“Of course I will.” Aaron grinned. “It just so happens your doddering Elder Oracle is making it very easy. Gianna, when you are done with this farce, do send word to the IceMaw. I am a most charming host.”
The remains of the Bond lurched.
Magnes sighed. “Shall I leave you two alone, or do you like the audience, Aaron?”
What the hell is happening.
Aaron chuckled. “I am torn between what is more important. Our business, or charming Gianna.”
“Keep your lips on Magnes’ ass,” I told Aaron. “I only want one thing right now, and that’s to clear my name. And maybe when I’m done, I’ll go finish what I started with Anita. You aren’t in there anywhere, Aaron.”
“What did you start with Anita?”
“I sliced her breasts half off.” I grinned ferally.
Magnes sighed a little, but Aaron seemed intrigued. “Then I will not distract you from your mission, she-wolf. But when you are done, I plan on provoking you to turn those claws on me.”
The Bond flailed.
Then, for a terrifying second, sank out of my awareness completely.
I turned and walked out, and started to tremble so badly Goon B had to steady me and pull me up the stairs.
In my room I collapsed onto my bed and tried to figure out what just happened, and what was happening. Because suddenly the world spun and heaved like I was trapped on the Tides.
A knock, then the door cracked open, and a large shape slid through.
“What the—” I gasped. I plastered myself against the far wall. “I don’t know what Magnes told you, but I’m not yours!”
Aaron snaked across the floor with a speed that terrified me, and in a breath he had me by both arms and pressed up against the wall.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“You idiot, my goons will tell him!” I hissed back.
“I told the ugly one to take a walk,” Aaron whispered.
“I’m not yours.” My voice quivered.
He pressed his face into my neck and inhaled. I tried to shove him off me.
“The night-blooming cereus,” he whispered.
“My Bond is dead, of course I have a lure-scent!” I whispered, shoving against him. Pain snaked through my stitched fingers. “What are you doing, Aaron?! I swear I will go war-form and tear you to shreds!”
“This isn’t what it looks like. Play along, Gianna.” He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Gabel knows I am here.”
“What?”
“I know Magnes is Gabel’s father.”
I stared at him. “How—”
“He told me.”
“W-why—”
“Magnes wants the crown for himself. He’s just letting Gabel do the dirty work until he can play hero. I will kneel before no Alpha. Gabel and I will work it out between us later.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“So you don’t fight me when I try to help you. I know what you’re trying to do. Magnes is wary of you, knows he is on fragile ground, and knows his control of the IronMoon situation is crumbling. He just hasn’t figured out where the weak point is. I also heard about Lulu. And I know about Hix.”
I choked on a sob.
“Warriors fight, and we die,” Aaron said with sympathy. “Better to die in service to your Luna than die like cheap pawns between greedy would-be Kings who want power for its own sake. I wish we could all be so lucky.”
“Lucky! There’s nothing lucky! He’s down there right now—”
“He chose the manner and terms of his death.”
“He’s not dead!” I shoved at Aaron. “He’s not dead yet! None of us are dead yet! There’s still hope!”
“Fair enough.”
I sobbed once. “And you’ve made Magnes more suspicious!”
“I’ve confused things in his mind. Do you have an agenda, or is your anger about Anita being a miffed old bitch? He is very wary of you, but if he believes you know nothing of value, and won’t return to Gabel, he’ll let you go. Hix exposing Lulu and the very questionable series of events that brought you here means he wants you gone as quickly, and quietly, as possible.”
I pressed my lips together.
“And because I’m so interested in you, even if he is wary of what you might know or suspect, he won’t be quick to make you disappear. I’ve told him I’d hunt you to the Moon and back, and it’s not a lie; you reek of being my partner.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he could sniff my ulcered neck all he wanted, but I was still Bound to Gabel and he should respect that.
“Play along, Gianna,” he whispered.
“Why did you come here at all?”
