Joseph did. But Tony was his second, an excellent fighter. It didn't matter that his sister couldn't get along with him. They'd have to reach some kind of mutual understanding to co-exist. He told her as much.
“Whatever!” Adi responded in a loud voice. “I'll just avoid his obnoxious carcass and try for civility.” She rolled her eyes then nailed Joseph with a solid stare. He raised his brows in question and she plowed forward, changing tactics. “Who is the feral?”
Joseph sucked in his breath. He had been sworn to secrecy. “I can't say, Adi. You know that. We've been over it and over it...”
She interrupted him, “it's for the safety of the pack... blah, blah. Yeah, whatever. I gotcha. But I want to know why we would even keep a feral?” Her eyes shifted to his, searching and a wild idea began to form. It couldn't be... she asked, “Does he have something to do with Jules?”
It was the barest flicker but Adi caught it, snapping her fingers. “Tell me!”
Joseph sighed, holding up a palm. “We thought that if the Rare One needed... encouragement, we could use the feral.”
Adi scrunched her brows together. That didn't make sense. Joseph saw her confusion. They stared at each other for several moments.
“How? How could... he coerce...?” she asked.
Joseph told her. It took almost a half hour and when he finished only the birds in the trees could be heard in the deafening silence that his revelation had left behind.
Her slap against his skin rang out, startling the birds which perched on high branches to exchange the safety of the trees for that of the sky.
“How could you?” her voice shook with contained rage.
Joseph felt the sting of her slap and knew he deserved ten times worse. There was no excuse, he should have fought harder against it. Now, there was no taking back the deceit.
Adi's eyes narrowed on him. “Whose idea was this?”
Joseph didn't answer, his eyes were answer enough.
Of-fucking-course.
Adrianna stalked off in search of Tony. Joseph tried to grab her arm to stop her and she tore it away from him, turning on him like the wolf she was. “Don't touch me! It was unforgivable.” Her eyes locked onto him without mercy. “Ya know what? It's good that the Singers took Julia. Maybe somebody can treat her like a human being instead of something to be manipulated. We don't deserve her.”
She strode off in search of Tony.
Joseph watched her go, his self-loathing a solid weight in his body.
In his soul.
****
William
William was hopeful. He clapped the Locator on his back as he left the kiss with a thank you and the blessing of their lightwalker, Gabriel. A huge favor as future collateral. It would hang over the coven's head. But if he could regain Julia... it would not matter. Their kiss' prosperity and importance would be solidified forever.
The vampire turned, giving William his steady regard. “You have the map?”
William nodded and he gave the barest smile of acknowledgment. “I wish you the best fortune in locating your Singer.”
They both knew that Julia wasn't just any Singer. But neither said it openly. They had put their competition aside for the moment but the possibility of a sister kiss trying for the Rare One was not beyond the scope of possibility. William was keen on not forgetting that basic fact.
He closed the door behind him and strode to where Claire and Gabriel waited. Gabriel looked up as William drew closer. His finger stabbed the map. “The Singers have powerful blocking in place from our location. But,” his eyes met William's, “the Locator was quite sure that this is the general region.” They all studied the area.
Mountainous and densely wooded.
Perfect cover for retrieval.
By vampire.
William assembled runners. They packed their gear and went out on their last mission. If they could not retrieve Julia this time, he knew that his window of opportunity would have closed to nothing.
Once she was in the womb of the Singers it would be an impossibility to get to her.
They afforded formidable protection. Something even his will and determination could not combat.
He imagined she would be important to them as well. Perhaps not labeled the same way she was with the vampire and werewolves. Maybe something else entirely?
Julia would be royal amongst their kind, William contemplated.
Like a queen.
*
the Feral
The feral swept the hair that had fallen across the face of the female away from her eyes and studied her. It made a sweet longing like the finest blood rise unbidden within his wolf form. It was almost enough to make him slide back into his human shape. But not yet. His strange half-human form was the one he instinctively realized was best for the distance he needed. Even now he could feel his kind chasing after them.
After the female. He clutched her tighter to his body. Soon, he would need to feed and would have to leave her unconscious and unprotected for a time. He scowled. An outsider would have noted how comical it made his facial expressions, that of the wolf, the echo of humanity etched about the edges.
He stood smoothly with the tiny female in his arms, a sense of rightness and purpose propelling him naturally. He searched until he was satisfied, finding the perfect den in which to hide her. He did, tucking her inside the small rock crevice. He backed away, his hunger a gnawing monster in his belly. Before he could compromise his strength further by lingering over her, he fled. In search of prey, which would keep him busy for a time.
More than he liked.
Julia woke up with darkness all around her and was chilled to the bone. She had a coat but the damp coolness of her environment had sunk into her bones and weighed her down. She put her hands out in an exploratory movement and hit something solid. All around her Julia could feel the solid weight of something, smell the earth surrounding her.
She felt like she was in a tomb. Julia panicked... scraping the confines of the dark space, whimpering in fear. Before she lost it totally something occurred to her. Julia's memory slid into place and she remembered what had happened.
