Page 21 of Come and Get Me
“Oh, hell yeah. Like I said, this is a time sensitive mission,” Chandler stated.
“Well, I hope this is the last time we go over it. I don’t need to hear this shit again. I know what I have to do,” David said.
“Me too,” Delilah chimed in.
“Let’s hope so,” I said, then got up from the crate I’d been sitting on and walked out of the room to get some fresh air. Our little hideout was located in the Outskirts, where a few rebel groups in this area resided. There were some that hung out in supe territories, but they were taking a huge chance. After what happened with Dante, I felt it was best to move our base to the Outskirts. Supes came to this place, but not too often, and it was mostly vampires, since their territory was the closest.
Also, there was a nice network of people willing to help us when we needed it. Information, which was always valuable. Shelter was easy, and of course, food—which was something hard to come by when you spent your time running and hiding. It was a little bit easier to get the hook-up here in the Outskirts than it was when we were hiding out in Forrest Grove territory. I sat down on the steps of the abandoned house we were residing in. It was kind of chilly out, a clear indicator that winter was coming.
“Why did you have to tell Chandler that you didn’t trust him?”
I turned to see Delilah standing in the doorway, looking at me. “It’s not like he didn’t already know,” I said, then turned back around to stare up at the stars.
“Still, it’s not like you to show your hand. Why don’t you trust him?” she asked, then joined me on the steps.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because he seems to be too gung-ho.”
Delilah chuckled. “But isn’t that a good thing? We have a job to do and we need enthusiastic people, especially since most are afraid to make a stand.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I just don’t know what it is about him that I don’t trust. My intuition just says to keep an eye on him.”
She laid her head on my shoulder and slipped her arm around my waist. Delilah was one hell of a woman. She could scrap as well as the guys but still kept it sexy and dainty with her feminine wiles. If I was a different kind of man, I’d be all over her, because she was beautiful. Dark hair, big brown eyes, and lips so full and luscious, you just wanted to see them all over your body. Speaking of a body, hers was killer; ass, tits, legs, and curves for days. But my sex drive was non-existent. I couldn’t even remember the last time I jerked off. I never really enjoyed sex, and only did it if I needed to protect Dante or get food and supplies for my crew.
Maybe that was why she was so willing to trust Chandler. He was handsome and more than into her. I’d caught the two flirting and even kissing several times. He was her type and his cock was ready and willing, unlike mine. I guess I couldn’t fault her for wanting to get laid. In these dismal days, one had to find pleasure where one could. Between the sheets or sticking it to these monsters who thought they’d won it all.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me. “He’s new and he came with a plan. I think that’s what’s bothering you,” Delilah said, getting back to my suspicions regarding Chandler.
“You’re right. We can’t really prove that what he says he did is actually true.”
“But we do know that a werewolf was killed in the dragon district, and the vampires are looking for the killer of one of their own.”
I huffed. “Yeah, and he claims his crew was responsible, but he hasn’t really offered us much in the way of details on how it was done. Also, why was he so quick to killthem, but not this wolf Alpha?”
“Maybe he felt like he messed up the first two times and this third mission is the charm,” Delilah said. “Or maybe it’s just like he said… part of his original plan.”
“Let’s just say that I’m reserving my judgement. If this plan goes off without a hitch tomorrow, then he’ll earn my full respect and trust.”
She looked at me. “And if it doesn’t?”
I leaned over, kissing her forehead. “Let’s hope that it does.”
“This is a plan Dante would have loved to execute.”
“I don’t want to talk about Dante or what he would have done. He’s not one of us anymore, and considering how quickly he’s taken to being a vampire, he probably never was one of us.”
“You don’t mean that. You loved him like he was your brother. I know that this can’t be easy for you,” Delilah said, and she was right. “Remember, though, the mission is what counts.” She kissed me on my cheek, then stood up and walked back inside, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Dante was my brother as far as I was concerned. Like me, his family was torn apart by the supes. I knew that he was half wolf himself, but I didn’t hold that against him. He had been younger than I was by three years when we’d met. He was nine and I was twelve. I’d been living on the streets since my foster parents had been killed, and survived by any means necessary. When I saw Dante, he was just about to be caught by the human police for stealing. I had taken him under my wing, protected him, and I taught him what I knew.
His hate for the supes was my hate and we tried to warn people that they existed, but no one would ever believe two homeless children rattling off about vampires and werewolves. Of course, that was before the supes had come out of the closet in full swing. After that, everyone believed in them, but by that time, it was too late. The human race had been taken by surprise. Hell, I didn’t even know about dragons until they revealed themselves. That was when Dante and I joined the rebel groups and fought off the supes.
At one point, it seemed like we had a chance of beating them, but then more humans sided with the supes; the governments around the world collapsed and reformed under their rule. Resources we were getting were cut off. And people we thought we could trust sold us out. Large rebel cells broke down into smaller ones, and then those broke down into even smaller cells. We ceased to be the force of opposition we had been when it had all started. And before we knew it, the world had been taken over completely by the supes.
I wasn’t idealistic enough to think that what we were doing by bombing supe businesses was enough to make a change that would tip the scales. I just liked fucking with them. It let them know that not every human kissed their asses and not every human was afraid of them. Dante actually believed that what we were doing would make a difference. That we would inspire other humans to fight back. His energy was infectious and he had us all following his lead.
Then we bombed Deacon’s businesses and needed to get to a safer zone, but he had his wolves blocking the territory limits, keeping us trapped in Forrest Grove. Victor had been a friend of ours who we hung out with when we were teens. He had helped feed us and we’d slept over at his house when we had no place else to go. But then his parents forbade us from hanging with him and we parted ways.
Then, one day, Dante caught up with him again. He told me that Victor had been turned into a wolf and, at that point, I wanted nothing to do with that son of a bitch, but Dante thought he could trust him. I guess Victor spat some good lies his way. But in the end, it was because of Victor why Dante, Tully, Wallace, Corey, and Jackson got caught and killed. Or in Dante’s case, turned. Trust didn’t come easy to me these days, that was for sure.
