“So right now is the strongest the Dark Source has been in a thousand years?” Kyle hoped he was making sense of what Athena was saying.
“Yes,” she replied.
“And if the Dark Child ultimately wins, our Source will be drained dry?” he checked.
“Yes,” she said again, “and if that happens…” a darkness flickered through her eyes, “the Veil falls. Demons will be free to cross the void en masse. Our world will become theirs; the world as we know it will be at an end.”
“Where is this Patrium Nocte?” Trish asked, her voice just barely above a whisper.
“Its location is not recorded, at least not so far as we have been able to find.”
“Does it have something to do with Flora’s abduction?” Kyle asked, trying to fit the pieces together.
“We can’t be sure, but it is possible that someone thinks she would be able to pinpoint its exact location. Vodun has a strong connection with the darker forms of magic. They may force her to seek it out for them.”
The door to the admin office slammed open, and Murphy strode out, looking concerned. They all flinched, turning to look at him. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the door to the grunt room opened, and Steve hurried out, looking as vexed as Murphy. He glanced back into the grunt room before closing the door firmly on the staff inside.
“You saw the same alert?” Murphy asked him. He was clutching a printout in his right hand.
“What’s going on?” Trish demanded, rising from her seat.
“Security protocol alert,” Murphy said, his expression grim. “Steve’s work on Deshane’s financials has pinged on data collected from another investigation.”
“What other investigation?” Kyle asked, already knowing it wasn’t good news.
“The one on Riley’s uncle,” Murphy told them, his lips a thin line as the tattoo across one cheek writhed beneath the clenching of his jaw. “There have been payment transactions between the bank account of a shell corporation linked to Deshane and a carefully hidden offshore account linked to Chase Sanders.”
All eyes turned to the closed door of the grunt room where Riley was working.
CHAPTER 14
“I swear I am not a mole,” Riley Sanders told them firmly. “Nothing I’ve told you since I came to you at your Haven is a lie.” She wore a fierce expression and looked Kyle dead in the eye as she spoke the words. “I don’t know how to explain the payments, but I swear that Uncle Chase is not in league with anyone, let alone the kind of people who perform evil magic. I can scent a lie, and I promise you he isn’t involved in this kidnapping plot. If he’s done anything to help them, he’s been duped into it and doesn’t understand what they were planning.”
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Kyle was finding it hard not to believe her.
She was back in the handcuffs. She hadn’t fought them when they called her out and slapped the cuffs back on her at CenOps. She hadn’t argued with them on the trip to the Estate. When they told her that they knew she was in collusion with Deshane, she’d just looked confused. She was angry now, but the anger didn’t seem to be directed at them.
The same could not be said for Gabi. Controlled fury rolled off his friend as she paced the short length of the recovery room at Julius’s estate. It was a soft name for a threefold reinforced underground bunker that was essentially a prison cell for Werewolves who overstepped their boundaries or young Vampires who succumbed to the red rage. Or those who needed to be interrogated.
“I can call your wolf.” Gabi had stopped pacing and stood with her arms folded and eyes flashing warningly. “I can force you to Change, and I can get the information we need from her.” Gabi spoke from between gritted teeth, her voice lowered an octave. “Maybe not the details, but she’ll tell me if you’ve betrayed us. Wolves aren’t nearly as good as humans at maintaining deception.”
The young Werewolf sitting chained to the steel chair scarcely looked like the confident woman who’d sat on the other side of Kyle’s conference table just a few days ago. She’d had almost as little sleep as the rest of them, and her exhaustion was almost tangible. Gabi’s words clearly hit her, her heart beat rising and her pupils dilating slightly. Was it the thought of Changing into wolf form or the knowledge that her wolf would give up her true intentions? Then Kyle remembered her statement that she’d never been in wolf form before. If that was true, then she probably did fear a forced Change.
But it could all be a lie. A lie told to ingratiate herself into the Pack, get close to them and glean vital inside information. Under almost any other circumstances, Kyle could feel sorry for her, some kind of compassion, but not when Flora’s life was on the line.
