“Now you’re exaggerating.”
I scoffed at him. “It’s true, and you know it, but I’m not going to apologize for moving forward with my life. I’m actually proud of myself for taking it all in stride. I didn’t find a corner to cry and feel sorry for myself.”
“Shall I throw you a party?”
I gritted my teeth. “No. All I’m saying is don’t presume I will respect you and yours if I don’t know what I’m respecting.”
In truth, I wasn’t sure I had made good points about my position or his. Maybe I was being insensitive or deliberately closing my eyes. How should I know what my friends needed if they didn’t tell me? Not that Orin or Pammie were friends. They kept themselves separate too much for that, which again proved what I was saying.
“I’m vampire, not psychic,” I quipped.
Orin didn’t respond.
Wait, I was psychic, in a way. I could read his mind to see what was going on, and I would help if I could.
“Don’t.”
I froze, and Orin turned to face me, standing.
“Don’t get into my head, Rue. I know that’s where your thoughts were taking you.”
I tried not to look guilty but suspected I already did.
He tangled fingers in his hair, groaning. “I can’t tell you what…I can’t tell you.”
“How does that make sense?”
“Think about it.”
I did, and I began to suspect Orin was blocked from speaking to me—maybe to anyone—about his dealings with Almonester. “You don’t have to confirm it, but let me just say what I think is going on. In some way, Almonester overcame your magic using, well, I guess his own. I know he’s not human, but I’m not sure what he is.”
Waiting for Orin to identify what kind of nonhuman Almonester was produced nothing, nor did he confirm or deny what I said. He turned his back on me and continued to work. I tried gauging whether I was on track by his physical reaction. Orin’s heart beat quickened at my words, and I smelled his fear, but it was impossible to draw conclusions. I needed to improve on reading people.
“Orin, has Almonester…made you and Pammie his slaves?” My reasoning couldn’t be plausible, and yet, he seemed about to fall into cardiac arrest, and his breathing grew erratic. “I’ll break the spell!”
He whirled on me. “No, stay out of our business, Rue.”
“You can’t be happy about this. When you and Pammie aren’t pouring on the charm, I see the misery. Let me help you.”
“Help yourself.”
I clenched my hands at my sides. “You’re so stubborn. Are you scared he’ll try the same trick with me?”
“With the amount of time you miss doing who knows what and the way you rolled him across the floor the other night, has it ever occurred to you to ask why has hasn’t fired you yet?”
I smirked in amusement remembering the incident. “Of course I’ve wondered. Almonester’s interested me, in the worst way. I know that, but if he thinks I’ll bow to him, he’s wrong. I shake off spells, remember? I’d like to see him try to make me his slave.”
Orin’s shoulders slumped. “No. You wouldn’t.”
Chapter Thirteen
I confess the cot did not appeal to me. Narrow and of cheap construction, the makeshift bed’s springs would probably stick into my sides when I lay down. Still, I was better off than the wolves. As I turned to survey the wide expanse of the warehouse, I counted the boxes as I had done several times before. There were twelve, of course, and Nathan’s was nearest to me. Inside, the werewolves slept soundly, lying atop comforters, which was as much as I could arrange. Each box contained enough holes to allow the wolves to breathe. The air outside was punctuated with wolfsbane.
In various areas of the warehouse, vampires stood as sentries, but when the time came to sleep, they would use cots like mine. I missed my tiny apartment and my own bed, even if I was aware of neither when I rested. A sound to my right made me turn in that direction, and I found Silvano approaching. Ever since we had begun this mission, his usual empty smile hadn’t touched his face once. He scowled and made no attempt to hide his ill-humor.
“Everything is the way you requested,” he said when he reached me. He pointed to a line of wiring on the ceiling and a red light near the main door. “I have security just in case. The cat shifters are nocturnal, but they aren’t forced to slumber the way we are.”
