Page 56 of Wonder
“Shit, Reno. I hope they’ll be okay. I’m on 183 and I should be there in about an hour and twenty. Have the Hunters gotten there yet?”
“No. Haven’t seen them.”
“Well, my phone says it’s only been around twelve minutes since I called y’all, but they should get there soon. I messaged both Shirley and Tucker, so they’ll probably show up too.”
“Hold up. It’s only been twelve minutes?” It had felt like a lifetime. I sank back down to the ground next to Simon. “Hey, Cal. Do you know how to get Simon to feed from me while he’s unconscious?”
“Noooo? Maybe make a cut on your wrist and put it in his mouth?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
A key turned in the front door lock, and the door cracked open. “Holy shit!” Tucker pushed it wide. “Reno?”
“Over here.” I waved. “It’s Tucker,” I said to Cal.
“Okay, now that he’s there, I’m going to end the call so I can focus on driving. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Cal. If you hadn’t have warned us, it would’ve been a lot worse.” I wouldn’t have had my gun, Simon wouldn’t have had the baseball bat, and neither of us would’ve been near Nicky and Jackson. “We owe you our lives.”
“All in a day’s work, Reno. You know how it is.”
“Still. If you ever need anything. We’re here for you.”
Shirley followed Tucker inside, and they both stepped around the dead vampire to get to us. “Oh, hell. Jackson!” Tucker crouched down next to Nicky, who raised his head blearily before letting it fall to his forearms again.
As Shirley bent over to hug me, I wished I could lay my head down too. “Jackson might heal. The, uh, stuff around their neck was glowing a minute ago.”
“Damn, I hope so.” Tucker stroked their fur. “Simon’ll be okay?”
I sighed, and there was definitely a hint of a sob in it. “I think so. His magic is still bright. But I don’t know how long it’ll take, and I feel like I should give him some blood, but I don’t know how when he’s unconscious.”
He frowned. “There’s bagged blood in the fridge. That might be easier to pour down his throat.”
I shook my head almost instantly. “Not for this. It needs to be mine. I can’t say why. Maybe it’s a mate thing.”
“Okay, okay. It was just an idea.”
Shirley leaned over to peer at Nicky. “When was the last time either of you had some water?”
“Uh... I don’t remember?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be right back.” She straightened up and started toward the kitchen right as the back door slammed open and three Hunters came in, guns and knives aimed everywhere. Four more came in the front door, also armed to the teeth.
Shirley, Tucker, and I raised our hands. “Don’t shoot! The fight’s over.”
“Stand down, everyone. I repeat, stand down!” Dominic took off his helmet and came over. “Y’all okay?” He grimaced at Jackson and Simon. “I guess not. Sorry. We were following up on a possible sighting across town.”
“Cal said the Hunters guarding us were killed?”
He took a deep breath and glanced out the back door. “Yeah. Carter and Franklin.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded in short jerky movements. “Thanks. Can you tell me what happened from your perspective? After that I promise we’ll get the dead vamps out of here. Um, shit, we need to take their heads off, don’t we?” He started gazing around, possibly to find a sword. Tucker looked alarmed as well.
“No.” I held my hand up. “Normally, yes, But it’s not necessary for these guys. Their magical cores are gone.” Not to mention I’d really rather not have more blood to clean off the floor.
Dominic eyed me with disbelief, but he didn’t comment, just went to get a chair from the kitchen table to sit on.
