by L. C. Davis
His grip tightened on the wheel but he didn't move otherwise. “Guess I just figured you'd tell me if you wanted me to know.”
“That's very considerate of you to respect my privacy,” I said earnestly. I knew my overt appreciation would drive the guilt in deeper than any harsh accusations. I could practically smell it coming out of his pores.
He gave a one-shouldered shrug, keeping his eyes peeled ahead. “You know me. Mr. Considerate,” he said in a self-loathing tone. He had managed not to lie to me yet, through sheer avoidance, but at least now I knew that he wasn't just disinclined from deception. He was terrible at it.
“You may as well know the reason we're going because it concerns you, too,” I said casually, gazing out the window as clustered white clouds rolled by against a bright blue backdrop so solid it looked like wallpaper. “Your brother, specifically.”
“Oh?” His tone was stiff. “He must've really fucked up if he's 'my brother' now.”
“I'm pretty sure he's at the temple. Any idea why he might be there?”
His knuckles turned white. For the first time, he turned to look at me with remorse in his gaze. “I'm sorry I never said anything. Until you two got --” he cut himself off and his Adam's apple bobbed. “Until Victor's mark showed up, I didn't think it was any of my business to tell you. After that, I guess I just kept hoping he either would tell you or already had.”
“You don't need to explain yourself to me, Sebastian,” I said softly. “You're not your brother's keeper and you're certainly not his messenger. The only person I blame for keeping me in the dark about this,” I said pointedly, “is Victor. And maybe Ulric.”
He nodded and turned back to the road, cranking up a song from one of the 70's rock bands he liked so much.
It was killing me not to ask him what had happened between he and Ulric, but as much as I wanted to be angry at him for keeping it from me, I couldn't be. With the possible exception of Ulric, no one was as protective of me as Sebastian was. If both of them saw fit to keep this from me, they were doing it for what they earnestly believed was my own good. After seeing Sebastian do a one-eighty from blind rage towards his own alpha to becoming complicit in the deception, I wasn't sure I wanted to know whatever it was they felt the need to keep from me.
After all, in order to uncover how they were disregarding my judgment I would have to disregard theirs. I wasn't sure how to win this war of secrecy, but I knew more secrecy wasn't the answer. For the time being, I resolved myself to a more subtle approach and put my faith in the assumption that Sebastian would eventually tell me what I needed to know.
And then there was Victor, the one who was truly deserving of my anger. If I was going to get to the bottom of any of it, I had a feeling that getting to him was the first step. I could only hope I recognized him when I found him.
“Are you hungry?” Sebastian asked as the sun began to flirt with the horizon. We passed a slew of exit signs, each one promising a variety of food and fuel. “It's gonna be another couple of hours so I can stop if you are.”
“I'm really not,” I admitted. “But we can stop if you want.”
“I'll just grab a burger at a drive-thru,” he said, taking the next exit. A few minutes later, we were back on the road with a bag of no less than six cheeseburgers.
“You sure you don't want one?” Sebastian asked, driving one-handed while he ate with the other. His coordination was awe-inspiring and a bit nauseating.
“No, thanks,” I said. The fumes from the food and gasoline he'd just filled the tank with were making my stomach uneasy.
He shrugged and opened another wrapper. A weight seemed to have been lifted off his broad shoulders, but I was left to wonder what secret could possibly be heavy enough to weigh them down in the first place.
“That's it up there,” he said, nodding to a small gray blip on the horizon. We were knee-deep in the wet, verdant wilderness that was northwestern Washington. I squinted and could make out the vague outline of a large, low building. As we grew closer, white brick and several cars in an otherwise empty parking lot became apparent.
“That's the temple?” I asked doubtfully as we pulled up the long drive.
He grinned. “What were you expecting, stone towers? Stained glass?”
“Something like that,” I admitted. Definitely not ample parking and a sign in the window advertising free admission to the public on Tuesdays and Saturdays. As we passed through the parking lot, I noticed a tall sign that read, “Lady of Night Sanctuary” in cheesy Papyrus font at the same time as I heard what sounded like barking.
