by ST Branton
“Your quest,” she said doubtfully.
“Afraid so.” The image of werewolf Maya standing at the edge of the street, her eyes boring into mine, kept flashing back across my brain. “If it’s difficult, I apologize, but you have to tell me everything. I’m still your friend here. Maybe I can fix it.”
Maya closed her eyes, inhaled, exhaled. “Okay,” she said at last. “I admit there’s something I left out before.”
“Give me the big picture. Everything. I have to be able to see how things fit together.” I didn’t dare let myself hope that Maya somehow held the key to defeating Lupres, but she had to have something.
“I should preface this by saying I don’t really have a lot of dreams, or if I do, I almost never remember them. But it’s like I said, I started dreaming a lot recently, right around the time you showed up. The visuals are hazy—but it feels like someone is reaching out to me, calling me. Every night, the feeling gets stronger, and it’s not a good feeling. Whoever this is, it’s a person I don’t want to know.
“Then, after the first night, I started waking up in strange places, and I never have any clothes on. It’s always somewhere outside, too. Usually in or near the forest. One of the first times, I woke up in the smithy, like surrounded by Smitty’s work. Fortunately, he didn’t find me, but it was still incredibly mortifying. It didn’t even matter that I made extra sure to lock my doors.” Her face was pained. “I figured it was just sleepwalking caused by stress, and I told myself I’d see a doctor if things didn’t get better.” She stopped, her forehead creasing.
“Then what?” I asked.
Maya gazed inscrutably at the ceiling. “I had a dream about Smitty drowning in the river.”
I chewed the inside of my lip. “You dreamed it?”
“Yeah. I woke up again—same as before. Naked. Alone. Afraid. But I couldn’t get the image of Smitty out of my head. So I grabbed some clothes, and went out looking for him. It’s like my feet knew where to take me. And there he was, bleeding and naked himself next to that river.”
“You saved his life, you know.”
“Right.” She stared at a spot on the wall, deep in contemplation. “Look, that’s all I’ve got. Sorry if it’s nothing helpful.”
“But how did you manage to get him back to town? He’s not frail, and you’re no lumberjack. Since the dreams started, have you felt different physically?” I eyed her keenly, wondering how similar the effects of werewolf blood were to vamp blood, or the nectar.
“I don’t know what you mean.” She fidgeted with my ropes a little. “Do you really need to keep my tied like this?” She gave me a look. “I mean, I’m not a werewolf. Look at me.”
“Stronger, faster, better senses?” I ignored her request and pressed on with my questions. But she wasn’t really in the listening mood. When she fidgeted again and glanced at me beseechingly, I relented, and leaned over and undid my knots. “Sorry. Can’t be too careful.”
“About me being a werewolf?” The laughter was still in her eyes, but it shared the space now with the worry that I wasn’t joking after all.
“I told you, I saw it.” The details of our encounter remained tactfully omitted. It wouldn’t do Maya any good to know she’d thrown me into a tree trunk like a damn ragdoll. “I don’t just go around restraining people for the fun of it.” My thoughts turned ever so briefly back to Deacon trying in vain to free himself from the bedframe in the motel room. “At least not usually. So? Did you feel any different?”
“Well, I just assumed it was the adrenaline. They say that your body can do wild things when there’s need.” The fact appeared to distress her with its implausibility. “I mean, I’m not that strong. I shouldn’t…” Her voice trailed off as she thought about it more, and her face went through a series of expressive contortions. Signs exhibited by someone whose mind couldn’t quite wrap around everything it was trying to consider.
“Tell me more about the dreams.” I redirected her gently before her brain outright exploded. “You said someone’s calling you. Do you know who it is?”
“No.” Maya settled down into bewilderment. “But it’s masculine, and menacing. And mean. I don’t hear it as much as I feel it if that makes sense. I just know what it’s trying to say.”
I stretched my cold fingers, wiggling my toes inside my boots. “What’s it say?”
“Not much in particular. It’s mostly just a summons. A call to arms maybe.”
