Hour of the Wolf

by Bell, Dana Marie

  She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” She jerked. “Kathy?”

  “Also safe. Inigo was sent to guard her, but none of the Van Helsings even approached her floor, let alone got near her.” Noah took hold of her arm and led her to the table. “C’mon, let’s grab a seat before we wind up sitting apart.”

  Everyone seemed to arrive all at once, pouring into the Throne from all sides. Hell, Rock was still in his ranger gear, Lore was in his sheriff’s uniform and Zander Vasilakis was in a business suit, complete with polished wingtips and a pocket square.

  Of all the things that had happened to her, at least one good thing had come of it. All of the leaders were working together, gathering to fight a common foe. There was no in-fighting, no posturing for whose people were better or stronger. Instead they tried to shore each other up, coming up with ways that they could work in harmony.

  For that alone she let go of some of her hatred toward the Van Helsings. Maggie’s Grove had truly pulled together, and she doubted that would end anytime soon.

  The last to arrive was Dominic, also in a suit. He was grace personified as he stepped around and over the tree roots to make his way to the table. “Ah, everyone has arrived before me.” Dominic pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled. “And is that miso soup I smell?”

  Iva, already seated next to Noah, gestured to one of two empty chairs left. “Yup. I decided I was tired of potato salad and green bean casserole.”

  “Hey, now.” Rock pointed toward her with his fork, conveniently holding potato salad. “This shit is da bomb.”

  “Thank you, kind sir.” Mollie smiled sweetly at Rock, then stuck her tongue out at Iva. She’d been the one to make the potato salad.

  Iva stuck hers out right back.

  “Children, please be good,” Mina groaned.

  Chatter filled the Throne as everyone settled down to a friendly meal. By the time darkness descended they’d finished up and were clearing the debris. Mina lit the Throne, the soft light illuminating everyone. The children played, chasing each other around and squealing in delight. Iva could barely contain how happy she was now that the Throne was filled with laughter and friends again. The only one missing was Dragos, who would be joining them shortly now that night had fallen.

  Even Prince Vasile unbent, chasing the children while he growled at them. Trajan, who’d come as Vasile’s right-hand man and the mate of Dragos’s Renfield, murmured quietly to Eddy as they watched. Eddy seemed relaxed, a good sign as any sort of trouble would make the touch-empath extremely upset.

  Noah came up to her and put his arm around her waist. “I’m going to get the kids in bed.” He kissed the side of her neck before striding up, clapping his hands. “All right, you hooligans, time for bed.”

  Choruses of “aw” and “not yet” were met by firm resolve on the part of their uncle. Noah scooped them both up, one under each arm, and carted them off to Iva’s apartment.

  Soon enough both Dragos and Noah were there. Mina met her mate halfway, kissing him good-evening as the others slowly made their way back to the tables.

  Dragos automatically took the seat at the head of the lined-up tables, gesturing for Mina to take the seat on his left and for Vasile to take the seat on his right. Noah frowned but took the seat at the bottom of the table, automatically making himself co-host to this little shin-dig.

  So maybe there was still some posturing going on, but judging by the gleam in the mayor’s eyes Noah had done exactly what Dragos wanted. He’d wanted Noah at the bottom of the table. Noah’s pride wouldn’t allow for anything less. As the town’s mayor he’d be aware of all the power dynamics among those who ruled the individual supernaturals. Allowing the alpha to take a seat of power kept the shifters appeased.

  Iva took a seat at Noah’s left, while Dominic took the seat at Noah’s right. No one contested Dominic’s right to be there, and the rest sort of settled in wherever they were most comfortable.

  Gideon stood before Dragos could speak. “Thanks to Iva we found his name.”

  That caused an uproar amongst the others, but Dragos quickly silenced it with a draconic roar that nearly deafened Iva. Poor Noah flinched but stood (or was it sat?) his ground, refusing to show weakness. Everyone else had their hands over their ears in the face of that daunting sound. The silence afterward was almost as deafening as the roar had been.

