by Lisa Ladew
Grey paced, his strides long and purposeful as he circled the room just out of the reach of the flickering light.
Khain could not be on the losing side of this battle, but Grey did not know how to make sure of that. Khain had been winning for so long, his move to kill all the shiften females a stroke of genius that Grey had been certain would decimate the spirit of the shiften, leaving them no choice but to mate with humans and wait for their line to weaken to the point where Khain could do as he willed. Grey himself had never found a wolven female to mate, so the act had not affected him in quite the same way as it did his brethren.
Those had been the early days, when Grey had not quite realized what a shiften victory over Khain would mean, so he had not argued against Azer’s plan when he first heard of it, had in fact helped him put it into motion.
And now, it would destroy everything, unless he was able to derail it somehow. So, what to do now? How to continue to move his own plan forward?
An idea shot through him like a spear and Grey changed direction midstride, sprinting for the center of the room. He lifted the kerosene lantern off the table and tore away its false bottom. Out tumbled three bundles of cloth that wrapped his most precious possessions within them.
The answer had to lie with them. He did not know exactly how to use them, or even if he could, since they did not belong to him, but he knew they were filled with great power, greater power than even Azer had ever predicted or intended. Now to decide which one to–
A light glowed from within one. All thoughts were ripped from Grey’s mind and his fingers convulsed, then straightened, relaxing almost to the point of dropping the three bundles. He forced his muscles to respond to his commands again, carefully putting the other two bundles down slowly, then unwrapping the one that was glowing, being careful not to touch it.
He didn’t know what the glowing meant, but he suspected the pendant could hurt him in some way in this state.
With shaking fingers, he used the cloth and the chain to which the pendant was attached to maneuver it onto the table, so that he could stare at it, trying to discern its secrets.
A snarling wolf with amber-colored eyes stared up at him. The glowing came from the eyes of the wolf, pulsing lightly, the yellow glow washing over the body of the wolf and casting a relief he had never noticed before. With each pulse, pulse, pulse of its eyes, the yellow glow made the feet of the wolf appear to be a different color than the rest of the wolf.
Grey dropped to his knees and stared at the piece, seeing in his imagination the angel on the other side, but discarding it as not important. The wolf was what was important, and why it was glowing.
As Grey changed his position in relation to the wolf, realization plowed through him. He knew which female this particular pendant belonged to, remembered taking it from her family home years ago, and now, fortuitously, he knew who her mate was.
He stared at the phenomenon, the glowing light casting the shadows on the wolf that were not otherwise there, the boots that identified this wolf as one of only a handful, and only one of them was in the KSRT.
He still did not know why the wolf’s eyes were glowing, but his path was now clear.
Finish his business with Beckett Oswego.
Ensure Beckett never found his mate, or his mate never found him. Either would work. Both would be better. He knew where Beckett was, so that’s where he would start.
But what to do with the pendant? Bring it with him? It was dangerous to him, he knew that, but– his phone rang, cutting off his thoughts.
“Deatherage,” he barked into it, his eyes still on the pendant on the table.
“Chief,” a raspy voice said. Old habits died hard.
Grey’s mind spun. More coincidence. He did not know what he was about to discover, but he knew it would uphold his cause, cement his decision. A gift from the gods, maybe from Rhen herself, sparking his path like a lighted arrow.
He could barely speak. “Go,” he finally choked out.
“Pekin. Myles Pekin. He’s finally surfaced.”
With stunning clarity, Grey finally knew exactly where Myles and Sandra had run to, and knew that he could now take out both birds with one stone. Further confirmation of the rightness of his course of action.
“In Serenity?” His words echoed through the large empty chamber, almost mocking him and how he hadn’t been able to find them, had never thought to look for them there. Of course they were there. Rhen favored him no more than anyone else. No! That was not true!
The voice on the other end of the phone said nothing for a moment, and Grey pulled his attention back to the cold silence he could read immediately. If you knew, then why have I been typing this name into the system every night for years?
