Big Game

Asa

I don't trust Cy and want to know why he tried to push into my head, but, I've shoved my fears and worries aside to listen to Jon. The werewolf relayed the discoveries of the day and shared the alpha's thoughts on a plan utilizing Cy and me.

We're sitting in the command center, the blank screens of the security monitors glowing slightly even with no picture displaying. To make matters worse, all of the cameras on the property, aside from the ones attached to the main building and the apartments, have been shot out.

We won't have any advanced warning of their movements as this siege progresses. Risking our guests' safety to leave the property has become much greater-we may be forced to let them access the tunnels just to get on a plane.

Energy coils inside me, causing me to open and close my fists in a sign of a nervous edge. I may not want to work with Cy, and part of me wants to beat him to a pulp, but the rational section of my brain knows such an attempt would be foolhardy and not solve the current dilemma.

As a soldier, I have to work above my personal dislike of a comrade. I have to trust he'll do his job even if I don't want him covering my back. Biggest problem with my logic is Cy is not military and ignoring the screams of protest in my mind make my head hurt. Best to shove my feelings into a tight corner and focus on what we can do in the here and now to protect the werewolves from further harm.

I look to my master's servant as he pulls up an aerial view of the property on an iPad. Jon points out the location of the hunters' base camp and explains how he wants us to try and interrogate these men using our mind control abilities.

"Three men to take down over a dozen werewolves?" Cy looks skeptical. "It doesn't sound like their original plan was smart odds when they thought it up."

Whether I like the bastard or not, he's made a good point. The equipment Jon described sounds more like armed militia or weekend warrior than government trained grunts. Why would you bring three against almost twenty wolves? I look at Jon and contemplate what enemies he could have made over the years. "Could they have come hunting for only one and found more when they arrived?"

Cy raises an eyebrow and looks at Jon. "Hmmm.... Who'd you piss off, boy?"

Jon's shock rolls off his body. "Me? What the fuck are you saying?" His voice takes on an angry edge. "I've spent the last seven years isolated in this frozen corner of the world." Realizing the unlikelihood of our implication, his anger leaves him as quick as it arrived. "You two are barking up the wrong tree." He smiles at the pun in his own phrase. "I didn't lead anyone here, nor does anyone hate me enough to come knocking-at least, not that I know of."

The cagey vampire from New York stands and stretches. "No matter. We'll find out when we question them, right?"

Jon nods and leads us down the hall toward the tunnel entrance in the north wing. I wave Cy forward, not eager to have him behind me sooner than he needs to be. I never had a chance to tell Jon about my run in with Cy, and despite my apprehension I must follow the path we've set tonight. Jon is still my superior in the seethe. Cy's arrival doesn't change that. The more I thought about it early this morning, they more I wondered why Cy tried what he did with me.

Could he be a manipulator, and suggested me for Alaska with the hopes I'd find out information on his maker for him? Holy shit, would Vivian have suspected me of such actions, and maybe that's why she went into my mind? I shake my head, appalled at the complexity in the inner secrets of seethes.

Vivian turned Cy loose after only a few months in her company, confident in his abilities that he wouldn't run rabid and kill people indiscriminately, putting the species at risk. But could he have developed vampire compulsion powers afterward and she was unaware of it? And if that's the case, how many of her earlier progeny could hold the same traits?

Jon keys in the security code, out of Cy's view, and opens the door to usher us in. "You've got your phone, Asa?"

I pat the device in my front pocket and the gun strapped to my thigh, too. "Yup."

"I'll stay upstairs near a window. Call me if you need my help."

I nod, sure I won't be calling and risking my master's servant even if I do run into trouble. I slipped on a Kevlar vest before putting my jacket on. Unless the hunters find a way to behead me, I'm pretty secure.

Cy and I move single file through the tunnel, silently passing the rooms holding the young family. I lead the way since he has no idea where we're going. We decided to use Paul and Bunny's cabin again for its location and convenience. I take us on the long route, deliberately making the path harder for my old master to memorize.

"Quite a maze down here, isn't it?" Cy asks after passing through the sixth steel door.

"Yes, it is," I say, careful to hide my grin. With any luck he'll be thoroughly confused when we arrive at the couple's bedroom closet.

A chill works its way into my gut and takes hold. I could very well be in the middle of something much bigger than I bargained for. Unlike during my time living with Cy and Aunt Cali, I am well and truly bound in blood with Vivian. I re-pledged my loyalty to her in January after she revealed her true powers and I don't doubt the decision.

The information I've been able to dig up on her rare branch of vampire power has been extremely limited. I have a feeling Drew knows more, but he hasn't been forthcoming with me. Then again, it's not like I've asked him. I've been so happy since Eric and Pat arrived, I didn't want to rock the boat with digging deep in things best left unknown.

