Alpha Omega 02 - Hunting Ground

the—”
    Anna stepped around Tom and held out the dagger in one hand and the sword in the other.
    â€œThey aren’t mine,” she said. “I don’t want them.”
    The troll stepped back, then had to do some fancy footwork to keep from falling in the water. “Don’t you be wishing those on me. Don’t you. I’m supposed to take possession of the body. We’ll see to it Ms. Dana Shea doesn’t get discovered.” He seemed calmer once Anna let her hands drop and quit holding out the weaponry. “That’s better, there see. Now I’m supposed to ask you to watch over those a little bit longer. Someone will be along to collect them later. Someone else .” And just in case she hadn’t gotten it, he said. “Someone not me.”
    â€œAll right,” Anna said. “Agreed.”
    He pulled off the old trench coat he was wearing. “Happen you might want to bundle things up in here. It’ll keep ’em out of sight—a little magic . . . and a lot of material.”
    She bit back a thank-you. Tom, who took the coat, didn’t seem to have the same trouble.
    â€œI’ll see that the coat goes to whoever gets the weapons,” Tom said instead. “Maybe they can return it.”
    The troll nodded once and went into the boat.
    â€œTroll,” said Tom thoughtfully, and knocked twice on the side of the boat with his knuckles. “I don’t suppose I needed to cut the head off, after all. Bon appetit. ”
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    THEY were maybe halfway back, although Anna was stumbling tired, so her estimate of distance could have been way off, when she noticed an expensive but anonymous car purring at a junction between the path they were on and a cross street.
    â€œI see it,” said Tom, moving between her and the car.
    Very conscious of what she was carrying, Anna didn’t protest. She didn’t want the sword—but there were a lot of people she didn’t want to have the sword either. Like the vampire who’d gotten away.
    She dropped back a dozen feet and let Tom take the lead. If only the sword had been a gun. She knew how to use a gun.
    The back door of the car opened and Bran got out.
    Tom didn’t look relieved. So Anna broke into what was supposed to be a run but came out as a faster shuffle. “It’s good, it’s good. Tom, meet Bran Cornick, the Marrok. Bran, this is Tom. I don’t remember his last name, but he saved my life.”
    â€œTom Franklin,” Bran said. “Thank you. Anna . . .” He shook his head. “Words fail me.”
    â€œHere.” She shoved the coat with sword and dagger at Bran. “ You take these. I don’t want them. Someone is supposed to come pick them up later.”
    â€œAh,” he said, and looked down at the battered material. “Seattle is not the place I would have expected to encounter these.” He seemed to know what he held even though they were both still wrapped up.
    Tom grinned. “Seattle is a city with a certain . . . panache . Never know what you are going to find when you come for a visit. Good food, friendly people, ancient legendary weapons. Always something different.”
    â€œGet in the car,” Bran told them. “They’re all on the way to Angus’s house.”
    â€œCharles?” Anna couldn’t help but sound anxious.
    â€œHe wanted to come with me,” Bran said. “But I told him he’d have to wait until he could walk under his own power. He’s on his way to Angus’s if he’s not already there.” He got in the car, and Anna slid in next to him, leaving the window seat for Tom.
    Bran gave her a laughing glance. “He wasn’t happy with me. Or you either. Expect him to yell at you because you scared him badly this time.”
    â€œSounds unfair, to me,” Anna said, though it didn’t bother her. “I risk my neck to save him, and he yells at me.” Charles was alive, he could yell at her all he wanted to.
    â€œIf it gets to you, just shed a few tears,” muttered Tom. “He’ll shut up. Works for Moira.”
    â€œArthur’s dead, Dana is dead. Five of the six vampires are dead,” Anna said. “There’s only one villain left.”
    â€œWe don’t have to worry about the vampire who escaped,” Bran told her. “The local vampires found him and took care of it. They are apparently sending Angus