Raven Moon (33 page)

“No, he said they would be used against our enemy packs.” Damiano growled. “Then two days ago, Jaeger betrayed us. He slaughtered the devout humans and most of our pack. The majority of the humans saw the Kindred as their savior and turned against us.”

Maddox scoffed, “I don’t blame them. They were not allowed to speak and their women were used as whores.”

Damiano scowled. “That’s not the way it was. We saved them from the undead and treated them with kindness.”

“I doubt they understood your type of kindness.”
And neither did I
. Maddox pushed his hand through his hair. “Is Lazarus and any others still alive?”

“Before we escaped Jaeger collared Lazarus with the gleipnir. We thought he was but earlier we heard his death screams.”

Yet, they did not honor their once leader by singing a death howl. Out of disrespect for their former despot leader, or a wise decision so as not to risk calling the Kindred to their hidden location? Maddox nodded. “Jaeger must have killed him with the gleipnir.”

Damiano stood proud. “Two days ago I threw an explosive in the armory where Lazarus stored the silver ammo and weapons. Unfortunately, Jaeger had brought twenty of his fully armed men.”

“And how many did you kill?”

He grinned, baring his fangs. “Twelve. Only Jaeger, eight of his men and willing humans are left.”

“Good.” Maddox scanned the beleaguered-looking betas and omegas. He turned to Damiano. “Will you help me kill Jaeger?”

Damiano locked eyes with him and then pointed to a pregnant beta. “My mate and I will not. But if any of my pack chooses to help you, they have my permission.”

Maddox could not blame him. He would choose to tuck his tail between his legs and run if it meant Rave would live.

“Templar. You are welcome to come with us. After we find a safe haven, perhaps some of my betas can help you set a trap for the Kindred here in the forest.”

“No, I must go in.”

“Are you mad? He’ll shoot you with wolfsbane. Collar you and then feed you to the rage apes. Revenge will come, but not until our pack finds a safe haven.”

“There is more at stake than revenge.”

The alpha tilted his head. “What?”

“Jaeger has my mate.”

Damiano and the others stared at him as if he had just told them a comet would hit the earth. “You took a mate?”

Anxious to find her, he snapped, “Yes.”

“But none from our pack, or is she from another pack?”

Maddox sucked in air. Confession now could mean a challenge to the death and though he was more powerful, he was outnumbered. He had no time to waste. Rave needed him. “She was captured, just yesterday.”

Three betas, two men and one woman stepped forward. The woman spoke for them. “We will join you.”

Damiano growled at them. “You will be killed.”

Guilt clouded his heart. “True, you risk not only death but perhaps a slow painful one. Before you join me against Jaeger, I must be honest about the identity of my mate.” He prepared to shift to werewolf form and allowed his claws to emerge. “My mate is Princess Ravenna, of the North American Raven Murder.”

Damiano went partial wolf and pinned his furred ears back. “Blasphemer!” The others stared at Maddox with accusing eyes.

The three volunteers growled and stepped back, siding with their leader. Despite the fact their so-called prophet had broken many vows including working with the Kindred, they held on to their narrow-minded faith.

Maddox snarled back, “Throughout this last year I fought against the zombie hordes alongside what the Benandanti said were enemy packs, and non-wolf shifters. I’ve learned love does not discriminate.”

Damiano, his claws and fangs drawn, glowered. “Go to your death and forever be shunned from the Benandanti.” He symbolically turned his back as did the rest of the pack. Banishment rather than execution, which would have meant many deaths on their part, since Maddox trained as a lethal hunter would not have given quarter. Or cared enough to stay. Banishment hurt. Once word got out, any surviving Benandanti packs wouldn’t acknowledge him, and any member who took his head would be rewarded with a special place in heaven. Maddox could live with their decision but he could not live without his mate. He dropped the borrowed cloak, shifted and dashed away to rescue Rave.

****

“Shut up!” Rave’s brain rattled as Jaeger shook her.

She stopped cawing and smirked. He released her and she sank back on the chair. Every nearby raven must have heard her desperate call for help. Would wild ravens come to her aid as the legends claimed? Except from the agitated hoots of the chimpanzombies, her cry was not answered. Yet.

Jaeger glowered. “Caw again and I’ll cut your tongue out.” He turned to Sloane. “Cage her!”

