“There’s something I haven’t told you. A terrible secret. I’m—” The full moon crowned the waterline, it’s reflection shimmering in the waves. As it appeared, Dorian sank to the ground and arched his back with a yell.
“Dorian! What’s wrong?” Shen tried to go to him, but Sage pulled her away.
“Stand back, or he might accidentally hurt you.”
Shen threw an elbow that bloodied Sage’s nose.
“Don’t touch me, jiàn nǚ rén.”
“That’s it!” With a few muttered words, Shen sailed backwards through the air to land on her backside. Sage allowed herself a smile, then healed her nose while wiping the blood away with two fingers.
Shen was just about to bounce up and attack her, when Sage pointed her two bloody fingers first to her own eyes, then towards the writhing figure of Dorian. “Watch.”
Shen looked on in disbelief as Dorian’s shirt ripped open as his back and shoulders swelled. The bones of his spinal cord momentarily rose out of his flesh like the scales of a dragon cresting the surface of a bubbling hot springs. An audible crack could be heard as his ribcage fractured, pushed outwards by an expanding heart and lungs.
Dorian screamed in agony. The bones in his arms and legs pulled apart, stretching and re-growing to twice their normal length. His face burst like a bloody cyst as a tooth-filled muzzle thrust foreward. Shen covered her eyes with grief and sobbed as shaggy grey fur grew over the twitching mass of sinew.
The only sound, at last, was a deep panting and Shen peeked from behind her hand. She slowly stood to confront the monster in front of her. The grey werewolf sat motionless on its haunches, staring at her as if afraid any sudden movement would send her running for the nearest boat.
“Dorian? Is that you?” Shen stared at the massive creature in front of her. She gazed into its blue glowing eyes as if looking for something familiar. The creature whined and lowered its head to rest on two massive paws. A large pink tongue poked out between menacing teeth.
“It can be difficult for him to speak in this form,” Sage said stiffly. “I can act as your link, if you wish.” She extended her hand to Shen. “Through me, Dorian will be able to share his mind with you and explain more completely than any mere words could do.”
Shen nodded. Her fingertips touched Sage and she gasped as a flood of images and feelings rushed through her mind. She broke the contact, visibly shaken by the exchange. Shen walked a few steps away and picked up her bag. Dorian lifted his head to watch.
“You’re leaving then?” Sage asked.
Shen turned and drew her father’s Jian, folded-steel double-edged sword. A dark red tassel swung from the bottom of the weapon as a counterweight. She swung the blade in a wide arc, then leveled the blade with her face, her smoke-black eyes set with determination. “I have been training for the day you would return to me.” She fell into the form The Rhinoceros Gazes at the Moon. “I knew it must be something terrible to keep us apart. I wanted to be ready for anything.”
Sage was not convinced. “Impressive, but the enemy who lured you here is also a werewolf. She would break your sword like a toothpick.”
Shen flowed effortlessly into The Black Dragon Whips His Tail. She did a completely unnecessary cartwheel that brought her closer to the mooring of a ship. Spinning, she swung the blade at an iron bollard used to tie lines. The blade cut through it as though it were slicing a potato.
Sage saw a shadow image of the sword trailing an inch behind as it moved through the air. “So, not a normal sword then.”
Dorian sent a thought to Sage. “He asks why you never told him about the sword.”
Shen’s face fell. “It was a normal sword until…until my father died.” A stream of tears rolled down her cheek to splatter on the ground. “I miss him so much.”
Dorian padded over and nuzzled his head against her chest. Shen dropped down and pressed her forehead to his.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re all I have left in this world.” Dorian licked the tears from her cheek and she giggled.
He sniffed the blade.
“A few days after he was buried, I began practicing with his sword. That was when it started to glow. When I hold the weapon, my senses sharpen and I became more in tune with my surroundings.” She touched it and immediately felt like she could hear some of Dorian’s thoughts. “It feels like my Bà is still holding my hand. It is like his spirit still lives in the blade. He is with me as long as I carry his sword. I know he would want it to be used in defense of those I love.”
