Cloak of Wolves

by Moeller, Jonathan

  “Okay,” said Anna. “Okay. I’m going to open the door. Stand back.”

  The heavy locks in the panic room door buzzed, and Anna eased it open with her foot. Her face was tight with fatigue and fear, and she held a Royal Arms semiautomatic pistol in both hands. Behind her, Owen glimpsed Katrina, Sabrina, Antonia, and June, the girls tense with terror, and he all but sagged with relief.

  “Dad!” shouted June. She darted past Anna and hugged him, and he picked her up.

  “Owen?” said Anna, stepping out of the panic room. “What’s going on? Is…”

  “Oh my God,” said Sabrina, looking at the dead officers.

  “What happened?” said Owen.

  “We got lucky,” said Anna. “We were all in the living room after breakfast, watching TV and reading. I saw the SUVs pull up outside, and I thought…I thought you’d been hurt or killed. I started to open the door, and then I saw some of them…change. They changed, Owen. They turned into these two-legged wolf things.”

  “Like werewolves,” said Antonia, arms folded tight across her stomach.

  “I yelled for the girls to get into the panic room,” said Anna. “We went downstairs and locked ourselves in. I didn’t have time to get my cell phone, and I think they cut the phone line to the panic room.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I could hear them clawing their way inside. How did you know to come?”

  “They attacked me, too,” said Owen. He gestured at Nadia and Riordan. “My new friends helped fight them off. One of them let slip they were coming here…and we got here in time, thanks to Nadia.”

  “What’s going on?” said Anna. “Is this some kind of Rebel thing?”

  “I don’t entirely know yet,” said Owen.

  “The short answer?” said Nadia. “Some Homeland Security officers got their hands on spooky old technology that lets them become those two-legged wolf things. Unfortunately, it also made them go nuts, which is why we’re all here.”

  “You’re Nadia?” said Anna.

  “Yep,” said Nadia. She gestured to Riordan. “This is my husband Riordan. We’ve, uh…been helping Owen out.”

  “He said you saved his life,” said Anna.

  Nadia shifted. “Well…”

  Anna stepped forward and hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you for looking out for him.”

  “Okay,” said Nadia. “Okay. Um. You’re a hugger. You’re welcome.”

  By the pillar, Kirby let out a moan. He was starting to come around again.

  Anna stepped to the side and leveled her pistol at him.

  “Dad,” said Antonia. “Are you…are you going to be on a Punishment Day video for all this?”

  “No,” said Owen. “These officers went bad.”

  “Don’t worry about it, kid,” said Nadia. “Once this is over, your dad’s probably getting promoted.”

  God, he hoped not. He’d settle for getting out of it alive with his family.

  “I think you had better go upstairs,” said Owen. “Take the kids.” Despite his fears, he was both a little amused and slightly alarmed to note that Sabrina and Katrina were staring at Riordan with nervous curiosity. Owen knew the effect a Shadow Hunter could have on women, and while he was certain Nadia would not have married the sort of man who would seduce a teenage girl, best not to put any ideas into his daughters’ heads. “Mrs. Fischer is guarding the front porch. If she sees anything, she’ll come running.”

  “Really?” said Anna. “How did you manage that?”

  “I asked nicely,” said Nadia.

  “I’ll get you when things calm down, and we know what we’re doing next,” said Owen.

  “Come on, kids,” said Anna. “We’re going let your father work.”

  “Work?” said Sabrina, blinking. “This…this is work?”

  “It’s what your father does, Miss Quell,” said Riordan, the LED lights of the ceiling glinting off his sunglasses. “He catches bad guys.”

  Nadia nodded. “What he said.”

  Owen felt oddly gratified by that.

  “I’ll help Mrs. Fischer keep an eye out,” said Anna, and she escorted the girls upstairs.

  “Your wife has a good head on her shoulders, Colonel,” said Riordan. “Not everyone could keep their cool in a crisis.”

  “I know,” said Owen. “And I still have her because of you and Nadia. Thank you both.”

  Nadia shrugged, and he felt a flicker of amusement. She clearly did not like getting compliments and wasn’t sure how to respond. “That’s what we do. Well, that’s what Riordan does. I just do whatever our mutual employer tells me to do. Speaking of which,” she turned towards Kirby, “it’s time to see if Officer Kirby is going to do this the easy way or the hard way.”