“You, mostly. I have dealings with Magnes from time to time. I came to ask about you, which led to talking about Gabel and how I have no intention of letting him be King, and Magnes better get off his ass. Magnes played it like it was beneath him.” He leaned closer. “Gabel has agreed to let me take three southern territories. He’ll put up just enough of a fight for it to be convincing, so Magnes thinks he and I are fighting. Magnes does not think I will be able to marshal my allies against the IronMoon.”
“But you will, because the IronMoon will take a fall.”
“I’ve given Gabel the proof against Anders. I suspect Anders is already on his knees.”
“So he was a traitor.”
“He was the worst kind of traitor. The one trying to obey a thousand masters. But Anders was in bed with the SableFur too. Tell Magnes that I will succeed in pushing the IronMoon northward out of the south.”
“And perhaps let him think I find you interesting?”
“You mean I’m not interesting? I think I am very interesting.”
I scowled and shoved. He didn’t move. “Get off me, Aaron. I’m still Bound to Gabel.”
“If you are, where is your Mark, and why can I smell a scent that speaks to my blood?” He lifted the sleeve of my too-large shirt to admire my bare arm. “I can feel the Mark I would give you, I can see the pattern decorating the lines of your flesh.”
“Because the Moon has made it so!” I shook my sleeve back down.
“Gianna, he took you by force and without your consent. You don’t have to go back to him.”
“That’s between him and I.” I did not want to have this conversation with anyone, especially Aaron.
“So you’re going to make excuses for him? He had a rough childhood, he’s a lupine, he didn’t mean it, he’s not really a bad person?”
“Get out,” I hissed, shaking.
“What are you going to do if the Moon doesn’t re-open your Bond to him? What if this is permanent?”
“Get out!” I shoved. Hard. My hands protested, and the stitches tore at the skin’s frayed edges.
Aaron left without another word.
Catch a Luna By The Tail
I’d ripped out some stitches fighting with Aaron.
Everything crushed down on me and pressed me into the bed. Goon A brought me my breakfast, I didn’t even turn over to look at it. Oatmeal and some fruit from the smell.
Aaron had apparently slipped out without complication, which was impressive.
Or Magnes knew and didn’t care.
Or Magnes was going to let Aaron hang himself.
It had snowed that night, everything coated in fresh powder. Footprints along the usual paths as people moved to and fro. The bloody snow from Hix’s capture (or his surrender, or whatever we wanted to call it) covered once more.
I didn’t have much time. I still had three tests to pass: the test of favor, the test of prediction, and discovering a secret. Did I declare that Hix had discovered the secret on my behalf? Did I declare that the small, meaningless dreams about toys and notes were the test of favor?
If I said Hix had found the secret, I’d have to tell Kiery about Magnes. Kiery wouldn’t be required to tell anyone how I’d passed the test, as the secret would pass to her to safekeep as well. But
would she tell Magnes some other way that I knew his secret? That the secret Hix had discovered was not just Magnes trading in casual matters of dishonor and low-brow war tactics?
I unwrapped my hands with my teeth.
Swollen, gnarly, flushed. Tender as well. Multiple torn stitches. I cleaned and rewrapped everything as best I could manage, choosing to wrap each finger individually, so I actually had the use of my fingers. Sort of. Instead of giant mittens.
The RedWater wolves were both gone. I fretted that I might have needed to specify they had to come back by a certain time, but that seemed silly. They clearly still had their intelligence. They would be back when they felt like they had something interesting to share.
Gabel and Aaron working together meant I had to sit down to digest all of it. Aaron’s “victory” in the south would make Aaron and his allies “contain” Gabel. It would drive more refugees into SableFur, and put more pressure on Magnes. But Magnes would still resist moving while Gabel built his kingdom. Aaron gave Magnes the perfect reason to do nothing, but the perfect reason for SableFur to get restless.
How ironic, though. Aaron would call no one King-Alpha, but his southern allies seemed to take their marching orders from him. He was styling himself a Lord-Alpha if nothing else.
I knelt in my little workspace and sorted my runes, running my thumb along the edge and carvings of each one, hoping for some guidance on my next move.
