“Aaaah. Meat sack.” His voice is low, slurred, and slow, as though turned down with a tempo dial. He peers at me from his turtle-like sprawl and smiles awkwardly. “Why are you walking on the ceiling?”
At my side, Rayne puts her hands to her mouth. “This is really bad.”
“You’re telling me. I step fully into the cell and crouch beside him. “Wendy? Can you get up? Can you stand?”
He sniffs. “Maybe. But there’s jelly in my legs. You ever had jelly, little meat sack? Like sucking the best, juicy bits from a bone.”
Now there’s an image.
“Wendy, you need to get up. Now. Can you do that for me? Please?”
“Yeah, yeah, yaaar,” he mutters. “Just give me mo-moment, you impatient human…uh…thing.”
Rayne joins me in the cell. “Mr. Gordan? Wensleydale?”
His eyes narrow, but he does, at last, manage to turn on the narrow lip of the bed he’s made a home. “What do you want, fanger?”
“To help, I—”
“You’re not helping. You’re dangerous. My meat sack here, she’s sitting in the lunar blood right now. I bet you can smell her, right?”
Rayne backs up fast, not a step, but a vampire-swift flash from one side of the cell to the other. She smears her back against the bars and waits there, eyes narrowed, lips slightly parted.
Wendy rattles on, as though he hasn’t just dropped a verbal bomb on us. “You smell her just like I can. All juicy and sweet and tasty. I smell the hunter on you, just like I smell the moon on her. You got the fever.”
I can’t move. Or is it that I don’t want to? Not sure which. I only know that my body is locked in place by my own mind and that every thought I have is racing through my head a mile a second.
“I’m sure you can smell just as well as I can, Mr. Gordan. But you’ve a keen eye. I’m sure you can see just as well that I’m fine.”
On anybody else I might have missed it. Hell, I’m not entirely sure I heard it, but there’s something in Rayne’s voice, a faint hitch on the word “fine.”
I swallow back the spiky lump of concern at the back of my throat. “Come on, Wendy. We’re getting you out of here. Get up. Right now.”
He sits. Sways. Slumps back down. “Oopsie.”
That lump swells right back up into my throat. Never, in all my years, have I heard Wensleydale Gordan, werewolf and alpha, say something as childish or ridiculous as “oopsie.”
I look helplessly to Rayne. “This is the sedative. It has to be. How are we going to get him out of here?”
“Are you sure you still want to?”
“Yes.” I don’t mean to shout, but I can hear the single syllable echo slightly off the surrounding walls. “He can’t stay here. If any other pack sees him like this, Aleksandar will be the least of Dire Wolf problems. Come on, Rayne. You know I’m right.”
She nods, but still doesn’t move off the bars. “Then how do you want to do this?”
* * *
I watch Wendy rolling back and forth on the bed. His smile is back, and the fur across the back of his hands fluffs up as he scratches the back of his neck. We need help. No two ways about it.
With a sigh, I step away from Wendy and out into the main open space between all the cells. I can see Shakka watching through the glass. “Open the two neighbouring cells.” Silence. “Come on, Shakka, I know you can hear me.”
More silence, then a faint crackle. Following that, a tinny version of Shakka’s grumbling voice spills out the intercom system. “What the hell for? I thought you only wanted Wensleydale.”
“I need backup.”
A snort. “You’ll not get backup from the female, Karson. You know Grey Tails don’t care for Dire Wolves.”
I do know that, of course I do, but as I turn to my right, I can see the woman with the shaved head watching me from her own bed at the back of the cell.
She tilts her head at me, face angled to expose her nostrils more widely.
I speak again, loud for Shakka’s benefit, but with direct eye contact to the woman in her cell. “Times are changing. With Project Revival, we don’t know how long wolves are going to be kept in here. I need to get Wendy out now. And I’m happy to make a deal with anybody who helps.”
More grumbling over the intercom. “You already owe me, Karson.”
I rub my temples with my fingertips. “I’m aware. Want to make it a sweet double?”
Silence.
Buzz. Electric currents die off. Click. Doors unlock. Two sets of doors swing open on silent hinges.
A dark blur streaks out of the left-most door. It’s the younger Dire Wolf. He dives into Wendy’s cell with a little cry, and I can hear him speaking softly to his alpha. Coaxing him to stand.
Slower, comes the woman on the right-hand side. In the brighter light outside the cells, her blue hair takes on a metallic sheen, and the tribal tattoos on the bald side of her head stand out in sharp relief on her skin.
She looks me up and down. “Either you’re very good at lying, or you believe what you said.”
“Or it’s actually the truth? What’s your name?”
She sniffs. Not to scent me exactly, but more an expression of irritation. “Jadzia. Call me Jadz if you must.”
“I’m Danika Karson. Nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand…and end up pulling it back again when she just stares at my fingers. “Okay then.” I turn to head back into Wendy’s cell, stopping only when a hand on my arm pulls me back.
Jadz looks up at me, so close that I can feel her hot breath on my neck and shoulder. She’s a little taller than Rayne but not by much. “I know your name better than I know you. If you really are Danika, then I’ll trust you.”