“Exactly how rural are these wolves?” I asked warily.
He chuckled. “You'll see,” he said, parking in front of the building. When he opened my door, the sound of barking was unmistakable, but it was mixed in with another familiar yet unidentifiable sound. It sounded almost like coughing but not as sharp, like a dog with the flu.
“Where is that coming from?” I asked, sticking close to Sebastian as I looked around for any signs of the creatures making that sound. If I had to guess, there were at least half a dozen of them. I wasn't even a match for Foster in my current state, never mind a whole pack of wolves. I knew Sebastian would protect me, but I still couldn't help but feel on edge.
He draped an arm around my shoulder and guided me away from the entrance. “Come on, I'll show you.”
He led me around the side of the building, invisible from the road. There was a huge gate that stretched as far as I could see. At least eight different tin structures sat within smaller pens, spaced out around the massive yard. The barking sounds got closer as a pack of no less than seven descended on the gate. Their paws were bigger than any dog's and when they stood on their hind legs, I understood why the fence was so high that it towered over Sebastian.
I let out a pathetic cry at the sight and clung to him. He laughed, clearly amused by my fright. “After seeing me and Victor, you're really afraid of them?”
“Those are wolves,” I said, transfixed on them. “Like actual, literal wolves.” They seemed friendly enough, other than a big gray one with a badly scarred muzzle who was standing off to the side and looking at us with a lowered head and a menacing gaze of solid gold.
“Not all of them,” said Sebastian. “Tonka and Quail are just as much shepherd as they are wolf, and Wiley here is a coydog,” he said, reaching through the fence to offer his hand for the small brown one to sniff. Wiley wiggled happily and licked it.
I kept my distance. “How often do you come here?”
“I visit now and then,” he said. “I try to swing by whenever I'm on a hunt and show these guys some love.”
“So the sign wasn't just a cover,” I said, dumbfounded. “This is literally a wolf sanctuary run by wolves.”
“Kind of genius, isn't it?” he asked, turning back to me with a wide grin. “Come a little closer, just don't put your hands near the fence.”
I took a few reluctant steps closer. The big gray one snarled at me in a warning that I was all too eager to heed.
“Huh. He must smell the vampire,” he mused. “Slate is the Ulric of the pack, so he's kind of protective of the others.”
“Yeah, well, if he feels half as strongly as you do about vampires, I'll keep my distance,” I said, hugging myself to keep warm. Of course I hadn't remembered to bring a jacket.
He smiled apologetically and shrugged out of his leather jacket, draping it around my shoulders. “There, that'll cover the scent.”
“Let's just hope it works on the wolves inside,” I said warily, following him back to the front of the building. The door swung open before we were halfway up the walk. A huge man with black hair tied back in a low ponytail and a thick beard came out and I could only hope it was to greet us. He seemed to be in his early forties, but he had one of those faces that made it hard to tell.
“Alex said you weren't getting here until later,” he grumbled, lumbering down the steps. “Good thing the welcome committee can always smell a
bloodsucker.”
His words set me on edge, but Sebastian didn't flinch. “I see that knee still hasn't gotten any better. Maybe Val should put you down.”
“Like it ain't bad enough you're gay, now you're fucking vampires too?” the man taunted without missing a beat. “It's your stake you're supposed to put in 'em, boy, not your dick.”
I watched in horrified fascination at the fact that Sebastian hadn't lunged already. They stared each other down for a long moment before their faces split into mirrored grins and they embraced with gusto. Standing in front of each other, they were evenly matched in terms of height and strength. The other man was the only person I had ever met who was actually bigger than Sebastian, but it was only because of the slight paunch in his midsection.
“When did they let you back into the house, Billy?” Sebastian asked, giving the man a hard shove. “Last I was here we kept the dogs outside.”
So this was the famous Billy. No wonder.
