“He’ll sniff you out before we have a chance,” Jonah said. “We’ll need some animal repellent, or this whole thing will backfire.”
“Jonah has a good point. Enzo knows my scent.”
“I can confront him.” Amy offered. “He can’t match my speed or strength.”
Jonah and I whipped our heads her way. “What are you trying to say?” we said in unison.
If Amy could blush, she’d be as red as a sunburn on a white girl stranded on the equator. Alas, her porcelain skin was colorless as she shrugged. “It’s true. We are the superior species.”
“I will take you on any time, any place,” I returned.
“Yeah,” Jonah grunted. “Me too.”
I turned to look at him and scrunched my mouth to the side. “Uh … Jo, you can’t take on anyone in your current condition.”
He looked down at his body. “Well, I would if I could.”
“Sure.” I chuckled.
Amy sighed. “All I’m saying, Kenz, is that I have the advantage between the two of us. I say let’s use the wild card we have.”
“Reminder,” Jo cut in. “He does know what she looks like.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Hey, wild card, you forgot something. He has a picture of us. You won’t be that much of a surprise.”
I ordered pizza while we continued to brainstorm. Catching Enzo wasn’t going to be easy because he was so damn slick. Getting the upper hand was going to be tricky but not impossible. We needed to figure it out quickly because the full moon was next week, which meant all those humans he bit would most likely be turning and we’d have another problem on our hands. Enzo was gearing up for a major attack before his time with the humans was up, that much I knew, so we had to be ready. Which meant he most likely needed more humans.
“Bait,” I said as Amy sipped on her blood bag like it was a CapriSun®. “We use bait.”
“You want to use Bash and Duke again?” Jonah asked.
I shook my head. “Not Bash and Duke. A human. Someone he’d want to bite.”
“Whoa there, wolfey,” Amy said. “You want to risk an innocent? How would we even do that? He could go for anybody. How do we know he’d go for our trap?”
I snorted. “We know what he wants. Young, strong individuals who are capable of fighting for him. If we look at all of the previous victims, they’ve all been physically fit and mainly male. He has a type.”
“And you just have an uber young and physically fit guy friend just milling around that oh, by the way, is uh, I don’t know, human?!” Amy shouted.
“Actually,” I grinned, “I do. Ollie.”
Amy choked on her blood bag. “Bitch, are you cray?”
“I have to agree with Amy on this,” Jonah said hesitantly. “You would risk your brother’s life?”
“I’m as sane as they come.” I smiled. “Oliver fits the profile, and he’s been dying to spend some quality time with me. Kill two birds with one stone.”
“And get your brother turned into a werewolf in the process!” Amy yelled. “You’ve officially lost your marbles. I’m not down with this plan.”
“C’mon, it’s brilliant. Our bait didn’t work last time because we didn’t know our target. Now we do. We know what Enzo wants, so let’s serve it to him on a silver platter. Literally,” I smirked.
“Oh shit,” Jonah laughed, “that is brilliant. You want to lace Oliver with silver.”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly.”
“Hello?” Amy waved a hand in front of my face. “No private conversations with Jonah.”
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “If we lace Ollie with silver, we can put Enzo down on his ass.”
“And if he gets bitten in the process?” She quirked a brow.
I wanted to be an asshole and say I’d finally have a wolf brother, but that’d just set her off. Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to do if Ollie got hurt in the process. I’d be putting him in a lot of danger if he agreed to this, which I knew he would. Helping in a case like this, he’d be all for it. I guess you could say he had a hero complex.
Typically, I would be totally against an idea like this, but I trusted Oliver. I knew he can handle it. And with me looking out for him, I’d like to think nothing bad would happen.
“He won’t get bitten. The silver will protect him,” I said and left the room to call him.
I’d been betting on the fact Ollie was still on leave, and he was. My brother agreed and was already packing a bag before we hung up the phone. With that squared away, we had to set up a team. While Amy and I worked great, I knew we needed more than that. I wanted to call Jackson, but I wouldn’t put him in the middle of Bash and me. Truth be told, Jack would always do what’s right, and that would mean making him go against the pack. I didn’t want to do that to him. Not yet, at least. Also, with Jonah around, it’d just be too tricky for me. I wasn’t ready for that threesome.
