“Right after my cousin died. He was a couple of years older than me. And when I told my family, my dad said it was just a nightmare. When I insisted it wasn’t, they told me not to talk about it ever again. So I figured, it must be something bad. Seeing the dead isn’t a regular occurrence for most people.”
“True. But it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. Until you believe that, you’re always going to feel alone.”
“Yeah, I tried to find people like me, but most of them aren’t, I guess.” She paused. “Bill was using me, wasn’t he?”
“Probably.”
“I didn’t realize he couldn’t actually see them until the Paula thing last night,” she explained. “When he would see ghosts I didn’t, I assumed it was because I really didn’t have any psychic powers at all. I thought maybe it was all a fluke and I’ve been scared to death most of the time.”
Jinx thought of Rogue, how his twin helped him from being scared all the goddamned time and knew how lucky he’d been to grow up with someone who had similar powers. Normally, Rogue would be next to him on a job like this—or at the very least, Vice would be since he could often spot ghosts. You weren’t supposed to do jobs like this alone, and even though Rogue couldn’t see what Jinx did and vice-versa, they both knew enough to keep the other out of major trouble.
Now, dammit, they hadn’t found a way to help Rogue yet, and so Jinx spent his time dealing with this kind of stuff.
“You look sad,” Marley said, handing him a beer.
He took it but didn’t drink just yet. “Just thinking about my brother. He’s . . . hurt.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He’s going to be fine,” he said fiercely, wondering which one of them he was trying to convince more.
“My cousin, the one who died, was my best friend. We were the same age. He came to live with my family for a while when his parents were divorcing and he wanted nothing to do with either of them.”
“How did he die?”
“Car accident. He was going too fast.” She shook her head. “He was really screwed up. Wouldn’t let me help him. I knew he had a death wish, and even though I know it’s not my fault, I feel completely responsible.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’ve tried everything to help my brother but it’s not working. But I won’t give up.”
Marley put a hand on his shoulder and for once he didn’t mind the human touch. “Don’t you think, helping the way we are, helps us just as much as the ghosts?”
“I have no doubt about that.” Jinx took a long drink of the beer and looked up at the sky. “We do the best we can, you know? That’s all anyone can ask.”
“If there are more out there, and I can see ghosts, can I learn to spot others?”
Jinx shrugged. “In time, maybe, if you make it your life’s work. But if helping ghosts is your true ability, you’ve got to focus on that. You won’t be able not to do it. You won’t be terrified forever.”
“I’m that transparent, huh?” She gave him a wan smile.
“You’re new,” he said. “You’ve been avoiding your abilities for years. But you can help Paula. You have to or she’s not going to leave you alone.”
Marley paled at that. “I didn’t want this ability. I didn’t ask for it. I mean, do you actually like being able to communicate with ghosts?”
“I try not to worry about shit I can’t control, but I’ve had a lot more time to accept it than you.” Jinx scanned the darkness as the hairs on the back of his neck stood and his Brother Wolf gave off a low growl inside his head.
No sign of a ghost, so that could only mean . . . “Marley, inside now!”
He practically carried her in, shutting the heavy back door behind him. It would be no match for a Were.
Then again, neither was the window the Were plunged through.
Cain waited in the woods until the cameramen went home and then grabbed the tape from Cyd and drove it back to the Dire mansion.
It was nearly four in the morning and Vice was just coming in from the back door, still naked as Cain came up the stairs from the garage, his prize in hand.
“Smells like human fear,” Cain told Vice when he handed him the tape and Vice concurred immediately. It was an unmistakable scent, but if Bill had just seen a Were shift before touching the tape, he had every right to be shitting his pants.
Now, in the Dires’ den, Vice pulled on his pants as Stray popped the CD in and the picture came up on the fifty-two-inch screen. In living color.
The woods. Night. A Were none of them recognized in human form and Paula. Jinx had texted them a picture of her earlier.
“That’s the dead girl,” Stray pointed out.
“Then that’s Kyle,” Cain confirmed.
“Definitely them,” Vice murmured. She was a pretty girl. And they definitely looked fated.
“That’s by the school . . . whoa,” Stray said as the Were started taking off his clothes. Paula followed and then there were just two naked bodies on the screen. Kyle drew her in for a deep kiss.
“Wereporn!” Vice shouted. “Wait, with a human? Christ.”
“Whoa,” the three called out in unison.
“We should not be watching this,” Cain told them. “This is a private moment and they have no clue they were being taped.”
“That’s what they all say,” Vice said. “Have you never seen the Pam and Tommy Lee tape?”
“Gotta see this through,” Stray muttered. “Gotta see how it ends.”
“Hopefully for Kyle it ends well,” Vice commented.
After fast forwarding through the tender sex, they heard Paula telling Kyle it was okay. And then Kyle shifted, during which time the camera focused completely on him and the Dires watched the Were none of them knew transform lightning fast from human to wolf form.
“Fuck me—what was he thinking?” Vice muttered.
“He wasn’t,” Cain said.
“Human pussy—I just don’t get it,” Vice said.
“No, you don’t,” Cain said and ducked before Vice could cuff the back of his neck.
