Caleb (49 page)

“You
will or we all die.”

“I
want better choices.”

There
weren’t any. “Go, baby.”

“Promise
me you won’t die.”

Even
she had to know he couldn’t promise that.

“Allie
. . .”

“Promise
me, damn it, or I’m going to stage a sit-in right here in this pool of blood.”

Son
of a bitch, she would. “I promise.”

A
brief squeeze of her fingers, a softly whispered “I’m holding you to that,” and
the closet door closed. The locking mechanism whirred and settled with a
satisfying thunk. Too late, the vamps realized the closet wasn’t a trap, but an
escape. He smiled as the two men snarled their fury.

“Looks
like it’s just you and me, gentlemen.”

ALLIE
touched the cool wood as the door closed. On the other side, Caleb, wounded and
bloody, battled to buy her time. Her other hand went to her stomach. He wanted
her and their baby to live. She wanted him to live. Somehow, that all had to
work out. She absolutely refused to go through this much hell to end up with
nothing on the other side.

Behind
her, the passage stretched dark and threatening. Nothing but stale air and
gloom barred her path to freedom. There was no telling what was on the other
side. According to the information Caleb sent her, the tunnel dropped her off
in the middle of D’Nally territory. She shuddered. The D’Nallys were not the
people she wanted to meet up with today.

So
little light illuminated the space, her night vision was almost useless. She
bit her lip and stared a second at the gray void. It felt so wrong to leave
Caleb there. So wrong to run.

If
you love me, run.

There
had been a mental emphasis on “if” as he’d glanced over her shoulder. Morphed,
and bloody, standing big and strong, fighting because it was the right thing.
Because his vamp side needed her. But not because of any admitted love for her.

How
dare he have doubts when she couldn’t do anything about them. She turned from
the door, keeping her fingers on the wood for as long as possible, maintaining
that fragile connection until the last second, and then she ran. As fast as she
could into the darkness, grateful for the extra speed being a vampire gave her,
keeping one hand on the wall for balance, following the tunnel down and then
up, her breath straining to keep up with the demands she put on her muscles.
Even with her enhanced endurance, she didn’t like up. Too taxing. By the time
she came to the rock that blocked the entrance, she was winded. She pressed her
nose against the crevice and breathed the cool night air deeply.

She
really did need to get in shape. She allowed herself a minute to recover, and
then she pushed at the rock. It didn’t budge. She tried again, harder this
time. The damn thing stood solid. The escape route had been made for vampires with
vampire muscles, not a woman who’d gotten shortchanged in the conversion.

“Damn,
damn, damn!” She couldn’t go forward, couldn’t go back. She felt along the
floor, images of spiders creeping toward her as she sought something to use as
a lever. Hell, at this point, she’d even settle for a bone from the skeleton
that would be sitting by the cave entrance if this were a horror movie. It
wasn’t a horror movie, however. It was real life, and real life was turning out
to be damn difficult. She sat back in the dirt, empty-handed and out of
options.

A
snuffling and then a low growl on the other side of the rock froze her in
place. A bear? Instinct had her heart in her throat before intellect had a
chance to speak up. She pictured a bear with its massive arms. A bear could
move the rock. A bear could also eat her alive. She dismissed the latter. If
she could mentally influence a bear to move a rock, she could also influence it
to believe that she was nothing more than a hearty case of indigestion. She
sent forth a mental image, feeling along the creature’s energy to carve a path.
A barrier she hadn’t been expecting blocked her.

Damn.

She
sent the mental image again, hoping. The snuffling increased, stopped. Rock
scraped against rock. She scrambled back as clods of dirt fell. Silvery
moonlight flooded the cave as the barrier between her and the animal collapsed.
Sharp human intelligence met her mental probe.

Oh
shit. Not a bear. Allie lunged back to avoid the hand that snaked in almost too
fast even for her vampire eyes to follow, hit her head on the ceiling, and sat
down hard. Fingers like steel manacled themselves to her wrist. With a strength
she envied, the same hands that moved the rock yanked her out.

Oh,
this wasn’t good. She and the man holding her were surrounded by wolves. Big,
nasty, we-want-to-feast-on-your-bones wolves. Ah hell, her day only needed
this. She looked up at the naked giant who’d attached his hand to her wrist.
She’d seen those golden eyes before. Images of the black-masked wolf who’d
herded her car through the woods flashed into her mind. Those eyes had the same
glow, the same intelligence. The same mocking amusement. “The D’Nally clan, I
presume?”

His
right eyebrow went up in a dark flag of surprise. “The Johnson bitch, I
presume?”

The
man was extremely handsome with dark hair, dark skin, and an animal magnetism
that surrounded him like the seductive scent of a fine cologne. Not to mention
those incredible, dark gold eyes. He was also very well put together from his
very broad shoulders to his well-shaped feet, a fact she couldn’t miss in his
current, naked state. Her gaze skated his groin. Impressive all over.

“At
your service.”

His
other brow went up. “An interesting way of putting it.”

She
really had to watch her sarcasm. The wolves milled. She eyed them warily.
“Trust me, I’m not that interesting.”

“I
think you underestimate your appeal.” His gaze dropped to her stomach. “We find
some aspects of your existence extremely interesting.”

That
look in his eyes wasn’t anger. She tugged at her wrist. “Pervert.”

Behind
her, one of the wolves lunged. A sharp pain in her buttock had her reacting
before she thought. She kicked out, catching the wolf under the chin. She
turned as far as she could, keeping the tan-coated SOB in her sight, holding
his gaze as he backed up. “Keep your damn teeth to yourself.”

“I
believe his intent was to teach you manners,” the naked man explained,
amusement and something she couldn’t define in his voice. The way the other
wolf’s tail dipped a fraction under her glare satisfied a bit of her rage.

