Wild Ones (11 page)

Steph followed
me around the chemist, rolling her eyes when she saw my intended
purchases. I ignored her, paid, and turned to go.

"Maddie!" She
stood in front of me like a gorgeous apparition, looking serious
and determined and grinning at the same time. Only Maddie could
pull something like that off.

"Let's get out
of here," she said, holding out her hand.

I didn't
hesitate, not for a second. I took her hand and turned to Steph,
who was looking at us open-mouthed. I remembered the credit card,
dug it out of my back pocket and held it out to her. She stepped
back, refusing to take it, so I dropped it on the floor in front of
her.

"Bye, Steph," I
said, smiling gently at her before I turned and left.

Millie sat in
the passenger seat, her feet on the dash, while I drove.

"They came for
us," she said eventually. A few miles had passed under the humming
wheels of the car, and neither of us had said a word since she'd
taken my hand outside that chemist.

"The wolves and
bloodfeeders," I said. I had figured it out a few days after Millie
had disappeared. Norman's story of two big scary looking guys had
rung a bell for me, even though everyone else had dismissed his
ravings. Millie had gone on a holiday with her boyfriend, I was
told. What fucking boyfriend?

"And they took
without asking," said Millie, anger simmering beneath her calm
tone.

"Ah, Jesus,
Mills, you too?"

"I was raped by
a vampire. His brother held me down." The muscles in her jaw bulged
as she ground her teeth together. "They got you too, Madz. That's
why you ran." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," I
admitted. I hadn't explained why I had ended up on her doorway that
night, dirty and tired and broke, and she hadn't asked. She knew I
would tell her when I was ready.

"I ran into a
pack of wolves just before I arrived on your doorstep." I told her
about the bikers and their grisly end, and how the wolves had held
me against that tree until that blonde man had fetched me and taken
me back to the log cabin. My voice faltered as I told her about the
man with dark hair, who I suspected was the black wolf who had more
or less sexually assaulted me with its nose. It was unbelievably
difficult to finally say the words, to describe how I had been held
down and raped too. It was hard, but it became easier, and the
relief as the words spilled from my soul into an empathetic ear was
an almost palpable thing. And then I told her how I had plunged
that knife into his gut and she grinned and put up her hand for a
high five, and suddenly it didn't seem so bad. I felt as if a great
weight had rolled off my chest, and I could breathe again, and
laugh. Jesus, I'd missed this.

"I'm pregnant,"
Millie told me then, and I nodded. "I bought these test kits to
confirm it, but I have a horrible feeling they told me the truth
about this."

"Me too," I
confessed. "Eight weeks now."

"What are you
going to do?"

"I spent the
last few days looking for that witch we met at the fair when we
were kids. I found her two days ago. This is her car."

"Yeah, I
wondered about the skulls," she said wryly, indicating the plastic
skulls swinging wildly from tiny nooses tied to the rear-view
mirror.

I chuckled.
"They have a retreat a couple of hours away. Neutral ground
apparently. We'll be safe there - they won't be able to touch us.
The witches have some kind of deal with the wolves and
vampires."

"You going to
keep it?" I knew exactly what she meant.

"Don't know.
Apparently these kind of pregnancies are really difficult to
terminate. Once they take hold, that's it. So we may not have a
choice."

"Shit."

"I know,
right?"

"What the hell
am I going to do with a baby vampire?"

"Ha! You
think you've got problems? I could have a
puppy
!"

"Or
a
litter
of puppies," Millie
snorted, and just like that we were laughing, loudly and
uncontrollably until tears rolled down our cheeks and we gasped for
air. After a while the laughter subsided, and we settled into a
comfortable silence as the witch's car ate up the miles. Millie
dozed off eventually, while I sat and contemplated the implications
of all she had just told me. My discussion with the witch I had
tracked down had been brief but fruitful. Lucy was her name, an
unlikely name for a witch, I know, but a witch's name nonetheless.
She had explained about the wild gene, which cropped up in some
families, and which was like the joker in a pack of cards. It meant
that the person's genetic makeup could be mixed with those of the
paranormals, and they could produce offspring. For some reason, the
paranormals were all male, something to do with a protein and a
meteor, so any woman with the wild gene was sought out by these
wolves and bloodfeeders, and taken. I realised one thing
immediately. It sucked to have the wild gene.

