Marked In Flesh

CHAPTER 33

Firesday, Juin 22

Vlad rushed into the sorting room, then stopped when he caught the stink of vomit that almost overwhelmed the scent of Meg’s blood.

“What . . . ?” Simon stopped beside him. “Nathan heard a phone ringing just after he stopped the Robert from running into the street. Jake heard it too.”

Vlad stared at the razor on the table. “Go after Meg. I’ll try to find out who called.”

“She didn’t speak.” Simon wrinkled his nose and took a step away from the vomit. “She saw the visions.”

“She’s scared sick. You have to find her before she gets hurt.”

Simon pulled off his clothes and tossed them aside. Then he shifted to Wolf and ran out of the Liaison’s Office.

Vlad pulled a section of newspaper out of the recycling crate and dropped it over the vomit. He would clean up the mess later. Right now, they needed answers.

As he reached for the telephone, Pete Denby stormed into the room.

“Gods above and below! I know they were playing where they weren’t supposed to, but they’re just kids, and I was coming down to deal with it. Did Nathan have to throw Robert to the ground like that? The kids are terrified.”

“The next time we won’t stop your pup from running into the street,” Vlad snapped. “Don’t leave your young by themselves until they’ve learned to avoid the things that will kill them.”

Pete drew in a breath, then made a face. In that moment, Vlad saw the man replace the father.

“What happened?”

“Don’t know yet, but Meg is running scared. Is there a way to find out who called her, or is that something only the police can do?”

“There’s a way unless she placed a call afterward. Then you would need the police to get records from the telephone company.” Pete joined Vlad at the counter and pointed to a small button beneath the others on the phone. “I would try ‘redial’ first and see what you get.”

He pushed the button and listened to the phone ring and ring and ring.

“Walker’s General Store.”

A beat of silence before Vlad said, “Tolya?”

“Did Meg Corbyn say anything else?”

A chill went through Vlad. “She’s not saying anything at the moment.”

“The Wolves are running into a trap. Joe Wolfgard is trying to stop them. The town is preparing for attack. Jesse Walker is taking all the youngsters to a hiding place in the Elder Hills.”

“Who is with you?”

“The men in the town. Vlad, are the humans going after all the Wolves? Or are they after all of us?”

“I don’t know. Do what you can, Tolya, and I’ll do the same.” He hung up.

“Bad?” Pete asked.

“Very.” He opened Meg’s address book, found the number for Sweetwater, and dialed.

“What?” A male voice, already stirred up and angry.

“This is Vlad Sanguinati at the Lakeside Courtyard. Can you get a message to Jackson Wolfgard? It’s urgent.”

“Lakeside? Has your prophet pup gone crazy too? Jackson’s pup ran in here all pee-stinky, called someone, and then ran away yelling that they had to hide. Some of the Ravengard are following her to make sure she gets back to the Wolfgard den.”

“Tell Jackson that the terra indigene and the Intuits are in danger. The other kind of humans have turned on us.”

“I— I’ll tell him.”

Vlad hung up and looked at Pete, who was sickly pale. “Where are your offspring?”

“Lorne from the Three Ps came out to help. He took them to the medical office.”

“The Lizzy too?”

Pete nodded.

“Keep them there until I say otherwise.”

Vlad left the Liaison’s Office, turned to smoke, and raced off in the direction of the Wolfgard Complex.

Skidding to a stop in front of the Wolfgard Complex, Meg flung herself out of the BOW and screamed, “Sam! Sam!”

He ran to greet her, followed by the other puppies and Skippy.

Meg opened the back of the BOW. “Get inside, Sam. Get inside. We have to run. We have to hide.”

He jumped into the BOW and immediately went to the passenger seat. The other pups hesitated, sensing something wrong in her behavior.

“Skippy. Come on,” Meg panted. As soon as he jumped in the back, she grabbed a pup and tossed her into the BOW. Then another and another and the last one.

