I turned around, following her with my eyes.
“You know why, right?” Harlem asked me, glancing over her shoulder. Her eyes glimmered like chips of ice in her pale, pale face.
“Why?” I asked, and I was glad that vampires had better hearing than humans. I was speaking so quietly, if Harlem hadn't been one of the Numinous, there was no way she'd have heard me.
“The witches,” she said, letting her mouth curve into a purposeful smile, flashing fang. “What do you think all that alpha silver is intended to protect you from? They've been siphoning magic off of your people for close to a century now, long before they ever started eating your flesh. Find a way to stop the slow drain suck of a spell they've cast … and you'll change the world”
After our conversation with Harlem, I was shaking.
Witches, witches, witches.
I could hardly fathom a conspiracy as big as the one she was alluding to, but she wouldn't talk until we'd given our blood. Once again, I was forced with making a split-second decision that could cost us everything.
I decided to go for it.
“What about the alpha silver?” I asked her, after we'd been escorted to another, smaller room. This one far more sterile than the other. In fact, it looked like a doctor's office—if you ignored the stone walls that is. Sterile instruments, reclining chairs that looked much the same as the ones at blood donation centers, and the reek of iodine and bleach.
Despite the boys' protests, I was the first to sit in one of the chairs and let the vampire woman in the suit swab my arm with iodine and stick me with a needle. Red, red blood slid up the inside of the tube and the room filled with the honeysuckle and pine scent of Pack Ebon Red.
“The alpha silver is the only thing that's prevented you from losing everything,” Harlem said, leaning against the wall, her cloak leaving little red drips of human blood on the floor beneath her feet. “The alphas are both the conduit and the channel for the magic of their entire pack, correct?”
“I suppose so,” I said as I watched the blood drain from my arm. “Figuratively anyway.”
“No, literally,” Harlem said and I watched as Jax curled his lips back in a growl. I didn't much like a vampire trying to dictate my own people's rules and customs either, but if I was here, I was going to at least listen. “The Pairing Ceremony starts the shift from one alpha to the next. That's why it lasts a year, so the transfer of power is complete. Zara, as the Alpha-Heir, you can draw on the magic of your entire pack. You bathed in the blood of the current alphas, correct?”
I thought for a moment about that fountain, the one in the old dining room, where I'd stopped and smeared blood across my face, dipped my hair … I'd thought it was only my mother's blood in there, but maybe the other alphas had contributed? I hadn't thought to ask. Either way …
Was I now being told it wasn't quite the empty ritual that it seemed?
“How do you know all of this?” Nic asked, scooting a bit closer to me. He put his hand on my bare ankle, and I felt an instant relaxation wash over me. “Seems a bit strange to me that a vampire would be so interested in wolf history.”
“Part vampire,” she whispered, her eyes shining, her jaw clenching tight. “I'm a quarter wolf.”
“How is that even possible?” Montgomery asked, giving her a look that would've scared me had it been directed my way. Clearly, he didn't have a fondness for vampires. “Wolves and vampires can't create viable offspring.”
“Well, someone figured out that little puzzle at some point, didn't they?” Harlem asked, slicing her palm with the thumbnail of her other hand and lifting up a bloodied palm for Monty to sniff.
He turned his face away sharply.
He didn't need to get close to smell the wolf in her blood; it was obvious enough in this small room, even with the myriad of competing scents.
“So you're obsessed with werewolf culture then?” Anubis asked, looking at her with his head cocked slightly to one side. “Can you shift?”
The energy in the room shifted suddenly. Harlem's pupils bled black into the pale blue of her irises and I watched as her body went completely still … as still as death. I stiffened up, too, prepared to rip the IV from my arm and charge her if she went for one of my boys.
But she didn't move from her spot against the wall.
“You can't shift,” I told her, and my skin rippled with disgust. I couldn't … god, I couldn't imagine being trapped in a single form. My body felt fluid, liquid, ready to melt into my wolf at a moment's notice. To feel those urges and be denied the change? It was tantamount to torture. “That's why you know so much about wolves. That's why you want to help us.”