Billy sneered. “I just got back from staking damn near every bloodsucker in Georgia, so the old lady lets me stick around as long as I don't piss on her azaleas.” His keen brown eyes twinkled as they focused on me. “Alex won't shut up about your boyfriend, but I'd rather get the official introduction from you.”
“This is Remus,” Sebastian said proudly as he came over to put his arm around me. “Remus, this lumberjack reject taught me everything I know about hunting, believe it or not.”
Billy extended a meaty hand that engulfed mine and shook it enthusiastically. I could tell he was trying to be gentle, which was all the more intimidating. “It's an honor to meet anyone capable of getting the Fulton brothers to settle down for more than two seconds. Hope I didn't offend you. Sebastian and I have always given each other a hard time.”
“N-not at all,” I stammered, still in awe that there was another wolf as huge as Sebastian. “It's nice to meet you, Sir.”
“Sir?” He gave a bellowing laugh that seemed like it might shake the earth if it kept on. “You've been spending too much time at that Lodge. Just call me Billy.”
“Billy then,” I said, blushing. Like it or not, now I was part of the Lodge and all the associations that came with it.
“Come on inside,” he said, pulling open the door. It swung so hard I thought it might break. “Alex is dying to meet you. Always was obsessed with hybrids, and now he gets to meet one.”
“We're actually here to find my brother,” said Sebastian. Shame crept into his voice and I could only imagine that this was ten times more uncomfortable for him than it was for me. These people were his friends, after all.
“Oh?” Billy asked, glancing back at us as he led us into a large, open room that was not unlike the lobby of a museum. Informational graphics hung on all the walls and there was a concierge desk up front. Several tables and couches made up the lobby and wolf decorations were everywhere. From the clock on the wall to the trinkets on the fireplace mantel, there was more wolf sanctuary than lunar temple to the place.
Billy came to a stop and crossed his massive arms over his gut, frowning in deep thought. “I've been back for a solid month and I haven't seen a single sign of him. Not for a long time, actually. You can always ask Alex, but I'd have smelled him if he was here, I can tell you that.”
Sebastian frowned. “That's weird. He always comes here,” he muttered, almost under his breath.
“I thought your brother was clean,” Billy said, his voice filled with concern. “We all did. As much of a pain in the ass as Alex is, he wouldn't give Victor anything after what happened last time.”
Sebastian shook his head, pleading Billy not to say any more, but the damage was done.
“Last time?” I asked, worried. “What happened last time?”
Billy cleared his throat and looked away, realizing he had stepped in it. “Sorry, boy, can't go spilling family secrets even if you are our supposed savior or whatever. If you wanna know, ask your boyfriend here.”
I glanced at Sebastian hopefully, but he was back to not meeting my gaze. Footsteps down the hall saved him, for now.
A willowy man in a long blue robe approached us with a look of wonder on his elegant if slightly gaunt face. His chestnut hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and his slender hands were nearly clasped as he glided past Billy and Sebastian and took my hands.
“You're every bit as beautiful as you are in the visions,” he said breathlessly. “I knew you'd find me eventually. She said you would, if I waited on Her timing.”
I backed away instinctively. His words were the kind I might have expected to hear before a serial killer tried to chop up the main character in a movie, but not in real life.
“You'll have to forgive Alex,” Billy muttered, giving the odd man a scathing look. “My brother spends so much time moon gazing and huffing spices that he's forgotten his people skills, but he's harmless.”
“My apologies, your highness,” Alex said, lowering his head.
Sebastian and I exchanged an uncomfortable glance. “I'm not royalty,” I said finally.
“Maybe not yet,” he said with a knowing smile. “But you will be come the next harvest moon. Come, let me show you some hospitality. I'm afraid the other two forget that the sanctuary is part of the temple, not the other way around.”
He turned and walked back through the corridor he had come from. Billy looked at us and shrugged, leading the way. I followed but stayed close behind Sebastian.
No wonder Sebastian and Billy got along so well. They both had brothers who were completely out of their minds. Maybe Alex was harmless, but he was still unnerving. He had the same oddly formal affect to his speech and mannerisms as Foster did. If that was a qualification for becoming a priest, I could understand why Hunter was trying to get out of it.
