Blood and Bite (3 page)

No one mentioned the berserker or his sudden family.

As she strode down the hall, Z and Jack on either side of
her, Lex and the twins came out of the break room. Lex looked fine—the setbacks,
while sudden and vicious, never kept her down for long.

“You okay, Lex?” she asked.

“I am.”

“Good.”

“Rune—”

“Not right now.” Rune did not want questions about Strad.

She had no idea how to answer them.

But her body was aching. It was craving blood that had been
withheld for too long. Not long ago she’d have ignored its calling, but things
had changed.

She and her monster had merged, much like RISC and SCRU.

Now, now she wanted to feed.

Would
feed.

It was just a question of from whom the blood would flow.

“I
tried
to bring Raze out to see you. He refused to
come.”

She stared up at the young cop, not surprised. “Let me into
his pod.”

“Now you know I can’t do that.” But he picked at his thumbnail,
darting his eyes away from hers.

She just smiled.

“Dammit, Alexander.
I can’t just
let you into a pod.”

“He won’t come out so I have no choice. Take me back, Greg.”

“He only has two days left. Come on. You can wait two days
to see him.”

She shook her head. “I need to see him now.
It’s
RISC business or I wouldn’t insist.”

He believed the lie, or maybe he just wanted to believe it.
“You can’t discuss much in there, you know.”

“We’ll manage. Take me back.”

He sighed. “If I get my ass chewed for this—”

“You won’t.”

He didn’t appear convinced, but did as she asked. It didn’t
hurt that he had a crush on her. Before they got far, though, an older guard
Rune wasn’t as familiar with stopped them.

“He changed his mind. You can see him in a private room.” He
winked.

She lifted an eyebrow. “Raze changed his mind?”

“He said he knew you wouldn’t go away.” Again, he winked.

Asshole
.
“Just bring him.”

“Already did. Come on, girl. I’ll take you back and we’ll
give you oh…twenty minutes. That should be plenty of time to do what you can’t
wait two days for.”

She sighed. It wouldn’t be the best idea to deck the son of
a bitch, but she was tempted to do it anyway. “Greg will take me back. You need
to get the fuck out of my face.”

He dropped his jolly smile like a hot rock. “Be careful,
Alexander. You don’t scare as many people as you think you do.”

“I don’t want to scare you. But this is the last warning I’m
going to give you to get the fuck out of my face.” She moved her shoulders to
loosen them,
then
dropped her fangs. They made an
audible click when they popped through her gums.

Shit. Why did I do that?

She was embracing her
Other
a
little too eagerly. The first part of her life had been spent hiding what she
was, but after the Hawthorne battle and the clinic, she was showing herself all
over the place. Part of her stood and watched in embarrassed horror, but her
fucking
Other
was strong and unashamed.

Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe it wasn’t.

And in spite of what the guard had said, he was scared. His
eyes widened and he took an involuntary step back.
Which, of
course, pissed him off even more.

He clenched his fists, his face reddening.
“Fucking monster.”

She hadn’t heard that word for weeks, except in her own
head. “What did you just say to me?” She ignored the old familiar shame
streaking through her. She was past that.

She
was.

Greg got between them. “Stop it right the fuck now, both of
you. Alexander, I will put you out of here if I have to.” He glanced at her
mouth and the fangs peeking out. “Put those away.” He looked at the other
guard. “Boyle, shut the fuck up.”

And with Boyle glaring after them, he took Rune to see Raze.

Raze stood in the middle of the smallish room, his hands on
his hips, waiting for her. He wasn’t happy.

It was just her day to piss people off.

“Ten minutes,” Greg said, and shut the door.

She wasn’t going to argue for more time—neither man would
have appreciated that.

Raze was huge—the largest member of Shiv Crew next to Strad,
who was the biggest man Rune had ever seen. But somehow, in his too short jail
uniform, he looked smaller.

“You’ve lost weight,” she said. “I’ve heard county food is
pretty awful.”

“Why are you here, Rune?”

She blew out a long breath. “I needed to see for myself that
you were okay. I was gone a long time.”

“About as long as I’ve been in jail.” His voice softened.
“You didn’t abandon us.”

“Two more days.
You get out
Friday.”

