Part 8 (1/2)
”No, Chris,” Amara shook her head. ”I'm not going to sit by and watch you mess with her. She deserves more than that.”
”Who deserves what?” she Stephanie asked Amara as she tried to blink away the sleep. That was when Stephanie woke up. She yawned and stretched on the bed.
”Chris isn't into you,” Amara said abruptly as if it explained everything.
”I know,” Stephanie said. ”Stop playing mom.”
Amara stared at the two for a long moment. ”Okay,” she said and shook her head. She still didn't trust it. She didn't trust him. Maybe she should have stayed behind and kept an eye on the conversation, or an ear rather. Too late now, though.
”Our newest party member showed up,” she said as she glanced to the door. ”I didn't want to just let her in without letting you know.”
”Really?” Stephanie smiled as she looked to the door. ”Well, let her in. I don't want to see her standing outside all night.”
Amara opened the door and a large wolf came bounding into the room. Stephanie jumped, pulling her legs up onto the bed. When Alexander said he was sending a werewolf, she thought it would have come in human form.
The wolf sniffed around the room; its tail wagged excitedly. She looked up at Stephanie through vivid green eyes the color of clovers. She was a rusty red color save for the underside of her body, as if she had been dipped in white paint or gone swimming in a lake and turned cream on her mouth, chest, legs, and belly. A dark brown color tipped her ears, tail, and a spot that ran down her lower back. She panted up at Stephanie, and oddly enough her breath smelled of mints now. Amara had fed her them in the car after winding up the window. Somehow the minty fresh breath seemed more out of place than anything else-even the wolf's abnormally large size. She could have pa.s.sed as a small pony.
*My name is Spirit,' the words went unspoken, but somehow the entire group heard them in their minds.
”Stephanie,” the girl introduced herself despite her voice being uneasy. She tried seemed to relax a bit and took a deep breath. ”Pleased to meet you, but wouldn't it be easier to talk if you were in human form?”
”Alexander forbid me from taking human form. He said he does not want me to be recognized.” The wolf took a moment to scratch behind her ear, tilting her head to the far left to reach the itch more easily.
”He doesn't want other vampires to know he sent you?” Stephanie asked curiously.
”No.” Chris shook his head. ”He doesn't want us to recognize her. He doesn't want us to hunt her down later and user her as leverage or a way to hurt him.”
The wolf stopped scratching and looked at Christopher for a long moment, as if she were sizing him up. She didn't like the implication. She stood up, if she needed to, she could probably take him. With her size she probably could have knocked him flat onto the ground and ripped his entire head off with ease. Of course, that was without taking his gun into account. If he were quicker on the draw than she was on the bite, he could have the upper hand. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Stephanie finally caught interrupted the tension.
”Uh...we're not going to hunt her down later, right?” Stephanie asked, growing seeming a bit uncomfortable with the situation. She hoped they weren't going to hunt her down. Even if she was working with Alexander, she wasn't getting a dangerous vibe off the wolf. As far as werewolves went she was weak. Maybe the runt of the litter.
”No,” Amara said rea.s.suringly. ”No one is going to hunt her down. She's on our team and, as much as I hate to admit it, we probably wouldn't get very much farther without her nose.”
Spirit waited for Christopher to back down before she sat again, but kept her gaze locked on him.
*So how did you all want to go about this? I'm new to these sorts of things.'
”New to what sorts of things?” Christopher asked, leaning back on his elbows to try to releasing some of the tension from his body language.
*Police things. Investigations,' the wolf answered, laying down on the floor.
”You've never helped with anything like this before?” Amara sighed. ”He sent us a completely untrained wolf. Of course.” Amara put her head in her hands. Now it was becoming apparent that this was just one more person for her to look after.
Spirit's ears flattened, and she turned to Amara quickly. Her fur stood on end, but her lip never curled back.
*I am not untrained. I've just never helped with something like this. I'm still just as good at smelling things.'
”What exactly have you helped with then?” Amara looked up at her through her hands.
*Do you really want to know?' Spirit thought back to her.
Amara sighed. ”No. Probably not.”
*Then what are we doing? What's the plan?'
”We could always head back to the last murder scene,” Stephanie suggested. ”If her sense of smell is better than a bloodhound, maybe she could pick up a scent or something.”
