Battle for Blood Ch. 06

She relaxed, allowing the wolf to feel her give underneath his huge body. The creature loosened its grip on her throat oh so slightly. With strength she had never tapped before, Shane jerked violently in the animal's grip, its jaws raking more damage as she pulled her flesh away from its clutches. The creature tried to stun her with a heavy blow to her torso, but she twisted, moving to face the creature. In the same motion she brought her elbow against the thing's throat sending it choking and sputtering back. Shane scrambled out from beneath her attacker. There was no time. She couldn't allow the creature another chance. It would have to be close quarters.

She flung herself with deadly intent at the hybrid wolf in front of her. Ignoring the creature clawed hands raking her face and the side of her head, she smashed both fists into the same spot, crushing the creature's windpipe. The stunned wolf backed away a few paces, a horrific gurgling sound coming from its throat. Shane watched in horror as the creature began to shrink, stumbling backwards. The fur seemed to roll off its body; its face shortened, human features reappeared. A girl emerged from the fearsome form, grasping her throat. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Shane, still sputtering blood from her ruined throat. And then the sound stopped; her body hit the floor with a thud.

Shane had gathered herself enough not to leave a trail back to the safe house, but coming down from this fight was dragging her strength. What she wouldn't give to just close her eyes and forget trying to diminish the pain, just let oblivion come and deal with the mess if she ever woke up. But she set her teeth again. Just a bit more. The puncture wounds in her neck began to close and she pushed the filth from them with shear will, unable to focus on a more delicate process. She went to her face, patching her ear and cheek back together. The welts would wait till she woke up. For now just enough to make sure she stayed healed instead of letting the damage wreak havoc on her body while she slept. She felt her blood turn thicker as more of it clotted in her wounds. She had to move faster.

Her skin was mostly closed now save some scrapes on her hands and arms she couldn't bring herself to care about. She stripped off her mangled clothing, dropping it in a bloody pile on the floor. She turned on the water and let the heat from the shower sooth her muscles. Two cracked ribs, a broken wrist and a bone bruise on her clavicle slowly began mending themselves as she stood under the water, letting the blood and muck run from her skin. The floor ran red and black, her blood twisting its way towards the drain.

She stumbled from the shower as the water ran clear. Her shoulder was torn; the big muscle in her thigh was also. She barely managed to push them towards healing, choosing instead to dampen the nerves as she made her way into the kitchen, achingly wrapping a towel around her beaten body. She had to get something in her before she passed out. All this healing was going to mean depleting her energy stores. As weary as she was she forced down a protein drink Cole had bought during her withdrawal. The sugar helped her make it to the bed; the protein would help rebuild her muscles. With what seemed like monumental effort, Shane dragged one of Coles t-shirts over her head. She climbed onto the bed, collapsing as she neared the pillows. And then it was all black.

***

Cole was fidgeting mentally through the meeting. Something had been nagging at him all evening. It couldn't be Elise, he was not terribly concerned with the outcome of Adriana's downfall. It was convenient for sure, and sweet revenge for what that woman had done to Shane but all in all, there wasn't much she could do to him.

There were, as they say, bigger fish to fry. Landsman and the intelligence officers of the council had finished a full briefing to the Night's Guards and Cole on the situation with the wolves. The leaders were holed up in a former military weapons testing outpost in the middle of the sun scorched desert. They were planning not only an all out war come midsummer, but also some sort of ritual sacrifice that had to do with the prophecy. The council had no answers as to why the wolves had the prophecy that should have been in the box retrieved from Ze'ev's home nor did they know who the vampire was who was helping the wolves, though they were sure there was one. There was a mystical aspect to this war that everyone seemed to be ignoring. There was more intelligence on where the wolves were than what their plans were so everyone stayed focused on that.

Olrun his captains were talking tactics for infiltrating the messy looking floor plans spread out on the table. Innis and some of the others were speaking about wolf hunting techniques and other such useful things for a war. Cole could not, or would not, care enough at this moment to try and add anything to these conversations. He was no tactical mastermind and he found that shooting wolves was the best way to get rid of them. Why was he so on edge? Something inside him was troubled. He stared out the window, letting the sounds behind him fade into a low buzz of voices.

