by PJ Schnyder
“I’m not sure what there would be to do then.” His tone had gentled. There was sympathy there.
“I know the chances of finding her body are next to impossible. I’m not looking for her. I’m looking for something she left me. It’s somewhere here and if I can just find it...” A true part of herself, her thoughts, her dreams, her secrets. “She left it for me so I would know what happened to her. And that’s all I need. How she died. Why she died. I came all the way across the ocean to find those answers. Please.”
A warm weight settled on her shoulder. She glanced down to see Danny’s hand.
“I’ll keep an eye on her, Seth. See to it she doesn’t get herself into more trouble.”
Seth’s expression softened, the hard line of his lips easing into a slight frown. “Fine then. You can stay until you find your answers. Then, well, we will talk again.”
Hope flared inside her chest. “Thank you.”
Danny hustled her back into the examination room.
“That was quick. I thought it’d take more convincing.” She was happy to resume her spot on the stretcher since her knees seemed to have gotten wobbly again. The charisma the alpha had was heady stuff, and he was more intimidating than any man she’d ever encountered.
“Seth is decisive. He’s very good at assessing situations and doing what needs to be done.” Danny pushed the cup of water back into her hands. “Drink.”
“Oy, you’re no common lady.” Doc ran his fingers through curly hair. “Most’d piss their trousers when Seth stared at them like that.”
“You don’t, though.” She shouldn’t have shot back at the boy. It was immature, and the kid had meant it as a compliment.
“It wasn’t us he was angry at, was it?” Doc shrugged, unruffled. “We all got experience to know when he’s got an issue with us. You’re new, and all.”
Couldn’t refute the logic there. They all knew each other better than she knew any of them. Danny, the boys, Seth. She was the outsider.
“One o’ these days, Seth is gonna scare some poor git to death.” Dougie pushed away from where he’d been leaning against the sink.
“Don’t be daft. Seth, he’s scary and all, but he can’t kill someone jus’ by scarin’ ’em...” Goggles trailed off, chuckling uncertainly.
Deanna tipped her head to one side, considering. “People can die of fright. Don’t doubt it for a second. The adrenaline rushing through them is more than their body can handle and their heart just...stops.”
Chapter Four
“This used to be Maisie’s flat.” Danny waved Deanna through the doorway.
The room was neat, sparsely furnished and didn’t have a hint of personality anywhere. The walls had been freshly painted. Even the windows looked new, pristine as they were and set into the weathered window frames. “What happened here?”
“Let’s just say the rooms on this floor were badly in need of renovation.” Danny leaned in the doorway. “Once Maisie moved in with Seth, the pack decided extra quarters above the clinic could be right handy. A good thing too. Turned out to be the best place for the boys to stay.”
But what could have happened to trigger a complete renovation? And the boys, where had they come from? Where were their families?
History. Stories behind all of this. And it was obvious she wasn’t considered close enough to learn those stories. It shouldn’t bother her. She’d come for two specific reasons, and then she’d be returning to the States.
“You seem to be chewing on a few things.” Danny sounded curious.
She wandered toward the window, touched the cool glass. “With the chaos out there, I guess I hadn’t thought there’d be families here, making lives for themselves. That’s what you all are, in your own way, a large family unit.”
He straightened, crossed his arms. “And what was it you were expecting instead?”
“Maybe a more militant atmosphere? I’d thought there’d be more police or soldiers in the streets.” She caught her lower lip in her teeth as she considered, struggling to pull her thoughts away from the garbled mess they were in and back into something useful. “I knew the trophy hunters came through, but I thought their hunting was more structured. Maybe passes or tags issued for them, and places for them to check in before going into a park as big as the Kensington Gardens. Our team was surprised when there was nothing, no checkpoints or manned posts anywhere. The military had briefed us on the hot zones and provided some basic information on what could kill zombies. They acted as if they’d provided all the information necessary. But they’ve no real presence inside the city to gather additional intelligence.”
“Seth warned you.” No censure, no accusation or gloating. “The military doesn’t come any farther than the quarantine and the local police work with the pack. In the night, it’s safer for even the police to stay indoors and let us take over. But it’s a big city, and we can only patrol. We can’t be everywhere at once. When your group decided to go against our rules, you went without our protection. Seth tried to be clear what that would mean.”
His words were offered as gentle facts. And still, they hurt...because he was right. They’d all been so confident, arrogant even, in their assurance they’d know far more than any part-beast. They were all the best academia had to offer. Their prejudice hadn’t occurred to them consciously, but it had colored everything the alpha had said, and they’d paid the price.
“I’m sorry.” It came suddenly, but she meant it. “For what we said earlier today and for the disrespect.”
“Ah now, don’t go apologizing for words you didn’t say.” Danny dropped his arms and took a step toward her.
“But I was there and we were all trying to get our way. We didn’t stop and truly consider what Seth had to say.” And she had a lot to think on regarding what his alpha had most recently said to her as well. Sleep wasn’t high on her list of things to do anyway, not with the memories she had lurking at the edge of her mind.
