“We won’t have any more of those for at least another month, but there’s guns and some blades that were charmed to do some damage.”
“Forget it,” Paige sighed. “We need to stick together if we’re going to cover as much of this town as possible.”
Someone else walked up from the basement. Because of all the dirt caked into his fur, it was impossible to make out Burke’s features until the Mongrel shook some of the grit from his coat. “I can cover a lot more ground than you. What do you need?”
“Can you tell me about any Mongrels working with the Full Bloods?” Paige asked.
After a pause, Burke said, “There are some of us who have decided that joining the Full Bloods is the best way to end our troubles. Most of those have been tempted by the Full Bloods’ twisted promise that they can change us into their kind. Even the thought that some of the Full Blood longevity can be passed on has been enough to draw entire packs to their banner. What’s happened recently only sped the process along.”
“So why should we trust that you would want to fight on our side?” Paige asked.
“My pack and I are not under any Full Blood control because we haven’t allowed ourselves to be tainted by their bite. If you don’t believe that, then you can go to hell. Just know that we’ve been in contact with Kayla and Ben from Kansas City and they say you’re good for your word. You fight against the Full Bloods and so do we. If we survive this war, we think we can trust you to work out an amicable arrangement.”
“War?” Nadya asked. “Has it come to that?”
“Better here than in our country,” Milosh grunted.
“Yes it has come to that,” Burke said. He shifted his slitted eyes to Milosh. “And it has only started in this country because this is where the biggest source of Torva’ox is to be found. The Full Bloods will not stay put once they have gathered their power. They will either return to their territories or try to acquire new ones. Either way, no place is safe.”
“I’ve heard some news myself from New Mexico,” Paige said. “The Full Bloods are fighting among themselves.”
“If they whittle their numbers down far enough, the survivor will be the most powerful creature on the planet and will be able to shift all humans into Half Breeds or possibly something worse. Our legends are filled with these warnings, which is why we fight when we could just as easily hide to let the storm pass us by.”
“There’s more than legends and old grudges on the table,” Paige said. “Now that the military is involved, there’s little things like air strikes and nukes to worry about.”
“Nukes?” Milosh said. “It would come to that?”
“I’ve spoken with men who represent the military, even if it may be on a sketchy basis. They’re willing to work with Skinners, but only because they want to get rid of the things that are tearing apart our cities. If we don’t step up and do our job, they’ll fall back to the best way they know to kill big things as quickly as possible. I’m doing my best to keep them in line, but if things keep escalating like they have been, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fingers over those big red buttons start getting twitchy.”
The unearthly howls outside were becoming more musical and jubilant, as opposed to the wild, hungry sounds earlier. Ironically, that strangely beautiful sound sparked genuine fear inside all of those gathered in the garage.
“We can sit here talking doomsday scenarios all night long,” Paige said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m blowing things out of proportion or not. Things have already gotten way out of hand and we’re the only ones that can do anything about it. Kawosa’s taken the authorities out of the picture for now, but help is on the way. What we need to do is draw the Full Bloods to a spot where Cole, my partner, can meet us.”
“Where’s that?” Milosh asked.
“About five or six miles north of here at the Atoka Reservoir. Water acts as a natural booster for supernatural energies, and the Dryads who will transport him here need all the help they can get to do their part. Finally something the MEG guys got right.” She smirked at the memory of days when a call to the ghost hunters was all she needed for her and Cole to know what to do next. “Plus there’s fewer civilians out there. Drawing as many shapeshifters away from here gives the survivors here a bigger chance to see tomorrow.”
“We don’t owe them nothing,” Milosh snarled as he rubbed the stump of his left arm.
“Miro,” Nadya snapped in her native tongue, followed by a string of words. Since Milosh clamped his mouth shut reflexively, Paige assumed that’s pretty much what she’d just told him to do. Looking to Paige, she said, “Among our people, we are known as both cursed and chosen. Above either of those things, we are protectors and so are Skinners. No matter what the quarrel is between our peoples in the past, this is a problem that will affect us all. But there must be an understanding.”
“Be quick about it,” Paige said as the howls outside grew more ecstatic.
“Us helping you now means the start of a true joining of Amriany and Skinner. We fight on your soil tonight and you must fight on ours in the future.”
“This thing is gonna go on for longer than one night,” Paige warned.
“Your fight becomes our fight, just as ours becomes yours. However long it takes.”
Paige extended her hand and Nadya shook it. “Fair enough, but I can’t guarantee all of us will be crazy about setting the past aside. I’ll vouch for you, which will go a long way with some. Then we’ll talk sense into the rest.”
“As will I. It is decided then. Right, Milosh?”
The wounded Amriany muttered in his own tongue, but nodded.
Bill walked into the garage carrying a shotgun. “Are we doing this or not?”
And that was that.
When Paige walked away from the garage, the only thing in her world was the fight that lay ahead. Even though there was no target for her machete, she tightened her grip around its handle until the thorns punctured her palm. The wood creaked and the weapon shifted. After climbing into the back of the red pickup, she noticed a more familiar sickle in her grasp.
Paige stared at the weapon as the truck’s engine roared to life and the vehicle rattled down the road. Unlike the sickle she’d forged throughout the course of her training, it was more like what that weapon would have aspired to become once it grew up. The handle was thicker and shorter, which allowed the blade to become wider and longer. Until now, the fact that she’d been unable to shift the weapon’s cutting edge had been attributed to the coat of metallic glaze added to the varnish. The edge was still there and its shape was mostly the same, but it was bent around the crescent edge of the sickle. Even as she marveled at the feat she’d been unable to perform ever since the injury to her arm, she could feel the potential for more. Looking up at the moon, feeling the wildness Kawosa had promised, she wanted to howl.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Every time she looked up from the back of the red pickup, Paige felt as if she was farther from civilization. Atoka was still there, but its buildings were husks. Some were on fire. Most were broken to one degree or another. Claw marks had been scratched onto just about every surface and the only things that moved were being pushed around by the wind.
“Take a look around,” Burke said while running alongside the pickup. “This is what every city will look like if the Full Bloods have their way.”
“Why would they want things to be like this?” Milosh asked.
Paige flipped her sickle in her hand. Although her fingers weren’t as nimble as they’d been before her injury, they compensated by closing around the handle with an even stronger grip than before. “If we live until tomorrow, we can ask them.”
“If there’s any of those Full Blood assholes left to ask,” the Amriany snarled.
“That’s the spirit.”
They drove to the paint store to pick up the bait mixture that had been mixed up earlier. It was stored in all the containers they could scrounge from nearby houses and garbage cans, ranging from plastic water bottles to canteens and an insulated iced tea jug. Anything that could hold the viscous mixture without spilling it or allowing
