by Steve McHugh
"You going to tell her the truth?" Sky asked.
"I don't know." It was an honest answer. If I told Olivia exactly who I was, would it make things worse? I wasn't sure how, but if there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that things can always get much, much worse.
Chapter 36
I took my bike once again, not really wanting to spend time in an enclosed space with a pissed off LOA director, who would have used the opportunity to ask me some very interesting questions. I arrived at the werewolf Alpha Matthew's house before Olivia and Sky, who had worryingly opted to ride together.
Matthew and Gordon had been informed of my arrival the second I'd been stopped at the main entrance to the land, and they both stood outside of Matthew's house. Gordon wore a dark blue suit; apparently even when it wasn't a pack function, he still dressed to impress. Matthew on the other hand wore jeans and a t-shirt with a picture of Animal from the Muppets on the front.
"What happened?" Matthew asked. "Is Tommy not joining you this time? Did he get lost?" Matthew and Gordon's laughter ended when I didn't smile.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked, instantly concerned.
"We're fighting a lich," I told them. "And it has Tommy and Kasey."
"Sweet Jesus, no," Gordon exclaimed.
"We need your help."
"Anything," Matthew said.
Olivia's car pulled up behind us, and she got out, her eyes tired and heavy. The previous few hours had taken its toll on her. She appeared exhausted and drained, but she would keep fighting until she got Tommy and Kasey back; I was a hundred percent certain of that.
Matthew walked straight past me and enveloped Olivia in his arms. She went to push him away, but couldn't, and eventually let him hold her as he told her it would be alright.
"I know," she said, her voice cool and detached. "Has Nate told you why we're here?"
Matthew didn't even blink as she changed the subject, instead glancing over to me. "Let's go inside, we can talk in private. In case there are any ears that should not be listening to such things."
I didn't imagine that anyone would be listening in. I doubted that Matthew kept any but the most loyal members of his pack around during the day, but he clearly saw Olivia's need to sit down, so I wasn't about to argue.
"She's wound up tighter than Demeter," Sky said as she stood next to me. "I apologised for disarming her and throwing her onto the couch, but she didn't even seem to care, just kept asking about you, and about how I was going to kill the lich."
"You think she can hold it together?" Gordon asked as Matthew led Olivia into the house.
Sky shook her head. "I'm surprised she's not crumpled on the floor crying her eyes out. Hell, that might help. She's terrified for Tommy and Kasey, anyone can see that. But she's angry. Really angry. She's been betrayed by people she trusted, and I think she classes you in that column, Nate. She needs to let some emotion out, or she's going to get herself, or someone else, killed."
"How do we go about doing that?" Gordon asked as we made our way to the house.
Everyone was silent as we walked down the elegant hallway and stepped into the living room. "We find out who helped set this all up," I said.
"Olivia has caught me up to speed," Matthew said. "You have something that leads you to believe a member of my pack was involved?"
I drew the silver knuckle-duster from my pocket and threw it to Matthew's open hand. He barely even glanced at it before his lips drew back in a snarl. "Elijah, what have you done now?"
"You sure this is his?" I asked Matthew.
"He wears a ring that has the same motif. A wolf's head with the same stupid inscription. He's an idiot if he allowed this to be left at the crime scene, and Elijah is no idiot."
"He wasn't the one using them," I pointed out. "Agent R…" I forced myself to stop, Reid was no longer an agent of the LOA, and I doubted Olivia wanted to be reminded about his traitorous status. "Reid used them on Tommy and another wolf, an Agent Greaves."
Matthew passed the knuckle-duster to Gordon who examined it carefully. "This must be met with swift retribution," Matthew said, speaking slowly as he picked his words carefully.
"Where is Elijah?" Olivia asked.
"In his home," Matthew told her. "Probably anyway. I know how we can find out." He picked up his landline phone and dialled a number, asking for Randal to come to his home and then immediately hanging up.
