Diego. Was that the old friend of his?
Finn cleared his throat. “I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. Now, I’m going to get my shoulder looked at to make sure Ronnie didn’t scoop out half the muscle, and then I’m going to lie down before my meeting with the Council. If I’m gonna get my ass chewed out, I’d like to be rested enough to appreciate it.”
I watched him walk away, and noticed that his left arm hung by his side, not fully functional yet, and I briefly wondered if I might have caused permanent damage.
“Don’t worry,” Ezra said, startling me. “Finn will heal perfectly; he always does. It’s a gift werewolves have. They’re practically unstoppable unless they get shot or stabbed in the heart. Anything else and their adrenaline keeps them up and going until they can heal, and then they beat the crap out of you for hurting them.”
“How much trouble is he in?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it too much. Finn did what had to be done, and the Council will understand that. The only thing he’ll probably get reprimanded for is not taking care of Diego when he had the chance.”
“He had me to take care of. He never would have won a fight with another werewolf. Finn did the right thing by running instead of fighting, and the Council can’t yell at him for that.”
“The Council can do whatever it wants,” Ezra said. “That’s why they’re the Council. They’re some of the most powerful of our kind, and they were elected to head this area for that reason.”
“Wait, this area? Are there more Council’s like this one out there?”
Ezra and Tanya stared at me. “Um, yeah,” she said. “Of course there are. Why wouldn’t there be? Is the world governed by one person? Of course not. The supernatural community has one top Council, followed by several smaller ones that have power state by state. This state’s Council has no power in the next state over, and never will. That’s how our government works.”
I sighed. “Great. There’s even more stuff I still don’t know about the supernatural world. Awesome.”
Tanya gently patted me on the back. “Don’t worry about it, Ronnie. People that grow up on the outside of our world just need time to adjust to their surroundings. In time, you’ll come to understand our rules, and how things are done. Once everything calms down a little, Ezra and I can give you a crash course.”
“Thanks you guys,” I said. “I don’t suppose the two of you know when the Council’s going to meet and debrief me? I’d like to get something to eat first. It’s been a while. Plus, I haven’t showered or slept in a decent bed since before I was taken.”
“Why don’t you go back to your room and take a shower and I’ll bring you some food. Then you might have time for a nap before the meeting,” Tanya said.
She left to find some food, and I headed through the halls until I found my room. When I stepped foot inside, I was surprised to find all of my clothes strewn around the room in disarray. They were piled up on the bed and across the floor, and sitting on the pile at the foot of the bed was a small yellowish cat with white-tipped feet.
“Two Socks!”
He jumped immediately into my arms, and I held him as close as I could without squeezing the life from him. His slender frame was even thinner than usual, and I wondered if he’d stopped eating because he was worried about me, or if he was just unable to take care of himself now that I’d done it for him.
“I went back to your place and brought some of your things back,” Finn said from the doorway. “As I was leaving, this little rat dug its nails into my leg and wouldn’t let me go without him. I figured he missed you, so I brought him with me.”
Two Socks jumped back to the bed and, without thinking about it, I threw my arms around Finn’s waist and hugged him. His entire body tensed, but he didn’t back away from me or push me away. I felt kind of weird about hugging him, especially since I knew it probably annoyed him, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Finn had known that I missed Two Socks, and he went and got him for me. It was just a cat and a pile of clothes, but to me it felt more special than that. After a second, he cleared his throat and I pulled away, aware that my entire face burned with embarrassment. I was surprised to see his cheeks were slightly red, and when I pulled away, he shuffled his feet nervously.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, looking away. Now that I had already embarrassed myself, I felt incredibly stupid for hugging Finn. All he did was bring me my cat, and I reacted like a raving lunatic by throwing myself at him and putting my arms around him. He probably thought I was nuts.
“It was nothing,” he mumbled, looking almost as embarrassed as I felt.
Without another word, he turned and left me alone in the room. I felt stupid, embarrassed, and just a little ashamed that I’d acted that way with Finn. Even though he saved me from horrible plans, he’d still been a jerk to me before then, and I wasn’t sure if his feelings toward me had changed at all. For all I knew, he could still really dislike me, and think that I was stupid.
I closed the door behind Finn, grabbed a towel from the dresser, and headed down to the communal bathroom to shower. The room was small, with only six shower stalls with curtains, and three cubicle bathroom stalls. The first two showers were occupied, and I turned on the hot water in the one farthest away from the door. I hadn’t showered in close to a week, and I couldn’t wait to wash the dirt and the grime off of me.
The hot water felt amazing as I stepped into the shower, and I let it roll off my back in waves, taking stress and dirt with it. I leaned against the wall and watched the dirt swirl around the drain before disappearing from view. I scrubbed my scalp clean, making sure to dig all the dirt away, and then I washed every last inch of my body until I was spotless.
I lingered in the hot water for a few more minutes, well after the other girls had left, and the rush of cold air I felt when I finally stepped out had bumps rising along my arms. Wrapped in a towel, I dried myself off before sliding into clean clothes for the first time in days. It felt so great to be clean, dry, and in new clothing that I almost did a dance in the middle of the girl’s shower room.
