Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

“None of which explains why you’re here and Penny’s not,” Jonas said.

Nuri cast him an exasperated glance but didn’t say anything. My gaze rose to his. “She told me she could hear them. That they were in her head.”

“The vampires?” Nuri asked.

“She didn’t say. It could have been. Or it could have been Sal’s partners. I suspect they’re the ones behind this attack.”

“As I suspect they’re behind the sudden rash of vampire immunity to light.” Nuri frowned. “I’m guessing from that statement—and the nasty gash on your head—that Penny attacked when you entered the room.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry, Jonas. I tried—”

He made a sharp “enough” motion with his hand. “I know. It’s just—”

He cut the rest of the sentence off as Nuri glanced at him again, but I nevertheless knew what he’d been about to say—that he’d sworn an oath to his dead sister to protect Penny, and he kept on failing. A similar sentiment echoed through me. I’d sworn to never let another child suffer, and I was failing in that endeavor every bit as badly with Penny as I had with my ghosts.

“Do you have any idea where she went when she left here?” Nuri asked.

“No, but I sent Bear after her. He’ll report back once he knows—”

“We are not waiting,” Jonas growled. “We all know where they’re headed—for Carleen and the false rifts. It’s their only possible chance of escaping with her.”

“You can’t be sure of that, Jonas,” Nuri said.

“The vampires were in retreat to the south-side exit, not the north, by the time we got up here,” Jonas said. “So it’s either Carleen or the vampire den we raided, and I doubt it’s the latter unless it’s the vampires who control her and not Sal’s partners.”

“I do not think—”

“Right now I don’t care what you think. I’m going after my niece.” His glare snapped to me. “Are you coming?”

“Yes.” I pulled my hand from Nuri’s and pushed myself upright. Dizzy weakness washed through me, and I briefly closed my eyes, fighting it.

“For fuck’s sake, Jonas, the woman’s almost dead on her feet. She needs time—”

“We haven’t got time.” His gaze swept me. “She’d say if she was incapable.”

Nuri snorted. “Shows just how much you know, Ranger.” She grabbed my hand, and energy bit at my skin, chasing away some of the tiredness. But she released me altogether too soon. “That’s all I can do for now, so go. And be careful.”

I nodded, picked up the rifle, and headed out. Jonas was already halfway down the walkway. I collected the second rifle, then followed as quickly as I was able, trying to ignore the stink of the dead as my stomach continued to churn.

Branna was just waking when we arrived in the downstairs living area. “What the fuck happened?” he said, and then his gaze met mine. “You.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And that’s two times you’ve tried to kill me now. Try it a third time, and I’ll return the favor.”

“Only if you see me before I see—”

“Branna, behave.” Jonas’s tone was curt. “And get some weapons. The vamps have Penny.”

I glanced sharply at Jonas as Branna scrambled upright and reached for his weapons, but the ranger studiously ignored me and kept on walking. Cat, keep an eye on Branna for me. If he so much as twitches the wrong way, hit him.

Her anticipation spun through me as she raced off to grab the chair leg she’d abandoned earlier. Obviously, she, like me, didn’t believe Branna would be able to restrain his hatred for all that long.

I followed Jonas out through the bar and into the lane beyond. The bodies of vampires lay everywhere, but if any mercenaries had died here, then their remains had already been moved. Beyond Chaos, night had given way to sunrise. I could feel it, even if I couldn’t yet see it. And sunrise was deadly to vampires, unless that, too, had changed. But I doubted it—not given that UV light still stopped them.

So either they’d taken Penny to the den situated in one of the few drainage tunnels that hadn’t been filled in when Central was rebuilt, or someone was meeting them. I suspected the latter, but until Bear returned, we wouldn’t know.

As we moved down Chaos’s levels, the number of dead and wounded grew, until the noise and the smell made my heart weep. So many people had either lost their lives or been seriously injured, and for what? For a dream of domination that would not only destroy the world as we knew it, but erase everyone within it.

I couldn’t understand what Sal and his partners really thought they’d gain by such destruction. Surely they couldn’t be foolish enough to believe that the wraiths would allow them to live any longer than their usefulness lasted? Wraiths came to this world to hunt and destroy. We were prey to them, nothing more, just as we were simply a food source to the vampires.