Riley sucked in her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She was bracing herself for something. “If that’s what it takes for you to believe me, then do it,” she told Gabi, opening her eyes. “Force the Change; let my wolf out. I won’t fight it.”
Kyle sensed Gabi’s surprise echo his own. They glanced at each other, holding a silent conversation; was she just testing them? Assuming that if she made the offer, they’d backtrack? Or did she think Gabi couldn’t actually do it, that they were bluffing? Perhaps she thought her wolf would be able to overpower them and she’d escape. Gabi lifted one eyebrow in question. She was right, there was only one way to know for sure. He nodded agreement and they turned their attention back to Riley.
She watched them with an expressionless mask, but genuine fear glittered in the depths of her eyes.
They unlocked the chains keeping her in the chair and removed the handcuffs. It might seem like a risk, and Kyle knew Butch and Derek, watching on the CCTV cameras, would be cursing them around about now, but he’d seen Gabi control wolves for years. This one wasn’t going to give her any trouble.
The younger woman’s very real fear had even penetrated Gabi’s angry shell. There was no rancour in her voice when she spoke again. “You’ll want to take off your clothing. I can call for a blanket so you can cover yourself until—”
“Never mind,” Riley said brusquely. “I don’t have a problem with nudity.” She stripped quickly, leaving her clothing and shoes in an untidy heap on the chair, and stood to face Gabi again, her arms at her sides, her hands in tight fists.
“I’ll do it as smoothly as possible,” Gabi told her. “Try not to fight me.”
Riley swallowed. “You’ll…you’ll bring me back, right? I’m not going to get stuck as a…as a…” Her voice broke and her knuckles turned white.
“Yes, I swear, if you can’t do it yourself, we will help you Change back,” Gabi promised. “Just trust us when the time comes.”
“It’s alright.” Kyle couldn’t help but try to reassure her. “You’ll be fine.”
Riley nodded jerkily and closed her eyes, a person awaiting execution. Gabi looked over at him, and he nodded.
He imagined he could feel the energy in the air, an invisible pull, a heaviness. His wolf emerged from the recesses of his mind, curious and a little uneasy. He relaxed as soon as he understood what was happening but stayed close. Riley might not be one of his, but his Alpha strength could still be useful if this experiment turned to crap.
Riley leaned forward, breathing heavily through clenched teeth. Sweat dotted her forehead as her head tilted up, her eyes unseeing. Slowly she collapsed onto all fours, her hands flat on the bare concrete floor, her spine arching unnaturally. Then her head dropped forward, her hair falling over her face, and a harsh growl tore from her throat.
Next to him, Gabi’s breathing grew laboured. He spared her a glance. Her jaw was set, her eyes fixed on Riley, her hands raised in front of herself. He’d seen her force the Change many times, but mostly it was in the heat of battle or in self-defence; in those times she’d had them writhing on the ground in seconds, their bodies convulsing into wolf form in a matter of moments, leaving them in exhausted agony. She’d never done it to him, but he could imagine that it was something akin to being turned inside out. This
time she was trying to do it gently, coaxing the wolf into being in a similar way to the natural Change. Better for Riley, far harder for Gabi.
Riley curled into a foetal position, panting as small whimpers escaped. Her arms and legs were already lengthening, contorting, her shoulders hunching, fingernails turning to claws.
It seemed to take an interminable amount of time, even longer than the first time Trish Changed, but at last a fully formed wolf lay on the ground in front of them, growling very quietly. She was larger than any of the other females Kyle had seen, as big as many of the males, her colouring a remarkable mix of cinnamon, cream and fawn. She was quite breathtaking.
“Wow,” Gabi said quietly, once again channelling his own sentiments.