  Dragos cleared his throat, making Iva jump. “Gideon, you were saying?”

  Gideon merely smiled. “We have his name, his blood and his urine. The dybbuk box is complete.” No one spoke as he carefully took the box from his pack and set it before them. It looked deceptively simple, made of dark and satiny ancient wood, large enough to hold a bottle of wine. Small brass fittings were inlaid into the corners, but like a puzzle box it was seamless and there was no latch. On each side of the box were Aramaic symbols, organic figures and runes burnt into the wood. On the top were four gemstones set into the smooth wood: lapis lazuli for wind, turquoise for water, jade for earth, and opal for fire. “All we need now is to lure him somewhere where we can complete the ritual and imprison the demon forever.”

  “Question.” Frisco held up his hand until Gideon acknowledged him. “What do we do with the dybbuk box once it’s got its new demonic inhabitant? I could drop it in the Mariana trench, but that would break it. Encasing it in stone doesn’t ensure it will remain closed. Some idiot will eventually uncover it.”

  “Blast it into space?” Zander held up his hands. “I think, with all of the air elementals concentrating, we could accomplish that.”

  “What about exiting the atmosphere? Won’t it burn?” Lore appeared concerned, and Iva didn’t blame him. With their luck the demon would multiply, like some kind of fungus releasing its spores into the atmosphere.

  Ew. I do not want to breathe in demon cum. She shuddered at the thought.

  “It’s pretty small, and we will need to overcome gravity to get it out...” Zander bit his lip. “We might need to encase it in something fireproof for this to work.”

  “More importantly, how do we get good ’ole Petey boy to step into our spiderweb?” Greer was leaning back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. “We can’t exactly invite him over for a pot luck dinner.” He shuddered. “Can you imagine what he’d bring? Twice baked dryads, mm-mm. Or duck shifter l’orange.”

  “Greer,” Mina drawled ominously.

  “Shutting up.” Greer zipped his fingers across his lips.

  “Let my people handle that,” Lore replied, smiling smugly. “We’ve had our eye out on one of the Van Helsings that appears to be close to Peter. We think we can implant a suggestion that we have a weakness to be exploited. Peter will want to check it out.”

  Greer shook his head. “He won’t leave his territory. He’ll be vulnerable if he does.” He slammed forward, resting his elbows on the table. “This guy has had us dancing on a string for a while now. He’s not about to start moving toward the dancers, far from it. He wanted us to find out who he is or he wouldn’t have revealed himself to me.” Greer tapped a finger on the table. “No, we need to set this up on his territory or it won’t work.”

  “That’s dangerous as fuck,” Noah replied. “I’m in.”

  Greer laughed. “Good! I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “Shit.” Mollie glared at Greer. “If you’re going, I’m going.”

  “Going where, that’s the question.” Vasile glanced toward Trajan, who nodded. “My brother and I can send in some of our people. Very few of the Van Helsings have seen them. They will be far more anonymous than anyone else here. Give us a location and we will scout it out.”

  Brian shook his head. “The ghosts have told me that they’re more than willing to take that task on. I can go into the city, rent a room and wait for them to report in.”

  “Too dangerous,” Dragos immediately replied. “Peter has had cont
act with you. He could sense you in his territory and go after you, consuming you completely.”

  Brian sighed, rubbing at one of his shoulders. “I thought you’d say that, but you needed to know that we were willing to take that task on.”

  Dragos grunted. “Noted, denied, moving on. Vasile, how quiet can your men be?”

  “You should be aware of that better than anyone, my brother.” Vasile flexed his hands, and his nails turned to sapphire blue claws.

  “Then we scout out where Peter’s location may be and bring him a little present in the form of a new, specially built home.” Dragos stared at Lore. “Have your people assist the dragons. The pre-cogs and post-cogs should be able to pinpoint a location for us to search, and the empaths should be able to feel him out.”

  “My telepaths can also try and influence the people around him, leaving doors unlocked and such. Minor things to them, but major for us,” Lore added, jotting down notes.