“I need to change,” Harlem said, her pupils snapping back to their normal size, movement returning to her body as she started to breathe normally again. She pushed herself away from the wall in a flutter of that white and silver cloak.
Montgomery stepped between us, his hand on the wooden knife in his belt, and the vampire girl stopped herself short.
“You don't understand,” she said, shoving the hood of her cloak back. “I ache inside. Every full moon, I feel like I'd rather split my own skin open than deal with this feeling another fucking goddamn day. So yes, I've studied and I've researched … and maybe I do have an ulterior motive.”
Harlem took a step back from Montgomery and narrowed her eyes on him.
“Relax, knight, I'm not going to kill the one woman on this planet who might be able to help me.”
“You think I can help you?” I asked as the blonde vampire woman removed the IV and put a small bit of gauze over the wound. It'd heal in a few minutes or less, so she didn't bother to bandage me up.
I scooted off the edge of the chair and Nic dutifully took his place.
“You're the only one that can,” Harlem said with a sigh, turning and looking at herself in the mirror over the small sink. That whole myth about vampires not being able to see their reflections? Well, that only applies to the undead, and Harlem Blood, she was very much alive. “You're the next alpha, and you're here so that means you're at least speaking to me. The current Ebon Red Alpha refused to meet with me.”
Ah. That sounded like Nikolina.
“If you stop this slow bleed, Zara,” she said as Montgomery stepped aside so I could stand next to him, “and you restore the magic, our connection to the earth will return and then maybe …”
She paused, but I didn't miss that word. Our. Harlem felt like she was Pack. I didn't know how the fuck I felt about her yet, but I did sympathize with her situation.
“Tell me more about this,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Alpha silver, can you explain, please.”
“The silver prevents the witches' energy drain spell from pulling magic out of the reigning alpha. Even wearing it a few times a year seriously fucks with their ability to siphon magic.”
As I stared at her, I thought of Nikolina and Majka and how silly and stubborn they were compared to the other alphas. They didn't just wear their jewelry sometimes … they wore it all of the time.
Could that be why I had all of this magic when nobody else did?
“How could there be a permanent spell on my people that nobody knows about? It's not just one pack or even one Convocation of wolves that's suffered from the loss of magic—it's all of us.”
“You know better than I do that all 'weres' are connected, whether or not they're from the same pack or even the same continent. A werewolf is an extension of the earth herself, and you're all tied to it. Drain one wolf and you drain them all,” Harlem said with a low growl in her voice that made me raise an eyebrow.
“Still doesn't explain how this spell was cast in the first place,” Jaxson said, looking like a Nordic king in his black furred coat and boots. The leather pants gave the outfit a modern edge that pushed all my buttons. Frankly, I was surprised Harlem wasn't checking the boys out at all anymore. Either she wasn't interested—like Aeron—or she was doing her best to be respectful. All I knew wa
s that if I were trapped in a small room with all these men, I'd have a hard time not appreciating the view.
“I'm a talented researcher, but I'm not all-knowing,” Harlem scoffed, her long white-blonde hair hanging over one shoulder. It was just a shade lighter than Jax's, with just a bit more color than Monty's. Looking at her, the blue of her eyes, the color of her hair … I was betting on a pack Azure Frost ancestor. She could very well be a distant relative of Jaxson's. There was a slight citrusy smell about her, underneath the reek of mint and apples … and blood of course. Always with the blood.
There was a reason the vampires called themselves Bloods.
“I have no idea. How does one culture ever get duped by another? A Trojan Horse perhaps?” Harlem glanced over and watched as Nic's blood slid up the tube, a crimson snake feeding into a plastic bag. Giving these vampires our blood … it may well have been an incident like this that allowed the witches to cast such an impossible spell in the first place.
But looking at Harlem, seeing the pain in her face … I didn't think that was her aim. Her aim was to help us to help herself. That motive, I could understand.
“What are you planning to do with all this blood anyway?” Montgomery asked after the vampire in the suit pulled out Nic's IV and he switched places with Anubis.