Sloane scowled. “Why don’t we just kill her?”

Rave glared at her.
What did I ever do to you, bitch?

Jaeger’s tone hardened. “If she is already dead, Maddox’s attack will not be as predictable, but if she screams in torment, he’ll abandon logic and come to her rescue, no matter the odds.”

Sloane gave her father a sidelong glance. “You mean to collar him.”

“Precisely. Collared, he will do my bidding. With his mate held hostage, he will sniff out hidden werewolves.” He grinned, accentuating the two long silvery claw marks that scarred his face, partially shutting his right eye.

Rave blanched. No. They would tranquilize him with wolfsbane, collar him, and torture him while he served their needs. After witnessing Lazarus’s death, she had to save Maddox from a horrific fate. Even if it meant her sacrifice. Let Maddox go all whoop-ass werewolf on them for killing his mate. If they shot him, he’d be immune to silver poisoning. He might even play dead, then give them the last bombshell of their life, death by werewolf.

Jaeger lifted her from the chair and shoved her toward Sloane. “Escort her to the ape shed and put her in a spare cage.”

“What if she shifts and hops away?”

“Good point. Ravens have powerful beaks and can easily poke eyes out.” He reached in a crate and handed Sloane a silver meshed net, meant for capturing a werewolf but would work just as well on a fleeing bird. They also probably doubted she was unable to fly despite Lazarus’ assurance.

“Are you kidding me?” Rave protested. “How am I supposed to sleep with the mad apes hooting 24/7?”

Sloane jeered. “Not our problem.” She grabbed Rave and shoved her toward the door.

Rave stumbled forward, turned and shot her a vengeful glare. “Touch me one more time and I’ll make you look as pretty as your daddy.” Minus ears and eyes.

Jaeger barked at his men. “Take her.”

Two men lifted Rave by her armpits and followed Sloane out toward the chimpanzombie holding center. “I can walk!” They put Rave down. She dusted off their ugly scent while hiding the gun she had pickpocketed. Hopefully, she’d be able to shoot her way out of her cage before the guard noticed his missing gun.

The chimpanzombies shrieked like hungry banshees as Sloane unlocked the building. The three rage apes hooted from behind their galvanized steel cage. Another cage held a human male turned into a rage ape enhanced human zombie. A large bite on his thigh was the site of his infection. Had the Kindred infected him on purpose? The man who might have been in his early thirties wore a torn Benandanti white robe.
That’s what you get for joining the wrong team.
The chimpanzombies and the human zombie clawed hungry arms between the bars toward them.

Rave gave Sloane an incredulous look and shouted over the din of mad hoots, “What the…? Why are you allowing the human to live?”

“Father wanted to test how long it took a human to turn. And even more interesting this one still moves in below zero temperatures.”

“That’s crazy. Now we might have to deal with winter zombies.”

At the sound and smell of live food, the cage rattling and shrieks grew to rock concert decibel levels.

Sloane opened a cage across from the zombie apes and human. Rave shivered. A holding cage for their next meal. She raised her voice, “We tested werewolves. They never turned, fortunately for us. And there lies the secret for the cure.” She smiled down at Rave. “Hmm. It will be interesting to see if raven shifters turn.”

The chimpanzombie had broken her arm with brute mad strength but not with a bite, yet raven foresight had reassured her that her kind was immune to the disease or were they? “Oh so now you want to battle flying zombies?” She puckered her lips and stroked her chin. “I doubt you could fight off
Wizard of Oz
-like flying monkeys.”

Sloane flinched and her glance darted toward the ceiling as if looking for a flying ghoul. “Get in.”

Rave walked in and smiled as they locked her in. Thought so.
Now go. I have four experimentals to dispose of.

One of the chimpanzombies slammed against the cage denting it and the others joined in. Things were about to get interesting. In a bad way.

Sloane backed away. “The enclosure won’t hold for long.”

The man she’d stolen the gun patted his armpit.

Oh shit, he knows.

He parted his coat. “My gun!”

All hell broke loose. A chimpanzombie squeezed out and grabbed the man without the gun, chomping his arm. The guard’s shrieks were drowned out by the hooting apes. Bars were bent. In moments they would all be loose.

Sloane barked. “Let’s go and lock it up.”