Unwilling to interrupt the tender moment, Sage waited patiently until Shen had dried her tears. “Then you are with us. Luna must be close by. Let’s try looking for her at the northern quay.”
The three started walking together, when Shen suddenly stopped short. “Wait, let me get my bag.” She started back down the pier toward the ship mooring where it still sat.
Dorian moved to accompany her. Suddenly, a drunken sailor sleeping in a broken crate chose that moment to rouse from his stupor.
“Wha’ da bloody ‘ell?” he slurred on a breath rank with sour whiskey. “When did dogs start growin’ so damn big?”
“He’s a Scottish wolfhound,” Sage rushed in to redirect the man. “I have always been fascinated by the life of a sailor. I’ll buy you a drink if you tell me of some of the faraway places you have traveled.” She looped her arm in his.
“A fine ide’r, ma’am,” the sailor smiled at the invitation and they began walking towards the other side of the pier. “I will tell you of da time I was strand’d in darkest Africa.”
Frozen in his tracks, Dorian gazed back at Shen who had almost reached her bag. All of a sudden, Luna erupted from the water below her. Landing on the pier in a spray of water, she knocked Shen’s sword from her hand and spun behind her as she rose to stand on her hind legs. Luna absorbed a quick elbow to the stomach and a vicious kick to the knee from the girl. The claws gripping Shen’s throat finally gave her pause. Shen quivered, scowling at her sword lying a few yards away.
Water dripped from the matted fur as she growled out a few words. “Grrryooou haaave taaakeeen everrrythiiing frrrom meee. Nooow I wiiill taaakeee sooomethiiing ooof yooourrrs.”
Dorian had rushed forward but now held his ground at the sight of the wicked claws around his love’s windpipe. “Rrreeeleeeassse herrr.”
Luna kept one hand over her captive’s neck while a single nail on the other traced across the side of Shen’s cheek. “Yooou wiiill beee myyy neeew maaate. Orrr I wiiill kiiill heeerrr.”
Dorian glanced at Sage who was preparing a spell.
Luna gave a snarling hiss. “Noooneee ooof yooourrr maaagiiic, or I’ll rip out her throat!”
“I can stop her in time,” sent Sage telepathically.
“No,” he responded, “we can’t take the chance.”
Sage dropped the spell.
Luna gave a wolfish grin. “Good. Tell the witch to take a walk.”
Dorian nodded. Holding up her hands in surrender, Sage turned and started to walk away.
“There has to be something else you want,” sent Dorian. “I can’t be your mate. I have sworn to Shen.”
“Then you lose.” Luna bit down into Shen’s neck with a salivating muzzle.
“Nooo!” yelled Dorian. He charged Luna, but she released Shen and dove back into the water with a splash. She disappeared under the water, swimming further out into the bay.
Dorian was at his love’s side in an instant. She was bleeding, but not fatally. Luna had not intended to kill her. Instead, she had given her a sentence worse than death. The curse would pass on to her now. After all she had suffered, he could not bear to see her consumed by bloodlust; changing into a monster as he did.
“Saaage!” Dorian pleaded urgently.
Sage had only walked a short way off and now ran back as fast as her legs could carry her.
Shen looked terrified and was near fainting as blood leaked from her wound. She turned her
eyes desperately toward Sage.
“You have to heal her, Sage.”
“I don’t know if I can. The spell had already failed twice.”
“Please try. She doesn’t deserve this life.”
Struck with a sudden inspiration, Sage dipped her finger in some of Shen’s blood and drew a circle on both her head and the fur of Dorian’s. Grabbing a piece of the iron bollard that Shen had sliced with her sword, she snatched at Shen’s father’s sword. She sliced her finger with it and drew a circle in her blood around Shen’s wound. With the blade touching the damaged area, she began to chant.
Prin sânge și fier,
Prin oțel și voință,
Tăiați blestemul lui Vârcolac,
Vindecă-i pe femeia asta.