“Yeah, Serenity,” the voice said carefully, keeping the accusation out of his tone. “But there’s one hitch. He’s dead.”
“Curiouser,” Grey said, not surprised at all. “Liver failure?” Myles favored the moonshine, anything to blunt the pain of his failings.
“No, he was shot.”
“His wife do it?”
“No, suspect unknown. The wife is dead, too, probably for at least a year, and buried in the backyard.”
“Tsk, tsk. Not a proper burial, was it?”
Again, that slow, heavy moment before his contact spoke again. “Okay, yeah, well anyway, you wanted to know if I ever saw his name on the wire, and there it is.”
“Certainly, you did a stellar job. And now there’s only a bit of your assignment left.”
Another hesitation. Grey didn’t say a word, knowing the wolf would realize his place if he just thought about it long enough.
“And what is that?”
“I know who did it. I need you to convince Serenity PD to find them and deal with them properly, until I can get there.” Then what? Break them out? He couldn’t kill them. An idea bloomed in his mind, something about jail assassinations. Probably beyond his ability to order, but he did have associates.
His contact became all business. “Name? Description?”
“Cerise Pekin and Kaci Pekin. His daughters. Cerise is 25, but looks younger. Her hair is probably long and was strawberry blonde the last time I saw it. She is light-skinned and approximately five foot, five inches tall, with hazel eyes. Kaci is 12, and tiny for her age. She’s painfully thin and doesn’t speak, with rusty red hair and freckles all over her face. They say she’s mute, but I’m not sure if I believe it. Both will probably be wearing shoddy, shabby clothes. You can’t let their looks fool you, though, both girls are incredibly dangerous and mentally unstable, especially the older one.”
He hadn’t seen either in years, not since the last time Cerise had tried to steal Kaci away, causing Myles and Sandra to run from his displeasure, but he felt those descriptions still fit them. “Check the bus stations, hitchhikers on the major highways going west, maybe even the train stations. They’ll be trying to escape. When they’re found, do not keep them in a holding cell, they need to go straight to jail.” If they were found. They’d hitchhiked last time, and if they were more successful this time, they could be out of Illinois already.
“Not the 12 year old? Especially if she’s tiny.”
“Yes, the 12 year old. Straight to juvenile hall. She’s dangerous, would cut off her own mother’s head for burning cookies. Don’t fucking question me.”
The male on the other end sighed. “Yes, Chief.”
“Good wolf. Do it right and you won’t hear from me again. Fuck it up and you’ll be wiping my ass for the next decade.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Grey hung up the phone. End times called for dirty, desperate measures.
He checked the time. He could be in Serenity in three hours, less if traffic was light, which it never was. Still, just in time for Beckett to come home from work.
A bullet to the head from his own second story window as he trudged to his front door would deal with him nicely.
Then Cerise Pekin could rot in jai
l and no one would ever even miss her.
Chapter 11
Cerise curled the money in her fist, fear spiking through her. They had enough money, but they still weren’t going to be able to escape. She could read it in the bored, seen-this-shit-before expression of the woman behind the desk. From behind, Kaci crowded close to her, practically burying her face in Cerise’s back. Cerise could feel her panic, and was trying not to give in to panic herself. There were just so many people at the bus station!
The line behind them was hostile, she could feel their accusing stares on her back, hear two women whispering about her. “Please,” she said to the ticket-seller. “We have to get to California. My-our… our mom is dying.” They’d already killed someone that morning, then walked for six hours to get to the bus terminal. She didn’t have any energy left to worry about the lie.
The woman cracked her gum, then rolled her eyes. “I told you, if you don’t have I.D., I can’t sell you a ticket. It’s the law.” She leaned forward, her face set. “I can’t break the law for you, honey. I’d lose my job.”