"Penny for your thoughts." Einar's silky voice came up next to Cole. So much for him being able to keep things under wraps.

"If I knew I'd consider it." Cole tried to smile at his friend. "Something's not right, that's all."

Einar nodded. The man was smaller than Cole but he moved with a kind of grace that spoke of deadly possibilities. When he and Cole had first met, Einar was an assassin for hire, the best there was, until someone sent him after the wrong target and he returned a vampire. Cole looked at the man's pale face. Einar was also Norse origin but he was smaller and darker than Olrun, his dangerous look offset only by the mischievous smirk on his face and the tiniest glint in his light eyes.

"Silver net got your tongue?" Einar quipped. Cole flinched mentally, careful not to let Einar know the thought still pained him.

"So you heard," Cole said, still not looking at the small smile he knew was curled in the edge of Einar's mouth.

"Everyone has heard, oh most ancient one. No one puts a vampire your age in a hole for that long without it making it into the headlines."

"How lovely for everyone," Cole continued looking out the window, hoping Einar might get the idea. He had no desire to hear what idle gossip had been spread while he rotted, starving and alone in a hole for three years.

Einar moved next to Cole, mimicking his folded arms and gazing out the window as well. "You shouldn't let it hurt your pride though. No one knows how they found the spells for those nets or how they managed to pull them off. Created quite a tizzy in the archives."

"I'm sure some young vampire will get a dissertation out of it someday," Cole said, still unable to find the humor in it. He wanted to smile and self deprecate but he couldn't focus on what Einar was saying really. His mind kept slipping back to Shane. Now, instead of her smile he saw her pain. The image of her convulsing from withdrawal kept sticking in his head. Pull yourself together, he ordered. With that, he shoved the thoughts of her from his mind and turning back to Einar who had just started to speak again.

"Doubtful. In attempts to figure out how to recover you we came up with nearly nothing on the type of weapons they were using. A few mentions here or there but nothing substantial. It seemed unlikely, even if we were to reach you, that a vampire would have been able to set you free."

Cole finally smiled at the smaller man, clapping him on the shoulder. The topic was getting dangerously close to Shane and Cole needed to keep it far away. "Let's not worry too much about what has been done. I appreciate the sentiment but I know how deep the divide runs between the new world and the old. I can't believe you are here even now."

Einar smiled back. "Olrun didn't take the council's advice. It seems he's itching for a fight after a few centuries on his farm." Cole looked at the gigantic man bent over the never-ending floor plans. He had heard the old Viking had a sheep farm but he had always found it hard to believe. "He may have told them, in so many words, that they were a rotten lot with no loyalty or purpose and it would be best if they saved him the trouble and staked themselves before he returned."

Cole arched an eyebrow. Einar nodded, becoming more serious. "He's taking this threat seriously. His maker survived the last one. I think it left an impression."

Cole nodded, the council in Europe probably had it coming, but for Olrun to call the Night Guards without sanction was unprecedented to say the least. "It has made this a different fight," he said finally.

Einar smirked again. "I think we're all looking forward to it."

Just then an aid came through the door. Cole heard the sound of scurrying feet and looked over to see the man whispering hurriedly to Landsman. The head of the council looked a bit pale at the news he was receiving. Cole checked the time. It was almost certainly Ricardo. Elise had been due in his rooms only 20 minutes before. Landsman excused himself from the room and followed to man out.

There was an accord, an understanding, that vampires should not harm each other where the council gathered. It had never really held. You couldn't stop a duel or a good scheme every time. Cole grimaced mentally, making sure his face didn't betray his thoughts; he now had the dubious honor of being one of those schemers who undercut the integrity of the supposedly sacred council. For the greater good, he supposed. It didn't hurt that it would give Elise the revenge she desperately wanted without compromising her situation. Cole knew with all of the mess of war that the council would not want to tarry on a seemingly straightforward assassination. The process would be over and done with quickly and everyone could move on. Well, everyone but Adriana.

