by Dean Murray
Jasmin wasn't privy to what was going on inside of my head and apparently decided that she'd been too aggressive.
"I'm sorry, Isaac, that was out of line. I'm having a harder time keeping control of stuff lately."
I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. She thought that I was worried about who was dominant to whom, but I couldn't care less. In this instance it was easier just to go along with her.
"Join the club. It seems like I want to rip the head off of anyone who even talks to me lately. The truth is that it's too late. Onyx's people found us within a few hours of our arrival. Ash tried to shoot his way out, but this new guy just shrugged off all of the bullets and practically tore him in two."
"He'll be okay, though, right?"
There was a level of worry in Jasmin's voice that surprised me for a second. She and Ash hadn't ever been very close and I was pretty sure that she and Kristin actively disliked each other, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I shouldn't be surprised.
There hadn't ever been very many of us to start out with, and the forces arrayed against us hadn't gotten appreciably smaller. Even the loss of just one of Alec's supporters made it that much less likely that the rest of us would make it to see next month.
She was worried about Ash because she could see herself in his place, but I didn't know what to tell her. He was up and moving around, but there still wasn't any guarantee that he was going to make it. Whatever Set had done to seal off the tear in his artery had an expiration date on it. Once that patch disappeared it was just a question of whether or not his body could heal the rip before he bled to death internally. I didn't even know if Celeste had told him that yet.
"I'm not sure. Normally I'd say yes, but you know Ash, he's not a very fast healer."
It was as close to the truth as I could get without telling her everything, without telling her about the lamias and what it was I was about to go off and do.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, me too. How's Ben?"
"Weaker every day. I don't know how much longer he's going to make it, but Rachel seems to finally be helping me rather than just leading me on some kind of cross-continental wild goose chase. Have you heard from any of the others?"
Someone else might have missed the pain in her voice when she talked about Ben, but I could hear it. Jasmin had racked up more practice dealing with pain and pretending that it didn't bother her than anyone else I knew.
Jess was up there with her when it came to dealing with pain, but she'd never been as concerned with presenting a tough front to the rest of the world as Jasmin was. I wished that there was something I could do to save Jasmin from the heartbreak she was in for if Ben didn't wake up soon, but I couldn't shield her from that any more than she could shield me.
It was nice to be able to retreat back to safer subjects.
"Just Andrew. He's okay. We only had a minute to talk, but he told me that Jessica phoned him. He said that she was being really evasive about where they are, but that she's found some kind of big secret."
"I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."
"I'm pretty sure it's a bad thing. Whatever Wyatt is involved in isn't good."
She didn't know what to say about that, but I hadn't been expecting anything different. She probably thought that I was still just hung up on Jessica.
The problem was that I wasn't hung up on Jess anymore, but I still didn't like Wyatt. I'd said all along that there was more going on than met the eye with him, Carson and Grayson, but nobody had believed me. Now I had proof, but still nobody was listening.
Nicolas had fought using the same strange fighting style that Wyatt had used to beat me. All by itself that would have been enough to convince me that he was linked to Wyatt and the others, but when you threw in the fact that Nicolas had known Carson by name, it was solid proof that the power bloc represented by Wyatt's group was trying to play both sides against the middle.
I could hack into government databases, but I didn't know how to function in the world of politics and backroom power-brokering. That had always been Alec's area of expertise and now that I needed him to figure out what was going on, he wasn't even answering my calls.
"I'm serious, Jasmin. I'm starting to feel like I'm playing the wrong game, like I thought we were playing checkers and now it turns out that everyone is playing three-dimensional chess. Onyx has a new guy here, someone I've never heard of before, and he fights like Wyatt used to fight."
"That weird grappling style?"
"Yeah, that alone would pretty much make him unstoppable for the rest of us who don't know that kind of fighting, but that isn't all. Ash shot him—several times, and in all of the right places—but it didn't even slow him down. I saw bullets ricochet off of him after hitting places where I've been cut before. There shouldn't have been bone there, but there was."
Even as I said it, I realized how ridiculous it sounded, but I finally seemed to have Jasmin's full attention.
"Does he have blue eyes?"
"I don't remember for sure, but I don't think so. Why, how does that matter?"
"You need to do everything you can to stay clear of this guy, Isaac. You weren't imagining things. I can't explain, but your suspicions are correct, whoever he is he's going to be faster, stronger, and harder to kill than any hybrid has a right to be."
It had been staring me in the face for years. Alec had always been a good fighter. He'd been so good and it had just been the natural order of things for so long that I'd never stopped to wonder if he was too good.
"Like Alec."
She didn't want to let that particular cat out of the bag, but then again, I couldn't blame her. She'd always been much tougher and faster than any normal wolf had any right to be. She paused for nearly a minute before finally responding.
"Yes, like Alec. If you could get around behind him and manage a good clinch you could still kill this guy, but otherwise it will be like fighting someone in armor."
"Where are his weak points?"