But my stomach began to growl ravenously at me, and I grabbed my dirty clothes and wet towel, and I walked back to my room. When the door closed behind me, I was unsurprised to see Tanya sitting on the edge of my bed with Two Socks in her lap. She stroked him from head to tail, and without looking at me, she nodded her head to the dresser in the corner. “The food is still warm and it’s all for you. Help yourself.”
I fell on the food like a rabid animal, devouring it in moments. Tanya absently stroked Two Socks while she watched me with a look of awe on her face. Like all of the food at the Compound, it wasn’t particularly great, but after days of nothing to eat, it tasted like the most wonderful thing I’d ever had.
“Can you even taste it?”
“Of course, I’m just not savoring it. I’ll do that later. Right now getting food in my stomach is more important than enjoying it.”
“You’re gonna make yourself sick, Ronnie.” She was looking at me with a mixture of concern and shock. “Slow down or you’ll just throw it back up later. Then you’ll have to eat again.”
I didn’t slow down; I couldn’t. “I haven’t eaten in days, Tanya. Do you know what that’s like? It felt like my stomach was caving in on itself. My mouth was bone dry, and I couldn’t sleep because of some seriously intense stomach cramps. I felt like I was dying. I’m too happy to see food right not to slow down.”
She watched me eat in silence for a few more minutes. When I had finally polished off the entire tray of food, she handed me a bottle full of cold water, and I started to chug. I knew I probably should have slowed down and not rushed, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d had a bit to drink before my shower, and I’d kept it down, so I didn’t see a problem with chugging this. My stomach startled to growl again, and I silently prayed that Tanya wasn’t right, and that I wouldn’t be throwing it all back up an hour from now
.
“The Council has scheduled a meeting for tonight. They want to debrief you. I’m sure they’re concerned about the effects Andrew’s presence might have had on you.”
“They think I went over to the dark side?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I guess it’s a possibility. We know what Andrew’s plans for you are, and we have to make sure those plans haven’t been started yet. And you’re the only person that can tell us what we need to know.”
I sighed. “Well, if the Council wants to meet with me tonight, I’m going to get a nap in before then. I feel like I haven’t slept in a week.”
“You probably haven’t. I’ll leave you alone then.” When she got to the door she paused. “I don’t suppose I could steal this precious little guy?” she asked, holding Two Socks closer. “He’s really adorable.” Two Socks jumped from her arms and landed nimbly on the bed beside me. “I guess that’s a no,” she said with a laugh. “Get some rest for now, and I’ll see you later.”
The second the door was closed, Two Socks climbed up to my pillow and curled into a ball. He rested his tail across my arm, and with him beside me, I fell asleep in no time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Veronica Parker, what can you tell this Council that Finnley hasn’t already?”
Marcel Trent looked down at me from his place in the center of the table high above my head. Lisa Valentine was on one side, peering at me through her thin-rimmed glasses with her cold eyes that showed she clearly didn’t trust me. On Marcel’s other side was Kevin Boyle, an ancient vampire that looked as bored with life as Holly. Briefly, I wondered if all vampires felt that way after a certain amount of time.
I remembered that he’d asked me a question, and I stood up a bit straighter. A hot shower, a decent meal, and a short nap had transformed me into the girl I was before I left, and I felt strong enough to talk about what happened with Andrew. So, I took a deep breath, and started from the moment I woke up.
I told them about Andrew’s first visit, and the tea and biscuits, and how Andrew revealed his plans to me. I told them about being drugged for two days, and of his test in the library. As I talked, I noticed a look of concern on their faces that grew as the minutes wore by. Kevin looked the most worried of the three, and I could see the gears turning in his mind. He was obviously thinking about what a threat I was. I could tell because of his tense body language and the hardness in his eyes. He wanted me gone. Away from anyone he might care about or be elected to protect.
When I finished my report with Finn’s miraculous escape, Marcel leaned forward with interest. “The two of you left Andrew at the bottom of the stairs. Are you sure he is not dead?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Finn said we didn’t have time to kill him, not if we wanted to get out of there alive.”
“He should have done it,” Kevin said, eyeing me with distaste. “The two of you should have risked it. Now a very powerful necromancer is still alive and well. Well enough to harm us, and the world. Leaving him alive was a serious error on your parts.”
“Back off,” Finn growled. I looked over my shoulder and noticed him leaning against the back wall. How long had he been standing there? Had he heard all the positive things I’d said about him? “I had a choice between saving Ronnie and killing Andrew, and I think I chose right. We’ll have another shot at killing him.”
“You’re letting your feelings for this girl affect your judgment,” Kevin said with a frown.
“I don’t have any feelings for her. I was thinking rationally. Something you’re apparently incapable of doing at the moment.”
“How dare you–”
“If I tried and failed to kill Andrew, who had hired goons swarming his place, then I’d be dead and he would still have Ronnie in his dungeons. What purpose would that serve? Yes, Andrew is still alive, but I’ve taken back his powerful weapon. Without her, his plans have no chance of succeeding. I made a quick decision. Deal with it,” he snarled, clenching his hands at his sides.
