“First I’ve heard of it. Hang on.” Jace shifted in the booth and pulled a phone from his pocket. He tapped the screen for a few moments, and then put the phone on the table. He looked back up at Curtis, a small line between his eyebrows. “You can tell the Families I’ve asked my pack leader, but I seriously doubt it was one of us.”
Curtis shook his head. “I’m not with the Families.”
Jace looked back and forth between Matthew and Curtis. “Matt?”
Matthew exhaled. “You know how I meet up with some of the other wizards—the great-grandkids of the coven heads? Well, and Mackenzie, but she was a great-grandkid, too, until he passed.”
Jace waited.
“Well, Curtis joined that group, too. But he’s not from the Families. He, uh, has a kind of a unique coven.”
“I’m bound with a vampire and a demon,” Curtis said.
“You’re that one?” Jace looked at him again, and this time, the intensity of the man’s gaze was blatantly uncomfortable.
“Right.” Curtis had to look away.
“Jace,” Matthew said. The werewolf looked at him. “He’s my friend.”
The big man tightened his grip around Matthew, pulling him in closer and kissing the top of his head. When he released Matthew, he turned back to Curtis and nodded once, like he’d made a decision.
“What did you want to know?” he said.
Curtis exhaled. A tightness he hadn’t realized had been forming relaxed in his neck and shoulders, and he leaned forward. “I barely know anything about werewolves. I’m an Orphan. Do you know what an Orphan is?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, well, I don’t even know what I don’t know, sometimes. So when I heard Matthew was your boyfriend, I asked him if I could ask you if you knew anything about an attack on a demon. Or why a werewolf would attack a demon in the first place.”
“Boyfriend?” Jace said, smiling at Matthew.
“Focus.” Matthew turned pink.
Jace’s grin faded. “A pack doesn’t attack without the say-so of the alpha,” he said, “unless it’s self-defense. There’s no love lost between the demons and the wolves, but we can behave ourselves. We don’t slug it out every time we cross paths. Besides, they wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Curtis blinked. “Wolves are stronger than demons?”
Jace took another sip of his beer. “We’re the best.”
“There might be some testosterone at play here,” Matthew said.
Jace snorted. “Demons are slow, flashy, and overconfident. And they don’t work together for shit.”
“Werewolves are faster than demons?” Curtis said.
“Much.”
“Are you faster than vampires?”
Jace picked up the beer bottle again, hesitating. “No.”
Curtis filed that away. “So, in a one-on-one, all other things being equal, you’d say the wolf would win.”
Jace frowned. “One-on-one?”
“Yeah. If there was one of each.”
“That’s not how we do things,” Jace said. “You said the demon got bitten on the arms and neck, right? Well, if we were taking down a demon, that’s a good strategy. A wolf on each arm to keep the hellfire at bay, better if you’ve got more to work on the legs, but if you don’t, two should be enough to keep the hands busy. Then one leap to the throat, and you’re good to go.”
Curtis hesitated. “My understanding was it was one wolf.” He wasn’t entirely sure, but certainly David and the doctor hadn’t suggested multiple attackers. In fact, hadn’t Dr. Cragg told David the bites were consistent across the wounds?
Did that mean just one wolf?
“That’s different.” Jace put the bottle down on the table. “If it was one wolf, you’re probably talking about a lone wolf. Packless. Unless it was really a spontaneous battle a pack wolf had no choice but to fight alone. But to be honest, if I was on my own and a demon decided to throw down with me? The smart thing is to take off.” He shrugged. “No way he’d catch me.”
Curtis wasn’t sure what to make of that. A lone wolf?
Jace’s phone pinged. He picked it up and looked at it. The line was back between his eyebrows.
“I doubt it’s one of us. Alpha’s been checking in with the pack, and so far, nothing.” He put the phone back on the table. “You ask me, you’re definitely looking for a lone wolf.”
“Is it the same for lone wolves like it is for lone demons or vampires or wizards?” Curtis said.
