Fragile Brilliance (Shifters & Seers)

by Blackwell, Tammy

  On the other hand, it was his dad, and no matter what had happened in the past, nothing could change that. Charlie wanted to hate him, but he didn’t. He knew the pain of being lost and all alone in this world. It hurt so much he’d chosen to not feel anything at all rather than suffer through it. He knew the anger that ate away at you until it was all you knew. In many ways, he and his father were alike. It always terrified Charlie. He worried one day he would become his father, giving into to those urges to lash out and destroy. That fear had as big of a role in suppressing his coyote as the pain and suffering.

  Charlie knew his dad hadn’t been there to help him when he was in the gutter, but the point of being a good person was basing your decisions on what was right, not what you thought the other person deserved. His gramma had taught him that. “If you’re always being the better man, one day you’ll find you’re the best sort of man,” she’d told him when he was younger and constantly getting into fights with Toby and Jase.

  “Where have you been staying?” he asked his father, his mind made up.

  His dad blinked, obviously surprised by the question. “One of the barns on the east edge of the farm. It used to be the main horse barn, where they kept the geldings. It has an apartment.”

  Charlie knew exactly what those barn apartments looked like, and hole in the wall didn’t even begin to cover it.

  “We’ve got plenty of rooms in the main house.”

  His dad did a deep breath and nose grip thing again and Charlie found himself working just as hard at fighting the stinging in his eyes.

  “You shouldn’t forgive me,” his father said once he was able.

  “And I don’t,” Charlie replied. “But I’m willing to work on getting there.”

  Chapter 31

  “You’re not a lawyer.”

  Scout leaned back in the hard metal chair, looking for all the world like she sat around in interrogation rooms on a regular basis. “And here I was thinking you were stupid,” she said, her eyes roaming over Reid’s gray pajama-style attire which had been accessorized with two matching silver bracelets.

  “We have nothing to say to you,” Davin spat at her, his face twisted into a sneer that might have been intimidating if it had been aimed at anyone other than the Alpha Female.

  “Good.” Charlie’s voice was still raspy from getting a lung full of fire, but instead of making him sound weak, it added a rugged, I’ve-seen-a-lot-of-shit-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale edge. He was growing quite fond of it. “I don’t want to listen to your whiney-assed voices anyway.”

  Reid’s lower lip quivered, and her eyes darted around the room so quickly it seemed impossible she was actually seeing anything. “You can’t be here,” she said, her chest, her heart galloping like Secretariat in the final leg of the Kentucky Derby. “My lawyer will hear about this. You’ll get into lots of trouble.”

  “Seriously?” Scout laughed. “I’m going to be in trouble? What is your lawyer going to do? Put me in time out?” She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “I’m the Alpha Female. What exactly do you think you or any other human can do to me?”

  Reid visibly paled, but Davin just ground his teeth together.

  “I think it’s time you two had a seat,” said Liam, who was leaned back against the wall next to the two-way mirror where several members of the Alpha Pack taking in the day’s entertainment sat.

  Reid immediately dropped into one of the chairs. Her boyfriend lasted about two seconds longer.

  Liam’s crossed arms were resting on his broad chest and one foot was propped on the wall, but instead of looking casual like he thought, he looked like a wolf lulling his prey into complacency before devouring them, which Charlie supposed was a fairly accurate assessment.

  The Alpha Pack’s inner-circle was together when the local news said the two prime suspects in the Sanders College fire were arrested. A chorus of curses filled the air, and then, because he couldn’t do anything else, Charlie picked up the TV and threw it into the giant stone fireplace taking up most of the den.

  Getting into the jail was an even harder task than they’d imagined. Liam pulled every single string the Alpha Pack could get their hands on just to get a few minutes alone with the psychos. It wasn’t much, but it was what they had, and so they were going to make it count.

  “Davin, you should know we’ve informed your father of the exact nature of your crimes,” Scout said, moving things forward as quickly as possible.

  “My father? Why the hell would he care? He’s just some guy my mother whored around with nineteen years ago.”

