Page 57 of Medium
Shane’s phone rang. He looked at the screen, and his shoulders sagged. “Cal.” His voice sounded clogged with unshed tears as he answered. “They took Ellis. They almost killed Manny. Ms. Jackson saved him, but he’s still unconscious.” He listened for a moment. “No, the rest of us are fine. There were eight vampires, but Simon showed up, and he took out four of them.” He ran his hand through his hair. He looked around and met my eyes, so I gave him what I hoped was an encouraging nod. He closed his eyes and nodded back. “Yeah, the friendly vampire. He’s going with us to get Ellis back.”
Shane pulled the phone away from his ear with a wince. Then he said, “Rory’s ghost friends are tracking them, so we know exactly where they are. Ellis is still alive.” He threw his free hand in the air. “I appreciate it, but there’s not enough time for you to get here. What you can do is call Ellis’ brother Arch. You know he’s a Hunter on Dominic’s team, right? Yeah. Okay, thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”
He hung up as we reached the house. After Clementine directed Ms. Jackson to put Manny in a bedroom, she said, “The bathroom’s down the hall. I’d recommend you two get cleaned up if you’re going to be out in public.”
Well, fuck. I looked down at myself. My chest and jeans were covered in Manny’s blood. At least the leather of my hiking sandals was dark enough that I could probably just wash them and they wouldn’t be too bad.
Shane had escaped being covered in blood, but he was drenched in sweat. Shirtless was a good look for him, I noted numbly. He obviously did a lot of his landscaping work himself.
“Come on,” he said. “I’m guessing it’ll take Simon a few minutes to feed. Let’s get some clothes out of the car so we can clean up.”
He let me shower first, and as I was getting dressed, Grandfather appeared to update me on Ellis.
“You aren’t even in the car yet? They’re getting farther and farther away!”
I silently glared at him, then I left the bathroom so Shane could clean up. “Thanks,” he said as he passed me.
Grandfather stuck his head through the bathroom door after Shane closed it. “Grandfather!” I hissed. “Stop that!”
Hetskedas he joined me again. I led the way into the guest bedroom so I could spend a few minutes with Manny before we left.
“Too bad their bond got whacked. Shane’s magic is like a jumble of badly cooked spaghetti. One man can’t keep that many connections.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I can only handle one problem at a time right now. What’s going on with Ellis? Any change?”
“He’s still out cold. They haven’t snacked on him any more at least.” He grimaced. “I’d give a lot not to have witnessed that.Anyway, they’re still heading south. Just went through Stephenville.”
I heard the front door open, so I squeezed Manny’s hand and smoothed back his hair. “I’ll be back in a few hours, Manny. I expect to see you and Pia eating junk food and watching trash TV, okay?” My voice was quavering a little, but I managed not to cry.
I went into the living room, where Levi and Simon were waiting. Simon could’ve used a shower as well, but I didn’t think we had time. He looked worlds healthier though. His eyes were bright gold, his skin was flushed, and I’d swear even his auburn hair looked thicker and shinier.
I still needed to wrap my head around Simon feeding from me and then wiping my memory. But I kind of understood his rationale, and fuck if I didn’t have bigger problems. I’d set it aside and see if it still bothered me next week or something.
I said, “Shane’s getting cleaned up. He’ll be out in a minute. The van just passed Stephenville.”
Simon looked blank. “How far away is that?”
“Oh, sorry. Forty or so miles.”
He nodded then looked toward the hallway to the bedrooms.
Shane walked out carrying his duffel bag. “I’m ready, let’s go.”
“Wait!” Pia shouted from the kitchen. She ran into the room and wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’ll come back, right? With Ellis?”
I met Shane’s worried gaze. “We’re going to try our best. And we have Simon to help us.”
“And Ms. Jackson,” she announced. She let go of me and bounced over to hug Shane, then Simon, who appearedstunned but quickly gave her a grave smile when she released him. “I’ll take care of Manny so you don’t have to worry!” She gave us an officious nod and trotted off to the guest bedroom.
I remembered to get Clementine’s phone number before we left so we could keep her updated on what was happening. She handed me a cooler she said was filled with drinks and snacks.
Ms. Jackson, it turned out, was waiting in the back seat of the SUV. They were in a black panther form. A better choice for nighttime, I guessed.
Levi charged out of the front door, waving his arms. “Wait! Wait right there! One minute!” Then he trotted down the front steps and went around the side of the house.
I tossed Shane and my bags into the back of the SUV and set Pia’s tote bag on the front porch for Levi to grab when he went inside.
He came back carrying two axes and a shotgun. “I thought these would help.”