Cerise’s palms began to sweat, wetting their money. The train station was miles away and she didn’t think Kaci could take one more step. And what if they got there and couldn’t get on the train without I.D. either? They were completely out of options. Except hitchhiking. She’d promised Kaci…
A male voice from the line behind them yelled, “Buy a ticket or move!” and the ticket-seller rolled her eyes again, lifting one hand, pointing to Cerise’s left. “I can’t help you, honey. Just move on.”
Cerise stuffed their money into the pocket of her jeans, then shuffled to the left, trying to hold herself together, to think of some other option.
Kaci clutched at Cerise’s shirt, her head still down, her slim frame trembling. Was she crying? The nondescript music filtering through the terminal stopped and a clunk sounded, coming from everywhere. Cerise glanced at the ceiling, as Kaci jumped against her. A male voice came through one of the speakers Cerise had spied. “Bus 215 to Indianapolis boarding at Gate 2A.”
With the announcement, a stream of people rose from their chairs, crossing the room directly behind and in front of Cerise and Kaci, trapping them where they stood. Smells of cigarette smoke, unwashed bodies, and some sort of pungent, garlicky food assailed Cerise. Someone’s bag shoved her in the side, almost knocking her to the ground, forcing a cry from Kaci.
Cerise pulled at Kaci. “Come on, let’s get out of the way.” Kaci wouldn’t even lift her head and look around. Neither of them had ever been in a room with so many people before. Even when they’d tried to escape Myles and Sandra the other times, they’d never dealt with anything like this.
Cerise pulled Kaci to the closest wall, where only one other person was standing, and one sitting, both men, which put Cerise automatically on her guard. The one standing was staring at the corkboard that covered the wall, reading the notices there. The one sitting wore layers and layers of dirty clothes even shabbier than what Cerise and Kaci wore, with what looked like mud on his face and in his beard. Around him were worn plastic bags stuffed with clothes. Cerise could smell him. Dirt and body odor. Lovely.
She wondered if he were homeless, sleeping here on the floor at the bus station. What if she and Kaci were forced to sleep there tonight? What would they do if they could never get to California?
The male on the floor smiled brightly at her, revealing only one tooth in that smile. Cerise watched him suspiciously, sensing he wanted something.
“Got some money, sweet girl?” he crooned, when he caught her eye. “I haven’t eaten in days.”
Kaci kept her head buried in Cerise’s back, still refusing to even look around. Cerise was torn, her eyes flying away from the man on the ground. She had money, but she needed it to take care of her and Kaci! But they had both eaten rice and beans the night before and they even had some cans of food in their bag. So, technically they were better off than-One of the notices caught her eye and she shuffled closer to it to get a better look, reading it in her painstakingly slow manner, especially the words she’d never seen before.
Need a ride to Spokane.
And below that:
Hippie van headed to Seattle!
Excitement seized her. They could find a ride, pay someone to drive them the entire way there! If they had enough money. Her eyes searched the papers on the wall to see how much a ride all the way to California would cost.
Something touched her ankle, and she almost screamed out loud. She pulled her foot back and looked down.
The homeless man had crawled over to her. “Girl! I’m hungry. I know you ain’t gonna let me starve. Watchoo got? Coins? Anything.”
Cerise dug in her pocket, deep down past the bills and found a handful of coins. “Here,” she whispered, dropping them in his hand. He smiled brilliantly again and scuttled back to where he’d been.
The other man who had been perusing the board inched closer to her. “You shouldn’t encourage them.”
Cerise glanced at him. Tall, young, clean face, nice clothes. She wanted to ask him for help but something inside her kept her mouth frozen. Self-reliance. It was the only way. Her only chance. She and Kaci were completely on their own and they couldn’t trust anyone, especially not any men. She nodded sharply and pressed closer to the board, reading as fast as she could.
She found one!
Ride offered to Los Angeles, California 2-28.
I am heading to Los Angeles on Friday and have room for two passengers and some cargo in the car. All I ask is $100 for gas and some help with the driving. Text me.