By blood and iron,
By steel and will,
Cut out the Vârcolac's curse,
Heal this woman.
Sage threw all of her power into the spell. The sword began to glow until the tip turned bright white. Shen screamed as it cauterized her wound with a fleshy sizzle.
Sage used her gift to search Shen’s body for signs of the curse. She curled her lips in a triumphant grin. “The corruption didn’t take hold. It worked. She will not turn.”
CHAPTER 25.
P
URSUIT
For the next three days, Dorian, Sage, and Shen searched in vain for Luna. The she-wolf wasn’t in the city and there were no more mysterious deaths in the countryside. Sage was of little help, exhausted from her healing of Shen from the curse. She was not able to hold her gift long enough to reveal where Luna had disappeared to. With her desperate attempt at revenge having failed, Luna had completely disappeared.
They agreed to meet with the Inspector in his office. Perhaps he could set them on the right path. The three arrived after tea, knocking at the door. The Inspector called them in and they found the room as cluttered as ever. More than one of them wondered how someone, as organized as the Inspector, could find anything among all the strewn papers.
“Thank you for coming.” The Inspector greeted them without rising from his writing desk. He waved his hand in an offer of a plate of pastries, half hidden among the files. Dorian gladly accepted, consuming the sugary treat eagerly.
The Inspector frowned in Dorian’s direction. “You are sure you have him contained, Miss Holdsworth?”
Sage couldn’t help but laugh at the pouting look on Dorian’s face. He had already eaten half of the plate of pastries in just a few seconds. “Oh, he is well in hand, Inspector. But not by me.” She gestured to the Chinese girl who looked curiously around the room at the various pieces of evidence, endless piles of reports, and newspapers that filled the room. “Since nearly losing Shen, he has become as gentle as a puppy.” Shen bristled at hearing her name.
“Very well,” the Inspector made a short notation in his book. “I will overlook the threat you pose to my city in light of your recent service to it.”
“Thank you, Inspector.” Dorian finished the plate, grabbing a handful and downing the last of the pastries in two bites. After licking his fingers, he took Shen’s hand. “Have you discovered where Luna has gone?”
The Inspector closed his notebook. Rising to his Eastlake desk, he removed a thin folio from a hidden compartment. “I may have a lead or two.”
An urgent knock came at the door.
Dorian shot the Inspector a suspicious look. “Are you expecting someone?”
The inspector winked and withdrew a pipe from his vest. “There is more than one interested party in the information I have to share. But I will only do so if you maintain the peace with Doctor Van Helsing.”
Dorian looked at Shen. “I do not wish anyone else hurt. We must simply stop Luna before she kills anyone else.”
The Inspector filled his pipe while looking with annoyance at the empty plate of pastries. “That will do—Come in before all the tea is gone as well.”
Majaris entered the room dressed all in black, followed by Van Helsing in his usual hunting leathers, save for a new long-flowing black cape. At the sight of Dorian, he immediately drew two of his knives.
Dorian pushed Shen behind him protectively. “What is this?”
The Inspector rushed forward with his hands spread and positioned himself between the two men. “Not in my office! Doctor, stand down. We spoke of this. Dorian has promised not to kill anyone and Sage has vouched for his docility. We are on the same team and must work together to end this.”
Majaris placed her hand on Van Helsing’s arm. After a moment, he spun his daggers, palming them before returning them to a hidden place deep in his jerkin. “Very well. But I will not join forces with this…creature.”
The Inspector threw his pipe to the ground. “Then you will not share in the information I have concerning Luna.”
Van Helsing glanced at the Chinese girl with a half-drawn sword in her hand. He saw the way Dorian protected her. Would he throw away his chance to find the female if he attacked the male now? “Twenty-four hours more. But after I have killed Luna, I will be coming for him. The world is not safe while a single Vârcolac yet lives.”
Sage strode forward. “Try it and I will end you.”
“You’ll have to come through me first.” Majaris’ eyes hardened.
