My head snapped up, and I scanned the dark yard. Dr. Hudson? Had that bastard managed to sneak out of Cooter Hollow before Dick and Jane got to him? A cloud slid over the bright half-moon, making it harder for me to spot any movement.
And then there was an odd noise, something you didn't hear very often around River Oaks.
Thump-a-thump.
Suddenly, Fitz sent up a howl somewhere in the dark. His bark was more aggressive than anything I'd ever heard from him before. He actually sounded like he was capable of hurting someone.
"Fitz." I jammed the phone into the back of my jeans, missing my pocket entirely and wedging it between my butt and the belt loops. I ran toward Fitz's bark, tripping over something soft and cold. I landed on my face in the grass and scrambled to my feet. I nudged the squishy object aside with my foot and realized it was a body. One of the UERT members. He was missing his tactical gear, and there was a bullet hole near his chest. His skin was crackled and discolored from silver poisoning.
"Shit!" I hissed.
Thump-a-thump.
Wait.
Why wasn't anyone responding to Fitz's bark? Were all of the UERT guys dead? Were Ben and Georgie and Gabriel OK?
"Fitz!" I yelled, dashing after him as he ran toward the house. "Hold on!"
Just as I got close enough to the house to call for help, I saw the outline of a man, backlit by the floodlights in Jane's eaves. He was wearing UERT gear, but the antiseptic smell rolling off him was damn near gagging me. Dr. Hudson? He seemed too stocky to be Dr. Hudson.
Fitz skidded to a stop between us. He growled, ears bent back and hackles raised as he advanced on the man, the human whose heartbeat seemed so out of place at Jane's house. The man raised his arm, and I could see a flash of metal in his hand.
"Fitz, don't," I commanded him. "Stay."
But Fitz was already gathering for the leap, ready to launch himself at the shadow.
Psst!
"No!" I screamed as the shot hissed out through a silencer. Fitz yelped and slumped to the ground. "Dr. Hudson, you asshole!"
I dropped to my knees, pressing my hand against the wound in Fitz's chest. His blood spilled, sticky and warm, over my hand as he whimpered. "Fitz, please, just-please."
///
The asshole in question slid the tactical screen from his helmet. "I'm not Dr. Hudson, but I'm sure that sort of language isn't necessary, Miss Keene."
"Dr. Fortescue?" I asked, tears streaming down my cheeks. That explained the heartbeat. The very human mad scientist was holding a pistol, pointing it at my chest. And I suspected it was loaded with silver bullets, given the UERT member's reaction.
He grinned, cherubic cheeks spreading over teeth that were too white and perfect. "The one and only."
I took a deep breath to scream for help, but I heard the hammer on the pistol cock back.
"I wouldn't do that, Miss Keene."
"You think you can shoot me before I get to you?" I asked, my fangs sliding out. I had to be strong, be brave. Fitz's breathing was slowing to nothing underneath my hands. But I had to make Dr. Fortescue think I was badass enough to kill him where he stood. "I can hear your heartbeat. I've got news for you, pal. That gun won't work on me. It will sting, but I'll still get to you before you can get off more than one shot."
"Yes, but these are silver bullets, which will affect you. Given your reaction to silver, do you really want to take the chance?" He smirked when I recoiled. So much for my poker face. "Now, come along."
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"You're my intellectual property, my dear. I've come to collect what's mine."
"What?"
"It was my work that turned you into the remarkable specimen you are today. There would be no you without me. You would have died on that lawn, your bones crushed and your organs jellied. Then again, you wouldn't have had your bones crushed and your organs jellied if I hadn't arranged that, too, but details, details."
"What?"
"Your little accident," he said. "I arranged it."
Even though I knew my "accident" had likely been a setup to put me in the position of being turned, it was pretty infuriating to hear it out loud. I did not like Dr. Fortescue.
"I needed you to be in distress when I had one of my ‘carriers' nearby save the day."
"Carriers?"
"Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll get to that later. You know, I was hoping for the matched set, but I guess I'll have to settle for just you."