  “Yes,” agreed Owen.

  Because one way or another, Kirby was going to tell them what he knew.

  They crossed the basement, stepping over the dead men, and stopped before Kirby. His eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, he looked confused. Then rage flashed over his expression, and he lunged forward with a snarl, the chain of the handcuffs rasping against the pillar. It was disturbing to see the feral, wolf-like mannerisms in a human face.

  “You took it!” said Kirby. “Give it back, give it back, it’s mine! Give it to me!”

  “What, this?” said Nadia. She tossed the metal plate in her gloved hand a few times. Kirby lunged forward, jaws snapping as if he wanted to bite her hand off. “That seems like a bad idea, so I’m gonna pass. But thanks for the offer, though. I appreciate it.”

  “It’s mine!” snarled Kirby. “Mine! Stupid bitch, you don’t understand. I’m more than human now. We’re going to make a better world, and we’re going to rip out the corruption.” He turned his feverish eyes towards Riordan. “You understand. You’re like us. I could smell the Shadowlands on you.”

  Riordan remained unmoved, his face like granite. “I know what it is to have power and strength, officer. But I don’t know what it is like to kill innocent women and children to gratify myself.”

  “Why, Kirby?” said Owen. “Why did you come after my kids? You know me. We’ve worked together on cases, for God’s sake. We caught bad guys and made sure their victims had justice. We did that, you and me. And now you’re coming after my family? What did I ever to do you to make you do that? I mean, if you want to come after me, fine, I get that. But my kids?”

  Kirby hesitated, something almost like guilt going over his face. “It…Hopkins was supposed to have killed you. He called us said he spotted your vehicle by that greasy little shit Leon’s hiding place. You were supposed to have died there.” He scowled. “Suppose that old bastard and that mouthy bitch Cecilia screwed it up.”

  “You could say that,” said Nadia. “They’re dead, and we killed them. That’s kind of a screwup, I guess.”

  Kirby gave her a wary look. Someone like Nadia should have been terrified of him, not grinning that mirthless rictus of a smile. And Kirby had seen her fight the wraithwolves.

  “Okay,” said Owen. “I get that. I was in the way, I was looking too closely. Makes sense to come after me. But you knew I wasn’t at my house, and you came after my kids anyway. Why?”

  “You don’t understand what it’s like,” whispered Kirby. “It’s like fire in your blood, in your mind. You’re so much faster and stronger. The senses are sharper. And the killing, it’s like…” He shook his head, his eyes bright with something that reminded Quell of an addict thinking about his favorite drug. “It’s better than booze, better than women, better than anything. Mr. Hood said we were the next stage of humanity.” He tried to shrug in the handcuffs. “So why shouldn’t we prey on the old humanity? You’re just dumb animals who let the Elves rule over you.”

  “Aw, man, we’re going to have to report you for elfophobia,” said Nadia. Kirby sneered at her.

  “You know Mr. Hood,” said Owen. “Tell me about him.”

  Kirby laughed again. “I don’t have to tell you anything. You’re all going to die. We’re going to
get rid of everything wrong with the world, starting with people like you.”

  “And what kind of people are we?” said Nadia.

  “You? You’re part of Brauner’s little gang,” said Kirby. “You’re probably banging him on the side so he’ll let you keep your stupid little fruit company.” Nadia rolled her eyes. “And you, Colonel? You’re a toady. You’re one of the idiots who lets the Elves rule over us. They snap their fingers, and you jump.” He looked at Riordan. “I don’t know what the hell you are, but I don’t like you, and I’ll kill you, too.”

  “Eloquent,” said Riordan.

  “Sounds like you’re a Rebel,” said Owen.

  “The Rebels were idiots,” said Kirby. “Mr. Hood and the Singularity have a better way. We’re going to evolve. We’re going to become better than the Elves, better than the rest of humanity. Then we’ll show you.”

  “Show us what?” said Owen.

  Kirby hesitated, and then grinned and shook his head. “You’re a good interrogator, I’ll give you that, Quell. But I’m not talking. My pack brothers will come for me. And then you’re going to regret all of this.”