“I’m aware.”
Finally, a little humor in
his eyes.
Raze wasn’t the smiling type.

“I guess you would be.”

“I miss my weapons more than just about anything.”

“I know what
that
feels like.”

“Anything I need to know?”

“Yeah, actually.
Rock County
alpha—”

“Already heard.
What else?”

“Want to sit?”

“No. That’s all I do in here.”

She nodded and reached out to squeeze his forearm. He wasn’t
the smiling type and she wasn’t the touchy-feely type. Her touch on his arm
surprised him.

“Are you okay, Rune?”

She grinned. “I’m okay. So anyway, the berserker went away
to Pennsylvania while I was in the clinic. You heard about him leaving?”

Raze nodded. “Didn’t hear why he went, though.”

She forced the words out, hoping her eyes were blank. “He
brought back a wife and a kid.”

His jaw dropped.
“The fuck?”

“Yeah.
We all were a
little…shocked.”

He ran his hand through his long, dark-red hair.
“Dammit, Rune.”

She shrugged. “The kid is in trouble. He’s about eight years
old and
get
this—he’s clairvoyant.”

Raze sat down at the chipped table. “Strad has a wife and a
psychic kid. Go on.”

She smiled inwardly and sat as well. “Strad and his…
wife
tried to keep the secret of what the little boy could do, but it got out. Long
story short, when the kid does his reading, tries to find a person, whatever,
it makes him sick. Worse than sick—does a lot of damage. He’s not recovered
from the last reading he did months ago.

“So a few weeks ago some assholes broke into the Matheson’s
house to kidnap Matthew. There are no leads. If someone succeeds in taking the
boy and forces him to use his gift, it’ll kill him. From what I’ve seen, no way
can Matthew withstand doing another reading.”

“So Strad brought the family here.” He nodded. “Best place
for the kid with Shiv Crew looking out for him.”

“Yes.”

He stood and began pacing. “I need the fuck out of this
hole.”

“I know, baby.”

He stopped pacing and looked at her.
“COS
is starting a branch in Spiritgrove.”

She jumped to her feet. “
Fuck
no.”

He nodded. “It won’t be good when Lex hears.”

“Bastards.
Fuck
. Where are
they building?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going to—”

“No. Wait for me to get out.”

She barely heard him. “They’re already
here
. Why was
I not told about this?”

“I doubt RISC knows. One of the fucks in my pod was bragging
to his buddy about it. He said signups will begin next week.”

“Fucking
signups?
”

“Yup.
COS wants all the members
they can get, but they check them out pretty thoroughly first.”

“To what?
Make sure no vampires are
trying to join?” She half-laughed, but had never been more
unamused
in her life.

“I’m worried about Lex.” He studied the wall, which held
nothing more interesting than a faint green paint.

She opened her mouth,
then
shut it
again.
Could it be?
“Raze?”

“Just keep an eye on her.” His voice was gruff. “You need to
get going.”

She stood. What a fucking day. “Does she know?”

“There’s nothing to know.” He strode to the door and banged
on it until Greg pulled it open. “I’ll see you Friday.”

And he was gone.

She’d just climbed into her car when her cell rang. She
glanced at the display.
Strad.
Dammit. “What’s up,
Strad?”

“Just checking on you.”

His voice sent chills down her spine. Married or not, his
blood was inside her. “I’m fine.”

“Rune…” he hesitated. “Are you hungry?”

She knew he didn’t mean for food. Her body tightened, crying
out for what she needed, what she was hungry for. “Are you divorced?”

“We’ve been separated for years. But no, we’re not
divorced.”

“Then fuck off, Berserker.”

“You have to feed.”

“I plan on it.
Just not from you.”

“You will not go to someone else.”

“Fuck you!” She hung up and tossed the phone into the
passenger seat as though it hurt to touch it.
Fucking
berserker.

And fucking COS. Spiritgrove was the biggest town in River
County, so it made sense they’d start a branch there—but still she wondered if
they were coming to River County because that’s where Lex and the twins were.

Gunnar the Ghoul would know where they were setting up. He
never went outside the gates of Wormwood, at least not as far as she knew, but
still seemed aware of everything that went on in the county. He was her best
informant.

