“You assume correctly.”
Dragon sighed again. “Drew, hide the Polaris. The rest of you spread out down the ridge and be sure the Red Army isn’t following him. And I mean way down the ridge. Cover all the paths that lead from Lone Star Road especially.” He raised his voice and called, “Erik! On second thought, let Johnny B unload the supplies. You cut down the side of the ridge that faces Tina’s place and be sure she doesn’t light a warning fire.”
“Will do!”
“No one’s following me. They don’t know I’m here,” Kevin said.
“It’d be best if you don’t speak,” Dragon told him.
“It doesn’t hurt more or less if I speak,” Kevin said, attempting to smile at the scowling vampyre.
“I meant best for me.” In one movement Dragon bent and hooked his arms around Kevin, lifting him in a fireman’s carry and draping him over his broad back. Then the Warrior turned to his mate. “I’ll follow you.”
“Of course you will, my love,” Anastasia said.
The last thing Kevin heard before he slipped into blissful unconsciousness was Anastasia Lankford’s musical laughter and her raven’s call as he circled above them.
6
Other Kevin
Kevin regained consciousness to the sound of an argument.
“He can’t climb up to any of the hunters’ blinds. We need to take him to the cave,” Anastasia was saying.
“I’m not comfortable with that,” Dragon retorted. “If he knows we’re digging out a cave, then there’s a chance the Red Army will know it too.”
“My love, the boy already knows the way here. He knows Tina is an ally. If he betrays us it will be like Keystone Park all over again, and we will never be able to return here,” said Anastasia.
“Kevin will not betray you,” his grandma said. “Dragon Lankford, you can smell that he is not like the others. He does not act like the others. There is an explanation for what has happened to him, but that explanation will not matter if my grandson dies of the wound you inflicted upon him.”
It took several tries, but eventually Kevin made his voice work and, even though he hardly spoke above a whisper, his face was near Dragon’s ear and the Swordmaster had no trouble hearing him. “Please put me down.”
“Kevin? Are you back with us?” Grandma Redbird reached up to wipe Kevin’s sweat-filled hair from his eyes.
“P-please. I’d rather bleed to death than be carried any farther.”
“Bryan Lankford, carry that boy to the cave. Now.”
Kevin felt Dragon’s sigh, but the powerful Warrior did as his mate commanded. He followed a narrow path from what Kevin could make out was a flat, grassy area at the top of the ridge, down and around several enormous sandstone boulders, finally coming to a narrow cliff-side opening. Wan, flickering light from within cast dancing shadows against the rocks as Dragon paused while Anastasia slipped inside. Moments later, three hooded figures scurried out. They didn’t look up or around, but kept their heads tucked down, hiding their faces as they eased past Dragon, Kevin, and Grandma Redbird.
“Okay, bring the boy inside,” Anastasia’s voice drifted to them.
Dragon turned sideways so that he and his burden could fit within. He unceremoniously dumped Kevin on the rocky floor of the small cave, and Kevin’s world went temporarily gray with bright spots.
“You could have been gentler,” admonished Anastasia.
“I could have killed him and saved all of us the trouble he’s going to bring,” retorted Dragon.
“My grandson brings hope, not trouble, Dragon Lankford,” said Grandma Redbird firmly.
“Sylvia, forgive me for saying this, but of course that is what you would think. He is your family. The great loyalty you show for him is admirable, whether it is justified or not,” said Dragon.
As Kevin’s vision cleared he saw his grandma face down the Swordmaster. Hands on her slim hips, her wild silver-streaked hair flying around her shoulders, he’d never heard her sound so angry.
“Kevin was Marked more than one year ago. He Changed shortly after that. Have I ever even mentioned him to you?”
“No, but—”
“No! I have not,” she interrupted. “And I have not because I would not, could not put the Resistance in danger, and yet here I am. Suddenly bringing my grandson to you—a grandson who is clearly a red vampyre, but who smells no different than you and who acts perfectly rational.”
“Sylvia, since the murders of Lenobia and Travis, the safety of the Resistance is my job. There have been so many deaths, and if there is even a chance of your grandson compromising us, then we must take every precaution. Do you think it gives me pleasure to behead a boy? It is no fault of his that he was Marked red. I’m no monster, Sylvia Redbird.”
“Of course you aren’t, my love.” Anastasia carried an oil lantern to Kevin and placed it in a niche in the rock near them before dropping a large leather satchel beside him. She opened it and began searching through it as she spoke. “But Sylvia does have a point. She has been working with us for many months and never once attempted to bring her grandson here.”
“Because it wouldn’t have been safe to bring me here before it happened,” Kevin forced himself to speak. “No matter how hard I tried to hold on to my humanity.”
“Don’t speak yet. Let me get this wound stitched,” Anastasia said as she unwound the makeshift bandages. “Sylvia, there are several bottles of clean water there in the rear of the cave. Would you bring them to me, please?”
Sylvia hurried to the back of the little cave, returning with a couple liter bottles of fresh water, which she handed to Anastasia. “What can I do to help?”
Anastasia passed her a wad of gauze. “Dab the blood away as I stitch so that I can see what I’m doing.” She held up a long, hooked needle that was threaded with dark suture material. “Kevin, I’m afraid this is going to be quite unpleasant for the both of us—though for you more than me.”
“It’s okay. It’s not as bad as feeling my humanity slipping away from me.”
“What happened to you? What changed you?” Dragon suddenly demanded.
Anastasia’s eyes flashed as she looked up at her mate, who was standing near the entrance to the cave, arms folded, a dark expression shadowing his handsome face.
“You may question him after I sew him up.”
“I’d rather talk. It’ll take my mind off it,” Kevin said.
“Very well. I’m going to begin. First I’ll pour alcohol over the wound. It will be very painful.”