“I don’t expect them to attack, but I want to be sure.” Tapping a finger on my pants leg, I surveyed the environment once again. “Maybe I should be the one to stay awake.”
“Rue, there’s no way you’ll resist sleep. As I said, the system will keep us all safe during the day, and we’ll take shifts during the night so those who need to hunt can do so. You don’t have to worry so much about werewolves.”
I was about to deny his claim when a sense of tiredness came over me, and I yawned. He was right. Even if I tried to stay up, I would be sluggish at best. “Everything has gone smoothly so far. I should relax at least for a little while.”
He glared toward Nathan’s box, and then his expression cleared almost as if he thought of something pleasant. “I’m not sure how much they’ll trust you after this, Rue. He may not forgive you.”
“Why does it sound like you hope so, Silvano?”
He feigned innocence.
“I’m doing what I believe is right. What’s important is I get them through this time so they can think more clearly, especially Nathan. While that’s happening, I’m going to find out who killed his friend.”
“How?”
“I’ll question Hyatt again, this time with a little more persuasion.”
“You’ll cause a war.”
“Not if he believes I’m acting alone.”
“You’re arrogant and foolish.”
“I’ve heard that before. So be it.” I yawned and headed to my cot. “Good day.”
“Good day,” he repeated and strode across to his own spot.
For a while, I lay on my back and shut my eyes. Whisperings washed over me, voices of the other vampires. As if someone had started a conference call in our minds, I picked up all their thoughts, and I got an earful—or should I say mindful—of what a “sellout” I was and how no one understood what Silvano saw in me other than my looks. The funny part was, none of them were speaking directly to me, but I didn’t doubt they all knew I could hear them now that I was a member of the coven.
“Be quiet, all of you,” Silvano ordered aloud, and everything went silent in my head, except for my personal thoughts.
I drifted off to a dreamless sleep, unsure of how much time passed before I roused.
“Wake up.”
Exhaustion weighted me down. My senses told me it was nowhere near nightfall. In fact I was pretty sure I had another five hours or so. Still, I couldn’t ignore the voice, insistent as it was and carrying with it a measure of power.
“You must wake up, Rue.”
“Who…?” I drifted off and started into alertness again. While I asked the question, I knew this was the same person who had led me to find Bill’s library and had directed me on at least one other occasion. Right now, I couldn’t care less. Just a little more sleep.
“Open your eyes or die!”
I started, and my eyes shot opened. The silver tip of a blade swung toward my throat, and I jerked to the side. A thunk and clank as the weapon pierced the bedding and impacted with the coils within. I didn’t think twice but kicked out hard. My foot caught my assailant in the stomach and sent him flying across the room. He hit one of the boxes, rotating it forty-five degrees, and the sword clattered on the cement floor in another direction.
I sprang to my feet and wobbled. Sleep hung so heavy I thought I might fall on my face. I smelled the cat shifter. She had found us and come after me. Fear gripped my heart, and I stumbled to Nathan’s box, but the top was secure in place. If I didn’t get rid of the enemy now, she might kill someone else. Falling more than I walked, I started in the di
rection I had seen the person. While moving, I tried to put together mentally what just happened, to identify the figure that had bent over mine.
“Get up and face me,” I taunted, still smelling her and hearing her twitch and moan.
“You could have killed…” she said.
I shook the cobwebs from my head, but they clung with a vengeance. I reached the end of the row of boxes and the one that sat askew. Even sleepy, I could hold the murderer and maybe shout to get someone else to wake. Common sense should have told me if the crash landing from my kick didn’t rouse the vampires, nothing would.
At last, I stood above my attacker and reached down. My vision cleared, and I murmured, “Of course, the she Hyatt referred to.”
She let out a small yelp and leaped straight up past me for a window. The crash, the light, and the burning of one of my fellow vampires woke me enough to drag him out of the line of sunlight. Francis’ eyes were wide and red with horror and pain. His fangs descended, and he moaned, suffering. I looked away from him to the others, but no one stirred.
