Bound: A YA Urban Fantasy Novel (Volume 1 of the Dark Reflections Books)

by Dean Murray

  Chapter 12

  Alec Graves

  Highway 82

  Southern Arizona

  Juan managed to keep his questions to himself until after we got on the road. Once Brandon dismissed us, Juan waved at James to stay for the briefing and then led the other four of us out into the hall.

  "Get an overnight bag and the standard first-aid supplies. I'll meet you all out in the parking lot in ten minutes."

  Alison shot me a dirty look as we all scattered back to our rooms, but that wasn't entirely a surprise. By convincing Juan to volunteer us I'd just put us all in danger again more than twenty-four hours before we'd otherwise have been put into harm's way.

  I made it out to the parking lot a full three minutes before the deadline that we'd been given and found Juan already there waiting for us.

  "You'd probably like an explanation."

  Juan grunted. "Not here."

  Over the next few minutes the three girls trickled out of the hotel and we all climbed into the SUV that Juan had picked out. At a nod from Juan, Alison got behind the wheel and we were off.

  I opened my mouth again to explain my reasoning, but Juan held up a hand as he pulled out a small electronic device and pushed some buttons. We waited for a couple of minutes while the device beeped and flashed and then Juan nodded to himself and put it away.

  "Okay, the car's clean. A few of us independents have organized a watch schedule that allows us to keep two of the vehicles in the motor pool under surveillance. We can't guarantee that someone couldn't slip a transmitter onto them, so we have to still use a portable bug sniffer, but at least keeping an eye on them like we do means that nobody can wire them with something more complicated that doesn't require a transmitter."

  I shook my head in astonishment. "I never would have guessed that you'd all be so paranoid down here."

  "Don't let anybody fool you. Putting big wins up is nice from the standpoint of recruiting, but it doesn't matter for crap if there isn't some kind of support structure down here that lets people feel safe. Half of the independents down here wouldn't have ever agreed to come help if a couple of us hadn't come down here first and set up some basic precautions."

  My mind was whirling. It seemed like every time I turned around something else caught me by surprise lately. I'd known that Juan and the others were worried about Brandon turning on them, but I hadn't realized that they were quite so organized.

  "This isn't the only security measure you guys have in place, is it?"

  "Of course not, but don't bother asking what else we've got in the works. You're a pretty straight shooter, but you're still from the Sanctuary pack. Instead, how about if you tell me what made you think it was a good idea to volunteer us for this particular assignment."

  I nodded. "Okay, that's fair. The truth is that I'm not sure I can point to a single reason, it's more like a bunch of small things that made this feel like the right decision. Firstly, it extends an even bigger olive branch out to Brandon and Vincent by showing them that I'm willing to take orders and even volunteer when the need arises."

  "You're assuming that Brandon will eventually hear that you were the one that pushed for us to volunteer."

  "Yeah. As paranoid as you guys seem to be about the idea that he's spying on you, it seems like a safe bet."

  "That could backfire on you if it makes the independents think that you are too firmly in Brandon's pockets. What else?"

  "I figured that there is a chance that being out on this assignment will bring us into contact with some of the Tucson pack."

  Juan's right eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. "It's possible, but why is that desirable? Jaclyn is pretty well known for not liking the Sanctuary pack in general and your father in particular."

  "You and a few others have recently given me a crash course in the fact that everyone I run into is going to have some kind of agenda. The only way for me to hope to get a complete picture of what's really going on is to get more points of view than I have right now. Jaclyn seems like a decent source to help counterbalance some of the propaganda I get fed when I'm back home."

  "Assuming she doesn't just kill you out of hand."

  "That would be pretty shortsighted of her."

  "Jaclyn isn't considered to be the most well-grounded individual out there. She'd pretty much have to be a little crazy to put the Coun'hij on notice like she has."

  My mouth went a little dry, but I managed a shrug. "I guess if she kills me then she kills me, but she's going to be a lot more likely to believe me now when I'm operating from a position of weakness than she would be later on if I approach her after I manifest an ability."

  "You probably have a decent point there. Any other reasons?"

  "Yeah, I guess one last big one. Somebody—or something—killed four people who shouldn't be dead right now. I don't know if it was cats or not, but I want to help put whomever was responsible for those murders down. I know that you're big on stopping the cats, but it feels to me like lately we've been spending way too much time bickering over who's the biggest, toughest predator on the block and not enough time protecting people who can't protect themselves."

  Juan shook his head. "We're not as different as you think, Alec. I want the cats gone for the same reason that you want to end whatever killed those people. I want those who are still alive to have a better life, just like you."

  "So you're not going to hold this all against me?"

  Juan looked over at Alison and then shrugged. "I'm not going to, but I'm probably not the one you need to worry about."

  Alison muttered something that sounded like 'highhanded jerk' and then turned onto the main highway.