“Besides, Luther, you mentioned us fighting together toward a mutual cause, but we’d have to fight one another for domination to be in the same pack. There’s nothing mutual about that.”
“Afraid to get beaten by me?”
“No. There isn’t any reason for us to fight. Perhaps we can come together to fight against our enemies, like now, but it doesn’t mean we should always stay together. When did you escape?”
“About a year after you and Rusk did,” Luther replied.
“Is Dracula’s grandson still the overseer of the castle?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did you flee?”
“A group of aristocrats visited the castle and kept the younger Dracula occupied for days with a feast of some sort. That’s when several of us took the opportunity to escape.”
“But you’d have stayed mammoth wolves unless—”
Rusk nodded. “They sought me out in the same pub where John found me. I recognized them and of course found the old Gypsy woman to make talismans for them.”
“Lovely,” Jacques whispered.
Once we passed the Lowbey Village sign, George and Clyde motioned us toward the passageway that led to the underground tunnel. We hurried down the ladder into the tunnel. George and Clyde each held a lighted lantern.
After everyone was in the passageway, I glanced toward Rusk. “This Gypsy witch isn’t anything like the woman who made the talismans for all of you. She’s already threatened us with great harm if we ever returned.”
Luther frowned. “Then why did you?”
I told the story that Esmeralda had told us, but that we believed she was the reason why Raginwulf had come to London. While I spoke, Matilda slipped something into Jacques’ pocket, then into Father’s. She rubbed an oily substance on their foreheads with her thumb in a quick X-like motion and another substance beneath their noses. Then she did the same to herself.
“Then we kill this witch?” Luther asked.
Jacques shook his head. “No. Not unless she gives us no other choice.”
“Why not, if she’s a danger to us?” Ulrich asked.
From the shadows, Albert said, “We need whatever it is that she possesses.”
Ulrich and Luther turned sharply toward Albert. While they were turned, Matilda quickly did the X ritual on my forehead, rubbed a different gel beneath my nose, and tucked something into my coat pocket. Then she hurried to the were-rat boys and performed the same rituals.
Rusk looked at her questionably. She smiled and shrugged but did not approach him or give the blessing over him. Although I wasn’t exactly certain why she didn’t bless him, she had spent the entire week preparing only for our group of four and the were-rats. Whatever she had placed into our pockets must have been all she had made. She didn’t have any extras. And if she was hanging protective spells over us, she had spent the majority of her time focused on our protection, not the other three werewolves.
Jacques faced me. “If you will precede, Forrest?”
I was stunned that he was putting in the lead position again.
He must have noticed my confusion. He smiled and nodded, motioning me to go. After the other werewolves focused on me, Matilda hurried to Albert and slipped an object into his vest pocket and blessed his forehead with the oil. He nodded graciously.
After I took my first step I realized that these werewolves were the third group I had sensed in my near dreamlike state. Things were about to get nasty in ways we had never anticipated.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Several weeks had passed since we had last entered this underground tunnel, giving Esmeralda more than ample time to set new snares unless she had been too preoccupied worrying about the revenge Raginwulf was most likely plotting.
The drainage groove in the center of the tunnel was filled with seeping sludge. Water dripped from the ceiling and the acrid odor remained but barely noticeable. I wondered if the gel Matilda had wiped beneath our noses had blocked the stench. It must have been because Ulrich, Rusk, and Luther kept covering their noses and glancing around in disgust.
When we reached the section of the tunnel where the invisible wall had previously slowed our advance, no magical barrier obstructed the path. I stopped walking and inspected the walls. The last time we were here this part of the tunnel was dry, but the entire channel was now filled with feces and urine. Water dripped from these walls and the ceiling.
“Matilda?” I asked.
“Yes?”
“Unless I’m wrong, whatever she had protected with magic is no longer down here. What do you think?” I turned and faced her.
Matilda closed her eyes and placed her hands before her. “These traps have been removed, but the faint magic I had detected before is still ahead of us.”
