by Mary Lindsey
“Can you do that?”
“Only if it’s with embalming fluid.” She winced at his scowl. “Sorry. Mortician humor isn’t funny, is it?”
“No.” He stared down at Moth’s ashen face. He looked so young—like a little kid. “We can’t let him die.”
“I’ve done all I can do.” She scooped up the blue towel on the tray and dumped the contents into the trash can. “I’m sorry.”
Grant and Freddie were both silent.
“He can’t die,” Rain repeated. Still no reaction from any of the three, which made him want to punch a wall. “I’m taking him to the hospital where they can give him some blood.”
“You can’t,” Grant said.
He held out his hand. “Give me your keys, Freddie.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
This couldn’t be happening. Rain had never felt this helpless in his life. “You’ll value your secrets over someone’s life? He’s gonna die.”
“We did our best,” Petra said. “And he might live.”
Grant’s voice was level and calm—the exact opposite of Rain’s. “It’s not valuing our secrets over his life. It’s valuing hundreds of lives over his. Maybe thousands, if it goes viral like it did during the witch trials in the 1600s. If you think people today won’t pick up torches and pitchforks, you’re wrong.”
Rain refused to take no for an answer on this. “Give me your keys, Freddie.”
She looked tormented—her brow furrowed and lips thin. “Even if you don’t care about the Watchers and Weavers, please consider that you’re choosing his life over mine. My life will end if he tells anyone he was attacked by wolves. If the humans don’t kill every last one of us, my pack will execute me for not stopping you.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to keep from losing his shit completely. “You guys have infiltrated every single important job around here. Why isn’t there a Watcher or Weaver doctor at the hospital?”
“There was. We buried Doctor Perkins yesterday,” Petra said. “We’re searching for a new doctor to put into place at our local hospital, but qualified Weavers with medical degrees willing to leave their home coven are hard to find.”
He couldn’t stand by and let his friend die. There had to be a way to fix this. He turned to Grant. “Can’t you use your power to make him not remember what happened or something like that?”
“No. I only have the power of influence. I can influence people to feel or not feel something. I can’t make them do stuff or forget events.”
Rain wasn’t sure about the forgetting part, but he certainly knew someone who could make people do stuff. It was risky, though. Really risky. “Chief Richter could do it.”
“What? No! She might be in on the murders,” Freddie said.
“It doesn’t matter. If she is, she knew about this anyway. Hell, she might have even called in this hit.” Rain’s fingers ached from being balled up so tight.
Grant’s eyes widened. “Yeah, and if she is in on it, she’ll have to help us out to cover her tracks. Good thinking, Ryland. Can’t do any harm. Might actually help us if she thinks we trust her.”
Petra removed her safety goggles. “Who should call her?”
“The one with the most to lose,” Freddie said.
Rain pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I only have the station number. I need her cell.”
…
Ruby patted Rain’s leg. “I’m sure Jeremiah will be okay. Good thing your friend Petra was there and able to stitch him up on the spot or he’d have died, according to the doctors.”
Chief Richter was on the phone at the far end of the ER waiting area. Freddie and Grant had left ten minutes ago to pick up some burgers to bring back.
Aunt Ruby shifted in the uncomfortable plastic chair. “We closed down the junkyard and the dog-fighting ring behind the gas station months ago. Hard to believe we missed one of the dogs, and it was still lurking around. Poor kid. He’s lucky to be alive.”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s lucky you, Freddie, Grant, and Petra were there to greet him.”
Yeah. Really lucky… Hey, Moth! Welcome to New Wurzburg. Home of your worst nightmares.
“The chief is trying to locate his parents. Evidently Brand isn’t his real last name.”
Imagine that. He wondered if Jeremiah was a fake name, too.
“Ms. Ryland?” a woman in a white coat said as she appeared through two wide, automatic doors.
“Yes.” Ruby sprang to her feet. “This is my nephew, Aaron.”
