Rico snapped, “you talk like a nut job and you’re givin’ me a headache. You got something to say, just say it and stop with the crazy eyes.”
“Crazy eyes?”
“Yeah. Was that something you did in prison or did you freak out yer mama with them things too?”
When Lambert tried to screw his expression into something he felt was more normal, he only succeeded in creeping Rico out even more. Finally, he let his squint and twitch return as he told the Skinner, “I was kept in that place to spy on people’s thoughts, and the ones who used me for that were like you. Skinners. They believed me and they were pricks. You and Cole aren’t pricks, so why the hell can’t you just listen to me?”
“I’m listening,” Cole said.
Letting out a relieved sigh, Lambert said, “I heard the Full Blood’s thoughts. It was something I ain’t never heard before. It wasn’t even words. It was just some kind of wild . . . static. It’s the same thing I heard in all of those Half Breeds tonight, but it wasn’t inside the ones back in Colorado.”
“These Half Breeds are different,” Rico said. “Normally, they got to ferment before they’re ready to run. These just popped and were good to go.”
“It’s the Breaking Moon,” Lambert insisted. “It’s all the Full Bloods have been thinking about since we left G7. The gray one, the brown one, even the girl. Tonight, everything for them is sped up. They’re getting stronger every second. Even that one.”
Cole followed Lambert’s trembling finger and was directed to the statue of Esteban. “He’s still alive in there?” he asked.
Lambert nodded. “And he’s pissed.”
Cole was about to shove the phone back into his pocket when a voice came through that was almost sweet enough to make him forget about everything else. “Cole?” she said. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, Tristan. It’s me.”
“I was so worried.” She sighed in a way that Cole savored like a guilty pleasure. “You were all over the news when you were brought in for those murders and now there’s nothing anywhere. No pictures, no reports. Just nothing. Where are you?”
“New Mexico. Is there any way for you to get out here?”
“There are clubs in New Mexico, but that depends on where you are.”
“What I really need to know is—”
“Are you in Raton?” she asked.
Cole did a mental checklist of all the powers he knew the nymphs possessed. They could appeal to senses most humans didn’t even know they had. Dryads were powerful enough to channel the energies given off by human lust and desire into temples scattered throughout the country, but as far as he knew, there was no mind reading involved. Finally, he asked, “How’d you know that?”
“Because I’ve always got at least one of our TVs turned to the news and it says the National Guard was attacked by creatures or something there.” Beneath the thrumming bass and pounding rhythms of Joan Jett’s “Heartbreaker,” Cole could hear the voice of a newscaster anxiously relaying some information he couldn’t quite make out. “It looks like there are more soldiers flying in.”
“You need to get here and it’s got to be now,” he said. “Is there any possible way you can reach me using only one temple?”
After a short, unusually quiet pause on her end of the call, Tristan replied, “Yes. We’ve done it before. It just requires more energy and a Skipping Temple, but we still can’t get involved with known criminals.”
“It’s too late to worry about that. This is about survival.”
“You want to talk survival?” she asked in a voice that was severe and still sultry. “The Nymar have more connections than ever with the police. They also view Dryad blood as the most valuable substance in existence. We can’t afford to draw police attention by becoming Skinner accomplices.”
“The Breaking Moon is rising. Do you know what that is?”
“I’ve heard some things, but just a few vague legends.”
“The Full Bloods are gathering and they no longer give a rat’s ass about being seen or anything else,” Cole said in a voice that became fiercer with every syllable. “They’re tearing through entire towns and are drawing on some kind of power that allows them to change humans into Half Breeds without biting them. Now here’s the big question. Can you make a bridge between two spots where neither end has a temple?”
“Why do you want to do that?”
Resisting the urge to snap at her, he said, “Just tell me if it’s possible.”