Lucy had lent
me her car, and used her contacts to track Millie, so I had been
able to fetch her from that shopping centre. She had given me
directions to the sanctuary, and money for petrol, and had promised
to meet us there and explain the rest of it. I asked her how they
managed to keep the vamps and wolves at bay, and she winked at me
and said knowledge was power, and the paranormals were too afraid
of what the witches could tell the world. Apparently they had loads
of information - details of every paranormal group. They also had
DNA evidence to back up their claims, and the wolves and vampires
were terrified that this would be released to interested parties.
The witches had them by the short and curlies. I grinned in the
dark.

As we headed
further and further away from the city perimeter I started to
notice a particular set of headlights with one dipped beam behind
us. It would fall back allowing other vehicles to pull into the
space between us, but it stayed there, sticking to our tail like
stink to a pig. I decided to pull into a petrol station, and fill
up the car. I knew from experience that Millie would need to eat
soon, and I needed to pee. Three excellent reasons to stop. And if
the headlights drove on, I could stop worrying. I reached out and
shook her awake.

"What," she
mumbled sleepily.

"We're stopping
for fuel and something to eat," I told her, one eye on the
rear-view mirror.

"Excellent,"
she said, suddenly wide awake. I laughed.

"I think
there's a car following us too," I told her.

"What are we
going to do about that?" she asked calmly. I was impressed.

"Disable it
when we stop. I think one of us should slip out the back and slash
its tyres while the other distracts the occupants. If it is who I
think it is, I will probably have to do the distracting."

"Who do you
think it is?"

"One of the
wolves. I think that's the black wolf's car. I crashed through a
gate in it, so the one headlight kinda slumps a bit."

"You stabbed
him and then crashed his car? Awesome."

"Thanks," I
grinned at her. "There's a blade in the one of the pockets of my
jacket that should do the trick."

She turned
slightly and dragged my jacket from the back seat, and pulled a
sheathed knife from one of the pockets. "Nice. You still have that
key?"

"Yep, it's
right here on my belt."

"Good. Let's do
this."

"Yeah,
lets."

I watched the
headlights follow us as we took the next exit, and swore softly to
myself. I had hoped that I had been imagining the whole thing.
Millie looked at my face.

"They're
following us, aren't they?" she asked.

"Yup."

"Bum."

"Indeed," I
grinned at the childish expletive. I followed the signs to the
petrol station, and pulled up alongside one of the pumps. Millie
was eyeing the McDonalds on the other side of the forecourt, and I
suggested to her that she go and order something, or several
somethings by the look on her face, but she shook her head.

"I think we
need to stick together, Madz. It will make it harder for them to
take one of us again."

"You're right.
Let me fill up, and then we'll get something to eat."

"Hurry, I'm
starving."

I laughed, and
climbed out of the car. I was able to pay at the pump, which made
life easier, and I stood leaning against the car as I held the
nozzle, looking around. The pickup had parked outside the
McDonalds, two empty bays on either side of it. Seriously, it was
almost too easy. I finished up, climbed back in, and parked the
witch's car in the bay to the right of the pickup. Millie looked at
me with raised eyebrows.

"You're going
to have forgotten something you left in the car, and while I
distract them, you can just walk out the front door and slash
tyres. Easy peasy. Stab and twist," I added, just in case she had
never slashed a tyre before. She grinned and nodded.

"Let's eat,"
she said.