It is Lupres calling to his servants, Marcus said. Perhaps, when he creates them, he fosters some sort of connection. With their wills. Maybe you were right, he is controlling them. It would explain much.
“What can we do about it?” The question was directed at both of them.
“I have no idea,” Maya said. “I don’t understand why this is happening, let alone how to make it stop.”
Victoria, I would like to propose an experiment, contingent upon Maya’s permission, of course. I signaled for Marcus to continue, and he went on. Because of her aforementioned connection with Lupres, I believe it should be possible to trace that connection to a certain extent. Perhaps not all the way back to its origin, but far enough that we may be able to glean some useful information.
“I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
Maya looked at me confused but I ignored her. Marcus was about to earn his keep.
Just trust me. You and I have a similar connection too, something deeper than the physical. Perhaps I could use that to see beyond what she knows. To pull at the threads Lupres has laid down.
I tried to wrap my mind around what he was saying, but I decided to screw understanding and just to go with it.
“There might be something I can try,” I said. “It’s weird, and you’ll have to bear with me, but it might get us some answers.”
Maya was only silent for an instant. “Meh. Can’t be any weirder than tonight’s already been. Be my guest.”
“Thanks. And, uh, sorry.”
She raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
Put your hands on her head.
I scooted closer to her on the mattress. “This.” Her hair was soft and springy. “Please don’t ask. You’ll just make it weirder.” The medallion heated up against my skin, its energy flowing out along the golden chain and through the ends of my fingertips. I felt Marcus concentrating.
It was strange but also sort of nice, like we were really working together again.
Maya asked, “Did your hands just get warmer?”
“Don’t ask,” I repeated. “Just roll with it. I promise it’s not hurting you.”
“Whatever. It feels pretty good actually.”
I held my hands in her hair for a couple minutes, waiting on Marcus to say something. The medallion was hot now. I hoped it wouldn’t get any hotter.
Finally, Marcus spoke. He seemed almost out of breath, if that made any sense at all. It is not as effective as I had hoped, though not utterly useless. I could feel him, he has a hold on her.
“What does he want?”
That I don’t know, but I received a faint impression of a cavern. That is all.
I could work with that. “Maya, are there any caves around here?” As I spoke, I removed my hands from her head, careful not to pull her hair.
She looked puzzled. “Caves? Actually yeah, I think—”
A yell interrupted her. A human yell, coming from deeper in the woods. We both stopped dead, eyes locked on each other. The whoop was quickly followed by another, and another, evolving into the general din of voices in a crowd.
“Who the hell is that?” I whispered, but the voice that came next was one I picked out immediately.
“Let’s go, boys! There’s a monster in these woods, and we’re gonna make sure it doesn’t get out of here alive!”
My face darkened involuntarily. Wade Stevens may have been missing before, but wherever he’d been, he was back in full force.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Stay here,” I told Maya. “Don’t even think
about moving.”
“I’m not about to run out there without my underwear.”
I crept to the window in a crouched stance, peering over the sill through the filthy glass. I saw Wade’s broad shoulders and barrel chest immediately. His men surrounded him. By the light of an old-time lantern, I could see that he wore the same kind of checked shirt he had on the first time I met him. There was a matching hat now, too, the kind with flaps coming down over the ears. Apparently, he wasn’t afraid to live into a stereotype.
“A monster,” Maya whispered. “Are they talking about me?”
“Shh,” I said, still watching. It was sort of shitty to sidestep the question like that, but I didn’t want to stress her out any more than I had to if I could help it. It was bad enough that she’d woken up with her arms tied down. “Let’s just—”
“What are we gonna do when we find that thing?” Wade grinned and patted his gun, which was both huge and menacing. He held it at the ready across his body, barrel pointed down, for now.
I had to stop myself from sucking air through my teeth so that Maya wouldn’t know how screwed we might be. There was no doubt in my mind that Wade was likely to shoot first and ask questions later.
But why was he here? How did he know?
