Chapter 18
Eighteen
Wyatt shifted carefully in bed, trying to not disturb River, who was plastered to his side. Everyone had stayed at Bel’s until just a few hours before sunrise, trying to come up with a viable plan that would ensure a fair fight between him and Albert.
Neither River nor Bel had spoken much, not that Wyatt could blame them.
Other than the brief scuffle he’d had with the wolf on Bel’s land, he hadn’t been in a fight with another wolf in years.
He was sorely out of practice. Albert might be older and a step slower, but Wyatt was expecting the man to fight dirty.
But if he didn’t do something, didn’t get rid of Albert, how could he ever hope to have a life with Bel and River?
As of now, his sister’s life was forfeit if she was found by Albert and his trusted minions.
Winter had taken her to a secret location for safekeeping until the fight was over, but Winter wouldn’t be able to hide her for long, and they still needed to get her husband out of the pack safely.
Turning his head against the pillow, he looked at River.
His cheek was pressed to Wyatt’s chest, while one arm was thrown over his waist as if he were trying to make sure Wyatt couldn’t escape him in his sleep.
They’d been running and hiding for so damn long.
It was time to stop. It was time to declare that they’d move no more.
River deserved a chance at a normal, happy life.
A place to set down roots. At the very least, if he lost the fight, there was no doubt in his mind that Bel would take care of River. All the Variks would.
Bel lay stretched out beside River, the sheets twisted about him as if he’d been fighting in his dreams. His handsome face was lined and tensed even in his sleep. His mind was likely trying to find a better, safer solution to their problem.
The vampire would march straight into the sun if it meant protecting him and River from harm.
Never had he expected to be on the receiving end of such love and devotion from a vampire.
His experiences with Brett and the MacPherson clan had been uncomfortable, to say the least. After ten years, he’d begun to believe all vampires were cold and cruel.
But that night in the woods when the MacPherson and Varik clans fought, he’d seen something in Bel and his brothers.
There was something about the way they cared about one another, how they protected each other.
And then Bel’s gentleness with him and River, even when he thought they were just animals.
He hadn’t wanted to hurt them if he could help it.
When he convinced River they should seek out Bel as a new protector, Wyatt figured that their situation might be slightly improved over what they’d found with Brett.
But to find such depth of love and compassion, it was a treasure unlike any other.
Wyatt would give his life to protect it. To protect them both.
A soft thump on the roof had Wyatt turning his attention away from Bel. It was the same noise that had woken him from his doze. At first, he’d thought it was maybe a squirrel landing on the roof, but this time the thump was followed by another sound, as if something were rolling down the tiles.
Very carefully, Wyatt slid out of the bed, trying not to wake River, but he should have known it was useless. They’d both learned to be light sleepers over the years. Only Bel slept like the dead.
“What?” River asked, his voice rough from sleep. He blinked slowly, holding his head up as he looked around the room.
“I heard something. I just want to check it out.”
“Want me to come with?”
Wyatt shook his head. “Stay with Bel.”
River grunted and rolled over, wrapping his body around Bel. A small smile teased Wyatt’s lips as he watched Bel’s face smooth and one arm curl around River’s hips. It was like Bel had been born to sleep snuggled with them.
Grabbing his sweat pants from the floor, Wyatt glanced at the clock on the bedside table as he pulled them on.
Noon. The sun was high in the sky, and Bel was at his most vulnerable.
Wyatt’s heart sped up as he crossed the master bedroom to the hall.
He just needed to make a quick sweep of the house to reassure himself that he was overreacting.
The talk of attacking the pack, of attacks from the Ministry, were playing too freshly in his mind. It was all making him paranoid.
They were safe.
They had to be safe in Bel’s house.
Wyatt had just reached the stairs when he heard the first massive bang against the metal front door. A second echoed through the house a heartbeat later at the side of the house. One of the metal plates covering a window, maybe. Or the back door off the patio.
They were under attack.
Wyatt turned on the balls of his feet and raced to the bedroom as the metal bangs were punctuated by the scream of the smoke detector.
A thin haze of smoke was starting to fill the second floor.
The thuds on the roof were likely Molotov cocktails.