Cerise read over the message again, the noises of people laughing, coughing, talking, and yelling from all around them fading as she concentrated. She wasn’t entirely sure what day it was, but she had $100. They could make it without hitchhiking! She couldn’t drive, but maybe if she gave the person more than $100 that would be ok? She reached in the bag for their pen and her encyclopedia, copying the phone number given down on the inside cover, then looking around for pay phones. She didn’t see any, but they had to be around, they always were in the movies she and Kaci watched.
Something brushed her ankle again and Cerise looked down. The homeless man was back, but he wasn’t looking at her. He had his dirty hand clutched around Kaci’s slim calf. “How about you, sweet? You got any money? I could use a footlong.” He nodded to the Subway in the corner of the terminal.
Kaci kicked out with her leg, whimpering, finally forced to look around, to open herself up to their situation. The man’s grip seemed to tighten.
“Let go of her,” Cerise ordered, pulling on Kaci’s arm in the opposite direction. She looked around, but the man who’d told her not to encourage him had disappeared. They were the only people close by. Across the terminal, she spotted two security officers bent over a desk. She bit her lip and dropped her gaze back to the homeless man.
He still had ahold of Kaci. “Come on sweet, give old Bourbon a dollar. You can spare some. You get a allowance, yeah?”
Kaci whimpered again and threw Cerise a helpless look. Cerise gathered her under the arm and yanked her out of Bourbon’s grip, but her shoe came off in his fingers. He snatched it up like she’d wrapped it in a box and handed it to him. Another announcement came over the loudspeaker and suddenly the corridor was filled with people again, people intent on their destination, not caring about anyone but themselves. Kaci took a wobbly step backwards as someone cut between her and Cerise, then a flood of people followed that first person and they were cut off. Cerise pulled her bag closer to her side, snatched her sister’s shoe out of Bourbon’s hands, and tried to find Kaci. She couldn’t see her anywhere. “Kaci,” she called. No answer. “Kaci!” she yelled, trying not to give in to fresh panic. Nothing. Kaci was short and thin and physically weak. Only a girl…
Cerise pushed her way through the streaming crowd of people. “Kaci, I’m here, come to me, Kaci!”
A scream ripped through the room. Cerise turned toward
it. Kaci had somehow been pushed by the crowd almost to the doors that led outside. Cerise caught her terrified glance and tried to warn her to stop screaming, but Kaci didn’t seem to be able to.
By the time Cerise reached her, security was there, too.
***
“Please,” Cerise told the security officers. They were sitting in a back room, both of them in hard plastic chairs, and two security guards leaned against the desk opposite them. “She doesn’t speak. She never has. She’s not able to talk to you.”
They exchanged glances, one of them tall, one short, both with expressions that said they didn’t believe, didn’t care.
Cerise tried again. “Are we in trouble? She was just scared. She won’t do it again, but we have a-a friend to meet.”
The tall one took a clipboard off the table. “Just give me your name, miss. We’ll let you go when we finish our report.”
Cerise’s heartbeat sped up. Lie? Tell the truth? There was no way anyone had found Myles’s body already. No one ever went out to their trailer. They had no visitors.
Another security guard entered the room and handed the tall one a piece of paper, giving Cerise another moment to try to decide. She hugged a still-shaking Kaci close to her, Cerise Pekin on her tongue. She would tell the truth.
The eyebrows of the tall guard shot up and he looked at Cerise suspiciously, then handed the piece of paper he’d just received to his partner, as the new guard left the room. Cerise’s mouth went dry as the short guard eyeballed her and Kaci again, eyes narrowed.
“Cerise Pekin?” tall guard said slowly.
Cerise couldn’t answer. It was over already. They’d been caught so quickly. But how? And what would happen to Kaci now?
Chapter 12
Cerise walked dully into the foreboding jail building as a female guard held her arm and the shackles on her wrists bit into her skin, but all she could hear was Kaci’s screams as she was physically wrestled away from Cerise, hours before, when the sun still shone. Now it was dark, and bitterly cold.