“Then
he’d better learn some first.”

The
leader’s smile was a surprise. “Apparently.” He inclined his head. “I’m Ian
D’Nally.”

“Allie
Sanders.” Another wolf approached, bigger than the first. Older, if the gray on
its black muzzle was any indication. She turned, facing it, shoulders back,
meeting the wolf glare for glare. “If it’s expecting me to conveniently faint,
it’s wasting its time.”

“No
one expects an alpha bitch to faint.”

“That’s
the second time you’ve called me a bitch.” She wasn’t sitting still for a
third.

“It
wasn’t meant as an insult.” Ian stared at the wolves. The black wolf blinked.
With a twitch of its tail it dropped back. The others followed suit, forming a
loose circle, creating the illusion of privacy.

“Weres
are telepathic?”

“Some
of us.”

She
was having a hard time keeping her gaze above Ian’s waist. Not that she wanted
to see that part of him, but there was no missing it while she kept her eyes on
the wolves behind him. “Are you morally opposed to wearing clothes or is this,”
she waved her hand at his naked state, “some sort of statement?”

“Neither.
It’s merely a convenience.”

“Great.”
She took a breath and said, “I’m sure you’ve got places to go, people to see,
so if you could just step aside, I’ll be on my way.”

He
didn’t move, but his eyes narrowed and his manner grew intense. “The eldest
Johnson must be desperate to send you out alone.”

She
didn’t pretend not to understand. “He’s a worrier.”

“Does
he live still?”

“Yes.”
She ignored the image of how she’d last seen him.

“The
wolves that run with him asked for our help.”

“The
fact that you’re hiding out here instead of fighting must mean you didn’t give
it.”

“It’s
not our battle.”

“It
will be.”

“So
McClaren said.”

“And
you didn’t believe him?”

“There
was not universal acceptance.”

She
looked around the ring of wolves. “Brains must not run too deep in your clan.”

Growls
rumbled out of the shadows. She bit her tongue on a “Fuck you.” Desperation was
fast eating at her control. Caleb needed help. She needed help, and all that
was available was this backward band of wolves. She had to hold it together
long enough to get them to see reason.

“She
wolves do not talk to their mates that way.”

It
was a warning. She waved it aside. “Seeing as I’m neither wolf nor mated to
one, that rule doesn’t apply to me.”

The
next words were for her ears only. “While in Rome . . .”

Do as
the Romans do. The thought finished in her head. Was the naked were an ally?
Dear God, let him be an ally.

She
bowed her head. “My apologies.”

“McClaren
said you’d met these vamps.”

“Yes.”

“And
how would you describe them?”

“Arrogant,
brutal, and convinced anything that doesn’t fit their plan for the future must
be annihilated.”

She
glanced at Ian and then the other wolves. “If you think being wolves will
protect you, you are so wrong. I linked with their leader.”

“The
one you killed.”

“I
didn’t kill him.” But she’d come too close for comfort. That horrible moment
flashed in her mind. Her stomach rolled and she blinked slowly to dispense the
memory. The hand on her arm surprised her. It was almost gentle. She kept her
gaze locked on the leader’s chest as she fought back the lingering nausea.

“But
you tried.”

“Yes.
They’re a really sick bunch. Any vampires who don’t agree with their
we-are-gods philosophy, they plan to exterminate.”

Her
words made no visible impression on the wolves, they just stared at her. Ian
looked at her expectantly. What did he want from her? What did they need to
hear? She racked her brain, sifting through fragments of conversation until she
came upon something Derek had said. Something she might use. “They don’t have
any use for you. ‘Furred vermin’ I believe was the term Vincent used when he
was convincing me to join up.”

The
snarl that curved Ian’s lip rippled through the pack. She pounced on the
moment.

“I
would be worried, if I were you. They only want a few of your females. The rest
they intend to exterminate.”

Ian
straightened. All warrior. All deadly intent. It wouldn’t do him any good.
“They cannot defeat the pack.”

She
waved off the boast. “Flash all that testosterone you want. The reality is,
they’re united and organized and everyone else is scattered and segmented.
They’re not going to have any more trouble with you than they’re having with
the McClarens and Johnsons. They’ll just come in with their greater technology
and greater numbers and obliterate every one of you, only keeping the women who
can bear children. And . . .”

She
closed her eyes, the reality of what was happening back at the compound pushing
past her denial. They were being killed, one by one. Caleb, Jared, Slade, Jace,
Derek, and all the others. People who’d fought to protect her. People she’d
thought of as friends. The sob welled from despair, lodging in her voice,
choking off her words.

Ian’s
hand on her arm was meant to be sympathetic, but the squeeze he gave just
reminded her how powerless she was to stop any of it. She swallowed. “Next
time, though, it won’t be me running in the woods, hoping they won’t find me,
hoping I can stay alive long enough to give my baby a chance. It’ll be your
wives, your children they’ll be hunting.”

She
reached for Caleb with her mind, finding nothing, just a void that doubled her
over. “And they’ll find them, too, and use them, because that’s all they want.
The power that will come from the children they’ll force on your people.” The
anger burned hot. “Your women.”

Women
just like her, who only wanted a peaceful life with the men they loved.

A big
gray wolf stepped closer, hackles raised. She sprang at him, releasing the
pent-up anger that expanded inside. Another wolf hit her mid-leap, taking her
down in a surprisingly gentle maneuver. She glared up into his dark brown eyes.
All her frustration and anger fired the words from her throat, each syllable
burning with the reality. “But you won’t be around to hear their screams. You
won’t be around to do anything. The D’Nally clan will be dead. Annihilated by
scum whose only advantage is they understand the rules of war and can band
together to apply them.”