by Harry Nix
“You’re right, there’s not really a difference. It's just that magic is uncomfortable for werewolves. Those that hurt us use it all the time. So, if we buy shifter rings and other things, ultimately, we’re funding mages. No one wants to buy weapons from their enemies. That spreads out to other technology too. You tell the pack that you want to buy security cameras and they’ll accept it. You tell you want to get together in a bloodthirsty pack and go on a rampage they’ll love you,” Jeremiah said.
Alex nodded but didn't say anything, turning in random directions, not really paying attention to where they were going, until he suddenly recognized the street. They'd headed out to the industrial area of the rundown factories and abandoned homes. It was out here that the fairy had attacked him and Monroe.
Alex realized with a shock that he’d completely forgotten about her after three days of enchanting and dragging Juno to their bedroom and being forced to watch Air Bud sequels. He’d just wandered out of the house to get breakfast like there wasn’t a bounty on his head.
He also realized it wasn't far to the Xavo address that Stephen had left behind. Alex turned down a street, slowly approaching the familiar abandoned factory. It was still abandoned, of course, and there in the entranceway, the concrete was smooth like glass, the result of Alex interfering in a spell that somehow trapped mages and their car inside it, incinerating them to nothing.
“What is all this out here?” Jacob asked. He had his head out the window like the family dog on a road trip.
“Abandoned factories, abandoned homes, it’s all empty and worthless,” Alex said. They passed the factory and the decaying homes around it and then Alex turned, finally heading in a vague direction towards the city.
“Why don’t you buy some of it and set up an outpost of your own?” Jeremiah said out of nowhere. Alex had to check to see whether the werewolf was joking, but he was staring out the front, his face completely smooth.
“Don’t werewolves hate the city?” Alex asked.
“Initially, yes, all the pollution and how disgusting it smells. But after a few days, no. You can't get bacon and eggs like that. There’s a lot to be said for civilization. Besides, if those mages are going to keep coming to try to kill us, shouldn't we set up part of the pack out here, to at least to keep an eye on them and then as a staging ground?”
“Wow, living in a rundown, abandoned old home. Sounds awesome. I'm so glad I joined this pack,” Jacob said with as much sarcasm as only a teenager could muster.
Alex had to laugh, although he knew Jacob was being at least eighty percent truthful. He slowed a little as he looked at the various factories and abandoned homes around them. There were for-sale signs everywhere. Some of them had been up so long that they'd had rotted away or been vandalized. It would be possible to buy out here for next to nothing.
As Alex’s mind started churning over, he started to see all kinds of advantages. There wasn't really anyone living out here except for a few squatters, which meant if he built a high enough fence the Great Barrier would largely leave them alone. There was rarely any traffic in the area either which meant if there was ever an attack, he would hopefully hear and see it coming.
One of the main advantages he could see was that plenty of the factories had fences around them and had been built to keep people out. Even now as they drove, they passed a high brick fence that had a dominating factory behind it. It had been a steelworks at some point in the past. It had enormous spiked iron gates locked with a rusted chain. Alex had sudden visions of enchanting for days on end, getting a chunk of money, and buying up properties, moving some of the werewolves into them. Although staying at Juno's was amazing, there was no way that house could hold any more than it already did.
“You know, it's not such a bad idea,” Alex murmured.
“It wasn't distance that kept the Greenacre pack safe,” Jeremiah said.
Alex hadn’t really talked much about Jasper and the suspected corruption. Even the costs of keeping a small pack well-fed were quite high, and from what Alex understood, although werewolves would go to the city to work and send money back, most of the Greenacre pack stayed out in the wilderness. So, Jasper had to be getting the money from somewhere and corruption was an easy answer.
“If I split the pack doesn’t that mean another pack will just come and take the land out there?” Alex said.
“Yes, that is what will happen. But I'm not sure that's a good place for our pack right now,” Jeremiah said.
