The Gathering (5 page)

“They did. They intended on sacrificing Rayna
for their cause.” Garrett looked through the bedroom door at her.
She was standing at the foot of the bed, talking to the
vampire.

She’d adapted well to her new life, he
thought. As well as he expected her to. She was still scared and
regardless of what he did to reassure her, he knew he’d failed. Her
hysterical fit in the woods after she almost shifted told him that.
The hurtful words she’d slung at him told him he’d failed her. He’d
die to protect her but none of that mattered if he lost her love in
the process. That he couldn’t live without and knowing she blamed
him for the way her life turned out, the fact she was now one of
the monsters, ate at his conscience.

More so now. With Erik Foster showing up, he
knew whatever this, Collective, had planned, wasn’t going to go
away just because Malcolm was dead. The Breeds had banded together,
just as Dillon said. That could only spell trouble. He’d thought
Rayna was safe but that had been an illusion.

He turned his back to the bedroom. “I want
everyone to watch the house and the road.” Looking at Bryce, he
gave him a pointed look. “Pick whoever you think is best and secure
the town. I want to know who comes and goes through that main road.
We should have had someone watching it before now.”

“I can have someone there within the
hour.”

“Do it,” he said. “Send someone to try and
catch up with Foster, too. I don’t trust him. He’s up to
something.”

Bryce nodded before handing the cup in his
hand to Dillon and turning, hurrying down the hall. When Dillon
mumbled under his breath, Garrett looked over at him.

“Blood for the vamp,” Dillon said, holding
the cup up.

“Better take it to her. Don’t get too close,
though,” he said, smiling. “She bites.” He caught Rayna’s eye and
she crossed the room before stepping out into the hall.

“So, what did the wolf want?”

“Nothing good, I’m sure. I didn’t get much
out of him.”

“Where is he now?”

“Gone. I sent Bryce to have him
followed.”

She stared at him for long moments before
sighing. “You’re not going to tell me what you talked about, are
you?”

Garrett smiled. “If it were anything worth
repeating I would.”

“I thought the time for secrets was in the
past.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her
snug against him, before kissing her on the forehead. “I don’t have
any secrets. If there was anything to tell, I would.”

“And why don’t I believe you?”

“Because you’re paranoid.”

She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. “Is that
due to the wolf or is that just me?”

He chuckled. “Knowing you the way I do, I’d
say it was just you. Comes from all the skulking around in the dark
you did and crossing my police lines when I specifically told you
not to.”

Rayna pinched him on the arm and looked up at
him smiling. “If you would have just told me what I wanted to know
I wouldn’t have had to sneak past your weak barriers.”

“And if you would have been a good citizen
like the rest of Bluff’s Point,” he said, before kissing her on the
lips, “I wouldn’t have caught your scent. The wolf wouldn’t have
been intrigued enough to follow you over half the city before
finding you in that dingy little bar. Me wanting you is all your
fault.”

She smiled. “You stalked me?”

“Something like that.” He kissed her again,
his tongue delving into her mouth. A moan worked its way up her
throat as her arms tightened around him and the sound of someone
clearing their throat caused him to pull back.

Dillon gave him a lopsided grin. “Hate to
interrupt, but the vamp is agitated. She’s gone all spooky.”

“Spooky?” Garrett stepped around Rayna and
walked into the bedroom.

“Yeah. Her eyes turned white and she’s got
these creepy veins on her face.”

Rayna saw what he meant when she was near
enough to see the girl. Dillon was right. She did look a bit on the
creepy side.

Her eyes weren’t white as Dillon said, but a
pale crystalline blue. Her face held a sickly pallor and small blue
veins could be seen near her temples and snaking down over her
cheeks. “What’s wrong with her?”

“No clue. She was watching the door then went
all…. vein-y.”

“Watching the door?” Rayna turned to look at
it herself before looking back at the girl. The sight of her made
her think of, Sabriel, the vampire who had attended Malcolm’s
little dinner party the night they tried to infect her. He’d been
quite handsome. Too handsome, actually. Just thinking about him
left her feeling guilty for admiring him. He made her think things
she shouldn’t have. Like what it would feel like to have those
fangs in her skin. To see if the myth of vampires being cold to the
touch was real. Did the effect his voice had on her happen to
everyone or was it just her?

