Shadow Wranglers: Slade Part 32

She'd had enough of this catch-22. "If anyone from Sanctuary gets a hold of that laptop, within a very short amount of time their scientists will know how to alter your body chemistry and every d.a.m.n member of your pack's chemistry so that you waste away. Just like Joseph."

His head snapped around. "You said there wasn't anything on that laptop that concerned us."

"There wasn't, but I started getting worried about what would happen if the flash drive got damaged. I didn't have a backup."

He lowered the rifle slightly. His brows took the same downward dip. "So you backed up to the computer."

"Yes, I did."

"f.u.c.k."

"Precisely."

Something thudded against the side of the building. She jumped. Broderick's expression grew even more serious. She pressed her advantage. "We can't leave that laptop out there."

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h." He put his hand to the transceiver and turned away. She could hear the low murmur of his voice. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but his energy was intense, las.h.i.+ng around like the tail of a cat on the verge of attack. She knew he was supposed to be a wolf, but right then he looked like a panther full of lethal energy backed into a corner with no good way to turn. She knew exactly how he felt. She waited while he debated the issue, her nerves crawling beneath her skin. The alarm sounded again in the vicinity of the kitchen.

"Are you sure they can't see in the windows?"

"Yes."

"Would you know if the s.h.i.+elding failed?"

The sense of las.h.i.+ng energy increased. "I a.s.sume so."

"There has to be a reason they're focusing their attention by the kitchen."

"f.u.c.k."

"You are if they get that information."

She waited. He held his position. G.o.dd.a.m.nit. They couldn't just sit here and let the unthinkable happen. "I'm getting that laptop. You can stay here or come with. I don't care."

She darted out the door. Once in the hall, she slowed down. The house she'd thought so cozy just a few hours ago now seemed claustrophobic.

"Lost your courage?" Broderick asked.

"Did you lose yours?"

He shouldered past her. "What makes you ask that?"

"There had to be some reason they made you my babysitter."

The sound that came from his throat was definitely a growl. She stuck close to his back as he made his way to the kitchen. It was only twenty feet but felt like twenty miles. When she got to the kitchen she could see light beyond the window. Nowhere else in the house was there light. Broderick's curse confirmed her worst fear. "The s.h.i.+elds aren't working here, are they?"

"No."

Another thought hit her. If light was coming in the window, that meant it was daylight outside. "Where's Slade?"

With a jerk of his chin, Broderick indicated the door.

"He can't survive sunlight!"

The wolf didn't say anything.

"Why didn't he stay with me?"

Broderick leaned against the wall, checking the perimeter beyond. "The subject was brought up."

"By whom?"

"Tobias. Creed. Derek." He shrugged. "Myself. He didn't listen."

Why was she not surprised? "Why didn't you bring it up harder? Maybe with a two-by-four in hand?"

"He's your mate. He has a right to protect you."

She grabbed the computer off the table. "And how is he going to protect me if he's a crispy critter?"

Broderick moved to the next window, easing the curtains aside. "He's trying out his new sunscreen."

"In the middle of battle?" She headed for the door.

Broderick caught her arm. "Slade's the smartest man I know. And he wouldn't risk you for pride."

"What aren't you telling me, Broderick?"

"We're outnumbered."

She straightened slowly. "That has the sound of an understatement."

He nodded. "Slade has a plan, but for it to work he has to be part of it."

"How did he get out of my bed without me knowing?"

"He drugged you."

"With his mind?"

Broderick shook his head. "That would've been easier, but he said it wouldn't work."

Because she'd learned to block him.

"He actually drugged me?"

She didn't know why she was shocked, but she was.

"A bit primitive for a vampire, but yes."

"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"He didn't want you in the middle of things."

The wall of silence on Slade's side of their normally noisy mental connection took on a much more sinister quality. Grabbing her backpack from where it hung on a kitchen chair, she yanked it open. "Well, that's a plan that's about to backfire on him."

Broderick grabbed for her arm. She twisted away. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not leaving him out there alone."

"He's not alone."

"So you say, but if the team is as badly outnumbered as you've led me to believe, and everyone is fighting their battles"-she jerked at the backpack zipper-"then how the h.e.l.l do you know that he's alive and not down?"

"Jane, you're too important to risk. That's just the bottom line. And if I have to knock you out, I'll knock you out, but you're not going out there."