Not only were they trying to break inside, but they were also attempting to set the place on fire.
He had to get them somewhere safe, but he didn’t know where or even how he was going to get Bel out of the house without him burning up in the sun.
When he reached the bedroom, River was already on his feet, pulling on a pair of old jeans from the floor. Bel groaned and rolled over in the bed, dragging a pillow over his head.
“What—” River started to ask, but Wyatt didn’t give him a chance.
“Find some clothes for Bel. We have to protect him,” Wyatt ordered as he crossed to Bel’s side of the bed.
Grabbing the covers, he ripped them from the vampire and pulled away the pillow.
Bel groaned and blinked. The poor vampire really was horrible about waking.
During the past two months, they’d only needed to wake him once during the daylight hours, and it had been pretty big ordeal just to get him to budge.
“Bel, you need to get up,” Wyatt said firmly.
“The sun’s still up,” Bel slurred. He blindly reached around his body, searching for a blanket or pillow to pull around him.
“We’re under attack.”
“What?”
He still sounded dazed and half-asleep. Wyatt was starting to wonder if he could just wrap the man in blankets and carry the bundle out to the garage.
If they packed him in the trunk, they could get him out of the house without exposing him to the sunlight.
It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it was the safest option at the moment.
“The house is on fire, and they’re trying to break through the metal shields.”
Those words had Bel bolting upright, blinking several times. “Fire?”
“Yes. Those are the smoke alarms,” Wyatt said, waving absently toward the hall where they were still blaring loudly.
River rushed back into the room and dumped a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved shirt on the bed for Bel. He’d also grabbed Wyatt’s shoes, which he dropped on the floor. Bel grabbed up the clothes and pulled them on.
“Sunlight. What happens to you in sunlight?” Wyatt demanded. He thrust his feet into the shoes without socks.
“I burn,” Bel said and there was no missing the horror filling those two words.
“Like spontaneous combustion?” River asked.
Bel shook his head. “No, but it doesn’t take much for it to kill me. With full exposure, time to death is measured in seconds, not minutes.”
“Then we keep you out of the sun.” Wyatt grabbed blankets off the bed, intending to wrap Bel like a fucking mummy if he had to. They were not losing their vampire. “We go straight for the garage, put you in the trunk of the sedan, and we barrel out.”
“What if they have the driveway blocked?” River asked.
“We push through. We have no choice.”
“We go straight to the lab.” Bel’s voice was muffled as he pulled the shirt over his head. His hair popped out like a dandelion puff, making him look adorable, but there was a deadly seriousness to his eyes.
Wyatt was already shaking his head. “We don’t have time. The lab is a dead end. We’ll be trapped.”
“It’s not.”
Bel cut around Wyatt, leading the way out of the bedroom.
But instead of going down the stairs, he continued on to the hall linen closet.
He touched another hidden panel, and part of the wall moved to reveal a small stash of knives, swords, and a shotgun.
Wyatt’s mouth fell open. Bel had weapons.
His sweet scientist Bel had a fucking cache of weapons.
“I don’t know how much this will help,” Bel said as he shoved the shotgun into Wyatt’s hands along with a handful of ammo.
“I was planning more for a vampire attack. Getting shot just tends to make them pissy.” He placed a machete with a serrated blade into River’s hands and grabbed a pair of long daggers for himself.
“We’ll make do until we can get to the garage.”
“The lab,” Bel snapped.
“You got more secrets in there?” River asked.
Bel flashed a wicked smile. “Yes, but you’ll need me to unlock things.”
“We leave together, or we don’t leave at all,” Wyatt growled. Bel had been the one to say it. There was no sacrificing. No martyrs in family. They fought together to the end.
A loud crash echoed through the hall and shook the house. Flames flared out from the open doorway in Bel’s bedroom. Possibly part of the ceiling had collapsed, dropping burning timbers and roof into the house. They were running out of time.
Wyatt took the lead down the stairs, his heart pounding hard in his chest. The smoke was already starting to burn his eyes and clog his throat.
He held the gun tucked against his shoulder, as he swept from left to right, searching for any intruders.
A shaft of bright sunlight slashed across the hallway, and it looked as if there was another cutting from the back of the house.
They were in the house.