Absolution (35 page)

“So, easy solution.” Mirren picked up the sword and scabbard and propped them beside the door. “I don’t go back. If they’re coming after me for killing Renz, no way I’m endangering everybody in Penton. I can lead them away from Aidan.”

Glory’s heart sank, but her choice was clear. As long as she was in Penton, she also was a danger to them because now Matthias knew she was a direct line to Mirren. Neither of them could go back. She met Mirren’s gaze, and he nodded.

“Mirren’s right,” she said. “You should go back, Will, but Mirren and I need to go somewhere we can’t be found.”

“Not that simple.” Will took Glory’s bag out of her hand and set it on the desk behind him. “Remember, Matthias’s guy also found proof in the New Orleans house that Aidan turned Krys.” He looked at Mirren. “My father’s not only after you two. He’s after Aidan. He’s after Penton. We know he’s after me. He has the full backing of the Tribunal to bring down the whole town, with a green light to kill both Aidan and you. We either all have to go back and fight or split the town up ourselves.”

Glory watched both men struggle with that choice, but what kind of choice was it? From what she knew of them, they’d both try to sacrifice what they wanted to do with what they thought they should. “Before all this stuff with Aidan’s brother and Will’s father started, were you happy in Penton? Both of you?” She shifted her hard gaze from Mirren to Will.

They stared at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “Of course,” Will said. “Aidan had this vision of what Penton could become, and we all believed in it. It was the first place I’d ever felt at home.”

Mirren didn’t say anything but had focused on the cheap green carpet at his feet.

Glory couldn’t believe both of them were being so indecisive. “Then isn’t it worth fighting for?”

Will scrubbed both hands across his face. “Yeah, but I don’t know if we can win.”

Mirren stood up and edged around Will’s chair to grab his bag, then picked up the scabbard and swung the strap over his shoulder. “I don’t, either, but it’s time to make a stand.”

CHAPTER 34

M
ost of them had stayed. Un-freaking-believable. Mirren stood in the middle of Aidan’s living room and looked out the window at the steady stream of cars driving in the direction of the Penton community center. Aidan had called a town hall meeting for ten p.m. He’d gotten word out: anyone who wanted to stay in Penton had to agree to go into Omega, if necessary.

They all knew what Omega was. While they’d been in New Orleans, Aidan and the scathe members had gone door to door, explaining what the shelter was and how it might work. And how it could get them all killed.

Those who weren’t willing to live underground and risk getting skewered—maybe literally—by the Tribunal would be unbonded and given free rein to go wherever they wanted, both vampire and human. Only fifty had taken an out, leaving about fifty-five vampires and seventy humans. That was about twenty-five more people than Omega was set up for, but Mirren figured, after tonight’s meeting, some more would decide to go.

The only requirement for those who left Penton behind: a wiped memory. For them, Penton no longer existed. All they had left was a big chunk of time where they couldn’t remember where they were or what they’d been doing. Penton couldn’t risk another betrayal, intentional or not.

Now, Mirren and the other lieutenants waited for Aidan to finish a phone call with Margaret Lindstrom, their surprising new ally. Thank God the woman could at least feed them info on the Tribunal. What Matthias had planned on his own, no one knew.

For most of the two days since they’d been back from New Orleans, Glory had worked with Mark and Melissa Calvert, going house to house during daysleep hours to make sure the fams and their bonded family members knew the score, finding out any special needs they might have in terms of food or medications and making the run to Atlanta to buy supplies. By the time Mirren rose each evening, she’d have been in the kitchen, filling the house with the smells of meat and sugar and butter. He didn’t deserve her, but he couldn’t imagine life without her anymore.

As much as part of Mirren wanted her safely away from Penton, he knew his mate well enough to not suggest her leaving anymore. And, yes, Glory Cummings was his mate. It might have happened by accident, but he had no desire to get out of it. They’d stand or fall together.

Besides, she was still a danger to Matthias—maybe even more so now that he had so much to lose. Mirren wanted her close to him, not vulnerable and alone. He’d protect her or die trying.

He’d been obsessively checking their bond ever since she’d left with Krys to help the Calverts’ meet and greet at the community center. Aidan had thought people would feel more comfortable, less jumpy, if they saw the loved ones of the scathe leaders already there. Hannah, whose creepy, cryptic visions told them only that Omega would come into play, was sitting in the corner, staring into space. He hoped to hell the kid wasn’t getting more bad vibes from the universe.

They were down another lieutenant. Randa sat in the corner of Aidan’s living room, being questioned by Will and not happy about it. She’d shown up last night, oozing wounds from silver bullets courtesy of Matthias’s men in Virginia. Tanner had been killed, and only Randa’s military training had gotten her out of the estate grounds alive. She and Will had been arguing and trading insults for a half hour, and Mirren was going to have to slap the shit out of both of them if they didn’t shut it.