“Hi. I’m Doctor Lloyd. I’m the treating physician for Jeremiah Brand. The police chief told me you’re his temporary guardian.”
“Yes.” Ruby twisted her fingers together in front of her.
“Well, I have good news. It looks like he’s going to be okay. He’s received some blood, and all his body functions are normal. He’s still unconscious, which is probably a blessing. He’s going to be in a world of hurt when he wakes up. Since the dog wasn’t found, we started post-exposure rabies treatment. We’re waiting on some more test results, and then we’ll start another bag of blood if it’s indicated. We’d like to keep him in ICU overnight and then move him to a room tomorrow.”
Rain relaxed for the first time all night.
The doctor tucked the clipboard under her arm. “There’s no need to hang out in this uncomfortable waiting room. I have your number and will call you if anything changes. You both look like you could use some sleep.”
Sleep wasn’t going to happen. Not for Rain. Not until he handled Thomas and Kurt and found out who that black wolf was.
“I’m going to wait here for Grant and Freddie,” Rain said. “And my burger.” He knew that last part would appeal to Aunt Ruby. She had a strong tendency to mother him. “I’ll be home soon.”
She smiled, and her face transformed into sunshine. He loved it when she smiled. He wished he could bask in her smile for years and years and give her some in return to make up for the last eighteen years of unhappiness. His chest ached as if someone had taken a crowbar to his rib cage and was splitting it open. He hated this ticking time bomb that loomed over him since he’d eaten Mrs. Goff’s cookie.
He pulled her in for a hug. “Please know how grateful I am that I’ve gotten to know you.”
She pulled back and didn’t even try to hide her tears. “Freddie told me where your nickname came from, Aaron. I want you to remember something: The rain doesn’t only bring gloom and destruction; it also brings life. Without rain, the world would be desolate—like me before you came here.” Her voice broke on the last two words.
As he watched her practically run through the automatic doors at the patient drop-off, something in him crumbled. Just when life had meaning, it was going to be ripped right out from under him. He wanted to scream, Fuck the universe! but sat back down instead.
“She loves you very much.”
He hadn’t even noticed Wanda Richter sneaking up on him.
“It appears Friederike and Grant are enamored as well. You’ve even managed to infuse some life into poor little Petra.”
He gave her his best whatever look and then leaned back in his chair and stared at the fish tank across the room.
“Maybe I underestimated you, Aaron Ryland.”
He was counting on it.
“So, I’m going to tip you off to something that’s about to happen.”
That got his attention. He met her eyes and sat up.
“There have been several calls from the main office at Haven to a known rogue pack in Montana, and another in Germany. The lines are tapped, but the conversations are cryptic. All I know is whoever is in contact with these rogue Watchers is doing something this evening. He says the power will shift tonight. I’m assuming he means the power will shift from the Burkhart family. Freddie turns eighteen just after midnight, so she’ll become Alpha if she’s still alive at that time. I expect a culling has been called.”
Holy shit. Freddie had
n’t told him she turned eighteen tomorrow.
“Ah. You didn’t know. I’d assumed as much. She’s trying to shield you. She figures she’ll have more power to protect you once she’s Alpha and in control.”
“What else did you hear?”
“Not much. One of them said, ‘Kill all four.’ Not certain who those four are. Of course, Freddie is one of them. Maybe the other three living Burkharts?”
Ulrich, Merrick, and Kurt.
She dropped her cell phone in her purse. “All are at Haven. In fact, every pack member is there, which would be expected the night before the transfer of power. Most of them are in the room where we found Gerald, which is where all pack meetings are held, since that room has been warded by the coven so that they can’t shift and fight one another like the animals they are. Well, all of them are there except her cousins, who left that room and are in their cabin; Ulrich, who is oddly wandering the field where his brother died; and Friederike, who, when I last looked, was at McDonald’s. I assume the pack is conducting a meeting about her stepping up to Alpha and deciding if there will be a culling.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because despite your opinion of me, I’m not your enemy. I’d like to know who the enemies are so that my coven isn’t under constant threat of exposure and extermination.” She leaned closer. “Because with the exception of one two-year-old child, my entire family line was burned at the stake in Wurzburg, Germany, and I intend to never let that happen again at any cost.”
