The changelings were strong, but clumsy and not particularly bright. Soldiers. Unlike were-animals, they seemed able to transform into any shape, though never completely, from what I’d seen, which suggested their power to transform was poorly developed or was being used in a way the creatures weren’t accustomed to. So far, we hadn’t found any references to creatures with such power—not living, anyway. Only the genums had a similar transformational power, but they were small creatures, limited by their mass. They were also extinct, and had been for some time.
Could our enemy have found a way to mutate a were-animal’s ability to change? For now, it was the only possibility that made sense, but it still brought me no closer to answering, Who?
At some point I fell asleep for what felt like minutes before I instinctively woke up at dawn, then pushed the fog from my brain with a few sets of one-handed push-ups. After a quick breakfast, I brought a plate of steak and eggs to Dr. Yoshi’s room and found Steven lingering outside the locked door.
“No one bothered him,” he reported, subdued. He frowned at the door, as if trying to make up his mind. “Josh said you think he was compelled to create the poison. If that’s true …” Steven shook his head. “I can’t forgive him for what he’s done, but I don’t want to see an innocent man punished, either.”
“We’ll find out,” I promised. “Nothing will happen to the doctor until we know for sure. At that point, we’ll decide his fate.”
He nodded. Something else was on his mind. He hesitated, but decided to walk away, taking his thoughts with him.
Only after he disappeared around a corner did I unlock the door to find the doctor huddled on his bed, his back against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. My arrival was greeted with a panicked expression before his attention drifted hungrily to the plate of food I placed on the desk.
“Dr. Baker will come for you. Or his nurse, Kelly. You’ll be taken to the clinic where you’ll continue to instruct Dr. Baker in the creation of your poison, and the antidote. You’ll be treated well, as long as you follow their instructions.” I watched his eyes dart about the room, then settle on the door behind me. He was an animal in a cage, looking for a way out. “I think it was clear last night that you’re not a popular man in this house. There are only two places here where you are safe—this room, and the clinic. Anywhere else in this house, you’ll likely be killed on sight.” Did he understand me? “Don’t. Run.” After he nodded acknowledgment, I left him to eat, locking the door behind me.
A few minutes later I heard Chris and Josh in the library. I was on the verge of joining them when I saw Sky inside as well and felt a sudden, intense anger confused by frustration. I wanted to talk some sense into her about Quell, convince her that vamps couldn’t be saved, but I knew she wouldn’t listen, and I’d probably start shouting. For once, I wrestled my temper under control and took my frustrations to the gym instead.
I found Sebastian alone, running on a treadmill. With a slight nod, he invited me to join him. I took the next machine over, programmed it to the most challenging setting, then started running. I had just worked up a sweat when he finally spoke.
“You and Chris are back together.” His flat tone spoke volumes.
Josh. I scowled. He had no business sharing mine, but I understood Sebastian’s concern. “It was a one-time thing,” I said dismissively.
“I understand that you and Chris have a long and complicated history together.”
“She won’t be a problem,” I said, suppressing my irritation. I’d already gotten the tenth degree from my brother. I didn’t need it from Sebastian, too.
“We need everyone focused on the challenge in front of us,” he continued. “We need you focused.”
“It was a mistake,” I snapped angrily, my temper rushing to the surface. Sebastian didn’t take the bait. As we quietly ran beside each other over for a while, the pressure built up in me to explain further. “I was worked up from the parlay with the vamps. She showed up at my door asking if we were going to be able to work together and ended up staying the night. I don’t know how it happened, but it did.” I sighed, recognizing my irritation was aimed primarily at myself. I added, choosing my words carefully, “I’m aware that in the past I let my situation with her get in the way of my responsibilities to the pack. I’ve informed her that what happened last night will not be repeated. She’s changed. Since she started working for Demetrius, there’s a desperation about her. She’s taking risks.”
“Is that your only concern for her working with Demetrius?” he asked stoically.
“I’m concerned for her safety.”
“You can’t save her from her choices, Ethan.”
“I can try,” I said.
“Okay.” Sebastian remained silent for a long moment before changing the subject. “You should know that Sky was attacked the other night.”
I gaped at him, slowing almost to a standstill on the machine. “When? How?” I demanded.
“After you dropped her off from the restaurant, she decided to return on her own to the parking lot where Winter was attacked.”
I scowled, stunned. Had she lost her mind entirely?
He continued, “She was attempting to investigate a smell she remembered from their initial encounter.”
“Lemon and brimstone,” I said. That was how Sky and Josh had ended up at my house. That’s why Josh had been calling me all night, while I was with … I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. “She should’ve told me.” If I hadn’t tried to drive her away, she would have. Every muscle in my body vibrated with anger I could only direct at myself. At least she had gotten away unharmed. She was safe, now.
“She obviously escaped unharmed,” I said, soothing my guilt. The creatures weren’t particularly fast or cunning. She could’ve easily outrun them.
“It slashed her across the abdomen,” he corrected, his tone heavy and precise in his judgment, like a scalpel.