We climbed out
of the car and walked into the burger outlet, side by side. Millie
ordered for both of us while I scanned the room, smiling in grim
satisfaction when I spotted the two men sitting in a booth a couple
of metres away. Blonde hair curling over the collar. Yellow eyes.
So not a trick of the light then. His partner in crime had brown
hair and dark brown eyes. They watched us steadily. I feigned
disinterest in them, and walked to the opposite end of the room
with Millie and our food. We kept our eyes down while we ate, and I
filled her in on the situation. Jesus, she ate a lot, but
eventually she was finished.

"You
ready?"

"Yep."

"Remember, stab
and twist." Millie grinned at me and stood. I stood up too, and
walked briskly across to where the two men sat. They looked
surprised, and then alarmed as I approached their booth. Neither of
them made any move to stand, though. They just sat there, watching
me.

"Bust," I
grinned at them. "Why are you following me?"

They said
nothing, but their eyes didn't move from my face. I leaned in a
little closer.

"Tell Cade that
his little problem is about to be fixed. We found a nice discreet
clinic that will scrape it right out for us. And then there can be
no reason for him to send you two to follow me around, so you can
get back to whatever it is you freaks do. We all win, huh?"

Their eyes
widened in shock, and I smirked in satisfaction at them, and turned
and walked out, half expecting them to grab me. Instead I heard one
of them speak.

"Cade," I heard
him say, panic in his voice.

Result
, I thought as I walked out into the cool
night air. Two minutes later we were back on the road, a solitary
car heading north.

We arrived at
the witches' base an hour and a half later. Millie had slept for
most of the journey. I was starting to worry about her. She ate a
hell of a lot, but looked skinnier than before she had been
abducted. I hoped the witches could reassure me that this was
normal, and that she would feel and look better in a couple of
weeks. I remembered the first few weeks of my pregnancy. I had been
tired too, and hungry, but nothing like this.

I drove through
automatic gates and up a gravelled tree lined driveway. I was
expecting anything other than the massive stone mansion that loomed
in front of us. The witches had money. The thought was reassuring.
Money meant power, and power meant we would be safe here. I
exhaled, allowing myself to feel relief, and leaned across to shake
Millie awake.

Lucy came down
the steps to meet the car as we pulled up outside the front doors.
A group of three women and two men stood just outside the double
doors that were now open, allowing light from inside to pour into
the darkness around us. Lucy hugged me, and I hugged her back.

"Welcome,
Madeleine," she said in a formal tone, but with a wide grin. She
turned to Millie, who had climbed out of the car and walked around
to stand beside me, stretching and yawning widely.

"Welcome, my
Lady," she said even more formally and bowed. Millie frowned
slightly, but held out her hand.

"My name is
Milla," she said, suppressing another yawn. "My friends call me
Millie, or Mills."

"I know that,
my Lady," Lucy smiled at her. "Come and meet my colleagues."

She led the way
up those steps. I took Millie's hand and we walked up after her.
She introduced us to the group standing in the doorway. A tall
woman stepped forward, concern in her expression as her eyes fell
on Millie. She looked at Lucy and spoke softly, and Lucy nodded.
The tall woman reached out and touched Millie's face, and
frowned.

"Come with me,
my Lady," she said. Millie glanced at me, and I nodded. She
followed the tall woman inside, and two of the women stepped in
behind her.

"Jane is our
healer," Lucy explained as we watched them all disappear inside. "I
think she's a bit worried about your cousin. But she's really good
at what she does, so Millie will be fine."

"God, that's
good to hear. I've been worried too. She's too tired all the time,
and you should see her eat. It's frightening. Why did you call her
'my Lady'?"

"She didn't
tell you?"

"Nope."

"Maybe she
doesn't know yet. We'll explain tomorrow. You need to sleep too,
you know. You look tired."

"It's been a
shitty couple of months."

Lucy smiled
sadly at me in acknowledgement. "I'll take you to your room. You
will be sharing, if that's OK."

"That's
perfect. Thank you," I said.