And all she had to do was give him what he craved.

On her way she called Z to tell him where she’d be. She
couldn’t get a cell signal in Wormwood. “If you need me, leave a message and
I’ll call you as soon as I’m finished with Gunnar.”

“What about lunch?”

“I’ll have something after.”

“Don’t forget to eat, Rune. You’re too skinny as it is.”

“You said I looked great.” She couldn’t help but grin. Z was
almost a bigger worrier than Ellie.

“You always look great, sweet thing.
Just
too thin.”

“I’ll eat, I promise. And don’t call me sweet thing.” She
pulled into a drive-through to get a cup of coffee before heading on to the
graveyard.

“How was Raze?”

“Not great. He needs out. But he had some information.”

“What?”

“COS is setting up a church in Spiritgrove.”

“Fuck me!”

“Exactly.”

“Where?”

“Don’t know. I’m hoping Gunnar can tell me.”

“If anyone can…”

“Yeah.”

She hung up.

Part of her wanted to go home and decompress—but mostly she
was just glad to be back, to have a life that kept her so busy she had little
time to think.

Thinking about things got her into trouble.

Sure, the shrinks had helped.

But things had happened that no amount of dredging up could
make go away. They just were.

She’d like to forget them. Bury them with the adoptive
parents she’d killed.

“But I’m better,” she whispered. “I’m
so
much
better.”

And that was the truth.

She entered Wormwood through the main entrance. Wormwood was
vast—the largest cemetery in Ohio—and had evolved into something close to a
town. A town of
Others
.

As though he’d been waiting for her, Gunnar the Ghoul stood
just beyond the gates, his long-fingered hands clasped behind his back. A light
wind picked up lank strands of his thin black hair, waving it gently away from
his high forehead and sharp cheekbones.

“Hello, Your Highness,” he said when she reached him.

“Hi, sexy.”

“I knew you’d come.”

“You always do.”

“Yes. I am quite brilliant.”

“For a ghoul.”
She grinned.

He looked down his nose. “For anyone,
Your
Provocativeness.”

“I have a question.”

“Of course.
I will willingly make a
trade.”

She teased a Baby Ruth candy bar from her pocket. “Want some
chocolate, baby?”

He snatched the candy from her, holding it to his nose, his
eyes closed. Finally he put it away and looked at her, his black eyes
attentive. “Ask your question.”

“The Church of Slayers has come to River County. They’ve opened
a branch in Spiritgrove. I need to know exactly where.”

He didn’t look surprised. “They are sneaky, those slayers.”

“I’m aware.
The address, Gunnar.”

He gave her the address, adding, “They are not building.
They’ve taken over the big Baptist church that was abandoned three years ago.”

She nodded. “I know where it is.”

He tilted his head, looking like a demented puppy. “You’re
hungry.”

Dammit
. “No, I’m not.”

“You are.” He paused, a hint of shyness entering his
bottomless eyes. “I would gladly feed you, Your Highness.”

She fought to keep her face blank. Feed from a
ghoul?
No.
Just…no.
“I—”

“I retract the offer,” he said quickly.

Fuck me
. “Gunnar, I’m not hungry.” As though he
wouldn’t know she was lying.

“Here is a free bit of advice for you, Your
Runiverse
.”

She lifted an eyebrow. That was a new name. “Yes?”

“You’ve forgotten who you are.” Suddenly he lost his
slightly vacant expression and peered at her through ancient eyes. “Blood and
fire will rain down upon Spiritgrove and you must be prepared. There are
choices to be made…beware you do not make the wrong ones.”

She ground her teeth. “Fuck, Gunnar, you know I hate all
that cryptic shit. Can’t you—”

But he turned and disappeared into the thick copse of trees,
and she hadn’t the heart to chase him. It wouldn’t do any good anyway.

“Fucking ghoul.”
She didn’t want to
think about what he’d said.
Choices
.
Had she
ever
made the right choices?

She’d chosen Jeremy.

Don’t think about that
.

“I got the address,” she told Z once she’d climbed back into
her car. She gave it to him quickly. “I need to go home and weapon up. Call
Jack and both of you meet me at the church in forty-five minutes.”

