No Man's Land (21 page)

There was a soft snort of laughter that smoothed her worry. “Silly. What do you think we are? I mate with who I choose, when I choose, and I’ll have offspring only if I wish to. But Firsts don’t have the fertility problems that plague latter generations of werewolves, and we have a broader range of abilities so we’re coveted as a potential mate. We’re also granted special status in the Pack.”

“I wondered. I mean, you don’t smell the same as Dale and his crew. I thought maybe my sense of smell was off because I’ve been so hungry.”

She saw Jaq’s faint smile. “Are you saying I smell bad?”

“Werewolves smell bad,” Kelly confessed. “Like dogs and old ham. You don’t smell bad. You smell like ice and pepper, cloves and pine trees.”

Jaq choked back a laugh. “
Ham
? Old ham? If you value your life, don’t ever tell a werewolf that to their face.”

“Wait,” Kelly said, suddenly facing the other woman. “Is Mike a Nephilim too? How many of you half angels are there?”

Jaq shook her head. “No. He’s my step–brother. My father brought me to the Pack when I was an infant. I’m the only one in West Virginia at the moment. It’s really not that common.”

“You never knew your parents?” Kelly asked softly. Maybe she and Jaq had more in common than she’d thought.

“Well, I consider the werewolf couple that raised me to be my parents, but no, I never knew my angel father or my human mother. It was for the best. I would have been a danger to both of them if they’d kept me — proof of an angel’s sin.”

Kelly squashed a wave of jealousy. What she wouldn’t have given for a pair of loving foster parents, and a step brother. All she’d had was a box behind the stove and a slap if she daydreamed and didn’t work fast enough. But that life was behind her, and she should be thankful that Jaq didn’t suffer the same bleak childhood as hers.

“I worked with an angel back in Atlantic City — our liaison. He was alright for an angel, but I can’t see him having reproductive organs, let alone allowing passion to sway him into sex with a human.”

Jaq laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth. “I
know
. Seriously. I’ve never met an angel, obviously, but from what I’ve heard I just can’t imagine it.”

“You blood is a total rush. I can’t tell if I’ve got enhanced abilities or I’m just on some delusional high. Good thing you aren’t a full angel. I think I my head might have blown right off my body.”

“What does it feel like?” Jaq peered at her curiously, waving a hand in front of Kelly’s face.

“I can feel everything in such detail. My whole body is tingly. I’m still hungry, but not starving. It doesn’t seem to bother me as much. I’m not as weak.”

“Do you need more?” Jaq asked, indicating her arm.

“Good lord, no. I think it would kill me. Just that mouthful and I felt like I was going to explode out from the inside. I’ve never heard of any of us drinking from a werewolf before, let alone a Nephilim. If they did, I can only assume it didn’t end well. If I hadn’t been holding back, I’d probably have taken too much and stroked out.”

“I’m not sure werewolves would have the same effect,” Jaq confessed. “My make–up is really different. I’m probably more potent.”

“I’ll say. Super potent. Super–duper potent.” Kelly looked at her fingers again. Could she shoot laser beams from them? It sure felt like she could.

“Will it wear off?” Jaq asked, peering at her. “Your pupils are huge, like you’re drugged.”

“I’m sure it will. I just don’t know how long it will take.”

Jaq put the truck back in gear. “I’m going to keep driving. Let me know if you need me to pull over so you can puke or something.”

They headed on to Winchester as Kelly marveled at the stars and the scenery that seemed in such incredible detail. She felt like she could recall every leaf on every tree they passed. It was like being on a hallucinogenic. As they pulled into town, Kelly suddenly smelled vampire. Kincaid vampire.

“There,” she told Jaq. “Turn there.”

“The pawn shop?” Jaq asked.

“Yeah, pull around back and we’ll throw the bodies in front of the dumpster.”

They got out and dropped the tailgate to pull out the bodies when Jaq froze, looking at Kelly with an eerie intensity.

“There’s one here. I smell one,” she whispered.

Kelly didn’t have time to react before she was knocked to the ground and straddled by a male vampire.

“Fournier scum. What are you doing in our lands?” he snarled, his hands at her throat.

A roar split the air and massive claws slapped the vampire from her, sending him skidding ten feet across the asphalt parking lot. Jaq had become an enormous wolf, her tawny fur covered in unusual brown spots.