Finn and Kevin stared each other down for an entire moment. Finn’s pale blue eyes glowed fiercely even in the brightly lit room, and Kevin’s dark eyes burned crimson in color. The two powerful supernatural beings refused to look away from one another, and I tensed up along with the other Council members. Marcel was the head of this Council, but he obviously wasn’t as old or powerful as Kevin was.
“Kevin, I believe that Finnley made the right call, even if he did make it for the wrong reasons,” Lisa said, startling everyone. “We don’t know if he could have even taken Andrew, especially with all of his hired guns. At least this way his plans have been delayed, giving us time to come up with a plan of our own.” Lisa peered through her thin-rimmed glasses at Finn, who was trembling from anger. “I understand that your friendship with this girl may not have been the only deciding factor of yours. Do not let your anger at your former pack mates allow you to do something stupid.”
Finn looked down at the green and white tiled floor beneath his feet.
Kevin spoke next. “We should kill her,” he said bluntly.
“What?” Finn exploded. “I just risked my life to bring her back, and you wanna kill her? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Finn!” I gasped. “Don’t antagonize them.” I didn’t know much about how the supernatural councils worked, but I didn’t want to risk Finn getting reprimanded, or banished, or even worse, just because he chose to speak against them on my behalf.
I put my hand on Finn’s shoulder, and the angry trembling stopped. He gave one final shudder, before turning his head away from me and shrugging my hand off. “Don’t touch me again.”
It looks like the amazing rescuer that I started to bond with last night is long gone, and we’re back to arrogant jerk that hates me.
“Killing her could be disastrous,” Lisa said. “She already died once, and look at what it did to her. If she dies again and he found a way to bring her back, there’s no telling what her power could amount to. No, at least for now, it will be safer to keep her here and alive.” She looked at me. “You will continue your training with Annie. Do not disappoint us. You’re excused.”
*****
Annie had me jump right back into my training. From the moment I met her in the morgue, she had me practicing to raise one animal at a time. After I told her about raising the two dogs that allowed Finn and I to escape, she said that I should have no problems raising just one at a time now.
And she was right.
After only an hour in the morgue, I was able to raise anything that Annie threw at me. A dove, a bird, or a rat, it didn’t really matter. Two Socks watched the reanimated rats with interest, but he didn’t leave his spot on the table between me and Annie. When he started to rub against her arm, I finally remembered to ask her something.
“Annie, why do cats always follow me? Is that a necromancer thing? Or am I just a freak?”
She smiled and scratched behind Two Socks’ ear. “It is partly a necromancer thing. Most people don’t know this, but cats sometimes represent death. Of all the creatures on this planet, only cats and ravens can see the dead. They are drawn to us because of our shared affinity for death.”
“So do they also follow you around?”
She nodded. “A few of them. Not as many as you have, though. I’ve seen them following you down to the cafeteria and back. The more powerful the necromancer, the more cats they have around them. When you were with Andrew, did you notice any cats following him around?”
I thought back to my short time with Andrew. The only time I was really with him was when we had tea and biscuits, and when we were in the library together. I didn’t remember seeing any cats around the place. “No, I don’t think he has any.”
She didn’t look surprised. “Well, I should have suspected that. Cats are incredibly intelligent when it comes to death and power. They’ll know that Andrew is unstable and power-hungry. They tend to stay away from those kinds of people.”
“Annie,
why is this so much easier for me now? Before Andrew took me, I could never have raised just one at a time. Now all of a sudden I’m great at it. What gives?”
“I think being in that near-death situation might have jumpstarted your control. Deadly experiences tend to do that to us. Now that you have your questions out of the way, I sense something else is still bothering you. What is it, Ronnie? You can tell me anything.”
I sighed and looked down. “You promise not to tell anyone? Because I’m not sure if this is something I really feel, or if it’s just because of the things that have happened lately.”
“Ah, I see,” she said, sitting back and smiling. “This is about Finn.”
I winced. “Yeah, it is. I think I have feelings for him,” I said with a quiet sigh. “I don’t understand how it happened. He was so mean to me when we first met; I honestly thought he might have been a serial killer or something–” Annie laughed. “and it’s not healthy to like someone like that. And he hasn’t really done anything to change my mind since then.
“He’s been rude to me, and kept me at arm’s length. He even said something really cruel to me just because he thought I might like him. What kind of person does that to someone? I thought he was so angry and so mean and so unlikable. But now I’m not so sure.”
“What made you change your mind?”
I paused, thinking about his strong arms around me, and how he could have left me with Andrew’s goon and saved himself. But he hadn’t. He’d gotten shot during my rescue, and he’d still staggered on with me, losing blood along the way.
“He saved me. He was shot in the process, but he saved me, when nobody else even tried. And after patching him up, he and I spent some time talking. He started to tell me about his life before he came here, and I told him about mine, and I thought we were starting to bond. But I guess I was wrong.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Finn is so strong, and brave, and handsome, and I think he could be a caring person. But he’s so cold and standoffish. Plus he’s been with so many girls that it actually sickens me a little. Tanya told me that once werewolves find the one, they settle down and stop sleeping with anything that has a pulse, but I don’t know if I could believe that.
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