The impact shook everything in his body loose again. Stitches broke, and things that hadn’t ached for a few hours hurt again. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind. The rumble of the engine was too close, and he imagined massive tires splitting his skull open.

  He rolled the way he’d been taught. Shoulders bunched, arms wrapped around his neck, and his body otherwise loose. He’d practiced, but never this way.

  He didn’t expect a hand to grab and lift him when he bounded off the ground. He slammed into the semi’s door, where he scrambled for purchase and held.

  Clare looked as surprised as he felt to see him back up there.

  “How’s it going?” Anselm cleared his throat and checked his weapons. “That one didn’t scare you too badly, did he?”

  “He said he wanted to take me alive. How did you manage…that?”

  “I wish I could take credit.” He turned and spotted the rider who’d tossed him. He was the only merc who didn’t have a helmet on. And he didn’t look like a merc.

  Rody seemed to regret not wearing a helmet, but he jumped smoothly from his motorcycle onto the semi.

  “Nice to be a vampire these days,” Anselm growled and flicked a glance to the top of the trailers. They’d managed to sneak more people up there. “Duck!”

  The vamp did as he was told without question. Anselm drew his sidearm with one hand and gripped the railing with the other. He flicked his weapon to full auto as four of the mercs came into view. Full auto was considered a waste of ammo, useful only when an adjudicator was in a small room with many hostiles and a limited time to clear out.

  He supposed four assholes looking to gun him down with automatic weapons was an emergency.

  The weapon kicked hard in his hand, and two mercs fell as scattershot turned their skulls into bright red mist. The other two were hit as well. No lethal wounds, but the shots punched them off the trailers.

  “Thanks,” Rody shouted over the engine noise.

  “Yeah, I guess we’re even now!”

  The vampire laughed. “Hah, yes…oh. You’re serious.”

  Anselm didn’t understand at first. He tried to blame it on the last few long days and being hopped up on pain and recovery meds. He should’ve remembered a few bullets wouldn’t be a big deal to a vampire. “Sorry. Never mind.”

  Rody grinned. “Need help?”

  “Get me up to the trailer?”

  “Of course.” The vamp grabbed his shoulder and smoothly tossed him up. Showing off, he supposed. Anselm staggered a few steps with the sudden change in momentum. Like the toss before, it didn’t actually feel like he’d been thrown. More like when the vamp grabbed him, the world slowed, and he was advanced through it. When Rody released him, time turned back on. Of course, he didn’t have the same conception of time as the vampire, so it all passed in the blink of an eye for him.

  The only way he sensed shenanigans was the lack of whiplash from the sudden change in positioning.

  “Fuck me.” Anselm regained his balance and kicked a merc in the chest. Three others had mounted the trailers with more on the way.

  He had to change the game. Whacking the mercs as they popped up would get him killed. He was fine dying for the cause, but he didn’t feel right leaving Clare in the hands of a vamp. A decision only partially due to his preconceptions. He didn’t know what Rody or his father wanted with her.

  “High-Ex!”

  He flicked out the empty mag and slapped a new one in while the mercs on the trailer opened fire on him. He hit the deck, rolled to the side to avoid the shots, and continued rolling over the side of the trailer, then caught the edge as he fell. His shoulder protested the sudden yank. He hung from the side with one hand and aimed with the other.

  Not his best shooting position, but he’d live with it. He didn’t have to be particularly accurate with this shot.

  The round buried itself in the engine block of the ATV the mercs were rappelling from. He didn’t like the idea of shortcuts, but him against a small private army wasn’t a fair fight. The explosives primed and went off a second after they hit their target.

  A flash and a massive puff of smoke, and the whole thing seized up. The mercs on the line were thrown when the wires tightened and drew the ATV over on itself. Its weight tore the trailer’s sheet metal where the wires connected.

  The semi shuddered under the added weight until the entire panel tore from the trailer. It whipped around to catch another ATV and two motorcycles.

  Though the dust was worse, he picked out headlights from eight or nine more vehicles and motorcycles following them.

