Crissy didn't look entirely convinced, but she was still following Aldric and ushering the kids ahead of them. The two werewolves Aldric had fought were in piles on the floor where they had dropped, still unmoving. Faith would never for her whole life forget the moment that he lost his temper at the second wolf.
She had been already frightened with the gun pointed at her, and even her best guesses at the strength of her magical shield weren’t able to place a bullet on her mental scale. Would her shield stop a bullet or not? But the sheer, rage– the silent vow of extreme violence and pain and blood and death– that suddenly filled the room when Aldric finally snapped...
She shivered again at the memory. Even knowing that his anger wasn't directed anywhere near her– was in fact in her defense and favor– still didn't make it any less terrifying. And yet, in that moment she had never felt safer or more confident, which was a completely different kind of terrifying that she wasn’t ready to think about right now.
At the front door, Aldric stopped them and held up his hand, wordlessly asking them to wait. He bent his head to the wood for a moment then nodded, satisfied, and opened it.
It was with a huge sigh of relief that they stepped outside to find all three Goldfang werewolves on the ground, surrounded by Frostwalker enforcers, and were being restrained by what looked like zipties. Faith didn't care if they were locked up in medieval torture devices, as long as they weren't going to attack.
Several more were being herded out of the trees by Kenya and Ori and Mia. Honeyford had apparently brought a whole mini pack to hunt up the Lathams, and Faith shivered at the thought of how close they had come to being captured. If Aldric hadn’t burst into the cabin the other day…
"Jake!" Marc's voice roared the instant the boy stepped outside. Jake's head whipped up and he flung himself at his father, who crouched down and wrapped the boy up so that they could only see Jake’s hair sticking out over Marc's huge shoulder, which shook almost like Marc was laughing or sobbing. Faith would guess both was the right answer.
"Daddy," Jake's voice was suddenly small. He was safe now, and he could afford to show his little-boy vulnerability, it seemed. Kaylee made to follow Jake, but Crissy held her back with a hand in her shoulder. Kaylee turned to grab her mother’s hand and drag her over to meet Marc herself, but Crissy was barely moving, her feet planted
Still, even Crissy was smiling slightly at the scene of father and son.
"There are two more inside," Aldric said to Rod, who raised an eyebrow at Aldric's wounds, then nodded and stalked inside without a word.
"What are you going to do with them?" Faith asked.
Aldric grimaced. "That is an excellent question. I would ask Marc what he wants, but he seems a bit busy. We discussed the possibility of calling the good and persistent detective to come fetch his prisoners, but he would no doubt have a great deal to say on the matter of us handling it ourselves."
Faith couldn't stop herself from grinning. "Not to mention all the claw and bite marks. And I doubt it's very easy to arrest aggressive werewolves."
Aldric headed over to have a word with Kenya and Ori who were glaring at their captives but not speaking. "Indeed. I will be right back and we will continue to the truck.“
He winced as he walked, and Faith stepped farther away from Crissy and Kaylee’s whispered argument about the werewolves surrounding them to hurry over to him.
"You're bleeding through the shirt. I think there's a first aid kit in the truck, but for sure we need to get you home and cleaned up." Aldric was just turning to answer her when there was a terrible screech, and the horrible howling that seemed like a mockery of the wolves' earlier calls.
Aldric's head snapped to the trees and he pushed her back toward her sister. "Get back to the lodge and get your shield ready. That’s hunting vampires on the way.”
Faith's blood went ice cold. Streaming from the trees were what felt dozens of monstrous creatures that seemed like mockeries of the wolves. Boxy heads and glowing red eyes and gleaming teeth with what seemed like leather hides rather than fur, and among them at least a dozen vampires, their own eyes dark and terrifying.
“Blighthounds!” Someone snarled.
She grabbed Crissy's arm and Kaylee's shoulder and shoved them, in turn, towards the lodge.
"No! Jake!" Kaylee shrieked and struggled to run to her friend.
"I'll get him, run!" Faith yelled. She didn't look to see if they did, just bolted to where Marc was standing up to shift into his own wolf, and put himself between his son and the attack that was almost upon them.
"I'll shield the kids!" Faith shouted as she grabbed for Jake's hand. Marc nudged Jake towards her with his broad muzzle, then leaped at the nearest hound. A small hand grabbed her hip from behind and she spun, almost taking Kaylee out in the process. "Kaylee! What... where's your mom? Where’s Crissy?”
Kaylee grabbed her hand and pulled, not answering the question. The three of them stumbled for the lodge, but a pair of the monster hounds darted in between them and the dubious safety of the building. Just as one was lunging for them, a reddish-grey wolf landed on its back and knocked it rolling into its partner.
With a quick bark in their direction, the wolf turned back to its fight and Faith decided the enforcer was telling them to run. She was more than happy to comply, but as they turned, they were confronted by a tall, broad vampire that was fully shifted