Even though she’d used some hocus pocus to rearrange Moth’s memory to remember an attack by a junkyard dog, there was no way he could trust this woman. “You say you aren’t my enemy, but you threatened Aunt Ruby’s life.”
“Like I said, I will protect my coven at any cost. Do you know why they call it Haven Winery? Because like us, the Watchers came here seeking a safe haven. We’ve found it, if someone from inside doesn’t screw it all up.”
Freddie and Grant entered through the sliding doors carrying bags of fast food.
Chief Richter tapped him in the chest to get his attention. “That girl must become Alpha. She must go face down the opposition tonight and win the culling if one occurs. She’s allowed to name a second to fight with her if her opponent does so. It’s why I brought you here. It’s why I lied for you to this hospital and compelled your friend to remember a dog attack, rather than a wolf attack. It’s why your aunt is alive and your father is not. This girl becoming Alpha is why you were born in the first place.”
“So, it’s all been a big game of manipulation to you. My life means nothing.”
“Aaron Ryland, right now, your life means everything. Make it count.” And without even acknowledging Freddie and Grant, she stalked out the doors of the ER.
“Oooh. What’s got her panties in a bunch?” Freddie asked.
Rain held his breath until the doors closed behind the chief with a whoosh. “Your birthday party.”
Thirty-Nine
“Look, Rain, I was going to tell you about my birthday,” Freddie said as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Grant was in the backseat, which had been wiped clean of the blood from earlier with some solvent that Petra had at the funeral home.
Rain was so furious he had to cross his arms in order to not shake. “And the culling?”
“Yeah.”
“No, you weren’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “I sure was. Just like you were going to tell me about the wolf belt.”
Grant leaned forward. “Wait! He has a wolf belt?”
“Yes.” Freddie turned onto the main road that ran through town. “Goff slipped him one.”
“Well, pull over and bite him right now, Freds.”
“What?” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at his reflection in the rearview mirror. “No, Grant. He’s not going to become one of us.”
“We need him. You need him tonight.”
She shook her head. “I highly doubt there’ll be a culling. Kurt is next in line after me, and nobody in their right mind would want that.” She slapped her hand on the steering wheel. “And even if they’re dumb enough to try to overthrow me, Rain would be so new to his skin he wouldn’t have a clue how to use it.”
“I can help in my human skin,” Rain said. “If there’s a culling tonight, I’m going.”
She made an exasperated growl. “No, I’m dropping you off at Ruby’s house. You’re going to have a piece of pie and a good night’s sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Prickles crawled up his scalp. “Don’t treat me like livestock. Chief Richter said you could have a second stand with you.”
“Oh, now you’re chummy with Wanda freaking Richter. You’re just full of surprises tonight, aren’t you?” She turned off into Rain’s neighborhood and pulled over to the side of the road with a screech of tires.
“You need me for backup,” Rain said.
“That’s what Thomas, Kurt, and Merrick are for.”
“Oh, the same Thomas and Kurt who were at that gas station tonight? And Merrick, who’s afraid of all three of you? Perfect. I suppose if things get really wild and crazy, Grant’s little sister could jump in and protect you by reading out of her fucking book until the opposition dies of boredom.”
“I might do that myself right now,” she said, faking a yawn.
Rain pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Who’s the black wolf?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Only those over eighteen are allowed to guard the Weavers on the high magic days. The only older wolf I’ve seen in his skin is Uncle Ulrich, and he’s almost silver. It could be anyone.”
“Whoever it is has an agenda,” Rain said.
