"Yeah. I ought to eat something, I guess," Ashe agreed and took the smallest sandwich he could find. He wasn't touching the beans; his stomach was tied in knots as it was. He felt something stirring, altering the conditions once more, but he didn't want to upset Winkler or deviate from the plan. Things would go as they would, one way or another. He had one other he might call on, and if he hurried, then he might have things in place before everything fell apart.
* * *
"I heard you were planning the takedown, and I know Zeke is hunting us. You have to include Eudora and me so he'll call off his trackers. Otherwise, we're as good as dead."
"I'm not sharing the money with you," Josiah growled at Fergus Haskell over the phone. "You can help if you want, but Zeke will decide for himself if that's enough to keep his trackers away. He said they were tailing you."
"Look, all we want to do is try to make this right with Zeke. He won't stop hunting us until we're dead if we don't make this right with him," Fergus begged. "We're pulling into Corpus now. Where can we meet and coordinate?"
"I was about to have dinner so I can focus on what needs to be done later," Josiah pointed out. "Meet me at Darrin's Steak House—it's on Padre Island Drive on the south side. You can't miss it."
"We'll be there in less than half an hour," Fergus said and hung up.
"Yeah, you can be the bait," Josiah muttered and pocketed his cell.
* * *
"You don't sound surprised that I called," Ashe was the one who sounded surprised.
"Let's just say that I had a visit—from a tall, brown-haired man," Kyle Williams, Corpus Christi's only resident vampire, informed Ashe after answering his cell.
"You know Griffin?" Ashe almost squeaked the name.
"Yes. Actually, my sire knows Griffin better than anyone I know. I've only seen him a few times over the past eighty-six years, but I do know him. He said to help out if I could. What do you need, young one?"
"I need backup, because things have just gotten a little more complicated than I originally thought. I'll come get you. Did Griffin tell you that was all right?"
"He said you had unusual methods, and that I could trust you."
"I can keep you hidden until the time is right, but you'll have to work fast; we've got three areas to cover now, instead of the original one. At least your two will be closer together."
"I'll do what I can," Kyle replied. "When are you coming?"
"I'm here, now." Ashe stood inside Kyle's underground bunker, his cell phone in his hand. "Don't worry, I'll get you back home afterward and your location is safe with me." Ashe explained with mindspeech what was needed while he ferried Kyle to the werewolf running area outside Star Cove.
* * *
"Ashe flies. He has no need to come to Star Cove for the change," Nathan pointed out to Hector, Edmond and Casimir. Hector was the one asking, as the Honored One might expect an account of the boy.
"Where is he, then?" Edmond demanded.
"No idea. I'm sure Winkler is making arrangements for him to be safe. After all, Ashe is so tiny when he turns that he could fly about in Winkler's cavernous home without any harm or threat," Nathan replied stiffly. "And it is too late to contact the werewolf—you see the others here have already gone." Nathan jerked his head toward the twinkling lights of the small community. He and the other vampires stood on the small strip of sand east of the Star Cove paranormal neighborhood, waiting for the shifters to make the change. They would watch and make sure the community was safe, but they would not interfere.
"I do not like this," Hector pointed out.
"Then perhaps you should tell Wlodek when you speak to him next," Nathan said. "Perhaps he will give you another assignment."
"I will suggest no such thing. We have already informed him of the location of the child. We had no idea the boy would not return for the full moon."
"Why should he? There's nothing here for him now," Nathan sighed. He wanted to shake his head over the turn of events that left Ashe without parents, but his sire had not consulted him before doing as he did.
"We will make sure the boy is safe before we retire for the day," Casimir finally spoke up. Of those there, he was eldest and Wlodek had left him in charge. Casimir, too, had no idea what Aedan Evans had been thinking, leaving the child in the hands of werewolves and vulnerable to the others who hunted him. Nevertheless, he had to work with what he had. At the moment, he had no information on Ashe's whereabouts.
"Fine with me." Nathan turned to walk back to the community and take up his normal position on a rooftop so he could see the shapeshifters as they wandered, prowled and hunted through the subdivision. Casimir and the others soon followed.
* * *
Ashe could see Sali standing at the outer edge of the Pack—they were all still in human form, waiting for the two scheduled for execution to arrive. Only the executioners and those scheduled to die would make the change for the planned execution. Afterward, the Pack would turn and hunt.
Ashe wanted to shiver, even though he was mist. Weldon Harper, Thomas Williams and Bear Wright were with him. Winkler stood near Trace and Trajan at the inside of the werewolf circle, not far from Marcus DeLuca and Micah Rocklin. Marco, Wayne, Wynter and Winkler's other wolves stood in a knot behind Winkler. Ashe spotted several others in the crowd. Mr. Dodd. Greta Rocklin. Denise DeLuca, standing next to Randy's mother, Dawn. Even Hayes' parents were there. Ashe truly did want to sigh, then. Larry and Jeff were standing with them. Six more wolves walked into the moonlit circle, pulling Chad and Jeremy with them. Their chains had been removed somewhere and now both struggled against their captors.
"I hate you," Chad attempted to spit at Marcus as he was hauled before the Star Cove Packmaster. "You killed my dad," he added with a snarl. The two werewolves who held him hauled him back as he lunged toward Marcus. Jeremy, held securely by other werewolves nearby, just looked terrified. He'd never been this close to the entire Pack on a full moon.
"Your father challenged me fairly, and was taken down fairly," Marcus said evenly as Chad glared at him. "You were too young to see that I tried to convince him to back off. He refused. You know the laws, just as I do. You will be punished for breaking those laws. Who offers to take the execution of Chad Everett Daniels?"
"I take it," Micah pulled his shirt off and unbuckled his belt.
Ashe wanted to moan. He'd always liked Marcus' Second. Now, Chad would be ripped apart according to werewolf justice and Ashe would have to listen. He could close his mental eyes, but his hearing he could not mute. Both Micah and Chad had turned in a matter of moments and Micah charged. The growls, yelps and carnage was just as bad as Ashe imagined it might be. Micah was swift, at least. Less than ten minutes it took. Micah remained wolf, his muzzle bloodied while Chad's dismembered torso lay on the grass inside the werewolf circle.