Chapter Ten
––––––––
Vex
The distress call comesin at three in the afternoon.
Static on the radio, then a woman’s voice, panicked, breathless, cutting in and out: “—please, someone—frozen—can’t find—help us—”
Then silence.
Blade’s already moving before the transmission ends, barking orders as he strides toward the garage.“Vex, Prophet, Fury, Ranger, Scout, saddle up.Hollywood, you’re with me in the van.Rooster, you’ve got the compound.”
“What about me?”Tessa’s voice cuts through the chaos, and I turn to find her standing at the top of the stairs, still in her training gear, hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“You stay here,” Blade says without looking at her.“With Hannah and the others.”
“Like hell—”
“That wasn’t a request.”Blade’s tone leaves no room for argument.“You stay in the clubhouse, behind the wards, where that thing can’t reach you.”
I should agree with him.Should reinforce the order.But the look on Tessa’s face, fury and frustration and fire I see during training, makes me hesitate.
“Blade,” I start.
“No.”He cuts me off with a look.“She stays.End of discussion.”
Then he’s gone, the others following, and I’m left standing there with Tessa glaring daggers at my back.
“Don’t,” she says quietly.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to defend his decision.Don’t tell me it’s for my own good.Just...don’t.”
The hurt in her voice makes something in my chest twist.But Blade’s right.Keeping her here, safe, is the smart play.
Even if she hates me for it.
“I’ll be back soon,” I say instead, and follow the others out.
The homestead is fifteenmiles outside town, nestled in the woods at the end of a long gravel road.The Johnsons, a couple in their sixties who’ve lived here for thirty years.They raise chickens, keep to themselves, and wave at passing riders.
Good people.
The kind who don’t deserve what we find.
The house looks normal from the outside.Lights on, smoke curling from the chimney.But the air around it is wrong.Too cold.Too still.And underneath the woodsmoke, there’s another smell, ozone and old ice and something that makes my fangs ache.
“Fuck,” Fury mutters, his eyes going red, his teeth growing longer.“You smell that?”
“Yeah,” I say.“Everyone stay sharp.”