Unfortunately the intimidating effect of the werewolf’s fierce roar was negated by the lacy panties dangling from one rear leg and the t–shirt and bra twisted around her middle. Kelly couldn’t help a snort of laughter.

The wolf paused just a moment to glare at Kelly before leaping after the vampire. Jaq no longer had the element of surprise on her side, and the vampire had taken advantage of her inattention to jump to his feet and charge. They collided. He grabbed Jaq, tossing her into the side of the dumpster.

“No,” Kelly shouted, scrambling to her feet. She reached out her hand, and the shovel from the truck flew into her open palm. Instinctively, she swung the tool, impacting the side of the vampire’s head with strength far beyond her years, breaking the wooden handle in half and sending the vampire sprawling backwards.

Knowing the blow wouldn’t do more than slow him, she tossed the splintered handle aside and grabbed the vampire, heaving him into the air and slamming him against the side of the dumpster. He hit the thick metal rods used to lift and empty the garbage with force, and they slid through him, impaling the vampire right through the heart. He was dead. Jaq stared at her, the werewolf’s form returning to human with a flash of light.

“I’ve never done that before,” Kelly marveled, looking at the broken shovel on the ground, then at her hands. Telekinesis. Vampires began to acquire the skill at around two–thousand years of age. “I think it may be a side effect of your blood. I’m guessing that will wear off eventually too. Pity, because that would be a really nifty skill to have.”

“Do it again,” Jaq urged. The werewolf was mostly naked, her pants on the ground beside the truck, and her shirt and bra still an awkward tangle around her midsection. Who knew where the woman’s underwear had gone.

Kelly bit back a smile and reached out a hand. The broken handle flew into her palm without her even looking at it. “Yeah, I could get used to this.”

The werewolf nodded then began to look around the pavement, no doubt searching for her underwear. “Me too. I don’t think you should make a habit out of drinking my blood, though. I have a bad feeling it could have some terrible long–term side effects.”

“You werewolves must go through a lot of clothing,” Kelly commented, picking up Jaq’s pants and shaking gravel from them.

“Not normally.” Jaq picked up a tiny scrap of fabric and examined it, making a disgusted noise. “It takes most werewolves ten to twenty minutes to change. With today’s effective human weaponry, we usually only use the wolf form for organized social occasions, like hunts, so there’s plenty of time to disrobe.”

“But you’re different.” Kelly handed her the pants, and Jaq gave one last annoyed look at the underwear before shoving them in a pocket.

“Yeah, I can change immediately. I can be other animals besides a wolf, and in animal form I’m pretty indestructible. I don’t usually do it, for the obvious, clothing–destroying reasons, but when I don’t know what I’m up against, it’s worth ruining fifty–dollar lingerie.”

Kelly whistled. “That’s some expensive lacy stuff under your Carhartt overalls, girl. I never would have guessed it.”

Jaq frowned, hopping as she put the pants on, commando. “I’d really prefer if you didn’t tell anyone. No one in the pack would ever let me live it down.”

“Two secrets,” Kelly teased. “Nephilim and girly underclothes. Hmmm, such blackmail potential.”

Jaq hesitated, a flash of distrust flitting over her face.

“I’m teasing, you know,” Kelly told her softly. “Best friends don’t betray each other.”

Jaq’s smile returned, her shoulders relaxing in relief. “Help me get these dead guys out of the truck. I want to get out of here before more vampires show up and I have to ruin what’s left of my clothing.”

It was good to have a friend to joke with, one to rely on when you needed help. This whole thing — exile, starving, enemy scouts trying to kill her — it was a horrible situation, but with Jaq by her side, it all seemed manageable. More than manageable, actually. With Jaq, it felt like she could conquer the world, and
that
had nothing to do with the half–angel blood coursing through her system.

“I’m so glad you’re with me, but I feel kind of guilty. I dragged you into this whole thing.”

Jaq shrugged. “I was killing vampires before you came along. It’s a whole lot more fun when there’s someone else by your side.”

Kelly nodded and looked at the two corpses in the bed of Jaq’s truck. “We probably should have just buried these bodies, but I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to send a message to Kincaid to keep off my land and leave us alone.”