The answer revealed itself mere seconds after I asked the question. “Wade, wait! Wait, damn you!” A slender form ran into view, equally as distinctive as Wade. “You don’t understand!” She got right up in his face, jabbing her finger at his shirt pocket.
“What’s not to understand?” He stopped, but irritation leaked into his posture and his voice. His hands had not moved, nor had they released their grip on his weapon. “You told me the monster was out here, so me and my crew came to shoot it dead. If that’s not what you want, it damn well should be.”
“You didn’t let me tell you the whole story, you freaking oaf! I said ‘monster,’ and you just grabbed that stupid gun and hightailed it.”
“I didn’t come out here to work some damn diplomacy with the beasts.” That priceless line elicited a chorus of hoots from his pals. Empowered, Wade brushed past her. “Now get the hell out of the way and let a man work, will ya?” On his way by, he let go of his precious gun long enough to rap his knuckles on her rifle. “Wouldn’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.”
“Is that a threat?” she shouted. Wade just laughed and kept walking.
Maybe it would’ve been better to let him move on but seeing him treat Amber that way made my blood boil. She was a kid and a damn smart one, at that. She deserved more respect than he had in his whole body.
“Stay here,” I repeated over my shoulder to Maya. “Don’t let them see you.”
She stared at me. “Are you going out there?” Her head began to shake. “That’s crazy, Vic. You don’t know Wade. He’s not afraid to pull the trigger. Any trigger. Especially when he’s all hyped up like this.”
I signaled for her to keep her voice low. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve dealt with asshats like him for years.”
“Wade!” I heard Amber yell outside the cabin. “Get the hell back here!” Her voice started to travel, and I knew I was running out of time. With one last gesture indicating that Maya should keep herself hidden, I turned toward the cabin door.
Pushing out into the chilled night air, I caught sight of Wade and Amber ahead of me and opened my mouth. “Hey, Wade,” I called. “Looks like you’re lost. The dipshit convention is on the other end of the woods.”
Both he and Amber stopped dead in their tracks. She whipped her head around to give me a half-shocked, half-terrified look. Wade, on the other hand, was sneering when he faced me.
“Well, well, well,” he said. “Look who it is. I guess you weren’t lying after all, Amber. There is a monster in these woods.” I felt his eyes survey me up and down.
She stepped toward me. “Vic, I only told him because I panicked, I swear. He was the first one I ran into when I hit town.”
“And you’re lucky she did,” Wade said. “Yours truly can fix this shit for you just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “And I will. No charge.” The sneer widened. “This time.”
Man, this guy was the biggest douche.
“There’s no problem,” I said. “I took care of it. You can drag your flea-bitten pack back home.” What I really wanted to do was ask him where the hell he’d been for two days, but this wasn’t the time or place. Not with Amber in the middle.
“Yeah? You took care of it so well you were hiding in that old hunter’s cabin, huh? Don’t think I didn’t notice you come slinking out of there.” He strode forward, closing the gap between us. “What’s in there, Diner Girl? Something you don’t want us to see, I bet.” Wade put two fingers in his mouth and produced a piercing whistle. His buddies fell into formation.
“Stop it!” Amber latched onto Wade’s arm, but he shook her off like she was nothing more than a mosquito. She stumbled backward, a desperate expression on her face. She had a pretty decent idea of where this was heading.
“Screw off, Amber. Don’t you have homework to do?” Wade pointed at the door of the cabin. “Let’s go, guys. Tear it off the hinges if you have to.” To me, he said, “It’s not nice to keep secrets, Diner Girl. Especially in a town that isn’t yours.”
“Oh, fuck off, already.” I maneuvered myself deftly in front of Wade, my hand on my belt. “I’ve been here long enough to know everything I need to know about your sorry, washed-up ass.”
His eyes narrowed down into slits. “I didn’t think you were the one looking for a fight,” he growled. “But I’m happy to oblige.” The index finger on his right hand slid down along the trigger guard. “Don’t know that there’ll be much of a struggle, though.”
