“So how did you do with the gun?” I asked, turning my attention to my sister. She shrugged as a smile crept across her lips.
“Pretty good I think.”
“Yeah?”
“Grant says I have a talent or something.”
“That’s good.” I nodded. “That’s really good.”
“Yeah?” She smiled over at me nervously.
“Look I know I was being kind of a pain in the ass about it.”
“Ethan, don’t.” She smiled, putting her hand up to stop me.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t apologize for looking out for me, it’s your job.” I nodded my head slowly. She was right. I wanted her to feel useful, hell I was proud of her for being able to take care of herself the way she had been and even though I still wanted to keep her locked away safely in a room until it was all over a bigger part of me understood that it wasn’t about what I wanted but what she needed to make this situation right for her.
My thoughts were interrupted by Mack as he sat down heavily next to me and handed me Roberts hand written note with a smile.
“Hey, man, what’s up?” I smiled as I took the paper from him and shoved it deep into my pocket.
“Not much.” He smiled. “We found your guy.” My face lit up and my thoughts did too as I grew excited to hear every tiny detail about our mystery man.
“Yeah, so who the hell is he?” I asked with a smile.
“Well it turns out that Bryant here is an old world war two vet that came up against a group like us and survived.”
“Really? But he’s human? I thought it was supposed to be nearly impossible for them to fight us.”
“Yes and no.” Mack nodded. “He says that he hid more than anything but after the war he spent a good chunk of time hunting us and according to this guy during the war Hitler or rather some of his doctors were making wolves out of soldiers to try and get some kind of advantage in battle.”
“Really?”
“Yeah really, don’t tell me that actually surprises you?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Come on, man,” He smiled. “The Nazi’s would have done anything to gain the upper hand.”
“True but werewolves? How did they even know about us?”
“Legends about werewolves are pretty heavy in Germany,” Cordillia added.
“She’s right.” Mack nodded as I turned my attention to her.
“Look at the old Grimm fairy tales, those weren’t meant to be children’s bedtime stories.”
“But that doesn’t really explain how we went from being fairy tales to a viable war strategy in Nazi Germany.”
“Well,” Mack sighed. “Maybe our little friend can shed some light on that for us.”
“True.” I nodded.
“Do you think he can help us find Malik?” Cordillia asked sweetly.
“There’s a chance, sweetheart.” He smiled as he looked over at her. He turned his attention back to me and grinned. “So the good news is he wants to help.”
“He wants to what?”
“Help, Jesus man don’t you listen?” He chuckled. Cordillia laughed lightly from behind me and I couldn’t help but join in.
“Sorry, it’s just a lot to take in.”
“Okay well there’s one last thing,”
“What’s that?” I looked up at him expectantly.
“He’s coming tomorrow morning to tell us what he knows.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed. “You tracked him down in a day.” Mack scoffed and shook his head.
“Screw that, no, too much work. I called and asked.” I laughed loudly and shook my head.
“Really? No need to be subtle about it huh?” I spoke as my laughter began to die down.
“This is war, man, no use for subtlety.” He grinned. “How are you doing with the sharp shooting there miss?” He nodded toward Cordillia. She smiled happily and crossed her arms on the table in front of her.
“Good, Grant says I got talent.”
“Well Grant’s never wrong.” He smiled. “He also rarely compliments so take that as an honor, little lady.”
He winked at her before standing and leaving us to entertain ourselves. After the long day we’d had and the early morning that was to come, I could feel the pangs of a much needed sleep behind my eyes.
“I don’t know about you but I’m ready for bed,” Cordillia muttered as she rubbed her eyes.
“Did Grant show you to your room?” She smiled and nodded her head gently.
“Yeah but I told him I would rather sleep in yours for now.”
“Really, why?”
“Come on, Ethan,” She rolled her eyes and smiled. “The last time I slept alone I was kidnapped by a group of supernatural creatures that tried to use me as a bartering chip to win a war.” She laughed heavily as she spoke, “I kind of want to bypass all of that and just get some freaking sleep.”