“Could if I wanted,” Vice said. “But I’m not that stupid.”
“Paula didn’t tape this,” Stray said. “And it’s not a hidden camera—it’s being handheld—you can tell by the way the picture’s not always steady.”
“But she knew Kyle was a Were. Wolves and humans should not mix,” Vice said firmly.
They all knew, apart from living on a desert island, there was very little they could do to avoid human contact. All the Dires could do was move around so no one would notice they didn’t age, but any kind of deeper or sexual relationship between wolf and human was to be avoided at any cost.
“The Weres don’t learn their lessons,” Stray said.
Once the shift was complete, the scene went wide again and Kyle the Were loped over to Paula and nudged her.
He howled literally at the moon, and then wolf and human began to walk farther into the woods, with Paula fully dressed and carrying Kyle’s clothing.
“And that’s where it ends,” Stray said. “It makes sense that Bill made the tape. He knows he’s got gold.”
“So what, he’s in love with Paula. He confronts her, tells her what he taped. Maybe he says, do what I say and I won’t show anyone the tape?” Vice conjectured.
“And if she tells Bill that she loves the wolf and not him . . .” Stray drifted off.
“Bill tried to frame Kyle. If Bill couldn’t have her, no one could,” Cain finished. “Fuck, that’s harsh. And now he’s going to profit from the murder.”
“Not if we can help it,” Vice said darkly.
Chapter Twelve
Jinx’s Brother Wolf knew the Were was coming seconds before Jinx did. It gave him enough time to shove Marley out
of the way and face the window himself, the broken glass flying all around him.
Brother Wolf ached to fight and shift and Jinx tensed for battle. He was so glad Bill wasn’t here to see this.
Although Marley’s first instinct was to press herself to the wall, Jinx grabbed the camera off the desk without turning around and smashed it before she could think about filming anything. Hopefully, it would show the Were he wasn’t interested in being part of any kind of video.
Jinx took a step backward and the Were remained in place. A quick look toward Marley and he noted she was shaking. In shock.
The Were looked between him and Marley and advanced slightly. Whether it knew it was in front of a Dire or not, it didn’t seem to care. Maybe it figured it would save them the trouble of killing the humans who could out them all.
Jinx faced the Were down, bared his teeth with his back to Marley, blocking her view.
You don’t want to do this, his Brother Wolf reasoned with the Were. I will fucking rip your throat out.
That last part was thrown in just in case the Were didn’t like reason. Which it appeared he didn’t because there was blood on his muzzle. Jinx scented more than just the Were in front of him—he smelled Cyd and Sam mixed with the blood scent and his heart nearly stopped.
If he hurt Cyd . . . fuck.
Kyle, come on . . . this can’t end well.
Kyle growled.
I won’t let you past me.
But the Were was too far gone. Jinx knew it, yelled for Marley to get the hell out of there, barely waited for the door to close before he prepared to lunge at the Were, planned on pinning him to the ground.
All it would take was a firm grip on either side of the Were’s head to break its neck. Even in human form, a Were was no match for a Dire.
But before Jinx could do anything, Cyd jumped through the window behind the Were and relief washed over Jinx. He’d shifted and he easily took down the feral wolf—hard, fast. Effectively and cleanly, the way he’d been taught.
Kyle’s eyes barely registered surprise, or anything at all.
He wanted to die, Brother Wolf said, and Cyd had obliged.
“Shift back,” he told Cyd quietly, touched the fur on the Were’s back and in a few seconds, a naked Cyd stood before him, both surveying the dead wolf.
The Were was dead. The threat of exposure wasn’t.
“Marley, stay in the kitchen—don’t come out until I tell you to,” Jinx called to her and got a small whimper in response. Then he hugged the young wolf briefly. “Fuck, I thought . . .” He didn’t finish his sentence.
“I thought you’d be pissed. Sam’s dead,” Cyd said flatly. “I was helping him and Kyle got past me.”
“It’s okay, kid.” Jinx gave his shoulder a small shake. “It’s hard scenting this close to the full moon.”
“Fuck.” Cyd had a heavy burden as an alpha. If he couldn’t get past his moon craze, the Dires had an obligation to put him down. Jinx had no intention of doing so, and the fact that Cyd was able to pull himself together and help Jinx proved Jinx’s instinct with Cyd was right.
“Stop. Just do better next time.” Jinx gave him a light push and Cyd gathered up the Were in his arms. “Go put the bodies in the truck. We’ll bring them to their pack to deal with.”
Cyd nodded his thanks and ran swiftly in human form with the body toward the woods. He’d shift as soon as he could, in order to hide the grief of not being able to help a fellow Were.
Jinx had told the kid many times before that some weren’t able to be saved, that some weren’t worth it, but Cyd would have to come to that conclusion all on his own.
Now, he quickly changed out of his old clothes and into new ones swiftly, washed up in case there was any telltale blood on him, more for Marley’s sake than his own, and stared at himself in the mirror above the bathroom sink.
The good thing was that they were now in possession of the real tape—and Vice texted him exactly what happened on it. They all knew there couldn’t be just a single copy. Bill Sumner was too smart for that.