Jace waved his hand. “Yes and no. They don’t have any protection, but they generally don’t mess with the territory of a pack, so…” He shrugged. “Some just aren’t cut out to be in a pack. Like, if they can’t be in charge, but they can’t handle answering to an alpha. Or if they prefer spending most of their time as wolves. Some pretty much walk away from being human. Mostly, they get left alone unless they fuck up.” He glanced at his phone. “And attacking a demon? That’s fucking up.”
Curtis blew out a breath. “Thanks.” He thought for a moment. “Is there any reason you can think of for a lone wolf to attack a demon? Not in self-defense, I mean.”
Jace shook his head. “Not really.”
“And then there’s the magic,” Matthew said.
“Right,” Curtis said. “The body. Strips of skin were removed. Does that mean anything to you?”
Jace shrugged. “You gotta get the skin off to get to the meat underneath. Other than that? No.”
“Right,” Curtis said. “Uh. It wasn’t like that. It was—”
Matthew jerked in the booth, bumping the table. Jace snatched his bottle just before it tipped, and he put a hand on Matthew’s shoulder. He was right. Werewolves were fast.
“You okay?”
“I think we need to get out of here,” Matthew said. He spoke faintly, and his eyes seemed focused on something in the middle-distance between them.
“What?” Jace frowned.
“We should listen to him.” Curtis rose. When in doubt, trust the guy with the visions of the future. He looked around the pub, but he didn’t see a danger in the crowd.
Jace nodded once. “Okay.”
Matthew got out of the booth, shaking his head like he needed to clear it. Jace stood and pulled out his wallet, dropping a couple of tens on the table.
“Matthew?” Curtis said.
Matthew shook his head. “I lost it. It was too quick. We’re in trouble, though.”
“Okay,” Curtis said. He glanced up at Jace. The man was tall, too. “My car is out front.”
“No,” Matthew said.
They both looked at him. Jace’s eyebrows rose.
“I’m parked off MacLaren,” Jace said.
Matthew bit his lip, eyes lost to a middle-distance. If he was scanning the future, it was creepy. “Maybe. If we go out the back.”
Curtis aimed a glance out the front windows but couldn’t see much. The street lamps reflected a lot of light in the snow, but there was no one out there. At least not he could see. His car was right there.
Crap.
“Okay,” Curtis said.
They grabbed their coats.
*
The wind hit Curtis’s face, and he fought the urge to tug up his hood. He’d suffer the cold if it meant he could hear and see. The rear exit of the pub wasn’t as well lit, and once they were past the small concrete area where the large trash containers were lined up, there wasn’t much light. The area had been shoveled, and cigarette butts littered the ground. The back of the bar faced the rear of the houses on the next street over, but there weren’t many fences, so they could cut right through between the buildings.
Jace led the way, Curtis and Matthew following a few steps behind. He had a longer stride than they did, that was for sure. Curtis noticed Jace had stuffed his hat into one of the pockets of his leather jacket instead of putting it on, and he kept his head tilted up despite the cold wind. When he was halfway across the open space behind the pub, Jace paused and sniffed the air.
“Wait,” Jace said, but that was as far as he got. Across from them, directly where they’d intended to cross between two houses, four men stepped out from the darkness. They were bundled against the cold, but even with winter jackets and hats, Curtis could tell they were big. At least as big as Jace.
The lead man spoke. “Where you going, dog?” Breath fogged in front of his face. Curtis couldn’t make out his features in the dim light.
“Home,” Jace said. “Step out of my way, demon.”
Crap and crap again. Curtis had wondered if the men were demons, but the surety in Jace’s voice was enough. He could probably smell them. Four demons. Okay, well, he’d handled worse, right?
Yeah, but only with Luc and Anders nearby. This far from the other two, he’d be relying on his own ability with next to nothing extra from the triad.
“Check out the bark on this bitch, eh?” A different man, this time, but a similar cloud of breath. “These your puppies, bitch?”
