Chapter 27

At dusk, Zane pulled the Jeep to a stop near the spot in the winding overgrown road where Jo had spoken to Ryker the evening before. They couldn’t see the tavern from here, but she imagined the lower the sun sank in the sky, the more scurrying figures could be seen rushing to their homes from the gathering place, their heads down but shifting so that they could check their backs with the corners of their eyes. What a miserable way to exist.
“Do you think he’ll show?” Leo asked from the back seat, the skepticism obvious in his tone.
“Yes.” One word was all Jo could bother with. After a day of wandering around the frozen Siberian tundra, visiting a few other villages, and getting nowhere. She wasn’t in the mood to explain herself. Checking with the other teams hadn’t given her anything to grow excited about either, though Cass had finally reached the town where Eliza and Lucas lived, not that she’d gone in yet. She’d reported they’d decided it would be best to wait until tomorrow….
Movement to her left, in the trees, gained Jo’s attention. Peering through the branches, she struggled to see what had caused it but came up empty. The sun was gone now, only the faintest glow illuminating the sky. She realized this must not be the inhabitants’ favorite time of year; they probably appreciated those months when the sun was out most of the time. Not that the sun actually prevented Vampires from taking what they wanted.
They continued to wait past the time when Ryker had left them the day before, the two in the back seat growing restless as they gave up hope that he’d show. Jo kept her eyes on the trees, certain he would come, though she couldn’t say why. For all she knew, the villagers had taken him for a traitor and dispatched him.
Almost an hour after his appointment time, Jo caught sight of a figure in the trees behind the Jeep, nearer the town. It was him. Without a word to her team, she pulled open the door and shot off for the nearest cover, planning to angle back toward him so that anyone who might be observing them wouldn’t have a chance to see her.
She slowed her pace as she approached him, not wanting to startle the man. He didn’t flinch. “You’re late,” Jo said, pulling up in front of him, her arms folded.
“You’re lucky I’m here at all, lady,” he growled. “Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”
They’d already played that game the day before, and she was tired of it. “What do you have for me?”
He snickered, as if her gumption amused him. “I’ve got a location for you.” He reached into the pocket of his large fur coat and pulled out a slip of paper. Jo glanced at it, noting it was given in lat/long. She put it in her pocket, hoping he’d continue his explanation. When he didn’t, she asked, “Location of what?’
Shaking his head, Ryker replied, “That’s the closest clan. The ones that feed on the nearby villages. You raid them, I’m sure you’ll find one or two who will be willing to talk in exchange for not getting annihilated. That’s the best I can do.”
“So you don’t actually know where she’s at?” Jo did her best to contain her disappointment. She was hoping the coordinates were of Holland’s lair, not just another link in a chain that might go nowhere.
“Hell, no, I don’t know where she is. Do you think the bloodsuckers just advertise where they’re hiding their demon queen? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Chills ran down Jo’s spin as she took in what he was saying. “What makes you think she’s their demon queen?”
He shrugged. “I guess I don’t know for sure, but it sure seems that way. The one time I saw her, she was protected by an army of vicious brutes, hurried from one car to another as if too many eyes on her would make her crumble and break apart like shattered glass. Besides… from what I hear, the Vamps act differently when she’s around. They have greater powers. They shift and morph.”
Jo held her breath for a second. That did sound like Holland. She remembered stories her parents told of the days when they were hunting her down, the second time, after she’d come back through the Blue Moon Portal. They spoke of shifters and powers beyond a normal Vampire’s capabilities. It also made sense as to why Cassidy wasn’t able to locate her, too. As far as Jo knew, there were only a handful of Vampires strong enough to block her Hybrid aunt’s mental strength. Holland had been one of them.
“You all right there, lady? You look a little flushed.”
“I’m fine,” Jo assured him, not that she truly thought Ryker would bat an eye if she passed out. “Anything else you care to share with us?”