Sage faltered. “Majaris, I—”
“Save it. I have spoken the oath. I am Lupări now.” Her left hand went absently to touch her scarred face. “Van is right. The Vârcolac is too dangerous to leave it alive. You have let your feelings for him blind you.”
Shen scowled at that, drawing her sword from the sheath a little further.
“Van?” Sage blinked, suddenly realizing what had passed between her friend and the hardened hunter.
“Do you want the information or not?” shouted the Inspector.
Despite the tension, they all turned their full attention to him as he continued to speak. “I have here a copy of the RMS Tayleur’s ship manifest. A woman bearing the general description of Luna boarded the vessel three days past.”
“How can we be sure it is her?” asked Majaris.
The Inspector picked up a folded letter lying on top of his desk. “I have received word that the RMS Tayleur has run aground in Drogheda port. Of the twenty-four passengers and crew, no one was left alive.”
Shen finally spoke up. “Where is this Drogheda port?”
“Ireland,” replied Dorian. “Luna has gone to Ireland.”
Van Helsing turned and stalked out without another word. Majaris gave an apologetic grin and followed him.
Shen turned to Dorian. “How fast can we get there?”
He considered for the moment. “I may know someone who can take us there at speed.”
The next morning, the newly promoted Captain Purcell boarded the H.M.S. Victory. He embraced Dorian warmly. “It has been too long, my friend.”
“Thank you for your assistance,” said Dorian, “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“You only had to say the words,” grinned Purcell, “though I haven’t the faintest why you need to travel so urgently to Ireland—of all places.”
II
B
OOK 3 EPILOGUE
Darcy Mac Coinnich had been alone since his mother died a week before his fourteenth birthday. He remembered the many friends of his mother who came to the funeral. They all murmured how sorry they were for his loss. The solemn group shared a meager meal of nearly rancid corned beef and rotting cabbage. Yet, at the end of the day, they all left with little more than words of consolation. Father Raghailligh had said his mother had died from dysentery, but Darcy knew it was starvation that had taken his mum. The Father made arrangements for Darcy to be sent to an orphanage in Dublin.
The boys at the orphanage were cruel. During the lad’s first lunch, he was tripped as he took his food tray to a table in the back. One boy stole his bread crust, another snatched away his bowl of gruel. Darcy soon learned to shovel down his food in line under the
watchful eye of the cook.
Darcy couldn’t help but notice that the sisters running the orphanage tended towards the plump side. One night, he hid inside the closet of the dining hall after all the children had been sent to bed. Darcy was amazed at the feast the sisters shared. They ate whole loaves of bread not just crusts, soup floating with potatoes, hearty lamb stews, and heavy platters of scones.
After three weeks of thin gruel at the orphanage, Darcy devised a plan to raid Sister Margaret’s private larder. Waiting until after midnight, he snuck from his bed and into the women’s bathhouse. The place was the most out-of-bounds area in the entire orphanage. Hiding under a pile of used towels, he waited until Sister Margaret drew her bath and disrobed, leaving the key to the larder hanging on a hook. The flabby woman sighed as she entered the water.
Darcy ignored her nakedness and stole the key as quick as he could. He ran to the larder, unlocked the heavy door, and stuffed his face with as many potato scones as possible. In minutes he had the key back and hanging on the hook. If the sisters noticed the thievery, they gave no hint to the orphans.
This went on for several weeks. Finally, he was caught red-handed by Sister Anne. The boy was expelled from the orphanage for his pillaging of food. Abandoned on the streets, Darcy swore never to meet his end from starvation as his mother had; particularly when it was so simple to solve the problem by taking food from those who already had it.
He joined a local gang, watching the older boys and learning as much as he could from their skullduggery. In a short time, he became an efficient cutpurse. The coins contained in one gentleman’s purse were worth several loaves of bread. For two years he grew in his prowess from preying on the careless and wealthy. Then the famine to end all famines struck. Suddenly there were no wealthy, and no one was careless with what food they did have, or the means to purchase it.
Box Set: The Wolf of Dorian Gray Series: Books 1-3 Page 44
