by Megan Morgan
Chapter 17
Lorena called her supervisor and made a plea for vacation time, citing that they were now between field jobs and it wouldn’t inconvenience the agency. She told some half-truths: she needed a break, her research load was small right now and wouldn’t suffer from her absence, she needed to clear her mind so she could take on more studies.
The response was hopeful, but frustrating. She could have the time off, but she would have to submit the paperwork and she had to provide two week’s notice in advance of the time she wanted. She wouldn’t be able to get back to Blue Ditch for at least three weeks.
She helped Holden pack the downstairs lab, a cold weight in her stomach like she’d swallowed a gallon of ice water. Holden fumed quietly. Dr. Winston came downstairs.
“I guess my work here is paused,” he said. “I’ve been called to a more urgent assignment.”
Lorena looked up.
“There’s some commotion down in the Carolinas,” he said. “A sudden mass Wolvite migration, it started a few days ago. They seem to be moving north, at an unusually rapid pace.”
Lorena arched an eyebrow. “Something happen in their environment?”
“Nothing readily detectable, that’s why they need me. I just wanted to let you know it’s been a pleasure working with you.”
Holden walked over to him and extended a hand. “You’ll let us know if you find any trace of the rabies? I’m going to participate in a follow-up study.”
Dr. Winston shook his hand. “It doesn’t seem that way so far, but I’ll keep you informed.”
Lorena shook his hand too. “Leaves one wondering what exactly set them off here.”
He let go of her hand. “I hope you’ll also continue to involve yourself in the research coming from here. You had some unique experiences that can add to our knowledge. I would like to try to set up that experiment you mentioned, in the future. Maybe you can help me with it.”
“Yes, I think I’ll stay interested in Blue Ditch.”
Holden rolled his eyes and turned away.
She stepped closer to Dr. Winston and lowered her voice. “I think I saw that man again today.”
He tilted his head. “Really? Please include that in the report you send me. My flight has been bumped to this evening, in the other direction. I have to get my things together and head to Lexington.”
“It was a pleasure working with you, Doctor,” Lorena said.
After he went upstairs, she resumed packing. “A lot of weird things going on with the Wolvites.”
Holden snorted. “Indeed, it’s like we don’t even know them at all. A lot of uncharacteristic behavior.”
She wasn’t sure if that was a jab at her, so she ignored it.
They finished packing the lab. Their equipment had been borrowed from an agency branch in Lexington and wouldn’t be flying back with them. They would drop it off in the morning before their flight. The samples and bodies they had on ice would remain here, until a contingent from Lexington arrived to dispose of them and ship the samples to Dr. Winston’s office in DC.
Their work, truly, was done. They just had to grab their personal belongings and be on their way.
Lorena planned to take her things with her to Deacon’s house, so she only had to stop by and pick Holden up in the morning.
“I overheard you asking for vacation time,” Holden said as she prepared to leave. “You’re really that attached to this place?”
“I haven’t had a vacation since I started at the agency. I think I’ve earned it.”
“What about your workload?”
“It’s light. Nothing that can’t wait a few weeks. I’ll be back by eight in the morning. That’ll give us plenty of time to get to Lexington and drop off the equipment before we have to catch our plane.”
“So you’re planning on leaving Chicago eventually and coming here to shack up with your new boyfriend? Take up his hillbilly ways?”
She stared at him. Holden sat on the couch with his laptop. He stared back at her, but the haughtiness in his expression slowly melted.
“Why do you do this job, Holden?” She put her hands on her hips. “I’ve worked in the same department with you for the past two years. You’re a good scientist. You’re organized, smart. Your papers are astute. But you’ve never seemed to grasp what we do at this agency isn’t just some big science project, it’s a humanitarian effort.”
“I know that. I know the agency manifesto.”
“Knowing it and living it are two different things. You don’t seem to like people, so I don’t know how you can profess to help them. You ridicule and marginalize everyone. You treat the supernatural like a concept, instead of the complex system it is.”