  He grunted a curse and pulled himself on top of the first trailer. The wall panel had been torn from the back trailer, and its contents poured out. Silverish packets, shipped in bulk. He didn’t know what they were and didn’t want to. This shipment must’ve been lost for months, and no one had come looking for it. He assumed it wasn’t worth much.

  Suddenly, the small army following them fell back into a retreat.

  “What the hell is going on?” As the feeling returned to Anselm’s shoulder, he noticed the truck slowing. More vehicles approached them from the city. Their flashing red and white lights told him they were official.

  The vampire vaulted onto the trailer to join him. “We passed the border into the Guardians’ territory. They must have been tracking the attack to be so quick to pounce.”

  “New Houston Guardians?” Anselm rubbed his chin as the semi slowed further and finally stopped. “I don’t think they’ll be happy to find someone like me on their turf.”

  “Really?” Rody cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “You’ll have to tell me about that after I send them away.”

  “You’re sending them away?”

  The vampire didn’t answer. He hopped off the trailer and walked to the Guardian vehicles pulling up around the semi.

  Anselm climbed down gingerly and managed to maneuver into the passenger seat.

  “Seriously, man.” Clare shook her head. “Can you go five minutes without getting fucked up?”

  “Can’t help it. I’m a sucker for punishment.” Without his nanobots and Florence’s help, he estimated he would’ve been dead twelve hours ago. He was pushing it, and he didn’t know how long he could keep up this pace.

  “That you are.” Clare reached over and quickly checked him. She winced a few times at the scanner results but apparently found nothing awful. “Thanks.”

  “You need to reserve your thanks for our new fanged friend.” Anselm groaned and leaned back against the thick-cushioned seats. Her raised eyebrow said she wanted to remind him of his sweet and cuddly vampire comment.

  He didn’t disagree. Rody had proved useful, but Anselm knew better than to believe they’d get a free meal from him. An elder vamp had sent his errand boy to bring them back to the city, and they would pay a price for it.

  The Guardians retreated from the young vamp in a hurry. They immediately mounted up and drove off without so much as asking what was going on. Anselm narrowed his eyes as they beat a hasty retreat. Not quite in fear, but they seemed anxious not to piss someone off. He assumed it wasn’t Rody they feared but Aldonado.

  “We’re back in New Houston,” Rody announced when he climbed into the semi’s cabin with them. “Will you meet with my father now?”

  Clare sighed. “We’re in no state to meet an elder vampire. I need a shower. No, a bath. I’ll be safe at my place even if they dispatch an army for me. Can you send someone out tomorrow morning?”

  Rody cocked his head and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Will you be going with her?” he asked Anselm.

  Anselm shook his head. He wanted to stick it out with Clare, but he had to find a way to get word to the folks up top. He didn’t want to say that to a foreign interest, though.

  He rolled his shoulders. “We had a mole in our organization.”

  “The embed?” Clare smirked. “Yeah, might be good to have a talk with her. Where do you think she is?”

  “I’m going to sit on the safehouse for the night. If she’s greedy, she’ll head over in the cover of darkness to empty the place of anything she can sell. Assuming she hasn’t already.” Anselm heaved a breath. “I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning. See if I can be there for the meeting with Aldonado.”

  “He would appreciate that. You are quite interesting for a human. Not as fascinating as Ms. Voyhent, but interesting nonetheless.”

  “That’s…thanks, I guess.” He was too tired to think of a good comeback. “We should get moving. We’re close enough to the border that those assholes out there might think they can get a quick shot in.”

  “Agreed.” Clare put the truck back in gear. “You coming with us, Rody?”

  The vampire laughed, a pleasant sound. “No, I’ll repurpose one of the motorcycles the attackers left behind. Until tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A bath hit the spot. After days away from her sanctum, Clare craved the tedium of resetting her traps. She didn’t trust them to fully keep something or someone out, but it was as safe as she could get.