Vivian's abilities scare the shit out of me. My own meditation started to safeguard my mind. It could do nothing when facing her true power-but I had to try something. I never dreamed strengthening my own mental shields would be needed against my aunt's husband. After a dozen more turns we make it to the ladder leading into the cabin.

"Jesus. That was a hike," Cy breaks the silence when I stop and check my supplies once more. "This is it?"

I nod, still not willing to engage the bastard in conversation. In a few minutes, we're standing by the living room windows, using night scopes to check for signs of movement.

"Follow me to their encampment," I say. "If we don't find them we'll split up and search, making our way back to the inn separately. If there's gunfire, we meet back here and travel the tunnels to return undetected. Clear?"

Cy agrees, and we slip out into the darkness of the icy night. The temperature dropped back into the single digits when the sun set, reminding us that the short spring the tundra sees is still a ways off. The warmth of the cabin seems like a distant memory as the cold sears my throat and scorches a fiery path to my lungs.

We race through the black, dodging trees and passing soundlessly among the brush. Quickly, we arrive at the map location Jon showed us. The hunters' campsite appears empty with no sign of recent use. We split up, both of us searching the area for hunters or traps they may have left for the wolves.

Once my old master disappears from view, a heaviness I was unaware of slips from my shoulders. I must have been tenser in Cy's presence than I wanted to admit to myself. The silence of the woods cocoons me, bringing a measure of peace to my racing thoughts.

I breathe in and out slowly, trying to focus my thoughts and open up my mind's eye to the energies around me. No matter how much I might like to, I can't will the hunters to appear before me. After a while, I realize searching quietly through several square miles of woods reminds me of digging for a needle in a haystack. I begin to doubt our chances of finding them.

A thin line of darkness stands next to a slim tree trunk. I creep forward and discover a noose trap hidden along an old animal trail. Grabbing a dead branch from the ground, I trip the rope to trigger the trap and render it useless.

I uncover several more traps like this over the next few hours, including four steel bear traps. Looking high and low, I search the narrow trees for signs the hunters may be lurking, rifle aimed toward the inn. Nothing. My time in Afghanistan, even in winter, wasn't an environment even remotely close to the Alaskan tundra, but I had really expected my training to give me an edge in finding them.

If that slick city vamp finds them before I do, it will burn my ass. I flex and tighten my hands again, hoping to drive some of the biting cold from my extremities. The temperature started to seep in over an hour ago, as it invariably will if you're not protected well enough from it. The thin coat I'm wearing was to ensure stealthy movements more than warmth, and now, I'm regretting it.

I tighten my path to the inn on every pass, but still see no signs of the actual hunters. The cleared property closest to the inn is landscaped way beyond what would thrive here in nature. The gardens look good, even in the dead of winter with their light-festooned statues, small bushes, and lots of lit mini-Christmas trees-there is certainly not a lack of things to hide behind as I work my way to an entrance.

Within the hour, I'm seated in the conference room, sipping from a piping hot travel mug filled with bloodcoffee. A small note of pride filled me upon hearing Cy withstood only half the time outdoors that I did. Unfortunately, he didn't locate the hunters either, so I wisely keep my boastful thoughts regarding his weakness to the cold to myself. The bastard never would have lasted long in January when they hunted Emiko.

"Jon," Cy says, "why haven't you connected mentally with Vivian to tell her what's going on?"

Jon waves him off. "Our link is weaker due to the distance. She told me it might happen."

Cy puts his mug down. "Nope, that's not right. You're her vampire servant, right?"

A wary look comes over Jon. "Yeah. What's your point?"

"That bond should stay strong permanently, unless the vampire weakens it on purpose."

"What are you saying? Vivian promised she'd never cut me out again." Jon's face freezes, realizing he may have revealed more than he'd wanted.

Cy laughs and looks at me. "He doesn't get it?"

I shrug.

"Get what?" Jon asks, anger coloring his tone.

"A werewolf getaway in Alaska. Lots of available females."

Jon looks confused. "What does that have to do with my link to Vivian? She wouldn't push me away if I needed her-and this little vacation idea has turned to shit fairly quickly."

"Wake up, man." Cy reaches for the carafe. "She couldn't have predicted the danger, but she was thinning the link on purpose."

"Why?"

I answer the Were, the light clicking on for me a lot sooner than it has for Jon. "So you could find a mate."

Jon freezes for a moment and then bolts from his chair, emotions flying across his face. Hope flares to life for an instant and then he closes his eyes and stills himself.

His eyes slit and stares right at Cy. "You said 'thinning the connection', right?" The vampire nods. "Well, what if the link is gone completely?"

The room goes silent as we all mentally weigh the implications his statement could mean. I lean forward and place my mug on the table. A heavy sigh rolls from my chest and I resist the urge to put my head in my hands. "Oh man, that can't be good."