Alex led us into a spacious room filled with shelves of books even more delicate and antiquated than the ones in Ulric's collection. The only other piece of furniture was a long table that sat low to the floor, surrounded by thick curtains. Clouds of incense hung thick in the air and I held my breath, afraid of what the strange priest might be burning.
Sebastian snorted in amusement, letting me know that he was onto what I was doing. “You can relax, it's just incense,” he said low enough that only I could hear him.
“Please, sit right here,” Alex said, pushing lightly on my shoulders to urge me into a spot at the middle of the table. He sat across from me and Sebastian took the cushion next to me. He was having an awkward time fitting his long legs under the table, never mind sitting cross legged, but it was his only option. Billy remained standing off to the side of the room, and I could guess why.
“Can I get you anything?” Alex asked hopefully. “Tea, coffee, something to eat?”
“No, thank you,” I said with a wary smile.
“They haven't come for a reading Alex, they're here looking for Victor,” said Billy. I was more than a little relieved that he had spoken up so I didn't have to hurt this poor, eccentric man's feelings.
“Victor?” He frowned in confusion. “He hasn't been here in a year, give or take.”
“Billy mentioned that you knew we were coming,” I ventured. “You're psychic, aren't you? Maybe you could tell us where he is.”
“I'm psychic, yes, but it's only through communion with our Great Lady,” he explained gently. “Unlike you and Victor, I have no natural abilities and I am only permitted to see what She sees fit to show me.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “I see.”
“Couldn't you ask her where he is?” asked Sebastian.
Alex chuckled. “I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like that. If She wanted me to know where he is, She would have shown me. I'm sorry, I truly wish I could help you,” he said, focused intently on me. His words were sincere enough.
“No, it's fine. Thank you for answering our questions,” I said, hesitating. “There is one more favor I have to ask of you.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out Hunter's list. Sebastian
watched me curiously.
“For the hybrid prince? Anything,” said Alex, reaching to take the paper. He unfolded it and peered over the contents.
“It's a list from my friend, Hunter,” I explained. “He's been using magic to protect the Lodge from hunters. Er, the werewolf killing kind.”
His eyes widened as soon as I said Hunter's name. “Oh, I know who he is. The Great Lady chose him only a few moons ago. I've been trying to get him to the temple ever since, but he keeps ignoring my correspondences.”
“Oh,” I said uncomfortably. How awkward. “I'm sorry, I'm sure it's just because he's going through a lot right now. His pack was destroyed and he's been really busy with his studies.”
Alex sneered. “Oh, I'm sure he is. I was quite busy when I first heard Her call, too. Funny how we can all call upon deities so earnestly without being prepared for them to answer.”
His words were directed at Hunter, but I couldn't help but feel the uncomfortable sting of their truth as well. I had called to Her in desperation not once but twice now, back when I thought nothing would come of it. Ever since that mark had appeared on Hunter's chest, there had been a nagging fear that she would come calling for me next.
“What exactly do you want with Hunter?” asked Sebastian, protective as always.
“I need to make sure he gets a proper ordination, first and foremost,” he said, flattening the list out on the table. “He needs Her blessing, especially if he's going to be performing rituals like the one these ingredients are for.”
“It's to protect the territory,” I said, hoping that knowing it was for a good cause would help. “If it works, he's hoping to do the same elsewhere.”
“Quite the ambitious little imp, isn't he?” Alex smirked. “He reminds me a lot of myself when I first heard Her call.”
“That's a bit harsh, Alex,” Billy muttered dryly.
Ignoring him, the priest continued, “I thought my cleverness was all I needed back then and do you know what it got me?”
I shook my head no, but I had a feeling he was going to tell us.
Alex pulled back one side of his robe, exposing a mark identical Hunter's, only it looked like it had been carved in with a dull blade and took up one entire side of his chest. My eyes widened and it was a struggle to contain my horror.