“First, we're going to use it as collateral to ensure you don't intend to pull a Trojan Horse out of your furry wolf asses.” She flashed a grin, complete with two perfect pointed canines. “And then we're going to use it as bait to get Kingdom Ironbound to come out of hiding.”
“How?” Montgomery demanded, one hand still on the wooden knife at his belt. His face was all hard angles and deadly seriousness. I didn't for one minute doubt that he could take out a few Bloods before they got him. Even if we were in their territory. No, Montgomery's righteous rage would take him far.
“Alpha blood,” Harlem said, leaning back against the sink again and showing a remarkable amount of control for a vampire her age. She barely looked at the blood draining from Anubis' arm. Veritable proof that she was the queen's daughter. Most other Bloods her age would be in a near frenzy at the sight and smell of so much red. “It's … like a drug to most Bloods.”
“Most Bloods?” Che scoffed, leaning against the other wall with a semi-permanent scowl etched onto his features. “And what makes you all any different?”
“You know that a Blood Kingdom shares the lineage of their queen or king, right? Well, my mother is half-wolf. That means everyone that pledges their loyalty to her, takes her blood. That makes them part wolf. And werewolf blood does nothing for other werewolves, if I'm not mistaken. It doesn't bolster us the way it does other Bloods.”
“So, you need all of this for a trap?” Che said, sounding skeptical as hell.
“We'll offer them a little drop of blood from each of you, just to whet their appetites, but they'll need more incentive than a drip to come out of hiding. The Kingdom Ironbound Queen hasn't been seen in years. If we have a pint of blood from the Alpha-Heir and her seven mates, she'll come slinking from her hole like a little lizard.” Harlem lifted her eyes to the ceiling, the corner of her lip curling up in disgust.
“What exactly does alpha blood do for them?” I asked, moving over to stand between Silas and Tidus. My arms brushed both of theirs, one on either side, and I swear, I felt my breath catch. Harlem noticed, her eyes locking onto the throbbing beat of my pulse, and her lips twisted into an evil grin.
“God, you are one lucky wolf,” she said, and I felt my own lip curl up in a small growl. Harlem just laughed and folded her hands together behind her head. “Relax. I'm not stupid enough to try and poach a male from the next alpha. I have some sense about me.”
“Alpha blood,” I repeated, raising a red brow. “What does it do for vampires?”
“Besides giving an undead Ageless the ability to daywalk, you mean?” Harlem stood up and pushed her cloak aside, cupping her hands together, palms up, like she was trying to catch raindrops. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. When she lifted her hands up to the ceiling, the nest of tree roots crawling through the stone shifted and wiggled like a cluster of snakes. “It's not much,” she said, dropping her hands as Tidus raised an eyebrow and put a hand up to his mouth to stifle a laugh.
Harlem gave him a look.
“That was … magic?” he asked as she folded her arms across her chest and glared daggers at him.
“I said it wasn't much. But my point was, Bloods can wield magic, too. Particularly if they're pumped full of alpha blood.”
“You're sure that's not just because you're part wolf?” Silas asked, leaning toward me slightly, pushing our shoulders together.
“I'm sure,” Harlem said, looking up at the roots with narrowed eyes, like she would curse them if she could, send them away to wither and die. She dropped her attention to me as I pulled the gauze from my arm and found a perfect, unbroken bit of skin. Not even a little of that shiny pink, newly healed flesh. My inner elbow was flawless. “Give a Blood Queen some alpha blood? She can move mountains.”
“So the silver …” I continued, leaning my head back against the stone wall. “It protects?”
“To an extent,” Harlem said, putting her hands in the pockets of her short black dress. It almost looked out of place with the big, bulky cloak around her shoulders, this little black dress that looked more like it belonged in a nightclub than underneath a fantasy shroud. But somehow, the vampire girl made it work. “The more silver you wear, the better protected you'll be. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but my theory is that since werewolves are allergic to silver, the body refocuses its magic stores on dealing with the poison instead of slipping into the … you know, ether or whatever you want to call it that the witches have designed.”