“Okay,” I chuckled. “I can’t say that I blame you.” I stood and smiled as I offered her my hand and pulled her into a quick hug. “You go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” She nodded as she pulled away and disappeared through the large double doors, letting them close behind her with a loud clap. I turned to Sam, her eyes still fixed on nothing as she sipped from her cup gingerly. I offered her my hand and waited as she looked up at me slowly.
“What?”
“Let’s go for a walk.” I smiled down at her. She shook her head softly and turned her eyes back to her cup. “That wasn’t a question, Sam.” She looked up at me quickly and opened her mouth to protest. I shook my head and waved my hand at her, waiting patiently as she thought about my offer. Finally she slid her hand into mine and allowed me to help her out of her chair.
“I just want to go to bed, Ethan, really.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “then let me walk you there.” I offered her my arm and waited as she looked up at me, a soft smile shaping her lips as she snaked her arm in mine and chuckled lightly as I walked her out of the building and into the cool night air.
Slowly and without purpose, we walked through the courtyard past the abandoned tables, past the small group of boys that embellished proudly their accomplishments of the day and past the thick line of Apple trees that hid the living quarters from plain sight.
“It’s my daughter’s birthday tomorrow.” Sam sighed as I reached to pull the heavy metal door open. I stopped, letting my fingers slide off of the handle and turned to face her. “That’s what’s on my mind since you’re so curious to know.” She leaned back against the apple tree behind her and turned her eyes to the ground.
“You have a daughter?” I lied. I wasn’t sure if her past was something I was meant to know about but judging by the soft smirk that crossed her lips she knew as well as everyone else that I was a terrible liar.
“I know you talked to James.”
“Yeah?” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously as she looked up at me.
“You know I had a daughter,” her voice wavered as she turned her eyes back to the ground. “You know what happened to us, I know that.” I leaned back against the tree behind me and shoved my hands deep into my pockets.
“How old was she?” Sam sniffed loudly and smiled.
“Eleven,” she looked up at me with a weak smile. “She’d just turned eleven two days before…” She trailed off and shook her head.
“You okay?” I asked softly. She looked up at me and nodded, a weak half smile crossed her face as she met my worried gaze.
“Yeah, I mean it’s rough but I’ve had over a hundred years to kind of put things in their place you know.” I chuckled.
“It still bothers you though.”
“Oh what? Are you talking about tonight?” I nodded. “Just because I’ve made peace with what happened doesn’t mean I don’t still have my regrets but I’m okay.”
“You sure about that?” Sam yawned loudly and nodded.
“Yeah I’m sure.” I didn’t believe her, not fully anyway but somew
here deep within my instinct I knew it was better not to question. I nodded and smiled over at her before reaching to pull the heavy metal door open and hold it steady as she slid past me.
“You know,” I began as I matched my stride to hers. “If you need to talk-”
“Thanks.” She smiled over at me before I could even finish my offer. “Really I appreciate it but I’m okay.” We stopped at her door and I nodded as she crossed her arms at her chest and chewed her lip nervously. I nodded and smiled over at her, wishing there was more that I could do but knowing somewhere deep down that there was no easing a pain like that.
I pulled her into one last hug before saying goodnight and disappearing into my room. Cordillia groaned as I crawled into bed and rolled onto my side and as I closed my eyes allowing the soft lull of sleep to wash over me I could have sworn I heard the sound of soft crying echoing from somewhere far away.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Groaning loudly, I buried my face deep into my pillow as the incessant sounds of knocking echoed through my room and shook me from my sleep. There hadn’t been a day since I arrived where I was allowed to wake up on my own terms but times being what they were I had no choice but to set aside my personal comfort and do just what was asked.
“Make it stop,” Cordillia moaned as she rolled onto her stomach and shoved her head underneath the pillow.
“Ethan, open the door,” Logan called impatiently. A small part of me had hoped that if I ignored him long enough he would just go away but as his knocking grew louder I began to realize that this was far from the truth. “Ethan, come on.”
“No.” I groaned.
“Open the damn door.”
“Why should I?”
“Because it’s morning,” I could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
“I am perfectly aware of that but thank you.”
“Just get up so he’ll stop screaming.” Cordillia groaned into her pillow as I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“Easy for you to say.” I smiled as I stood and stretched. “You get to go back to bed.” I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a change of clothes as Logan began pounding harder on my door. “Just hold it will ya I’m changing.”