“Missed me?” Michaels said in his gruff, New York accent as he strolled into my apartment with the SIU team.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m supposed to be on vacation, remember?”
“You wouldn’t know the meaning of a vacation if it bit you in the ass, Grey.” He pushed past me to the kitchen. “That’s what makes you a good cop.”
I snorted. “Right.”
“Why do we always meet in your apartment when we’re doing something wrong?” Finn sighed and plopped down on my couch. The reaper, dressed in all black, was the least friendly of the bunch, but was he loyal as hell.
“We’re not doing anything wrong,” I scoffed.
“Oh yeah?” the reaper countered. “Then let’s take this to the precinct.
“Stop being an asshole, Finn,” Cas said. “You know we can’t tell Briggs.”
“My point exactly.” Finn threw his hands in the air. “Whatever. What’s the plan, Grey?”
“Well, isn’t he a happy camper?” Jonah snorted, and Finn turned around.
“Since when have you had a ghost—”
I ran to the reaper, my eyes wide, and covered his mouth before he said anything else. Shit. I’d forgotten one of his abilities was seeing the dead. I peered over my shoulder and nodded my head to my bedroom, signaling Jonah to go.
He stood there, wide-eyed, in a state of mild shock. No one but me had been able to hear or see him in six months.
“Go,” I gritted between my teeth.
“Excuse me?” Michaels said with a mouthful of ice cream. Michaels was standing behind Jonah, so it would appear as if I were talking to him.
Finn ripped my hand from his mouth. “Gross, Grey, you smell like Cheetos®. At least have the decency to wash your hands.”
Jonah disappeared into my room, and I exhaled harshly. Amy took that moment to walk in with the take-out we’d ordered.
“Did I miss something?”
“Yeah, your friend is acting like a psycho,” Michaels said, and most of them brushed off the scene as me losing it.
I could tell Cas wasn’t buying it with the way he was eyeing me, and Finn obviously knew the truth. He’d met Jonah during the war, it wouldn’t take long before he figured it all out. Meeting in my apartment was turning out to be a bad idea.
“All right, so my brother is going to be here later tonight. He knows the gist of the case minus the supernatural aspect, so everyone,” I eyed them individually, “needs to keep their brand of freaky in check. I don’t want Ollie finding out about anything if I can help it.”
“Why volunteer him then?” Cas asked. “You’re putting him at risk.”
“My brother’s a soldier. I trust him. He’s a better option than pulling some unknowing stranger off the street. That would be a risk. Ollie can handle himself.”
“All right, I got the colloidal silver,” Michaels said. “Since it’s his first time ingesting this stuff, it won’t do him harm, but tell him never to take this crap again.”
We all scrunched our faces. “Uh … okay.” I took the small bottle of liqui
d silver.
“I scouted the campus and found the best location with the least activity,” Finn offered. “The library closes at midnight tonight.”
“Perfect,” I said and turned to Cas.
He sighed. “I got the animal repellent.” He pulled out the bottle with a picture of a deer on the front and shook it. “He won’t smell us.”
Everyone had done their part. We were set for tomorrow night. Finally. Tomorrow, we would catch Enzo.
11
It was easy to forget I’d once lived a human life. Little things like shifting so I could heal when I got a paper cut, or wolfing out every time someone pissed me off, were things I couldn’t do with Ollie around. Everything had to be done by human standards. I hadn’t realized how hard it was going to be until I went looking for a band-aid. I didn’t even own any.
I sniffed the air and caught Ollie’s scent when there was a knock on my door. That was something else I had to try not to do while he was around. How could I explain that one to him?
Everyone had left to give us some privacy and the opportunity to spend some time together before tomorrow. Except for Jonah because … where else would he go?
“Just play it cool, Kenz, he’s your brother,” Jonah said as he stood by the living room window. “I’ll be in your bedroom.”