She scanned with her senses, looking for any indication that Slade was alive. She couldn't find it. There was just that wall of nothingness where he should be. It could be he was blocking her, but there could be another, more sinister reason. He could be down, a victim of his own experiment. He could be burning as she sat here arguing. An image leapt into her mind. An image of Slade lying unprotected in the sun, his skin turning to ash over his bones. His face contorted in a scream of agony. Shoving the laptop in the pack, she yanked the zipper closed and grabbed her shoes. Slade wasn't going to die like that.

In her gut, emotion and determination coiled into a tight ma.s.s. The force built. It was scary. It was empowering. So much energy inside her, it spilled over into a s.h.i.+mmer of light around her. Broderick reached out. The motion appeared slow. But it wasn't. She knew it wasn't. Werewolves had reflexes as quick as lightning. She looked into his eyes. The power built. Inside her, the protest built right alongside it. Sound faded. The ghostly light in the periphery of her vision grew brighter.

No.

Broderick froze.

Get back.

He took a step back. She didn't know what she was doing or how she was doing it, but somehow she'd stopped him. A full-grown were. Was it a delusion caused by the drug? Was it real? How long would it last? Hitching the backpack up on her shoulder, Jane glanced at the door. It had to last long enough. She took a step and looked back. Broderick was still standing there, his expression blank. She touched her fingers to the pack's shoulder strap. She couldn't take the laptop with her. Sliding it off her shoulder, she put it on the floor and cautiously shoved it toward Broderick. With every bit of the energy in her, she gave an order. "Protect it."

Not a muscle in the were's face moved. Had he heard?

"Do you hear me?" she asked.

He nodded. Jane sighed. It was the best she could do. Staying low as she'd seen on TV, she opened the door slowly and immediately winced. Her panic was premature. No spray of bullets filled the interior. No one shouted a warning.

She looked back. Broderick was picking up the backpack. Sunlight caught on the gun attached to his hip. She'd need a weapon. Closing the door, she hurried back and quickly took it from his belt. He caught her hand. Her heart leapt in her throat.

Let go.

The fact that he did freaked her out. She backed toward the door, watching him carefully, expecting a trick. Beyond picking up his rifle, he didn't move. She opened the door again. A fly was the only thing that seemed to notice.

She sneaked out into the suns.h.i.+ne. For once, the environment could work for her. Daylight was her natural environment. Or at least it used to be until Slade had forced her to start living in the night. She rubbed at her burning eyes and the tears blurring her vision. She didn't used to be this sensitive.

A whisper of energy trickled over her shoulder. She spun to her left, blinking furiously. Lifting the gun, she pointed it at the monster coming at her. She had the impression of a semihuman form baring yellowed canines before she pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. If a monster could smile, it was a grin that spread across the beast's face as its approach slowed to a stalk. Jane looked at the gun through a haze of tears. In rapid succession, her mind catalogued the pieces. The little lever on the left looked out of place. Flipping it down, she raised the gun again. The monster lunged. She pulled the trigger.

Blinding light shot from the gun. The recoil knocked her back into the wall. A hole big enough to put her arm through blew wide in the monster's chest. She could see daylight through it. Her stomach heaved. He crumpled at her feet, the grin still on his face. There was no blood. No gore. The edges of the wound were seared closed. She tilted the gun to the side and looked at it again. What in h.e.l.l was this thing?

She took a step to the left, shock splitting her purpose. Half of her screamed to get inside. The other half screamed for Slade. The sun burned uncomfortably on her skin. Hotter than she'd ever remembered the sun feeling. Another residual effect of whatever the drug was that Slade had given her? Or something more? She was beginning to suspect the latter.

She tried another mental probe. Slade.

Again no answer, but an inner voice prompted her to go to the right. Inching along the building, holding the gun in front of her, she swore. She wasn't cut out for this. She was a scientist, for heaven's sake. She didn't indulge in confrontation. She just created through research the moral issues that others loved to debate. She stubbed her toe, grimacing as she stumbled. There was a reason she hadn't joined the military. And that reason was, she was a G.o.dd.a.m.ned coward. She didn't like having to face life-or-death reality. She liked being locked up in the carefully controlled environment of her lab where everything went the way she said it should go. So how the h.e.l.l had she ended up out here in the middle of a war between supernatural beings that wanted to take her prisoner, rape her mind, and then kill her? How did things like this happen to anyone, let alone her? One of these days she was going to have to seriously talk to G.o.d. GI Jane she was not, and he had to stop putting her in scenarios just because he believed she could be.

