Frostbitten (39 page)

“I’ll wait,” he said.

“For what?” Eddie said. “No. Don’t even suggest—”

“You want to rile up Danvers? What better way than for him to watch while—”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Eddie leaned in, lowering his voice. “Because I
don’t
want to rile him up. I’m holding hostages to keep him calm. Now take her in the bedroom or you’re going to lose your chance again—”

“Too late,” said a voice behind us.

We turned to see Antonio in the kitchen doorway.

“You guys really need to be more careful with security,” he said. “The back door was unlocked, and I found a guy raiding your fridge. Don’t worry, though, I took care of him for you.” He glanced over his shoulder at the floor, presumably where Gavril lay. Then his gaze traveled over their faces. “Oh, was he one of yours? Damn. I’m really sorry about that.”

While he spoke, the only person who moved was Eddie, backing up toward me, guarding the prize. Everyone else stared, as if trying to figure out what was going on. Finally the Ukrainian ran at Antonio. Antonio barreled forward, meeting his charge.

A figure slid from the opposite hall entrance, behind Nick, still held by Marko.

“Marko!” Eddie shouted.

Marko only frowned at Eddie, as if wondering why Eddie wanted him to go help fight Antonio when he only had one good arm. The other mutt figured it out, shouting a warning and gesturing at Reese, who’d slipped in, armed with a fireplace poker. He swung and hit Marko in the side of his head.

Tesler pulled me against him, arms pinned behind me with one hand, the other forearm at my throat. Any notion of fighting stopped—not with the choke hold, but with Eddie, backing up to us, protecting the booty as his soldiers did battle. I couldn’t take them both on, and with Eddie staying out of the fight, the odds were in our favor anyway.

Antonio killed the other newcomer—I’d already forgotten what Eddie called him. That left the Ukrainian, pinned to the floor now by Nick, and Marko, easily held by Reese, who had only to twist his broken arm to keep him on his knees. I motioned for them to hold fast. Kill these two and we lost our negotiating power.

When Antonio stepped toward me, Eddie jerked one of my arms from Tesler’s grasp. “Take another step and I break this. And that’s just for starters.”

Antonio stopped.

“I do believe this is what we call a stand-off,” Eddie said.

“Not much of one,” I said. “I’m the only prize worth holding. Notice I’m not even asking for a trade? You’d never go for it—they’re just cannon fodder.”

Marko and the Ukrainian tensed, Marko looking to Tesler, the Ukrainian to Eddie.

“I’d like my men back,” Eddie said quietly.

“But you won’t turn me over to get them, will you? Two for one. That’s quite a deal. I won’t even ask you to walk away. You let me go. They let them go.” I twisted to look at Eddie. “Game on.”

Neither man moved.

“Guess not,” I said. “Sorry, guys. You aren’t worth it, apparently.”

“No, I’m just not taking the offer seriously, considering where it’s coming from.” Eddie turned to Antonio. “You don’t let a woman talk for you, do you?”

“Usually. They’re better at it.”

“Speak for yourself,” Nick said.

Reese chuckled.

“I’d suggest you start taking this a little more seriously,” Eddie said. “And tell me who I’m negotiating with. I know you don’t let the Beta’s mate speak for the Pack.”

“No, we let the Alpha-elect speak for us,” Nick said. “She just did.”

I glanced at him. Had
everyone
in the Pack known before me?

“You think this is funny?” Eddie lifted one of my fingers. “Maybe you’ll find this even funnier.”

He snapped my finger. Nick winced. I didn’t. I won’t say I didn’t feel it, only that I saw it coming and bit my cheek against the pain.

“Sure, you can do that,” I said. “But a word of advice? The worse shape I’m in, the harder it’ll be to get Clay to come to my rescue. He may be my mate, but he can always make himself another. And if I’m gone, he’d be next in line for Alpha.”

“Not giving yourself much credit, are you?” Eddie said.

I shrugged. “I’m practical and so is he. He’ll come for me as long as I’m reasonably healthy, but ultimately, I’m replaceable.”