  “Good idea.” Dragos turned to Mina. “My love?”

  “Every office building has plants in it. One of us could go there and speak with them, listen to what they can tell us.” Mina held up her hand when Dragos opened his mouth. “Not me, obviously.” Mina turned to Iva. “You go.”

  “Yes, my queen.” Iva bowed her head.

  Noah put his hand on the back of her neck. “I’ll be her bodyguard, then.”

  Mina nodded. “Do not enter the building, and don’t allow yourselves to be seen.”

  “Of course.” Iva grinned at Greer. “The only one better at hiding is Greer.”

  Greer tipped his head in acknowledgment.

  “Noah, investigate what you can sniff out while Iva talks to the local plant life,” Dragos ordered. “If there are any shifters around get their take on things.”

  Noah nodded. “Of course.”

  “Once a building is decided on it will be up to the witches to prepare the spell and the box.” Dragos turned to Gideon. “Are you ready?”

  Gideon nodded. “We have all of the box components ready, and we’ve made the spell to entrap him portable. It would be easier, and far safer, to do a more precise spell-casting, but since that’s not possible we’re going with what we can do in a short amount of time. That means prepping the spell components ahead of time.” He sighed. “I hate rushing, but this is the best we can come up with.” He picked up the box from the table, wrapped it carefully in a silk cloth and returned it to his pack.

  “How long will it take you to prepare?”

  “Approximately one hour once the location is decided.”

  Iva cleared her throat. “Then we need to make sure you aren’t disturbed until everything is in place. He specializes in magic too. Will he be able to tell what sort of spell you’re performing?”

  “Good question.” Dragos gazed at Selena. “And if he can tell, can you mask it?”

  Selena and Gideon exchanged glances. “I think so, but that spell alone requires time, and he’ll be aware I’m masking something.”

  “Ah.” Dragos sat back in his seat. “Then he needs to be thoroughly distracted, unable to respond to you.”

  “A full-out assault won’t work. We won’t be able to use our powers in the middle of the city,” Mollie replied thoughtfully. “But we could try and do something a little subtler.”

  “Set the building on fire and have the sprinklers malfunction?” Frisco held up his hand when Iva went to protest. “With Mollie and I on site the fire won’t reach the witches.”

  “Yeah, but Peter is also proficient in fire magic, remember?” Iva listed off his powers for everyone. “He controls the black blood, he has the power of possession, he can use shadow men in both reality and in the spirit world, he has super strength, control over hellfire and, worst of all, is a master of magic. With all that in mind we need to come up with something he can’t, or won’t, be able to combat.”

  “That won’t be easy,” Noah murmured. “The bastard has always been one step ahead of us.”

  “But this time we’re a step ahead of him, remember?” Ash held up two fingers. “We have his bodily fluids. There’s no way he can fight us on that.”

  Iva tried to think of a way that Peter Bradley could get around the bodily fluids. By the laws of magic, they basically had him by the short and curlies. Unless... “Is there any way that those could not be his?”

  Selena shook her head. “No. They are Peter Bradley’s, and we can prove it. Web managed to extract DNA from the black blood, and there’s a match.”

  “Oh, thank you, Gods and Goddesses.” Iva relaxed. “I’d worried about that, but I thought the possibility was low that we’d gotten it wrong.”

  “No, it was a good question to ask.” Selena winked at her. “So how do we distract the bastard?”

  “Attack him on the astral plane.” Ash stood and pulled his sword, the colors flashing across it like light on oil. “If he’s busy fighting us there, he won’t be fighting in the mundane realm.”

  “Again, getting him there will be the issue.” Selena leaned back in her chair. “We could lure him there, then fight him while the witches set up. They won’t need me for that part of the spell, but I could link those of us fighting in the spirit realm together. As long as I’m conscious it will work.”

  “Lure him there with Iva.” Greer shrugged when Noah growled at him. “Look, she’s the one with controlled demon blood. If he senses her in the spirit realm, don’t you think he’d come just to find out why she’s there?”

