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Besides, she could hear them—and they were definitely gaining. As she rounded the corner, she realized she wouldn’t have time to get to the entrance, go through it, and then slam and lock the gate and door behind. Sliding to a stop, she confronted the vampires as they closed in.
“This many ugly vampires to take out little ole me?” she intoned, hoping she sounded cheeky and confident versus what she was really feeling—abject terror and an amazing rush of adrenaline.
“Who are you?” said one of the vampires.
“It doesn’t matter who she was. When she has been turned, she will be given a new name,” said another.
Salem holstered her gun—it wouldn’t be of any use in a fight with vampires. Instead, she took a defensive stance. One of the vampires charged and she kicked out high and hard, making him stagger back only a step or two before she slammed the stake into his heart. He was turned to dust before he could scream.
She danced backwards. “Next,” she taunted.
CHAPTER 5
CULLEN
Aghost town? Colby thinks I’ll find intel in a ghost town?
Cullen had galloped cross country from Ghost Moon Manor to the outskirts of an old ghost town. He had taken the form of his wolf and carried a bundle containing his clothing to change into once he got closer to town. He would be harder to identify as any kind of threat if he remained as a wolf, especially at a distance that distorted his actual size. Colby hadn’t had any kind of real intel, just some kind of nebulous rumor that something was happening. The whispers hinted that a nest of vampires had set up shop in a series of underground caverns. Bats in a cave—that actually made some sense. But there was no indication of how big the nest might be.
He followed the map Colby had provided, setting down the bundle of clothing he’d been carrying and starting to shift before he thought better of it. It might not be the worst idea to go exploring an unfamiliar area as his alter ego—a large, male, alpha arctic wolf. If there were vampires lurking about, it would be better to confront them in that form. Although both his wolf and human forms were immune—for lack of a better term—to vampiric powers, remaining a wolf seemed prudent.
Standing in the tree line at the top of the hill, he surveyed the quiet scene below. He could hear the sound of an ATV’s motor in the distance. Turning his head toward the noise, he watched as the rider made his way unerringly toward the town. As the vehicle got closer, Cullen realized two things: the ATV was headed straight for the ghost town and despite the distance, carried the unmistakable scent of his fated mate. That meant the driver was not a him, but a her.
He shook his head, trying to quiet the chaos in his mind. Cullen had been waiting for her scent for a very long time. He’d known he would recognize it from the moment he first inhaled it. Even though he was wolf, he could feel himself grinning—or at least doing so as much as he could in his canine form. But what the hell was she doing here? Why was she stopping and getting off her ATV? Did she have any idea the kind of trouble she was about to get herself into?
She had something in her hand, glancing down at it and then at her path ahead, and it seemed to be leading her directly to the old hotel which, according to Colby’s sources, was supposed to be vampire central. It occurred to Cullen that if Colby knew and was using Cullen’s mate to bring him and the Ghost Moon Pack into the Resistance, he had made an enormous mistake.
The kind of mistake that could get a lynx killed by an arctic wolf.
So much for stealth. What had been a covert mission to gather intelligence was now a rescue mission to save his mate. Setting down the bundle, Cullen raced down the hill, trying to keep to the trees and foliage but sacrificing some covertness for speed. From the tree line, he thought he’d seen what looked to be some kind of entrance that might lead down to the cave system. Knowing vampires liked their creature comforts, Cullen assumed there was an entrance from the hotel and that they most likely used the hotel to some extent.
If the leader of the vampires had any sense at all—and they usually did—there had to be an emergency exit from their hideout other than the obvious one and the hotel. Most likely it would come out somewhere outside of the main town. As he closed in on the hotel, Cullen began to scent the trail in front of him, swinging his head from side to side as he followed a winding path.
There. He stopped, turning his head back from where he’d just come and sniffed again. Vamps, and more than a few. This was about to get interesting.
Cullen moved quietly through the underbrush until he located the third entrance. Unfortunately, the exit had a domed top with a locking wheel mechanism. Wolves did not have opposable thumbs, so he shifted from wolf to man. Being naked wasn’t exactly an asset in this scenario, but he had no choice. Turning the wheel, he opened the domed top and made his way inside, pulling the dome closed behind him but leaving it unlocked. They were better off trying to use one of the other entrances, but if they didn’t have a choice, he didn’t want to have to deal with unlatching it. Down the ladder attached to the side wall he went.
Once he was safely on the ground, Cullen called forth his wolf once again. The stench of vampires filled the air. He could not only smell them and his mate, but his acute hearing picked up the sound of both. They were separated, but the distance between the two was getting less and less. He needed to get his mate and get them both out, and he needed to do it now.
There was a shift in the sound the vampires made as a good number of them broke off from the main swarm and began making their way toward his mate. Lust began to permeate their scent—they knew she was there. They were aware of her presence and were beginning to move toward her. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. The proverbial shit was about to hit the fan, and the whole situation was going tits up. He began to move swiftly and silently through the cave system, keenly aware that he needed to reach her before the vampires could do anything to her.
Cullen swore they would not have her. He would not allow her to be turned by the vampires. He’d seen what that could do. A human woman, who had been a member of his pack but had not yet been turned wolf had been their victim. He had stayed with her as they stood on the edge of a mountain in the Aleutian Range, waiting for sunrise. She had sworn she would not become one of the undead children of the night and so had chosen her own fate. He’d stood with her as the sun’s first rays had enveloped her, setting her spirit free in a burst of flames, burning like one of the ancient phoenixes.
He was closing in on them when the sounds changed once again. His mate had realized the danger and began to run in the opposite direction. The vampires, worried about losing their victim, picked up their pace and gave chase. Cullen, too, began to gallop, not caring if the vampires could hear him or not.
Rounding the corner, Cullen could see them gaining ground and trying to circle around her, but his mate was far craftier than that.
She placed a wall at her back, preventing them from circling her. “This many ugly vampires to take out little ole me?” she intoned. He could feel her fear, but her voice betrayed none of it.
“Who are you?” said one of the vampires.
“It doesn’t matter who she was. When she has been turned, she will be given a new name,” said another.
He watched as she holstered her gun, which made sense as bullets didn’t really have any effect on vampires, and pulled out a wooden stake. That surprised him. What human carried around wooden stakes? Although she didn’t seem very surprised that she was being threatened by vampires, come to think of it.
Not only did it surprise him, but he could also see the vampires had not been expecting that. One of the vampires charged her and she kicked out high and hard, making him stagger back only a step or two before she slammed her stake into his heart. He was turned into dust before he could scream.
She danced backwards. “Next,” she taunted.