  “Fair enough.” Once they knew who was behind everything, Joshua ran a thorough background check. He’d discovered Davin Simonds was the non-biological son of Kevin Simonds, member of the Simonds Pack in North Dakota. Simonds had three sons, but only two were listed at the Archives, because only two Changed during the full moon. Davin, who was the middle son, was discovered to be the product of his wife’s affair when he didn’t start Changing as a teenager. “How about I reword that,” Scout said. “We informed the Simonds Pack of your crimes against the Alpha Pack. They have removed all associations with you, including financial support for your defense. I believe it may be time to talk with someone about a public defender.”

  Charlie had to give him credit. He didn’t show any emotion at the words, even though they had to hurt. It was bad enough finding out your dad isn’t really your dad, but to have the man who raised you turn his back on you would be like a punch to the gut, and Scout knew it. She’d been there, turned out by a pack she considered family, once before. For Scout, things had turned out okay in the end. Charlie didn’t think Davin would be so lucky.

  “You know, Davin, I get why you’re here.” Scout seemed to think about that and then clarified. “I don’t understand why you think killing people and messing up their bodies is okay. I think that’s probably a sign that you have a severe mental illness. But I understand how you got messed up in Shifter stuff. I understand you not liking us. What I don’t get,” she said, turning her attention to Reid, “is why you’re here. We’ve checked everything everywhere. You have zero ties to our world. What did we ever do to you?”

  It wasn’t a rhetorical question. Before Scout and Liam took over the Alpha Pack some bad stuff had gone down. The new Alphas were trying to right those wrongs, but it was hard to undo hundreds of years of evil.

  Reid met Scout’s eyes, her sneer making her plain face all kinds of ugly. “You think you’re so special. You think just because you can turn into a wolf or coyote or whatever that you’re better than the rest of us. Well, you’re not. You’re nothing but a freak, and you deserve to die. You all deserve to die.”

  “Why?” Charlie asked, even though he was supposed to stay silent during this interrogation. The only reason he was in the room was because he’d sat down in the chair reserved for Talley and refused to move.

  “Why do we deserve to die? Because we’re different? Because we have something you can’t buy? Because we’re special, and you’re not?” He sounded calm and reasonable, but it was just because he’d been calm and reasonable for so long he knew how to fake it. But he wasn’t that calm and reasonable guy anymore. The coyote was back, and it was pissed. Soon Reid and Davin would realize just how scary and evil a Shifter could be. “Was this like a reverse Incredibles plot? When no one is special then everyone can be?”

  Reid’s face blazed red, and Charlie thought it was more from embarrassment than the anger she was trying to project. “This is about doing God’s work. It’s about sending you demons back to hell!” By the end she was practically screaming. Her neck was veiny from the effort.

  Charlie snorted. “I’ve got twenty-five bucks in my pocket that says you’ve never even touched a Bible.”

  Reid’s skin tone crossed from red to purple.

  “You are evil. God hates you.”

  “And you’re a spoiled brat who is willing to kill people out of jealously. The entire world hates you. Ev
en Davin probably hates you. He just put up with you because you could get him access to hundreds of thousands of security codes. How long were you dating before he started questioning you about your daddy’s business? A month? I’m betting it wasn’t even that long. Two weeks, tops.”

  Reid screeched and grabbed onto the table with her bound hands. She tried to flip it, but since this was an interrogation room, it didn’t work. The thing was bolted to the floor for such occasions. When that plan failed, she went into a full on temper tantrum. She kicked out and thrashed around, the whole time making some horrible racket which was somewhere between screaming and crying. She didn’t stop until Liam walked around the table and stood over her. He didn’t do anything but stand there and look at her, but she finally put a lid on it and stopped her Linda Blair impersonation.

  “Well, good. We’ve got all that settled,” Scout said once the room was quiet again. “Motive has been established, unless you have something to add, Davin?”

  Davin acted like he hadn’t even heard her.