“But? Because I can smell one coming.”
She gives a wry smile. “But if you hurt me or anybody I care for, I’ll break your legs with my fair bare hands.”
Something about the way she says it seems to suggest more than a simple threat; it’s oddly familiar too, but I don’t have time to figure it out. The younger Dire Wolf finally has Wendy on his feet and he, with Rayne’s help, is carefully leading the drugged up alpha out of the cell.
Wendy moves, but nothing like his usual self. He looks more drunk than anything, with added sluggishness and graceless lumbering. The younger wolf has his hand tucked under his arm to keep him moving, while Rayne holds Wendy’s collection of coats.
“And what’s your name, kid?”
“I’m not a kid, I—”
“He’s called Spannah. At least that’s what he said to me.” Jadz shoves past me and up to Wendy. She eyes him up and down, shakes her head, then takes his other arm. “What a shit show,” she mutters. “Where are we going?”
Spannah, Jadz, Rayne, and myself. I hope that’s going to be enough, but until Wendy is in a fresher state, there’s no point going back to the Dire Wolves.
Sensing my hesitation, Jadz gives a loud sigh and an obvious eye roll. “Didn’t think this through, did you?”
“I didn’t think he’d be this bad.”
“You think this is bad? Last night he was singing and crawling around the cell like a pup on acid. Whatever they gave him, it’s not the same as what they gave me and the kid.”
An exasperated grunt from Spannah. “I’m not a kid.”
I keep my focus on Jadz. “Then I need somewhere to take him. Somewhere safe until he can recover. Somewhere not affiliated with SPEAR or any other pack.”
Jadz looks down at the ground. Her free hand swipes back through her glossy blue hair. “Damn it. Look, I have a place, but you need to agree to keep it secret, okay? You need to agree that…” She frowns.
The intercom crackles. “Humans and puppies, make your way to the nearest exit or don’t. I don’t care.” Shakka sounds amused. “Just do it fast because I have several Army thugs out here wanting to bring in prisoners and I’m bored of stalling for you.”
Rayne shrugs.
I look at Jadz. “Whatever you need, whatever oath or pro
mise you want, you have it. But we need to get Wendy out of this building.”
“Swear it. On your blood.”
Wow. She really means it. I bend low enough to pull a tiny throwing dagger from inside my boot. A quick swipe of the point draws a line of blood across my palm. From the corner of my eye I see Rayne stiffen, and I quickly put my back to her. The bloodied hand, I hold out toward Jadz.
“On my blood and on my life, from Danika Karson to Jadzia—uh…”
Eye roll. She’s worse than me. “Ramachandra.”
“From Danika Karson to Jadzia Ramachandra, I vow to keep your confidences as well as I keep my own.” I wait for the answering gesture.
The lap of Jadzia’s tongue against my palm is both startling and unsettling. I half expect it to be soaking, but she’s bizarrely dainty about it, licking nothing but the scratch. “And I, Jadzia Ramachandra, accept your vow and will hold you to it.” She pulls a strange half smile. “Hmm. Okay, done. You really do taste as good as you look.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re pretty hot for a human, that’s all.”
“Thanks. I guess?”
“Hmm.” She continues to look me over. “I guess he’s right about you.”
“Wait, what? Who? Who was right?”
No answer. Instead, she steadies her grip on Wendy’s arm. “Come on. I’ll take you to a safe place.” She starts walking, guiding Wendy toward the steps with a joint grip shared with Spannah.
I look back at Rayne. “Let’s get out of here. And we should probably stop by the weapons store and stock up.”
She stares at me, lips slightly parted. No…not at me, at my hand.
Fuck.
“Rayne? Rayne.”
Her gaze finally snaps up to mine. “Yes, fine. Let’s go. You first.”
“But—”
“Please just go first.”
I tuck my hand into my pocket and follow the trio of wolves toward the steps. As I walk, I wonder if the head start of a couple of steps would make any difference at all if Rayne abruptly decided she wanted the blood beading on the inside of my palm.
Chapter Twenty
I knew the journey would be cramped, but cramming weapons, three werewolves, a vampire, and me into Jack’s car has me on edge. My seat is comfortable, of course, as I’m driving, but it’s not about physical space.
The sheer power roiling off and around the four edanes with me is enough to suffocate and smother.
In the back, Wendy sits between Jadz and Spannah. He seems calmer and more aware now that we’re away from the cell, but he’s clearly not himself. More than once he directs a comment at Rayne that he never might have otherwise and, while calm, it’s clear to me that Rayne is struggling.
She sits as far into the opposite side of her seat as possible, half-reclined against the window to leave a sea of space between us. Even her legs are turned toward the passenger door. She refuses to look at me, instead watching the scenery slide past us through her window.
The radio doesn’t work, nor does any of the other entertainment inside the car. We travel in stuffy silence, broken only by the occasional whisper from Jadz as she directs us through the eastern side of Angbec.