"There's a small hospital unit about ten minutes from here, we use it for any wolves who get hurt, or when they're first changing. Randal is still there, recovering from his injury at Nate's hands."
"What did you do?" Sky asked with raised eyebrow.
"Tore his arm off," I said. "In my defence, he did try to murder me."
A few minutes later, as everyone was seated on the comfortable couches, the doorbell rang. Gordon went to answer the door, returning a moment later with a pale Randal in tow. He appeared almost healed, although when he saw me, his eyes dropped to the floor. He wasn't afraid, or too proud to meet my gaze, his expression was one of sorrow. For a werewolf losing an arm meant a long hard recovery. And a serious question of whether he'd be able to participate in any hunts the pack went on in the future. His stature within the pack had diminished and he would have to fight for everything he needed to reclaim.
"My Alpha," he said and dropped to one knee.
"Get up off the floor, you imbecile," Matthew said. "You owe your life to me, yes?"
"Of course, my lord, you allowed me to be saved after my wound. Even though I'd dishonoured myself."
"What game is Elijah playing?"
Randal's expression switched from that of boot-licker to confusion in an instant. "I do not know what you mean."
Matthew tossed the knuckle-duster onto the carpet beside Randal. "This was used in the murder of an LOA agent, and the abduction of Tommy and his daughter. It's Elijah's, isn't it?"
Randal picked up the weapon like it was made of radioactive material, holding it gingerly between thumb and forefinger. "This is Elijah's, yes. But he would not be so foolish as to use it on Tommy. No one would wish to incur the wrath of Avalon and yourself, my Alpha."
"Would Elijah have given it to someone else to use?"
"I don't know."
"Can I talk to Randal alone?" I asked.
Matthew and Gordon exchanged a glance, but Matthew allowed it and everyone left the room. Although Olivia had to be almost picked up and dragged at first, she eventually allowed herself to be led outside.
The turning of the cogs in Randal's mind was as clear as glass. He knew the answer, but didn't want to give it. "Old allegiances die hard," I said. "I should know. It takes a lot to remove those chains, even when they're not really there anymore."
"Like my arm," Randal said. "It itches."
"You lost your arm because you tried to kill me. You're lucky I didn't return the favour on a more permanent basis."
"I'm a cripple," Randal said, launching himself to his feet, the silver knuckle-duster held tight in his hand until he was forced to drop it to the floor.
"You were a thug, a bully and a murderer," I said. "If you want redemption-”
"I do, I swear."
"Then you will help us. The truth, all of it, now."
"Elijah is working with someone by the name of Peter. I only met him once, but he's… horrific. He scared me, I mean really scared me. I was charged with getting women for that idiot Neil to have his way with. He liked to fuck prostitutes, to hurt them, too. Sometimes he went too far, and then Peter's ghouls would dispose of the body."
"What does Elijah hope to get out of this?"
Randal shrugged. "I have no idea. He was just helping, he never told me why."
"Where is Elijah now?"
"Tonight he'll be at home. He's always at home during the night; he would never stay anywhere else. It's why he doesn't travel abroad often."
"How many guards?"
"Ten or twelve, depending on their shift."
"
Will any stop the alpha from entering the building?"
Randal shook his head. "No, they all know what would happen. They work for Elijah, but none of them want to put their lives on the line for him. He just pays well."
"After tonight, I'm going to bet that it won't be enough."
Randal nodded and sighed. "I'm going to go to prison for what I've done."
"Matthew told you that?"
Another nod. "Matthew… sorry, my alpha, wants me to atone for my behaviour under Elijah. There's a werewolf prison in Canada. I'm to be transferred there for the next twenty years. I helped Neil get women that he hurt, I helped dispose of bodies. Human bodies. I… don't know if I can atone. I don't know if I can be a wolf anymore."
