Chapter 159
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Chapter 159
Over the next few days, they had brief sightings of Phillipe here and there, but they were never able to corner him again. Chloe and Amos both had work to do, which left them with a limited window for thrall chasing. With each passing day, the likelihood of his demise grew stronger. Amos suspected Phillipe had a nest somewhere nearby where he was sheltering for his daysleep. If they could find the nest, they could catch him as he was emerging.
Thralls slept more than fully–turned vampires, which meant Amos would likely be able to get there before he woke.
Finally, Amos found the spot. One of the neighbors on the other side of the back alley had a pretty wooden garden shed–beneath which, Phillipe had burrowed like a badger. His scent was all over the yard, and especially potent by the hole under the back wall of the shed.
The next night she had off work, Chloe and Amos set out to catch him as he emerged from beneath the shed. Chloe waited a few yards away while Amos crouched beside the opening. He tilted his head, listening. After a moment his gaze flashed to Chloe and he nodded–Phillipe was in there.
Amos stood poised, ready to grab him as he emerged. But Phillipe had other plans. A sudden thunk sounded on the other side of the shed, and a huge chunk of grass went flying. Phillipe burst from the new opening like he’d been shot out of a cannon, taking off running.
“Son of a bitch!” Amos spat. He flashed to Chloe’s side, flinging her onto his back and then launching them both after the fleeing thrall.
Chloe clung to Amos as he ran, closing her eyes against the wind. Her stomach sloshed unpleasantly with every sharp turn, every sudden acceleration or deceleration. Periodically she opened her eyes to get a sense of where they were, but just as quickly closed them, head spinning.
They chased Phillipe through Lincoln Park, up past Wrigley Field, through a large cemetery, and then over towards the lakeshore. They followed him to Montrose Harbor, where docked boats creaked and shifted with the water’s gentle undulations. Amos stood beside the water, Chloe still clinging to him like a baby possum, and silently scanned the dark rows of boats.
Movement at the mouth of the harbor caught Amos’s attention and in a flash, they were moving again. When Amos stopped, they were standing at the lakeshore, wooded parkland at their backs, Lake Michigan stretching to the horizon in front of them. Phillipe stood trapped between the lapping waves and Amos. In a space this wide open, there was nowhere for him to run where Amos wouldn’t outpace him.
“You’re out of options,” Amos said roughly. “Let us help you p>
Phillipe looked like he was already on the verge of death. His arms protruded from the rags of his clothing like two white sticks and his skin cleaved so closely to the bones of his face, he looked like a walking skeleton.
“You can trust us,” Chloe said gently, sliding off of Amos’s back. Phillipe flinched back, stumbling as he splashed into the lake, feet sinking in the sand.
Chloe halted, holding her hands up placatingly. “Phillipe, you need blood. You need a safe place to rest. Let us p>
A sharp, baying howl suddenly cut through the air, coming directly behind Amos and Chloe. They both spun to face a pack of unnaturally large wolves emerging from the trees.
Amos moved to shield Chloe as the wolves fanned around them. Their gleaming eyes shone with human acuity, their predatory postures signaling their cruel intent. Chloe counted them as they moved into formation–eight. Eight massive werewolves pitted against a single vampire, an ordinary human, and a nearly–dead thrall.
“Where did they come from?” Chloe whispered, clutching the back of Amos’s shirt, her voice thin with fear.
“From the city,” Amos said grimly. “In their human form, they’re indistinguishable from ordinary mortals p>
The wolves eyed Amos warily as they circled, snarls reverberating in their throats.
“Are they the same ones from the park?” Chloe asked.
“Most likely.” Keeping Chloe behind him, Amos backed towards the water, preventing the wolves from circling them entirely. Phillipe was still there, ankle–deep in the lapping waves.
09:22
Caught Naked By My Alpha Neighbor! Now I’m His– No Escape.
Chapter 159
Chloe hissed as her shoe sank into cold lake water. Allowing Amos to guide her, she continued to trudge deeper into the water until it was up to her knees. For the first time, Phillipe willingly moved closer to Amos. Ile didn’t get quite within arm’s reach, but he waded out to the deeper water with them, shivering and wretched.
Among the wolves, a copper pelted female stepped forward. The others quickly merged to close the space she’d left, keeping Amos, Chloe, and Phillipe blockaded. In a strange metamorphosis that Chloe’s eyes and mind couldn’t quite reconcile, the wolf’s body transformed into that of a human woman. She stood before them, nude and utterly unfazed by it, herion trained on Chloe with urgent concern. She was tall and muscular, with pale pink skin and apparently naturally blonde hair.
“We can protect you from them,” the woman said, speaking in that logdence from northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. “Run to us p>
Chloe clutched more tightly to Amos’s shirt.
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