“I do not,” he spoke sharply. “I don’t hate people.”
“People die, Holden. And people live, because of the work we do. Victims or survivors, they’re the people you serve. Stop treating them like rats in your experiments. Yes, I give a shit about the hillbillies we helped here. Not because my job tells me to, but because I’m a decent person.”
She burned with rage, but she tried to let it go. After this, she didn’t have to be in close quarters with him again. They could avoid each other at work.
“If this is how you feel about me,” Holden spoke high and imperious, so he sounded like Hazel, “I’ll request a transfer when we get back to Chicago.”
“Best news I’ve heard all day.” She stalked out of the house.
She drove to Deacon’s place. Evening had long since fallen and the sky was deep blue edging on black, the world beneath it blanketed in shadow. Deacon had called her a half an hour before. Part of her thrilled at going to him, and part of her was sad and dreading tomorrow. She’d be returning eventually though, and maybe…maybe this was going somewhere.
She rolled her window down to let the autumn air in. Her body tingled and her mind opened, as the scent of the night and the trees and the land inundated her. This time, she focused on it.
Maybe it was time to start paying attention to her powers, too.
She pulled into Deacon’s driveway and smiled at the little house, the lights on inside, his truck in the driveway. Not quite like coming home, at least not yet, but it was a happy place.
She parked the truck and killed the engine. As she cut the lights, something caught her eye.
Someone stood next to the house.
She almost flashed the lights back on so she could see better, but didn’t, lest it scare them away. She recognized the figure. Tall, blond, wearing only a furry cloth around his hips. Her heart raced and her vision narrowed on him as her mind sharpened. His presence pulsed, something wild and feral and…angry, in pain.
She dug hastily in her bag and pulled out her gun. The stone was in her jacket pocket.
Carefully, she opened the door and slid out, her gaze locked on him. He didn’t move. She pushed the door shut behind her, but not all the way, in case she had to leap back in the truck. Holding the gun in both hands, pointed downward, she walked toward him.
Clem barked inside the house. As Lorena crossed the yard, the front door opened.
Deacon chuckled and spoke through the screen door. “Better get in here, Clem’s excited to see you.”
“It’s not me he’s barking at.” She stalked toward the figure. “Get your shotgun and come out here.”
“Lorena? What’s going on?”
If Deacon could see him, she would know she wasn’t crazy. Would he see what she saw? Could he see what she saw?
She moved to the corner of the house and stopped about ten feet away from him. He glimmered against the darkness. The fury and grief rolling off him washed over her and made her muscles tighten. His eyes reflected the porch light, burning gold.
“What are you doing here?” Lorena tightened her grip on the gun. “I see you survived last night.”
“A few of us did.” His voice dripped with venomous anger. “My kin who are left, some are wounded, some will die. They are scared, and
hiding. Mourning this great loss.”
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
The door of the house opened and slapped shut. Clem continued barking. She kept her eyes on Dafydd.
“Be careful,” she called out. “There’s a Wolvite over here.”
“Shoot it!” Deacon rushed toward her.
“It’s the one I saw in the woods.” She let go of her gun with one hand and delved in her jacket pocket. “Can you see him?”
Dafydd let out a low growl. He shrunk back in the shadows, but didn’t flee. She clutched the stone tight and the energy that thrummed across her skin intensified. Dafydd became brighter and clearer in her vision.
“Let him see you,” Lorena said. “As I see you.”
“This Lycan?” he snarled. “This killer of my kind?”
“Holy shit.” Deacon raised his gun. “What is this?”
“You can see him?” Lorena’s heart pounded. “A tall blond man?” Her energy seemed to pulse outward and push back the night.
“Yes,” Deacon said. “This is a Wolvite?”
“Somehow, yes.” Lorena stared hard at him. “This isn’t a good idea, Dafydd. If you try to attack us, you’ll die too. What do you want?”
