The young man shook his head, overlong hair falling into his face. “Not gonna happen. With what I described to them based off of Kess’ pictures, there was no way to get it done in the time frame I gave them. The drying and various other things they had to do to the carcass wouldn’t allow it to be done in time, no matter the money involved.”
“So what? Magic?” Finn didn’t like where this was heading.
Rafe shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like Occam’s razor.”
Finn raised a brow. “I’m not entirely sure what shaving has to do with this…”
The young man rolled his eyes. “I’ll try and use small words. Occam’s razor is the idea that when you’ve eliminated all of the other possibilities, the one remaining—no matter how improbable or impossible—must be the correct one.”
“Oh. I thought it was that guy with the cat and the box.” Finn grinned. “I never knew that’s what that idea was called.”
“Yeah. And the guy with the cat in the box is Schrödinger.”
“Look at you with your giant freakish brain under that mop of hair.” Finn knew what Schrödinger’s cat was; he just liked tweaking Rafe as often as possible. He hadn’t fallen asleep in all of his theory classes. Just most of them.
“Ha freaking ha.” the werehyena frowned.
Finn leaned back in his chair. “So a magical taxidermist then?” He shrugged. “I’ve probably heard of weirder things, I just can’t think of any right now.”
“It might not be that at all. It could be something we haven’t thought of yet.”
“You tell Kess about this?”
Rafe shook his head. “Not yet. I’ve got a couple of online sites I want to check first. But it’s not looking like we’re going to eliminate anything this way. We’ve still got nothing on how Lukas operates or where he’s hunted before.”
“It was worth a shot,” Finn said, trying not to sound too much like a cheerleader. “You helped figure out what it isn’t.” He met Rafe’s eyes. “Now we have to figure out what it is.”
“And if anyone else knows about us.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Laila dialed her parents’ number. This was not the call she ever thought she’d make, but someone had to tell them about Mebis, and that someone was her. There was no one else.
It rang three times before her mother picked up the line. “Laila?” Her mother’s voice was warm and soothing over the phone. More than anything, her mother’s voice would always be home, no matter how old Laila got or where she went.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep her voice steady. She would be strong and deal with this like a Keeper would. “Hi Mom. Is Dad home yet?”
“Is everything alright?” Now her mother’s voice held concern.
No, everything was most definitely NOT alright. Laila tried to put her mother off. “I just really need to talk to you and Dad. Can you get him on the other extension?”
Her mother didn’t say anything. Laila waited while her mother went to fetch her father. After a few moments, both of them were on the line. Her father’s mellow voice was as calm as ever. “What is it, Laila?” he asked.
She took a breath. There was only one way that she knew to deliver such bad news. “Mebis is dead.”
Laila heard the swift intake of breath from her mother. Her father was quiet for a few minutes. Then he asked, “How?” There was a deep pain in his voice, but no tears.
“There’s a hunter in Miami and he’s targeting weres.” It was easier if she only thought about her brother’s death logically and from a distance. Laila was afraid if she thought too much about it, the grief of losing her brother would overwhelm her before she could avenge him.
“Are you certain?” This from her mother.
“The hunter had him in a trophy room. I saw him myself.”
“Wait,” her father interrupted, before her mother could speak again. “What do you mean, trophy room?”
Laila closed her eyes, recalling Lukas Jaegar’s stuffed werebeast collection. “This hunter—he kills weres when they’re in their animal forms and then has them stuffed.”
She heard her mother wail and hang up the line. But her father was still there. “Tell me everything.” His voice was hard—the voice of a Keeper. It made Laila feel better.
Laila told him everything about her foray into the trophy room and the strange encounter with Lukas’ manservant, Zamiel. She told him about the missing werehyenas and Rafe’s hunt for the taxidermist. The only thing she couldn’t tell him was the how of it: how Mebis had been killed. But she would find out.
“Zamiel?” her father asked. “Are you sure that was his name?”