According to Stray and Vice, this was one hell of a love triangle. Vice told them that Paula and Kyle had been, in his words, hot as anything together.
“He shifted for her—she asked him to,” Stray explained. “But she didn’t know anyone was watching.”
“Dude, it’s like X-rated,” Vice interjected. “Except they used the L word. A lot.”
Jinx laughed a little for the first time in what felt like days as Vice continued. “What if Paula set Kyle up? She and Bill had a thing, figured Paula could seduce Kyle, Bill would get it on tape. And maybe Bill wanted to cut Paula out of the deal, so he killed her.”
“But according to Sam, Paula wanted to mate with the Were. I get that they’re not as well developed instinctually, but could this human have been good enough to fool an entire pack?” Jinx didn’t think so. “I think Bill’s the killer—and I know how to get him to admit it.”
“Keep us posted,” Vice said before they cut the line. Jinx made a quick call to Rifter and then dealt with Marley, who was going nowhere fast.
Rifter saw the emergency text from Jinx and gladly excused himself from Bill. The man didn’t really need him anyway, was simply repeating the same things over and over again, scribbling down the different offers on a paper napkin.
Rifter had eaten four burgers and that many orders of fries and was working on his third milkshake. “What’s up, Jinx?”
“Kyle’s dead.”
“You killed him?”
“He was gone, Rift. There was nothing left but feral beast,” Jinx told. “It was like suicide by Were.”
Rifter paused. “Cyd killed him defending you, then?”
Jinx didn’t deny it and Rifter continued. “He was looking for Bill, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, because he didn’t give Marley a second glance and she was right there. Confirms what we’ve been thinking—she’s innocent.”
“She might be, but she saw Kyle in wolf form. What are you going to do about that?”
“I have a plan. Just give me a little more time.”
Rifter glanced over at Bill. “Not a problem—he’s still babbling about the TV offers.”
“One more thing—check your email—there’s a download of the tape and an email with Vice and Stray’s theories,” Jinx said. “Right now, I’m thinking they’re one hundred percent correct.”
Rifter hung up and watched the download as everything fell into place. For a long moment, he stared into space, trying to figure out the next step in the plan. And once it came to him, Brother Wolf howled in agreement.
He went back and sat across from Bill. “Someone tried to break into the PNR Center. Marley’s safe and Jinx took care of it before he got very far, but the guy got away.”
“Dammit. I’ve got to check on the tape,” Bill said, starting to stand. Rifter didn’t try to stop him. “Did the break-in happen on the first floor?”
“Yes. No one got upstairs,” Rifter reassured him. “Actually, Jinx thinks it’s just teenagers drawn in by all the publicity.” They got into the van and drove in silence for a few minutes, until he said, “I think I know what your next step should be.”
“What’s that?” Bill asked absently.
“Why don’t you have a séance and contact Paula? You could film it as the pilot for your show. Bring more to the table—and get more money,” Rifter said, and Bill stared at him.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Maybe she’ll tell you who killed her,” Rifter said.
“Maybe,” Bill said.
“Stranger things have happened,” Rifter murmured.
“I don’t see why we still have to do this,” Vice grumbled.
“Rifter said so. And Cyd and Cain are hel
ping Rifter deal with the dead Were,” Stray reminded him. “We have to plant this tape soon.”
“Explain why we’re involved in a human soap opera?” Vice asked as he held up the wolf suit.
“Because we’ve got a rogue wolf and the possibility of being outed,” Stray told him. “Now get shifted and I’ll dress you and film.”
“Why do I have to shift?”
“Because it has to look semi realistic and it’ll be better if you’re on four legs in the suit,” Stray said patiently.
“I’d much rather do that. This is ridiculous,” Vice muttered.
“You can’t work the camera,” Stray pointed out.
“I’m old fashioned. I prefer radio,” Vice sniffed.
“You’re just fucking old,” Stray told him. “Can you just do it the way we practiced?”
“Okay, fine.” Vice reluctantly pulled the wolf suit on. Cyd found it at a costume store in town and it was close enough in color to what Bill had described. From far enough away, with Vice’s natural gait, it would be semi-real. On closer inspection, it would be easy to see it was a fake.
Vice let his Brother Wolf out, who was cursing him in fluent growl.
Dude, I will so make this up to you, Vice promised, but Brother Wolf barely let Stray put the costume on him.
Smells like human, Brother Wolf told him. You will so pay.
“I always do,” he told his wolf. “I always do.”
Chapter Thirteen
When he was sure he’d covered all the bases, Jinx finally called for Marley to come out of the kitchen.
“You’re safe,” he assured her as her head peeked out. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was still breathing fast. The fact that she’d been in shock was helpful—she probably hadn’t realized how much time had passed.
Granted, only twenty minutes had gone by since the Were broke through the window. Felt more like forever, Jinx mused as he swept the broken glass up and tossed it into the trash. “I’ll need some heavy duty garbage bags for tonight. I’ll have it replaced first thing in the morning.”
“What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, the fear still there but mixed with anger. “You can’t just act like nothing happened. I saw the wolf. It looked just like the one on the tape.”
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