by K.N. Lee
“Well, what’s not?” she said dryly. “Is there anything that you need for your spell?” she asked.
“Nothing that I don’t have access to,” he replied.
“Look,” Marradith nudged him with her elbow. The first of the men were coming back. Bloody, in tattered clothing, she counted their number. Two were missing. Her heart stuttered for a moment, but then she saw Justin’s face amongst them.
Leighton came outside then, looking over his pack.
“Where is Vega?” one of the wolves asked.
“He was chasing prey last I saw him,” Kieran said. “Perhaps he decided to leave.”
Rafael and Marradith exchanged glances. The last thing they needed was an unaccounted Wolf roaming the forest once he left for Justin’s house.
“Where is Bruce?” Leighton demanded.
“Dead.” Justin said.
“Why? What happened?”
“Bruce attacked Justin,” Kieran said. “I was there, and saw it.”
Justin’s jaw clenched. To admit that he willingly participated in the fight would make him libel for the same punishment Bruce received. Kieran was defending him.
“Is that true?” Leighton turned to Justin.
“Yes, it’s true.”
“I hope you all feasted well,” Leighton said, his voice echoing through the cold. “Marradith,” he said. “Make your choice for the night.”
She stood, and walked down the steps. The men gathered around her. They looked like ghouls, drops of blood around their eyes and lips, gore clinging to the remains of their tattered clothing. She looked down when she passed Justin.
Marradith took Kieran’s hand, and led him up the stairs and into the house.
Kieran was excited. Having killed, and fed, his blood ran wildly through his veins. The pulsing at his temples made him feel like a man inebriated. When Marradith took his hand, he swore he felt a little shock of energy flow from her and into him. It was pleasing to him, like the touch of very warm water against chilled skin. As she led him through the house and up the stairs to her bedroom, possibilities swirled in his head. He wondered how the others felt, seeing that she had chosen to bed him for the first night of the ritual. He knew Granthem had to be pissed. Knowing that only increased his own joy over what was about to be a memorable conquest, indeed.
“Go shower,” she told him. “I don’t want you getting that filth onto my sheets.” There was an edge to Marradith’s voice, but he didn’t mind. He was daydreaming about the things that he was going to do with her over the course of the night, and a shower didn’t seem unreasonable. He didn’t realize just how bloody he was until he removed the last shreds of clothing and got under the spray of water. There were bits of bone and Bruce’s fur lodged under his nails. He rinsed his mouth, and the water ran pink with blood. When he climbed out of the shower, he dried quickly and walked into the room. Marradith was still dressed, but with a smile, he remembered that this was part of the ritual.
The bed was turned down, and she had lowered the lights.
“Come,” she said. “Come sit down.”
Under normal circumstances, Marradith would not have minded bedding Kieran at all. He was a handsome man, with smooth dark skin and chiseled physique. His skin had a glow about it. Part of that had to do with the fact that he’d just feasted, and that his skin was moist from his shower. He was amorous, and his body showed it. She smiled and waited for him to sit down. He did, and she stood up. Even in her heels, he was tall enough to look her in the eye while he sat there. He drew her into his arms, so that she straddled his waist. She kissed his earlobe. Placing her hands gently on the back of his neck, she cradled his head with her palms. She drew his mouth to her and they kissed deeply. A little shiver shot through her spine. Drawing back, just a little, she made space between them. He leaned forward, pressing his face against her chest, kissing her. She felt his hands moving. He was positioning her just so…
Closing her eyes, she realized that she’d have to make her move now or lose the chance. She felt the heat flow through her fingertips. A soft flow. He moaned, and it sounded like pleasure. Her fingers were at the base of his skull, and her touch there was very light.
“Can you hear me?” she whispered to him.
More sounds. He couldn’t speak, but he nodded. His eyes rolled back in his head. His body shivered.
“Baby,” she whispered. He was still, holding her in place. She moved away, rolling onto her side on the bed.
“Come,” she said, and he laid down beside her. He made no move to touch her. The whites of his eyes showed--he was still in an altered state. He was be under her control.
“I have some things that I want you to do for me,” she said. “Yes?”
He nodded like a well behaved child.
“Good boy,” she said with a smile.
“Come in,” Justin said.
Rafi nodded and stepped into Granthem’s house. He was struck at how he found it oddly similar to the house he and Marradith shared back home. The front room opened up into a bright kitchen and dining area at the back. Above the mantelpiece, a clock ticked gently. Rafi walked towards it, staring in awe. The clock was an antique, a Spanish made timepiece. He touched the edges of it with his fingertips, feeling the timeworn polish of it against his skin.
“I hope you didn’t think Marradith tossed that,” Granthem said.
“It was a gift,” Rafi replied.
“She said you sent it for her seventeenth birthday,” Justin said warmly. “Marradith is always bringing me things for the house. She says the place lacked character,” he added. “Really I think it just makes her feel more at home when she’s here.”
As I remember, Rafael thought, I bought that as a gift for her the year she became Sojourner. When she was sixteen….