“Easy for you to say. Your brother’s a wolf,” I whispered.
He knocked again, and I hurried to open the door. Taking a deep breath to steady my racing heart, I unlocked and opened the front door. Standing there with his green, military-issue duffel bag over his shoulder, was my brother. Just a few inches taller than me and matching gray eyes, my adoptive brother really did look related to me.
“Hey, broski,” I mumbled as I took in the sight of him. He had a bit of light bruising from the punch I gave him in the jaw the last time we saw each other. “Come in.”
“About time,” he grunted and rustled my hair. I swatted his hand, and all my fears and worries washed away.
“You’re sleeping on the couch, by the way.”
He shrugged. “Fine by me, as long as we catch the bad guy. I knew you’d need me one day.” He sighed longingly as he splayed himself on the sofa and put his hands behind his head.
“Oh, please. You’re just lucky you meet the qualifications of a young, physically fit alpha douche.”
He threw a pillow at me, and I laughed.
“Seriously though, guys like you are a dime a dozen on the street, but I’d rather have someone who can protect themselves, if you catch my drift.” I narrowed my eyes. “This whole plan can go sideways, and I want to make sure you aren’t afraid—”
“Of putting someone down?” He raised a brow and smirked. “I’m a soldier, Kenz. I got this.”
I felt like the douche for not actually telling him the kind of danger he was in. But I trusted his instincts and knew he’d be okay.
“So … where’s the boyfriend? I thought for sure he’d be on the case with you.”
“We work in separate departments. He’s not involved in this,” I lied. God, I prayed we didn’t run into Bash. It’d be just our luck if we did.
If there is some higher power, please listen to my pathetic pleas, I silently begged. Our whole plan depended on noninterference from the Brooklyn Pack. That was Amy’s job tonight. She was doing some reconnaissance with Jackson to find out their strategy for capturing Enzo.
Now that the brains—i.e. me—were gone, I wondered who was coming up with their plans. Although, I’m not one to underestimate my frenemies. I might like to talk shit about him, but Jackson can be pretty slick when he wants to be.
Ollie cleared his throat, pulling me out of my thoughts. “We never talked, you know.”
“I thought that’s what we’re doing,” I went to the kitchen to make some coffee.
“About our biology, I mean.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Ollie. You’re my brother. End of discussion.” I knew what he meant.
“What was he like? Your father?”
I froze, keeping my back to him. I hadn’t prepared for this. My parents had asked about Alexander, but I never said much. How could I explain he was a king? I didn’t want to lie, especially not to Ollie, but he put me in a tough spot.
“Kenzie?” Oliver called softly.
“Hm?”
“Talk to me. Tell me anything. I just … want to be a part of your life again.”
My face fell. “Oh, Ollie, of course, you’re part of my life. How could you say that?”
“Because we don’t talk like we used to. We used to Skype each other weekly. Nowadays, I’m lucky if I can get a text every other week. I know nothing about your life when I used to know everything. You were my best friend, Kenz, but now you’re a stranger.”
I wanted to say a funny quip or stomp my feet and say he was lying. Unfortunately, it was all true. A lot had happened. I’d changed so much that I no longer knew how everything fit anymore. It was like I had the pieces from different puzzles and had to put them together. It felt impossible sometimes. Maybe this was why I was so adamant about getting Oliver involved in the case. It was the closest I could get him into my world without telling him. If I continued down this path, my brother would eventually grow suspicious, and the truth would come out either way. I’d have to be careful. Humans were curious creatures, and Oliver was the most curious of the bunch.
Lathered in stinky animal-scented repellent, Oliver and I walked into the library of Natasha’s college campus. We were taking a risk coming here since Enzo knew Natasha was being held hostage and had most likely given away some information, so we had to be prepared for an ambush. Either way, the team was ready.
“They aren’t preparing anything for tonight,” Amy said to my unasked question when we sat at a secluded table of the library. Since it was summertime, it was practically empty. Her heads-up was a reference to the Brooklyn Pack, meaning they didn’t have shit set up for tonight. They were probably bickering like old women. Ha!
