That was Angus’s voice. He must have been in one of the arriving cars.
Angus would have taken one look at Asil’s eyes and known what his blown pupils meant. Angus was a good Alpha and would never allow any guest in Asil’s condition to run off to confront a monster.
Asil did not have time to win that argument. He could not chance meeting Alvarez anywhere near Mari-Brigid or Bobby. They had both been bitten, and that meant the vampire could probably take control of them. That made them hostages Asil could not afford.
“Be careful,” Asil urged Ruby, and stepped on the gas with more pressure than was necessary.
V
Without passengers to worry about, Asil had no compunction about putting the sporty car through its paces. The single police car that lit up behind him was easily lost as Asil headed to the battleground he had chosen. The only place he had been to in Seattle that he thought might work.
The west lot of the Woodland Park Zoo was as deserted as it had been when he was last here. The big signs advertising WildLanterns (no space), the zoo’s holiday season light show, surrounded him, but this late the lights were long dimmed. Though the steady rain washed out most of the odors—including his own—the fishy smell from the penguin exhibit was stronger than it had been when he had been here last.
He climbed the fence with little trouble, though his landing wasn’t completed with his usual grace. The vampire’s call affected his balance. He hoped that the creature couldn’t continue that while they fought.
He remembered the path to the lion’s exhibit without losing his way in the deliberate maze of trails. The zoo animals were used to visitors and mostly stayed in their shelters, out of the rain. The distressed call of a peacock echoed in the storm, but that, too, was something the animals were used to.
If there were human guards on duty at night, he did not come close enough to one to sense them. Assuming he survived, he would have a talk with the keeper who’d helped with the lioness intake and explain why whatever camera footage heappeared in should be wiped. If he did not survive, he supposed he wouldn’t care about fallout from tonight.
He had to break the lock on the door that led into the private area where the big cats were kept when not on exhibit. This night, all three of the zoo’s lions were inside. Asil let himself into the inner compound where the females were kept, latching the door behind him.
Red safety lights kept the area from being as dark as a cave, but it was still full of shadows. It smelled of cat.
Even Asil’s eyes couldn’t pierce the shadows to find the predators who watched him walk into their territory. From his separate territory, the young male lion chuffed uneasily.
Asil dropped to his knees, then put his forehead to the ground. They did not have much time. He did not have time to explain what he needed from her.
This vampire was so old. As old as or older than Bonarata, if not quite as powerful. He was so old that his blood still made Asil’s body vibrate with the echo of his power. So old that Asil did not believe that even a goddess of the Serengeti would survive a battle with him given how her magic had worn down with time. He could not, would not be responsible for her death.
He explained what he had done. Why he had done it. And then asked her for a favor.
“Leave them to me, Lady,” he whispered.
She did not agree with him. And told him so with her silence.
He slapped his hands down twelve times twelve on the cool stone floor while her unhappy growl parted the hair on theback of his neck. He had no idea if the number meant anything to her. Or if his posture was the proper protocol at all. But he’d once seen a Nubian priestess call upon her gods in such a way. It was the only thing he could think of to do.
“If you do not agree,” he said finally, hands stinging, heart sore, “I will lead him to the heart of the city and fight them there. Damned be the consequences.”
I am dying anyway.She spoke to him for the first time since he’d entered her territory.
“I do not care,” Asil assured her. “I will not be responsible for bringing the means of your death upon you. Promise me you will stay out of it.”
She roared, the sound larger than it should have been, making his bones ache and his hands curl into fists. All around them the animals cried out in response.
He did not allow his wolf to drive him to his feet. He kept his forehead on the ground. “Please.”
She stalked off, and he was forced to take that as his answer.
“Thank you, Lady,” he said.
The younger lioness escorted him to the entrance.
“Nor you, either,” he told her, and made her stay inside as he let himself out.
Asil returned to the place where he’d entered the zoo, a large open meadow without animal exhibits. Just now it was effectively fenced with the WildLantern figures—large wire and fabric constructs of improbable creatures, plants, and a nearly full-sized old-fashioned train that ran most of the length of the meadow.
He judged the lanterns more effective in keeping the fighting within their bounds than a more solid fence would be. A fence could be destroyed, jumped, or climbed. The near-invisible wires that powered or stabilized the fanciful creatures were more difficult to get through and guaranteed to slow anyone down. Something that could be a very bad thing when your enemy was Asil.