The great red werewolf. Actually, his fur was like wine. Not that it mattered. She closed her eyes tightly. What was she doing here? Where was he? What had he put her in?
Calm thyself, Julia!
Her lips set in a determined line, Julia lifted her head as high as she could without hitting the ceiling of where she lay. Ambient light reached her eyes and she could just make out her toes like twin hills in the distance. Julia thought that she may have been stuffed in some kind of hole.
For safekeeping.
She gulped, trying not to think of what that meant. Maybe a tasty meal for later? Julia shuddered at the thought. She needed to get the hell out of here! She experimented, wiggling around and discovered that the only place of escape was where her feet were. Well... she couldn't move at all. Maybe she had six inches on all sides.
Didn't matter. She'd never been more scared since that night, since Jason, her mind spoke, but she wasn't going to give up yet.
She began to wiggle her butt like an inchworm, bunching her muscles then scooting forward, inch by inch. Julia knew when she made headway because she could see better. Finally, Julia's legs were free of the hold and she was able to bend her knees and drag her body further, stabbing her heels into the dirt at her feet and pulling herself out incrementally. In less than five minutes she was free. Even the dappled sunlight through the canopy of trees was bright and full of glare after the utter darkness of the hole she'd been in. Julia turned, squinting, and looked at where she'd been. It was a narrow slot at the base of a natural rock formation. Barely more that a crevice.
No one would have ever seen her unless they knew she was there.
Julia stood and the pins and needles of returning blood flow almost brought her to her knees. But she persevered, breathing slowly, in and out. She was tired of fainting, being kidnapped and told who
she was and what she was going to be.
And do.
Julia was her. And she was going to be okay.
Julia turned and walked away, casting a glance behind her as she went. She didn't have the vaguest clue where she was but she was going. She headed west, where the sun rode above the mountains. At least she had a direction.
Julia hoped it was not the same one the Were had used.
****
Homer
The phone buzzed shrilly beside his ear and he snatched it up, his irritation rising like the tide beyond the window of the police station. “Truman,” Karl answered in his gruff voice.
“It's Alexander,” the chief forensic specialist said.
“Hello! Sing me the tune I like to hear.”
“Okay... well, I don't know if it's what you want to hear but it's what I have.”
Confusing but okay, Karl thought. “Alright, lay it on me.”
“I've got the sample DNA typed but it's broad because I can't get a specific on it.”
“Cut the cryptic shit and just give it to me straight.”
“Canine genome.”
Alright, just like he figured. No big surprise there. “Okay, wolves then...”
Silence. Karl could almost hear the static on the normally clear lines.
He cleared his throat.
“Listen... this is going to sound completely insane.”
Karl waited.
“But the classification is not entirely accurate.”
“What are you saying, Alexander?”
“I'm saying you've got yourself a new class of canine here.”
“What... Bigfoot?” Karl gave a short bark of a laugh.
Alexander didn't laugh. “No. Not Bigfoot.”
“Then what?” This was crazy!
“Something else. Something so different we don't know where to put it.”
Karl leaned forward, his chair creaking under his weight. “Okay, give me what you know.”
“Okay, more insanity. Ready?”
“Hell yeah.” Karl tapped his ballpoint on the desk, listening. When Alexander was finished he whistled low in the back of his throat, leaning back in his chair and scrubbing his face. Finally he said, “A guy could lose his reputation over what you're postulating.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“So... what's the plan?” Karl asked.
“Well, first off, I think the larger question is what are these things? Listen Truman, meet me back at the scene. Who knows, with some additional measurements I may have more answers.”
“Like what?”
“Size, for starters.”
“And?”
“Intelligence.”
They were quiet for a full minute, the line buzzing between them.
“You're not suggesting these things are the same ones that tossed that dump are you?”
“I am,” Alexander said.
“Holy shit,” Truman breathed out.
“Yeah.”
*
Cyn
The bus driver looked as the forlorn girl entered his bus. When she told him where she wanted to go he was somehow reminded of that waif of a girl a few months back. The one with the whiskey eyes and phoney black hair dye. He wondered how she was doing now? His eyes met hers and she answered, “Kent.”
He nodded. “I know just where to take ya.”
“Good,” she said. Turning away, she headed to the back of his bus. His eye followed her in the rear view mirror. When he looked at her feet he saw some funky boots. They looked like hard-core fisherman boots, reaching to her calves. Ugly suckers, shit-brown in color. Huh... they didn't really seem to go with the rest of her.
He shifted his eyes back to the road, putting the great bus into gear, it ground out of park and into first gear, a plume of exhaust hailing its departure.
Cynthia leaned back, pushing her knees against the seat in front of her. She let her legs dangle and right before she closed her eyes, she caught sight of Jules' boots on her feet. She smiled through her tears.
I'll never forget you, Julia.
After a few moments, Cynthia fell asleep, exhaustion taking the reins for her, the tears drying on her cheeks as she slept.