“Uh huh,” she said, nodding. “Why, do you recognize the name?”
“Perhaps.” Her father sounded distracted.
“Don’t worry,” Laila assured her father when she had finished filling him in, “The hunter is mine. Mebis will be granted a proper burial as befits a Keeper.”
“Laila,” her father said, a note of warning in his voice.
She cut him off. “And Kess will also be punished. She’s not fit to hold Miami.” Laila conveniently forgot all of Finn’s logical reasons for not going after Kess in favor of having someone to blame. There would be a reckoning.
“Laila!” His shout startled her into silence. “I want you to come home.”
“What?!” She took the phone away from her ear, unsure if she’d heard him right. “I can’t come home. I’ve got work to do here.”
“This is not for you to decide,” he told her, his words coming out in a rush. “I will meet with the Keepers and they will decide the best course. You are a new initiate. It is not your place to take this into your own hands.”
“Not my place?” She was stunned. Was her father trying to keep her out of this? Why? “Mebis was my brother—he was family!”
“And further, Kess’ performance is not to be judged by you. That too will be discussed by the council. You’re job is to come home and be with your family.”
“But Dad!” She couldn’t believe this was happening. What was wrong with everybody?
“I’m serious, Laila.” He paused, then his voice softened. “We need you here. Your mother and I, we need you.” She thought she heard his voice break a little there at the end.
Laila didn’t say anything, still trying to process her father’s words. She never expected him to call her home, not now. Not after Mebis.
When she didn’t speak, her father said sadly, “I need to see to your mother. Call me later and let me know when to expect you. I love you, Laila.”
“Love you too, Dad.” She waited for him to hang up, chewing her lip. When he did, she disconnected, taking her phone slowly away from her ear.
She had no intention of going home, at least not before she had put Lukas Jaegar down and recovered her brother’s body. Her father and the Keepers would just have to wait. Vengeance had to come first. Anubis required it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Finn stepped inside the gym. It wasn’t the fancy, state of the art kind that he was expecting, although he shouldn’t have been surprised in this part of Miami. This was the old kind of gym that you only saw in the movies now—the kind where there was a bunch of dumbbells and barbells and heavy bags hanging around the perimeter, and a ring in the center of the room.
Laila was in that ring, currently pounding on some poor, unfortunate man who outweighed her by at least fifty pounds and had over four inches on her. He wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing—it certainly wasn’t boxing and it looked to involve a lot of knees and elbows. He’d tracked her down in order to talk to her, but now he just stood back and watched.
“She’s tearing that boy up,” an older Hispanic man observed as he leaned against the wall next to Finn. “Ramon is our best fighter.” He shook his head.
Ordinarily Finn would have grinned with pride. He loved hearing how much of a badass his girlfriend was—it was a point of pride for him. But as h
e watched Laila’s movements, she didn’t seem to be fighting like she usually did. She was fighting sloppy; the only reason she was winning was because she was, skill-wise, head and shoulders above the man she was fighting.
“Where’d she learn to fight like that? Little thing like her?”
Finn answered slowly, his eyes still on the fight. “It’s a family thing.” That was the simplest explanation and also the safest. He moved over to the side of the ring to wait for the fight to be over.
The young man she was fighting hit the mat. Laila stepped back as the young man got to his feet. He waved his hands, spitting out his mouth guard. “No mas.”
Laila nodded. “Gracias,” she said around her own mouth guard so it came out garbled.
Finn hopped up on the apron and ducked through the ropes. “Nice bout,” he said. “What was that?”
Laila walked back to her corner and snatched a towel from the ropes. She spat out her mouth guard into a cup and wiped her face. “Muy Thai,” came her muffled reply.
“Gesundheit.” Finn smiled at her. At her sour look, he sobered. “I thought your folks wanted you to head home.”
Laila stretched, ignoring his statement. “Laila,” Finn began, but Laila slashed her arm to silence him. He went still and waited.