I placed my hand against the wall where the invisible wall had previously connected. It was cold and wet, but no sensation of magic lingered. For a few moments, this seemed more a trap than not, if only to get us to lower our guard before she attacked full force.
“Let’s go,” I said, walking farther into the tunnel. “Keep watch around you. She’s allowing us passage through, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.”
“Agreed,” Jacques said.
The frigid air hurt my lungs and made my hands ached. Luther stepped between Jacques and myself, which seemed a deliberate hostile motion to flaunt his unearned dominance over Jacques. Surprisingly, Jacques held his peace and ignored Luther.
“So where is this witch?” Luther asked. “Perhaps if the Hunter walked faster, we could find her before nightfall.”
“When you enter the place where a witch has forbidden you to enter, you take precautions,” I said. “She’s powerful, and we encountered many traps the last time.”
“Where are they now?”
“The old traps are gone, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t placed any new ones.”
“Seems your Hunter is cowardice,” Luther said, stepping beside me to pass.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him. He snarled and his eyes darkened. He pushed me but my hand caught him around the throat. I lifted him and shoved his back against the cold wet wall.
“You’ve just made a deadly mistake,” Luther said, showing his teeth. His eyes changed. I squeezed tightly, causing him to choke. His face turned red.
“Forrest,” Jacques said. “Set him down.”
I ignored Jacques. Luther gripped my forearm with both hands and attempted to pry my hand off his throat, but I was much stronger than he had anticipated. Ulrich stepped forward with his fists raised. Before he reached me, I held my silver cross in my left hand and held it where both werewolves could see it. Although it was a cross, the lower part was a sharp-tipped dagger.
I glared at Luther. “A vampire will flee from a pure silver cross because it burns his flesh, but this silver cross can kill a werewolf in seconds. All I need to do is stab you with it.”
Luther studied the dagger blade of the cross and his eyes widened. He eased his grip on my forearm and lowered his hands loosely at his sides. When the flicker of his wolf’s gleam in his eyes retreated, I lowered him to the floor. He massaged his throat. “You lead for now, Hunter. But—”
Jacques stepped between Luther and I. He pointed a stern finger at Luther. “You verbalize a threat toward Forrest, and I let him kill you right now.”
“Finally,” Luther said with a broad grin. “Jacques’ wolf is surfacing. I see the Hunter and the she-wolf are your weaknesses, so now I know what it takes to get you to fight me.”
“If I fight you, it’s not for pack leadership, Luther. It will be to kill you.”
Luther laughed. “We shall see, Jacques.”
Luther gazed at Matilda with an odd smile. Matilda scoffed and turned away.
Jacques nodded toward me to continue. He stepped in behind me and Luther took the third spot in the line. Luther looked over his shoulder, apparently trying to locate Matilda, but he became uneasy when Albert suddenly moved
from the rear of the line and stood directly behind Luther. Albert held a silver dagger that gleamed in the flickering light of the lanterns.
I returned to a slow walking pace, hoping to sense a magic trap before stepping into one. But everyone behind me continued talking softly, which made concentrating on the path more difficult.
Albert sighed. “No pack can have two Alphas, Luther.”
“I realize that.”
“Then why press Jacques into a fight when you both have Alpha personalities. Neither of you would ever settle to have the other rule the pack. You’re too strong-willed.”
“Besides, I’m not interested,” Jacques said.
Albert chuckled. “And there’s that issue as well.”
“But we’re unique werewolves,” Luther said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. “Brought together as a unified pack by Dracula’s bidding.”
“His curse,” Jacques said evenly.
“How can you call what we are a curse?”
“His bondage was a curse. We didn’t have control over our senses or our personalities. He wanted to keep us bound to him, and it worked for a while. At least a few of us have escaped. We recognize one another from our wolf bonds but not for who are as humans. A veil hid our true selves. That’s why you and I clash. It’s why we have hostility toward one another. We always will.”
