Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) (27 page)

Emma’s shoulders sagged as she exhaled
whatever scream she’d managed to suppress.

“
Got it,” Wes
called.

The front door opened and closed. The
air shifted as more bodies were added to the space.

I wasn’t sure if my animal instincts
were on edge at not having shifted in so many hours, but I could
literally feel—and smell—Logan and Victoria crossing the
threshold.

Emma and I exchanged a look. She was
tense, more than George and I put together. Losing Janie made her
jumpy. “It’s all right. They’re friends,” I told her.

She nodded, her blue eyes wide. “I
know.”

I heard footsteps and mingled “hellos”
from Wes and Logan as they greeted each other. I heard Victoria
complaining about her skin prickling. I set aside the dishtowel I’d
been using and made my way toward the noise.

I saw Logan first. He wore jeans with
the knees frayed and a ball cap turned backward. Sandy blond hair
stuck out the bottom of his hat, choppy and longer than I’d last
seen it. He looked every inch the surfer-boy, an image that clashed
yet somehow perfectly complimented his chess club president
personality.

“
Hey,” I said. He stopped
talking to Wes mid-sentence when he caught sight of me. We both
grinned and I launched myself into his arms.

“
I missed you,” he
said.

“
Missed you too.” I hadn’t
realized how much until this moment. The familiarity of those baby
blues felt like family had come home. I patted his cheek. “Glad
you’re here.”

“
Speaking of which, how’d
you find it?” George asked from behind me.

Logan released me. I caught sight of
Victoria scowling at me from behind her blond mane. She looked
rumpled; her clothes were wrinkled and her shoes muddy. It made me
smile to see Victoria Lexington looking less than perfect. “Hi,
Vic,” I said cheerily.

“
Mutt,” she
said.

We were off to a great
start.

Logan pretended not to hear our
exchange—or George’s question. “Any more news about
Steppe?”

My eyes narrowed and I turned to face
him fully. “Logan. What are you not saying?”

“
What are you talking
about?” His cheeks reddened and his eyes darted from point to
point, not ever focusing on any one object. Or person.

“
George asked you a
question. And you’re dodging. What are you not telling us?” I
demanded.

“
Dammit, Logan, I told you
they’d know. You suck at lying,” Victoria said.

Logan made a noise of frustration that
made me think they’d had this argument more than once already. “I
don’t suck at lying,” Logan said.

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Darling,
yes. You do.”

If I hadn’t been so intent on whatever
he was hiding, I would’ve smiled. Or at least agreed. Logan did
suck at lying. But right now, I wasn’t complaining.

“
Logan…?” I
prompted.

He sighed, his shoulders stooping in
defeat. “Fine. Remember how Edie told you the only way to actually
see this place was to be a hybrid?”

“
Yeah,” I said, drawing
out the word.

“
Well, the second part of
that is that as long as you’re making physical contact with a
hybrid, the house becomes visible by extension.”

We were all quiet as we digested that.
George spoke first. “What the hell does that mean?”

“
It means, he was touching
a hybrid when we entered the clearing,” Victoria said.

“
And when we
knocked.”

My belly fluttered. The strange
awareness I’d had when they walked in … it’d been more than new
bodies being added to the space. I’d sensed another animal. “What
hybrid?” I asked.

Someone knocked.

Tension flooded the space. Beside me,
Wes stiffened. I felt the change in George immediately. All traces
of frustration were gone. He’d gone into full protector
mode.

“
Answer fast, Logan,” I
said.

He opened the door. “Astor,” he
said.

I blinked at the sight of my uncle on
the threshold. He wore his house slippers along with a ratty pair
of trousers and an untucked, half-buttoned shirt. His mouth was
turned downward but instead of unhappy, it made him look more
distracted.

“
Uncle Astor?” I
said.

“
Well, it ain’t the pope,”
he said, shoving past Logan and waltzing inside. When he passed
through the open doorway, the air cracked like thunder. I
jumped.

“
All finished. You can
close the door,” he said, turning to look at Logan.

“
He resealed the barrier,
didn’t he?” I asked.

Logan shrugged.

“
Ugh.”

Victoria gave me an acidic smile.
“Remember when I told you to convince him to let me come alone?
This is why.”

***

“
We have to go back,”
Victoria announced.

From across the circle, Wes glared at
me. I threw up my hands in defense. “I didn’t say a word. This is
all her.” I said.

“
I’m serious, we have to,”
she repeated, ignoring our interruption. “The hybrids are still in
Virginia.”

“
My whole pack? They’re
still there?” I said.

“
Definitely. There’s too
many to miss,” she said.

We’d left Victoria alone
for the better part of two hours, letting her eat and then nap on
the couch. I suspected she’d mostly lain there with her eyes closed
and listened to our conversation, but I’d given her enough time
that she couldn’t complain when we roused her. Not that she
didn’t
complain, but she
got up.

The tracking itself took no time at
all. She’d barely closed her eyes, letting her hand rest on Emma’s
shoulder to “ground herself,” as she put it. Then she’d taken a
deep breath and almost immediately, her lids had opened again and
she’d announced we had to leave.

“
That’s a great idea, but
we can’t,” George said. “We’re sealed in.”

We all looked pointedly at Astor, who
ignored us in favor of whatever he was saying to Emma. He’d taken
to her in a way that could only be described as scientific
curiosity. He’d already questioned her extensively about her
background before she’d been turned and how she felt now that she
was … what she was. George, however, stood behind where they sat on
the couch, arms folded, like a brooding bouncer. He didn’t like
Astor’s fascination with what he now thought of as “his
girl.”

