by Kelly Meding
Blessed vampires.
“She’s a few hours north of here,” Tennyson continued. “I will drive as the sun has set and take Marshal Harrison.”
“Oh no,” Novak said. “You two aren’t road-tripping to see another goddess and leave us behind to worry the vampire hasn’t taken Shiloh and run when we can’t speak to you for eight hours. Fuck that.”
“I will accompany them,” Rosalind said. She stood on the periphery of our group and the stony look on her face meant no argument would sway her against it.
“I’m going too,” Jaxon said.
“No, you cannot,” Chandra replied. “From what little I know of Danu, she despises other shifters not her creation. She will not react well to you. I will go. Shiloh and I still need to reach out to her contact in Colorado, and we can do that on the drive.”
“Fine.” He sounded anything but.
“Save your warnings, skin-walker,” Tennyson said. “I will not betray Shiloh’s trust. You have my word.”
Jaxon still looked pissed. The overprotectiveness was both charming and annoying. I get he had feelings for me and wanted to protect me, but I could handle myself and had since I was a teenager. And if we had dated, I had to wonder if that was one of the reasons why we broke up. Hard to work side by side with a lover when you’re both getting shot at or attacked by an angry pixie cloud, and you are too focused on saving them rather than getting the job done.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said to him.
“I said fine,” he growled, but the anger was softened by an equal part of concern. “Just be careful.”
“I got this.”
He nodded.
“This is adorable, but we should really leave now,” Tennyson said. “Unless the incubus can be of some use?”
Novak snorted. “Doesn’t work that way. I can only teleport to me, but trust me, I’d gladly send you to the other side of the planet if I could.”
Jaxon fought a grin.
“Then let’s go,” I said. “Anyone need to pee before we hit the road?”
Chandra and I sat in back so we could do her mist-search thing on Will’s daughter and not be distracted. Rosalind didn’t seem happy to be up front with a vampire, but she’s the one who’d volunteered. Werewolves are generally suspicious, and she likely wanted to hear firsthand what Danu had to say, rather than getting it secondhand from us.
Once Tennyson had us speeding along the highway going north into Oregon, Chandra asked, “Do you know anything more specific about Will’s daughter? Name? Age?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” I replied. “All I know is what Jaxon said about her being in her early teens. And she lives in Colorado on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere.”
“All right, I’ll do my best.” She closed her eyes, and a slight hum of magic filled the car as she did her mist-walking thing. It was both spooky and kind of cool that she could locate other women anywhere in the world and telepathically communicate with them.
Nothing happened right away, so I watched the forest speed by and listened to the radio. After about an hour, without opening her eyes, Chandra said, “I think I’ve found her. I’m bringing you into my mind, Shiloh.”
The car immediately disappeared. Chandra and I stood in a gray mist, as before, and a teenage girl gawked at us from a few feet away. She had a hairbrush in one hand and wore a nightgown.
“What the hell?” she squawked. “Who are you?”
“I’m someone who knew your dad a long time ago,” I replied. The girl wielded her hairbrush like a weapon, and I instantly liked her. “His name is Will Carson. I’m Shiloh Harrison.”
She squinted at me. “I know that name, I think.”
“I’m a Para-Marshal, and I was involved in the vampire kidnapping case that recently broke on the news.”
“Oh, right. Dad was really sad when he heard your unit leader died.”
“Julius and I knew your dad six years ago. We worked together to free other magical creatures from a warlock who’d imprisoned him.”
“Okay. Then who’s she and where are we?”
“My name is Marshal Chandra Goodfellow,” Chandra replied. “I’m a moon witch, and we haven’t gone anywhere. We’re communicating telepathically. You have not physically left the place you previously stood.”
“Oh. Um, hi. I’m Lacey.”
“A pleasure to meet you.”
“Yeah, so why are we meeting, exactly?”
Kid got right to the point. I liked her. Reminded me of her dad.