“Well, I imagine you’ll have the opportunity to tell Seth yourself, if it still eats at you later. But there’s no need to apologize to me.”
She nodded. Fine. “But I do owe you my life. ‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem to cover it.”
Danny ran his hand through his thick hair. Embarrassed? “Don’t think on it too much. Life is a debt not easily repaid and I’d not ask it of you. I’m glad you’re safe.”
She studied him. Why had he been out there, in the night? He still hadn’t put a shirt on and she wasn’t inclined to mention it. All those wonderful muscles bunching and sliding under his pale skin. She wondered what it’d be like to run her hands over...
“Well, then.” He slapped his hands against his thighs. She almost jumped at the sound. Not almost, she did. “I’ll leave you to get some rest.”
She was an adult. It wasn’t as if she was alone. The boys were each in shouting distance. Brian was only a floor farther away.
Besides, she had the power to protect herself, if she needed it.
They’re dead. They’re all dead.
She could keep the physical monsters at bay, but she’d no defense against the nightmares she was sure were waiting for her.
“Wait.” It slipped out and she didn’t want to take it back.
Danny froze, more than halfway out the door.
She thought he might leave anyway, but he stalked back toward her. He didn’t stop until he stood so close the heat of him warmed the chill of her skin. How could he be so near and not touching?
And she wanted him to touch her. She’d only just met him and yet, he was the only person who’d ever given her a sense of safety. Ever. Not just tonight.
When he spoke, his voice was deeper, gravelly. “I should be honest with you. I’d very much like to stay and occupy your mind with things having much more to do with living than the thing
s you’ve seen today.” His hand came up slowly, giving her plenty of time to step away. She didn’t. He brushed his fingers across her temple and reached past her head, tugged at her ponytail. “But you might not be quite yourself yet, after the scare you had. It was no small encounter out there. It isn’t in my mind to be taking advantage of you.”
Her cheeks began burning. Pheromones. Of course he could smell her attraction to him. He was probably more attuned to body language than most people were, too.
“Just now, though, your scent changed from very, very interested in me to frightened. I don’t want to leave you afraid and alone.” Warmth. Concern. His words washed over her, soothing away the momentary spike of panic. “Do you want me to stay?”
A moment passed, maybe two. He was waiting for her answer. No impatience, no prompt or any attempt to hurry her into making a decision.
“Yes.” She opened her eyes and studied him, wondering what he’d do next. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping for, but her chest squeezed in a good way with the anticipation. “Please.”
He pinned her with a searching gaze, his brown eyes inscrutable. She waited, held in his regard as surely as if he’d had her head locked in both his hands. “Then I’ll stay.”
Her heart skipped and she bit her lip to hold back her smile of relief. He’d think her desperate or silly or...she had no idea but her thoughts were all sorts of jumbled.
He chuckled and stepped back, opening up the space between them again and releasing the tension. “Well, then, let’s get you tucked in, little witch.”
Wait, what?
Nerves jangled and her stomach clenched. “I—”
He shook his head. “Only a witch—or someone with experience of them—would mention witchcraft as a potential solution for this plague. And considering what I saw earlier tonight, we’ll not pretend.”
“But Seth—”
“Is Seth.” He jerked his head in the direction of the hallway. “And you mind what he has to say on the matter. But me...you can be who you are with me, at least.”
Her insides settled as she absorbed his statement. She wasn’t sure she liked being referred to as “little” though. But she wasn’t going to take it to the obvious big, bad, fairy tale reference either. He wasn’t a fairy anything.
“I meant what I said earlier.” He’d had no problem reading her confusion, apparently. “I’ve every intention to revisit this once I’m sure I’m not taking advantage, so remember where we were, right there.”
She blinked. He had a point. And it wasn’t as if she could fault his chivalry. Still, when was the last time she’d ended up frustrated this way? He gave her a lopsided grin and moved to sit on the floor beside the bed, his back against the wall. Reaching up, he patted the bed.
Fine. She seated herself on the edge, legs crossed and facing him. She would not sulk, even though she had the irrational desire to do exactly that.
She did have questions for him though. “How did you know I was a witch? You knew, before the discussion downstairs with your alpha. You weren’t surprised at all.”
The boys had all gone round-eyed at the mention of witchcraft. She wondered if England, maybe all the European countries, had a deeper wariness of witches. Witch families were much older here.
“The man with you, he was going to bite you.” Danny’s voice was low, but there was a simmering undertone, a hint of restrained rage. “He threatened you to get you to save him and still, you wouldn’t strike out.”
She hadn’t realized Danny had seen so much. She’d thought him occupied by the zombies.
“It was too late.” Sadness washed over her and guilt clung to her, heavy. “He was reaching for the impossible.”