A low rumble in Jace’s chest made Curtis glance at Matthew. Matthew flinched.
Oh, this wasn’t good.
“We’re no puppies,” Curtis said. He raised one hand. “But I promise we can bite if you make us.” His voice barely wobbled. He was getting better at this trash-talking stuff. He wasn’t sure what that said about his life, but right now, he’d take it.
Beside him, Matthew drew his hands from his pockets, fingers balled into fists.
“You think you can take down one of ours and not pay for it?” The first man was speaking again, and Curtis could see small twists of steam coming from the shoulders of his coat. “You need your balls snipped, dog.”
Jace growled again. This time, the sound was loud in the small space behind the bar, and laden with threat.
“We had nothing to do with the attack,” Curtis said.
“What, I’m supposed to believe you?” He laughed. “See, now, there aren’t many dogs in town, so I figure we rip the balls off all of them, and we’re sure to find the right one. And the rest? Well, they’ll know better, won’t they?”
On some signal Curtis didn’t catch, the demons spread out in front of them. It was only a step or two for each, but the end result was a wall of them. Maybe they could go back into the bar? Matthew seemed to be on the same page, because he turned to look back.
“Behind us,” he said. “Two more.”
Curtis took a quick look. Two demons, both women. They must have come up from the alley to either side of the bar. Maybe these were the two who’d set off Matthew’s radar in the bar. Too bad the four back here hadn’t done the same.
Okay. Curtis, Matthew, and Jace against six demons. He’d never seen a werewolf lay any smack down, but he was pretty sure those were not good odds.
“What do you say, puppy?” Curtis could hear the smirk in the demon’s voice. “You gonna bend over and take it like a bitch, or we gotta take your balls from you?”
“Jace,” Matthew said, his voice tight with warning. “Remember what you said in the bar? Doing the smart thing?”
“Yes.” Jace’s voice was different: deeper, with a rumbling timbre.
Doing the smart thing? Curtis frowned. Then he remembered. Ah. He braced himself.
“Listen,” Matthew said, raising his hands. “This doesn’t have to be—”
“Kill them,” the lead demon said. “But keep the dog alive. For now.”
The demons moved. Bright blue bursts of hellfire appeared on their hands as they surged forward.
Curtis twisted, aiming for the first of the two women behind him. “Necto!” Even without the force of the triad behind him, the basic binding spell spun the woman and knocked her off her feet. Her hands, both alight with hellfire, hissed and sizzled when they hit the snow around her. She fought to get up, but Curtis redoubled his efforts at feeding the spell.
Beside him, Matthew had knocked the other woman off her feet as well, but the thrill that ran through Curtis was short-lived. Behind him, he heard bodies collide, and he turned back just in time to see Jace stagger back. One of the four demons was on the ground, but the other three had spread out around him. Jace had his left hand out, his right arm was curled protectively across his waist. The scent of burned leather was in the air. The three demons left had grown wicked looking claws, and the blue hellfire continued to burn around their hands.
Still, Jace managed to walk back, stepping over the prone demon without losing track of the other three.
“My car,” Curtis said.
Without turning his head, Jace tried to take another step back. All three of the demons surged forward. Curtis lashed out with magic, a blunt sorcery that willed arctic wind to blast through the confined space, spraying the snow, ice, and trash into the faces of the three rushing demons. The distraction was enough for Jace to dodge their burning claws, and he scrambled back, finally close to Matthew and Curtis.
“Hieme gelida.” Matthew waved his hand out in front of him, and all three demons went down hard, two falling backwards, one dropping to his knees. It took half a second for Curtis to notice the plane of sheer ice that had formed on the ground between them.
“Nice.”
“Thanks,” Matthew said. His voice was unsteady.
“Move.” Jace shoved Matthew aside. Matthew tipped with a yelp, and a second later, the flaming claws of a demon split the air where Matthew’s head had been.
The woman Matthew had knocked aside was back up. Curtis jumped back as she swung at his face, feeling the heat of the blue hellfire and inhaling the stench of brimstone.