  “Come on,” said Nadia. “You saw me use magic. You know I can force you to tell me whatever I want.”

  “You can hurt me,” said Kirby, “but you won’t make me betray my brothers. And then when I get these cuffs off, when I am restored, I am going to rip you to pieces. Ever wonder what it feels like to have a wraithwolf rip your guts out foot by foot?”

  “Not for a couple years now,” said Nadia. She tossed the metal plate to herself again. “And I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Then what are you going to do?” said Kirby, sneering.

  “I’m going to give you exactly what you want,” said Nadia.

  She stepped next to him, slapped the plate into its previous place on his back, and then took several quick steps back. Kirby let out a shrill laugh, his eyes turning yellow, fur starting to sprout from his face, claws growing from his fingers.

  His transformation was quick, but Nadia was faster.

  Before he could finish, she cast the Seal of Shadows over him.

  This time she made a small Seal, just large enough to encircle both Kirby and the pillar. The transformation froze halfway through, leaving Kirby a ghastly, misshapen mix of human and wraithwolf. Kirby began to scream and thrash, howling in pain, his twisted body bucking in agony. Something in Owen recoiled at the sight, but he remembered his daughters hiding in the panic room, and he said nothing.

  Kirby shrank back into human form with a sobbing whimper, and Nadia released the Seal, its light winking out. There were harsh red burns on Kirby’s neck and hands, and he was shuddering with pain.

  “Aw, man,” said Nadia. “That looked like it really hurt. Suppose having a wraithwolf halfway summoned into your body isn’t at all comfortable. You should…”

  “Bitch!” screamed Kirby, and he jerked again, his eyes turning yellow.

  “Yes, I am,” said Nadia, and she cast the Seal once more.

  This time she let him scream and thrash for a full minute.

  When she released the Seal, Kirby slumped against the pillar, sobbing. The burns had healed during his transformation, but new ones had appeared in different places. The half-finished transformation had torn his uniform to shreds, rather than making it disappear, and Owen saw more ugly burns on his chest and stomach.

  Nadia waited until the burns healed, then she reached down and ripped away the plate. Kirby screamed again, still crying.

  “All right,” said Nadia, voice soft. “Want to try again?” Kirby shook his head. “Going to answer the Colonel’s questions now?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” spat Kirby, his voice full of fear and rage. “You’re all going to die anyway.”

  “Then you should have no trouble answering my questions,” said Owen. “Why did you try to kill me?”

  “Because Lieutenant Warren said you were poking around, that we had to get you out of the way,” said Kirby, sullen. There was still defiance in his tone, but more fear now. “We’re going to do great things for Wisconsin, for this country, for all of mankind. We had to get people out of the way first. You, then probably Major Giles.”

  Owen nodded. He had hoped that his old friend Jacob Giles wasn’t part of this mess.

  “Tell me what happened,” said Owen. “Start from the beginning. Make me understand.”

  “Some of us,” said Kirby, “some of us were really frustrated. It started after that asshole Doyle’s building collapsed. We all knew it was his fault. We all knew the law wouldn’t touch him. Good old Governor Arnold was looking after his friends. Lieutenant Warren, he understood. So did Sergeant Hopkins. Then one day Warren talked to me, pulled me aside. The lieutenant said he understood my frustration. That he knew what it was like to catch the little bad guys while the big ones got away. He showed me the Fusion device…”

  “Fusion?” said Owen. “It’s nuclear?”

  “What? No,” said Kirby. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to walk around with a nuclear device strapped to my skin?” Owen refrained from comment, and Kirby kept talking. “No. He called it the Fusion device because it joins together the best of wraithwolf and human. The device summons a wraithwolf from the Shadowlands, but instead of giving it a physical form, the machine pushes it into a human body. The human gets all the strength and speed of a wraithwolf, but with a human intellect directing it.”

  “Which is why you decided to kill Ronald Doyle’s wife and kids,” said Owen.