Cole turned back to the window. Something else was still troubling him, something more personal than this, frankly well deserved, murder.

"Sometimes it's best to let your mind go where it may in these situations." Einar spoke again, having noticed Cole's face frown once more. "Pushing things away doesn't always work. You can't run from everything. Though you know that better than most now." Apparently Einar could still read his old friend rather well.

Cole sighed. Maybe Einar was right. He closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the room fade out. His mind opened, moving across the space between him and those nearest. Older vampires' minds would be closed to him by and large but he could still feel Einar's excitement at the prospect of a good fight. Olrun's focus was piercing in the room. Beyond the walls, people scurried around. Elise, it seemed, had cause quite the commotion. Cole followed the anxious waves coming from those present in the room. He slipped into the head of one of the human aids, who was standing at the door to Ricardo's room.

The place was a mess. Elise was hysterical in the corner, two people were holding her down and a third was administering a sedative. Her reaction would help solidify her innocence as a pawn in this game. Ricardo's body was stretched out on the floor, twisted and still. Blood pooled underneath him as the poison had opened his orifices. Cole had given Elise one of the most powerful vampire poisons, laced with silver, in order to assure that even if she couldn't completely inject it there would be enough to kill him anyway. It seems Cole shouldn't have been worried. The girl had done everything perfectly.

Several security personnel were standing over the body, gesturing to the scene in front of them. The human Cole was inhabiting couldn't hear them clearly. Landsman shoved past the aid's body, blowing into the room. He moved to speak with the others over Ricardo.

Something was still pulling him away. He would have liked to stay, hear what was taking place and what the expected motive theories were, but this was not the root of his anxiety. Something called to him from far away. He slipped out of the aid and continued to let his mind flow freely over the surrounding complex. Cole felt at once very large, being able to see so much and feel so many at once. But there was a terrifying loss of self. As his consciousness reached outwards, the boundaries of his own body seemed less well defined. He had to focus, move towards that pit in his chest somehow; to see what it was in the outside world that mirrored the feelings inside him so he could match the two up. He let himself leave the house, past the other buildings that made up the larger complex. He felt himself pulled back to the road, retracing the path he had followed only a few days before. He reached the edge of where he could push his mind. He could feel the road ahead but he couldn't follow it down. What was it? What was back there?

Cole's eye snapped open. Shane. Of course. What an idiot. She wasn't popping into his head because he was some lovesick teenager. Something had happened. His anxiety was her anxiety. Some strange connection between them was pulling him back towards her. He had been shutting it out all night. He cursed himself under his breath.

"I take it you found it?" Einar said, trying to sound disinterested. He was leaning against the window frame in front of Cole, watching the older vampire's face very carefully.

"I did," Cole said. He had to leave. He had maybe three hours till dawn. The drive was at least 5. He'd have to get creative. "I have to leave." Cole turned to Einar. "I need to leave now."

Einar nodded "I'll tell them. Don't be long though."

"I'll be back tomorrow."

***

The sky was brightening over Boston when Cole's car screeched to a halt at the edge of the stockyard he had once called home. Lights flashed against the rooftops of several buildings. Police were everywhere. His heart caught in his chest. This close he could feel Shane, but there was something blocking him from her mind. Something wasn't right. Cole looked up at the sky. He'd have to make this fast.

Cole slid from the car, using his speed so that he would appear as only a blur to anyone looking in his direction, he made off towards his safe house. He slowed as he approached, realizing he could hear two human heartbeats inside. They were on the second floor—the police had found the evidence of his stay. In a flash, Cole was up the stairs and standing at the doorway, looking in at two uniformed officers who were inspecting the room with flashlights.

"Good evening, officers," Cole said, reaching with his power into their minds, stilling the hands that had instinctually gone for their guns. He took their fear and excitement at the intrusion and formed it into a calm, pleasant feeling with his will. Their bodies relaxed, they both turned towards him, lowering the flashlights. "May I ask what you are doing here?"