"What do you want?" I asked. "Are you looking for absolution? Forgiveness? Because I'm not a priest. And if I was, I'm pretty certain I'd still tell you to go fuck yourself. You committed crimes because you liked it, because you had the power to do it. And now that you've lost that power, you want everyone to believe that you've found your lost soul, that you've decided to turn your life around and be a better person. But that decision isn't one you've taken, it's one you've had forced upon you. You were a piece of shit with two arms, and now you're a piece of shit with one. The only difference is you won't be able to hurt people as easily with only one arm."
"You're wrong," Randal said. "I am going to change."
"Then you go to jail, you serve your time and you leave a better man. Because until that happens, until you prove to everyone that you've really changed and that it's not just some bullshit 'I feel sorry for myself' nonsense, everyone is going to think the exact same thing I do. That nothing has changed, and you'll go back to your old ways just as soon as you figure out a way to cause people pain. Because let me make this clear to you. You will never hurt people in the way you did before. Never. You will never be allowed to maim and kill for fun, or to help Elijah in his standing with the pack. To intimidate those whom you deem weaker than you. I would bet a huge bag of money that Matthew will make sure of that."
Randal nodded once and left the room, the front door closing with a thud as he exited the house.
"So, what did he tell you?" Matthew asked a short time later as he entered the room with Gordon, Sky and Olivia in tow.
I explained everything about Elijah's involvement, which only served to anger Matthew even more. "We will go to Elijah's, and he will give us the information we require."
I retrieved the knuckle-duster from the floor and placed it in my pocket, as a shot rang out from the woods outside of Matthew's home.
Olivia was the first outside, gun drawn, with Matthew and I close behind, as chaos erupted around the grounds. People were running toward the fight pit, something I had very little interest in going back to, but I followed Olivia and Matthew anyway, until we reached the crowd that had formed around the still-destroyed edge of the pit.
I knew what I'd find from people's reactions. Some were indifferent, some were almost happy. A few looked mournful as their friend, Randal, lay dead in the bottom of the pit. A pistol in his only hand and a bullet hole in his head.
Chapter 37
"What the hell did you say to him?" Matthew asked me as Randal's body was removed from the fighting pit and placed into a body bag.
I didn't ask why a pack of wolves would keep body bags around; I was almost certain it was an answer I didn't want to hear.
"I told him that his days of bullying people and doing what he liked were over. That if he really wanted a chance, he'd have to earn it."
Matthew sighed and rubbed his eyes. "We need to prepare to go to Elijah's. We leave in ten minutes." He turned to Gordon. "I want a full security team ready to go."
Gordon removed his phone from his trouser pocket, before walking off to get some privacy.
Matthew glanced back at the blood where Randal had once lain. "What a fucking waste."
"I didn't think he would kill himself," I said.
"No matter. It saves me the trouble of arranging him a lengthy prison stay. No one but that piece of shit Elijah is going to get upset over his death. And even then it'll only be because it's causing him problems." Matthew followed Gordon, and they were soon in deep conversation.
"What's the plan?" Olivia asked.
"We go to Elijah's and ask him where the lich is."
"And if he doesn't co-operate?"
"We ask him less nicely," Sky said with a slight grin.
The following ten minutes saw an explosion of activity as people all around us got ready for what, I was sure, was not going to be an easy task. I hoped the guards at Elijah's house were smart enough to value their paychecks less than they did their lives. Otherwise it was going to get very bloody, very quickly.
It was a thought that sat with me the entire way to Elijah's house, which was in an exclusive area of Winchester. No one lived within a mile of him, which certainly eased any fears of a fight getting out of hand, but I needn't have worried in any case. One quick word to the guards from Matthew, and the gates opened, allowing our three car convoy and myself on my bike, into the compound.
Elijah's house wouldn't have looked out of place as a royal holiday home. It was massive, and certainly gave credibility to the idea that he considered himself very much above the level his life had selected for him.
The two SUVs belonging to Matthew's men and Olivia's own 4X4 stopped outside the ornate front entrance, a huge wooden door with what appeared to be gold leaf inscribed in it. It sat under an arch that wouldn't have looked out of place in ancient Rome.
