'Someone should go check on him. We need to know what they're doing out there.'
'Becky and Wes are on it.'
'What about Arturo?'
'No sign.'
I groaned. 'I don't like this.'
'Can I help?' he said.
'Keep looking out at my sister's, but have your phone handy. We may need some ass-saving later on.'
Hardin was staring at me. 'Arturo? Denver's Master vampire? The one I want to pin those murders on?'
'Uh, yeah.' Ben could jump in to save me anytime, but he seemed happy to sit back and watch me dig my own hole.
'You going after him?' the detective asked.
'It's more like we're trying to keep him from coming after us.'
'I thought the best way to do that was to stay home and not invite them in.'
'Um, yeah. Usually.'
'I want this guy, Kitty. Help me get him.'
'Can you handle him? Can you really handle him?'
'A trunk full of stakes and holy water says I can,' she said. 'I've been doing my homework.'
'You have no idea what you're getting into,' Ben said.
'I'm looking forward to finding out,' she said.
My phone chose that opportune moment to ring. Again. It couldn't possibly be anything good.
'What!' I said.
'I'd like a word with you, Katherine. We need to end this, before we see another bloodbath.' Arturo, as refined as ever. My skin pricked; the hair on my neck prickled. Where was he? And what was he doing? How badly were we all screwed this time?
I hoped my voice didn't shake too badly. 'A word with me? Why not Rick?'
'You'll see. I want to deal with you and you alone.'
'I think this is a trick. I think it's a trap. No, I won't do it.'
'Oh, you'll come speak with me.'
I laughed. 'I will?'
'Yes. Because I'm standing next to your mother's hospital bed.'
The phone clicked off.
A sickly, hot/cold fever washed over me, and my gut melted into my feet. My lips went numb. I couldn't feel anything. I leaned back against the headrest.
'Kitty?' Ben said. 'What's wrong?'
'What is it?' Hardin echoed.
My voice didn't work. This was Rick's fault, I wanted to scream. Wanted to growl. Wolf started thrashing—pack was in danger. My human pack, but still. Had to run, had to fight. I swallowed, counted, coiled the fear deep inside. Kept it together.
'Kitty,' Ben said in a low voice, drawing me back to myself. His hand clamped over my arm, a steadying pressure.
'That was Arturo.' I gestured with my still-on phone. My hand was shaking. 'He's got my mom.'
The pause only lasted a beat. 'Do you know where?' Hardin said. She had her radio in her hand.
I nodded and told her the hospital. 'She just had surgery.'
Hardin was talking into her radio, calling for backup.
'Ben, we have to go help my mom,' I said, and at the same time more thoughts slammed into me. More implications. This wasn't an accident. This was a setup. 'Arturo knows Rick’ll go after Obsidian. It's a trap.'
Quickly I dialed Rick's number. It rang. And rang, and rang. 'Shit.'
'I'll go,' Ben said. 'I'll get to Obsidian to help Rick. You go with Hardin to the hospital.'
I looked at Hardin. 'Is that okay?'
'Sure. Come on.' She headed back to her car.
Squeezing Ben's hand, I said, 'Be careful.'
'You, too.'
I jumped out of the car to follow Hardin. I only got about halfway when I heard, 'Kitty!'
Ben left the car and trotted toward me, hefting my backpack. I met him halfway, the late-night traffic roaring past us. Over us, the dark sky was washed out by city lights.
'Don't forget this.' Ben handed me the bag. It had a weight snugged firmly inside that had become familiar. The handgun. 'I put some stakes in there, too.'
'Cool. Good.'
Then he kissed me. Hand on my cheek, holding me steady, he covered my lips with his and urged open my mouth. I responded, melting against him. The movement lingered, passionate, flushing through my whole body. The touch was fire. I wanted to fall against him and keep him that close to me forever. My hands clenched on his arms.
He pulled away. 'Be careful,' he said, his voice tight. Then he retreated to his car. His jaw was taut, lips frowning, determined and driven.
That kiss was almost like saying goodbye.
'Kitty, come on!' Hardin called from inside her car.
Then we were back to the gangster movie. Ben drove off.
He'd be all right, I knew he would.
I climbed into the passenger seat of Hardin's car, and we peeled back onto the road.
'Lucky girl,' she observed, her smile amused.
'Yeah,' I said, still breathless. Yeah, I was.
Chapter 14
She switched on all the sirens and lights, and we sped off at superspeed. I had calculated twenty minutes to get to the hospital. We might make it in ten.
'Tell me about Arturo,' Hardin said, totally calm, not at all like she was speeding down Denver's streets at eighty miles an hour.
Where to start? 'He's a vampire. I don't know how old. Maybe two or three hundred years—'
'You know, I can't even comprehend that,' she said, giving a short laugh. 'He was alive when George Washington was alive. What does that mean? How does this guy look at the world?'
'It means we don't matter to him,' I said. 'We're just a flash in the pan.'
'What else?'
'He has flunkies, followers. I don't know if he'll have any of them here. I'm guessing he left them to guard the homestead. But if they are here, they'll protect him.'
Her expression pursed, contemplating the dilemma: they were vampires, monsters, and she could plow right through them to get to her quarry. But they were also individuals who were entitled to due process.
'If we do run into them, how do I stop them? Can I do it without killing them?'
'I don't know. Lots of things’ll hurt them: sunlight, holy water. Maybe even garlic. Staking's what kills them.'
'So those stories are true.'
'A lot of them, yeah.'
'Good.' She reached to her collar and pulled a chain with a cross pendant from under her shirt. She left it hanging over her collar.
We arrived at the hospital. After hours, the place seemed almost calm.
'All right, where's my backup,' she muttered as she pulled up to the curb along the emergency drive. At this hour, that was probably the only entrance that would be open. I was out of the car and running for the doors before Hardin even stopped the car. 'Kitty, wait!'
I didn't. Incongruously, the place was brightly lit, like a beacon. The rest of the world was so dark right now.
Inside, I hit the linoleum and didn't stop. I looked for a sign that would tell me how to get to the main part of the hospital, and where I could find Mom's room. I must have looked dangerous because a uniformed security guard, hand on his belt, moved to intercept me.
I realized: I could knock him over. Let out a little bit of Wolf and knock him aside. But I didn't. I begged.
'I need to get in, one of your patients may be in danger! Please!'
Hardin had followed close behind me and flashed her badge. 'Let her through.'
The guard stepped aside, and I ran past him. Vaguely, I was aware of Hardin following. I didn't wait for her. I only had one thought in my head:
Up some stairs, through a door, down a hall, and around a corner, we came to her room. I smelled her. The door was open, and it was dark. The bed and its occupant were visible only by pale light bleeding from the hallway. Mom was asleep, her head tilted slightly on the pillow, arms resting on the blanket, tangled in a mess of IV tubes and wires. Around the odors of illness and medication, I smelled her. She was breathing, her heart pounded steadily, she was alive. But pale. Her face was lined, even in sleep.
Sitting in a chair by her bedside, tilted with a view toward the door, watching her sleep, was Arturo.
Blood throbbed in my skull, and I thought I might faint.