“
Astor,” I said. He didn’t
turn. “Astor!”

He jumped. “Hmm? What?”

“
How do we remove the
barrier?” I asked.

“
Oh, the bypass phrase, of
course.”

“
What is it?”

He looked at Logan who shook his head.
“I’m not supposed to tell you,” Astor said before turning back to
his conversation with Emma.

I glared at Logan. “And why is
that?”

Victoria answered before Logan could.
“Because Edie thinks you’ll do something stupid. Like
leave.”

“
Well, isn’t that what the
bypass phrase is for?” I said. “So we can leave?”

“
No,” Victoria said. She
tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If I recall Edie’s words correctly,
the bypass phrase is to protect Tara from the danger of herself
until we can figure out a plan that won’t get her
killed.”

I blew out a breath and jumped to my
feet. “This is stupid.”

“
Where are you going?” Wes
asked.

“
I’m calling
Grandma.”

No one argued as I stomped
out.

Upstairs, I found the phone and dialed
Grandma’s cell. Halfway through punching in the numbers, I changed
my mind. I cleared the screen and dialed the number for Jack and
Fee’s satellite phone.

“
Hello?” said a deep
male’s voice.

“
Derek? Is that
you?”

“
Tara? Yeah, what’s up?
Everything okay?”

“
Everything’s fine.” I
decided against telling him about our newest guest. If word hadn’t
reached him yet that they were coming, I didn’t want to give away
my intentions. “How’s everything where you are?”

“
Cord and I started a
paper cut war to keep things interesting.”

“
Sounds
exciting.”

“
You have no idea. My
whole right arm burns like I’ve pissed off a mountain of fire ants.
Can you die from blood loss due to paper cuts?”

“
I don’t think
so.”

“
Damn.”

“
That’s a
disappointment?”

“
It is when death is the
only cure for this kind of boredom.”

“
Your pain is noted. Is
Cambria around?”

“
Sure. She’s right here.
Bugging me to watch this Vampire Diaries thing she found in the DVD
collection here. But I’m staying strong.”

I laughed. “Good for you. Can I say
hi?”

“
Yeah. Hey, Wes told me
about Janie. I’m sorry about that.”

“
Thanks,” I
said.

He paused and said, “Here’s
Cambria.”

There was shuffling and then, “Hey,
stranger.”

“
Hey, Cam.”

“
It’s been so long since I
heard your voice I almost forgot what it sounds like.”

“
And? How is the
experience?”

“
Fairy wings and
leprechauns. Magical.”

I snorted. “It’s been like three
days.”

“
Like I said. To what do I
owe the pleasure today?”

“
Is Derek still there or
can you talk privately?”

“
Uh … Hey, babe, can you
go get me more of those pistachio things we had
earlier?”

Derek said something in the background
followed by a pause and then, “Private convo is a go. What’s
up?”

“
Secret spy stuff,” I
said. “I need a favor.”

“
Double-oh-seven
style?”

“
Yes.”

“
Is there a threat of
death if we get caught?”

“
Absolutely.”

“
I’m in.”

“
I need you to compel
Grandma to tell you the bypass phrase for the cabin.”

“
Uh-uh. I’m
out.”

“
Cambria.”

“
So, so out. Like, far
out. Like outer space.”

“
Come on. You said you
were in.”

“
That was before I knew
you meant Edie. No way I am charming Edie. Do you know what she
would do to me?”

“
No.”

“
Neither do I and that
concept is way scarier than knowing.”

“
Cam, Alex is
awake.”

“
I heard. And let me
guess. You need to get there and hold his hand. It’s not a good
idea, Tara. Don’t you think Steppe is watching him, hoping you’ll
do that?”

“
I’m not that stupid. I
wouldn’t go to the hospital. Besides, it’s not just about seeing
Alex. I think … I felt something from him when we
talked.”

“
You talked to him? When?
Dumb, Tara, even for you.”

“
It was on the secure
line. Are you listening to me? I felt something. As in, possible
bond.”

“
What do you mean a … oh,
because your blood and— Holy crap on a cracker.”

“
Exactly.”

“
Can you feel him right
now?”

“
No, it ended when we hung
up. I think it has something to do with whatever Steppe did to my
pack when he took them. If I can figure it out, I can get them
back.”

“
Uh-huh. How’s that,
exactly? Are you going to wander around until Steppe finds you? Or
worse, the human police find your boyfriend?”

“
I wouldn’t wander. I
would track them.”

“
Track them
how?”

“
Um, Victoria is
here.”

“
Vic the Sick is there?
With you? How? Explain.”

I told her about my phone call with
Victoria, then Logan, leading up to and including the arrival of
Astor.

“
I can’t believe the mad
scientist left his laboratory.”

“
I know. It’s weird seeing
him out of that house. This one is so normal and makes him look so
… not normal.”

“
Isn’t Astor the one who
made the barrier? Make him tell you the bypass phrase.”

“
Uh, have you met my
uncle? Remember, crazy?”

She sighed. “Touché.”

“
So?”

She didn’t answer for a moment. “And
Victoria is going to help you track them out of the kindness of her
little heart?”

“
That’s the
idea.”

“
Huh. Didn’t know she had
a heart.”

“
Cam.”

“
Yeah, yeah. I’ll do
it.”