His face a mask of absolute determination, Jared spoke. “Okay. First we need to disable the six patrollers. Chico, Salem, David – that’s where you guys come in. I don’t want Reuben to strengthen your gifts while you deal with the humans. All I need is for them to be out cold for a while. Afterwards, you hide the patrollers in the trees.” Without hesitation, they slinked away – splitting up and heading in different direction to target the guards.

“It’s weird being on an assignment that doesn’t involve torturing anyone,” commented Butch after a full minute of silence. Typical. It was looking more and more like the sociopath theory might be accurate.

Harvey snickered. “Yeah. It’s always cool watching Coach frighten the shit out of people with her whip. Sexy as hell, too. Ow!” He scowled at Jared for cuffing him over the head.

Reuben shook his head at Harvey. “It wouldn’t be so bad if you did that purely to irritate Commander Michaels like Max and Damien do” – Damien smiled at that – “but no, you do it because you don’t have the sense to keep your mouth zipped. It’s seriously worrying.” Denny, Jude, and Alora chuckled quietly.

Just then, Chico, Salem, and David returned. Chico dusted his hands. “Done. We hid in the same spot so it’ll be easier to keep watch over them.”

Satisfied, I nodded. “Then let’s move on to the next stage of the plan: getting to the captives. Chico, I need the humans guarding the vehicle out of the equation – I don’t want them responding to any noises they hear inside it. But don’t move until I give my signal.”

“Sure thing, Coach.”

“What about the humans guarding the tent and the people inside it?” David asked me.

“Providing they remain where they are, there’s no need for us to even so much as breathe in their direction.” I could only hope that things ran that smoothly. “Chico, Harvey, Jude, Alora – keep watch over them. If any of them head toward the vehicle or they realise that the patrollers are down, telepath Jared straight away. If too many of them head for us, then I’ll need Chico to put them asleep for a while. Harvey, you use your telekinesis to help hold them back and give Chico time to target them all.”

“What about us?” Reuben gestured from him to Damien.

“I need you both to keep an eye on the unconscious patrollers. If they look to be waking, contact Jared immediately.”

“My gift can help here,” said Alora. “I can ask the local wildlife to give me warnings if more humans approach and to keep them distracted for us. They’ll act as my eyes and ears.”

“That would help a great deal.” Jared pointed from David to Salem. “I need you both to act swiftly once I teleport you and Sam inside that vehicle. We don’t want the tainted having a chance to react to our presence. That means we destroy them as quickly as possible. In order for you to do that, you’ll need Reuben to strengthen your gifts.”

As soon as Reuben had done his thing, I spoke. “Chico, the second you’ve disabled the humans guarding the vehicle, telepath Jared.” He saluted me. “Now everyone move into position.” Everybody other than David and Salem silently slunk away, seeming to almost melt into their surroundings.

Fidgeting as usual, David shuddered. “Is it me, or does this just seem too easy?”

Jared’s brow furrowed. “You think it’s a trap?”

David shook his head. “It just feels like…I don’t know…like fate’s being a little too helpful. And that’s always odd.”

Salem shrugged. “Don’t forget, we’re dealing with humans here. It’s bound to be easier.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Jared nudged me. “Chico just contact me. The guards are out cold.”

“Then we move.” As Jared teleported us inside the vehicle, the smell of rotten fish hit me so hard I felt dizzy, but I didn’t have time to even balk. Instantly, we targeted the tainted. I took out one with an energy ball to the chest, Salem destroyed one with his lethal psychic punch, and David delivered a psionic boom to the third vampire’s brain. Like that, they were all ashes. It was clear that Jared was disappointed not to be able to kill one, but his gift of electrokinesis could be pretty noisy and we couldn’t risk him alerting anyone.

Salem assessed the mess of broken cages and the small puddles of blood. “You can see where some of the vampires escaped and attacked.”