After a few minutes, Laila spoke. “I’m not going home. Not yet.”
“Okay.” Finn waited for the rest. He knew there was more just as sure as he knew his last name was McNeil.
“Mebis is dead.” Laila’s voice was flat, a shocking departure from her usual animation. Finn knew she was hurting, but she had made no move for comfort and he always tried to wait for her cues, but he felt out of his depth in this situation. He had no idea how to make things better. “I’m not going home without his body.”
“How do you propose to get it?” He wasn’t trying to be a smartass, he really did want to know what her plan was.
Her smile was slow, deadly, and it didn’t reach her eyes. Finn had to fight not to take a step back. “How do you think, Finn?”
“You need to listen to your parents, Laila.” Finn couldn’t believe he was actually backing the parentals, but in this case, he thought that was the safest course for everyone involved.
She stood and stared at Finn, her eyes narrowed. “Not this time.” She began to gather up her things. “Stay out of it Finn.”
“I can’t do that. You know that.” He hated to see her hurting, but it wasn’t just about him or her or even Mebis. There was a bigger issue at stake in Miami.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t, Finn. Just don’t.”
“Laila,” Finn began, trying to get through to her, “this goes beyond you and your vengeance. We’ve got a threat to all weres. You can’t just go in half-cocked and risk letting him get away. Let Kess handle it.”
Laila dropped her things, spinning on Finn. “Kess? Kess!” Her voice rose as she advanced on Finn who took a step back. “I should let Kess handle it? Are you kidding me? She’s the one who got him killed!”
“Come on, Laila, you can’t really think…”
“She was supposed to keep him safe, Finn. That’s why he’d been assigned here. He was on her council—one of her advisors. And she couldn’t protect him from an outside threat. And you just expect me to think that she could handle bringing in this hunter?” She tossed her head. “Please!”
Finn stepped closer to Laila, unwilling to let her go on. “How come you’re only blaming Kess, Laila?” He met her eyes. “We’re a council—that means all of us are responsible for making decisions. Why aren’t you mad at me or Rafe? Why aren’t you mad at Mebis?”
She swung at him, but he saw it coming. He leaned out of the way, catching her fist in his hand. Laila swung again; he caught that one too. “I don’t want to fight you,” he warned.
In response, Laila tried to headbutt him, but he was too tall. Finn let her go, pushing her away from him. “And if I want to fight you?” she breathed, centering herself. Finn knew the signs—Laila wanted to unleash.
Finn shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll get an epic ass-kicking.” He stood up straight, arms at his sides. “So?”
Laila raised her hands into a guard position, her eyes on Finn. He didn’t move, just stood still. When he made no move to attack or defend after several minutes had passed, Laila growled in frustration and vaulted out of the ring.
Finn didn’t follow after her; just watched her leave. “That went well,” he said to no one in particular.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kess looked up from the book she was reading as Cormac walked into the library. He was followed by Rafe, and then Finn, who closed the door behind him. Cormac was conveying greetings from his sister, Lenore, to Rafe. “She can’t wait to see you ,” Cormac was saying to the werehyena. “And she says you should call her more.” He paused, lips pursed. “She also told me to give you a hug, but that I am NOT doing.”
Rafe managed an embarrassed smile. It would be mortifying to have your long distance girlfriend’s overprotective older brother give you a message. “Thanks. I’ll call her tonight.”
“See that you do.” Cormac waggled his eyebrows over Rafe’s shoulder so that only Kess could see.
Kess raised an eyebrow at seeing all of them gathered in her space. That usually signaled something big. “What’s happened?” she asked, closing the book over her finger to keep her place.
Finn sat down heavily in one of the wingback chairs. “Laila’s gone off the reservation.” He put his head in his hands.
Kess leaned forward, looking at each of them in turn. They all suddenly looked so incredibly serious, as if this was the end of the world. She didn’t understand the concern. Laila had never been anyone Kess thought they could rely on—she was too much of a wild card. And now with Mebis dead, she was positively unhinged as far as Kess was concerned.