I didn’t know what else to do, but I had joined the coven and swore to help protect each of my fellow vampires, no matter how much they disliked me. Dropping to the ground beside the vampire, I dragged him toward my neck and prayed he wasn’t so much stronger than I was that I couldn’t get him off. I winced when his teeth pierced my skin. He drank, silent and desperate. Then, to my surprise, he let go and lay down.
I watched as his seared flesh healed, and for an instant, he stared at me. Sleep overcame him, and he rested. I hauled him the best I could back to his cot and made sure he was still well away from the sunlight.
By sheer willpower, I made it to my feet. One by one, I checked on the werewolves, opening the lids to be sure that cat shifter didn’t hurt any of them before she came after me. My progress was slow, and I took a good twenty minutes with each box, struggling with the lids. Fully awake, I could have wrenched them off with one hand. Tired, I splaying out on half the box before I recalled what I was supposed to be doing.
“All accounted for, all safe,” I whispered. “Except one.”
A single box lay open, the wolfsbane brushed aside, and the inside empty. The only werewolf missing was the pregnant one, Ella. Then the truth hit me. Ella had smelled fully of wolf each time I met her. She had even appeared in wolf form the first time outside Zander’s apartment. I didn’t know how it could be possible, but Ella could shape-shift into a panther. In that form, she smelled nothing like a werewolf. Of course, I worried my reasoning might be the weight of sleepiness, but I didn’t think so. Ella’s ability made sense and explained how she had been able to hide the entire time I had been looking for her. She’d hidden in plain sight.
Backing farther away from the broken window, I stared at it. She was getting away while I was stuck until the sun went down. Then again, I had both Ella’s cat and wolf scents recorded. She wouldn’t go where Nathan or I couldn’t find her, unless there was a third animal she could change into. Heaven forbid.
I thought of how I had kicked her and hoped she had lied about the baby. Either way, shifters were pretty resilient. Why had she killed the father of her baby, or was that a lie? We wouldn’t know the truth until I captured her.
At last, night fell, and the vampires all woke as one. While I was not at my best having slept little and given some of my blood to Francis, the lethargy left me, and I was able to stand without hunching.
“What happened there?” Silvano demanded, pointing to the broken window. He snapped his fingers and ordered someone to check the security system.
“It was Ella,” I told him, and everyone stopped moving. Two vampires who had been about to leave to hunt turned back to face me. I stood before them, knowing they wouldn’t believe what I said before I uttered the words. “She can shift into a cat.”
“Who is Ella?” Silvano said.
“One of the werewolves.” I showed him the empty box. “She might be resistant to wolfsbane and only pretended to succumb, because she pulled a short sword on me.”
“What kind of stupid lie is that?” one of the others snapped. “See, Silvano, I told you we shouldn’t have let her join. Let her go find her sire.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
Voices rose in argument. I ignored them all and waited for Silvano’s response.
“I’ve got to wake the werewolves so we can hunt her.”
“No,” he said. “You see the reaction to your story. How do you think they’ll react when they find out what you’ve done and that another one of their own is missing?”
“Nathan then.” I spun away from Silvano. “I don’t need your permission to wake him.”
While I walked over to where Nathan slept, Francis stepped into my path holding the short sword. He looked down at it, turning it over in his hand but being careful not to allow the metal to touch his skin. Thinking of skin, I glanced at the burned hole in his shirt, and the skin beneath was in perfect condition.
“Are you going to try to stop me?” I demanded, hands on my hips.
He glanced up from the sword to meet my gaze and then stepped aside. I started walking again.
“Thank you,” he whispered, although everyone probably heard. “For saving my life.”
I nodded but kept moving.
After I got the lid off of Nathan’s box, I leaned in and brushed away most of the wolfsbane from his chest and the rest off his large frame. I had intended to lift him free to get him away from the scent of the plant. The moment I removed the last sprig, he stirred. His nostrils flared, and the box shattered. Nathan’s claws skittered over the cement floor as he shifted into his wolf form.