The wolf opened citrine eyes and stared at them, without moving. Kyle held his breath, allowing his wolf to move even closer, near enough to the surface of his consciousness that he knew his eyes would be changing colour. His world narrowed down to the animal on the ground before him, alert to the faintest movement, the slightest twitch. If she chose to attack, he could Change quickly enough to meet her, but he didn’t want Gabi in the blast zone if it came to a fight. Gabi was tough, but she wasn’t invincible. Or immortal.
The wolf lay quiet, her eyes roving the room as though seeing it for the first time. Gabi moved a step closer to Kyle, and he understood immediately that she needed time to regroup and recover before she conversed with Riley’s wolf. This Change had taken more out of her than she expected, but she wouldn’t show weakness in front of the wolf.
Kyle stepped forward and pulled the chair away from Riley, as though making room for the wolf, but he thrust it closer to Gabi. She turned it and used the back as support, keeping her movements casual and calm.
“You’re safe. No one will hurt you,” Kyle told the wolf as he put himself between her and Gabi.
The wolf finally moved, lifting her head to look him in the eyes. His wolf responded, surging forward, ready to demand her submission. But as their eyes met, he stopped in what Kyle could only describe as mid-stride, almost as though one of his paws was still in the air, such was the shock that rocked him.
Recognition.
Not of her personally, but of what she was.
They were the same. His wolf knew it instantly.
They were the same.
“Kyle. Wolf.” Gabi’s low, urgent voice brought him back to himself. “What’s going on?”
He released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and looked back. She had one hand raised in the direction of the CCTV camera, warning them to stand down, but tension tightened her jaw.
“She’s…” He cleared his throat and tried again. “She wasn’t lying about being born a Werewolf. She’s definitely like me.”
As they spoke, the wolf rose slowly to her feet. He watched her closely despite not sensing any aggression or ill feelings. She was unsteady and slightly uncoordinated as she adjusted to standing on all fours, her tail swinging to and fro as she learned about a new kind of balance. Her mouth opened, her tongue lolling out with a small panting breath, and she visibly shied backwards in surprise, snapping her mouth shut and catching her tongue between her sharp front teeth. Her shocked yip of pain nearly brought a burst of laughter, but he bit it back.
“Just take it easy,” he suggested. “It takes a while to adjust.” He’d seen a handful of first-Changers in his time, mostly they were desperate, aggressive and out of control, the human side of them almost entirely gone and the wolf wholly in control. In this case Riley was far more present, she truly was a human forced into wolf form, and she was understandably confused.
Gabi joined him, her body almost close enough to touch his. “I can feel the similarities. She has control the same way you do,” she said softly. “She’s also dominant, an Alpha wolf. I doubt she’ll submit to you.”
“Can you read her?” Kyle asked.
“As long as she doesn’t fight me.” Gabi’s right hand clenched unconsciously, her version of a nervous tic, needing her safety blanket, if you could call Nex a safety blanket.
“She’ll only fight you if she has something to hide,” Kyle said, knowing that the wolf understood everything they were saying, even though she seemed more interested in testing out her new body.
Gabi drew in a breath and took a step forward, reaching out with one hand. The wolf stepped closer to her, its eyes intent but its posture relaxed. Kyle tensed but didn’t move.
“Why are you here?” Gabi asked aloud, though Kyle knew she was only doing it for the benefit of those watching on. Her communication with animals took place in silence; the intent of her query and the answering sentiment felt as emotions and occasional flashes of imagery. “Did you come to cause us trouble?”
The wolf’s tail stilled, and her head tilted to one side, reminding Kyle of a puppy hearing a new sound. She was clearly astonished, and intrigued, by Gabi’s form of communication. Her mouth opened and her tongue reappeared; this time it didn’t startle her. Her gaze flicked over to Kyle and then back to Gabi, who nodded and rolled her shoulders a little as the tension drained out of her.
She put a hand to the back of her neck, as she too looked over at Kyle, and he knew they had their answer. Riley was not here to betray them; she had nothing to do with Flora’s disappearance. Conflicting emotions flooded Kyle. He was immensely relieved that Riley was on the level with them, but at the same time, they had lost the one lead they thought they had on Flora.
