by Keri Arthur
“I need two teams to deal with all this,” Aiden cut in. “Eli, thanks for coming along. We’re not sure if the Empusae remain in the area, so between the two of you, will you be able to set up some sort of protective circle or magic repellant to protect everyone?”
Ashworth nodded. “Although we might have to set up two separate circles and merge them at a set point to allow movement between the two if the kill zone is large.”
“It is,” I said.
“Ah. Then perhaps it’d be better if the three of us—”
“I need Liz’s help up at the compound.” Aiden’s tone suggested he’d brook no arguments on that. “We’re going to interview our survivor—Jeni—to see if she witnessed anything that might help us track these things. Tala, you’re in control here. I want two separate teams on this. Ciara, we’ll need an ID on the first victim ASAP.”
“As has been noted before, we’ll do our best but we can’t work miracles, Aiden.”
“I know. Just do what you can.” He glanced at me. “Ready?”
I nodded. Anything was better than remaining here amongst the utter destruction.
We climbed into his truck and he carefully reversed out. Tension, anger, and sorrow radiated from Aiden’s body, and his aura was a turbulent, unreadable mix. But that was understandable—he was head ranger, and a werewolf besides. They didn’t like losing and, right now, with this case, that’s all we seemed to be doing.
We reached the boundary for the O’Connor compound and were quickly waved through the checkpoint. The truck’s engine growled loudly as we climbed the steep incline. Trees closed in, shutting out the fading light of the moon and leaving nothing but inky blackness either side of the twin headlight beams.
We continued to wind our way up the mountain, and eventually the trees receded, revealing sheer mountain walls. We were entering the mouth of a canyon. Above us, dawn painted the sky with flags of red and gold.
We reached another checkpoint. Aiden slowed, but a wolf appeared and we were once again waved on. The growing daylight caught the quartz reefs running through the canyon’s walls, making it appear as if ribbons of stars surrounded us. Of course, given that much of the gold found in the area surrounding the compound had been found in quartz reefs, some of that glitter might have been very precious indeed.
Buildings appeared—some large, some small, but all of them resembling longhouses of old—and, thanks to the stone they were made of, were absolutely beautiful. Every building shone, and all of them had earthen rooftops filled with masses of different grasses and wildflowers. There was same proliferation of green technologies here as there had been in the Marin compound, though, with every house having a combination of solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage.
The farther we moved into the encampment, the more the canyon widened out, and the larger and grander the longhouses became. Eventually, we entered what looked to be the remnants of an old crater. The canyon walls soared high above us, unadorned by trees, but nevertheless beautiful thanks to the quartz reefs and the proliferation of wildflowers.
Aiden slowed as we rounded a corner. Up ahead, in a wide clearing, was a grand hall. Unlike the Marin one—which resembled a relic of medieval times—this hall was circular with an angular earthen roof pitching up to the chimney in the center of the structure.
Around the perimeter of the clearing were three two-story longhouses, each one separated from the next by a path that ran back into the forest. While these buildings were also made of stone, the reefs that ran through them looked to be pure gold, because they gleamed like fire under the red skies of the morning.
Aiden’s statement that the O’Connors were wealthy was something of a misnomer. They would never be merely ‘wealthy’—not with the amount of gold on show here. The three packs might be plowing all tourism profits back into the day-to-day operation of the reservation, but the O’Connors, at the very least, would never be left wanting for money, no matter what happened.
It could also be another reason why no humans were allowed up here. It wasn’t just about privacy, but rather the wealth on show and the greed it often sparked in humans.
Aiden stopped the truck in a parking area on the right edge of the clearing and then glanced at me. “Ready?”
“No.” I took a deep breath and tried to calm the nerves. “But let’s get it over with.”
We climbed out of the truck. A wolf appeared out of the trees to my left; if not for the fact he was much younger than Aiden, I could have been staring at his twin. Same eyes, same facial features.
Aiden walked around the rear of the truck and pressed a hand against my spine, lightly pushing me forward. “Liz, meet my brother, Dillon.”
Dillon had to be at least fifteen years younger than Aiden, but he’d nevertheless mastered the art of giving nothing away with either his eyes or his expression. “Nice to meet you, Liz.” His gaze flicked to Aiden. “They’re waiting for you both in the infirmary.”
His voice was ultra polite. I wondered if that was instinctive, or if he’d been warned to keep his distance and his manners.
“Thanks, Dillon,” Aiden said, amusement evident.
Warmth briefly speared the blue of Dillon’s eyes. He nodded politely my way, then turned and trotted away.
I glanced up as Aiden pressed me forward. “Is he the youngest in the family?”
He had two brothers, I knew that much, as well as five sisters—six, if Katie was included. I had no idea if such a large number was normal or not for a wolf pack.
“Yes.”
His tone was clipped, and annoyance instinctively rose. “I’m gathering I’m not to ask too many questions about your family?”
His gaze shot to mine. “That’s not what I meant to imply. It’s just—” He hesitated, and half shrugged. “I’m not used to talking about my family to anyone outside of the pack.”