Finn was hanging by the book stacks, acting inconspicuous. “Doesn’t mean it’s true. He could have given you false information,” he mumbled into a textbook.
I scanned the library and saw Michaels and Cas on the other side of the building at another table. We couldn’t sit together—it would be too obvious. It would at least alarm the humans.
“Hey there, red.” Oliver winked at Amy, and she grinned. “Didn’t think my sister would rope you into this too.” He elbowed me.
“I do a lot of the tech work for the precinct.” The lie flowed smoothly from her lips as Amy slid an earpiece toward him. I grabbed it and turned it on for him before handing it to him.
“Thanks,” he mumbled and placed it in his ear.
“It’s an hour to midnight,” I announced. “I want all eyes on Oliver from all angles once he exits the library. Once the target is in sight, we shoot him. Any questions?”
“Did Grey numero dos drink the colloidal silver?” Michaels said through the comms.
“Yes,” Ollie replied, and we were all set to go. My brother never asked what the silver was about, and I was beyond grateful. I was ready to tell him some extravagant story about a crazy allergic reaction, but he never said a word.
“You know what to do?” I whispered to Ollie, and he nodded.
We’d gone over the map of the campus around the library and practiced where he would walk and stop for a break. Pacing was everything, and making sure his heart was steady was very important. I knew my brother was the perfect person for the job; he had it all down pat.
“I got it, sis.”
I stayed rooted in my seat while the team dispersed to separate locations as Ollie exited the library thirty minutes before midnight. I had to calm my erratic heart. I worried for him either way, but if Enzo saw my face, we were all fucked. It was better this way.
It’d been a while, but I shut my eyes and focused whole-heartedly on what was happening outside. Shutting off my vision, I concentrated on my other
senses. As Ophelia would say: “Close your eyes to see better.” That crazy nut. Sure enough, I could feel the wild energy run through my veins as my body shook with unrestrained power. My eyes flipped open, and if anyone were around, they would see milky-white eyes rather than my usual gray ones. Instead of bookshelves, I saw the college grounds and the night sky, its stars hidden by too many streetlights and buildings. The trail that led around campus was clear—only Oliver walked it. Just as we’d practiced, he walked at a steady, leisurely pace as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Because I was looking with my oracle eyes, a gift inherited from my biological mother, I was looking a few minutes into the future. It gave me the advantage.
My gaze traveled to the bushes where I knew I’d find Cassidy. He was covered in repellent. Farther ahead in the darkness, Finn and Michaels had turned to black fog to go undetected. I spun around and narrowed my eyes to search for Amy who was trailing behind. We were coming to a bench at the halfway point. If Enzo still hadn’t approached Ollie, he was to take a seat and pretend to do some more studying. He was just a few feet away when I heard the growling. I could see the glowing red eyes, but the wolf’s fur blended well with the night sky. It hid beneath the bench. I waited but it seemed like Cas hadn’t noticed him yet. My fists tightened and my insides warmed as my right leg began to bounce with nerves at the anticipation of Ollie coming into contact with Enzo. The closer he got, the more my leg bounced. No one was seeing him. I couldn’t wait any longer.
“He’s there!” I yelled into the library and ran. Clearing my vision, I burst out of the building, shredding my clothes in the process. “He’s under the bench! He’s right there!” I screamed. Not waiting for a response. I fully shifted.
My wolf erupted like lightning, and we sprinted across the campus lawn on all fours. I didn’t care if anyone saw. I wouldn’t let anything happen to my brother. My black fur bristled in the summer air as I got closer. Oliver was almost to the bench. I growled.
I was but a few feet away when Enzo rammed out from under the bench and went straight for Ollie. It caught him off guard, and he stumbled backward before going into a full run. Enzo chased him, but my brother was fast. I ran after them and could hear the others follow. Luckily, we were running toward Amy. I turned to the side and locked eyes with Cas. I willed him to have the silver gun ready.
From the Grave Page 12
