Sui Generis – 29

 

Brand struggled against whoever was holding him down with their hand covering his mouth.

::Hold still and be quiet, damn it,:: someone spoke in his mind. ::We have company.::

Freezing, Brand looked up into Randulf's deep amber eyes. "Who?" he mouthed once Randulf removed his hand.

::A friendly vampire,:: Randulf told him sarcastically. ::Who do you think?:: 

"Mag!" Brand shot straight up and would have taken off for Mag's room if Randulf hadn't grabbed him.

"Fedor has him. They're leaving now."

"Damn it, we have to stop him!"

"Will you shush? Dante's following and I've notified the others. Things are finally falling into place."

"What if he loses him?" Brand reached for his jeans, lying on the chair beside the bed.

"He won't." Randulf tilted his head as if listening to something. "Fedor's moving fast, but not as fast as he could by a long shot, according to Dante."

While pulling on his jeans, then slipping his feet into his shoes, Brand said, "So we were right, but why did you want me to be quiet?"

"Because Fedor was still here when I woke you. I sort of figured you'd want to tag along with us. Antton will be pissed, but…" Randulf shrugged. "You might want a shirt too."

"Antton can just suck it up. If you'd left me behind, you'd have had one pissed off me on your hands."

Randulf chuckled, even though his expression was fearsome. "Ready?"

"Not quite." Brand hurried to the closet, returning with a sheathed sword strapped to his back. With a thought, he made it invisible. "Now I'm ready."

Randulf gripped Brand's hand. Seconds later they were at Antton's. "Where are they?" he asked the moment they landed.

"According to Vesper, who joined Dante, they're about two miles outside of Golden and moving fast toward the mountains."

"You have a visual?" Randulf asked the others.

"Yes." Antton—and Ulrik, who was standing by the fireplace—locked their gazes with Randulf for a second.

"Okay, let's head out," Antton ordered.

It took two stops in order to get more visuals from Vesper, before the quartet was deep in the mountains.

"Where the hell are we?" Brand asked.

"In the middle of the forest," Ulrik said, with a trace of asperity.

"No duh." Brand looked around, seeing nothing except trees and more trees. "How close are we to him?"

Antton closed his eyes momentarily. "Vesper says they're at a small lake east of where we're standing. Time to shift."

"What about…" Brand tapped his sword then realized the others couldn't see it. "My weapon?"

"It will come back when you regain your human form, just as your clothes do," Antton replied tersely, his concentration obviously somewhere else.

The three werewolves and Brand shifted. Brand knew what Antton's wolf form looked like from his lessons—lean, muscular, and covered with dark fur. Ulrik's fur was a deep blond, bordering on brown, like his hair. Randulf's was a much paler, a yellowish-white, and he was massive. Brand felt insignificant next to him, and very plain as his fur was a muted shade of brown blended with gray.

::Follow me,:: Antton mind-spoke.    

The werewolves raced through the forest, Antton in the lead, Randulf bringing up the rear. Antton stopped suddenly at the edge of the trees where they met a wide band of rocky earth.

Swinging his head left and right for a moment, Antton told them, ::Now we'll be stealthy. Vesper says there's a small structure on the far side of the lake from where we're standing. He doesn't dare to go any closer than where he is now, but Dante has, although he hasn't entered it so far.::