“He was reaching for you.” Warm hands gripped her upper arms, squeezed with only enough pressure to keep her in the here and now. He was on one knee at the side of the bed, facing her. “And I heard what he said. Taking down the remaining zombies took too long. I couldn’t get to you in time. Your friend—”
“Colleague.” Distancing herself might not help, but it wasn’t anything less than the truth. The entire team had been on good working terms but none of them had been close.
Witches didn’t let too many close, if they were wise. A sacrifice had more power when the victim held sentimental value and too many witches died trying to save their friends or loved ones, even their familiars. Black witches excelled at double sacrifices, first the loved one and then the target witch.
“Your colleague, then. He couldn’t touch you. There was nothing there to stop him and yet he couldn’t. I’ve never seen such a strong ward at that close a range. You had no time to put it up.” His words brought it all back...the look of hate etched into Tom’s face.
So he’d seen witchcraft. It hadn’t always been banned, maybe. Or he’d witnessed it elsewhere.
“It might not have been me he was after, so much as what I had on me.” She reached into her shirt, pulled out the carry case. Held it in her open palm for him to see. “I had one of the auto-injectors with the latest version of the vaccine we’ve been developing. It’s to be injected as a preventative measure in the living, though. It can’t bring back the dead. Didn’t make sense for anyone else but me to carry it. I’m the only one who can administer it. But he wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“None of the others had the power. He threatened to infect you to force you to save you both.” Danny’s lip curled up in dislike.
“Yes.” She gave him the truth in a whisper. Seth had hated the idea of witchcraft so much, she wasn’t sure where Danny’s tolerance would end. “Witchcraft is required to activate the vaccine during injection.”
“Are you that powerful a witch, then?” His voice had dropped to a deep rumble. The anger was still there, underlying, but she didn’t think...hoped it wasn’t directed at her.
“No. Yes.” She bit her lip. “Maybe.”
“Which is it?” He arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s only a few ways I know of for a witch to be powerful, and the variable one involves killing innocents to steal their power from time to time.”
Anger rushed through her, searing away her hesitation. “I wouldn’t. Not ever. My sister and I lived our childhoods in fear, wondering if some coven was going to find us and use us for sacrifice. Do you know how much power could be had from a bond as tight as ours? More so because we are...we were identical twins?”
His expression gentled, a minute relaxation of the lines around his eyes and mouth, the set of his jaw. “Well, then?”
“With her, I was always more powerful. When our combined intent was aligned. Not just multiplied by a factor of two, but amplified by each other.” And the pain of not ever experiencing that gestalt again never left her. “We were that powerful. And individually, we had more latent talent than most of the remaining witch families, but our magic was...quirky.”
“How so?” The anger had receded, though his volume remained low. She wasn’t fooled. He could still be dangerous. She and her sister had learned early in their childhood to be wary of quiet predators. The loudest bark held no bite.
“Oy. The worst harm you’ll suffer at my hands is a firm escort back to the quarantine border.” What had he read in her face? His voice softened further. “I can give you my word on it. I’ll not harm you, Deanna.”
“Helen’s magic worked better on the macro world. She could affect animals, people. Her talent made her the best Finder in the country. She could cast a spell to track a person by a simple object they held for just a few minutes. Helen was that good.” And now, she couldn’t be found. Irony there. “Mine has more influence in the micro world. Cells, bacteria, microorganisms. My magic seeks them out, influences them, changes them.”
“And so the vaccine...” Comprehension tinged his words.
Not just a medic, no. He had a fundamental understanding of li
ving things from the building blocks of life upward. Her own intuition told her so. He might not be conscious of it, but she was.
She gazed up at him then. “Without the whisper of my magic, a person could pump themselves full of it and it wouldn’t save them. My magic tells the carrier virus what to do, the DNA what to seek out.”
And she could have administered it to Tom. Could have taken the chance that the vaccine would move through his system faster than the zombie virus. They didn’t have any data on the exact progression of the infection. She could have...
Danny squeezed her arms again, giving her a slight shake. “Oy. Stay with me. You go too far, think too hard on it, and you’ll get trapped in all the could haves and would haves. Give yourself a rest and get some distance before you try to look back on it all.”
She reached for scattered bits of thoughts, tried to address his earlier observation. “No, he couldn’t touch me. The ward. I’d prepared it as a last line of defense against a zombie. Only good for my personal space. Couldn’t protect more than one person. The ward didn’t have enough power for that.”
“That’s more than most witches could manage nowadays.” Danny eased away from her, giving her room to clear her head.
Latching on to his knowledge, she focused on the tangential topic.
“The old families are scattered and the bloodlines are mostly broken. Talent pops up unexpectedly now, like a random mutation in a gene pool. It’ll take generations to breed strong family lines again.” She paused. “I thought the European families had gone into hiding, or what was left of them. They broke contact with the witches in the US, especially when the American covens started taking anyone with talent, ignoring family trees. I’m not sure when you encountered witchcraft here, but it was either a long time ago or a rogue witch.”
Like her. A witch without a coven.