A shadow passed over the picture window behind us. Then it exploded, glass flying, as Clay leapt through. He landed on his feet with a thud and a grin.

“Nah, darling, you’re definitely one of a kind.”

I elbowed Eddie as Clay grabbed Tesler by the shirt and ripped him off me. Across the room, Nick and Reese struggled to hold their hostages, waiting for a sign from me before finishing them.

Eddie bounced back. I swung, dislodging a shard of glass from my shirt, which nearly caught me in the eye. Beside me, Clay was advancing on Tesler while wiping blood from a cut on his neck.

“That’s what you get for insisting on a dramatic entrance,” I called. “Next time, do us all a favor and use the front door.”

“That wasn’t drama, darling. That was the element of surprise.”

I snorted and roundhouse kicked Eddie. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tesler, and I had to struggle to stay on target. Eddie was the bigger threat, and less of a fighter, meaning I had to leave Tesler for Clay.

Clay grabbed Tesler and pitched him into the wall beside the broken window. As Clay bore down on him, Tesler scrambled up… and leapt right out the window.

When Clay grabbed the sill to vault it, he put all his weight on his bad arm. It didn’t give way, but it gave enough to make him fumble the hurdle, landing hard in the snow and staggering a few steps. By then, Tesler was racing into the forest.

Clay glanced back at me.

“Go on,” I said. “Take him.”

My gaze only flickered from Eddie for a second, but it was enough. He followed his brother’s lead and ran the other way. Antonio tried to cut him off, but he was too far away.

As I ran after Eddie, I waved Antonio back. “Finish them first.”

The back door slammed. I grabbed my sneakers, then raced after him, kicking off the oversized boots as I went.

As I chased Eddie, I heard a distant yelp from Tesler, followed by a growl of frustration from Clay, meaning he’d caught and lost his prey. I instinctively started swerving that way, then stopped myself.

Yes, I wanted to be the one to kill Tesler. Part of me desperately needed to be. But to do so, I had to abandon the greater threat. The good of the Pack came first, and killing Eddie was in the Pack’s best interests.

That didn’t stop me from hoping Eddie would run toward his brother, but he was too smart for that. He was heading in the opposite direction, dividing Clay and me.

And as hard as I strained to hear signs that Antonio was on his way and could take over the chase, I knew that wouldn’t happen either. It didn’t matter how much killing experience Reese had, Antonio wouldn’t leave him to do the job alone. And Nick’s only experience was as part of a group, following someone else’s lead. So his father would stay, trusting that Clay and I could handle our targets alone.

When I heard the sound of a motor, I smiled. We were coming to a road. Once Eddie realized that, he’d change direction.

Instead, he picked up speed. Ahead, I saw a truck barreling down a road, snow sluicing up chest high on both sides. It passed before Eddie reached the edge, so he didn’t need to check his speed to cross.

By the time I reached one edge, he was past the other and zipping back into the endless forest. The road was empty, but pitted with enough tracks to suggest it was what passed for a major artery out here, probably the road that linked to the highway.

I crossed and followed Eddie into the forest. Before long, I caught the faint whiff of exhaust. Sure enough, we’d circled around and were heading back to the same road.

Had he decided to return to the cottage? Or try to find his brother? God, I hoped so, because at this rate, I wasn’t catching him unless he tripped.

Eddie ran less than twenty paces past the road, then circled through the woods and headed back toward it.

What the hell was he doing?

The answer hit with the buzz of another motor. Eddie was trapped. Eddie was smart. Eddie had no intention of risking his life to fight me—he was interested in survival, not belt notches. So what would he do? The same thing Reese had done in Pittsburgh: take refuge with humans.

But again he dashed onto the road in front of the car, then made no effort to stop it, just disappeared into the forest. Was he trying to use the traffic to slow me down? If so, it wasn’t working. The car was a compact, grinding along, spitting up snow, moving at the pace of a fast walk. I easily crossed in front of it, and the driver didn’t even seem to see me, too intent on staring at the road right in front of him, struggling to get through the snow.

