Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) (31 page)

“
I think,” I said slowly,
“he wanted to believe that.”

Wes rolled his eyes.

Emma hadn’t spoken, but her hands were
clasped tightly together in her lap. Disbelief and indignation rose
inside her. She was remembering the fear of that day. She’d lost
friends in the fight and been afraid for her own life. In her mind,
Alex was responsible for that. I couldn’t blame her. But I couldn’t
keep watching it replay in her thoughts either.

I tuned into George. He seemed calmer
than he had at the park. Thoughtful. He stared at Astor, who’d
somehow ended up in the driver’s seat.

“
Wes, you have to
understand,” Logan said, “that as Hunters we are taught over and
over the proper response to a Werewolf is attack. He didn’t know
another way.”

“
So because someone taught
him to be this way, it makes it okay that he sold us out?” Wes shot
back.

“
No. None of it is okay.
I’m just telling you what he was thinking. He was scared and all he
knew was to call—”

“
Oh, I’ve heard what he
thinks. I don’t want to know any more.”

Logan sat back. “Yeah, I get it. You
want to be mad, go ahead. But he’s still on our side.”

Wes snorted.

“
He obviously didn’t think
it through,” I said, “but I can’t stay mad at him for making a rash
decision based out of fear for someone he cares about.” I gave Wes
a pointed look.

The bus jolted violently and I grabbed
the seatback in front of me to keep from being thrown against the
window.

“
What the hell?” Victoria
asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.

From the front, Astor laughed and
there was a maniacal edge to it that made me wonder again how he’d
ended up with keys.

“
Curb check,” George
announced.

“
Are we almost there? I
can’t take much more of this,” I said.

Somehow, Astor managed to park the bus
without causing mayhem. Or property damage. For that, I was
grateful and took it as a good omen for what we were about to
do.

The parking lot was deserted except
for a few compacts parked in spaces labeled “restricted” near a set
of side doors. By the entrance, a security booth sat empty. Every
few feet, signs read things like, “Restricted, Keep Out” and
“Authorized Personnel Only.”

“
Wow. They really want
their meat protected,” George said.

Wes and Logan snickered.

“
Really, George?” Victoria
curled her lip in disgust and poked Logan.

He shrugged.

“
If that’s the case, where
is everyone?” she added.

No one answered. She was right, the
place was deserted. My neck prickled but when I turned to look,
there was no one there. I kept walking, my pace slower.

“
Does this seem off to
anyone else besides me?” Logan asked.

“
I’m always off, son,”
Astor said, patting his shoulder as he passed.

George snorted. “What?” he asked when
I shoved him. “At least he knows it.”

I appreciated everyone’s ability to
joke and be light despite our circumstances, but I couldn’t make
myself join in. My pack was in there, and they needed me. We
reached a set of metal doors at a side entrance near the parked
vehicles. I tried the handles. “Locked,” I said under my
breath.

“
Duh,” Victoria
whispered.

We huddled around the doorway. It was
recessed and the overhang gave some semblance of cover, although
anyone passing by on the road would’ve noticed the shadow we cast
in the light of the orange bulb.

“
Now what?” George
asked.

“
Sshh.” I shushed him and
listened. In the silence, an electronic device hummed. I looked up
in time to see a small black camera swiveling toward us.

“
Motion activated,” Wes
said.

“
C’mon,” I hissed,
grabbing the closest sleeve—Astor’s—and yanking.

We scooted around the corner,
stumbling over each other to get clear of the camera.

“
Do you think it saw us?”
Emma asked.

“
Why didn’t we anticipate
that?” George asked.

No one answered either
question.

“
Not deserted after all,”
Logan said, peeking around the corner and quickly leaning back
again.

“
There are definitely
people inside,” Wes said. He craned his neck, his back to the
group, as he stared down the length of the building. We were on the
side farthest from the parking lot now. An alley stretched before
us, dumpsters marking doors I assumed were locked before the
darkness swallowed it all up.

Astor licked his lips. “Is it my turn
yet?”

“
In a minute,” Wes
said.

“
We need to hurry,” I
said. “I’m sure there are cameras we’re missing. Steppe has this
place locked down.”

“
We can’t send him to the
door alone,” Wes said, eyeing Astor.

We stared at each other. No one wanted
to be left out of the action in order to babysit.

Emma raised her hand. “I’ll do it,”
she said.

“
No way,” George said.
“You’re staying with me.”

She stepped back. “Why? So you can
baby me and shove me out of the way when we get inside? I can take
care of myself—and him.” She pointed at Astor. “Right,
Tara?”

“
I—well, yeah. George,
she’s got this. And honestly, she’s the best choice. If they get
into trouble, I’ll know.” I tapped my temple.

He glared back at me,
unable to argue with my logic but unwilling to go along.
“Whatever,” he mumbled.
Traitor,
I heard in my mind.

He took Emma’s hand lightly in his
own. “If you get into trouble, Tara will know, but … be
careful.”

“
I will.” She hesitated,
deliberating. I urged her on. She bit her lip and then rose to her
tiptoes and kissed George somewhere between his mouth and his
cheek. “See you soon,” she said.

I smiled and turned to Astor. He was
bouncing a little where he stood, clearly impatient. “You be
careful, too,” I said, “and no eating people. Just scaring
them.”

He stuck his nose in the air. “I do
not eat people. They taste like week-old sushi.”

Victoria snorted. “What?” she said
when I shot her a look.

“
Nothing.”