  Kirby looked to the side. “That was Warren. He did that one himself since he knew he’d get the murder investigation. But I know why he did it.” That mad, addicted light came into his eyes again. “There’s nothing like killing, nothing like it at all. It’s like…we’ve become superior men, you know? Better than humans, better than Elves. The Elves are so smug because they’re immune to bullets, but they’re not immune to wraithwolf claws and fangs. The lieutenant’s got big plans. We’re going to kill Brauner and all his cronies, and then we’re going to kill the Elves. That’s why we killed Doyle, why we tried to kill Leon. We’ll get rid of all the evidence, and then we’ll clean up Wisconsin. And everyone will blame it on random wraithwolves from the Shadowlands, not us.”

  “All forty-eight of you?” said Owen.

  “Not yet,” said Kirby. “The lieutenant said he got forty-eight Fusion devices from Leon, Doyle, and Mr. Hood, but he didn’t find enough people to take them.” His mouth twisted with disgust. “They’ll understand. Everyone will understand. They’ll know that killing is bliss.”

  “Including killing my kids?” said Owen.

  Kirby smirked at him. “Yes.”

  Owen wanted to hit him, but he needed one more piece of information.

  “Where is Warren’s base?” said Owen. “He wouldn’t be able to do this at the Central Office.”

  “Like I’m telling you…” started Kirby.

  Before he finished the sentence, Owen stepped forward and cast the mindtouch spell.

  It was a trick he had perfected over the years. Get the suspecting talking about something so the information was at the forefront of his mind, and then scoop it out of his thoughts. Entering another’s mind was always a chaotic and risky business (as his quarrel with Nadia had proved), and this was the safest and the easiest method.

  His mind touched Kirby’s thoughts, and Owen’s stomach roiled in disgust. Kirby was no longer sane. Truth be told, his mind was no longer entirely human. Images of bloodlust and hunger for flesh boiled in his mind. Yet the conversation had brought to mind Warren’s base, the place where he tested the Fusion devices. Owen glimpsed an old church, its windows boarded up, the floor carpeted with leaves…

  He knew it and stepped back.

  “The Church of the Modern Apostles,” said Owen, “out in Cedarburg.”

  Kirby flinched.

  Nadia frowned. “Is that like a cult?”

  “No, no, nothing like that,” said Owen. “It
was a little Baptist denomination, split off from one of the main ones. Thought the mainstream Baptists weren’t strict enough. All the members died from old age, and the church dissolved. The building’s still there, but no one has bought it. Someone dumped a body there a few years ago, so I was there for an investigation. It would be the perfect place for Warren to test his Fusion devices. The church property is surrounded by trees, and you can’t see it from the road.”

  “Great,” said Nadia. “Trees and wraithwolves.”

  “How did you know that?” snarled Kirby.

  Owen tapped his temple. “Detective work.”

  Kirby started to shout something, and Owen cast the mindtouch spell again. This time Owen’s will hammered at the sleep centers of Kirby’s brain. This wasn’t always a reliable method, but the multiple transformations had exhausted Kirby, and the effort took hold. The traitorous officer collapsed into unconsciousness, and only the handcuffs kept him upright.

  “Neat trick,” said Nadia.

  “It doesn’t always work,” said Owen.

  “Important question,” said Nadia. “What the hell are we going to do now?”

  “You said you were going to contact the High Queen,” said Owen. “We need help. Someone from the Inquisition or maybe the Wizard’s Legion. I don’t know how many of Warren’s wraithwolves are left, but we’ve got to assume a minimum of twenty. Maybe even the full-thirty four.”

  “It’s also possible,” said Riordan, “that this ‘Mr. Hood’ obtained more Fusion devices for Lieutenant Warren, and neither Leon nor Kirby knew about it.”

  “And we should pick up Leon,” said Nadia. “If we’re going after Warren and his followers, I’m going to need my aetherometer.”

  “We also need official support,” said Riordan. He faced Owen, and he felt the weight of the gaze behind those heavy sunglasses. “Is there anyone in Homeland Security you trust completely? Either in the Milwaukee branch or one of the others. Someone you’re sure wouldn’t have bought into Warren’s plan.”

  Owen hesitated and then nodded. “A few, yes.”

  “All right,” said Nadia. “You call your buddies. I’ll use my ring to contact the High Queen. Then we’ll figure out what we’re doing next.”