Eddie continued running into the woods. And as could be predicted by this point, he didn’t stay there, instead circling wide and heading back for that road. I was sorely tempted to just stand in the middle of it and wait for him.

It was then that I finally figured out what he was doing. I had only a split second to realize it before we heard another vehicle—a pickup truck this time—and, as I expected, Eddie looped around, coming out right behind the passing truck.

He’d been crisscrossing the road waiting for the right vehicle, pulling a version of his brother’s “hop on the train” trick. Now, admittedly, over the last few days my brain hadn’t been running on all cylinders, courtesy of Eddie’s rapist thug brother, but I wasn’t completely brain dead yet. I’d realized his ruse just in time, and when he tore out behind that passing truck, he didn’t find an open pickup bed in his path. He found a werewolf who was a little tired of letting her prey escape.

He tried to race around me. I grabbed him and hauled him into the forest. We fought. Spurred on by the boost of actually catching him—and the potential humiliation of losing him—I won. I snapped his neck. A short fight and a quick death, neither worth much comment. I dragged his body a little deeper, into the woods covered him in brush, made a note of the spot to bury him later, then ran back to find Clay and Tesler.

* * * *

Once I was back in the forest, locating Clay was easy—just follow the sounds of battle. As I drew closer, I realized it was more a struggle than a battle—one struggling to start a fight and the other struggling to avoid it. First came the thump of a blow. Then a grunt. Then a scuffle and a curse. Then the pounding of running footsteps. Another thump, grunt, scuffle, curse.

Sure enough, I found Clay hot on Tesler’s heels. He’d catch up enough to punch him, maybe grab a fold of his shirt, but Tesler always scrambled free and started running again. Or he did, until he found me standing in his path.

Clay pulled up short behind him and grinned a greeting.

“Looking for a little more action, darling?”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re getting any. What’s the matter, Travis? I thought you were just itching for this. Eddie’s plan worked. Clay’s right there. Go ahead. Have some fun. Or did you forget your camera?”

“Was that the plan?” Clay said. “Let me guess. Lure me in. Carve me up. Take photos. Pass them around to prove what badass motherfuckers you are.” He shook his head. “Mutts. Not an original idea in their thick skulls. But sure, we can do that, Travis. I’ll even send Elena back to get your camera. Just step on over here and we’ll get started.”

Tesler’s gaze shot to the side, checking and rejecting escape routes. Then he looked over my head.

“Your brother isn’t coming,” I said.

“Well, you sure as hell didn’t kill him,” Travis said. “He’d have left a mark, and I don’t see any, except that broken finger from earlier.”

“They broke your finger?” Clay said.

“Yes, while you were outside preparing your dramatic entrance.”

“Shit. Sorry, darling. You want to take one of his?”

“Your brother
is
dead,” I said. “The only marks he left were bruises, and I’ve got enough of those that a few more don’t matter.”

He eyed me, as if he didn’t quite believe this. Too bad. If he thought Eddie was coming to his rescue, all the better for us when he found out otherwise.

“So you’re going to team up against me?” he said finally. “That’s not fair.”

“No? All right, then. Choose your opponent.”

He looked from Clay to me, and sneered. “You think I’m falling for that? If I even come close to taking out one of you, the other will jump in.”

“And that’s not fair. Because you’re all about fair, aren’t you, Travis? Pump yourself full of steroids to get that extra advantage. Just as cowardly as using a gun, which I’m sure you’d do, too, if you’d thought to grab one.”

“I’ve
never
used a gun—”

“And you’ve never had backup either, have you? When you fought me, your little brother didn’t jump in and save your ass. I was hallucinating.”

He glowered. “That was different. You were our captive. We had a plan.”

“And right now, you’re our captive.” I smiled. “And guess what? We have a plan, too. It’s almost a carbon copy of yours. Only in ours, you’re the one who dies and gets his picture taken, shoring up
our
reputations. Now pick your poison.”