I stopped the bike and got off as one of Elijah's men made his way toward Matthew, who was exiting the front vehicle, flanked by several very large werewolves in human form.
"Does Mister Bennett know you're coming," he asked Matthew, stopping the alpha's progress by placing his hand in his way.
"Move," Matthew demanded.
"I'm sorry, but without an appointment, you cannot come into this house."
Matthew's fist moved so fast that it was almost a blur. The guard fell to the floor, holding his stomach and trying to get air back into his lungs.
Matthew ignored the prone guard and opened the front door, stepping into the house. Gordon, Sky and Olivia followed soon after, but something stopped me from joining them. Instead, I spoke to at the guard. "Which room is Elijah's?"
The guard pointed behind him, into the house. "Top of the stairs," he said between haggard breaths. "Turn left, it's the third door down the hallway."
I thanked him and left him to his pain, as I ignored the front door and made my way round to the side of the house and glanced up at the top level windows.
A few minutes use of air magic and I'd climbed up the side of the house, using old bricks and windowsills as handholds, until I reached the window I'd been looking at from the ground.
I placed my palm against the cold glass and used more air magic to blast the pane into the room. I'd caught the shards in a bubble of air, which made the noise of breaking the glass much less noticeable.
The room was lavishly furnished, with a large four-poster bed and an expensive collection of artwork adorning the walls. I crept through the room and opened the door to the sounds of Matthew shouting at someone downstairs.
I exited the room and walked down the brightly lit hallway and knocked on the door that the guard had said led to Elijah's room. "Is the coast clear? I don't want to have to deal with that asshole Matthew."
"All done," I said, hoping it sounded at least something like one of his employees. Although, I doubted Elijah even knew their names and faces, let alone what they sounded like.
"Thank fuck for…" he opened the door and I punched him in the nose with a fist wrapped in air. It was akin to being punched with a sledgehammer.
Elijah stumbled back onto the ground, holding his nose, as I stepped into the room and walked toward my prey while he spat blood onto the floor. He got back to his feet and took a swing, which I dodged and struck him in the kidney.
He dropped back to one knee, placing a hand against a bedpost to steady himself.
When he next looked up at me, Elijah's eyes had changed into wolf yellow, but that soon stopped as I slipped a sorcerer's band over Elijah's wrist and snapped it shut with a click that held even promise of the horror that would follow
"Do you recognise it?" I asked, as Elijah's eyes went wide with terror. "It's the one they used on Neil, right before they tore his arms off." Olivia had gotten one of her agents to bring it to Matthew's pack before we'd left to Elijah's.
A sly smile settled on Elijah's face. "You're not going to kill me, you need me."
"I know," I told him. "That's why we're going to have a nice long talk. But first-” I grabbed Elijah by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him to his feet. The sorcerer's band still afforded him his strength, but he knew that if he fought he wasn't going to win. Even if he'd defeated me, Matthew would destroy him.
I marched him from the room and out into the hallway as Matthew reached the top of the stairs. "I thought this would be easier," I said and pushed Elijah toward his alpha.
"Hello, Elijah," Matthew said in a friendly tone. "We're going to have a nice long chat about what happens to those who cross me." And then he threw Elijah over the banister and down the stairs.
Chapter 38
Two hours passed and I was beginning to get impatient. Olivia had started pacing up and down the room within ten minutes of Elijah being taken into his basement. It turned out that he'd had a soundproof room built some time ago. No one in the house moved to stop Matthew from dragging him down there, no one even spoke. The paid guards had all left within seconds of Elijah's head striking the bottom of the stairs. The toss had dislocated his shoulder, and Gordon had popped it back into the socket without giving warning. An act I was certain the aide had enjoyed.
Gordon had told me that the soundproofed room was equipped with a small adjacent room with a one-way window so that people could watch whatever happened inside. I hated to think about what Elijah had done to people in there, but I hated even more to think that he'd had people watching it happen.