He paced away from Gabi and the wolf, thrusting his hands into his hair as he tried to walk off the frustration. The wolf whuffed softly.
“She would like to stay wolf for a little while,” Gabi translated. “She…regrets…that she hasn’t done this before.”
Kyle shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that. Derek can help her shift back if I have to go.”
Gabi looked at the wolf and pursed her lips. “She can go out in the grove behind the security block. It’ll be more interesting than this bare cell.”
“Derek and Butch can stay with her,” he agreed.
Gabi turned to the wolf, her eyes narrowing. “Have you got enough control? There are guards across the estate, they all carry silver darts, and trust me when I say you don’t want to be hit with one.”
The wolf lowered her head in a submissive nod.
They closed the door while they checked in with Derek and Butch.
“So it’s just the uncle who’s in league with the Vodun?” Derek asked as they crammed into the small control room.
“It seems that way, but let’s get the facts first,” Kyle said. “We might need to pay him a visit.”
“Just keep Riley away from her phone. We don’t want him forewarned,” Gabi cautioned the other men. “Oh, and don’t let her go after any of the squirrels.” She passed a tired hand over her eyes and then turned back to Kyle. “I just want to look in on Sicarius, and then we can get to Haven and see if Jade is awake.”
He nodded, quickly tapping out a text to Trish to tell her the news about Riley as he followed Gabi down a narrow flight of stairs to another section of the confinement block. This was where they housed the newly Turned. It wasn’t used very often, only once since Mac that Kyle knew of. An accidental Turning of a Feeder from a neighbouring city. Turning ones Feeders was considered very bad form in the Vampire community unless it was part of their original agreement, so those that did were sanctioned, and the newly Turned Vampire was placed with another Clan so that Masters didn’t think it was an easy route to increasing their Clan numbers.
The chamber was dark and cool. A dark-haired female Werewolf sat at a small desk in a tiny alcove outside the two specialized cells. A phone, a monitor and a logbook lay on the desk. Kyle recognised her as being from the Black River Pack. Julius and the Black River Pack had been working together since he first took over leadership of the City, and he still employed many of them for duties in and around the estate as well as at his various businesses. She rose with a respectful nod to bot
h Kyle and Gabi.
“How is he doing, Tabitha?” Gabi asked, keeping her voice low.
“He’s over the worst, I think,” she told them. “The injuries are beginning to heal. The doc was in just before sunrise. He was happy with the progress.” She checked the logbook.
Gabi released a pent-up breath. “Good…that’s good,” she said. “Is there a note in the logbook to call me as soon as anything changes?” By changes, she meant once his heart restarted and he rose for the first time, no longer human. He would remain clinically dead until the Vampire prions outnumbered the human antibodies. Once that happened, he would wake and he would be hungry. Very, very hungry.
“Yes, of course,” Tabitha confirmed. “You’ll be the first to hear. Quentin is on duty from sunset.”
Gabi seemed pleased. Usually Fergus was the one responsible for the newly Turned, but Quentin was a long-standing member of the Clan. He would be here to see that Sicarius got his first meal of bagged human blood. After that they could only hope he would be lucid enough to give them some information. Gabi walked over to a small electronic panel next to one of the shiny metal doors and tapped on it. The screen above it instantly flared to life. The infrared camera showed the man inside lying sprawled across a thick mattress on the bare, tiled surface of the floor. He was unnaturally still. His white T-shirt and loose-fitting pants were darkened by sweat and bloodstains. Gabi nodded to herself, as satisfied as she could be.
Emerging into the sunlight was almost painful; the midday light too bright for comfort.
“Let me grab a change of clothes from the main house. I’ll meet you at the car,” Gabi told him. “Call Trish and get her to meet us at Haven. Maybe we can tie her down and make her rest.” She grinned lopsidedly and disappeared down a pathway.
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