Page 30 of Tooth and Nail

“Why trust us then?” Eoghan asked.

“What choice did I have? Trust the Agency and the I.S.R. and give my people half a chance of survival? Or allow that monster to slowly let them all die from starvation?” John’s words sounded sincere. Clearly, he cared deeply for his people. “I thought the Agency might want to help, knowing that once vampires from my clan started straying off the reservation and draining humans, things would get bad, and the paranormal world would be exposed. You and I both know the I.S.R.’s rapid response team can only keep up with media coverage and leaks for so long before people start asking questions.”

“We were ordered to give you back to them,” Ari said, exchanging a glance with Eoghan, “but none of us can understand why they’d do that. Maybe some sort of leak was about to occur and handing you over was the price the Agency had to pay to quash it.”

“Could someone inside the Agency be working with Bradshaw?” King John asked.

Eoghan sighed. “It’s possible. Chief Deputy Priest thinks so. The way we were basically ordered to turn you over makes no sense on its face.”

“What can we do about it?” the king asked.

“Right now, we need you to hop on a train going anywhere other than Flagstaff and take it as far away from L.A.as possible,” Eoghan said. “A shit storm is going to happen when we don’t turn you over but eventually, that will die down. They probably won’t believe you escaped our custody, but they won’t be able to prove otherwise. If you can lay low, that’ll give us time to look into possible spies within the Agency, but I can’t emphasize more strongly that you should stay away from other reservations, authorities of any kind, and for that matter, security cameras. That means no bottled blood since you’d have to walk into a store to get it. It also means keeping to backroads. If you can find someplace remote to hide out and lay low, that’s your best bet. And for God’s sake, please don’t kill any humans and erase the memories of the ones you do feed on.”

“As soon as we get to Union Station, you’re going to be picked up on security cameras, so you’re going to have to make a show of breaking free from us,” Ari said.

“Okay.” John smiled. “I think I’ll have to overpower one of you. Will that work?”

Eoghan pointed to his chin. “I can take a punch.” He smiled into the rearview mirror as he glanced at the vampire in the backseat.

“I wasn’t exactly thinking about getting physical with you,” the king said. “I’m more of a lover than a fighter and your face is way too pretty to bruise, Marshal Sapphire.”

Ari snorted, and Eoghan shot him a glare. His partner shrugged, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face. “Marshal Sapphire. Sorry. It sounded funny. That’s all. Don’t mind me. I’m tired and hungry and kind of a little bit freaked out about how long this day’s been.”

“Yeah, me too,” Eoghan said, looking up at the freeway sign. As the king relaxed back against the seat, Eoghan exited and took side streets to Union Station dreading how their meeting was going to go.

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into Union Station and parked in the lot off North Alameda Street, squeezing between two buses where they could conceal their arrival as long as possible. They had every reason to think that the vampires who were coming to pick up John Townsend weren’t the nicest people and would have no problem causing mayhem if they didn’t get their way. Meanwhile, getting the king inside the terminal without alerting the escorts who’d come to collect him was going to be tricky enough as it was. For what they had to do, timing was essential. Townsend walked between them as they made their way through the parking lot, and Eoghan let out a little huff of surprise the moment the man stopped, darting a glance around.

“What is it?”

“They’re here.” The vampire breathed, looking between the two of them with glowing red eyes.

“Keep walking,” Eoghan urged, taking his arm and pushing him in case they were being watched. John immediately started walking again.

“How many?” Ari asked, glancing around. Eoghan couldn’t be sure, but he looked slightly nervous. He couldn’t blame him. Twelve hours ago, vampires hadn’t existed for him except in books, movies, and television, and he surely hadn’t ever seen one. Somehow, Eoghan had faith in him, though. His capable partner had handled Derwin with grace and even faced the alien they had locked up down in the tombs, barely batting an eye. Granted, Carmine had been locked behind glass at the time.

“Two…ah, no…three,” King John replied. He clasped his hands in front of him with a coat thrown over the top of the handcuffs to conceal them from passersby. He nodded in the direction of the terminal. “There are two out of sight on thetrain platform inside, and…don’t look now, but another one on the roof of the building right above the entrance in front of us.”

Eoghan gave his head a casual flick like he was shaking out his hair and caught the roof of the brick façade. Sure enough, a pair of red eyes glowed only a foot from the roof which meant that he had to be lying on his stomach watching them. “Fuck.”

“I told you not to look!” the king exclaimed.

“What?” Ari asked.

“Twelve o’clock. We’ve been spotted,” Eoghan replied.

“I figured they’d send one, maybe two, but I don’t stand a chance against three,” the king lamented.

“No,” Eoghan said, frantically. “Do exactly as I said and break away when I tell you. Get as far away as possible and lay low. Stay under the radar. We’ll do everything in our power to get rid of Bradshaw and make things safe for you to come home again.”

“How will I know what’s happening?” Townsend asked, walking slowly, keeping his voice just below the level Eoghan suspected the other vamps could hear.

“In two weeks, contact me at the office,” he said, doing his best to moderate the thudding of his heart and the shakiness in his voice. “If it’s safe to come out of hiding, I’ll leave coordinates where it’ll be safe to meet. If I don’t, check back every two weeks until it is. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Go,” Eoghan said under his breath. John acted instantly, throwing off the coat, holding up the restraints, and snapping them with ease. In the most graceful move ever, he threw a punch at Eoghan, snapping his head to the left and making his brain rattle around inside his skull. “Fuck!” he cursed, bending over as he saw Ari hit his knees beside him. He looked up just in time to see the king vanishing in a flash from wherehe’d been standing mere seconds before. He reached up and cupped his jaw as he looked over at his partner. Ari glanced over at him, lifting a hand and prodding a split lip with his fingers.

“Ow!”he groaned, frowning at Eoghan.

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