“And Matilda?” Luther said. “She’s one of us because of you. Is she not?”
“By accident.”
Luther smiled back at her. “That’s convenient, Jacques. Infect the most beautiful of women to keep her drawn to you out of necessity.”
“That’s not how it occurred,” Jacques said.
“All the same, you’ve increased our number.”
“We are not—”
“Silence!” Matilda said. “Do you not even care that we’re trespassing where a witch has explicitly warned us not to return? Forrest and I cannot focus with all this contention. Settle this after we’re finished here.”
“I like her,” Luther said softly, giving her a quick wink. “I think her personality is far too strong for you, Jacques. She’s better suited for me.”
Jacques didn’t reply, but he released a slight low growl.
Ahead was the side tunnel we had noticed during our previous journey but Esmeralda had prevented us from reaching it. In our conversation with the Gypsy, she had indicated something of great importance was in that direction. Since she had partially betrayed herself with the slip of her tongue, she’d expect us to explore that route whenever we returned. Without any magical snares as of yet, her bait was most likely well protected. I’d have been a fool to think otherwise.
After crossing the narrow trench of sludge, I stopped at the edge of the side tunnel and glanced at the people lined behind me. Everyone stood ready and waited for me to start walking. George hurried toward me with his lantern, ready to walk beside me. He grinned from eagerness.
This tunnel was drier, darker, and narrower. No water dripped from overhead, but the walls sweated. The slight stench of the sludge channel decreased. I stepped into the tunnel and immediately sensed the pulsating magic I had felt the last time we were here, but it was a lot stronger than then.
“Something’s down here,” I said.
George glanced up at me. His eyes narrowed from curiosity.
“Yes,” Matilda said. “I felt it earlier, but it’s much greater here.”
My body tingled. Chills crept along my skin, but not from what was farther down the tunnel. Whatever protective blessings Matilda had placed upon us flourished around me, as did something else. We were approaching danger or it was coming toward us.
Thwack!
Hunter instinct beckoned me to duck, and I dropped, using my body to shield George. A horrible wolf yelp echoed in the tunnel behind me. With all the werewolves behind me, I didn’t know who had been injured except that it was a male.
I grabbed George’s lantern and hurried toward the scream. Ulrich lay on the damp floor clutching an arrow sticking out the center of his chest. He writhed in severe pain. The agony caused his body to begin transformation. His eyes widened and his body shook. He gasped several times, and then his mouth opened wide. His alteration into wolf form stopped and his body stiffened. He no longer breathed.
Ulrich was dead.
Jacques reached for the arrow.
“No,” I said, pushing his hand aside. I yanked the arrow out to satisfy my own suspicion and inspected the arrow in the light. “It’s silver tipped.”
Jacques’ eyes became grim with rising anger. His nostrils flared.
“It’s more than just being silver,” Matilda said. “It is coated with wolfsbane.”
Father came forward, shaking his head. He took the arrow from me.
“I can go alone. In case there are other traps,” I said, looking at Jacques and Matilda. “Esmeralda expected our return, and she intended to kill a werewolf.”
“She didn’t know what we are,” Matilda said.
Father held the arrow and glanced at her. “I think she did but acted like she didn’t know. Why else would she use a silver arrow tip and wolfsbane? That first night when we met her, she hinted that she sensed something different about you. Remember?”
Matilda nodded. Her dark eyes narrowed, looking past me toward what more we might face next.
Jacques glanced toward me and shook his head. “It’s too dangerous for you to go alone, Forrest.”
“She deliberately sought to kill one of you. I doubt she has only one trap laced with poison and silver,” I replied.
“I and my boys can go with Forrest,” Albert said. “Silver doesn’t affect us.”
Luther and Rusk knelt beside Ulrich. Sorrow filled their gazes.
Luther looked at us. His jaw tightened. He pointed at Ulrich’s body. “This wasn’t due to magic. The Hunter must have hit a trigger that released the arrow.”
“I never saw any trigger.”