'Please tell me we don't have to wear that stuff on a daily basis?' Jax asked, wrinkling his nose up and growling at the vampire woman when it was his turn to get jabbed. I just hoped the boys took note of how tiresome it was to get poked by one needle; I had seven to deal with.
'I think I'm starting to regret making the warrior's choice on all the silver,' I said, breathing out a long deep sigh. If I'd known wearing it was so damn important … I'd have gone with eight bangles instead.
'She stinks crazy bad; we're never going to sneak her past Nikolina,' Nic said, wrinkling his nose up as all eight sets of wolf eyes—and eight noses—turned Harlem's way.
'Not without witch hazel,' I said and then it clicked in my mind.
I did have the Maiden's phone number in my contacts, after all …
Hiding the Unseelie Princess from Nikolina was hard enough. And now I had to deal with this vampire girl? The Pairing House simply wasn't going to fucking work.
'Mother Earth's tits, she really does reek,' Jax said from his spot beside me in the front row seat. Nic was driving again. I don't know why. Maybe out of habit? He didn't have to do that anymore—we could all take turns driving. Or hell, maybe he just liked it? 'How the hell are we going to keep the alphas from finding out about her? Most of them are still staying at the Pairing House.'
'We make a phone call,' I said, dialing up Whitney's cell.
She answered on the first ring.
“Wolf,” she purred, “what can I do you for?”
“We need witch hazel,” I told her, “lots of it and quick. Can you help us out?” Even as I was talking, I was trying to figure out if there was a place the girls could stay that wasn't going to put them on top of me and the boys. We had enough to worry about with our new relationships; we didn't need guests. 'Do you guys have an idea on where we should house Harlem and Aeron? If they stay at the Pairing House, it's just a matter of time until Nikolina or someone else stumbles on them.'
“I can help, but I won't be able to get it to you until tomorrow,” Whitney said, adding yet another layer to this puzzle that needed solving. “Make sure you're on time, Miss Zara Wolf. We got a lot to cover and not much time to do it in. I gotta go, alright? But you stay safe
tonight.”
She hung up the phone before I even had a chance to say goodbye.
“She can't help us until tomorrow,” I said aloud, and glanced back to find Harlem watching me with a very curious look on her face. It took me a minute, but then …
'Are you projecting openly?' I asked Jax, because when it came to wolfspeak, there were lots of ways to go about it. I could project to a single person or a specific group of people … or openly, so that any werewolf in the immediate vicinity would hear me. It was common enough to just send thoughts openly when we knew nobody else was around to hear us.
'Openly,' Jax said, following my gaze around to Harlem's face. 'Oh.'
“This is the first time …” she said, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She dashed them away angrily and lifted her chin. “I've never heard wolfspeak before, not once.”
“Do you know how to project?” I asked her, and she huffed out a long sigh.
“I've studied and studied and studied, but I can't for the life of me figure it out. All the books I've read have been so … vague. I think it's a difficult topic to describe on paper, no?” She continued talking before I could even respond. “But that's my hope, that by going with you, I'll somehow … I don't know, find a way to pick your brains.”
“Aren't you supposed to be collateral?” Nic said, rolling his eyes. I was glad to see his usual cynicism and skepticism focused on an outside individual rather than on one of the other guys. That was progress, right? “Really though, you're here because you want to wolf out?”
Tidus chuckled from his spot next to the vampire princess and tucked his legs up onto the seat.
“Seems like a worthy cause to me, right? Help during wartimes in exchange for changing their princess into a werewolf. I'm down, seems like a fair trade.”
“Glad you think so,” Harlem said, looking over at the blonde surfer boy with a cold disinterest. I was about ninety-nine percent sure it was a facade. In reality, I think she was obsessed with him, with all of us. After all, we represented the one thing she didn't have—pack. And although I'd never met anyone who wasn't fully werewolf in their blood, I knew our instinctual urges were beyond strong. Harlem felt that itch in her skin, the want to meld into the ground with all four paws running. “Maybe you could teach me a thing or two?”
Pack Violet Shadow (The Seven Mates of Zara Wolf Book 2) Page 19