*I could try,' Spirit said proudly, her tail wagging and her ears pulling forward.
”It's a long drive to make tonight,” Amara said. ”A few more hours won't make that much of a difference.”
*It will,' Spirit corrected her. *Every second the trail gets colder it's harder to find anyone connected with it.'
”Well, we'll have to take the risk,” Amara sighed. ”I'm not driving two hours at this time of night after the day we've all had. Stephanie especially needs some rest.”
*Suit yourself, but if the trail is cold tomorrow, don't anyone blame me,' the giant wolf snorted and shook as if she were shaking dirt from her fur.
”We'll go first thing in the morning,” Amara said as she curled up in her blankets.
First thing in the morning would at least give them all a little bit of time to sleep. She knew the trail might be lost to them, but it had been days already. A few more hours couldn't make that much of a difference could it? Besides, if they were driving and got into another accident along the way, it wouldn't do them any good. Getting to the scene alive and late was much better than not getting there at all. While The Administration replaced their Prius with a temporary new vehicle, she doubted if they would like to replace two cars in one night over reckless driving. That might make a sore spot.
Amara glanced over at Stephanie and Chris. They still lay on the same bed together, asleep. When she really thought about things, Stephanie had come a long way from when she first started. Her first few months were filled with very serious mistakes. She almost gotten them killed quite a few times. Maybe that's why they put her under Amara's watch-; because Amara was more difficult to kill than the average hunter. Maybe it had nothing to do with her skill and everything to do with her connection to Alexander.
Lately, it seemed like Stephanie was the one really in charge. She was the more mature of the two and Amara finally realized it. Maybe she didn't have to play mom for her. Maybe Stephanie really was a big girl. Maybe she really could take care of herself.
She looked around the room and things cleared up a little bit. She didn't have to look after these people. Stephanie was an adult, maybe not the best hunter, but she didn't need to be kept within arm's length. She just needed someone to watch her back. Christopher was a hunter on his own, not that she was sure she would really protect him if it came down to it anyway, and Spirit was one gigantic wolf. She was fairly sure Spirit could hold her own.
Amara finally took a deep breath and settled in. Maybe she'd sleep better that night or maybe she'd wake up and realize her exhausted state made her think everyone else was so independent.
Chapter Fourteen.
The summer sun was just peeking through the window when there was a knock at the door. Spirit was the first up at the knock. Her rusty fur instantly stood on end as she pulled her lip back and growled at the door. The impression Amara gave had given her was that no one knew they were here. No one knew where they were staying. Who would be at the door at six in the morning?
The second knock was louder, more confident, and woke the rest of the room with a start. The hunters grabbed their guns. Amara rolled out of bed and walked to the door slowly, keeping her gun steadily pointed for the door. She stood a little off to the side. If someone were able to fire through the door, she didn't want to be in the way.
”Can I help you?” she called to whoever was on the other side of the door.
”It's Marc,” a male voice ran from the other side of the door. ”I have a message from Alexander.”
Amara glanced back to Spirit. Marc? She mouthed the question. She didn't know anyone named Marc, and why would Alexander send someone else with a message this early? He was old enough and strong enough to deliver the message himself.
Evidently, Spirit didn't know anyone by that name either. She shook her head, and the other two hunters moved into position. Christopher moved off to the far side of the wall, his gun pointed at the door. Stephanie stood at the wall that protruded a bit from the basic square shape of the room to separate the *powder room' from the sleeping area.
Amara opened the door, still standing off to the side. As soon as the door was open, Chris saw the gun in the man's hands. He fired quickly into the man's shoulder, and he fell backward. Marc lifted his gun and fired for Christopher's chest, but Chris moved quickly. He fired again, this time aiming for Marc's leg. He needed to be sure he couldn't run off. When the shot missed, the man fired for at Chris's gunning arm. Chris cried out as the bullet ripped his arm open, but fired another shot. The bullet dug into the a.s.sa.s.sin's leg, and he let out a short yelp of pain.
Amara flung the door open, and Marc fired at her, forcing her to use the door as a s.h.i.+eld. That was when Stephanie used his moment of distraction with Amara to take her shot. She fired at the gun in his hand. Marc screamed as his fingertips were blown off. With the gun on the floor Spirit lumbered over to him. Her lips were curled back in a snarl, her canine teeth were far too long to be a normal wolf's mouth.