“You got it,” he replied.

When she arrived home she stood for a few seconds just
staring at her hideous house. Part of her had missed her place, but part of
her, the part that thought about all the horror that’d happened inside it,
wanted to pack up and find somewhere new to start over.

Jeremy had nearly killed her in that house.
More than once.

I’m a psychotic bitch
.

No. You’re a damaged girl
.

“I’m so much better,” she murmured. It was like a mantra and
she held on to it with everything inside her.

I am my monster and my monster is me
.

She climbed the rickety steps to the porch,
then
hesitated before opening the door.
Too
many memories.

Bad memories, guilt, and hunger were not a good combination.
They led to bad, bad things.
Hurtful things.

Ellis had taken care of her house while she’d been gone, but
it still had an abandoned air about it. The rooms were hushed and somehow watchful,
and for a second she thought maybe someone had broken in and was even now
hiding under the bed.

She shook off the thoughts and began strapping on her belts
and sticking shivs into the holsters. When she faced down the SCOS leader she
wanted to be as intimidating as possible.

She had to be. The Church of Slayers scared the fuck out of
her. She knew exactly how they felt about
Others
, and
how destructive, how horrifically damaging that hatred could be.

Not long ago, she’d hated her
Other—
herself—that
much.

She walked to the mirror and stared at her reflection. She
was wearing nearly every weapon she owned. She’d pulled her hair back into a
long, tight ponytail, its austereness making her delicate features look a
little stronger.

Forgive the child for what she did.

I
did
forgive her. I
did
forgive myself.

Really?

Her cell rang, jerking her out of her thoughts. She frowned.
“Levi?”

“Hi Rune.
Where are you?”

“Home but leaving now.
What’s up?”

“I heard something disturbing.”

Fuck
. “I’m sorry. I’m on my way to talk to the
assholes now. You and Denim will be okay, but Lex…”

“I—”

“I know. All we can do is make sure she knows we’ll protect
her. And as soon as COS fucks up—and they will—we can run them the fuck out of
town.”

His shocked silence made her realize she’d made a mistake.

“COS is in fucking
River County?
”

Fuck me
. She sighed. “I just learned of it a little
while ago. I’m taking Jack and Z and going to harass them.”

“I’m going.” But his voice was breathless and she could
almost taste his fear.

“No, baby.
Not yet.”

He didn’t argue and that scared her more than COS. “Levi?”

“I have to go.” He hung up before she could say another
word, and she realized he hadn’t told her why he’d called.

On her way to Spiritgrove, she punched in Denim’s number.

“He just told me,” Denim said.

“Let me deal with them and we’ll figure out what to tell
Lex.”

“I know what to tell her. I just don’t know how to.”

“Wait for me. We’ll tell her together.”

He wasn’t going to reject the offer. “Okay.”

“Levi called to tell me something he’d heard, but didn’t get
around to it. Do you know what he wanted?”

“Yeah.
And you’re not going to like
it.”

“What?”

“We heard Elizabeth Peel hired a new member for Shiv Crew.”

“The
fuck?”
Immediately her
heart began to pound with hard, angry beats. “
I
hire for Shiv Crew.”

“Better tell her that—from what I heard the deed has already
been done.”

“After COS, I’ll go see her.” Bitch, with her smooth talk
and her
trust me
shit. “Do you know who?”

“No. Just that it’s a man.”

Compartmentalize
.

“Anything from the berserker?
Kid
okay?”

“Everything is quiet.”

“I’ll let you know how it goes with fucking COS.”

She hung up, still steaming over the new hire.
She
was Shiv Crew captain, not Elizabeth Peel.

By the time she arrived at the church, Jack and Z were
waiting. They leaned against Jack’s big truck, talking. Both men were armed to
the teeth, but that was standard for Shiv Crew.

The
Others
had, among other things,
outrageous speeds and incredible strength. The humans had badges, guns, and
silver shivs.
Lots of silver shivs.

The three of them walked together to the big church. From
the outside the place was quiet—people walked down the sidewalk, not even
glancing at it. There were no signs asking for new recruits. No one stood at
the doors announcing the insidious presence of one of the most horrific groups
in America.

It was just another cold evening in Spiritgrove.