  “Great. The next step is proving you did it.” Looking like a complete badass city cop, Scout grabbed a small bag off the floor and threw it on the middle of the table. “We found this in Reid’s room. It took him a couple of hours, but Liam matched every single one of those scents to the ones left at the crime scenes. And then we went to Davin’s room.” Scout shook her head, confused as to how someone could be so stupid. “Here’s the thing. If you’re going to kill someone and leave a hit list with the body in the form of a classic painting, you might want to get rid of your murder weapon and all the practice paintings you did. Don’t just leave them sitting around your dorm room.”

  They weren’t investigators, and they certainly weren’t in the room legally, but they’d gone in, because it seemed like something they should do. No one had expected to find anything, but then they opened the door and realized they hadn’t needed Joshua’s forty-five minute lecture on how to find and collect evidence.

  Davin had somehow managed to nab a single-occupancy room. A room he covered with photos of the Alpha Pack, copies of Luca Giordano’s The Fall of the Rebel Angels (both the original version and various interpretations of the one still hanging in the gym), and a collection of knives and metalworking tools.

  “I think it’s safe to say we have some fairly compelling evidence, but since any of this stuff could have been planted, we’ve got one last nail in the coffin that is the not guilty plea I’m sure you would have entered if I’d given you a chance.”

  Reid crinkled up her forehead. “This isn’t a trial.”

  “Au contraire, mon frere,” Liam said from his newly reclaimed post on the wall. “This is the most important trial you’ll ever face. This is where the Alpha Pack determines your guilt in crimes against the Shifters of the world. This is the trial where we decide your true fate.”

  Davin paled.

  “Our final piece of evidence,” Scout said, turning the conversation back to her carefully planned script, “is the testimony of Charlie Hagan, Stratego of the Alpha Pack.” Her original idea was to read a written testimony he’d prepared on the way over, but since he’d bullied his way into the room, she turned to him instead. “Charlie?”

  “They tied up Maggie with barbed wire and then set the room she was in on fire.” Remembering how she’d looked when he first found her put a tremor of rage in his voice. “I request capital punishment.”

  “Thank you, Charlie,” Scout said, reaching over and giving his hand a squeeze. The contact calmed his coyote.

  “Are we ready for a verdict?” Liam asked, pulling himself off the wall to come stand beside his mate.

  Scout nodded. “Ready.”

  “Reid St. James and Davin Simonds, we, the Alpha Pack, find you guilty of murder, attempted murder, and terroristic actions against the Alpha Pack.” Liam’s voice was so calm someone might think he was reading names out of a phone book instead of telling a couple of teenagers they were guilty of some of the most hideous crimes Charlie could imagine. “You are hereby sentenced to death by the hand of the Alpha Pack.”

  “What? No!” Tears began streaming out of Reid’s eyes. “It was him. It was all him. I didn’t kill anyone. All I did was tell him how to turn off your security system. I didn’t kill that man. It was him.” The last words were muffled by snotty sobs, which Liam silenced with one of his patented looks.

  While Reid made a spectacle, Charlie watched Davin. Throughout the sentencing and Reid’s dramatics, he didn’t change expressions. He sat stoically, the only sign of life was the clear malice in his eyes.

  So, this is what a sociopath looks like, he thought.

  Was that what he would have become without Maggie? Would he have been able to shut out his coyote until he was no longer able to feel anything at all? Would he have committed hideous acts in the name of the Alpha Pack without ever feeling guilt or remorse?

  Charlie shivered even though there was no draft in the room.

  “There’s a catch.” Scout looked at Reid as she spoke. Her eyes would occasionally flick over to Davin, but only for a second. If Charlie didn’t know better, he would have thought the other boy frightened her. “As long as you’re incarcerated, we can’t touch you.” She waited for this information to sink in. Once Reid was looking at her prison wardrobe like it was the single best thing she’d ever seen, Scout continued. “If you want my advice, plead guilty. And if you’re really looking to buy yourself a few years, confess to killing Vincent Barros. Because the longer you’re in here, the longer you get to live.”