“I’m glad she gave it to you,” he said. He noticed a picture of Marradith on the mantelpiece, holding her dog, Spike. Rafael guessed that this was a picture that Justin had taken himself.
“What is Marradith really up to?” Justin asked. He sat down on the couch. “I couldn’t get any details from her and I can’t imagine that’s a good sign.”
Rafael shrugged. “She didn’t tell me exactly what it is she is up to, but she asked me to come here to see you.”
“She didn’t tell you, or you won’t say?”
“I really didn’t come here to piss you off.”
“Well, that brings me to the next thing. Exactly why are you here?”
“Because of the situation,” Rafael said carefully. “Marradith thought that you might be able to use my assistance. A simple protection spell.”
“Spell?” Granthem looked skeptical.
“You’ve seen magic work before?”
“I have,” he admitted.
“I’ll need a bowl of water,” Rafael said. “And then we can get started.”
“No, you can’t bring that thing into my house,” Leighton proclaimed. “Take her outside and finish her off.”
Alejandro Vega stood firm. He placed his arm around the woman, who was covered only in a blanket. She was bleeding from the neck. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she did not move or speak.
“What’s the problem here?” Syd asked, joining Leighton in the doorway.
Leighton sucked his teeth in disgust. “This young blood didn’t finish his meal, and he’s brought her to my door asking if she can stay,” he said.
“I fed!” Vega insisted, meeting Leighton’s glare. “I like this one. I don’t see why I can’t keep her.”
“This pack has a female already, if you haven’t noticed.” Leighton said.
“I have noticed she’s a bitch,” Vega snapped.
Syd laughed, and both men turned towards him. Clearing his throat, he addressed Leighton.
“No need to let this ruin your night. Let me see this female.”
The woman, still in shock, looked towards Alejandro.
He patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. You can go to him.”
Holding the blanket tighter around herself, the woman shivered. She took two small steps towards him, placing his hands on either side of her face.
“She can use some cleaning up,” Syd commented. “But I find her rather beautiful. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Jenny,” she said.
“If you can find use for her, go ahead,” Leighton said. He turned to Vega. “As for you, it’s obvious you’re not going to fit into the Pack here. How dare you speak that way about Mari….”
“Before you come to blows for nothing,” Syd interrupted. “I have a solution. I can take both of these two off your hands. Alejandro?”
Vega hesitated. “I don’t know you,” he said coolly.
“Don’t be a fool, son,” Syd laughed. “That doesn’t matter. If you don’t leave here, Leighton will do things to you that will make the burn Marradith gave you seem like nothing.”
“Things you won’t survive,” Leighton added.
“Sure, why shouldn’t we go with you, then,” Alejandro said.
“I do have to leave tonight, anyway,” Syd said, smiling at Leighton. “More deliveries to make.”
“Well, you must come for a longer stay next time,” Leighton said. “But thanks for taking this rubbish off my hands.”
It was important that he wait. Kieran didn’t know why, but that was what she told him. Time seemed to have slowed down. Marradith turned off the lights and lay quiet beside him. He could feel her eyes on him. Kieran listened as the voices downstairs grew quiet, one by one. Lights were turned off. Beds were climbed upon, eyes closed beneath the weight of weariness. Hours had passed since the last cars drove away. Now only the chosen few remained inside the house. He stood, stretching, letting the Change move through his body. He held back the growl that threatened to fill his chest. Quiet, quiet, she warned. I can give you pain.
Kieran nodded to show that he understood. Pleasure was what he wanted. That warmth that she made him feel, the tingling that coursed from her palms and into his body. Leaving her reluctantly, he went to do her bidding. The fire in the grate of the living room cast long shadows as he passed. Past that room and through a small office. On the other side were the guest bedrooms. Pausing at the first door, which was slightly open, he peered in at his sleeping brethren.
Once Leighton finally went to sleep, Fiona went downstairs to the kitchen. She had been restless lately. The glass of wine she had after her bath hadn’t relaxed her at all. In fact, she felt a little jittery, and defiantly wide awake. Without bothering with the lights, she made her way to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of ice cream.
She saw something. A movement out the corner of her eye. Dismissing it, she pulled out a drawer and found a spoon. The bowls were on the cabinet to her right. Just as she turned, something move in the hallway. I must be imagining things, she told herself. Fiona dropped the bowl as the first screams rattled the silence.
Leighton came awake, his ears tingling with the screams that came from the downstairs room.
“Fiona?” he fumbled across her side of the bed, and found it empty. He found the light switch and pulled a revolver from his nightstand. As quickly as the screams had started, they stopped. Leighton descended to the main floor. The living room was empty; the fire’s last embers glowed in the grate. He walked around to the hallway, where the guest rooms were. The copper smell of blood hit him. Blood, and death.
A whir of motion came at him, black fur streaked with gray. The Wolf knocked him off his feet, but Leighton managed to keep his gun. He fired three times, once missing wildly. A second shot hit the ceiling. A third silver bullet burst through the werewolf’s head.
“Leighton?”
Fiona stood above him, a few feet away. The lights were out, but from the moonlight that came in the window, he could see her clearly. She stood, in her white nightgown. The expression on her face was not of fear, but surprise.