“Why not? It has fresh air, places for us to live, and it is ours and there are boars and all kinds of things to hunt,” Jacob blurted out from the backseat.
Jeremiah didn't even turn around. “Our alpha is under attack which means we're under attack. At the moment, that's a large territory we can't defend and it’s a great distance away from resources. If you want to live in a place that made it easy for mages to kill us without a single witness, that's where you’d pick,” Jeremiah said.
Alex was surprised at what he was hearing. At first, he assumed Jeremiah was just a strong and silent type but he’d seen there was a greater depth, more than he had known.
Still, the idea of abandoning the territory entirely? Alex knew the pack would do what he wanted, but really, what was the endgame here? Abandon the territory, bring them all to Baxter and put them in falling down homes, so they could be on a permanent war footing?
Although Alex knew he could enchant more rings and bring in more money, the big question would be what would the werewolves do all day? Try to get jobs driving taxis and serving coffee?
Looking around at the urban blight, Alex wasn't entirely sure he liked the idea much either. The wolf inside him certainly didn't. Although it would put up with it, he wanted trees, open spaces, and prey to hunt.
“So, you think I should move the pack here, buy some land, then go hunting mages?” Alex said.
“They shot Bish in the head. I mean no disrespect to your mate's father, but I feel Julius has been a fool for far too long. We cannot have civilized werewolves while we still live in the wilderness. We cannot compete or defend ourselves against the mages or the vampires when they can use every trick they know to take our land away from us. I joined the Greenacre pack because it was the most modern view on absolute change. There is land here, and there are jobs, and if we are in their face and part of society, we cannot be forgotten and dismissed so easily. Aside from the witches, most supernaturals don't even think of us. We’re just wild things that live out there somewhere, squatting in the mud. We need to do something to change that,” Jeremiah said.
“Okay, but if I have to live over here, can we least get one of those gigantic televisions that are like twelve feet across with super surround sound?” Jacob said.
“What, you want to play videogames with Yvonne?” Alex said.
“Yvonne? Why would she want to play videogames with me?” Jacob said.
Alex and Jeremiah just chuckled to themselves as a very confused Jacob watched them as they drove back home.
19
“Hate to see you leave, but, baby, love watching you go,” April called out as Alex walked away from Boris. He turned back to look at his three grinning mates. They were all dressed in identical red dresses that showed off cleavage and leg. Nia was wearing the stolen necklace with the green emerald while Juno and April were wearing simple gold, the jewelry taken from Ruby’s jewelry box. Just looking back at them, he felt the urge to grab the three of them and take them somewhere private but they'd been given their instructions and Ruby had warned them to follow them to the T.
“Come on, let's go,” he said. He enjoyed a moment as his three mates came slinking towards him, then turned away, so the blood flow wouldn't go south, and looked at the enormous mansion in front of them.
This was Prince’s mansion, the vampire. It was evening, just past twilight, and they were over in the rich part of Baxter where there were enormous estates with manicured gardens and silver-tipped spiked fences.
Alex had noticed th
em as they had driven in with Ruby behind the wheel.
Thinking of Ruby, Alex took a quick look around, but she was nowhere to be seen. The moment she’d parked the car, she grabbed the box of sleep crystals from the trunk and vanished off into the darkness. Ruby was wearing an evening gown too and high heels, and Alex had no idea how she was able to move so fast in them. As he looked around he caught the sight of patrolling guards, each one of them giant men with no necks. Alex let out a breath and tried to relax.
“See you soon,” Jeremiah said. He was waiting in Boris, their getaway driver. Jacob had been left at home with Esme and Lydia and hadn’t been happy about it until promised he could order as many pizzas as he wanted.
Nia took him Alex one arm and April by the other. Juno slinked ahead of them, heading towards the mansion.
Alex tried to keep his eyes off her hips swaying from side to side, but it was difficult. The thoughts in his mind were one-track.