And that was something I always would be, no matter how long we were together. I looked away, studying the gold-wreathed buildings and ignoring the inner sadness. “Then can I ask which of these longhouses belongs to your family?”
“It’s the one on the left with the ivy-leaved cyclamen on the roof.”
Which was one of the largest here. I wondered how many generations lived within its golden walls, and where his bedroom was… “It’s pretty.”
“It is, thanks mainly to the long hours Mom spends on the roof to ensure weeds don’t overrun the flowers.” He shook his head, his love for her evident in his expression despite the lingering swirls of annoyance in his aura.
We walked through the pathway between his home and the next. The buildings immediately behind were obviously communal, as there were blacksmiths, stonemasons, potters, and woodworkers all working in the area. The large infirmary building lay at the far end of the lane, and behind it, lying in the shadows of the canyon’s walls, were smaller longhouses.
“Given a werewolf’s ability to self-heal by simply shifting shape,” I said, “I wouldn’t have thought such a large infirmary would be necessary.”
“The ability to shape shift comes with puberty. Until that point, there’s all manner of cuts and broken bones needing attention. Werewolf children are no different to human when it comes to pushing boundaries, but their belief in their own immortality is probably much higher.”
“Well, they probably do bounce better, given the strength of their bones.”
Amusement teased his lips. “True only to a certain point—trust me on that.”
Though dawn had barely risen, there were already a number of people moving about this area. Most pretended they weren’t interested in us, but their curiosity nipped at our heels. I ignored it and studied the two-story building instead. Unlike most in the compound, the grayish stone here was unadorned by reefs of either quartz or gold. The flat roof was also stone, and it gave the entire building a dour, hunkered-down appearance. But maybe that was intentional; maybe they wanted it to be the sort of place young werewolves preferred to avoid.
She didn’t bother explaining who ‘they’ were, but I guessed it would, at the very least, be Aiden’s parents and Jeni’s. Our footsteps echoed as we climbed the stairs, making the place seem empty. And, aside from Jeni and whoever was in the ward with her, maybe it was.
The corridor on the upper floor ran the visible length of the building. There were a number of doors running off either side and, down the far right end, a double set of secure doors and a sign saying Surgery and Intensive Care. Which surprised me, given Castle Rock’s hospital was fully equipped and only ten minutes away by car.
We went left. Ward C was three doors down. Aiden ushered me in; the four people inside immediately glanced around. Two of them were his parents—while I’d never been officially introduced to his father, I’d glimpsed him when we’d entered the compound’s outer forest to rescue Ashworth from the dark sorcerer intent on making the wellspring—and the wild magic—his own. But even if I hadn’t seen him before, I would have still known who he was. When it came to looks, the males in Aiden’s family didn’t fall very far from the DNA tree.
The other two were obviously Jeni’s parents—their auras were an agitated mix of anger and deep grief, the latter surprising me a little, given she’d at least escaped the destruction the Empusae had visited on the two men. But I guess they feared that the trauma of what she’d witnessed would probably be with her for a very long time to come, possibly even causing serious mental problems. It certainly wasn’t an unknown phenomenon.
Aiden stopped at the end of the bed. I did the same and studied the sedated girl. She was tall and slender and looked to be in her late teens. Like her parents, her hair leaned toward the darker end of the spectrum for the O’Connor pack, being almost brown rather than a shade of blonde or silver.
“Liz, this is Joseph and Karleen, my mother and father, and Sean and Ryanne, Jeni’s parents.”
Obviously, Karleen wanted her husband kept unaware that she and I had already met—why else would Aiden be reintroducing her?
Ryanne’s red-rimmed gaze met mine. “Can you do anything for her?”
“If you mean erase or hide her memories to ease her trauma, then no, that’s not—”
“Why we’re here,” Joseph cut in. Though there was no censure in his tone, it was nevertheless a warning. He glanced at me. There was absolutely nothing in his expression to clue me in as to what he might be thinking, about either my presence here or me. Even his aura gave nothing away. “Aiden said you can read her memories without having to put her through the stress of questioning—is this true?”
I nodded, even though it was something I hadn’t tried before. “I’ll have to connect with Belle, though, just in case the memories are so strong they drag me down.”
Joseph frowned. “I don’t understand—”
“What Liz is about to try isn’t telepathy,” Aiden said. “It’s more an immersion in Jeni’s memory—she’ll see and feel what Jeni did.”
“That sounds… dangerous,” Ryanne said.
“It can be,” I said. “Which is why I need to connect to Belle.”
“She’s the telepathic one, isn’t she?” Joseph said.
“Yes. She’ll monitor my thoughts and drag me out of Jeni’s mind if I go too deep and get caught up in her emotions.”
“Why would that be dangerous?” Sean asked.
“Because, as Aiden said, I’ll be fully immersed in her mind, and I’ll see and feel what she did. But if those memories overwhelm me and I lose my control, it’s possible neither of us will come out of it whole.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?” Karleen’s expression was skeptical. “I mean, how is something like that even possible?”
“I was deeply immersed in Karen Banks’s mind, trying to discover where she was and what she was doing when the vampire took her life. Her death could have been mine, because my body was reacting to what was happening to Karen as if it was happening to me. It’s only thanks to the fact that Belle got me out in time that I’m standing here now.”