“
Emma, you stick close to
him,” Wes said. “And if it gets crazy, get out. Meet back at the
bus. Tara will pick up on it and let the rest of us
know.”

“
Got it. You ready?” she
asked Astor. There was a light in her eyes I hadn’t seen since
before Janie. Maybe the action was good for her. It gave her a
sense of purpose.

Astor craned his neck side to side
until there was a loud crack. “Ready.”

I put my hand on his arm. “Astor
…”

I wasn’t sure how to finish. “Be
careful” didn’t seem quite right. We’d never been affectionate. I
hadn’t known him long enough for anything like that. But this. He
was putting himself into danger—into public, for crying out
loud—for me. That was huge.

“
Well?” he
prompted.

Taking a cue from Emma, I leaned in
and kissed his cheek.

His eyes bulged and he raised his hand
to his face. “Huh.”

That’s all I got. A grunt.

“
Let’s go,” Wes said as he
headed into the gathering darkness of the alley. Logan and Victoria
followed, all three sticking close to the side of the building. I
reached out and squeezed Emma’s hand. She gave me a reassuring
smile.

“
George,” I hissed,
backing away. “Let’s go.”

He whispered something in Emma’s ear
and fell into step behind me.

Three steps later, I turned back, but
Astor and Emma were already gone. I worked to control my breathing.
So close. I was so close to them. I had to get them
back.

“
Can I ask you something?”
George whispered as we walked.

“
What?” The word was
barely out of my mouth before my thoughts picked up on his.
“Really? You want to talk about this now? We’re a little
busy.”

“
I don’t know. I guess it
can wait. But I mean, when are we not busy?”

He had a point.

“
It’s not weird for me at
all,” I assured him. “I’m really happy for you.”

“
Yeah?”

His voice, that one word, was such a
mix of hope and uncertainty that I stopped and turned to face him.
I reached out and squeezed his arm. “Absolutely. Emma’s great. And
I think you should go for it. It’s about time I got to eavesdrop on
your dates.”

“
Damn right it is.” He
made a show of licking his lips. “And I’m going to make it
good.”

I groaned as mental pictures floated
through the bond. “Never mind. I take it back.”

“
Are you guys coming or
what?” Victoria hissed. She stood at the corner up ahead, ushering
us to follow. The others had already disappeared around the other
side.

“
Coming.” I rounded the
corner with George on my heels and slowed when I saw the others.
Logan held a metal door using one hand as he stood out of the way.
Wes was halfway inside, peering right and left.

“
It was unlocked?” I
whispered.

“
Not exactly.” Victoria
pointed to a lump on the ground behind Logan. I craned my neck and
saw a body slumped against the wall.

“
Is he—?”

“
Knocked out. He’ll be
fine,” she said.

Wes poked his head back out. “Did
Astor get anyone’s attention yet?”

I stared into the back of the alley
without really seeing it. Instead, I concentrated on Emma, picking
out what she saw. “Someone answered the door. Emma’s talking to
him. Alone. Astor’s—Oh!”

“
What?” all three of them
asked in unison.

I laughed, clapping a hand over my
mouth to muffle the sound. George’s eyes widened and then he
laughed too.

“
What?” they
demanded.

“
We can go. The
distraction worked,” I managed to say.

“
You want to share with
the class?” Victoria prompted.

“
And keep it down,” Logan
added.

“
Astor shifted into his
wolfman thing and the guy at the door wet his pants,” I
said.

George caught his breath and said,
“They’re inside. Astor’s doing his thing.”

The others remained still, probably
picturing what I’d described. “Let’s go,” I said.

Wes recovered first and slipped
inside. George and I followed, with Victoria and Logan in the rear.
The door clicked shut and I had a second of trapped panic. My neck
prickled again, like we were being watched. I whirled. Nothing but
empty hallway.

Logan had been right. Something was
definitely off. I opened my mouth to say so, but then I heard an
animal whine—barely audible through the walls—and I stopped caring
about our ease of entry. All I could think about was finding what’d
made the sound and freeing it.

“
Did you guys hear that?”
I whispered.

“
Logan, you and Victoria
go that way,” Wes said, pointing behind us. “George, Tara, you guys
with me. Look for an unlocked door.”

As we walked, I looked up for cameras
or something that would give away our presence, but the area was
clear.

“
I think they’re all
locked,” Logan called from the other end.

“
What now?” George
asked.

Wes looked back and forth between the
two doors we stood between. “We need to pick one and break the
lock.”

“
That’ll bring them
running,” I said.

“
Let’s choose wisely
then.”

“
Got one,” Victoria
called.

We hurried toward her. The door made a
sticking sound as she cracked the door and peeked through. I winced
at the noise, expecting any moment to hear some shrill alarm or
running feet, some indication we’d been discovered. But the creak
of the door faded into only the sounds of our careful
breathing.

We all hovered in the open doorway,
listening.

I opened my mouth, ready to tell them
to keep moving, when another whine sounded. This time louder. “Go,”
I said, waving a frantic hand to urge Victoria through. She took a
step forward, but Logan pulled her back.

“
I’ll go first,” he
said.

Victoria opened her mouth to argue,
but Logan pushed her aside and stepped through. Again, I waited for
a yell or some form of assault, but none came.

“
This is way too easy,”
George said, his words lost underneath a buzzing sound.

I ignored him and stared around the
space before me. It was a warehouse, like the sign advertised. And
I supposed it was full of meat, if you counted the jackpot of
fresh, heart-still-beating, hybrid-Werewolf kind.