Energy whipped at her from above. With a mental block she sent it sliding to the side. Dirt spewed in every direction under the impact. She jumped back. The ground exploded again where she'd just been standing. Son of a b.i.t.c.h, there was someone on the roof.

Pressing back against the building, she counted to four. Instinct said she had to cross the clearing. But if she left the shelter of the overhang, she'd be an easy target. Of course, staying here was no better. No doubt that person on the roof had one of those transceivers that Slade wouldn't give her. And no doubt he was talking to all the other monster guys running around loose. While she could talk to only herself. So in about three minutes everybody was going to know where she was. And if everybody knew where she was and everybody came for a party, she was not going to escape. Which meant once again, she had to do something.

Please, Lord, let them see me for what I am, the wussy scientist about to pee her pants, and not some sort of bada.s.s that needs shooting. I could use the edge.

Turning around, she pressed her elbows against the building.

Don't see me. Don't see me. Don't see me.

On the count of three she backed up into the open, blindly aiming for her rooftop target. He was standing there looking around. She pulled the trigger. The same hole exploded in his torso. And just like the last monster, he dropped. Before she could lose her courage, she bolted for the woods. Slade was in there somewhere. She heard a shout. It sounded like Tobias. An order burst into her mind.

Get in the house.

She fired back along the mental channel, Leave me alone.

To her surprise there was no response and no one came running toward her. She made it to the woods. As soon as she stepped under the sheltering branches, she realized her mistake. She couldn't see anything beyond the next tree. Here the monsters had all the advantage. They could be above her, below her; they could be waiting on the other side of the next bush.

"d.a.m.n it."

It sucked being a human in a world of paranormals. It wasn't as if she could go back, though. Which left only one option. She had to find Slade. She headed deeper into the woods, letting her instinct guide her. Thirty feet in, she had an option. Up or down. Her gut said down. She followed the muddy streambed down the hill, every step taking her farther away from the house. Farther from the team. Hopefully, farther from the monsters. Her heart pounding in her chest, she resumed her mantra.

Don't see me. Don't see me. Don't see me.

The couple minutes she walked felt like forever. Through the breaks in the underbrush she could see the house and the monsters that stalked it. She could hear the sounds of battle, but no one seemed to see her. No doubt they were too focused on killing Tobias and the others to notice a lone woman creeping down a streambed. Which was good. At the next curve of the stream, the path was blocked by a fallen log. From the hollow beneath the log poked ... a boot? She knew that boot.

"Slade!"

Pulling back the branches, she stepped over the log. It was Slade but he was all but unrecognizable. His hands and face were an ugly blackish red. Blisters bubbled under his skin. A gaping wound seeped a steady stream of blood from his side. She didn't have to be a doctor to know it was bad. But she was a doctor and she knew what that wound meant. There was no way Slade hadn't suffered ma.s.sive internal damage. She didn't know how much blood a vampire could lose and survive, but Slade had to be getting to the limit.

Don't see us. Don't see us. Don't see us.

She couldn't stop the chant even to scream for help. Reaching up, she moved a strand of hair off Slade's face. His beloved handsome face. She wanted to stroke his cheek but as burned as he was, his skin would come off in her hand. She shuddered and pulled her hand back.

"Some bada.s.s vampire."

Something stuck to her fingers. Looking down she saw they were stained with the same reddish black of his skin. He wasn't burned. He was covered in sunblock. The relief was staggering. "d.a.m.n it, Slade, only you would have your sunblock mimic a burn."

Resting her forehead against his, Jane let herself relax just for a second. She'd found him. And he was alive. But for how long? Sitting up, she cupped his face in her hand. "You hold on, Slade Johnson."

Not even a flicker in his energy. She wanted nothing more than to lay down beside him and hold him until help came, but she also knew help wasn't going to come. Not in the time Slade needed. And if the Sanctuary monsters overpowered the team, then not at all. She set the gun on his thigh and lifted his s.h.i.+rt away from his wound. Her gorge rose and clogged the scream in her throat. For a moment her litany stopped. From afar she heard a shout.

Oh G.o.d! Had they been found?.

Don't see us. Don't see us. Don't see us.

With a shaking hand, she rested her palm on his stomach. She could see his intestines through the hole.