“Ah.”
One word that somehow managed to convey understanding while still sounding skeptical.
“Is there anything you need to do in preparation?” Joseph asked.
“I’d normally raise a protective circle to keep evil out, but that’s not necessary in this case.”
Mainly because Jeni was alive rather than dead.
“Then please proceed when you’re ready.”
Joseph stepped back from the bed, as did Jeni’s parents. Karleen remained exactly where she was. Not giving ground, not even for something like this. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and then walked to the front of the bed. Jeni’s face was pale, but her breathing was even and her aura relatively calm. The drugs they’d given her had been strong enough to soothe both mind and soul.
“Aiden, can you pull the bed away from the wall for me?”
He immediately did so. I slipped into the space between the bed and the wall, and then carefully placed my hands either side of Jeni’s head. No images stirred in response. The drugs had done their job.
I took another deep breath and—keeping mental fingers crossed that Belle was awake—reached for her.
There was no immediate response, which meant she was probably asleep. While I could break the spells that protected her room from the constant buzz of my thoughts, it would take more time and energy than I really wanted to expend right now. Which meant that I might have to go on alone—
You called? came her thought.
Yeah—did I wake you?
Nope. I had to pee. What’s the problem?
There have been two more murders, but this time, we have a witness. She’s been heavily sedated, so I’m going to directly connect with her mind and relive her memories.
And you want me to monitor, just in case. Wait a sec while I get comfortable. There was several seconds of silence, then, Right, go for it.
I immediately closed my eyes and pushed into Jeni’s mind.
Nothing happened. Not straight away. All I felt were the muted echoes of her horror and disbelief. The deeper I went, the greater those two emotions became, until they crawled across my senses and dragged tears from my eyes. It was warning enough that the memories I was about to access were very bad indeed.
I pressed past another layer. While the drugs still held sway here, images were now flickering. They were fragile wisps that spoke of blood and gore and horror, but they fragmented and spun away the minute I reached for them.
Then, with an abruptness that had my breath snagging in my throat, I was in… Saw Byron, who should have protected me, reduced to bits in an instant. Blood… and body parts… everywhere. On the ground, on me. It’s all I can smell, all I can see…
“Liz,” Aiden said softly. “You need to tell us what you see.”
I jumped and fought to place a layer of distance between the thick heat of her emotions and me. “She was on her way home when she heard the screaming. It sounded like her friend Jimmy, so she ran to help him. What she saw instead…”
I paused, and swallowed heavily as the images once again flared thick and fast across my senses. Jimmy with two women who were both beautiful and naked. Women who attacked him, shredded him with claws and teeth, their bodies slick with his blood as he screamed and writhed. The abrupt silence as he died, and yet remained upright and still as the women stripped him of all humanity before finally licking his bones clean. Bones that were unnaturally white in the gleam of the moon. Oh God, oh God…
Lizzie, came Belle’s warning. Pull back.
I shuddered and did so. As distance returned, I was suddenly aware of my rapid breathing and the thick churning in my stomach. I swallowed heavily, and then said, “She saw the two Empusae attacking Jimmy… and then she ran.”
Back down the forest, away from t
he destruction. And yet, for all of her terror, for all of her fear, she had the presence of mind to call the rangers.
“Can you describe these women?” Joseph asked. “Give us facial composites?”
“Yes, although I’m not sure they’ll do much good, given Empusae also have owl form and can basically hide anywhere.”
“We’ve already organized a reservation-wide search for possible dens,” Joseph said. “If these things are hiding in any of our forests or compounds, we’ll find them. It’s the possibility of them hiding within our residential areas that worries me.”
“From the little we’ve learned of them, that’s not likely.”
“What about Byron?” Aiden said. “Why did he get out of the SUV?”
I took a breath and went back into Jeni’s memories.
“They were both in the SUV, as ordered. Byron was trying to calm Jeni down, without a whole lot of success. Then someone else began screaming… a woman, in the forest behind them rather than at the crossroad ahead where Jimmy died.”
I paused as Jeni’s panic washed through me—her fear that Byron was going to leave her in the truck alone. Her begging him to stay, to not get out and investigate. The screaming intensifying, and then the door being wrenched open. And then, and then…
“Lizzie,” Aiden said, again softly. “Tell us what you’re seeing.”
“Byron didn’t get out of the car.” Tears slipped past my closed eyelids. I could not only see his death through Jeni’s memories, but also feel Byron’s horror, his confusion, and the utter, mind-numbing agony he’d so briefly suffered in those few brief minutes of sensation between life and death. I swallowed heavily, my voice quavering a little as I added, “He was distracted by the screaming of one Empusae while the other snuck up and wrenched the door open. Jeni fled as he was being torn apart.”
Dear God, what she’s witnessed… Belle said. I have to help her, Liz. It’s the only way she’ll get through this.
I know. I removed my hands, swiped at the tears, and then raised my gaze to Jeni’s parents. “My friend Belle can mute her memories of this event if you wish. It may help her recover.”
