We watched for a while in silence before I excused myself to check on Isabelle. It was getting close to eight, and I needed to wake her. However, when I opened the door, the shower was already running.
I sat at the island and wondered again what had happened to those women and children. I doubted the humans would discover the truth. After all, werewolves and Urbat had been among them, and they’d remained unaware until now. We were good at hiding what we didn’t want discovered.
I sighed, realizing that meant I might never know what happened to my sister.
The shower turned off, and I considered what we and the Urbat might do next. I thought Grey might have it right. The Urbat would still come for the girls. But, with the humans looking for them, the Urbat would need to be more careful. What we would do worried me more. Bethi, our source of information, was running out of new material. We needed to know what the girls were supposed to do. Without that, we were just running around blind.
The bathroom door opened, and Isabelle stepped out with her bag in hand.
“You should be worried,” she said, having felt my concern over our link. “I saw what you did. Who folds underwear? Seriously.”
I shook my head slightly at her playfulness. How had I found a Mate so perfect?
Knock knock, Grey sent me.
“We’ll have company soon,” I said, knowing he wasn’t telling me a joke.
Someone knocked on the door, and I called for him to come in.
Grey opened the door and stood aside as everyone poured in.
“What’s going on?” Isabelle asked when Sam shut the door.
“Gabby’s been tracking Olivia,” Bethi said.
“Olivia’s not alone,” Gabby said. “Someone’s with her. Urbat. I can’t tell who beyond that. But I’ve been watching and think they might be heading toward the Compound.”
“First, what’s the Compound? And, second, why do you think they are going there?”
It felt like Isabelle had been with us for so long that I forgot how much she didn’t know.
“The Compound is where we live,” Charlene said. “A collection of buildings in Canada that we’ve made into a home for any werewolf.”
“Canada?”
Gabby nodded.
“And I think that’s where they are going because they are consistently making their way west. Sometimes they detour, but they always correct and return west. What else is up there for them?”
“But why the Compound?” Isabelle asked.
“Because he knows we need to be together,” Bethi said.
She thought Blake was bringing Olivia to us? I hoped so. I had questions for him.
“What exactly are we supposed to do together?” Isabelle asked.
“Make a Judgement. Change the world.”
“And how do we do that?” Isabelle asked, echoing my earlier thought.
“I’m not sure yet. But the dreams keep coming. I’m sure they will give me the answer.”
****
Grey, Isabelle, and I rode together in the car. As I slowly made our way out of the city, Grey kept us informed on Urbat movement.
“Gabby’s reporting that most of the Urbat have scattered, and their movement appears random. However, they are generally heading toward the southern and western coasts.”
“Makes sense. We announced where their home base is. They’ll want to move in the opposite directions,” Isabelle said, from behind me.
I glanced at her in the mirror.
“Eyes on the road,” she said. “Any word on Bethi’s mom?”
“Nothing,” Grey said.
We rode in silence for several minutes before Isabelle unbuckled and reached forward to turn on the radio.
“You could have asked,” I said. Humans and cars weren’t a good combination in any form. Remove the seatbelt, and bad idea went to terrible idea. Apparently, she didn’t yet understand how much she meant to me or she would be more cautious with her safety.
“But then, I wouldn’t have been able to brush up against you,” she said as she continued to search for a station.
She was brushing against me. On purpose. And, it was very distracting.
“Isabelle, buckle up,” I said, warning in my tone.
Grinning, she finished finding a station then sat back. I let her get away with far too much. Keeping an eye on her, I watched her in the mirror until I heard her click back in.
“You’re such a worrier,” she said with an eye roll.
“Only with you.”
We listened to the two men on the radio for the next hour as they took numerous callers with opinions on the werewolf subject. It was annoying background noise, for the most part, until one man came on breathing heavily over the air.
“I got one,” he said to the host. “I woulda thought it was just a big dog running through the alley before that white one showed herself on the news—”
“Grey,” Isabelle said. Her worry brushed our link.
“I’m telling the others to listen,” he said.
“But when I saw it, I knew. I shot it, and it turned into a f—” an annoying bleep covered the speaker’s word, “man as it fell down. Butt naked. I called the cops, said what happened, and they said they’d send someone over. Only it wasn’t just the cops who showed up. It was the Feds, too.” The man was talking so fast, and in the background, his steps echoed. He was running. Why?
“They circled him, guns drawn. The guy pulled himself off the ground and growled at them. Dumb sh—. He didn’t even try to hide what he was. They shot him up, but not to kill him. When I saw them dragging him into the back of one of their vans, I bolted. I’ve got pictures of this sh—.” The radio’s censors bleeped it out again then went straight to commercial.