I stopped running entirely and turned to face him. She had shown no sign of injury at my house, at Gloria’s, or walking in the woods to Thaddeus’s house. “The poison—”
“The explanation Dr. Baker gave her was that her injuries weren’t severe enough to receive a sufficient dose of the poison, which might be the case. The wound was borderline, but she healed much faster than expected. Josh suspects Maya might have played a role.”
“She’s supposed to be dormant,” I said absently, distracted by the recriminations ricocheting inside my brain.
“Yes,” he said grimly. “Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing for certain.”
My fault. I stepped off the machine and began pacing with a rising intensity. For the last year, I’d held my desire for Sky in check. After the restaurant, I finally let it get the best of me. Instead of trusting me to protect her, she’d gone out on her own and nearly gotten herself killed. I imagined her wounded, bleeding out alone in an empty parking lot while I was with Chris. I’d messed up, and Sky had nearly paid the price.
“Was it Josh who brought her here?” I asked absently.
Sebastian stepped off his machine and retrieved his towel from a nearby rack. “The odd vampire, Quell, saved her,” he said, then walked out of the gym, leaving me alone.
For a moment, I stood as still as a statue, allowing the fury to build. When it threatened to overwhelm me, I carried a pair of twenty-pound dumbbells into the next room, where we retired the older equipment, and proceeded to demolish everything there. When there was nothing left to break, I tore apart the walls. By the time I came to my senses, I was standing in a field of broken, twisted metal, staring at Swiss cheese walls. My fury not yet spent, I left the house and ran hard through the woods that surrounded the retreat house.
Eventually, I exhausted everything but my disappointment. When I returned to the house, the other were-animals steered clear of me as I glowered, radiating anger on my way to my room. After a shower and a change of clothes, I checked my phone. I found a text message from Dennis, a street addres
s along with a picture of a house I recognized. Gideon’s. Chris’s BMW was in the driveway. “I swear to God,” Dennis added, “there’s a storm brewing just over this house.”
“Get out of there,” I texted back. Who knew what else he was going to see if he stuck around. “I’ll tell you when you’re needed.”
“Yeah. Happy to.”
Within minutes, I was on the highway in my SUV. Why Chris took it upon herself to visit an elemental elf without backup, I couldn’t explain. I didn’t trust magic. I trusted elves even less. If the elves were involved in the plot against us, she could be walking into a trap.
Despite Gideon’s self-imposed exile, I doubted that he’d fully removed himself from elven politics. The son of a legendary leader, he’d been expected to eventually take his father’s place. But Gideon had gotten used to a carefree lifestyle. When the time came, he’d turned down the nomination. Whether he’d acted out of defiance or insecurity was anyone’s guess, but he remained a popular figure. Soon there would be a new election. There was a good chance Gideon would be nominated once again.
Chris’s BMW was still in the driveway, blocking it, when I arrived and parked across the street. A quick glance around the neighborhood failed to locate Dennis’s Cutlass. Good. As I approached the front door of the house, a shadow passed over me, accompanied by a rumble in the sky that stirred the hair on my neck. As I looked up into the gathering purple cloud just—and only—above me, a bolt of lightning jabbed downward, accompanied by a loud roar. The flash was blinding. The electricity crackling in the air raised every hair on my body. My arrival had not gone unnoticed.
Before I reached the door, Chris emerged from the house with a scowl, the door slamming shut behind her as if by its own volition. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, walking past me toward her BMW.
“Josh was concerned about you,” I lied, following her.
“Oh, how sweet. Now I have two of you worrying about me unnecessarily.”
“Did you learn anything from Gideon?”
“Yes, but let’s discuss it back at your place.”
She was rounding the back of her BMW when I heard a growl. I turned to find one of the creatures a few feet away, charging Chris. She barely managed to draw a pistol from her shoulder holster when the creature swept her aside with its arm. She fell back against the car, her pistol falling to the paved driveway and bouncing under the car. Despite her vulnerable position, the creature ignored her, charging me instead. I barely dodged a swing of its knifelike claws, then unleashed a barrage of punches to its stomach, then its chest. It should’ve collapsed. Instead, it only stumbled back a step, stunned. Drawing a knife from my ankle sheath, I stabbed the creature once in the side. Before I could stab it again, it disappeared.
Chris grunted as she rose to her feet, pistol in hand, scanning our surroundings in anticipation of a second attack. It appeared the creature had been alone. Judging by the way she guarded her right arm, keeping it stiffly pressed against her body, I assumed her shoulder was dislocated.
“How’s the arm?” I asked.
“It’s fine,” she snapped, grimacing.
“Are you going to let Dr. Baker look at that shoulder, or are you going to pretend it’s not hurt?”
“Do you think he will?”
They had been close, once. When Chris had walked out on me, she had severed all ties with the pack. Dr. Baker had taken it the hardest. “For you,” I smiled, “of course he will. Give me your keys.”
She scowled at the steering wheel of her BMW, debating, then fished out her keys from a pocket and tossed them to me. “What about your SUV?”