"I don't know, Isaac, I swear. I don't…I don't have it. Donovan might be able to tell you, but I'm not sure he'll be willing to give away Alec's secrets like that. Just stay clear of this guy, do whatever it takes."
"I understand, but I don't think that's going to be possible, Jasmin. Thanks for warning me though."
The knowledge that I was going up against someone that had been bred to be even more dangerous than a normal hybrid should have scared me. Actually it did scare me, but it didn't change my determination to do what had to be done. I was already reaching for the disconnect button, but Jasmin surprised me.
"What if I came down there, Isaac? I could be down in New Orleans in a day or so."
It was the kind of thing that made you love Jasmin even though she'd spent most of her time as a wolf trying to prove that she was just as dominant as James and me. She had a big heart, and it was hard to hold a grudge after she made those kinds of offers, but that was just who Jasmin was.
Underneath that hard, indifferent exterior that she used to keep the rest of the world at arm's length was a person who would sacrifice just about anything to help her friends. I wanted to take her up on her offer, but I knew I couldn't do that.
It didn't sound like Ben had any time to waste, and even if he did, the two of us plus Ash and Celeste couldn't hope to take on Onyx, Nicolas and what was left of the rest of their hybrids. Letting her come down here to help me would just be signing her death warrant.
"No, it's not worth it, Jas. There's no telling when I'll get backed into fighting this creep. You could arrive down here, and find me dead, and end up in the same position I'm looking at right now. Besides, I couldn't ask you to watch Ben die. You said it yourself. He doesn't have much time left."
"I want to tell you that you're wrong, but I can't seem to force myself to say the words."
That made me smile. I could visualize exactly what she looked like right now, her face dropping into a stubb
orn set as she tried to force herself to do something she didn't actually want to do.
"I know. It's because I'm right and you know it. Have you found this Geoffrey character yet?"
"Yes, it turns out he's a vampire and I'm going to have to help him before he'll save Ben for me."
That was a development that I hadn't been expecting, but it actually made a lot of sense. We needed to use a vampire to fix the damage the first vampire had done to Ben. Only there wasn't any way to be sure that the second vampire was any better than the first.
"I don't like the sound of that, Jas. Bloodsuckers can't be trusted. Everything I've ever read says that they are all cunning and amoral in ways that sometimes even the Coun'hij can't equal."
She took a deep breath. "I know, but Rachel says it's the only way."
"What do you need from me?"
"We need the location of Puppeteer and the rest of the Coun'hij. You've spent time thinking about where you'd go if you had to leave because of the way things have been going with Jessica. I need a pack with ties to the Coun'hij that is small enough that I have a chance of taking it over."
I hadn't been expecting that. Until Jasmin's words hit my ear I'd forgotten entirely that I'd been so close to running away. The Isaac who'd been contemplating that felt like a different person entirely.
"You knew that? You knew I was looking at leaving the pack and making a run for it?"
"Yeah. I didn't have any evidence, but it's what I would have been doing in your place. I don't blame you."
"I figured if you all found out you would feel like I was betraying you."
"Like I said, I understand why you wanted out. Can you think of a pack that might fit the bill?"
I started mentally running through the list of packs that I'd been compiling based on every drop of information I could squeeze out of the delegates sent to meet with Alec.
"I'm not sure. I was mostly looking for packs that were more independent than that, since the Coun'hij takes a dim view of people coming in and deposing leaders who have an established history of toeing the line. You know, in some ways that could make things easier. The Coun'hij tends to scrape off the cream of the crop out of their allied packs, so there doesn't tend to be as much talent there as what you see in the independent packs."
"Right, a lot of the time they end up being on the smaller side too."
I nodded to myself as a clear winner rose to the top of my mind.
"I think your best bet is Duluth then. Between the cold and the snow it's one of the less desirable territories, so they haven't had anyone challenge up there for a couple of decades. You'll still be up against some stiff competition though. The alpha there isn't anything special, but he's still got more than two hundred years of fighting under his belt. Your biggest problem is going to be a guy named Branson. He's practically an honorary enforcer for the Coun'hij. He's big and fast, not as big and fast as you, but he's good and you haven't been in very many fights as a hybrid yet."
"Yeah, I know. If you've got a better idea for finding the Coun'hij, I'm all ears."
"Sorry, nothing comes to mind. I guess we've both got some impossible fights ahead of us."
"Yeah, I guess we do. I'll see you on the other side."
Chapter 30
Isaac Nazir
The Lamia Enclave
After Jasmin hung up I stared at my phone for nearly a minute. I was stalling, but I wasn't just stalling. I was even more glad than ever that I hadn't fought Set. Not only would his queen not have told us what we needed to know, it was all pointless anyway. Assuming that Jasmin's pet vampire was even slightly trustworthy, she now had a foolproof way of tracking the Coun'hij back to their base.
I really did feel like I was in over my head. There were too many pieces moving around right now for me to fit everything together. Wyatt, Nicolas and the order was just part of it. There was also Jasmin, some secret mission that Jaclyn had been sent on, and probably half a dozen other things that I didn't even know were going on.