She looked down at her hands, and they were covered in blood. Leighton screamed when he saw the wound in her middle. He’d shot her.
She fell to the floor.
“Fiona!” Leighton screamed.
He pushed the remains of Kieran’s body off of him and scrambled across the floor to where she lay. He pressed his hands against the wound, trying to stop the blood flow. She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. “Tell my son I love him,” she said.
“No! Fi, just stay with me, please.”
Marradith came.
Leighton didn’t even hear her steps as she ran down the stairs. She fell down on her knees beside the two of them. A wordless cry escaped her throat. Fiona took her hand and squeezed it.
“Mari,” she said.
And with that, a gasp, a rattle.
She was gone.
Part III
Marradith stood up. “This can’t be happening.”
Leighton was crying. Something she had never seen before. Only a few feet away laid Kieran’s dead body. Shivering, Marradith went into one of the guest rooms to find a something- a bedspread, a sheet-to cover him up with. The carnage there was worse. Two men had occupied this room, but were torn apart so completely that she couldn’t even tell who they were. The blood was everywhere, even the ceiling. The next room was just as bad. None of the pack in that room had survived, either.
Kieran had not given them a chance to run, much less change back into their primal forms. He’d completed his mission, all except for killing Leighton. He’d died trying to do that one last thing.
She ran to the hall closet and pulled out an armful of linens. When Marradith came back to the living room, Leighton was still there, holding Fiona’s body in his arms. “You have to let her go,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Her tears came freely now, and she wiped at them with her hand. It was only then that she realized her right hand was full of blood, Fiona’s blood, and that she’d smeared it on her face.
“No, no!” he howled, burying his face in Fiona’s chest.
Marradith walked over to Kieran and covered him. You followed my orders, she thought. It was Leighton who had screwed everything up, as usual. She should have remembered about his guns. He kept them all over the house. Of course he’d come downstairs when he heard the ruckus… The Wolves had not awakened in time to save their lives, but they died screaming.
Fiona wasn’t supposed to die.
I knew your Mother, Marradith. I promised her that I would protect her children however I could, if ever I had the chance. Fiona’s words swirled in her head, only adding to the heaviness that settled in her chest. She didn’t know how long she thought about this, standing over Kieran’s body, when she heard Leighton’s voice.
“He did this.”
“Kieran?” she said.
“No. Granthem,” he spat.
“What?” Marradith yelled. “What are you talking about?”
“Granthem put him up to it. I know he did! That fucking story about Bruce attacking Justin, and then Kieran defending him…. I knew that was bullshit. He paid Kieran. He did something. I don’t know. But he was in on it!”
“You’re in grief,” Marradith said between gritted teeth. “You’re not making any sense.”
Leighton finally let go of Fiona. He stood up, and began pacing the room. “It makes sense, it does, perfect sense! Who else would want to destroy my Wolves?”
“Am I supposed to feel different?” Justin asked. “Because I don’t.”
Rafael chuckled. “No. If you felt queasy or had a tingling sensation moving through your flesh it would more likely mean you ate something bad? This spell will sharpen your already quick senses. Give you an extra edge against an opponent. You will see the difference next time you need to fight.”
“I don’t have to do anything else? Carry anything special with me?”
“No.”
Rafael got up from his chair, and just as he did, the sound of a gunshot rang through the air.
“What the hell…?” Justin said. “That sounds close.”
&nb
sp; “Leighton’s house?” Rafael asked.
Justin grabbed his coat and ran for the door. Rafael was on his heels, about to run out the door, when Adam appeared there, blocking his way.
“Juan Rafael Javier,” Adam smirked. “There it is.”
“What?” Rafael shouted.
The third shot rang out.
“That,” Adam said, “is the sweet sound of consequence.”
Marradith went outside and stood on the lawn, because she didn’t know what else to do.
The skies had begun to lighten, that odd time when night shifts into the coldest part of morning.
She tried calling Syd on his cell. He’d left the house only hours before, so he couldn’t have gotten that far. He was the only one that would could calm Leighton down when he was upset, and she’d never seen him this bad before. There was no response. As usual, his phone was probably off. From where she stood, she could hear him screaming, sometimes lapsing back into his native German. He cried out prayers in the primal language of Wolves. His voice was so filled with hatred that it made her shiver.
Marradith breathed in the cold air, trying to calm herself. She wanted Justin, but there was no need to call him. She could feel him moving towards her. Turning to the woods, she started walking, and then running. The heat in her spine increased as he came closer; she stopped short when she saw him standing across a clearing.
“Don’t come closer!” she pleaded.
“Why? Marradith…what happened?”
Marradith stood under the shadows of the trees but Justin could still see blood.
It was all he could see. She was speaking, but he’d swear later that he couldn’t hear her, or anything else. It felt like everything slowed, time moving painfully slow. There was no wind, no snow beneath his feet, no cold. He reached for her and ran his hands over her body, looking for the wound.
“Justin! Stop. Can you hear me? It’s not my blood.”
She was shaking his arms. He could hear her now. Her frosty breath hit his face like cigarette smoke.