“I’ll send someone to pick it up,” I said as I crammed in behind the wheel, then lowered the seat and pushed it back. Chris looked uncomfortable in the passenger seat, and not just from her shoulder. “You’ve got control issues.” I smiled. “On the way, you can tell me what you learned from Gideon.”
“He told me the genums are missing,” she said as we drove off.
“Genums are extinct.”
“Apparently not. Gideon claims he’d seen them until recently.”
“Even if he told you the truth, the creature that just attacked us was too large to be a genum. They’re also harmless.”
She shook her head. “Not according to Gideon.”
When she didn’t say more, I asked, “Is that it?”
“Until you showed up and pissed him off.”
We drove the rest of the way to the retreat in silence.
Dr. Baker seemed more than happy to help Chris, guiding her into an out-of-the-way exam room that kept her away from Dr. Yoshi. She knew nothing about our guest, and I intended to keep it that way. Earlier that morning Dr. Baker had informed his counterpart at the Seethe that he had identified the poison and created an antidote, which we promptly delivered. The origin of the poison was our secret. I didn’t need Demetrius banging on our door demanding Dr. Yoshi’s blood. More importantly, I didn’t need Demetrius getting his hands on a scientist who could design custom poisons that affected were-animals.
I waited in the entryway while he treated her, which wouldn’t take long. I knew she would try to slip out quietly, and I wasn’t disappointed. “Chris,” I called to her just as she reached the front door.
“Yes,” she answered with a resigned sigh.
“I want you to stay here, or at the very least, at my place.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re injured.”
“This?” She gestured to her shoulder. “I’ve had worse.”
“I know. It’s quite unfortunate, but I need to make sure you’re protected while you are injured.” She was already at a disadvantage against the creatures. If she were attacked again, her chances of survival were low. I preferred that she stay at the retreat instead of my place—for both our sakes.
“I won’t heal any faster here or at your place than I would at my home.”
“You’re right,” I acknowledged. “At least I will make sure you won’t get any more injuries.” And I can keep you away from Demetrius. Maybe I can talk some sense into you. I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“Ethan,” she said soothingly as she approached and kissed me on the lips, gently at first, but then our old passion for each other took over, drawing us together. She pulled away before I could. Smiling, she held my cheek in her palm. “I am not staying here nor am I staying with you. I’m going home alone.”
She had the wrong idea.
“We aren’t going to fight about this,” she said, cutting off my retort.
I glanced at the injured arm she held tightly to her side. “As if you are in any condition to fight with anyone.”
She backed toward the door, giving me a sad smile. “I’ll see you later.”
Disappointed, I texted Dennis, “Time to get back to work. She’s on her way home.”
Two hours later I was in my room, researching some new investments, when I received a new message from Dennis. “She’s at her home, and she’s got company. Looks like an underwear model. I swear he just appeared out of thin air at the door. Seemed like they had a dustup, but quiet now. He must’ve left, but no idea how he got past me. Maybe he just disappeared. I hate this job.”
Demetrius. My fists clenched into fists.
CHAPTER 8
The next morning in Sebastian’s office, we were joined by Gavin, Josh, and Steven. Steven had a lightness about him now—a look of relief, as if he’d been thrown the worst and couldn’t imagine a greater challenge. Dr. Baker planned to bring Joan out of her coma in a day or two. She would be the first, followed by Winter and Marko a few days later, depending on their progress. Now that the crisis was over and we were close to full strength, decisions needed to be made.
“According to Chris, the vampires are in the dark, just as we are,” I said.
Gavin snorted. “So far, our alliance with the vampires has been a waste of time.” He had opposed sharing the antidote with the Seethe, but in that he’d
stood alone. Like it or not, we were in an alliance until the conditions of the alliance were met, the vamps betrayed us, or Sebastian brought it to a formal end.
“Despite the current lull in attacks, this will end in a fight, eventually,” I said. “We will need every advantage. Either this enemy wants to destroy us, or it intends to leverage its power for some concession. Either way, the attacks will continue. And they will get stronger.”
Gavin leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. “So we just wait?”
“For now,” Sebastian said. “The first step to launching an offensive is identifying our enemy.” If he had any ideas, he kept them to himself. He preferred to gather every opinion he could before giving his own.
“Somehow,” Josh said, “he’s enabling the genums to shapeshift into creatures so massive and powerful that they can easily kill a were-animal or vampire. And he’s capable of powering several of them at once.”
“He’s a witch,” Gavin said, stating the obvious. “That means Marcia’s involved somehow.”
“I’ve made some inquiries,” Josh answered. “I have some connections to the Creed that Marcia is unaware of.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time witches were responsible for the mass killing of were-animals.”
“That was a century ago,” Josh conceded with a slight nod. “Things have changed.”
Gavin scoffed. “They’ve never stopped hating us.”
“Marcia is as baffled by the attacks as we are. She believes the witch is from outside the area, and will probably come after her next.”
Gavin wasn’t convinced.
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