"Four bodies found a few buildings over. Checking the scene to see if the killer left any traces. Came across this room. About to call it in," the older one spoke in a brassy accent. The younger one nodded, his face smooth and smiling.

"That won't be necessary," Cole said, imposing his will on the command. He began shifting through the men's memories of the room, blotting them out. "Whose bodies did they find?"

"No IDs, they were all naked. The pattern of disposal seems very strange. At least one of them fell to their death. One was crushed under a storage container, another with a pipe in his head. Looks like each one might be the result of a fight. No idea if they fought each other or someone else. Still canvassing the area." The officer continued, "The last girl's windpipe was crushed, she choked in her own blood. Pretty rough fight if you ask me."

Cole rushed into the man's mind, forcing himself into the memory, desperate to see the face of the girl he was speaking about. It wasn't Shane, it couldn't be. In the officer's mind he could see the vaguest outline of a young girl's body crumpled on the rooftop. Not close enough. Cole felt panicked. It couldn't be Shane. He could still feel her. He threw open his mind, trying once again to feel for Shane's presence. There she was, underneath his feet. But she was still closed to him.

"Gentlemen, return to your work, you thoroughly canvassed this area and found nothing of interest. Should anyone else discover this room you will inform them it is a room used by some of the dockworkers as a gym of sorts. There is nothing else to find here." With that Cole released their minds and watched as the filed past him, down the stairs and out of the building.

He rushed down the stairs and over to the far wall, practically throwing the shelves that stood in front of the entrance to the safe house across the room. He barely managed to cover the entrance again so no other prying eyes would find them. He followed the small stairwell down into the hidden basement, opening the door into the room.

There she was. His breath caught in his throat. She was lying on the bed, sleeping in one of his t-shirts. Her hair was spread out across the pillows in tumbling chestnut curls. She was all right. He could hear her breathing, her heartbeat; she was alive. Her heartbeat though, it was slow—too slow, too weak. Cole rushed to the bed. As he neared the injuries on her body became clearer. Bruised spread over her arms and legs. He could see hastily repaired gouges in her cheek. Her ear looked like it had been chewed on. He sat next to her on the bed.

"Shane!" He called out, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly. He needed a sign of life. "Shane, are you there?" Her body remained impassive. He picked her limp body up and hugged it to his chest. Any moment she would respond, he'd feel her fingers in his hair again, a kiss against his neck. But she remained dead weight, her head falling back and away from him.

He lowered her to the bed again. Fucking wolves! They had found his safe house and attacked her. She looked like she had been through a blender. And he had left her here, all to go back and politic and connive at the council. What an idiot he was. How could he have thought she was safe? How could he have forced her to stay here? Hadn't the wolves already shown they knew enough about him? He couldn't figure out that they would find this place too. He cursed himself in every language he knew. Pull it together. Help her now you idiot. Don't sit there feeling bad about yourself.

Cole drew in a breath. He took his hands, cupping her cheeks and trying to steady himself. He opened his mind to hers, trying to feel some sign of her. The slowness of her body scared him. She didn't seem to be inhabiting her own thoughts. His consciousness seemed to fill the places she should have been. He couldn't find her. Panic welled inside him. Shane! He screamed into the darkness.

So softly he might have missed it he felt a tiny stirring somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind. He ran after it, tracking it to the farthest corner he could reach. There she was, curled up, silent and impassive. Shane? He called to her again. In his mind he could feel her consciousness stir ever so slightly. To him it felt as though she was shaking off some deep dreamless sleep. Her mind sighed ever so quietly, turning away from him again.

Shane! Say something. Come back, Cole called to her again. All that came back to him was a thick feeling of exhaustion, like an undertow, pulling him after her. Her thoughts reached out to him, present but weak.

Sleep, she whispered back at him.

Cole pulled himself from her mind then, struggling slightly as their connection seemed to draw him into her slumber. His body was filled with bone aching weariness what she had somehow conveyed to him. He understood; she needed time to heal. The depth of her unconsciousness was frightening but she would recover. He found his way back to his body, still leaning over her. He struggled to keep his eyes open.