The most concerning thing though was the fact that there was something wrong with Alec. Dodging my calls was one thing. Not picking up when Jasmin called was something else entirely. She and Alec were thick as thieves.
That was why I was stalling. As long as I didn't make the call I needed to make to Alec, then there was still a chance that he would pick up the phone and have a magic solution to everything wrong in the world. Once I called and he didn't pick up then I'd be fully committed.
I started to press his speed-dial number, but my phone started ringing a split second before I dialed him. It was Jessica.
"Isaac, are you there?"
For a second I couldn't get any words out, but then my voice started working again.
"Hi, Jessica. I didn't expect to hear from you, is everything okay?"
I was walking a wire that was razor-thin. Every step hurt and I could fall at any moment, but my only chance was to keep walking and hope that there was something left of me to save on the other side of this conversation. I struggled to keep my voice casual, to keep from sounding like the jilted boyfriend that I'd been for so long.
"I'm okay. This is going to sound stupid, but I just wanted to know if you really meant the things you said in your message earlier. Have you really moved on?"
There was something in her voice that I couldn't quite identify. That was proof enough to overcome any doubt I might have had that I was doing the right thing. With Jess there was never a time that I couldn't tell what all of those little signs meant. Jessica was a different person.
"Yeah. I know that's probably hard to believe after the way that I've been acting, but I really did mean every word of it. I'm glad that you're happy now. I'm not going to pretend that I don't still have concerns about Wyatt and the others, but more than anything I just want you to be happy."
There was what I thought was wonder in her voice when she finally responded a few seconds later. "I called up thinking that this was just some ploy to get me to talk to you. I didn't expect to believe you, but I think I do. How did you finally manage to move on? What was it that did the trick for you?"
She'd just finished saying that she believed me, but I sensed traces of what I thought were doubt still in her voice.
"I can understand why you're having a hard time believing that I've moved on, Jessica, but I really have. I think it was two things really. I finally realized that Jess is gone. You really are a different person, there isn't any shared history there, we don't have a flame that we could rekindle under the right circumstances. The relationship I had with Jess is as gone as if her body had died when Oblivion took away your memories."
"What was the other thing?"
Her voice caught oddly, probably in relief that I really did seem to be ready to leave her alone.
"I met someone. It's complicated, but I think she'll be good for me and that I'll be good for her too."
"Do you love her?"
This time I recognized what I was hearing. There was regret there in her voice, but even that was understandable. She'd spent untold hours running away from me, but there had still probably been a sense of security to the arrangement. She'd always known that if all else failed that she could go back to me and I would take her without complaint.
"I'm sorry, Jessica. I don't mean to be insensitive. I'm only telling you this because I want you to know that you can go off and be happy without worrying about me. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still have some worries where Wyatt is concerned, but to be honest I'd have the same worries even if you weren't dating him. I found some stuff that isn't adding up and it's making me nervous."
She giggled, which was an odd response, but she started talking again before I could ask her what was so funny.
"No, don't worry about me, Isaac. You aren't being hurtful, this was all stuff that I needed to hear. I'm better off knowing what's going on. I'm really happy for you. I know you don't need my blessing, but you have it."
"Thanks, Jessica. That mean
s a lot—I really appreciate it."
"I need to go, Isaac. I'll talk to you another day?"
I knew I was probably undoing most of the progress I'd just made, but I couldn't help it. Something in her voice awakened protective instincts that hadn't really had a chance to start to atrophy yet.
"Jess, there's something wrong, isn't there? Is it Wyatt, is he involved in something that is making you uncomfortable?"
"No, honestly, Wyatt is incredible. I don't know what you've found in the last few days, but he's shown me everything now that we're back here at his home. There isn't anything shady going on, in fact it's the opposite of shady. He's so amazing that I honestly tell myself at least half a dozen times a day that I don't deserve him."
Something there still wasn't right.
"Is it that he's there? Say 'maybe' if there's someone there listening, if there's a reason that you can't tell me the truth."
"No, Isaac, it's not like that, I promise. I'm all by myself right now and nobody has me locked up or anything. You don't need to worry. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm falling apart, I'm just really happy for you. I know that I haven't been very grateful, but I just want you to know that I haven't forgotten the time you saved me from the vampires. You're a pretty great guy and I guess that being out here has made me a little nostalgic for old times."
She took an odd, choking breath. "I'm happy for you, I guess I just miss you and Andrew more than I expected to."
She was telling the truth. I knew even the new Jessica well enough to know when she wasn't lying.
"Okay, now I feel like an idiot. I didn't mean to overreact, I guess some of the stuff that I've seen recently has me even more paranoid than I'd realized."
"You're fine, Isaac. Honestly, your protectiveness is one of your best qualities. I'm sorry that I gave you so much crap about that before."
There was a couple of seconds of silence, but Jessica broke it before it could really get awkward.