“Oh, shit.” Amber made another attempt to intervene, and Wade tossed her back, sending her to the ground like a ragdoll.
He watched her drop, which gave me the only chance I was going to get. Before he could turn his gaze back at me, I stepped in and snapped a crescent kick, connecting on his gun arm. The force of the attack loosed the gun from his grip, sending it sprawling into the dark woods. Finally, something going my way.
Rationally, I knew I shouldn’t have taunted him, but I couldn’t help it. The moment was too sweet to resist. A smirk bloomed on my face. My fists raised ready to rumble. “Looks like you lost your compensator, Wade. How you going to push around a couple of girls now?”
Frustrated, he spat into the dirt. “If you think I need that thing to take you down, you’re about to learn something new tonight.” A viciously sharp hunting knife gleamed at his side. “Let me into that cabin or I’ll gut you right here. I could make it look like an accident pretty easy. You know what happened a couple days ago.”
He was right up on me now, and I could smell the pungent reek of alcohol coming off him in waves. This close, he looked even worse than usual, animalistic. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot all to hell, and the whole lower half of his face was a field of scrubby, rough stubble. Dark circles stood out above his cheekbones.
“Damn, Wade. You been sleeping rough lately? You look like shit.” I paused. “Okay, you’ve always looked like shit, but I mean, like real shit.”
Victoria. It is not polite to toy with your quarry. Marcus spoke with decorum, as if he wasn’t secretly enjoying it, too. One of the fundamental things I knew about the old Roman was how much he enjoyed a little well-deserved backtalk.
Still, the point was salient and well taken. I dropped the niceties. Just in time, too. Now blatantly furious, Wade snatched for the front of my coat, presumably to haul me off my feet in a classic tough-guy move. I hopped nimbly out of his reach.
The clouds were moving again, gradually drenching the area in an advancing fall of moonlight, and I was using the illumination to help me figure out exactly how much backup he had with him. The posse had been watching our confrontation escalate, and they were circling tighter. I counted five.
That was fine. None of them could die, but I’d
work around that. Honestly, at this point, these guys were the very least of my concerns. If I had things my way, I would’ve ditched them all, taken Maya and Amber home, and then gone off in search of Lupres on my own. Kind of exactly how I originally planned.
But Maya was still on the other side of the door, and I’d lost sight of Amber beyond Wade’s angry bulk. I was suddenly relieved I’d untied Maya from the mattress. It was highly unlikely that Wade would make it past me somehow, but just in case he managed, she’d at least be able to defend herself.
Wade balled his fingers into a mighty fist and took a swing. To no one’s surprise, save his own, he missed and all the alcohol sloshing around in his system caused him to tip unsteadily forward. I caught his fist against my palm, pushed him backward one-handed. He stepped back and swept a glare around at his semi-circle of cronies. All of a sudden, five more idiots were fumbling into action.
“Vic!” Amber’s shout didn’t help me pinpoint where she was, but my best guess was up a tree. I elbowed some kid with a missing incisor in the nose and followed it up with a roundhouse kick to someone else’s stomach.
I hoped she would have the sense not to shoot into the clustered knot of the fight. There was no way for her to make sure her shot wouldn’t be fatal—or that it would hit its intended target.
And I hardly needed an extra piercing.
I was willing to admit that I’d passed Wade’s friends off as clueless jerkwads, but the two I knocked down at the outset were already back on their feet and clamoring to reenter the fray. Instead of immediately resorting to whipping out the Gladius Solis, which was too big to operate in such close quarters without causing fatalities, I engaged Wade in a hard grapple, using his bulk to clear some space around me.
This is a very innovative strategy, Victoria. I commend your improvisation.
Wade filled his lungs and bore down on me with every ounce of his size. He obviously thought that I would buckle immediately beneath his undeniable man-strength, and the fact that I didn’t stymied his walnut-sized brain. His mouth screwed up into a line of obstinate confusion. “What… the… hell… is wrong with you?!” he growled. “Learn your place!”