The bus driver drove his route, twice. The same way he had before, giving the girl time to rest. When he was a couple blocks away from the women's shelter, he stopped.
This was as good a place as any, he thought. He jerked the lever and the bi-fold door opened with a burst of compressed air.
Cynthia's eyes snapped open and noted she was the sole person on the bus. Her eyes met those of the bus driver and she stood, her eyes flicking to his name embroidered on his uniform, Alfred.
When she came to the front she lowered her head and peeked out the bus door at a building she saw a couple of blocks away. She could just make out the sign, Freedom Affirmed.
She looked back at Alfred. “Where am I?”
His kind eyes remained steady on hers. “Kent,” he said.
She nodded. “Right, okay.” Cynthia began to descend the short bus steps as she heard the driver's voice behind her, “That place up there will give you a couple day's peace.”
There was no peace for her, Cynthia thought. But she turned anyway and looked into his kind eyes. “Thanks, I'll check it out.”
Alfred smiled and nodded, pushing the lever, the bus door closing with a snap and an air-driven hiss. Cynthia watched the bus glide away, the only proof it had ever been was the exhaust cloud in its wake.
Turning, she headed for the building.
It was as good a place as any, she thought. Her thoughts unconsciously echoing those of the driver.
Cynthia quickened her pace toward the building.
Toward a new life.
*
Julia
Julia walked quickly and made progress. However, she grew thirsty, her tongue swelling like a tumor in her mouth. She became so parched it was all she could think of. Shading her eyes, she looked up at the sun. Julia guessed it was well past noontime.
As she hiked the sun would move behind clouds, casting deep shadows in the forest. Julia's mind played tricks on her and she felt alone.
Scared... and foolish.
Mostly just scared, she decided. Finally, Julia thought she heard the tinkling sounds of moving water and when the forest floor grew greener and the topography of the ground at her feet began to slope away and downward, Julia figured she hit the jackpot. She grabbed branches to steady herself as she finessed her way down a short but steep ravine toward the sounds of a small stream. It was probably a river here in Washington, but by Alaska standards, it was a creek. She knelt by the crystal clear water and made a cup with both hands, letting the slow-moving water run over the top, then capturing the refreshing goodness in her already cold flesh. Ignoring her intellect she gulped greedy sips.
After she'd drunk her fill, Julia stood, wiping her hands off on her jeans. She turned and carefully made her way up the small ravine, refreshed and rejuvenated.
She abandoned the tree cover and entered an open meadow, stopping for a moment as the sun came from behind the clouds, beating its warmth into her as she stood in the open. Julia closed her eyes, lifting her face to the sun and reveled in the stolen moment of warmth. When the first pain began to pierce her guts she gasped, folding her arms across her belly protectively.
What was this? She groaned out loud, holding herself.
Julia felt the water she had drunk not thirty minutes before begin to churn in her stomach like curdled milk. A chill rolled over her skin and she began to shiver, goose flesh rose like chicken skin and she trembled again. Julia looked around, feeling ill. Maybe she drank too much at one time?
This was the worse possible time to get the flu or some other crap. No worries, just the big bad wolf after her.
She didn't think being Little Red Riding Hood was very funny.
Zero amusement.
Julia pressed forward, clutching her stomach as she walked. Her eyes searc
hed the dim forest. She might have to find someplace to hide until her insides felt better.
She moved into the soothing coolness of the forest as the first cramp tore into her and pain rode her like a wave coming to shore.
*
William
William and his five runners made haste. As soon as twilight had dropped its veil of protection over the city, they had left the shelter of the kiss.
The cattle parted like the Red Sea. Even in their ignorant stupor, there was some biological imperative that kicked in, a primal alert of sorts. When the vampire evacuated their lair, the steps leading to the street a yawning concrete hole of uncertainty and darkness, they moved aside unconsciously, giving the vampire a wide berth.
William moved quickly, Gabriel's words ringing in his head, Do not engage a large group of Singers. His eyes had met his leader's and he had asked, What is too many? There had been a pregnant pause then Gabriel had responded with a question, How many was too many at the Were stronghold?
William understood. In that case, had it not been for the feral Were he might have stood a chance, even with the pair of Singers. He was not certain. He shrugged the thought away. Julia and he were connected, William had Singer ancestry. That accounted for some things. Alliance, Blood-share. However old it had been, it would cast weight to the positive for him.
He swiped the words away with a dismissive mental shrug. Gabriel did not fully understand battle reasoning. The Were, for all their flaws, did. In the heat of battle, decisions were made. Some lacking in any rational foundation. Nevertheless, they were deemed critical then, in that moment. There may be a moment which arose in just that way in the next few hours, and William would be reactive. It was the only thing he had not allowed himself in prior instances.
He had thought it a luxury. Now he recognized it for what it was. Necessary. If he wanted Julia, he would have to use his emotions as his barometer, not rationale. This was not the time for mental negotiations.
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