  They had Charlie’s dad to thank for this sentencing. Neither Scout nor Liam was comfortable with killing someone, no matter how evil they were. They’d both been there, done that, and had the nightmares to show for it, thank you very much. But the Alphas couldn’t appear weak, and letting a couple of murderers go would definitely be seen as a sign of weakness. So, a death sentence they received, but since they were under the watchful eye of the federal prison system, the Alpha’s hands were tied. And it wasn’t like they were letting Reid and Davin run around free. They would be in jail, where criminals are supposed to be.

  “This isn’t over,” Davin said, his calm voice at odds with the chaos in his eyes.

  Scout made a production out of looking at the time on her phone. “Actually, it is. Joe B’s stops serving their lunch menu in thirty minutes, and I’m craving a breadstick like nobody’s business.” She jerked her head towards the window and seconds later the door opened, admitting two uniformed officers.

  “You think you know what is happening, but you know nothing.” One of the officers put his hand on Davin’s elbow, but he didn’t immediately rise. “We are legion. You can’t hide from us. You can’t stop us. And one of these days, we will rid the earth of your kind.” The officer gave his arm a jerk, and he finally stood, but he kept his eyes on Scout the whole time.

  “Well, that was fun,” she said once the door slid shut. She slumped back against her chair as if she was suddenly very tired. Charlie understood. He felt a bit like collapsing himself. It had gone just the way they’d hoped, but it didn’t give him the sense of closure he was looking for.

  “What do you make of that ‘we are legion’ stuff?” Liam asked Scout as he stood behind her, gently massaging her shoulders. “Bluff or truth?”

  “Does it matter?” Charlie asked. “This is our life now, isn’t it? Dealing with people who want to see us dead just because we exist? If it’s not some crazy kid from a Shifter family who is pissed because he can’t Change, it’s a dad who doesn’t like our views on equal rights for women and gays. It will never stop.” For them, there was no other option. It was what they signed on for when they became the Alpha Pack. And maybe they weren’t as well informed about what the decision entailed as they could have been, but it was done. This was who they were and what their life was now.

  But Maggie had a choice. And if she chose to stay with them, with him, then she would always be in the line of fire, both figur
atively and literally. She would be dragged into the middle of a battle she didn’t wage, and Charlie knew with a nauseating level of certainty he wouldn’t always be able to protect her.

  His mind flashed back to the sight of her trapped inside the fire and it hurt so much he couldn’t breathe. It had been close. Too close. What if he wasn’t in time the next time someone decided to take their hatred out on her? How would he survive?

  Of course, he knew with complete and total certainty he wouldn’t. Nothing would ever bring him back from losing her.

  His only hope of survival was making sure she never got hurt again. And unfortunately, there was only one way to do that.

  Chapter 32

  Maggie zipped up her last tote bag and tossed it beside the others. It was only a tiny pile. She’d spent less than two hours gathering up everything and getting it all in suitcases, but she was completely exhausted. Her wrists and ankles, which boasted rings of stitches, were screaming at her for insisting on packing up all of her stuff by herself, but she kept soldiering on. Maybe she was being stubborn, but she didn’t want anyone’s help. She needed to do this alone.

  “It survived.”

  Maggie took a second to get ahold of her emotions before turning around.

  “It did,” she said. “The fire stayed contained mostly to the south end of the building. Chase brought it to me in the hospital. She’d stuck a few sunflowers in it. I think it was her version of a joke.” Her finger walked over the lip of the vase. Maggie knew she would have to pack it away next, but she was having trouble putting it out of sight. She knew it was crazy, but she felt like the vase connected her to her grandmother. Ever since Chase brought it to her hospital room she’d found herself talking to it the way she used to be able to talk to her grandmother. She figured she was still on the functional side of crazy since the vase never talked back.

  “I’m glad it’s safe.” Charlie stood just inside the door, and from the glances Maggie stole, he looked like he was ready to bolt at any moment. The silence that followed was so painfully strained Maggie considered making a run for it herself.