Page 21 of Aleko
“Pants,” said Pellos.
“What?” asked Trevor, turning to him.
“Pants first,” said Pellos, pointing.
Trevor looked down at himself. “Right.”
As usual, Pellos was the cool and practical head in the situation. Alex needed to get a hold of himself. He would take care of the pack, and then he could see to his own needs.
“Sebastian,” said Alex. “Follow the scent. Stay in contact. Don’t engage without us. We’ll get more weaponry—and clothes—and join you.”
Sebastian nodded and disappeared into the back of the warehouse. Trevor and Colin began to jog back toward the Ash warehouse. Alex turned to Pellos and Luca.
“Luca, look at the sarcophagus and the spells. Call if youfind out anything. Pellos, call the cleaners. Let’s get this mess taken care of. And then look up Sergio’s home address. This is his warehouse. If we didn’t have the talisman, she might have thought the owner of the spells had it. That means Sergio.”
Pellos nodded, and Luca was already looking over the clay tablets, so Alex followed Colin and Trevor. The day had been going so well. It was supposed to be a quiet evening of comparing notes, not carnage and mayhem. And the damn girl…
She had been paper pale as she had talked to the glowing dead woman. But she had managed what all of them hadn’t been able to do—slow the situation down. She had faced him down at the club, and now she had stepped up to go toe to toe with a mystical being. Alex wasn’t sure what either of the women was, but he was certain that his girl had more courage than most men he’d gone to war with. Once in his own warehouse, Alex pulled on clothes and gathered weaponry. He honestly wasn’t sure what would make a dent on the creature, so he pulled out the sword Hudson had made him. The young wolf’s skill in the forge was unmatched—Alex had yet to find anything that the blade wouldn’t cut.
His phone beeped, and he checked the messages. Pellos had sent the address.
“You ready?” asked Colin, now fully dressed.
“Yeah,” said Alex, slinging the sword across his back. The position made it impractical to draw but far less noticeable.
His phone beeped again—this time from Sebastian. It contained a picture of a street sign. Alex checked the name and ran it through his mental map. It was close to the address Pellos had sent.
“Good news?” asked Trevor hopefully, appearing in the doorway beside his brother.
Alex shrugged, trying not to let Trevor’s concern annoy him. “I know where we’re going anyway.”
Sergio lived in a new construction villa high on a hill above the town. But the pristine edifice was smoking by the time they arrived, and Alex could see a few flames flicking from an open window.
“I think he’s been throwing grenades,” said Sebastian appearing out of the shrubbery as they parked.
There was another explosion from inside the house.
“How does he have that kind of weaponry?” asked Trevor.
“Probably the same way we do,” said Sebastian with a shrug. “We don’t have long before the police and fire department show up.”
Alex was about to speak when his phone rang.
“Luca,” he said, picking up. “Tell me you’ve got away to stop her.”
“I’m looking at the documentation that came with the sarcophagus,” said Luca. “There is a partial translation of the inscriptions. Her name is Anuket. I think she needs the talisman to reform her body. Once she’s got a body, you can kill her. Maybe.”
“Maybeis not very reassuring,” said Alex.
“Well, if killing her was easy, then I’m pretty sure Adda would have done it two thousand years ago or whatever. I think our best bet is to destroy the body she’s currently in, and then we will need a way of capturing her.”
“Uh-huh. Any ideas on how to do that?”
“Best guess is some sort of vessel and repeat the spells Sergio has here. I’ve copied out what I could find, but I don’t think I have them all. I can take my best guess, though.”
“Well, it’s better than nothing. Come over to Sergio’s. You can either help with the humans or pick up our bodies for a proper burial.”
“Si! I’m on my way,” said Luca cheerfully and hung up.