Grant leaned forward from the backseat. “What agenda would be forwarded by killing your friend?”
“Maybe it’s a distraction to shake me up and take me out of play for the culling tonight,” Rain said.
Grant leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “It would also send a clear message to the Weavers that the pack is out of control.”
Freddie gave Grant a glare. “It’s not.”
“Your cousins are. And every Weaver in the coven is going to demand they be euthanized after what happened tonight,” Grant said.
“No,” Rain said, slamming a fist on the dash. “It’s not their fault.”
Grant’s voice remained level, but his body tensed. “Why do you even give a shit?”
“Because it’s my pack, too.”
Freddie growled.
Rain twisted in his seat to face Grant more fully. “I know the black wolf made them do it. People do things they’d never do when they’re backed into a corner. I got Moth out of a gang that had him knocking down old ladies in grocery store parking lots and stealing their purses. He would never in a million years do that on his own.” When Grant’s only response was a lift of a blond eyebrow, his fingers curled into fists.
“It’s not your pack. You’re not a part of this,” Freddie said.
“Really? I’m not a part of it? Besides the fact that there have been two murders, my aunt has been threatened repeatedly, and someone just tried to kill my friend, I’m supposed to walk away? Would you do that, Freddie—just walk away?”
She let out a long breath before replying. “No.”
“But I’m supposed to.” Rain knew he’d scored a point when Grant and Freddie winced. “I wanna know how the black wolf and the boys knew Moth was coming to town.”
“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Freddie said. “Maybe you should ask your friend the chief. She would have known because she has Ruby’s phone tapped.”
A minivan turned into the neighborhood and pulled into a driveway halfway up the block.
“I knew your friend was coming.” Grant cleared his throat and shifted position in the backseat. “Aunt Wanda was at our house last week when Moth called Ruby. She had the call on speaker on her phone. He got her number from the judge who sent you here.”
Rain cou
ldn’t believe these people. “Who all heard that call?”
He shrugged and ran a hand through his curly hair. “My whole family. Mom, Dad, Brigitte. But, look. No one would have told a Watcher. Chief Richter and my parents are elders in the coven. All information is shared among us. It’s not shared with Watchers.” When Rain’s eyes narrowed, Grant continued. “But clearly this was.”
“Weavers consider us a lesser species,” Freddie said, not even bothering to hide her hostility toward Grant. “We don’t socialize with them, but we’re forced to deal with Wanda Richter. It had to be her. I bet she’s behind this whole mess. She certainly knew my dad’s death was murder, and she covered it up.”
“Grant socializes with the pack,” Rain said. “He talks to your cousins all the time. Even teams up with them to drug people.”
Grant’s fists balled in his lap. “Look, Ryland, if you’re accusing me of having your friend jumped, you’re way off. I’m one of the good guys.”
“Funny, Chief Richter said the exact same thing less than an hour ago.”
For a long time, they glared at each other. Rain was pretty sure Grant wasn’t involved in Moth’s attack, but he probably had a good idea who was behind it. Muscles bunching, readying for an attack, Rain almost hoped Grant would make a move and lunge at him from the backseat. A fight would feel good right now.
“Put the testosterone away, asshats,” Freddie said, turning the key. The Explorer hummed to life. “If you beat each other up now, you’ll be worn out if there’s a culling, Sprinkles. And I might need you.”
Rain and Grant exchanged surprised looks.
She sighed and put the car in gear. Without another word, she U-turned, just like she had in her decision to include Rain, and headed out of Ruby’s subdivision, turning on the highway in the direction of Haven Winery.
After a few minutes, Rain broke the silence. “What happens at a culling?”
“A weak Alpha is removed from leadership if the opposition is successful,” Freddie said.
“But it might not happen. We haven’t had one in three turnovers. It’s been peaceful for well over a century,” Grant added. “Though, in Freddie’s case, there’s been a lot of voiced opposition. Not from the coven but from her pack.”