A chill swept through me. The humans were hunting us like Winifred said they would. No, not us. Urbat. But they wouldn’t know the difference.
“Is it one of your kind?” Isabelle asked.
“We don’t think so. No one has reached out to us. We’ve sent a call to report any injuries and instances involving humans.”
A minute later the radio host came back on air.
“Our anonymous caller has sent over his photos. They’re on the station’s website. Check them out, but hurry because I don’t think they’ll be there long.”
Talk turned to government conspiracy, and Grey reached over to turn the radio off.
“Winifred and Gabby checked the images. They believe it was an Urbat, one of the few remaining in the city, according to Gabby.”
His regret filled the car. I didn’t share his sentiment and could feel Isabelle didn’t either. We both had too many reasons to hate the Urbat.
“They killed Ethan,” Isabelle said. “They tried to take Gabby and me. Don’t expect me to pity them.”
“Not them. You. The six of you. If your purpose is to maintain balance between humans, werewolves, and Urbat, I think we’ve just made your job a lot harder.”
Isabelle sat back and looked out the window.
****
Later…
The cars in front of us suddenly pulled to the shoulder.
“What is it?” I asked, looking at Grey.
“Gregory. He thinks they’re being tracked.”
“Who’s Gregory?” Isabelle asked as Grey got out of the car. She opened her door to follow him, and I did the same.
“Gregory is the male watching over Michelle’s younger brothers, Liam and Aden.”
Winifred was out of the SUV and walking toward us along with Michelle, Emmitt, Charlene, and Thomas.
“Five Urbat were running randomly and started heading toward Gregory and Mary’s location. All from separate directions. Gabby’s trying to find a safe way to guide them out,” Winifred said.
“We need to get them,” Michelle said, her voice thick with barely contained tears.
“How far are they from the Compound? Can we detour?” Grey asked.
Winifred was already shaking her head. “Eight hours out of the way.”
Michelle started to cry, and Emmitt wrapped her in his arms.
“So why did we pull over if you’re already against going?” Isabelle asked. I could feel her pity for Michelle and annoyance with Winifred.
Winifred looked at Grey. “Jim wants to go.”
“Do you believe he’s ready?” Grey asked, and I understood what they were saying. They weren’t just considering sending Jim. They were considering making him an Elder then sending him.
I glanced at the SUV, and Jim gave me a slow nod before opening the door and stepping out. Charlene’s eyes welled with tears as he approached the group.
“Winifred,” he said. “Those boys are more than nephews to me. They are the foundation for the bridge of acceptance we need to build between humans and our kind. I’ll go and do what I can to ensure they live whether I’m an Elder or not because they are part of our future and need to be saved.”
Winifred sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. When she once again looked at Jim, there was an unmistakable sheen there.
“I’m afraid that once I make you an Elder, you’ll do what you always do and act impetuously. I don’t want to feel your loss, Jim. Pay attention to your heart,” she placed a hand on his. “It will guide you. When you’re making the right choices, you’ll feel full and light. When you’re about to make the wrong choice, it will feel like you’re about to die.”
Michelle continued to cry into Emmitt’s shoulder as Jim took his oath. If I hadn’t met Isabelle, that would have been me. As an Elder, I would have lost any chance to bond with the woman beside me.
When it was done, Jim looked at Emmitt.
“I’ll save them, and I’ll bring them back.”
Emmitt nodded and grabbed his brother’s arm.
“We won’t forget what you’ve given up.”
“I haven’t given up anything. One Mate in the family is more than most have. And I’ll have the boys, like Grey had us and Carlos.”
Jim reached out and gently touched the back of Michelle’s head.
“Come on, little sister. No more tears. You know I’ll bring them back. No matter what.”
Jim…
Before anyone could stop me, I shifted and ran. I knew there was a risk taking this form when the humans knew we existed, but I also knew the risk if I waited to try to find another vehicle.
Impetuous, Winifred sent me.
But my heart’s feeling light so I’m doing good, I sent back. I’ll get the boys and meet up with you at the Compound.
Stay safe, Jim.
The sensation of so many connections wasn’t as disconcerting as I’d thought it would be. I only had to think of a member, and the link seemed to expand, making it easy to find and communicate. I reached out to Clay.
Keep me posted on their movement.
Then I reached out to Gregory.
I’m coming.
Hurry. Paul and Henry have the cubs. Mary and I are covering our trail. They’re getting closer.
I had to get to Liam and Aden in time.
Thanks for reading Carlos’ Peace. Crazy about his twin, right? To find out what happens next, check out (Sur)real, the conclusion to both the main Judgment of the Six series and the Companion series.