All the vampires put space between themselves and the giant wolf. Nathan lowered his head almost touching the floor, and a deep growl rumbled in his throat. He surveyed us and bared sharp teeth.
I sensed the tension in the air. “Just great, Nathan. Are you going to be able to turn back?”
“Don’t taunt him, Rue,” Silvano warned. He took a step toward me, and Nathan barked and moved between Silvano and me, facing the man he saw as his enemy.
“He’s protecting her as if she’s his mate,” one of the vampires claimed with disgust.
Silvano’s fingernails extended into claws at his sides, and his face was so sour I wondered how I had ever seen him as good-looking.
“Don’t even think about it, Silvano,” I said. “You know he can’t help himself.”
“And my people aren’t going to be hurt because he can’t maintain control.”
“I can control him.”
All the vampires made sounds of disbelief, and I had to agree, if not aloud. This was the first night of the full moon, or rather the waxing moon. Either way, tonight Nathan felt the pull of his beast side, and none of us was sure reasoning was still a part of his makeup. I had to give it a try, but as I sank to my knees in front of Nathan, I acknowledged Silvano was right. This situation would be far worse if I awakened all of the werewolves.
I grabbed hold of the thick fur around Nathan’s head and made him look at me rather than at Silvano. “Nathan, listen to me. Ella is the killer. She’s a…” I recalled the word that had come to mind after the initial shock of learning the truth. “She’s a chimera. Do you understand what that means? She has the DNA of two different species in her. I think she can even suppress one or the other, so none us can tell the difference.”
The wolf whined and shook his head. I didn’t know if he rejected my theory or if he didn’t get it. At least he didn’t try to attack me. I rubbed my hand over his head and scratched his ears. He jerked away from the touch.
“Don’t you like that?” I said.
“He doesn’t want to relax with vampires around him,” Silvano explained. “What will you do, Rue? We have to hunt, and I need to be sure we have enough people here if you’re foolish enough—or he is—to wake his people.”
Nathan growled at Silvano and was ignored. I glanced at the boxes. “I don’t t
hink he can wake them. Getting too close to the wolfsbane will only make him weak. I’m not going to wake them. I’ll keep Nathan with me, but please, I need you to watch them, Silvano. Will you keep our agreement?”
“I said I would. I don’t renege on my promises.”
I stood, one hand on Nathan’s neck. “Good. Then we’re going to find Ella, and thank you.”
I grabbed the backpack I had thought to bring with me and headed to the door. Silvano’s voice made me falter. “Rue, vampires and werewolves don’t mix. The sooner you realize that, the better.”
“Hm, no idea why that sounds so familiar!”
Nathan and I took to the night, and we didn’t stop moving until we picked up the right scent. Then we went on the hunt.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised when after the merry chase Ella led us on, we ended up in a remote area with fewer houses around, farthest from both the wolf pack and the cat clowder. She holed up inside the place, and I heard her stalking about, knowing she was caged in.
“Nathan, can you change back? I know you’ll want to question her.” I dropped to the ground beside him. “And I know you’ll want to be able to understand everything she says to make sense of your loss. Try, please.”
He strained at my hand as I held him, but he didn’t pull enough to make me use all my strength. In a little while, I would need to hunt for my meal to replace the blood I had lost. There was no choice in the matter.
After placing the backpack on the ground, I rifled through it and removed clothes I had packed for him. “See? I have these ready for you.”
His canine eyes rolled at me, and I smirked.
“Be very grateful, and thank me later.”
During any given day, the werewolves could change with difficulty from man to wolf and back again. Nathan flipped to his wolf form almost the minute he lost control of his anger. Not quite but almost, and he didn’t become a man again until he calmed down, another challenge. During the nights of the full moon, their abilities flowed more easily. However, they often preferred their animal side to run free.
Wolf Ties (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 2) Page 14