“You don’t have to see it to release it.”
“I felt nothing. No wires or levers,” I replied.
He glared at me. “You dove for cover immediately. I suspect none of us could have reacted so quickly without some kind of forewarning.”
“I was warned,” I replied. “But not from tripping a mechanism. I am a Hunter and often receive premonitions from spiritual elders. I had less than a second to duck, which wasn’t enough time to shout a warning.”
Luther stepped toward me, but not in a threatening manner. His eyes searched the stone floor. He pointed. One stone was pressed a few inches lower than the surrounding ones. “There. Did that stone sink beneath your foot?”
“No.”
“It had to.”
George offered a nervous nod. “It sunk when I stepped on it.”
Luther rose with rage in his eyes. His hands tightened into fists.
George cowered and Albert walked forward with his dagger in hand. His intent gaze was set on Luther.
Luther snarled. “Any of you who wish to remain behind, do so, but I’m going forward with the Hunter. This witch will suffer for Ulrich’s death.”
His boast was heartfelt, but its undertone was to ensure that Jacques continued moving forward, too. Although at that point in my life, I was too young to understand the depths a conniving jealous heart could undertake. I sensed disloyalty more than unity in Luther’s actions. In hindsight, I realize he had been lusting to have Matilda for his own and was hoping Jacques was the next one killed. Luther’s false valor to go after Esmeralda was only a subtle challenge to keep Jacques searching for the witch. He knew if Jacques remained behind, it showed weakness, and since Jacques was an alpha at heart, he’d never give Luther the opportunity to show him up. Jacques would continue to prove his boldness, if nothing else.
“You were right about this witch being nothing like the one who made our talismans,” Luther said. “She’s evil. I will avenge Ulrich’s death.”
“Don’t be hasty,” Jacques said. “That was
a physical trap, not a magical one.”
“I’m aware of the differences.”
“Shh!” Matilda said. “Lest you’re wanting to reap the same fate as Ulrich.”
I walked ahead of the group and thought about how easily Ulrich had died. Werewolves were difficult to kill with ordinary weapons. They can survive devastating injuries and heal rapidly. Had the arrow been steel-tipped without the wolfsbane, Ulrich could have yanked out the arrow shaft and would still be alive. But the silver . . . pierced his flesh, poisoning him, and less than a minute later, he was dead.
My father had told me how deadly silver was to werewolves, but until I had actually witnessed Ulrich’s quick death, I never realized the true hazard. Now, I thought twice about carrying my silver cross, not to mention that I was carrying a loaded gun and toting a pocketful of silver bullets. It might not have bothered me at all except that my cousin and Matilda were werewolves. I didn’t like the idea of how one mistake on my part could be fatal for either of them.
Since the other tunnel was directly under the main street, I guessed this one must lead to Esmeralda’s shop. Perhaps not, but the sensation of magic slowly increased the farther I walked. The protective shield around me sent more shivers through my body. A small crackling sound radiated around me like a burst of static energy, which I took to mean I had just passed through one of Esmeralda’s magical barriers. I wasn’t certain, but if I had, Matilda’s spell had worked effectively to thwart its intent.
Glancing over my shoulder, I caught Jacques’ bewildered reaction when he passed through the pulse, too. But when Luther stepped into the witch’s magic pool, he wailed. Small bursts of fire shot around his boots and climbed his legs. Rusk removed his overcoat and wrapped it around Luther’s legs, smothering the flames, but then the same thing happened to Rusk. He had stepped into the hidden magical fire. Neither of them had Matilda’s protective blessing.
Hair sprouted on Luther’s face. His eyes turned wolf-like. The tips of his ears changed. His fingers sprouted thick, yellow claws.
“Calm yourself,” Jacques said.
Luther snarled. His jaw and teeth were changing. “No. She killed our brother and now has assaulted us. She dies.”
Forrest Wollinsky: Vampire Hunter [Book 2]: Blood Mists of London Page 24
