Ambushed Read Online Free Page A

have a hard time getting away from his desk
at the bank. Not only will he have all of the normal workload that
you'd expect from a bank employee, he'll want to avoid doing anything
that might link him to robberies of the bank's customers."
    We were less
than fifty yards away from the above-ground parking garage, which
meant that we were almost to the end of the row of banks, but the
fact that Alec had crossed over to the other side of the street told
me that he wasn't planning on slipping inside a bank and losing our
pursuers that way.
    "Are you
sure you want to do this, Alec? Even without the mentalist, we could
be up against some really, really old vampires."
    He looked at me
for a couple of seconds before nodding. It wasn't a good look, it was
a look that said he was starting to wonder if I'd lost my nerve.
    "We don't
have any good options at this point, but I don't want these guys
giving us problems tomorrow. This is only part of the shipment, the
one tomorrow is even more important. Besides, I can't afford to leave
witnesses that Kaleb could use to track the money to the new bank."
    I nodded, but
it wasn't just any nod. I put everything I had into making it as
unconcerned and reassuring as I could. We all knew that our odds of
surviving the next year were practically zero, but even so I was
still safer with our little pack than I would be hiding somewhere by
myself. There was more than just Kaleb and the Coun'hij to worry
about.
    "We're
almost there. As soon as we turn into the parking garage I want
everyone to sprint to the nearest set of stairs. We need to lure them
out of the van, but we also need to spread them out enough that we
can pick them off a few at a time."
    Everyone
acknowledged the order with sub vocalizations of their own, and then
it was time to run. There was no sign of any humans on the first
floor of the structure, so we sprinted, covering the fifty yards to
the enclosed stairwell in just under five seconds. It was fast enough
to set a new world record, but more importantly it got us to the
stairwell before the van that was following us pulled into the
garage.
    "James,
you're bait, make sure they see you. Everyone else up to the second
floor pronto."
    I took the
stairs three at a time and still lagged behind Alec. I was faster and
stronger than any normal human, but Alec's legs were longer.
    "Jess, you
stay back as much as possible and try to stay in human form. Whatever
you do, don't lose that backpack."
    I opened my
mouth to ask Alec what he meant, but he'd already pulled a key out of
his pocket and undone the handcuffs that had secured his briefcase to
his wrist.
    "It was a
ruse the entire time?"
    I said it in a
low hiss, something less even than a whisper, but it still earned me
a dirty look from Alec as he walked over to a nearby Toyota sedan and
set the briefcase on the hood. He was right. Vampires didn't seem to
hear as well as us wolves, but still it was foolish to risk someone
overhearing.
    Jess looked
back and forth between us with a nervous energy that told me she was
profoundly uncomfortable now that she knew she was the one carrying
the money. I didn't blame her. The only thing worse than going into a
fight against a superior number of vampires was going into that same
fight in human form.
    The heavy metal
door down on the first story clanged shut at the same time that
James' footsteps started up the stairwell. I did a quick visual
circuit of our level to confirm that there wasn't anyone around. The
buildings that butted up against the back and sides of the garage
were windowless monstrosities, so we'd be able to shift forms without
worrying about who would see, but that didn't completely offset the
rising tension tying me up in knots.
    A second later I heard a squeal of overworked rubber as the
van arrived at the door that James had just vacated. Alec moved
closer to the concrete half-wall that formed the outside edge of
the building, but I could hear the vampires just fine from
where