“We’re unofficially investigating the disappearances of a number of Pack werewolves,” I said. “I was hoping to ask your father if he’d heard anything about the missing wolves, or if he had any ideas of where to look.”
“He hasn’t mentioned anything to me,” Lacey replied, and good goddess, she even looked like her father. Same dark hair and eyes. “But then again, I don’t ask about that stuff, because he doesn’t talk to me about it. Him and Kale don’t want me involved, because I’m human.”
“He’s trying to protect you and that’s smart.”
“I mean, do you want me to go ask him for you?”
“Actually,” Chandra said, “if you are in close physical proximity to him, within ten feet or so, I can include him in this group chat.”
“I think he’s downstairs in the kitchen, but I’m not sure. I guess if you let me sign out or whatever, I can go get him, and then you can log us back in?”
I grinned at the text-speak.
“I can do that. I’ll know when you’re near him.”
“Can I warn him what’s about to happen?”
“Please do.”
Lacey winked out.
“She has a gentle soul, but a troubled mind,” Chandra said. “The poor thing has experienced tragedy and pain.”
I grunted, unhappy knowing that, but also not surprised. I hated seeing children suffer, and Lacey seemed like a sweet girl. She’d taken us at our word and wanted to help.
Maybe a minute or two passed before Lacey and a much-aged Will Carson appeared in the mist.
“Whoa,” he said as he blinked hard several times. “Shiloh. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has,” I replied. Will had more flecks of gray in his hair and new wrinkles around his eyes, but he looked fit and alert.
And suspicious.
Chandra introduced herself and summed up what we’d already told Lacey.
Will chewed on his thumb cuticle while he thought. “I don’t deal at all with Kennedy’s Pack, because they’re so far away. I’ve also heard rumblings of infertility but nothing too specific. And I haven’t dealt directly with any Pack wolves in over a year. Mostly I help strays and other magic users who want to disappear.”
“Speaking of magic users,” I said, “our biggest suspicion right now is that magic is what’s been causing the infertility. Chandra helped one of the missing couples become pregnant, but she can no longer sense the mother in her mind.”
“Sure she’s not just dead?”
“It’s possible, but we’re hoping not. That said, Chandra’s magic is limited, and she can’t sense if there is outside magical interference going on within Pack lands. We need someone who can tell us if the couples were whammied on purpose.”
“What about Irena?” Lacey asked.
Will cut a sharp look at her.
“Who is Irena?” Chandra asked.
“She’s a Caster who came to my land to live her life in peace,” Will replied, clearly unhappy Lacey had mentioned the woman. “She comes from a line of powerful Ukrainian witches, but is estranged from her coven.”
“Do you think she’d be willing to assist us?”
“As in fly to California and go onto Pack lands?” Will looked like he’d rather eat horse shit than ask her to do such a thing.
“Please, Will,” I said. “I know it’s a big ask, but I’ll owe you a favor. A big favor. Twenty-eight souls are missing, and we all fear they’ve been taken for experimentation.”
He growled softly. “I know what it’s like to be held against your will. I’ll ask Irena.”
“Thank you.”
“If she agrees, I’ll get her there.”
“We’re based in Etna.” I gave him my cell number, which Lacey promptly began repeating under her breath.
Hard to write things down in an astral plane.
“Good luck,” Will said.
I blinked the interior of the Jeep back into focus, surprised by the abrupt shutdown of the chat.
“So,” Tennyson said, “was your search useful?”
“I hope so,” I replied. “Will didn’t know anything about the missing Pack wolves, but he may know a witch powerful enough to sense if there are any spells on the Pack.”
“Did your friend mention from whence the witch is descended?”
“Um, Ukrainian line?”
“Hmm. Powerful, indeed.”
His depth of knowledge about random things never ceased to amaze me. “You know, you really should try out for Jeopardy!”
Chandra snickered.