“I want what is mine,” he snarled. “Give it back to me. You took it from me.”
“You mean—are you talking about the necklace?”
“That’s my sister’s necklace.” Deacon’s voice was rough. “Did you kill her? You bastards like to take trophies, I reckon?”
Dafydd snarled again, but didn’t advance.
“It was an accident that I took it,” Lorena said. “I’m sorry. But you can’t have it back. It belonged to Deacon’s sister. Were you the one who killed her?”
“I did not kill his sister.” His shoulders hunched, and his hands curled into thick fists. “Though he has killed my sisters, my brothers, many of my family. Lycan filth!”
“Maybe if your family didn’t try to kill us,” Deacon retorted.
“You came into our woods and killed us first.” Dafydd’s eyes blazed. “You Lycans menace us, you invade our homes. You run wild over this land and brutalize everything you touch.”
“Dafydd.” Lorena hadn’t raised her gun yet. “Listen to me. I know you’re angry, but I need to know something. Did a witch come and speak to the Wolvites, to try to keep this from happening? Was it an old woman?”
“We revere witches. Ones who do not align themselves with Lycans, at least.” He snarled at Deacon, louder, and Deacon jerked his gun at him.
“Someone told you not to hurt any witches last night,” Lorena said. “That’s why you didn’t hurt me. What witch spoke to you?”
He focused his golden, malicious gaze on her. “That command will be lifted for those witches who align themselves with Lycans, very soon. Our revenge will be terrible. This town will pay. All will pay. Lycan, human, and witch, all who do not stand with us. Your terror is coming and it will be as brutal as the years of pain and suffering you have inflicted upon us.”
“Right,” Deacon said. “Because you haven’t earned any of that. You’re the one who got revenge put on them, peckerwood.”
Dafydd sprung, so swiftly Lorena didn’t have time to react. He plowed into Deacon and knocked his gun out of his hands. Dafydd sat on top of him and growled in his face. Lorena rushed over and jammed the barrel of her gun into the back of Dafydd’s skull.
“Get off him. You sink your fangs in, I blow your head off!”
Dafydd crouched like a Wolvite, though he was still in human form. The muscles of his back rippled. “Give back what is mine. Give it to me, and I will go.”
“I don’t have it on me.” Deacon held his hands up. “It’s in the house.”
Lorena pressed the gun harder against Dafydd’s head. “I’m not taking this gun off you until you get up. Which means no one is going in the house to get it.”
Dafydd lowered his face closer to Deacon’s. “I will rip your guts out, Lycan. I will drag them all over this valley. That is my vow.”
“Get off him,” Lorena commanded. “This is your last chance.”
Dafydd withdrew and crawled off Deacon. Lorena stepped back, and kept her gun aimed at him as he slid back into the shadows next to the house. Deacon scrambled to his feet.
“Go get it.” Lorena pushed at Deacon. “Why was his sister special to you? Why do you want it back so bad?”
“She is special to me.”
Deacon grabbed up his shotgun from the grass. “You ain’t getting my sister’s necklace back, you bastard.” He leveled the gun on him.
Lorena managed to push Deacon hard enough that his shot missed, the blast making her ears ring. Dafydd bolted into the night.
“What are you doing?” Deacon yelled. “That monster just threatened me!”
“You can’t kill him, he knows things.” She gripped his arm. “Get in the house, before he comes back with more of them.”
They rushed inside. Clem was freaking out, running from room to room and barking at the windows and doors. Deacon threw his gun down in a chair and started pacing, his eyes aglow, jaw clenched. Lorena took a few deep breaths and tried to reel her power in.
“There’s some left out there.” Deacon raked his hands through his hair. “We ought to go out in the woods and take care of them tonight!”
“Didn’t you hear what he said?” She stepped in front of him and he stopped. She clutched his shirt. “He said your sister is special to him. Is. Deacon, your sister is alive.”
He stared at her. His face sagged and softened, and the anger in his eyes faded. “What?”