Jared’s face scrunched up in distaste. “According to Antonio, the tainted Pagoris got free and killed many of the humans. Come on, let’s get these guys out of here.”

He tugged on the door of the cage that was holding one of Rodney’s squad. The sedated Keja didn’t even stir. Due to the strength of the lock, it took the combined efforts of Jared and me to break open the cage. David and Salem worked as a team to free three of the others while Jared and I helped the remaining two. None of the injured woke, though a few of them made low moaning sounds that seemed more like yells in the silence of the vehicle. Thankfully, there was no contact from any of our squad, so that had to mean that the humans hadn’t heard anything.

After teleporting Quentin’s brother to Gio, Jared moved Rodney’s squad members in two trips; placing them with Butch, Reuben, and Damien. In the meantime, Salem, David, and I concentrated on destroying any evidence in the vehicle. Sure it was fair to note that the humans clearly already had some, but why give them more?

No sooner had a tingle of apprehension crept up on me through my bond with Jared than he appeared before me, his expression dark and anxious. I stiffened. “What’s wrong?”

He grabbed my arm. “We have to get out of here now.”

“What? Why?”

“Apparently the animals alerted Alora that humans are approaching; they sent her pictures of them coming from every direction.”

Fucking fabulous. “They know we’re here?”

“No. Chico said someone in the tent was talking over a radio a few minutes ago but he hadn’t been able to make out what was said. Now he’s thinking that the humans had ordered all their hunters to return to camp. I don’t know if they’re planning to leave or what, but we need to move because I don’t have any intention of getting shot by a tranquiliser. I told Chico to take the others to where Butch, Reuben, and Damien are waiting with Rodney’s squad members so I can teleport them all in one swoop. I’m going to teleport you three back to The Hollow first and then go back for”

“No. I won’t leave until my squad is out. Besides, I have a little more evidence here to get rid of. Teleport to the others and take them back first.”

He growled, “Fuck, Sam.”

“Do it. We don’t have time to argue.”

“Pain in my goddamn Pagori ass,” he muttered before disappearing.

Thirty seconds later, we’d destroyed the last of the evidence. I turned to David and Salem. “Come on. Staying in the vehicle won’t be the best idea.”

“Where are we going?” asked David, following me as I quietly scampered to the double doors at the back of the vehicle.

“The trees,” guessed Salem, knowing exactly how my mind worked. Rainforest trees were good for hiding in.

“Yes.” Carefully and quietly I swung the door open…and was knocked flat on my back as a skeletal, grotesque-looking Keja dived on me and clamped his teeth around my throat. Well, f**k. I didn’t even have time to defend myself before it burst into ashes, thanks to either David or Salem – I wasn’t sure. They were both at my side at the exact same time that Jared teleported in front of me, clearly having felt my pain through the bond.

He blanched. “Oh, f**k no.”

It was my own bloody fault. I’d had everyone concentrating so hard on the humans, trusting Quentin and the others to deal with all the tainted vampires. I should have known better than to take it for granted that we were completely safe from them. Jared immediately dragged me against him and took me to The Hollow. It was lucky that David and Salem were holding onto me or Jared might have absentmindedly left them behind in his haste to get me home.

Arriving in the infirmary, Jared laid me down on one of the beds. “No, baby, no – this can’t be f**king happening.” He clasped his hands behind his head, staring down at me in pure disbelief.

A good-natured Keja who liked to act as a nurse – apparently letting go of her human profession had been hard – rushed over with a towel. Salem snatched it from her and pressed it firmly against the bite wound on my throat. Following that, he immediately called Antonio using the infirmary phone. The rest of the squad – who had clearly arrived there with Rodney’s injured squad members and were supportively remaining at their side – surrounded my bed. They cursed, growled, gawked, and hit me with questions that I was too distracted to answer. Fuck, the bite was itching like crazy and it was taking everything I had not to scratch it. Was it supposed to itch? I didn’t recall Evan, Max, or Stuart reporting that.

