Page 113 of Death and Donuts

“Yeah, safely home in bed before dark. Are you sure six hours will be enough time?”

He kissed my cheek. “It will be. I promise.”

Outside, Tank, Army, Detroit, Buzz, and Boulder already had their groups set. Shepard wished them all good hunting, reminded them not to take risks, and watched them leave. Once they were gone, he signaled to the remaining twenty-seven men.

“Let’s head out.” They divided up between the seven vehicles while we went to Shepard’s SUV.

Cross drove so Shepard could answer any messages, and Anchor, Vena, and I sat in the back. Vena used the drive to sharpen the knives she kept in a leather roll, and the scrape of metal against stone slowly drove me crazy.

When I couldn’t stand the sound anymore, I elbowed her.

“What?” she asked. “I have to be ready.”

“Weren’t they already sharp.”

She shook her head. “Not sharp enough for what I have planned.”

“Which is nothing,” Shepard said. “Right?”

Shepard waited for Vena’s defeated nod before once again reminding Anchor he was responsible for keeping us in the vehicle.

“It’s coming up,” Shepard said. “Let’s drive through first and get a feel for where they might be. If we need to, we can split up and do a grid search to cover every street. The town doesn’t look that big according to the map.”

I leaned toward Vena to get a view of the town around Shepard. The century-old brick buildings were beautiful and mostly businesses. A few cars were parked on the main street, but I didn’t see any people. The businesses were all dark and had the signs turned to closed. Just after four on a Sunday? Maybe.

We turned down a more residential street and found the same thing. Cars in driveways or on the street, but no people. It was a beautiful day.

“Where are the kids?” I asked.

“This is eerie,” Vena said. “It’s like the start of a zombie apocalypse movie. Where are all the people?”

Shepard rolled to a stop. “I’ll have our group search one building at a time. I don’t know how long it will take. This town isn’t big, but even a small town with a group our size sweepingit might take more time than what we have. Move fast, but stay alert.”

“Wait,” I said before he could get out of the SUV. “Remember what Hugh said. If Orphia’s been taking people and turning them, not all of them were willing. Don’t assume every vampire is bad.”

Cross looked back at me. “He doesn’t. But right now, we don’t have the luxury to question each one. Newly turned vampires are hungry, Everly. Whether they want to or not, the majority would kill you on sight. And that’s not a risk we can afford.”

“Then watch for the ones who don’t want to fight. They deserve a chance to be on our side, right?”

I knew it was a long shot to ask, but it didn’t seem right to blindly kill either. What if I had been turned into a vampire? What if we never gave Cross a chance?

I couldn’t imagine life without him now.

“We’ll try,” Cross said.

Shepard and Cross both shot Anchor a weighted glance before slipping out of the SUV. They met with the other wolves and divided into smaller groups.

I watched Shepard motion to one end of the street and then the other. Cross nodded and led half the men toward the end of our caravan while Shepard’s group went in the opposite direction.

“Is it smart to split up like that?” I asked Anchor softly.

“Yeah. While the sun’s up, the vamps will be slower and easier to kill. And”–he tapped his nose–“we’ll know where and how many there are. Don’t worry, everyone here, except for Cross, has a lot of experience with cleaning out nests. They’ll be careful.”

Vena and I watched Shepard’s group disappear into a distant house.

She sat back and tucked the knife she’d been sharpening into its place in the leather roll. I heard her mutter under her breath about wolves having all the fun as she took out another knife to sharpen.

After a few minutes, Shepard’s group came out of the first home. They were splattered in blood but didn’t look like they were in a panic as they quickly moved to the next house.

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