Looking at the vampire on the bed, Rayna had
to wonder if Sabriel had the ability to go all spooky, too. She was
sure if he could, her attraction to him would be lessened. There
wasn’t anything attractive about the creature currently staring at
her.

The girl opened her mouth before shutting it.
She looked toward Garrett and pointed to her neck.

“We’re going to get the wire out.” He stared
at her for long moments before mumbling, “Just as soon as I figure
out how.”

The girl shook her head, the tumble of curls
on her head shaking violently. She pointed to the door, then to
Garrett. Like magic the color of her eyes changed, the veins
disappeared and her skin, although still pale, didn’t have that
washed out ashy look. She looked normal again.

Rayna saw her glance around the room before
her face scrunched in apparent frustration. She stared at the bed
before her head tilted back up. Her eyes were wide and she motioned
to the quilt before laying her hand on it and making a series of
motions with her index finger.

Judith stepped closer to the bed. “What is
she doing?”

“I don’t know.” They all moved closer,
watching as she did it again. Rayna watched the girl’s finger and
smiled when she made out the letters she was spelling. “She’s
writing! Judith, go grab a pen and paper.”

They waited as Judith rushed from the room
and came back a few moments later, pen and paper in hand. She
handed it to the girl. A few quick strokes of the pen and she held
up the tablet to show what she’d written.

Erik Foster brought me to the mine.

* * * *

Bryce walked back into the house to see
Garrett pacing the foyer. When the pack leader saw him, he knew
he’d missed something. Garrett’s eyes were amber in color and his
features were shimmering. The wolf was too close to the surface.
“What happened?” he asked, shutting the door.

“Erik Foster is the one who brought Lydia to
the mine.”

“Okay,” Bryce said. “Who is Lydia and how do
you know?”

“Lydia is the vampire we found.”

The vampire’s name was Lydia? Bryce hoped his
face was as neutral as he wanted it to be. Ever since that girl had
taken a chunk out of him, he hadn’t been able to think of much
else. Old wounds resurfaced and clouded his mind with pictures from
his past. A past he hadn’t wanted to think about.

He loathed vampires with a fiery passion. The
world would be a better place if those blood-sucking leaches were
wiped off the face of the planet. Just the sight of one made his
skin crawl. Having to carry that girl out of the mine took every
ounce of willpower he had. How many times on the way down the
mountain had he contemplated pulling the tarp they’d wrapped her in
off and just watching her burn? Watching her burn in agony just
like…

Garrett said his name and dragged him from
his musing. He motioned him to the living room and didn’t wait for
him to follow. When he stepped into the room, he watched Garrett
continue to pace. “Did you have any luck tracking Foster?”

Bryce cleared his throat. “No. The guy’s
scent disappeared at the edge of town.”

“How?”

“Too many scents to track. There were a lot
of wolves there not long ago. Not pack but familiar.”

“The same as Foster.”

Bryce nodded his head. “Whoever this guy is,
he wasn’t alone.” Garrett stopped pacing. He stood in the middle of
the room, hands on his hips and stared out the window. “What are
you thinking?”

Garrett turned his head to look at him.
“Lydia said he was in the mine.”

“You think he’s one of Caleb’s wolves?”

“That would explain his scent. Those wolves
were made by Caleb but didn’t associate with the rest of the pack.
That may be why his scent is familiar yet not. We smell a trace of
Caleb on him.”

“Okay, say he is one of Caleb’s. What was he
doing here?”

“I think he was trying to grab some
information.”

“About what?”

Garrett looked to the door and Bryce turned
his head as Rayna walked into the room. He knew then what Garrett
suspected and he hoped he was wrong.

She stared at them both in turn, giving
Garrett a peculiar look. “The wire is out.”

Bryce raised an eyebrow. “What wire?”

“In Lydia’s neck.”