The nurse, Mary Jane, repeatedly tried to squeeze through the boys to reach me, but they weren’t budging. I internally shrugged. It wasn’t like there was anything she could do to help me anyway.

David swallowed hard. “Coach…Shit, I feel like I tempted fate.”

“This is no one’s fault but my own for concentrating too much on the humans.”

He knotted his hands in his tousled hair. “We should have sensed that vampire out there.”

“If we hadn’t already been surrounded by the scent of rotten fish, we would have done.”

“You just wouldn’t let me teleport you home, would you?” Jared took to pacing beside my bed, which was why people were giving him a wide berth. This was what Jared did whenever I got hurt. Took it out on me. Yes, it was unfair. But logic never prevailed over his panic and fear. I was used to it at this point. “You just had to wait until the others were safe.”

“Yes, I did. And I’d make the same decision again.” That was clearly the wrong thing to say, despite that it was the truth, because everyone looked ready to explode at me. “You can lecture me about it later.” I went to sit up, but Jared pushed me back down.

“No, don’t move.”

“Why? Lying here isn’t going to make any difference. And it’s not like there’s anything anyone can do. The only thing to do now is”

Jared’s eyes flared with rage, his irises glowing like lasers. “Don’t ask me to lock you up in a f**king cell!”

“You want me to attack people and let the taint spread, is that it?”

“And you’d be perfectly fine with confining me in a glass cage, would you?”

“Well of course not,” I snapped. “But what else do you expect me to” I double-blinked as there was a whizz of movement through the doors and suddenly Antonio was beside me. Clearly he’d used vampire momentum to get here.

He looked distraught. “Sam, how did this happen?”

“How do you think it happened?” Jared snorted. “She did what she always does. She put herself in the line of fire. If she had just let me teleport her out of there when I suggested it, she”

“I’ve told you, you can lecture me later.” I returned my attention to Antonio. “I need to know something. Will Jared become tainted too because of our bond?”

“No.” Antonio sighed, his voice low and filled with regret. “But he will gradually deteriorate and weaken as you do. Then when you die, he will die also.”

Fuck, f**k, f**kety, f**k.

“Let me take a look at the bite.” Antonio gently eased back the towel. The combination of horror, repugnance, and confusion in his expression made my stomach plummet. “David, I need a wet pad to clean the wound.”

In vampire speed, David was back with the pad. “Here.”

“Thank you.” Each gentle dab only made the wound itchier. It was driving me bloody mental and I had to ball my fists to keep from clawing at it. When Antonio was done, he gasped. David’s mouth fell open. The others had similar reactions.

Oh God, now what?

“What’s wrong?” Jared cupped my chin, turned my head, and leaned over to get a good look. “It’s almost fully healed,” he said incredulously.

“But not in a good way,” warned Antonio.

I frowned. “How can it be bad if I’m healed?”

Antonio’s gaze darted from me to Jared. “This is something we need to discuss in private.”

So this was related to my hybrid status, then. Well there was no way he could clear the room, since the injured were being tended to here.

“Then we talk alone,” Jared stated. Understanding, Antonio held onto my hand while Jared lifted me into his arms. Then suddenly we were in our apartment and Jared was positioning me on the sofa.

I tried to sit up, but he urged me to lie back down. Huffing, I humoured him.

“Now what did you mean?” Jared asked Antonio, keeping his hand on my shoulder.

“Do you remember how swiftly Sam healed during her duel with Magda? She had gaping holes in her shoulders”

“Thanks for the reminder,” I grumbled.

“You shut up,” Jared said, but his tone was surprisingly gentle despite the anger surging through him.

“My point is that she healed unnaturally fast, which we all attribute to her being a hybrid. Vampires have accelerated healing, but if our injuries are quite severe, we can take hours to fully heal. In the case of The Call, the bite marks worsen. They do not heal at all. As you can see, Sam’s wound has closed. But the teeth marks remain, and they look ugly and angry.”