A knock on my door. I ignored it. Another. I ignored it again. The door handle twisted. I folded my hands in my lap and closed my eyes, feigning meditation. No idea who peeked their head in looking for me. Probably one of the Goons, because I heard the ignored breakfast tray rattle as they picked it up and removed it, then the door was closed.
I fretted away a few hours while I tried to figure out my next move. The mirror kept calling to me. I wasn’t eager to go for another ride.
A few hours later I told Goon B, “I need to talk to Alpha Magnes or First Beta Lucas.”
“No,” Goon B said automatically.
“I’ve seen something they’ll be interested in.” I wanted to be around Magnes like I wanted another fifteen stitches, but I needed to tell one of them before Aaron and Gabel got on with their end of things. Knowing Gabel, he was halfway to GleamingFang.
Goon B grumbled, “Go back to your room. I’ll see about it.”
“Quickly. It’s very urgent.”
Another forty minutes or so until Goon B returned, this time with Oracle Kiery.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” I told her. “This is for Alpha Magnes or First Beta Lucas.”
“I’ll decide that,” Kiery said. “By the Moon, Gianna, you are difficult. First the scene with Aaron yesterday, well, that wasn’t the first thing.” She paused. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine.” I didn’t feel fine. I felt like I had a high fever, but stress, and riding the Tides constantly and having hands sliced open would do that. Oh, and carrying the weight of an aching, constricted Bond. This couldn’t be healthy. And now Aaron and his noise about my scent.
Hix. I had to save him somehow too.
“So what’s this about?” Kiery asked.
This would give me a chance to gauge Kiery’s opinion of Magnes. “The Moon showed me that Alpha Aaron of IceMaw will attack the southern border of IronMoon, and he will succeed in pushing them back. Gabel, however, is going to attack GleamingFang. Somehow he got the evidence he needed of Anders’ betrayal and he’s going to do to GleamingFang what he did to MarchMoon.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Kiery asked.
“That’s why I asked for Magnes or Lucas,” I said. “I don’t really care if you tell anyone or not. I just figured I’d share what the Moon has told me. Unless you’re afraid of telling Anita she was wrong, and I still have the Moon’s favor.”
“I’m not any more afraid of Anita than you are. Or Aaron is.” Kiery added that last sentence with a sly twist of her tongue.
“I don’t need Aaron’s support to stand up for myself,” I snapped, disgusted at her insinuation.
Kiery permitted herself a smirk. “No, but it must be nice to know you’ve got an Alpha on a lead.”
“No, it’s not. If you don’t want to tell Magnes, fine. I don’t care. The Moon shared it with me; if you don’t think it’s worth sharing with your Alpha, not my problem. I’ve done my part.”
Kiery took a deep breath. She gestured for me to follow her.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
She led me to the other side of the house to Magnes’ office, where he sat talking with Luna Adrianna, Lucas, and several other senior wolves. There was a large map on the far left wall, and books lining the wall behind me, but instead of the ancient decor Gabel favored, everything was minimalistic and pale woods, metals, illuminated, airy...
Severe.
Magnes looked so much like Gabel it caught me off guard.
Luna Adrianna gave me a withering look, then turned it on Kiery. The conversation stopped. They had been discussing Gabel’s ransacking of the north, and the refugees flooding in, and the voices had been angry.
The map was much fancier and larger than Gabel’s, very detailed, covered in pins and little notes, pieces of string. For some reason I stared at it intently, trying to memorize all of it as quickly as possible.
The RedWater ghost I’d assigned to Lucas sat behind the First Beta, and wagged his tail once to acknowledge me.
“I’m sorry about this,” Kiery was saying, “but Gianna has something that might contribute to this conversation.”
“What could she have?” a wolf I didn’t know asked.
“She’s got a lot of little tidbits of information it seems,” Lucas said dryly. He addressed me, “What do you have, Gianna?”
