“Fuck. It’s the vamp.”
I kicked backward, driving my foot into Mr. Windbreaker’s solar plexus, which sent him flying into his little friend. Hard enough to hurt, but not enough to kill. We needed answers and they were going to give them up.
As they tumbled to the floor in a heap, I headed back to the room where I’d left Rachel and Ivan. I opened the door and poked my head in. “Company. Be ready.”
Rachel nodded and Ivan sat up. I looked back the way I’d come and then ducked into the room just as the two men came into view. All they would see of me was a glimmer of movement disappearing through the doorway.
I stood behind the door, Rachel to my right, Ivan still on the bed. He touched my leg. “They’re at the door.”
Fuck, his hearing was even better than mine. I jerked the door open and the two men tumbled in. I grabbed Mr. Windbreaker and lifted him over my head by his throat, flashing my fangs for good measure. Rachel grabbed his buddy and yanked him around so his neck was in a perfect lock of her arms. In seconds, he was out cold from the chokehold and she dropped him to the floor.
Mr. Windbreaker whimpered, “Don’t kill me.”
I slowly lowered him to the floor, but didn’t let go. Neither had gone for their guns. They hadn’t even made an attempt.
“Who are you?”
“Evan Smith. That’s Marvin Eckles.”
Ivan laughed. “Awe-inspiring names if I ever heard them. And I have heard them before.”
Evan looked past me to Ivan and his face paled to a faint green. “Oh God. Please don’t let him near me.”
“Shut your mouth before I shut it for you, Evan.” Ivan’s voice had none of the humor I’d come to expect from him.
Rachel’s brow furrowed as she watched Ivan. I wanted to look back at him too, but we all had our secrets, and I didn’t have time to dig into Ivan’s.
“The wolf listens to me,” I said. “So you’d better start talking unless you want me to give him a new chew toy.”
Teeth chattering, Evan nodded. “The guns are empty. We...we aren’t here to try and hurt you.”
“Try is the word,” Rachel muttered. I had to agree.
“Then why are you following us?”
“We broke clean from the facility. They don’t know we’re still alive. We know what they’re planning, and we want to help you.”
A chill climbed my spine, like a tiny row of spiders skittering along my skin. “Talk.”
He quivered from head to toe. “You don’t have much time. They’re going to start testing on large numbers of people. Villages. Then cities. Turning innocent people into weapons.” His eyes flicked from me to Ivan, then to Rachel. “I don’t know if you three can stop them. But you should know they’re on to you. They know you’re coming.”
Rachel stepped closer to him, her blue eyes flashing. “How?”
He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing as if he couldn’t get enough saliva down. “One of you has a tracer on them. I don’t know which one, I only know it’s one of you three. If you don’t find it, you’re royally fucked.”
Rachel’s eyes shot to Ivan. “You fucking idiot. You’ve got a tracer on you!”
“I don’t. I’d feel it,” he said, calm as a summer’s day. “The low current of electricity would be enough to drive me insane in a matter of days. Which means it’s one of you two ladies. If Evan is telling the truth, that is...he could be messing with us. Shits and giggles and all that.”
“Well, how the fuck are we going to find the tracer then?”
The train slowed, the brakes letting out a heavy screech.
Evan whimpered, “They’re here, we have to go. If Hades shows up, don’t trust him. He’ll lead you on a merry chase and then slit your throat once he’s finished with his fun.” He stepped out of the room, dragging his buddy with him.
“How much time do you think we have?” Rachel asked. “Maybe we can get on the roof of the train, make a jump when it slows down more.”
“If one of you is being traced, they’ll still find us,” Ivan said.
“Then we’ll split up,” she said. “See which one of us gets followed.”
I lifted a hand, stopping them. “I think it’s me. The demon dog slashed me up badly. We weren’t being followed until then. Not like this. It could have been fitted into its teeth or claws as an injectable.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “Fuck.”
“My thoughts exactly.” I yanked off my shirt and slid down my jeans. “Ivan, could you pick up the vibration in your hands? You said you’d be able to tell if the tracer was in you.”