“Meg?” Jane, the Wolfgard bodywalker, hurried toward her in human form while the pack’s nanny rushed toward her, snarling. “Meg, what are you doing?”

“We have to run!” Meg screamed. She closed the BOW’s back door.

“You’re bleeding.”

“We have to hide.” She fell into the driver’s seat, started the BOW, and shot away from the Wolfgard Complex. Sam whined and Skippy arrooed, which started the rest of the pups howling.

“Quiet! We have to be quiet!” Where to go? Where could they hide from an enemy who could do . . .

Meg swallowed hard and drove blindly and recklessly along the dirt trails that were barely wide enough for even a vehicle as small as the BOW. She glanced in the side mirror once and saw Wolves chasing the BOW. But not the Wolf she needed to see.

“Simon,” she whispered.

Then the trail ended at a dip in the land. She drove the BOW into the dip, bouncing on the way down. Flinging the driver’s side door open, she tumbled out of the BOW and ran to the back to open that door. As the rest of the pups and Skippy leaped out of the back, she grabbed Sam, who was more than a double armful now, and staggered a few steps away from the BOW.

Shaking, she sank to the ground and held on to him. Had to hide because she’d seen . . .

Her stomach rose, and she threw up over both of them.

Simon sniffed around the Wolfgard Complex. Where was Meg? Where were the other Wolves?

Nathan said.

Uncle Simon!>

Simon lifted his muzzle, intending to howl. If the other Wolves had followed Meg, their reply would help him pinpoint where she was in the Courtyard. But he stopped before the sound rose. Why were the other Wolves silent? Why wasn’t Sam howling?

He and Nathan followed the road, running toward the Hawkgard part of the Courtyard. They had to find Meg. There weren’t that many roads in the Courtyard that could accommodate a vehicle, even one as small as a BOW.

Jenni Crowgard flew toward him.

Nathan said.

Jenni flew over their heads, back the way she’d come.

When he reached the spot, he raced down the incline. How had Meg gotten the BOW down there? And how were they going to get it out?

He slowed down to avoid stepping on the pups who were sufficiently scared now that they wouldn’t move far enough away from Meg to receive protection from Jane or the nanny. The rest of the adult Wolves remained on the incline in a protective circle, with Blair and Nathan at the top keeping watch.

Sam gave him a pathetic look. puked on me!>

The cut along her jaw was starting to clot, but her neck was streaked with blood and her shirt reeked of vomit, erasing the usual lure of her blood’s scent.

Pretty sure that she was too sick to be confused about him being naked, Simon shifted to human and crouched beside her. “Meg? What did you see?”

“We have to hide. Have to hide from . . .” She retched. Sam whined. The other pups backed away, finally seeking protection from the adult Wolves.

“Who has to hide?” Simon asked.

“We do. The Wolves.” She focused on him. Her eyes looked weird—too big, too black instead of gray. “Joe’s face looks like that.”

Like what? Simon wondered. Before he could ask Vlad was beside him, reaching past him to wrap a hand around Meg’s arm.

Vlad said. Then to Meg, “Did you see anything about the rest of us? Meg? Do the rest of us need to hide or just the Wolves?”

She stared at Vlad with eyes so blank Simon wondered if something had broken inside her brain.

“Just . . . Wolves,” she finally said. “And people living in little wood houses.” A pause. “Cabins. Fire. Burning.”

“Okay.” Vlad gave her arm a gentle squeeze before releasing it. “The Wolves will hide with you until it’s safe. The rest of us will send the warning to as many packs as we can.”

Simon looked at Vlad.

Vlad replied grimly.

Joe’s face looks like that.

Vlad rose, his legs already shifted to smoke.

Everything he and the rest of the terra indigene in Lakeside had tried to do by working with humans was breaking apart. How far was it going to break?

He shifted back to Wolf form, instinctively understanding that it would calm Meg.

Vlad said.

The Sanguinati shifted all the way to smoke and raced over the ground.

Blair reported.

Jenni said as she, Starr, and Jake perched in the nearby trees.

Sam whimpered.