  “He could easily use a shadow to fool us.” Gideon frowned. “If he did that, his physical body would still be under his command.”

  “But weaker, because his shadow would be gone, off doing other things.” Selena tapped the table. “This is a firm plan. Even if he does attack the witches, we could have, say, the wolves and the dragons guarding them, along with witches who aren’t part of the spell.”

  Vasile nodded. “We will gladly guard the witches.”

  “As will my wolves.” Noah crossed his arms over his chest.

  He didn’t seem happy, so Iva put her hand on his biceps. “I think Selena is right. This will work. You take care of him permanently for me, okay? I’ll weaken him so you can.”

  He gritted his teeth, but didn’t reply.

  “I’m right, hon.” She touched her forehead. “Remember who the brains in this outfit is?”

  Everyone at the table laughed except for Noah. He caged her in her seat, his arms on either side of her, and whispered in her ear, “You’re going to pay for that later.”

  The sexy little growl, the nip to her ear and the way he scraped his cheek across her own sent shivers of want down her spine. She had to hold back a whimper as he pulled away, leaving her breathless in his wake.

  Damn wolf and his sexy-ass stubble.

  He shot her a smug glance before turning back to the rest of the group. “Selena and Ash will be in the other world. Who’s going with them?”

  Brian held up his hand. “I can help shepherd the ghosts there, but they won’t stay there. The astral plane is too close to their final destination and it makes them uneasy.”

  “Duly noted.” Dragos glanced at Mina. “You’ll be going with them?”

  “Of course.” She patted his cheek when he, too, growled. “We’ll be separated, but I think my job will be ultimately safer than yours. You’ll have to face him physically. Greer will go with you.” She turned to Greer. “Guard him well.”

  Greer bowed from his seat. “Yes, my queen.”

  “The elementals will split as well,” Rock interrupted. “Zander and Frisco will go with Iva and Selena. I’ll be with Dragos and Gideon, as well as Mollie.”

  Mollie quietly nodded. “I think that’s where I’ll be most useful. I’ve faced him and survived his fire. I can do so again.”

  Greer tugged her close. “Don’t you dare do what you
did last time. I’m not losing you to your fire, understand?”

  She smiled sweetly. “Yes, dear.”

  He groaned. “Shit.”

  “The smaller shifters will fly overhead, keeping watch from outside and warning us of any potential intruders,” Trajan added. “Kathy will not be one of them. She’s still recovering, and I wouldn’t allow it even if she was recovered.”

  Dragos nodded in acknowledgement. “Of course. I would order the same.”

  “Men,” Selena muttered. “If she’s fit and wants to fight, she should be allowed to.”

  Trajan shook his head. “No. Besides, it’s a moot point. She’s not better. She’ll need physical therapy. We’ll eventually find out whether or not she can fly again.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was that bad.” Iva should have gotten an update on the sweet librarian, but she’d just been so busy she’d forgotten to.

  “I believe that ultimately she’ll fly, but she has to be willing to put the work in or she won’t.” Trajan glanced at Eddy. “But I think she will. She’s got a stronger will than she lets on.”

  “True.” Dragos glanced around the table. “So. Find us a place, give us a time, and then we strike. Are we agreed?” All those around the table responded with aye’s. “So be it.” He grinned and reached under his chair. “Now, I believe it’s time for some payback.”

  Iva groaned. “Oh, no. Not that.”

  The familiar black box with the white lettering slammed onto the table. “Oh, yes.” Dragos glared at Selena. “I will have my revenge.”

  “You’re just pissed that I didn’t pick yours.” Selena sniffed.

  Dragos’s expression turned outraged. “Who the hell picks ‘incest’ as the answer to ‘High-five, bro!’”

  Selena shrugged. “Eh, it made me laugh.”

  Greer grinned. “That was my answer.”

  “Asshole,” Dragos muttered, shuffling cards. “Who’s playing?”

  “Not us.” Noah stood and grabbed Iva’s hand, tugging her out of her chair. “It’s been a long day for both of us.”

  “More like a long year,” Iva amended.