The pedestrians caught sight of the crew and paused, and
Rune picked up her pace. The last thing she wanted right now was a round of
autograph signing.

She pushed at the heavy entrance doors, surprised when they
opened. COS should be hiding their secrets behind padlocks and silver-laced
traps.

Inside, the church was bustling with activity. Women with
their hair tied back cleaned the pews and walls, and men carried out musical
instruments and old carpets. Small children colored and cried, watched over by
older children who texted and glanced up periodically with sullen faces and
dead eyes.

The church was huge. “They could hide anything in this
place,” Rune said. “Wonder how many rooms—”

“Well
that
didn’t take long!”

She automatically rested her hands on her guns at the loud
voice, which seemed to echo through the room and bounce off the tall ceiling.

A man walked toward them, his smile wide and friendly. He was
average height, short brown hair, brown eyes behind copper-rimmed glasses…there
was nothing striking about him, nothing unusual. He had a forgettable face and
a deferential air, but she knew immediately this was the SCOS leader.

He would have fooled most people but to her his meekness was
as contrived as the jolly smile he wore.

He wasn’t an idiot, either. He offered none of them a
handshake, knowing they’d refuse it. But still, he peered at them through muddy
eyes and kept the smile on his face. “I’m Tim Emerson,” he said and gestured at
the church.
“Leader of this little group.
I wondered
when law enforcement would arrive.”

They weren’t in a hurry to talk, just studied him intently,
silently. Their fingers twitched against weapons that could have decimated him
had they decided to use them.

He swallowed. “I can assure you our purpose is not to harm
anyone or make trouble of any sort. COS caught a bad rap because of past
members, but we cannot be held accountable for the horrors perpetrated by Karin
Love.”

Rune moved a step nearer to him, getting a little too close
to his personal space. “Why are you in River County? Are you laboring under the
fucked up assumption that we want you here?”

Those in the church stood silent, watching, as chores were
forgotten and texts went unanswered. A baby’s cry was quickly hushed.

Every member she looked at stared back at her with silently
accusing eyes and carefully blank faces.

As if
we’re
the bad guys
.

“I just realized who you are,” Emerson said, and into the silence
he spat out her name with venom so strong all three of them pulled their guns.
“
Rune Alexander
.
You bill yourself as part human, but
really, you’re just one of the monsters, aren’t you?”

Now the faces held something more than accusations. They
held disgust.
Contempt.
Revulsion
.

For a second she faltered. She wanted to cover up her
confusion by dropping her fangs or slicing him with her sharp tongue, but she
faltered.

Jack nudged her aside. While Emerson was still gaping at the
giant one-eyed man, Jack grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the
floor. “Keep a civil tongue, dude, or I will rip it from your mouth. Got it?”

Emerson’s breath wheezed from his constricted throat and he
pulled helplessly at Jack’s fingers. “Yes, yes,” he whispered.

Jack let him drop. “Good deal.”

They waited quietly, letting the COS leader collect himself.
His fingers fluttered about his tie, wanting to but not touching the red marks
upon his throat. He smiled his wide, fake smile again. “And you say
COS
is abusive.” He turned to his people. “You see?”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Rune said.

He turned to look at her, and for the first time she saw the
glint of rage in his eyes. It was subtle, but there. Maybe rage and malevolence
were prerequisites of being a COS leader.

“We may go where we wish, Alexander. Until you can trump up
some false charges and force us out, we will hold our meetings and bring as
many of your humans to our side as possible.
Before it’s too
late.”

One thing about COS, its members honestly thought they were
the good guys.
Humanity’s saviors.
The zealous,
self-righteous bastards truly believed in their cause. “I’d be happy to leave
you to your idiocy, Emerson, if your church knew how to leave the
Others
alone. But you—” she glanced around at the COS
members who watched. “
All
of you are fucking murderers.”

No one said a word and finally, Emerson giggled. “But
Alexander, it’s not murder if you step on a bug. It’s not murder if you swat a
fly or defend yourself against a mad dog. COS doesn’t commit
murder
.”

She stepped closer to him. “Don’t get too comfortable in
your little church, dude. You won’t be staying long.”

She’d make sure of that.