“So how long of a drive is this exactly?” I asked. He was coasting along at ludicrous speed, which could easily get us pulled over and heavily fined, but Tennyson could in turn gazelock any trooper and send them on their way, so I appreciated the haste.
“We should arrive at our destination in about four more hours,” he replied.
“And our destination is where, exactly?”
“Portland.”
“Danu is in hipster land?”
“Yes.”
A goddess hanging out amongst knitting shops, fair trade coffee, and techno-geeks. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 7
My worst nightmare came true when Tennyson parked in a public garage around midnight, and then led us to a street teeming with teenagers and young adults going in and out of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. Our destination appeared to be a place called Java Bytes, which had a full-service coffee bar, as well as several rooms where gamers played on consoles connected to huge seventy-two-inch screens on the wall.
The noise was incredible, the coffee smelled amazing, and way too many guys had mustaches. When had those become popular again?
Tennyson paused a moment, and we got some stares. Not only was he six-four, with his multicolored long hair, the black robe, and dead-white skin, he could have just walked in and screamed, “I’m a vampire!” He didn’t seem to notice, though, simply closed his eyes and . . . felt? Reached? Did that thing he did to sense where goddesses hung out.
At least Danu wasn’t hanging out at a frat house having sex with three college students. I still couldn’t scrub that memory of first meeting Brighid out of my head.
Rosalind growled at someone who got too close, and the poor guy looked like he was going to pee himself.
“This way,” Tennyson said. He led us to one of the rooms where two young women were playing some kind of car racing game, with at least a dozen others watching and cheering. He pointed at the player with short black hair cut page-boy style, heavy eyeliner, a red plaid skirt, and black suspenders over a white t-shirt. “That’s Danu.”
Our werewolf goddess was a Goth hipster?
As if sensing our arrival, Danu paused the game. Groans and protests erupted in the room, but she cut it off with a sharp look as she stood. Turned. She eyed Tennyson a beat before saying, “Clear the room. Now.” Her voice lacked volume, but the command was clear.
Everyone left except us. Chandra closed the door.
“It’s been at least two centuries, Woodrow Tennyson, Line Master,” Danu said. “What brings you here at this late hour?”
“A favor for a friend, love,” he replied.
Rosalind gaped at Danu, and I couldn’t figure out if she was starstruck or dumbstruck. Danu was five-three if she was lucky and didn’t look like she could wrestle a small dog, much less shift into a werewolf.
“A favor,” Danu said. She tapped a red-painted nail against equally red lips. “After what happened in Germany, I didn’t expect we’d ever meet again, much less you’d seek me out.”
I glanced at Chandra; we both wanted that story.
Danu finally looked at the rest of us, her gaze dismissing Chandra out of hand. She lingered on me a bit longer, before acknowledging Rosalind. “A daughter of mine. I sense strength in you, Child of Ossory.”
I’d never heard that particular phrase before.
Ossory, Ireland, is the birthplace of Danu and her werewolves.
Oh, thank you. For once, I was kind of grateful for our telepathic connection.
“It is an honor to meet you, Goddess,” Rosalind replied. “I come on behalf of my Alpha and our Pack to beg for your assistance.”
Danu rolled her eyes. “Geez, don’t be so formal. I haven’t been off this world in so long I don’t really remember what it’s like to be all goddessy and stuff. Just spit it out.”
Rosalind blinked hard several times, probably thrown by her goddess’s laissez-faire attitude, before finding her voice again. “Twenty-eight werewolves have disappeared from Pack lands, and we have no clear leads in discovering what happened to them.”
“What does that have to do with me? You interrupted my forty-eight-hour tournament for missing werewolves? Don’t you have cops for that?”
“That’s what we are,” I said, pointing between myself and Chandra. “We’re assisting the Packs in locating their missing wolves, and we came here for information.”
Danu took a step toward me, her nose twitching. “You’re not human. I smell earth djinn blood in you.”
“My father is an earth djinn.”