I tore my attention away from the map. “Alpha Aaron is going to attack the southern IronMoon border—”
“We know that. He’s already moving his warriors into position. And he’s already told us he will,” Lucas interrupted me, bored already.
“He’ll succeed,” I said, annoyed. “Probably because Gabel is more distracted by the GleamingFang. He’s finally gotten the piece of evidence he needs to rip off Alpha Anders’ head. His suspicion on Anders’ duplicity predates him Marking me, and now it would seem he got what he needed to prove it. He’s probably already on his way to GleamingFang, where he’ll do to that pack what he did to the MarchMoon.”
I licked my lips, and sidestepped over to the map. No one stopped me. I studied the GleamingFang, and remembered some of where Gabel’s own markers had been. I touched one point. “Here. This is where it will happen.”
“But the heart of GleamingFang is a hundred miles to the south.”
I glared at him. “Think what you want, First Beta, but I shared Gabel’s bed, life, and soul for a year. He is not the mindless, violent cur you want to think he is. It’s easier to imagine a creature so violent and ruthless is also a mindless beast. It must scare the hell out of all of you to consider he is, in addition to everything else, brilliant.”
“Gianna,” Kiery warned me.
“I have no love for him,” I snapped at her. “This is how he wins. When he’s underestimated. Everyone misunderstands his nature. He’s not an idiot. He’s a lupine.”
The First Beta and the other wolves exchanged glances. Even Magnes and Adrianna exchanged surprised looks, but it was hard to tell if this was news to them (it couldn’t possibly have been), feigned, or they were just shocked I had dared to reveal it.
Kiery put her hands on her hips and looked at Lucas as if to say I told you so.
I kept talking to the First Beta. “The thousands of books in his office aren’t decoration. He’s read every single one twice. Ask him where one is, he’ll tell you. Ask him what it’s about, he’ll tell you. That is why he has been so successful. It’s not just his violence and strength and resolve. It’s his mind. Meet him on those terms, or else he will eventually come for this pack. And when he does, it is because
he has decided he is ready to win, and you are ready to die.”
Magnes shot out of his chair. Adrianna’s voice was quicker and sharper, “Be silent!”
Oh, that had gotten her. I tossed my hair, wild and careless, as pain throbbed in every part of me. “Gabel threw me away on some pathetic accusation founded on nothing. He’ll win on your hubris. If you think you’re prepared because you are SableFur, you are facing the Comet, the Destroyer. I do not intend to be here when he comes. I feel sorry for all the wolves in SableFur who have no say in how you ready yourself for him because you think the name SableFur is preparation enough.”
The Bond flip-flopped and flailed in protest to my declarations.
Adrianna didn’t take that lightly. “The SableFur name is the SableFur name because we are always prepared for any threat. You were a Luna once, Gianna, but for what a week? Two? Do not come in here speaking like one. You were thrown away quickly enough.”
I refused to back down, which was stupid faced with the SableFur Luna herself. “I know what I’ve said to be true. Ignore me if you want, it doesn’t matter. I’ll have what I came for soon enough.”
“And what is it you came here for?” Adrianna hissed. She advanced on me, and it was then I realized just how big the SableFur Luna was. She was at least a hand taller than me, and strong framed, and moved like a cross between a ballet dancer and a juggernaut. She was beautiful, and she was fearsome.
Not just a Luna in name only. Not like Platinum would have been.
She knew.
She knew what Magnes had done.
Nobody moved to get between us, and I didn’t think Flint had taught me nearly enough to hold off an angry SableFur Luna. No, she’d kick my ass and then tie it up in a little bow before shipping the pieces back to Gabel. In a little box.
A very little box.
The Moon had set all this into motion, I was here because the Moon told me to be. “I am here to clear my name. I never betrayed my vows, and still have the Moon’s favor. Ignore me at your peril, arrogant Luna!”
Adrianna grinned and licked her lips, like my heart would be delicious eating.
As she grinned at me, her teeth elongated slightly, just enough to reveal fangs.
Iron Oracle Page 17
