Page 44 of Ruthlessly Mated
“Sure. We’ll go to the sudden escape store,” Tailor says. “We’ll ask for their four wolves sneaking out of a hostile city pack.”
I snort. Tailor isn’t usually this bluntly sarcastic. I like that side of him.
“Humans!”
Alexander’s voice gives me chills. In person it is chilling enough, but delivered through multiple booming speakers it is almost too frightening to stand. I see Tailor flinch, too. He came off rough in his encounter with the vampire. Conroy seems unaffected, but I’d put money on him seeming unaffected no matter what was happening.
“Give me the wolf whelp, and none of you humans need come to harm.”
“Fuck. He’s just told everyone that there’re wolves inside the city. That’s going to set them off like crazy. They’re going to be absolutely wrapped in silver head to toe by morning,” I curse.
“We should do that too. Silver foil looks a lot like aluminum foil, we can make paranoid human costumes so we keep fitting in,” Tailor replies.
“Help, I’m a paranoid human. I think supernaturals are fixated on me for no apparent reason,” I giggle. “Most vampires wouldn’t bother with me because I mostly eat poison, but I think I’m the hottest, most edible little snack to ever walk the Earth, even though most vampires don’t even hunt because people beg to be fucked by them in droves, and werewolves prefer steak and fries to human flesh, most of the time.”
Conroy glowers, but Damon smirks. He gets my sense of humor.
As we predicted, the city is in an instant frenzy. You can actually hear the panic in each of the individual homes.
Then things get worse.
A small plane flies over the city, the underside of it open to release a fluttering torrent of pamphlets. They spiral into everynook and cranny, collect on roofs and in gutters, and some of them are picked up by people.
Damon sneaks out the door and grabs a small handful of them.
He drops them on the kitchen table. They all display my face. I’m a little younger in the picture, about eighteen, and I’m holding a trophy cup that I won for a fencing tournament.
“Cute pic,” Conroy says.
“Oh, yeah, and the text underneath is just fucking adorable.”
Wanted: Wolf Girl for Theft, Murder, and Vehicular Assault.
Reward: Ten Million.
“I’ve got a price on my head! That’s exciting…”
I sink down in my chair as Tailor gives me a sharp look that I know very possibly precedes another spanking or lecture or something far worse. “I mean, how terrible,” I mumble. “What a horrible thing. I can’t believe this has happened.”
“We have to get her out of here,” Conroy says. “Should have gotten her out in the beginning.”
“Can’t do it any more now than we did in the beginning,” I say.
“We could just make a run for it.”
“Sure, because now there’s an entire city actively looking for me, an active army looking to kill supernaturals, and then a ring of hostile vampires who are also trying to catch me. It sounds super easy.”
“Let’s get some sleep,” Tailor says. “Tomorrow morning, we will make an escape. Daylight means we get rid of at least one of those factors.”
When morning comes, the city is in an absolute uproar. Everybody is looking for the Ten Million Dollar girl. I combat being found by wearing big jackets and about ten sweaters. That’s not comfortable in the desert, but it changes my outward appearance a little bit. I’ve also found a brown curly wig that’s super cute, and some thick glasses.
I am having the time of my life.
I know it’s wrong. And I don’t dare admit it for all the lecturing I’d get. I can only imagine the absolute thrashing I’d get if Tailor thought for a second I wasn’t as stressed and worried as the rest of them.
I want to give the truck a bit of a makeover. Alexander will recognize it, because he got to see it very close up right before it smashed into him. I’ve convinced the guys to let me down to the truck yard in my disguise to do a little painting. Paint’s easy to come by because most people are hoarding toilet paper and bullets.
I never meant to cause all this chaos, but I can’t say I’m sorry. I’m very, very not sorry. It’s about fucking time the world experienced the consequences of everything I’ve been through. They say vengeance is best served cold. I say it’s best served dramatic.
