Broken

Deal-Breaker

CLAY WALKED BEHIND ME, AS MUCH TO KEEP HIS DISTANCE from Jeremy as anything. Any other time, Jeremy wouldn’t have needed to see Clay to know something was wrong-he’d just know, in that uncanny way of his. But right now, he was too preoccupied.

I crept up beside Jeremy and whispered, “Was it something you heard?”

He hesitated, as if not certain himself, then shook his head. “Not heard…”

“Give me a direction, and I’ll get upwind.”

He scanned the forest, but his eyes were unfocused. He hadn’t seen, heard or smelled anyone. He’d sensed them, the same way he often did when we were hurt or in danger.

“There,” he said, pointing east. “We’ll loop around to the south. I don’t want to get too far from the others.”

We’d gone only about twenty feet when I caught the smell, not because our target was upwind, but because we were so close.

I took a few slow steps. A shape moved through the trees only twenty feet away. As Jeremy touched my arm, I recognized the scent.

“Oh, I don’t believe it,” I muttered, shrugging off Jeremy’s hand and striding forward.

“Ele-!”

A grunt cut off Jeremy’s cry. I turned to see him knocked off his feet. Clay ran forward, but stumbled midway. As I dove for him, someone caught me by the shirt and yanked.

With a growl, I swung my elbow back to knock my attacker flying. Metal flashed, and I felt a prick-a small but sharp jab-not at my chest or throat, but in the side of my stomach.

I heard a whimper, and felt it bubbling up from my throat.

“Stay where you are, Mr. Danvers,” a voice behind me said.

The tone, from that voice, was so unexpected that my brain blanked out.

I forced my gaze from the knife, expecting to see Clay ready to leap to my rescue. But Clay was on the ground, crumpled face-first, not moving. Jeremy’s gaze shot down to Clay’s prone body. Fear darted behind his black eyes.

Was Clay breathing? Oh, God, I couldn’t tell.

Jeremy’s gaze swung to the knife at my side. His fists twitched at his side, body tensing as he rocked onto the balls of his feet-

“You know that isn’t a wise idea, Mr. Danvers,” Hull said behind me, the meekness gone from his voice. “You may be able to save her, but this knife will go into her belly the moment you move. I’m sure you understand what that means. No grandbaby to dandle on your knee. I mean grandbabies. I did overhear that correctly, didn’t I? Twins?” A bark of a laugh. “I must have done something right in my life-pleased some demon or deity-to give me so rich a boon. Two full-blooded werewolf babes.”

Clay let out a guttural moan.

“He’s dying, you know,” Hull said. “Zombie scratches-nasty things. Only way to help him now is to kill the zombies. I could help with that.” Another small laugh. “After all, they are my zombies.”

That’s what Shanahan had been saying just before he died-that the sorcerer had made it into the portal.

My hair prickled as I remembered Shanahan, convulsing on the floor, dying almost instantly. Oh, God, if Hull could do that-

Wait. According to Paige, the problem with casting a strong spell was that it drained your power. The stronger the spell, the greater the drain, which is why Hull had only used a simple knockback spell on Jeremy.

And if Hull could do that to Shanahan, why hadn’t he just used a spell against Clay to grab me earlier, like out on the balcony last night? Something was making him cautious. Maybe, after a hundred years in a dimensional portal, he was out of practice, or his spell power was still recharging.

“So you’ve been controlling them all along,” I said, hoping to give Jeremy time to think. “You came out of the portal after they cleared the way.”

Hull laughed. “Cleared the way? I was out only minutes after my first zombie. You were too engrossed in following him down the road to even notice. So I followed you. It seemed strange-humans pursuing the man instead of calling for help. So I cast a little spell, and discovered my good fortune. A pregnant werewolf had opened my portal.”

“You weren’t after me for the letter at all,” I said.

“The letter has served its purpose. You’re the vessel of value now.”

“I am not exchanging Elena for-” Jeremy began.

“You don’t need to exchange your dear girl for anything. That’s the beauty of my offer. You will get both her and your boy back, healthy and sound. I’ll even relinquish control of my zombies, so you can kill them and close this portal. Like the letter, they were useful enough, but they’ve quickly become more of a hindrance. Take them with my blessing, close the portal, heal your boy there…everything you want.”

“In exchange for…?” Jeremy said.

“No,” I said through my teeth.

Hull chuckled. “You already know what I’m going to ask for, don’t you? I wouldn’t be so hasty with your refusal, though. After all, I could take what I want now, with no deal…leave the portal open, let your mate die, let you die with him…”

“What do-?” Jeremy began.

“No!”

Hull turned the knife. At the movement, Jeremy’s gaze dropped to my belly, and he paled.

“A fair exchange, don’t you agree? Two lives for two lives? It’s a simple enough matter to take the babes out early. You fancy yourself a doctor, don’t you, Mr. Danvers? Or perhaps, if that other one isn’t too upset with you, he’ll undertake the task.”

“They-” Jeremy swallowed, as if his mouth was too dry to form words. “The babies aren’t far enough along. They wouldn’t live.”

“No matter. I don’t need them alive. Even if I take them that way, they won’t stay that way for long.”

I didn’t think. Couldn’t think. I just reacted, howling, twisting, my elbow going up to smash-

The knife dug into my belly.

As I froze, I heard Jeremy’s voice, distant, barely piercing the roar in my ears, begging me to stop, to hold still.

