everyone could see what had happened to the bloodsucking little shits who’d been talking so tough and then douse them in kerosene. Once he was sure all the other Nymar were watching, he set their asses on fire.”
After pausing to sip his flavored coffee, Rico shrugged. “Some might see that as extreme. Maybe some wrong ideas were put into a few storytellers’ heads, but it sent a message that convinced the Nymar not to fuck with us. Those messages are gone, my friend. The bloodsuckers know no fear and the shapeshifters are out of control. Don’t you think now’s the time for some good old-fashioned barbarism?”
“Who are you talking about?” Cole asked, thinking back to his conversation with Jessup. “The people who’d be interested in those Lancroft journals? The ones who run that prison in Colorado? The ones who you’ve obviously already signed on with? Who are they?”
“Lancroft used to say the only difference between a Skinner and any other human being is vigilance. That’s who we are. And now that we’ve found what could be the source of the Full Bloods’ power, we may be able to unlock the one last juicy tidbit he didn’t get to pass along.” Leaning in closer, Rico dropped his voice to a snarl that rivaled a Half Breed’s. “There’s been one big question on everyone’s mind since the Mud Flu. It’s just been too far out of our reach to really ask it. If that truly was Jonah Lancroft—
Paige, Adderson, and a group of soldiers were approaching, but Cole wasn’t going to stop short just because of them. “You think Lancroft was immortal because of what we found in Atoka?”
“Not immortal, since you did kill the old guy, but yeah. If that power’s in us, then we could live long enough to do what needs ta be done. That is, if we know how to use it.” Rico snapped his head forward so he was close enough to speak to Cole using words that could barely be heard over his rasping breath. “Nymar, shapeshifters, you name it. We can’t fuck around with these things no more. We need to take them out before the human race is either wiped out or runnin’ around on four legs.”
“And now that you’ve got the Jekhibar, you think you can just put everything back to the way it was?” Cole asked. “You think you’ll make us all live for hundreds of years like some twisted old man who may be just another freak like the ones we hunt down and kill?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Rico replied. “It’s something better than the bullshit we’ve been doin’ lately.”
“We did some good work. One Full Blood’s still contained, another one’s dead, and the rest are scattered. The last thing we need is to make them worse by tearing each other apart. Our system works. It just—”
“Our system is in pieces! Open yer fuckin’ eyes and take a look. The goddamn
“Everything all right here?” Adderson asked.
“Sure,” Cole replied.
Some of the soldiers had moved in to flank Rico, but were dispersed by a quick shake of Adderson’s head. When Cole fell into step with her, Paige steered them back to the Full Blood statue. “We need to find out what the hell happened with Esteban,” she said. “I know the Breaking Moon made them stronger, but Full Bloods can’t just start walking through rock. What if Minh pulls the same crap?”
“She’s gone.”
“What?”
“That Lancroft cult or whoever they are,” Cole said. “I think they got her already. If Esteban found something that Lancroft was hiding away, I don’t know how much help a bunch of helicopters will be in tracking him down.”
“Esteban isn’t the only other Full Blood out there. Finding the gargoyles worked out this time, but if we don’t find some more tricks pretty soon, this little war will go on for a long time.”
“So this is a war now?” he asked.
“What else would you call it?” She moved in closer beside him, but only to give them some more privacy as she said, “We’re the only ones that couldn’t be forced into the Breaking. When these guys figure that out, we may both be headed straight back to a prison.”
“Don’t forget the Amriany. They didn’t change either. Are they around here too?”
“I couldn’t say much of a goodbye to Nadya and Milosh before I was zapped to Finland, but they said they’d mention us to their clan leaders when they got back. We’ve got an in with the Amriany now, and they could prove to be even more valuable than the IRD.”
He pulled in a breath but couldn’t bear to hold it for more than a fraction of a second. “What in the hell are we supposed to do now, Paige?”
“We take advantage of the breathing room we’ve earned and gear up for the next round.”
Rico shoved past some more soldiers on his way to a beat-up Toyota parked at the end of the road.
Military personnel snapped pictures and took measurements of Esteban’s statue without getting too close to fangs that were still caked in flaking blood.
Helicopters roared over Raton, New Mexico.
Paige’s hand closed around Cole’s.
He smiled at her.
Things could have been worse.
Epilogue
The old territory felt cool and familiar beneath Randolph’s paws. Perhaps it had been selfish for him to return when there were so many wheels in motion back in his old territory. Or perhaps it was foolish of him to think he could leave those things behind to indulge in comforting surroundings while his wounds healed into yet another set of scars on his ancient body. If he stretched his senses out far enough, sniffed the breezes that blew across the oceans or simply bothered listening to enough human chatter, he could piece together what was left after the debacle that Liam had started.
None of that mattered now.
Liam was gone. The Full Blood pacts had broken down and the humans dragged into immortal affairs. Those things were unavoidable. Randolph knew as much because he’d spent too many years trying to avoid them. The only task remaining was to try and steer things so they fell in the most beneficial direction.
Beneficial to the humans? That was no longer a concern. Liam might have been right in thinking they had to be put back in line before the Skinners got even better at their craft.
Beneficial for the Full Bloods? He thought he’d known what was best for his brethren for all of these years, but perhaps he was wrong about that, like he’d been wrong about so many other things.
Beneficial for himself? That brought a smile to Randolph’s long snout and a sparkle to his multifaceted eyes. He might have fooled himself into thinking he was sitting out while the rest of the world turned and everyone played their games without him, but that was absurd. It was inevitable that Cecile’s Jekhibar would be taken from her. But since that had been such a battle in itself, perhaps the second Unity Stone would be forgotten for a while. Randolph clasped his prize in a fist that could feel the Torva’ox seeping from the perfect little trinket hidden away by Lancroft for centuries. All of the machinations, all of the fighting, even help from the First Deceiver himself had been necessary to shake things up enough for not one but both of the Jekhibar to rattle loose. As his reward, Randolph played the part of expatriate for a few glorious days.
Or had it been weeks?
Even if it had been for an hour, a few precious seconds, his time in the familiar moors was worth the trouble of getting there. Some Full Bloods spoke ill of short spans of time, as if seconds didn’t matter simply because they had so many of them. After over a thousand years of life, however, time hadn’t lost its meaning for Randolph Standing Bear. He knew only too well how different one moment was from the next and how valuable each minute could be. The others wouldn’t see that. There was no way to speak sense to closed ears and no way to show truth to eye sockets filled with nothing but scar tissue. Sooner or later this terrible moment would have come, and he felt no