His own binding on the other woman faltered. Even as he jumped back, he reinforced the spell, sending twists of magical energy into the binding.
The demon lashed at Jace but didn’t make contact. Jace twisted around and ducked her returning slash, striking out in a blur at her stomach as she recovered her balance from the miss. She grunted and crouched over from the impact, and Jace swept out one booted foot and kicked her knee. She crumpled with a snap of breaking bone.
“This way,” Jace said, making for the alley from where she’d come.
Matthew scrambled back to his feet, and Curtis followed suit.
“Ventorum vi venti!” he said, throwing the magic blindly behind him. The whipping wind blasted down in their wake, and the three dashed through the alley. They got to the front of the pub and Curtis pointed to his car, not pausing to speak. He ran to the driver’s side, never happier to have a key fob automatically unlock the car as he approached. When he opened the door, he thumbed the small button, unlocking the rest of the doors. Jace and Matthew threw themselves into his car, Jace in the passenger seat, Matthew in the back.
Curtis pressed the start button and pulled the hybrid out onto the road, ignoring the seat belt alarm for the first two blocks.
Finally, eye on the rearview, he pulled on his seat belt.
“You two okay?”
“Yes,” Matthew said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she’d gotten back up.”
“If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have even known they were coming,” Curtis said.
“He’s right,” Jace said. His voice sounded more normal now. He was breathing heavily in the passenger seat. The light on the dashboard was still telling Curtis the passenger hadn’t done up his seat belt. He glanced over.
“Are you okay?” Curtis said.
“We heal quick,” Jace said.
“What does that mean?” Matthew’s voice rose. “Jace? Are you hurt?”
“One of them got me when they started out. It’s okay. The coat took most of it.”
“Curtis, pull over somewhere. We need to take a look at him. I can work some healing magic.”
“No,” Jace said. “I’ll be fine. We don’t stop until we get somewhere safe. We don’t know if more were watching us.”
“You guys are welcome to spend the night at my place,” Curtis said.
“Thanks,” Matthew said. “But I don’t think I can. I need to get back to the manor, or my grea
t-grandfather will know something’s up. It’s one thing to be late, it’s another not to come home.”
Jace’s phone pinged.
“Shit,” he grunted. He reached into his pocket, hissing with the motion. Curtis tried to see how bad Jace was hurt, but the ripped and burned leather jacket had obviously taken most of the demon’s attack.
“Change of plan. We need to go to the Market,” Jace said, after he looked at the message.
“What? Why?” Curtis frowned.
“Zack hasn’t answered any of the alpha’s texts or calls.”
“Zack?” Curtis said.
“He’s another member of their pack,” Matthew said.
“We need to check on him,” Jace said.
“Okay,” Curtis said. He looked up and took a second to orient himself. They weren’t too far. They could take Elgin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own phone. “Matt, do me a favor. Call Luc and let him know what’s going on and where we’re going, and ask him if he can come. He’s in the contacts, under Lanteigne.”
Matthew took the phone.
Curtis glanced at Jace again. The man was grinding his teeth and pressing his hand hard against the ruins of his jacket.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Curtis said.
“Just get us to Zack’s.”
Jace’s fingers were bloody.
Curtis drove faster.
Six
Luc checked his phone once more after he’d parked his Mercedes. The call from Curtis’s friend had been quick, but he’d heard Curtis, in the background, and that had been enough for him to call the meeting to a halt. If any of the others had been upset, they hadn’t shown it. If anything, they seemed to have been a little let down the night was ending early.
Catharine, Étienne, and Denis might have been enjoying themselves.
Luc tapped a quick text and hit send. Just parking. Almost there.
He slipped the phone back into his greatcoat and braced himself for the winter air. Ottawa had been hit with a particularly frigid February. The air bit the exposed skin of his face. He didn’t mind the chill anywhere near the way Anders and Curtis did, but it did take him quite an effort to warm himself back up when he came in from the cold. Vampires were already cool enough.
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