My land
. Somehow it had become her land. Yes, it was also werewolf land — a worthless buffer zone between two vampire territories. Could she manage to survive being squashed between two powerful families, living in the company of werewolves? Jaq wanted her to stay, but would the others? And how could she ever manage it with their ban on human blood?

Jaq grinned. “I think the guy dangling from the dumpster will get your message across.”

Kelly looked at the gruesome sight.

“I understand territory,” Jaq added. “I want to keep these guys out of our lands as much as you do.”

Kelly considered her words then climbed into the back of the truck to shove out the two vampire bodies. Jaq grabbed them off the bed gate and easily tossed them over her shoulders before striding to the dumpster and pitching them to the ground.

“You’re right — we need to get out of here,” Kelly muttered, keeping a sharp eye turned to the pawnshop and dark buildings down the road. “We’re not usually out alone. I don’t know where that guy’s buddy is, but he’s bound to be back soon, and I’d like us across the border when he gets here.”

Jaq nodded, shutting the tailgate with a bang and gesturing for Kelly to get into the car. “Yeah, I’ve got to get ready for work too. Early shift this morning.”

Some friend she was, dragging Jaq all over the place fighting vampires and ruining her clothing when the woman had to work.

“Sorry. I really appreciate your help.” In more ways than one — with Wes, with the vampire drooping from the dumpster, and even her rocket–fuel blood. Which she was
not
about to have any more of.

Jaq smirked at her as she climbed into the truck. “Don’t mention it. I’d call in sick, but I’ve got a vampire I’m supporting and I need the hours.”

“Ha ha. I’d be a lot cheaper to support if you had a basement in your trailer for me to live in.”

Jaq started the car and turned to Kelly, a serious expression on her face. “And as much as I hate to bring up a prickly subject when we seem to be on speaking terms again, we need to talk about blood.”

Kelly knew what the woman meant, but she just didn’t want to go there. “So you need laundry advice on how to remove it from your clothing? Well, you’ve turned to the right vampire. I’d suggest soda water, or baking soda. Or you could just dye your t–shirt pink and be done with it.”

Jaq pulled the truck out onto the main road, but not before shooting her a stern, one–eyebrow–raised kind of look. “Don’t. I didn’t work my butt off that night they dumped you half–dead in the trailer only to have you starve to death out of stubbornness. The cow and deer blood isn’t working for you, or the fresh blood from the animals we’re trapping. Human blood — how much and how often do you need it to keep you alive and in tip–top shape?”

It was time to be truthful. Kelly sighed. “At the casino I got three meals a day. A pint each, fresh from a human. That’s a privileged modern life, though. It wasn’t always that way. We have the ability to gorge and store, but I haven’t even been able to do that. I would have been dead days ago if it hadn’t been for that guy outside the strip club. And if I hadn’t been so injured and weak from blood loss, what I took from him would normally have held me a week.”

“Draining someone dry is going to get you killed before sun–up,” Jaq commented, her tone deceptively casual. Kelly could see the tension in her shoulders, hear the strain in the very back of her voice. “What’s the minimum you can have? We’ll work up from there.”

“I …I really don’t know.” She didn’t. She’d always been fed. Fournier vampires didn’t go hungry, whether it was a shared meal from an expendable human out of the slums when she was first turned, or the civilized delivered meals in the casino.

Jaq threw up her hands in frustration, momentarily leaving the truck’s steering unattended. “Give me a ballpark here, Kelly. I can’t let you run around like some fangless Dracula, stabbing strippers and drunken guys.”

“How far does your pack’s mandate extend? Maybe I can borrow your truck and run in a few times a week to Martinsburg for drunks and strippers.”

“Not gonna happen.” Jaq’s voice was firm, her profile grim. “Thousands of us, remember? The pack
owns
this state. You start killing or assaulting humans anywhere in West Virginia and there’s not much I can do to save you.”

Kelly frowned, realizing that the fact Jaq was a Nephilim wasn’t the only thing the werewolves were hiding. There was no way the angels would have allowed thousands of them in one state under the existence contract. No way.

As if reading her mind, Jaq shot her a perceptive look. “And no, the angels don’t know. We’ve got a huge number of werewolves under the radar here. For some reason, we’ve managed to keep it under wraps. No angels, no demons.”

“No vampires,” Kelly added softly. “Until me.”