“Nope. That’s all I know. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come back this way. I’ve got my own problems to tend to. Hell, if my bitch of a landlady discovers I’m not in the house right now, or word gets out that I’m sneaking off to meet with you… I’m fucked.”
As if his words somehow brought his fortune into fruition, Jo noticed a steady stream of flickering lights over his shoulder, headed up the road toward where they were standing. “Shit.”
“What?” Ryker asked, turning to see what she was staring at. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
They weren’t torches, that was something. But the flashlights signaled he’d been discovered, whether by his bitchy landlady or someone else. “Looks like you’re coming with us.” Jo wasn’t happy about the situation, but what could she do? If she left him there, he’d likely be sacrificed to the monsters the whole town was afraid of.
Continuing to swear under his breath, Ryker turned and looked at her, his eyes wide. “Are you shitting me?”
“Do you have a choice?” she asked him. “Believe me, we aren’t exactly thrilled about it. Come on before they get here.” She mentally told Zane to bring the Jeep over to the edge of the road, near where they were standing in the woods.
“I didn’t exactly pack my stuff,” he reminded her.
“Hurry your ass up, and we’ll swing through town and get it while they’re still plowing through the tundra.” Jo was already on her way to the Jeep, and Ryker picked up his pace behind her, the sound of his boots crunching through the snow quickening as he made his way to the vehicle.
Leo slid into the far back as Ryker climbed in next to Ping, and Jo rushed around the front to get in on the passenger side, shouting at Zane to drive back into town. He was confused, but he did as he was told, speeding past the villagers who dashed off of the road as the Jeep came flying at them, those on the periphery waving their flashlights angrily.
“Where the hell am I going?” Zane asked her, his foot on the gas pedal as the vehicle fishtailed on the ice.
“That two-story house over there, a few blocks over,” she said, pointing in the direction of the home Ryker had disappeared into the night before.
“How the hell do you know that?” Ryker asked her, his voice still showing his agitation.
“I followed you home last night,” she said, glancing over his shoulder. “You know, for all of you people’s paranoia about immortals, you sure aren’t very good at detecting us.”
He said nothing, only growled. As Zane approached the house, she said, “I’ll go in with you.”
“The hell you will. I can handle Mrs. Ivanov. I’ll be right back.” He jumped out of the vehicle before it even came to a full stop, went around to the back of the house, and busted through the locked door. The woman of the house began to scream at him in Russian, causing Ping and Leo to snicker, but Jo didn’t have time to laugh. Others were coming out of their houses now to investigate, those who must’ve been too timid or uninformed to join the initial witch hunt. She shot out of the vehicle, drawing her gun to keep them off.
An older man coming from the house next door caught sight of her, froze in his steps, and turned around and ran back for his house, dropping his flashlight in his yard. Others saw him fleeing and did the same. The initial flashlight brigade was headed back toward town now. Jo could hear their shouts and angry cries. She looked up at the window where she’d seen Ryker the night before. She’d been certain he’d seen her, too, though apparently not. The glass went flying up and a bag careened down to the ground, followed by another before she saw Ryker disappear.
Jo hurried over to grab his things, taking them to the back of the Jeep as Zane popped it open. More shouts from Mrs. Ivanov met her ear, as well as Ryker’s heavy footsteps on the wooden floor. Then, the back door opened and slammed, the sound of him pounding down the back porch letting her know it was time to go.
He was still cursing as he climbed into the back seat. Jo got in as well, feeling slightly sorry for him. She hadn’t meant to ruin his happy existence, after all. But if the information he’d given her proved to be helpful, she’d make sure he got to start over anywhere he wanted. There couldn’t be too many places on earth more miserable than Siberia. Maybe Ryker should count himself lucky and see this as a rescue mission instead of as her team ruining his life.
“Where to?” Zane asked, mashing the gas pedal.
Rather than pulling out the coordinates of the Vampire hideout right that minute, Jo said, “Just drive,” so Zane did, leaving the band of angry villagers with their flashlight torches far behind them.