  Nobody in the pack questioned her. She assumed Curtis would do so in the morning, especially after Anselm and Rody showed up to take her away again. Tonight, her time was hers. The bath was laden with medical reagents that helped her relax and encouraged growth. The people she’d bought them from said they would, anyway. Florence had disputed the claims. Yet some were true or had a basis in fact, even if they didn’t do everything the vendors claimed.

  Worth it, though. She napped in the bath, then collapsed into bed.

  She had no idea how long she slept, but it didn’t feel like enough when someone banged at her door. An indication her rest time had ended. She’d slept longer than usual, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so tired.

  “Fucking hell, I’m coming!” Clare shouted when the pounding continued. “I said I fucking heard you!”

  The pounding stopped. When she finally reached the door, Curtis was in a foul mood. He knew the dangers facing anyone who tried to break in.

  “Took your sweet time,” the pack leader spat. “Look, I’m not going to ask where you’ve been for the past couple of days. Not going to ask why you look like the south end of a northbound horse. What I do want to know is why the fuck a fang fucker is here looking for you. And he’s got muscle with him, too.”

  “Tall guy, brown hair, blue eyes, thick black overcoat? Looks like he’s got an appointment to remove a six-inch stick from his ass?”

  “That’d be the one. You know these jokers?”

  She smirked. “Yeah, I do. The surly one isn’t the vamp’s muscle, either. He’s mine.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve got myself involved in a job. Lots of money, but also lots of assholes who don’t want it finished. I brought muscle along to help.” She raised a hand to stop the protests she anticipated. “I didn’t want to get the family involved. It was dangerous and had me running afoul of bad people.”

  Curtis narrowed his eyes. “Like Aldonado’s get waiting outside?”

  “I assume you mean someone associated with Aldonado and not the vamp himself?”

  “Yeah. A representative. Why the fuck did you get involved with an elder fang?”

  Clare pulled her jacket on. “Hard to say. He involved himself by getting a bad element off our backs. Turns out the badlands are infested with feral vamps. You’d think the Maneaters would clear them out.”

  The pack leader sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You know you can involve us, right? We’re a fucking family, Clare. We get up in each other’s business all the damn time.”

  “This is different. I can’t explain why. I need you to trust me, okay?”

  “Clare—”

  “You trust me, don’t you? I’m sure you can force me to stay here, but if you’re not going to, I’m heading out to meet them. That’s how it has to be. So, which is it?”

  He glowered at her for another second before he shook his head. Only a few years ago, he’d level a glare at her any time she broke a rule. These days, she saw less meaning behind it. Clare loved the guy like an older brother, but sometimes she needed to do her business. She refused to let her family get involved with people up in the sky. Or their enemies.

  “All right. If you get into trouble and you call us to bail you out again, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “I can live with those terms.”

  “You’d fucking better.”

  She winked and headed to where the pack kept an eye on the arrivals. They wouldn’t be allowed to walk in, and the pack had shown up in force to face the newcomers. Anselm looked like he’d gotten sleep and repaired his jacket and body armor. He still looked, as Curtis had put it, like the south end of a northbound horse. But better than he had last night.

  The rep Rody had sent was an interesting addition. A tall, leggy blonde. Her clothes were expensive, her shoes more so, and she wore sunglasses. Which meant she preferred to spend her time awake at night, not during the day. The extra-strength coffee was a second indicator.

  Anselm nodded a greeting. “Get any sleep?”

  “Some. Rody sent you?” Clare asked the blonde.

  “Can we discuss this somewhere more private?” The woman adjusted her glasses and squinted. “I’d rather not share my news in front of the wolves.”

  Clare raised an eyebrow. “Be nice. They’re my family. Like whoever sent you are yours.”

  “Of course. My apologies.” She nodded to the wolves, who cackled. “Shall we?”

  Clare smirked and motioned for them to follow. “Come on. I’ve got more coffee brewing.”

  Anselm stepped through the door first, followed by the young woman. She didn’t seem put off by the wolves’ attention. She only wanted to get out of the open. Or maybe out of the sunlight. After days in the desert, Clare commiserated.