They ran out, leaving their comrade and her behind. How well would her cage protect her? At the sound of the guard’s screams, her mind flashed back to the hotel. Beccan, Cashel, their deaths. She dropped her gun and slunk down. The prickle of her feathers budding from her skin snapped her out of her deadly funk. If she shifted now, bird paralysis would overtake her. No. She had to shoot them all. She picked up her gun.

Attracted by shouts outside the shed, rather than feasting on the dead human, or breaking into her cage, the other two chimpanzombies climbed up the walls and broke out of an upstairs window.

Rave fired at the chimpanzombie chomping on the gutted man. It crashed on the guard. Bull’s eye! She shuddered and turned to the guard. There was enough of him left to turn into a zombie. The creepy crawly variety.
Sorry, I stole your gun.
She shot him in the brain.

The still caged human zombie banged its head into a pulpy mess, while clawing its arms toward her. Rave shot him through the brain and then shot the lock of her door. She dashed toward the back of the building. Locked. This time she kicked it and it banged open. Hmm. Some security.

Outside, men and women screamed. Shots were fired but the hoots did not die down. Sloane shouted at the fleeing humans. “Damn it! Stop!”

At least ten people ran toward the forest with the chimpanzombies in hot pursuit. Sloane and the armed men jumped on snowmobiles and gave chase.

Jaeger and two of his men opened the lodge doors. He roared. “Find her!”

“Okay, my cue to get out of here.” Rave slugged through the snow.

One of the men shouted, “Over there!”

Rave fired but he rolled and she missed. “Shit!” She ran, but fell and the gun slipped out of her hands. She crawled toward her weapon.

Jaeger caught up to her and hauled her up off the ground. “You’ve caused enough problems for today.”

As he dragged her back toward the lodge, Rave sensed them. Ravens. Not shifters but wild ravens. In all their black velvet majesty. A flock of twenty-five or more rested on the conifer trees. Totem ravens held shifters in awe. She spoke their language. If she could send them a message, they might reach Maddox. They were halfway between the lodge and ape shed. Rave cawed.
“Seek out my wolf mate! Warn him.”

Jaeger elbowed the small of her back and Rave crumbled on the fresh snow. “Shut the fuck up!”

Rave got up and wiped snow from her pants. She wheezed, “Okay, I was just clearing my lungs.”

He and his men stared at the tree line as the ravens squawked. The trees blackened with thirty more. Their raucous caws deafened the day.

One large female raven swooped closer and clucked.
“Shall we mob them?”

Jaeger grabbed Rave and held her in a headlock. “They fly any closer and I’ll break your neck.”

Three large ravens landed on the snow and in unison spoke, in what sounded like a demonic chant. One of the men aimed his gun but before he pulled the trigger, the three flew in different directions. He missed.

“Not a fan of Alfred Hitchcock?” hissed Rave as his arm constricted her breathing.

Jaeger shifted his gaze as five ravens soared above. He hissed in her ears. “Are they shifters?”

“Nope. Just local ravens.”

The men aimed their assault weapons at the mass of black birds. The ravens leapt from branch to branch, clucking in agitation. The tree shook as if moved by a sudden gust of wind. A dozen ravens flew from the treetops to the roof of the shed. Jaeger ordered his men, “Slowly back into the lodge.”

One of the men twisted to look at the lodge entrance. “Fuck!”

Twenty or more ravens swooped in and spied on them from the lodge roof. The female alpha cawed for her murder to mob.

The closest ravens struck. Wings flapped loudly, sounding like thunderous helicopter propellers. The panicked men fired in the air, only to miss. The ravens swooped in, clawing their faces. One guard shrieked as his eyes were gouged out of their sockets. Three armed men dashed out of the lodge and fired at the mob, bringing down several ravens.

The relentless large female pecked Jaeger’s head and he dropped Rave to the snow crusted ground. He released a primal scream and batted his dagger at the raven.

Rave shifted, but unable to fly, she scrambled away. A group of ravens flew over her ready to protect her. Five landed beside her. Rave clucked a thank you. The clever ravens made it difficult for Jaeger and his men to differentiate between her and them.

Two men approached Rave. Ravens swooped down from the sky like missiles. Powerful beaks ready to pierce brains.

Rapid gunfire brought down several ravens. Jaeger trudged toward his men. “Bring her back alive! Fools!” He bent and picked up the net Sloane had dropped while chasing after the rage apes.