“She’s alive. He doesn’t want the necklace back because it’s a prize. It’s a present.”
Deacon blinked a few times.
“I think your sister is out there, somewhere in the valley.”
He took a step back. “Why do you say that?”
“Maybe this is a ‘raised by wolves’ scenario, I don’t know. But he’s fond of her, and I think he had that necklace with permission.”
Deacon paced around a few steps, then stopped.
“It’s just a guess,” she said. “Maybe we can find her.”
He looked toward the door. “We should go right now.”
“We can’t, not in the dark.” She pressed a hand to his chest. His heart hammered beneath her fingers. “And we can’t kill him, Deacon. If she’s out there, he knows where she is.”
“I should tell my family.” He sifted his hands through his hair again and wobbled on his feet. “If there’s a chance—”
“Don’t tell all of them, not yet.” She clutched his shirt again. “Don’t get their hopes up, especially your mother. But maybe you should tell Jack and Zeke, so they can help us.”
Clem continued barking in the kitchen.
“I’ll go calm him down.” She let go of Deacon’s shirt. “Get your head together. And don’t you dare walk out that door. I’m just glad you see I’m not crazy now.”
Chapter 18
“I’ve never heard of Wolvites taking a human form,” Jack said. “Or projecting one, or whatever you wanna call it. And I’d like to think I know a right smart lot about Wolvites.”
They all sat around Deacon’s living room. Jack and Zeke had come over and Deacon was still trying to process what happened, not to mention Lorena’s theory about his sister. After all these years, she could still be alive out there, somewhere. All the pain his Mama had suffered could come to an end. They could be a whole family again.
“I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it,” Deacon said. Lorena sat next to him on the couch and held his hand. “When she first told me what she saw in the woods, I wasn’t too believing.” He glanced at her. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” She squeezed his hand. “I would have felt the same. I’ve studied Wolvites for years and I’ve never heard of this. Hell, I thought I might be hallucinating.”
“He looked like a man and spoke like a man?” Zeke sat in a chai
r across from them. Jack sat on the arm of it, turned toward the window and gazing out. “What did he want?”
Deacon clenched his jaw. “A necklace.”
Zeke narrowed his eyes. Jack turned around.
“When I saw him in the woods,” Lorena said, “I accidentally pulled a necklace off him. He came back for it.”
“What sort of necklace?” Jack asked.
Deacon let go of Lorena’s hand and got to his feet. He went to the bedroom and retrieved it from the watch box he’d hidden it in. For a moment, he stared at it, tiny and sparkling in the palm of his hand. He could see in his mind’s eye his Mama putting it around his sister’s neck. He could see it bouncing against her shirt as she ran for the school bus. He heard his Mama telling her it was the same pretty blue as her eyes.
He brought the necklace out to the living room and dangled it in front of Zeke and Jack.
“What the hell?” Zeke leaned forward and peered at it. “Looks like something a little girl would wear.”
Jack leaned forward too. “Why does that look familiar?”
“It’s my sister’s necklace.” Deacon’s voice caught. “The one Mama gave her for her tenth birthday.”
Zeke sat back and his eyes popped wide. Jack opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Deacon continued holding it up, and the light made it shine.
“Chelsea?” Zeke goggled at him. “That’s hers?”
Deacon nodded. He dropped the necklace into his other hand and closed his fingers around it. “This man has gotta be the Wolvite who took her. Why else would he have it?”
“Holy shit,” Jack breathed out. “Deacon…”
“There’s more.” Lorena stood up. She placed a hand on Deacon’s arm. “I think she’s alive.”
Deacon wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s been a damn long time.” Jack frowned. “What makes you think a thing like that?”
“Because the Wolvite wanted it back,” Lorena said. “And he spoke of her. He said she’s special to him. Is special. Present tense. I think she’s out there, in the valley.”
Jack jumped to his feet. Zeke slid to the edge of the chair.