Finally, Aidan finished his call and joined them in the living room. He’d spent his daysleep and the first hours after dusk in Atlanta, making financial arrangements for the people who were leaving. He still wore a tailored navy suit and white shirt. He’d ditched the tie, which hung halfway out of his coat pocket, but he still looked seriously uncomfortable. Or maybe just stressed out.

“Here’s the latest.” Aidan poured a finger of whiskey and stood in front of the fireplace, which put them in a loose semicircle. “Meg Lindstrom says the Tribunal doesn’t want its hands dirty, so Frank Greisser has given Matthias permission to do whatever he wants and leave them out of it. Makes it trickier for Matthias but safer for the Tribunal if he screws up. The main targets as far as the Tribunal is concerned are Mirren and me. But Meg says she’s heard—and this won’t come as any surprise—that he wants Glory and Will as well, both of them alive, if possible.”

“He wants Glory alive?” Mirren had been sure she’d been on the top of the hit list with Aidan and him.

Aidan nodded. “Renz kept a lot of notes in his desk, apparently, including the fact that Glory’s telekinetic. Our traitor went through the desk and turned everything over to Matthias, plus gave a statement before disappearing a wealthy man. Meg figures Glory’s abilities have made him more determined to use her. I’m guessing he also thinks Glory’s a means of keeping you under control if he gets the chance to recruit you instead of kill you.”

Mirren knew Glory would rather die than let Matthias anywhere near her, especially if he wanted to use her to get to him. For the first time since New Orleans, he felt the cold, gray mist of the Slayer settle over him, and now, for the second time in a week, he embraced it. Soon, he’d have to wear the mantle of the gallowglass once again, with higher stakes than any he’d ever faced. He wouldn’t go into it blindly.

“What’s the plan?” Mirren leaned against the wall beside the front door, hands in his pockets. “When do we need to start getting people into Omega? It’s gonna take a while to get that many people moved and settled.”

Aidan nodded. “Is it ready to go, Will?”

Will was whispering furiously at Randa, whose face was almost as red as her hair. Mirren didn’t think he’d ever seen a vampire flushed before—or burning with anger, more likely. That woman had a temper.

“Will!” Aidan slammed his whiskey glass on the table next to his chair, and Will looked up, startled. “You and Randa can argue with each other later. We need an update on Omega before we leave. As in now.”

Giving Randa a narrow-eyed glare, Will stood up and moved to the other side of the room. “It’s ready. The last furniture was moved into the suites just before we left for New Orleans. Food and water’s in. Ventilation. We have three entrances. First one is off the community center, and second one’s beneath the old Baptist church—both of those use a grid-based floor hatch like we have on our personal safe spaces.”

Aidan nodded. “How easy are they to spot?”

“Not easy at all. They’re well camouflaged, but that also means they’re small—the one at the church is beneath a pew and will require some furniture removal. So Mirren’s right. It’ll take a while to get everyone down there.”

Getting more than a hundred people down a couple of shoulder-wide hatches would be a nightmare. Mirren tried to gauge the time it would take and didn’t see how it could be done in fewer than three or four hours, even if they limited what people could take down with them.

Which meant they needed to start tonight. Matthias had held off two days; it wasn’t realistic to think he’d wait much longer before making his first assault.

“Tonight,” he said. “We need to start getting people down there now.”

“Agreed.” Aidan ran his hands through his hair, a sure sign the man was stressed. “Where’s the third entrance, Will?”

“In the woods near the Georgia state line, with a tunnel that leads in. That one’s our fail-safe, in case we need to escape Omega for some reason. But it’s virtually impossible to find unless you know what you’re looking for. I need to take each of you out there, show you how to locate it.”

“We do that tonight too. Whoever wants to go into Omega now, we can let Krys and Glory oversee one entrance, and Mark and Mel the oth—”

What the hell? Mirren staggered against the wall and had to prop a hand on the windowsill to keep from losing his balance. “Something’s wrong.” He felt for his connection to Glory, and it was there. It was strong. But she was trying to tell him something.

Aidan had put his hands to his head. “Krys is…” He stopped, his features scrunched in concentration. “Matthias is here, at the community center. He’s—”

The muffed sound of an explosion jarred the house, and Will ran for the front door.

“Don’t.” Mirren jerked him back and eased the window blind enough to see out the window. Flames and smoke were visible over the tree line. His bond to Glory was intact; she was alive. They needed to strategize, not panic.

“Fire downtown.” He turned back to the others. “Matthias probably has people watching the house so we can’t go piling out the front door. Aidan, we need to use one of your safe exits.”

“I have a tunnel from my suite that goes to the clinic. Everybody armed?” He looked around at the knives and guns—and Mirren’s sword—that came out of pockets and holsters and scabbard. “Let’s go.”

Aidan shifted the tiles to open the hatch; then Mirren led the way into the basement. They waited while Aidan relocked the top hatch. “No point in making it easy for them to follow us,” he said, crossing the basement rec room to unlock the emergency tunnel exit.

Just as he’d pulled the hidden panel open, another explosion jarred the house above them.

CHAPTER 35