I stood shaking and gasping for breath. Hull laughed, but I ignored him and forced myself to look at Jeremy. Again he mouthed something, and this time it was clear: “Wait.”

As Hull stopped laughing, a small crackle cut through the silence of the forest, too soft for Hull to hear.

Gaze still locked to mine, Jeremy dipped his chin, telling me yes, they were coming. His eyes were clear and calm, panic gone. Seeing that, I felt my own fear drain.

“Why offer this deal?” Jeremy asked. His voice was even again, as collected as it had been when negotiating with Shanahan and Tolliver. Time to distract, stall…and wait. “If, as you pointed out, you can take Elena and the babies now…”

“Too messy.” Hull was equally nonchalant, even as blood trickled down my side. “I like things tidy. That’s why I tried to resolve this without confrontation. Had you let her return to the hotel with me, you’d have saved yourself much unpleasantness. I’m sure Mr. Shanahan would have preferred that. Now, I’ll settle for an offering freely given-” He repositioned the knife again, and I bit back a snarl. “-with the promise of no retaliation to come.”

I could smell Antonio and Nick now, coming closer.

“But why the-” Jeremy faltered, then continued, voice as casual as he could make it. “The babies. What do you need them for? Surely not the experiment you were working on back in England.”

Hull laughed. “That would be rather coincidental, wouldn’t it? No, they aren’t for that-though, thanks to you, I may have found the final rare ingredient I need. This, however, is a simple matter of economics. Had I ever considered the possibility of arriving here, a hundred years late, in another time, another country, I would have made financial arrangements. No matter. Providence interceded, and I arrived to find a woman pregnant with full-blooded werewolf twins. Some things never change, and such babes would be a sorcery ingredient of untold potency, as rare as the mythical unicorn’s horn. On the black market? Priceless. One alone would be enough to keep me in great comfort.”

“If one would be enough…” Jeremy said.

I stiffened, but he met my gaze, reminding me he was only stalling.

“In the mood to negotiate now, Mr. Danvers? That’s the spirit. Perhaps-”

The bushes exploded behind Jeremy. Hull jumped, startled. I hit the knife away from my stomach, but the blade caught the back of my hand, slicing it open. As I dove to grab the falling knife, Hull kicked my legs from under me. I fell, twisting to protect my stomach.

Hull’s hands sailed up, knocking Jeremy back with a spell, then Nick, as he burst through the bushes behind Jeremy. Intent on Nick, Hull didn’t see Antonio slip from the woods on the other side.

As I scrambled up, Antonio leapt at Hull, and they went down. Another crash in the forest, and I glimpsed something that made my gut go cold.

The bowler-hatted zombie burst from the woods, Rose lurching behind him, cutting Nick and Jeremy off from Hull, Antonio and me. Hull cast a spell. Something like an electrical bolt hit Antonio, and he fell, gasping. I started for him, then saw the knife, just inches from my hand. I stretched to grab it, but it flew out of my reach, sailing back toward Hull, propelled by some spell.

I struggled to my feet, my hand throbbing, my ankle blazing as if I’d twisted it. I stumbled forward, nearly blind with dizziness. Had I hit my head? I couldn’t remember. Couldn’t worry about that. Not now. Had to get-

A familiar jab in my belly, and I went still. Hull grabbed the back of my shirt.

“Walk,” he said.

When I resisted, the knife dug in. I walked then, letting him push me as I tripped and staggered, my ankle giving way with every step, the world around me swaying and dimming, threatening to go black, the sounds of struggle fading as we moved deeper into the woods.

“You ought to have accepted my offer,” Hull said. “Had the operation gone smoothly, surely there would have been more babes to come.”

I tried to growl, but only managed a rasp.

“Perhaps you still held out hope for escape. It would have done you no good. Your blood opened my portal. As long as you live, I can find you, wherever you hide. You carry the treasure of a lifetime in your belly. I would have tracked you to the south pole if I had to.”

As I trudged in silence, I struggled to think of a plan, but my brain kept shorting out, throwing up images of Clay prone on the ground, Antonio falling back, hit by God-knew-what, Jeremy and Nick fighting off the zombies…

Hull kept talking. Rambling in a happy monologue, so pleased with himself. After a moment, I could hear the sound of distant traffic. Then an odd rhythmic thumping. A train? No, running paws, beating against hard ground. Who could Change that quickly?

The answer came even as the dark blur flew from the undergrowth beside us. I twisted, putting every bit of energy I had into getting away from that knife. The tip of it scratched along the side of my belly. Then the knife flew up as Jeremy caught Hull’s arm in his teeth.

Hull cast a spell, snarling the words. But nothing happened. Jeremy swung Hull around. As the sorcerer flew off his feet, he cast again, flicking his fingers. A simple knockback spell, but it worked. Jeremy lost his grip on Hull’s arm.

As Jeremy stumbled back, I clumsily dove to protect him. We both hit the ground. I turned to see Hull’s back disappearing into the forest.

Jeremy went after him, but a moment later the squeal of tires and horns told me Hull had reached the road. Jeremy couldn’t follow him there.

I paused for just a second, then raced back to Clay.

I remember that headlong rush as a blur, tree branches whipping my face, vines grabbing my feet. Nick and Tolliver were crouched beside Clay. His eyes were still closed.

A cold nose pressed my palm, as Jeremy moved up beside me. As I swayed, I reached for him, my fingers deep in the fur around his neck, grabbing him for balance as my knees gave way and everything went dark.