Garrett crossed to the center of the room.
“Can she say anything?”

“No,” Rayna said. “Not yet. Judith said we’d
probably have to wait for her throat to heal. Maybe then she’d be
able to.” She stared at them before frowning. “What were you two
talking about?”

Garrett smiled at her before shaking his
head. “She’s turning into a bloodhound instead of a wolf.”

“Very funny.” She rolled her eyes at him.
“And your face gives you away, Garrett. You get these funny little
lines between your eyebrows when you’re worried about
something.”

“I do not.” Garrett raised his hand and
rubbing the skin between his eyes.

She turned to him and the look on her face
told him not to lie. “What were you talking about, Bryce?”

Bryce smiled and glanced at Garrett. “You
might as well tell her. She’s going to find out eventually. And if
you’re thinking what I’m thinking, she needs to know.”

“Know what?”

Garrett ran his hand through his hair and
sighed. “Erik Foster, as Lydia told us, was in the mine. He smelled
funny to you because the scent was familiar, as in Caleb’s
scent.”

Her eyes widened. “Caleb’s wolves.”

“Right.”

“So what was he doing here?”

“It’s just a guess,” Garrett said, “But I
think he was trying to see if you were here.”

“Why?”

“He told me Malcolm had sent for him but
didn’t know why. That his pack leader had told him to come yet, he
didn’t know Malcolm was dead. Malcolm has been gone for over two
months. I’m sure everyone involved in Malcolm’s plan knows what
went down. Why would someone send Erik here two months after the
fact.”

Rayna frowned. “They wouldn’t.”

Bryce shifted on his feet and crossed his
arms over his chest. “Not unless someone was trying to get
information. What if this Collective Erik talked about actually
sent him?”

Garrett shook his head. “I don’t think it was
them. If the Collective was still interested they wouldn’t send
just anyone to come here. They’d send someone powerful. Erik didn’t
come across as weak to me but he isn’t powerful either. If the
Collective still wanted Rayna, they’d be more cautious about who
they sent to retrieve her.”

“Then who sent him?”

Bryce remembered what Garrett had said before
they entered the mine and had a sick feeling in his stomach. The
thought running through his head must have been the same one
Garrett was having. Rayna was right, he did get lines of worry
between his eyebrows. “You think it’s her, don’t you?”

“Her who?” Rayna asked, her head turning
quickly to look at each of them.

Garrett gave her a pointed look. “Don’t go
into the forest alone, Rayna.”

Bryce turned and crossed the room. “I’ll send
out more patrols. If she’s on the mountain, we’ll find her.”

Rayna growled. “Find who!”

He stopped, looking at Garrett over his
shoulder and at his nod said, “Carmen.”

* * * *

Rayna didn’t turn away from the windows when
she heard the bedroom door shut. She knew it was Garrett without
even looking. He stepped in behind her moments later, his arms
circling her waist. “Do you think she’s out there now?”

He kissed the side of her neck, his breath
hot against her skin. “Probably.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the
darkened forest. The moon was only a day past full and should have
still lit the world but clouds drifted across the sky, the moon
barely shining through them. Shadows crept across the lawn, the
shapes they created looked like specters inching closer to the
house. Coming for her. “What do you think she wants?”

“Hard to tell with Carmen but don’t worry.
Bryce has the grounds well guarded. If she gets anywhere near the
house, we’ll know about it.”

By then it would be too late, wouldn’t it?
She’d thought since Malcolm was now dead that the interest in her
would have died with him. Knowing there was a group of Breed
leaders hell bent on seeing their species brought to the attention
of the world left her feeling uneasy. What if they weren’t finished
with her. She was infected now. That’s what they had been waiting
on. Was that why Carmen was back or was it for something else?

The only other thing Carmen had wanted was
control of the pack. Well, that and Garrett. Rayna felt an urge to
lash out at something just thinking about it. She still remembered
the punch Carmen had landed to the side of her face, the threats
and hysterical screaming the woman had done when she’d been dragged
from the room the day Carmen had attacked her. Had all that been
the reaction of a jilted lover?