JIM…
I reached for the phone, wondering who would message Gabby’s phone when everyone in the group knew Olivia was using it.
The text was from an unknown contact. I opened it, and my gut clenched at the three images she’d received.
One of Olivia and me at the bakery. One of us outside the store where we’d purchased her dress and swim suit. And one of us sitting at this table, taken from just outside the window. I stared out at the people moving along the sidewalk.
Sam, are there any Urbat near us?
None. Gabby’s been keeping an eye on you.
The phone chirped with a new message.
I’m coming for what’s mine. Blake.
I swore under my breath.
Blake sent three pictures of me with Olivia, I sent Sam. His men have to be near us.
“What is it, Jim? What’s wrong?” Olivia asked.
There aren’t any near you. Gabby checked, Sam sent back.
That didn’t make any sense. We hadn’t been at our table long. There still should have been an Urbat nearby.
“How close is Blake?” I asked Olivia.
She turned toward the east as if looking for him.
“Closer than he was, but still hours if not a day away.”
“He sent three pictures of us, and a message. He said he’s coming for what’s his.”
All trace of color left her face.
“No. No,” she whispered slowly. “It’s too soon.” She gripped the table, her panic rising as she turned her head to look around.
“Gabby said there aren’t any Urbat near us.”
She turned and pinned me with her dark gaze.
“They are all around us. Warn the rest.”
Olivia thinks they’re all around us, I sent Sam.
The message had barely formed when Olivia’s head whipped to the side, and her eyes widened slightly. I followed her gaze to see a man shove his way through the restaurant’s door. He reached across his body for something hidden under his shirt. The shape of the object was unmistakable.
Rage clawed at me, and I stood as he began to pull the gun free.
“Die werewolf!” he screamed.
I launched myself over the table, wrapping my arms around Olivia as the idiot fired. The momentum of my collision tipped her back into her chair. Her gasp of pain enraged me further. As did the bite of the bullet into my calf, where my chest had been a moment before.
Twisting mid-air, I tried to position us so I took the brunt of the impact. With a light kiss on her forehead, I left Olivia on the floor and sped toward the gunman before he could fire another shot. The man never saw me coming. Closing one hand around his throat, I ripped the gun from his hand with the other then tossed him into the nearest wall before he could hurt anyone else. He sailed through the air, his scream echoing throughout the bar.
Without slowing, I turned and rushed for Olivia, not forgetting that she’d said they were all around us. She lay where I left her, her eyes open and watching for me. I scooped her into my arms and didn’t slow on my way through the window.
Curled protectively around Olivia, I blocked the shower of glass that fell around us. My feet hit the ground, and I used every ounce of speed to clear the city block within seconds. Any humans who saw us would wonder if they’d imagined our blur.
“Tell the others,” Olivia said against my chest. “Blake’s using his humans.”
I growled at our blindness.
Sam, we were just attacked in the restaurant. Tell Gabby it’s not the Urbat; it’s the humans. Blake’s using them.
Are you all right? he sent back.
Yes. We’re moving to the car now.
We reached Winifred’s vehicle a moment later, and I carefully set Olivia in her seat.
She was shaking and pale. I desperately wanted to stop and make sure she was okay, but there wasn’t time. Sirens already wailed in the not too far off distance. I closed her door and sprinted around the hood.
As soon as I slipped behind the wheel, I started the engine and took off. Traffic honked behind me, but I didn’t slow down. Humans. Blake was using humans. They were everywhere. Crossing sidewalks. Driving cars. There was no easy way to tell whose side they were on. No way to know if they had a connection to Blake.
My claws scratched the steering wheel as I took the first turn.
“Find out from Michelle where we need to go,” Olivia said, her voice strained. She gripped her seat with white knuckles.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He said he’s coming for what’s his, right? I’m not the only one of us he thinks belongs to him. If he’s attacking here, he’s attacking at the hotel, too. We can’t go back.”
I thought of Michelle and reached out to Sam once more.
Is everything quiet there? Olivia thinks Blake will try for the rest of the girls.
I took a sharp corner, and the tires protested.
Everything’s quiet here, but I’ve warned the others. We’re packing up.
“Slow down. Don’t call attention to us,” Olivia cautioned.
I slowed and took the next turn onto a road that would lead us in the general direction of the hotel.
Ask Michelle where we need to go, I sent Winifred. Olivia wants to know.
She didn’t answer, but that didn’t worry me. It took Michelle and Gabby time to decide the next safe stop. If they were in a hurry to leave, it would take a few minutes.
I hadn’t made it more than two blocks when Sam’s words touched my mind.
Don’t come back to the hotel.
Why, what’s happening? I sent back.
When I didn’t immediately receive an answer, I started to worry.
“I think you’re right. I think Blake’s men are already at the hotel,” I said to Olivia.
GABBY…
Henry laughed and threw another piece of popcorn into his mouth. Beside me, Clay sighed heavily. I kept my eyes on the TV, grateful for our chaperons.
Sam jerked forward, sitting up from his position on the bed.
“Gabby, check Jim and Olivia.”
I kept my sonar open all the time so I easily answered.
“They’re fine. No Urbat nearby. They’re waiting in the distance, just like before.”
Sam didn’t relax, though. While he silently communicated with someone, most likely Jim, I studied the Urbat. The clustered groups hadn’t moved much. The groups spread around Salt Lake in a half circle to the north. Nothing too close. Heavier groups waited far to the south near the Mexican border, which made sense. They didn’t want us to escape that way. We didn’t want to run, though. We wanted to make the Judgement and end the war that Blake had declared on the werewolves.
While the group to the south didn’t really matter to us. The others did. The larger groups that had lingered far to the east had moved. As I watched, they covered hundreds of miles. How was that possible? I’d never seen any Urbat move that fast before. I opened my mouth to say something when Sam swore.
“Jim and Olivia were just attacked,” Sam said. “It’s the humans. Blake’s using them.”
“Are Jim and Olivia okay?” Henry asked.
“They’re okay. Pack,” he said. “We need to leave as soon as Jim’s back.”
Henry got off his bed and started putting things away, not that we had much out. Clay rolled to his side and eased off the bed. I changed my focus and tried to make sense of the human sparks. There were so many.
I barely paid Clay and Henry any attention as I slowly walked toward my bag. My mind wasn’t on packing but on the human sparks. They moved along the roads, walked short distances before turning around, or stayed in place, all seemingly going about their daily business. However, I frowned as I noticed a different, consistent advancement amidst the otherwise chaotic movement.
A swarm of yellow with green converged on our location from every direction. There had to be hundreds of humans closing in around us.
“Tell Jim not to come back here,” I said quickly. “Humans are on their way here, too.”
I turned to look at Clay. He had an arm over his middle again, probably hurting it just getting out of bed.
“No shifting,” I warned him. “Remember you’re staying unMated until you’re healed, so no setbacks.”
Henry snorted a laugh. I ignored it and focused on Henry.
“There are hundreds, Henry.” Something about my expression sobered him. “They’re not going to show up with empty hands. You know what humans with guns can do.”
The sparks surrounded the hotel.
“I can’t see a way out,” I whispered, the crushing weight of panic tightening in my chest.
A wave of love caressed my mind, and Clay’s hand brushed against mine.
“Henry, Gabby, you two carry the bags. Clay, listen to Gabby. No shifting unless it’s life or death,” Sam said.
He put his hand on the door as the first human entered the building.