The closer they got to the mansion, the larger he realized it was. It had to be three or four stories at least. At the front there were large marble pillars like something from the Pantheon. There were giant double, mahogany wooden doors ornately carved and guarded by two female supermodels, wearing killer suits. As they got closer, Alex realized they were twins, although one had black hair and the other was blonde. Juno pulled the invitation out of nowhere.
“Venetia, Histria,” she said.
The blonde supermodel, Venetia apparently, glanced at the invitation, then gave Juno a scathing look.
“Firstly, this is plus one and you have three,” she said.
Histria took the invitation from her. “Secondly, this has your grandmother's name on it, not yours.”
“That is true, but do you think the daughter of Hera goes anywhere without her entourage?” Juno said.
A worried glance passed between Venetia and Histria that seemed loaded with meaning. Alex suddenly felt like he was underage, trying to sneak into a club.
“Well, no…” Histria mumbled.
“Excellent! Everyone with me,” Juno proclaimed, and she marched forward pulling them along in her wake. For a moment it looked like the models might say something but then they let them go.
They emerged into a frankly ridiculous entrance area that screamed wealth. Two enormous dark wooden staircases led to the second floor. The railings were gold. Glittering chandeliers hung above them. Even the patterned wallpaper shimmered. To each side were large archways, blocked off by unsmiling guards and red velvet ropes. The stairways had ropes across them but no guards. There was art on every surface—paintings with ornate frames, marble busts and other sculptures.
“Vampires always have money,” April murmured in Alex's ear. Juno confidently walked ahead, leading them toward a second pair of large engraved doors. There were two doormen in suits greeting people as they went through. They at least seem much happier than the two supermodels outside. They passed through the second doors without challenge and into the ballroom which seemed larger than a football field. There were multiple chandeliers hanging everywhere. The ceiling itself glimmered with sparkles like distant stars. Marble pillars were set throughout the room, and there were long swatches of colored fabrics hanging from them, partitioning sections off. Gentle orchestral music played from an unseen source. There were people moving through the hall and most of the men were in suits, like Alex, while the women were glittering in gold and gems.
“I hear that's diamonds embedded in the roof,” Juno said, pointing up.
“I say cheap lights, but no one has ever got close enough to find out,” April said, waving over a waiter. She grabbed four glasses of champagne in tall flutes and passed them around. Alex forced himself to sip it rather than gulping it down.
“Using my name to get into places still, I see.”
Alex turned and gave a double blink at what was surely another Juno. The woman approaching them had blonde hair and was wearing a blood-red gown with a gold necklace that looked heavy enough to seriously clobber someone.
“What other benefits are there to being your daughter otherwise?” Juno replied archly.
Alex glanced at April, who seemed unperturbed. This is Hera, Juno’s mother? She looked the same damn age!
“Excellent bone structure? A razor-sharp wit… although darling I fear your father may have blunted yours.”
“Yes, he was rather worn down for some reason. I wonder why?” Juno said.
They were watching each other the way cats do when they’re preparing to fight.
Juno’s mother looked away from her daughter and smiled at Alex.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Jadis.”
“That’s a bad joke and you have to stop it. Her name is Hera,” Juno said, deadpan.
She got a pinch for her trouble.
“Ow! What was that for?” Juno protested, rubbing her arm.
“One, for ruining my joke and two, for burning my back fence.”
“You haven’t even been home! How do you know about that?”
Hera cupped her hands around her mouth, forming a loudspeaker. “Hello, I’m a powerful witch. Have we met?”
“I wish we hadn’t met,” Juno muttered.
“April, Nia, good to see you both. I see you’ve fallen in with the same suddenly famous werewolf.”
They all shared kisses, Alex’s brain still not quite working at the sight of Juno’s mother appearing to be her twin. Eventually something clunked into gear.
“What have you heard?” he said.
Hera flittered her fingers, imitating something flying away.
