I said as I brushed straw from my jeans. "Very macho."
Clay strolled through the doorway. "Sounded more like a shriek to me, darling."
Winsloe jerked around to stare at Clay.
"Yes, that's Clayton," I said. "Looking pretty good for a dead guy, eh?"
As Winsloe struggled to stand, Clay strode over, grabbed him by the neck, slammed him against the wall, and patted him down.
"Unarmed," he said, dropping Winsloe.
"What?" I said. "No grenade? No nail gun? And you call yourself a hunter."
"How much do you want?" Winsloe said. His voice was steady, edged more with anger than fear. "What's a life worth these days? One million? Two?"
"Money?" I laughed. "We don't need money, Tyrone. Jeremy has plenty and he's more than willing to share."
"A combined net worth of maybe two million bucks?" Winsloe snorted. "That's nothing. Here's the deal. You caught me fair and square. I'm willing to pay a forfeit. Ten million."
Clay frowned. "What's this? You never said nothin' about a deal, darling. You promised me a hunt."
"I'm sorry, Ty," I said. "Clay's right. I promised him a hunt, and if I don't deliver, he'll sulk for days."
"Hunt?" Trepidation flashed through Winsloe's eyes, but he quickly doused it. "You want a hunt? Okay. That's fair. Like I said, you caught me. Here's the deal, then. Let me get my equipment and we'll have a real hunt. If I kill both of you, I win. You corner me and you'll get fifteen million."
"The man has balls, darling," Clay said. "Gotta give him that." He hauled Winsloe up by the shirtfront. "You wanna deal? Here's the deal. We let you go. You run for your f**king life. You make it off the game field and we let you go. We catch you first, we kill you. Okay?"
"That's not fair," Winsloe sputtered.
Clay threw back his head and laughed. "Hear that, darling? It's not fair. Weren't those your rules? The rules you planned to use if you hunted Elena. She'd be released and hunted by a team of trained professionals. If she escaped the game field, she'd live. Otherwise, she'd die. Am I missing something?"
"It's not the same," Winsloe said, glaring. "I'm not a werewolf. A human can't fight without weapons."
"What about those equipment lockers you have out there?" I said.
"They're locked."
"Fine," I sighed. "Let's make it 'fair,' then. We wouldn't want it too easy. No challenge, no fun."
I walked into the adjoining cage and picked up the gun. Upon examining it, I figured out how to open the chamber and dumped the bullets onto the floor. Then I returned to Winsloe and handed him the empty gun.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" he said.
Clay shook his head. "I thought this guy was supposed to be bright. Let's think about this. We need to Change forms to hunt you. That means we'll be occupied for a while. We're not going to leave you with a loaded gun so you can shoot us while we're Changing."
"You could find us and beat us over the head with the empty pistol," I said. "But I wouldn't recommend it. We'll take turns Changing. If you come near us, we'll kill you. While we're busy, you'll have time to do something. How much time? Well, I'm not going to tell you that. What I will tell you is that you have time to do something. You can run for your life. Or you can go back into the compound and find ammo for that gun. Or you can race to the nearest equipment locker and try to spring the lock. Or you can head for the garage and see if you can get one of the disabled vehicles running."
"There," Clay said. "We spelled it out for you. Fair enough?"
Winsloe stood eye to eye with Clay. "Twenty million."
"Twenty seconds," Clay said.
"Twenty-five mil-"
"Nineteen seconds."
Winsloe set his jaw, looked from Clay to me, then stalked from the kennel.
"He's taking this remarkably well," I said when Winsloe was gone.
"Disappointed?" Clay asked.
"I must admit, I had hoped he'd piss his pants. But this isn't so bad. At least he'll try. More challenge."
Clay grinned. "More fun."
***
We weren't stupid enough to Change in the kennel. We went outside and found a clearing about fifty feet into the forest. Clay Changed first while I stood guard. Then we switched. When I finished, we returned to the kennel, where I picked up Winsloe's scent and followed it.
Winsloe hadn't returned to the compound. Nor had he tried the garage. He'd gone straight into the woods, either running for his life or entertaining the pitiable hope that he could jimmy the lock on an equipment shed before we caught up with him. Worse yet-at least, worse for Winsloe-he'd taken the main path. Had he cut his own trail through the undergrowth, he'd have slowed us down. On the wide path, we could run full-out, side by side. Which we did. There was little need for caution. With only an empty pistol, the worst Winsloe could do was hide in the bushes and pitch it at us as we raced past. Not exactly cause for grave concern.
We passed the lookout tower. Halfway to release point two I caught a whiff of metal. My memory looped through that initial hunt with Lake, and I remembered the next landmark: an equipment locker. So that was Winsloe's plan? Unless he had lock picks handy, he was in for a big surprise. And we were in for a very short hunt.
I rounded the corner and saw the locker ahead. No sign of Winsloe. Had he given up and run? As I drew closer to the shed, I noticed something on the ground. Night-vision goggles. Beside them, a carton of ammunition. And binoculars. I skidded to a halt. The locker doors were open. Sunlight glinted off a metal key in the lock. Winsloe had had a key all along, or he'd known where to find one. Now he was armed with god knows what kind of artillery.