  “Here you go.” Clare poured cups of coffee all around. “Before you do your thing, can you give Anselm and me a minute? We have a lot to talk about.”

  “Of course.” The woman moved over to the far side of the room.

  Anselm accepted the coffee but didn’t drink it. “She’s been instructed to be as courteous and polite as possible, but she doesn’t like it. Used to being snide and disrespectful. She must be high up with the elder, or he wouldn’t have sent her.”

  “Yeah, she’s not the one I’m worried about right now.” Clare sipped her coffee. It tasted like lighter fluid, but it did the job. “How are you? Last I saw you, you were falling to pieces.”

  “A good night’s sleep and a hot shower do wonders.” He patted his midsection, and she heard something other than a human body underneath. “Repaired my body armor and stocked up on essentials. I’m good to go when you are.”

  “Sure. Did the embed come back?”

  Anselm shook his head. “She hadn’t been there again. Everything was where we left it. Someone returned, though. They disabled the comms we set up in the building, so I wasn’t able to communicate with my superiors. I might be able to tap resources to rent a shuttle heading to Fort Dee and take it over to Summerland.”

  “You sure you can pull that off? Won’t there be backlash for a stunt like that?”

  Anselm nodded. “Probably. Considering the other issues we’ve run into, I’d have a good argument for interesting, out-of-the-box moves to finish the job.”

  “You think it’s safe for us to get on another shuttle?” Clare snorted. “They have tricks worked into their systems to keep people from doing what you’re planning. Look, I’m all for pissing off rich people. And maybe it’s a slap on the wrist for you, but the consequences for people down here will be worse. After I save your people, I’ll have to live down here with those consequences.”

  “You might not have to be down here for it.” Anselm finally sipped the coffee she’d poured him. “There’s a place in Summerland for you.”

  She snorted. “Pass. Living with people who only tolerate me because I happened to show up and save them doesn’t sound like a place I want to be. Besides, we don’t know who’s trying to kill me. Might be best to figure that shit out before I make decisions about my future, huh? Down here, I understand how shit works. I won’t have to rely on you to investigate for me.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” Anselm scratched his chin. The growing beard irritated him. It was closer to blond than the hair on his head and not a terrible look. “Besides, down here, you have connections and friends to fall back on. Up there, I’ll be the only person you know.”

  “Right.” Clare jutted her chin out and nodded. “You understand where I’m coming from.”

  “Of course.”

  “So, I don’t need to keep talking about this?”

  “I might suggest you settle up top in the future. Fair warning. It’s what I think is the best option, based on personal experience. However, I am aware you don’t share my experience, so I understand your hesitation.”

  She scowled at him. “You make it difficult to argue with you, you know that? Even when I know I’m right.”

  “I have been told.” He cocked his head at the woman who’d removed her sunglasses and was inspecting her makeup in the reflection. “Time to hear what this rep has to say before she leaves.”

  “Right.” Clare waved the blonde over. She responded immediately and jumped up to talk to them. Impressive, considering the height of her heels.

  “Sorry about that. We had business to discuss.” Clare sipped her coffee. “How can we help you?”

  “Well, I could have told you my business would only take a minute.” Her snideness shone through. “Roderick sent me to inform you he will arrive at your domicile when the sun sets and escort you to his master. That is all I am here to say.”

  Clare shrugged. “He could have sent me a ring on the comms or something.”

  “Elder Aldonado is what some might call old-fashioned. He appreciates the personal touch, especially in dealings of great importance.” The woman smiled and slipped her sunglasses back on. “Now, if you could show me out?”

  Clare pointed at the exit. She knew the woman expected to be escorted from the place. She wanted protection on the way out of a compound full of werewolves, but Clare wasn’t in the mood. The woman seemed mildly insulted as she left but would be fine. Curtis and the pack disliked humans who hung around vampires hoping for a bite, though they knew better than to act on their opinion.