claim to be part of their pack. You’ve already asked for their protection once.” Santino crossed his arms and leaned into the doorframe between the parlor and the foyer. “Has that need for protection ended yet, or does your enemy still bear a threat against you?”
Nicholas sighed and shook his head. “Connor’s not going to be happy with us if we bring the Acta Sanctorum down on him and his pack.” He sounded as if he’d resigned himself to another fight with the pack leader.
The last time we had to convince the wolves to help us, it had taken Nicholas going toe-to-toe with the leader of the Olde Town Pack to prove his point.
“So, we hide out with the wolves. Then what? Wait for the Acta Sanctorum to attack them?” I asked. “We’d be bringing another fight to their front door.”
“You’ve already involved them,” Santino said. “They are a part of this now. Their level of involvement from this point forward will have to be decided when we return to the preserve. First you should secure your place with them. We need to leave this house and do it quickly while we have the cover of the blizzard. The longer we sit here, the better chance the enemy has of catching up to us.”
It seemed we had no choice. I only hoped that Connor and the rest of the Olde Town pack would be accommodating.
CHAPTER 13
Reluctantly, we left the shelter and warmth of the house and headed back toward the wildlife preserve that served as the home base for the Olde Town pack. The wind and snow had let up, but what had already fallen made it nearly impossible to drive through at any decent speed. I was thankful that Santino had decided to take the wheel. I had no patience for gridlock, detours, or navigating around blocked streets, and that was all you could expect after a storm of that magnitude.
It took us nearly four hours, and when we finally made it to the preserve, it was close to dawn.
Not surprisingly, Fallon was awake and waiting for us. She rushed to greet us at the door. “Oh, thank God you’re all right. Did you get it?”
I held up Lysander’s crystal triumphantly and smiled. “Piece of cake.”
“Liar,” she laughed, and pulled me into a hug. “But I’m glad you’re safe!”
“I’ll be a frozen vampire-sicle if I don’t get out of this cold though.” The snow had stopped, but it still felt like minus fifty degrees outside. The van’s heater hadn’t been much help either during the drive. It had barely kept us above freezing.
“Get inside where it’s warm,” Nicholas said gruffly and pushed his way past us into the main building.
I didn’t need to be told twice, and practically stumbled over the threshold to get into the delicious heat. Not quite as nice as sitting next to a roaring fire, but central heating was still better than nothing. I zipped the crystal back into my coat and rubbed my hands to restart circulation as I looked around the deserted lobby.
Everyone else must have been sleeping, even the rest of my clan. It was pretty late in the evening—or early in the morning, depending on how you chose to look at it. And I had to admit, the thought of lying down in a nice soft bed was pretty appealing as well.
“Quite a storm tonight, and it came out of nowhere,” Fallon said. She too looked a bit exhausted. Her eyelids drooped a little, and she struggled to stifle a yawn. “We were really worried about you guys.”
“You can thank our witchy friend for that,” I said, and shot a quick smile at Ariana. “She’s got way more power than we anticipated. She practically buried the city in snow.”
Ariana smiled sheepishly. “I’m just happy the goddess listened to my plea.”
“I’d say she listened. It was all over the news. The weatherman was completely stumped. He said he’d never seen a cold front move so quickly in his life.” Fallon covered her mouth as she yawned again. “When we didn’t hear from you, we assumed the worst.”
“The storm provided
Nicholas sighed and shook his head. “Connor’s not going to be happy with us if we bring the Acta Sanctorum down on him and his pack.” He sounded as if he’d resigned himself to another fight with the pack leader.
The last time we had to convince the wolves to help us, it had taken Nicholas going toe-to-toe with the leader of the Olde Town Pack to prove his point.
“So, we hide out with the wolves. Then what? Wait for the Acta Sanctorum to attack them?” I asked. “We’d be bringing another fight to their front door.”
“You’ve already involved them,” Santino said. “They are a part of this now. Their level of involvement from this point forward will have to be decided when we return to the preserve. First you should secure your place with them. We need to leave this house and do it quickly while we have the cover of the blizzard. The longer we sit here, the better chance the enemy has of catching up to us.”
It seemed we had no choice. I only hoped that Connor and the rest of the Olde Town pack would be accommodating.
CHAPTER 13
Reluctantly, we left the shelter and warmth of the house and headed back toward the wildlife preserve that served as the home base for the Olde Town pack. The wind and snow had let up, but what had already fallen made it nearly impossible to drive through at any decent speed. I was thankful that Santino had decided to take the wheel. I had no patience for gridlock, detours, or navigating around blocked streets, and that was all you could expect after a storm of that magnitude.
It took us nearly four hours, and when we finally made it to the preserve, it was close to dawn.
Not surprisingly, Fallon was awake and waiting for us. She rushed to greet us at the door. “Oh, thank God you’re all right. Did you get it?”
I held up Lysander’s crystal triumphantly and smiled. “Piece of cake.”
“Liar,” she laughed, and pulled me into a hug. “But I’m glad you’re safe!”
“I’ll be a frozen vampire-sicle if I don’t get out of this cold though.” The snow had stopped, but it still felt like minus fifty degrees outside. The van’s heater hadn’t been much help either during the drive. It had barely kept us above freezing.
“Get inside where it’s warm,” Nicholas said gruffly and pushed his way past us into the main building.
I didn’t need to be told twice, and practically stumbled over the threshold to get into the delicious heat. Not quite as nice as sitting next to a roaring fire, but central heating was still better than nothing. I zipped the crystal back into my coat and rubbed my hands to restart circulation as I looked around the deserted lobby.
Everyone else must have been sleeping, even the rest of my clan. It was pretty late in the evening—or early in the morning, depending on how you chose to look at it. And I had to admit, the thought of lying down in a nice soft bed was pretty appealing as well.
“Quite a storm tonight, and it came out of nowhere,” Fallon said. She too looked a bit exhausted. Her eyelids drooped a little, and she struggled to stifle a yawn. “We were really worried about you guys.”
“You can thank our witchy friend for that,” I said, and shot a quick smile at Ariana. “She’s got way more power than we anticipated. She practically buried the city in snow.”
Ariana smiled sheepishly. “I’m just happy the goddess listened to my plea.”
“I’d say she listened. It was all over the news. The weatherman was completely stumped. He said he’d never seen a cold front move so quickly in his life.” Fallon covered her mouth as she yawned again. “When we didn’t hear from you, we assumed the worst.”
“The storm provided
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