“Intriguing. A very, very unusual find.” She turned suddenly silver eyes onto Tennyson. “If I help can I keep her?”
Before I could squawk a protest, Tennyson said, “No. Shiloh and her friends are under my protection, and they are not for trade.”
“Shame. Then I might have helped you.”
“Goddess, please,” Rosalind said. She went to her knees in front of the smaller woman. “Your daughter begs you for your help. Your people have followed your rules for centuries, forgoing man’s technology and medical intervention, living as a Pack, praying to you every night.”
“Oh, wow.” Danu stared at Rosalind like she’d lost her mind. “I don’t give a crap if you guys have cell phones or pop Vicodin. Do you know how boring it is to sit in an astral plane and listen to other people praying, begging, and promising things? Setting a world record on Hell Racer 4 is way more interesting. Humans are weak, but they sure are fun.”
Rosalind’s entire body wilted and her head went down. I kind of felt sorry for her. It’s not every day you find out the deity your people have faithfully served doesn’t give a shit about you, and that the rules you thought were so important were being flouted by the very person who made them. Rosalind made a soft noise, and I couldn’t swear to it, but it sounded like a sob.
It also got Danu’s attention. She squatted in front of Rosalind and tipped her head up. The sight of a tear track on Rosalind’s cheek shocked the hell out of me. Danu wiped it away with one finger, then touched her cheek. The silver in Danu’s eyes gleamed brighter.
“Oh,” Danu said softly. “I’d forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?” Tennyson asked.
“What it’s like to be worshipped by my children. There are so few werewolves in Portland, and I haven’t been home in decades. I apologize for my harsh words, daughter, but I want you to know you are free to live your lives as you see fit. Do not shy from technology that could aid you, nor from medicine that could save you. Be well and enjoy the life you have.”
“Thank you, Goddess,” Rosalind said in a choked voice. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Danu kissed her forehead before rising. “My power is slightly diminished and rusty from having lived here for so long, but I am willing to try.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Not here, though.” She snapped
her fingers.
Everything went briefly white, and then I was standing in a dark, outdoor space somewhere, surrounded by trees. The others were there, too. Only Danu and Tennyson were not disoriented from the teleportation.
“Trippy,” I said. “Where are we?”
“MacLeay Park,” Danu replied. “It’s closed at this hour, so we won’t be disturbed.”
“Disturbed?”
“I need to shift in order to reinvigorate my power and reach out to my people. There are so many.”
Danu stripped right out of her little Goth-girl outfit and immediately shifted. Most werewolves take anywhere from thirty seconds to a full minute to shift, depending on their age and experience, and it’s an actual change anyone watching can see. The fur sprouting, the limbs repositioning.
Not Danu. From woman to beast in the blink of an eye and hot sizzle of magic that ripped down my spine. She was enormous, about the size of a horse, with golden fur that also glittered with hundreds of other colors. Similar to Tennyson’s hair, but more complex.
I attempted pushing a thought at Tennyson. Does your matching hair have anything to do with Germany?
Leave it for now, young djinn.
I want that story.
Perhaps one day.
Danu stretched once before resting on her haunches, closing her eyes and tilting her head up to the half moon in the sky above. The power of her shift had Rosalind shaking all over, until she gave in and shifted as well. Her wolf lay in front of Danu and stretched out on her belly in a prone position.
Long minutes ticked by. I checked my phone. No new texts or messages since the previous one from Jaxon about the motel they’d checked into in Etna. I texted Jaxon what we were up to, as well as Danu’s unexpected location and appearance. I didn’t expect him to be up, but he replied, Goddesses are never what you expect, huh?
Nope.
My phone chirped from an unknown number, location blocked. Where should we meet you in Etna? —Will
I grinned and texted back the address to the motel. Speaking while a goddess was telepathically looking for her werewolves seemed rude, so I showed the text to both Chandra and Tennyson. It meant help was either on the way, or just now leaving.
