Glacier Read online

He leaned close, pinning her body aloft with his much bigger one, and let go of her arms. He fisted her hair with one hand to keep her head in place and drew back his other fist, revealing long, lethal-looking claws gleaming in the dim light.

  Her voice finally worked, and she managed to get out one word. “Ice?”

  He stilled, frowning.

  She stared into his eyes, certain it was him. “You’re a Werewolf? I thought you were human.”

  “What’s going on, Glacier?” The girl came closer, her shoes scuffing on the alley floor.

  “Back up, Teenie.” Ice’s eyes searched Mandy’s. “How do you know me?”

  “I’m Mandy. From Bucket.”

  His hold on her hair loosened and the mask of anger faded from his face. He stared hard at her, taking in her features, before leaning in again. His leery expression seemed to imply he didn’t believe her.

  “The new wave club in the late eighties. We worked together. Remember me? My hair was dyed black with blue stripes. I’m actually a blonde. Also, not wearing layers of makeup anymore. You’re a Werewolf?” She tried to smell him but the rancid stench of rotten food from the dumpsters had her instantly regretting that idea.

  “You quit the club.”

  “I got snatched by Vampires,” she corrected.

  “Kill it!” the girl encouraged. “I lured it into the alley just like we planned.”

  Bloodthirsty little mongrel. Mandy didn’t spare the girl a glance though since the threat stood in front of her, nearly crushing her against a wall with his bulky body. It sank in that the Werewolf kid had been the hunter’s bait to catch his prey. Only he’d caught her instead.

  “I wasn’t going to hurt the girl, and that Vamp was not my buddy. I killed him because he was a twisted jerk who targeted a kid. Can we talk before you behead me? For old times’ sake?”

  He growled low and didn’t ease his hold on her. If anything, he looked even more furious. “You bloodsuckers are done stealing Lycan children and killing them!”

  She felt her body go lax, his words making horrible sense. That would piss off a pack enough to send their enforcers after Vampires. No wonder the local Vamps were being killed off. “That’s what the nest is doing?”

  “As if you didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t. I’m not a part of the nest. They’re murdering the pack kids? Why? Are they trying to make the pack flee the area?”

  “Don’t act stupid. They’re forcing them to fight each other to the death for their bloodthirsty amusement.”

  It turned her stomach, but she couldn’t say it shocked her. “You hate Vampires. I understand. Not a huge fan of them myself, but the council sent us here to take out whoever has been killing off the nest. I get why you’re doing it. I take it you’re stopping them?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Well…good. Watch your ass, okay? The council will send more than just two assassins after you. We didn’t know about the Werewolf kids. The nest master is named Marco, and he must have a friend or two in high places. Otherwise, we’d have been ordered to take out the nest if that shit is really going down here. We’re supposed to police our own. The fact that we were sent after you instead, says it all.”

  He kept his claws up, prepared to rip her head from her shoulders. She glanced at the deadly tips, then back to him. Rage still showed on his features. Any hope of him setting her free because they used to know each other died a quick death. Vamps had attacked his pack by going after their kids. It would mean he would perceive her as the enemy.

  “You’re warning me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? What’s your angle?”

  “None. If you feel you must kill me, I understand. You look good, Ice. Still the protector you always were. I’m glad that never changed.” She offered a small smile and then closed her eyes. “Make it fast, okay? And watch out for my partner. Her name is Olivia. She’s not bad, but the council doesn’t take no for an answer on following their orders. They will kill her if she doesn’t bring them your head. Don’t take it personal when she attacks.”

  The strike didn’t come.

  She waited long seconds. Nothing happened.

  She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, claws still raised at the ready to punch through her throat.

  “Fuck. You’re going to torture me? Really? What else do you want to know? There were originally twelve in the nest. You’ve taken out four and I got the fifth. That means seven more remain. The council just sent Olivia and I to deal with Marco’s problem. They train us to kill and take out threats. We’re indentured servants. It sucks, but it beats being in the nest that changed me. That master was a nightmare who collected pretty women to create his own harem of sex slaves.”

  “You’re an assassin for the council?”

  “I thought I made the clear. Yes.”

  “How did you become an assassin for them?”

  “They sometimes save newly turned Vamps from psycho masters slated for execution. The council figures we haven’t been tainted yet, and they cull us from the nest before destroying it. We’re often young enough to have family and friends still alive, too. They use them against us.” She shrugged. “I didn’t have many friends. You know what I think of my family. Fuck ’em if the council wants to take them out to teach me a lesson. I only regret that I’m not allowed to kill my father and brothers myself.

  “I went along with doing the job because I’m a survivor. I didn’t want to die. Plus, they said I could take out bad Vamps. I was kind of angry about my life being taken from me. Payback sounded great.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “The council keeps me far from my family, but I keep tabs on her via the Internet. She’s living in a nursing home suffering the final stages of dementia. It would probably be a blessing at this point if they did end her life. Mom didn’t recognize me, talk, or even seem aware of what was going on around her the one time I got to visit her. I was tempted to end it for her but…she’s my mom. I couldn’t do it. Olivia covered for me so I could slip away to see her by putting my tracker in a human, then babysitting him. And don’t feel bad for the jerk who didn’t survive when she put the tracker back into my body. He was a serial rapist we caught in the act.”

  “Tracker?”

  “All council assassins have them. It’s how they know we’re where we’re supposed to be. An alarm goes off if they aren’t embedded in a living body, to prevent us from removing them. They go off after a minute if they’re not inside living flesh. Olivia figured out a way to transfer it fast into another person if we were both submerged in warm water. They also put them where it’s impossible for one of us to get out on our own. Olivia and I are a rare team because we trust each other. She did me a solid by letting me see my mom one final time.”

  “What happens if the alarm goes off?”

  “They call us on our phones, which also have trackers. Both better be in the same location. If we don’t answer with a damn good reason why the tracker went off, they assume we’ve gone rogue. Then we’re moved to the top of every council assassin’s hit list. They’ll contact all nests, packs, and even the VampLycans with a tracking kit. They usually say we’re radicals or something, who want to expose our kind to humans, to make certain we’re taken out on sight. Nobody runs from the council.”

  “Tracking kit?” He backed off and let her drop to her feet. He kept her trapped against the wall with his body blocking any escape. The claws remained out too, his hand still raised to strike.

  “Photos of us, body description, a piece of our clothes for scent, and blood samples. It makes it easier for us to be tracked down and found, even if we’re able to change our appearance enough to fool someone on sight.”

  “Why would they involve others?”

  “It gets the results the council wants. Also assures no one will give us sanctuary. Assassins who run don’t survive long. They put a large bounty on our heads too, just in case someone doesn’t trust what they’re told. Doubl