“This and that. I’ll tell you everything if you do me a favor,” she said.
“No deal! No favors!” Juno said, leaping in front of Alex.
“Your loss. He’s adorable darling but please do try not to get bitten harder than is good for you.”
Juno kissed Hera on the cheek and the snap of the emotional whiplash from fighting to calm and happy was palpable. Alex wasn’t sure what to think. Was their fight all just an act? Maybe this was how witches showed affection?
“Mutton dressed as lamb,” Juno called out to Hera as she walked away.
“Lamb who wishes she looked as good as this,” Hera called back.
“That’s your mother? She looks so young,” Alex said the moment she was out of earshot.
“She’s a witch, she can look whatever way she wants. You have to be careful around the magic ones, they’re not always as they appear,” Juno said.
“Shall we look around?” April said, waving in the general direction of the crowd.
They walked deeper into the ballroom. Alex wasn’t sure exactly what diamonds were worth but there was a fortune of them on display tonight. They passed a fabric partition and Alex couldn’t help but notice a tall woman with dyed blue hair who must have been seven feet at least, towering over her companions. She had a green gem the size of a baseball around her neck.
“That’s Portia. Was a serious contender for next head witch until her accident,” Juno said.
“What happened to her?” Alex asked.
“Spell gone wrong. She used to be the same size as everyone else. Now she’s slowly growing and so far there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Eventually her heart will give out,” Juno said.
She was all so matter-of-fact about it, like they were discussing a tree or something, rather than a person.
Alex turned to look around, and almost crashed into a man who had loomed up beside him.
“My mistress would like to speak with you. She is waiting for a dance,” he said. He pointed to the far side of the dance floor where there was a woman waiting in an exquisite green gown. She had to be in her mid-forties, but still had the body of a cheerleader. Her hair was so black, it was almost blue, and between her red lips and pale skin, she looked slightly like a demented Snow White.
Alex turned to Juno, but she was nodding and waving him on.
“Go, go,” she whispered.
Although tonight was
mostly about Ruby’s heist, Alex also had hearts and minds and getting noticed on his agenda. There were mages, vampires, witches and other supernaturals at the ball. Sure, some of them might try to collect the bounty but it was a risk he was willing to take. He had to stop being a rumor and become real to these supernaturals.
Alex handed back his now-empty champagne glass to Juno and followed the man around the edge of the dance floor and over to the woman.
“Alex Lowe, may I introduce Isabella Antoinette,” he said and then melted away into the crowd.
Isabella was even more stunning up close up than from afar. She was only slightly shorter than Alex and had to be wearing a fortune in jewels. The green dress she was wearing had left her shoulders uncovered and Alex saw she had a swirling tattoo down one arm, deep red like a flame. He couldn't be sure but he thought it moved when he looked at it.
“Nice to meet you,” Alex said, falling back on his default.
“Come and dance with me, so people may see you dancing with me,” Isabella said.
He couldn't quite place her accent but she certainly wasn't from around here. Alex took her offered hand and led her out onto the dance floor. Although he hadn't enjoyed it at the time, Jane, his stepmother, had made him take dance lessons so he wasn’t an uncoordinated wreck out on the dance floor like most other teenagers his age. In later years, Alex was very grateful she’d done this. As it turned out, girls liked a guy who could dance.
Although it had been a little while since he’d last danced, Alex smoothly took her hand and put the other on her back, just above her waist, and together they began moving to the music. Now they were close together, he could smell her perfume. It was something exotic and when he first breathed in, he smelt leaves and fruit, but then a moment later it was sand.
“The perfume changes every minute to another scent designed to elicit nostalgia,” Isabella said.
“I can smell sand, like the beach,” Alex said.
“Did you spend a lot of time at the beach as a child?” Isabella asked.
“Only a few holidays with my stepmother. We didn't have that much money, but I remember she took me once when I was about ten and it was amazing,” Alex said.