“Well change faster I got news.” I pulled a clean shirt over my head and brushed myself off as I pulled open the door, glaring slightly as Logan took a step back and let me out of the room.
“So why is it that I’m so damn popular first thing in the morning?” I smirked as I ran my fingers through my hair.
“Beats the hell out of me.” He shrugged. “But your buddy’s here.”
“My who?”
“Bryant.”
“Oh, he’s not my buddy,” I corrected him. Logan shrugged.
“Doesn’t really matter to me but I figured you might want to come say hi.” I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. It was too early in the morning to really want to be bombarded with pleasantries but as I looked up at Logan’s eager and smiling face I quickly realized I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
“What are you so giddy about?” I smirked.
“Nothing,” He smiled. “But you’ll like him, trust me.”
“Okay now I’m really worried.” I chuckled as I began following him down the hallway and toward the large double door. I stopped and turned to him as he reached for the handle, grabbing his attention before we stepped out into the thick of it. “Wait, so fill me in.”
“He’s interesting,” Logan spoke quickly, the smile on his face never fading as I looked him over with concern.
“That was fast.”
“What? It’s true.” He shrugged and I chuckled.
“Alright, putting aside the fact that you answered that question way too fast that still doesn’t help me.”
“Okay,” Logan smirked. “He’s old, fought in the war, lost his leg and has to use a wheelchair to get around…” He thought for a moment before an ear to ear grin crossed his face. “Oh yeah and he likes to yell.”
“What?” I groaned.
“Oh no,” he smiled as I shook my head. “Not in the way you would think.”
“So he’s not gonna drill sergeant me as soon as I meet him?”
“Oh no he will.” Logan grinned. “But it’ll be funny.”
“Funny for who?” I smirked as I reached for the door. I looked to Logan as I pulled open the door, a grin spanned his face as the doorway flooded with soft sunlight and a shrill scream rang loudly from across the courtyard.
“That’s not right. Do it again!” an old raspy voice pierced my ears. I jumped as my gaze quickly changed from Logan to the mass of kids practicing hand to hand combat in the courtyard.
“Why is he leading?” I asked as I stepped out onto the grass. Logan stopped at my side and grinned.
“He insisted on getting to work as soon as possible.”
“And Mat just let him?” Logan shook his head.
“God no but Bryant didn’t give him much of a choice.” I sighed with a smile and turned my gaze toward the group of kids that followed his instruction with exhausted apathy. The old man scowled from his wheelchair as he shouted orders over the grumbling crowd. His face was aged and his body frail, it was hard to imagine that he had ever had the strength to fight in a war let alone hold his own against creatures like us.
“No, no, no! Always move, never stop and you!” He pointed toward an exhausted dark haired boy as he phased back into his human form and began to walk away from the sparring crowd.
“I just want to get a drink.” He panted as the old man grabbed his arm and turned the boy to face him.
“Oh sure just getting a drink,” he mocked as he held tight to the boys arm. “Answer a question for me first.” The boy sighed and nodded reluctantly as Bryant released his arm and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms on his lap and looking up with a mocking smile.
“What makes you think that a battle will stop just so you can get a drink?” He sneered.
“But this isn’t-”
“Isn’t what? Isn’t a fight? Isn’t real?”
“No it’s-” Bryant lifted his hand to silence the kid.
“You’re safe now and you’re right,” He smiled. I crossed my arms at my chest and leaned against the tree next to me, waiting to see what he had to say next. “This isn’t the real deal this is just training but,” He grabbed the boys arm and pulled him down just inches from his face. “I am not training you to satisfy your own needs while your troops remain fighting in your place do you understand me?”
“But I’m thirsty,” The kid argued. Bryant released his arm and leaned back in his chair once again.
“Okay,” He nodded. “And when I say it’s time for a break it is time for a break but I, just like your enemy do not give a damn about your personal needs. I unlike the enemy give a damn that you and your troops survive. Is that clear?” The boy flinched away and rubbed his ear as he nodded and moved back into place with the rest of his group.
Wolves among men Page 25