“And?” She tried not to sound flip, but she had larger problems than one werejackal’s vengeance kick, even if said werejackal was a Keeper of Divine Order.
Finn lifted his head long enough to give her a significant look. “Maybe you didn’t hear me. Laila’s in the wind.”
Rafe stepped around Finn’s chair to settle in one of his own. “That’s not the only thing wrong,” he began. “The remaining hyenas are getting anxious. They want to know what’s being done about this hunter who’s taken two of them—that we know of—so far.”
Kess nodded. It wasn’t unexpected. She would need to act fast if she had any hope of keeping the hyena’s trust in her council’s abilities. Otherwise, they might think now was a good time to rebel and try to overtake her. She chewed on her bottom lip in frustration. Running a clan sure did suck.
“So let me sum up. Problem one: Laila. We’ve got a rogue Keeper running around with no idea of what she intends on doing from one minute to the next.” She paused, waiting to see if anyone wanted to add anything to her assessment. When no one did, she continued. “Problem two: werehyenas want a resolution to the hunter problem before they decide to either leave or rebel. Which segues us nicely into problem number three: the hunter. We need to figure out a way to get rid of him without anyone else getting killed.” She looked at Rafe and Finn. “Did I miss anything?”
“The Keepers themselves,” Cormac added, his voice thoughtful. Kess looked at him curiously, waving for him to continue. “Kess, when you first took Miami, the Keepers were more concerned about whether you could hold the territory. Mebis was even assigned here to keep watch.” He stopped, as though he was searching for the right words. But Kess understood what he was getting at. “We have to assume that they are still watching, Mebis or no Mebis.”
Kess nodded. She hadn’t forgotten about them, much as she might wish to. And she remembered their threat from the Samara days: if she couldn’t hold Miami, they would eliminate her and find someone who could. She suppressed a shudder.
Rafe broke in. “They’ll be watching even closer now because of Mebis.” He turned to Kess. “They’re going to want t
o see how you handle it, right? I mean, how the council handles it.”
“Exactly,” Kess answered, her voice tight with tension. It almost hurt to speak. “This is the first real test of our boundaries, and of the rules that we put in place. They’d be watching closely, even without Mebis’ death.”
“What do we know about this hunter?” Cormac asked. He was the only one who hadn’t been at any of the initial strategy meetings. “Is he a were?”
“I thought he might be, at first anyway,” Kess said. “But now I don’t think so. I think he’s human.”
“Okay,” Cormac replied, nodding to himself. “Just a human then.”
“Not just any human,” Finn reminded them. “This guy took out a full blown Keeper. He’s not just an anything.”
“Not necessarily,” Rafe said, his long fingers drumming on the arm of his chair. “Mebis was in jackal form, right?” He looked at Kess for confirmation. When she nodded, he continued. “He couldn’t use guns or any of his martial arts training in that form. I remember some of the planning from the night you guys fought the hyenas, and I thought he said he and Laila were more deadly in human form.” Kess noted that Rafe carefully avoided any mention of his mother or sister.
Finn leaned forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on his knees. “That’s right.” Finn’s eyes hardened. “He had to be hunted and killed in jackal form, so he wouldn’t have been able to use most of his skills.”
Kess stood up and began to pace. “But even in jackal form, Mebis still had a human brain. Granted, the animal instincts rise to the forefront, but he could still think. And why couldn’t he just change into a human?”
Cormac answered. “Remember when Sek had me in the woods?” Kess and Finn both nodded. “He had me in a choke collar. I wouldn’t have been able to transform without strangling myself. Maybe this hunter had Mebis in something similar so he couldn’t change.” He stopped suddenly, like he’d just thought of something. “That makes sense, especially if he’s interested in keeping his kills as trophies. He’d have to kill them in animal form—if they could change back into human form, he could be accused of murder.”
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