I’ve never spent much time on this side of the city, at least not in these largely suburban areas. Semi-detached houses with large drives or huge swathes of neatly cut grass forming their road-facing gardens. Most of the homes have two cars, sometimes three, and evidence of families is visible in the form of swing sets, or brightly coloured cartoon curtains hanging in upper windows.
“Left here, Agent, then to the end of the road and on the right. The house is there.”
I follow Jadz’s direction, perhaps faster than I should in a residential area. The car rumbles and stills as I kill the engine and the doors fly open to release my passengers.
Jadz immediately runs up to the house and lets herself in, a quick burst of edane speed that takes her out of sight.
I exit and walk round to meet Spannah as he supports Wendy once more with a grip on his arm.
“You okay, Wendy?”
He looks me up and down. A little of the old fire returns to his eyes, just a flicker but enough to give me hope. “I hope you know what you’re doing. This shit show can’t be allowed to get worse, hear me?”
“That’s exactly why you’re here instead of back in SPEAR holding.”
He snorts. “And where is ‘here’?”
“Uh…”
Jadz walks slowly out of the house. Her expression is hard to read, but I’m pretty confident in thinking she’s not angry. Yet.
“You guys better get inside. Also, hide the car in the garage. Not much point coming here in secret then leaving a huge ‘come get me’ sign outside the building.”
I point Spannah toward the house. “Go on. I’ll be there in a second.”
He and Wendy limp their way inside while I return to the car and climb back in.
Rayne still hasn’t moved. In fact, the only move she makes is to lean still further away from me.
“S-sorry, I—”
“Don’t be,” she mutters. “It’s not your fault.”
I put both hands on the steering wheel. It’s that or start wringing them. “Are we going to talk about this?”
“About what?”
“Rayne…”
Finally she looks at me. No, glares at me. “What do we have to talk about, Danika? That I’m a bloodthirsty monster? That every time I look at you, all I can see is the blood packaged by your skin?”
Ahead of us, the doors to the garage at the end of the drive start to slide up. I can just make out a pair of feet—they must belong to Jadz—walking along on the other side.
“But—”
“But what?” She slams her fist against the dashboard. The plastic creaks but holds. For now. “It’s getting worse, Danika. The more time I spend in close quarters with you, the more you bleed. It’s getting painful being able to smell you like this.”
I lick my lips. They’re dry and cracked, annoyingly so, but I’m not surprised. “Should I go?”
“I don’t want you to.”
“I know.”
“But yes. Get out. I’ll drive the car in.”
I hesitate.
She hits the dashboard again. This time a crack wriggles out from beneath her fist. “Go. I’ll be there in a minute and I’ll bring all the weaponry. Please. At least with the others in here there were other smells to think about, but now all I have is you. And I want to devour you.”
I try not to rush and make her feel worse, but those simple words chill me more than anything she has ever said to me. Devour…consume me until there’s nothing left.
I scramble out of the car with little to no grace, slamming the door behind me. From the corner of my eye, I can see Rayne slide across the front seats and into the driver’s side. The seat rumbles and clunk-chunks forward as she adjusts it to accommodate her shorter legs.
The front door of the house opens before I can reach it, swung wide to admit a figure I never expected to see here.
My mouth hangs open, I know it, but I don’t care. “Noel?”
He smiles as I approach. “Ah, Dee-Dee, I’m glad to see you. I worried for you earlier. You said nothing to this new colonel about his ridiculous plans.”
He grins wide and spreads his arms for me. He knows better than to try for a hug, but he does clap me heartily on the shoulder when I reach him.
“What are you doing here? How do you know Jadz?”
He winks at me. “I did tell you before. I wanted to keep my private affairs secret as long as possible. That way, no one questions.”
My brain races to catch up. “So Jadz is your…”
His grin widens. “Come. I see you are confused. Maybe I can break it into bite-size pieces for you.”
I allow Noel to lead me into the house without another word. Frankly, while it’s good to see him, I don’t know how many more surprises I can handle.
*
* *
Noel, Jadz, Spannah, Wendy, Rayne, and me. The house is large, with an interior to match, but this living room is near bursting at the seams with tension and nerves.
Against one wall, Noel and Jadz stand side by side, fingers slightly intertwined while they watch the rest of us. They don’t speak but have clearly decided to wait for more details.
Spannah sits on the sofa, as close to Wendy as he can get without sitting in his lap. Wendy is bowed forward, elbows resting on his thighs, hands dangling between them. His breathing is heavy but steady, though his gaze is pinned to the large but tasteful off-white swirls in the rug stretched across the laminate floor.
Rayne loiters near the door with our bag of supplies, not quite on the other side of it, but I get the impression that’s where she wants to be. She doesn’t look at me, or anyone else in fact, just waits with her eyes closed and her arms folded.
Great. So I’m in charge?
“Uh, thanks, Noel. I had no idea you lived out here.”
“I don’t.” He shrugs. “Jadzia does, but I was looking for her. Now I know what happened. Thank you for releasing her.”
I’m not sure what surprises me more, the fact that he and Jadz are already intimate enough that he can be in her house without her, or that this is her house.
“No problem, I guess.” I clear my throat. Then again.
At last, Wendy saves me from myself. “On the way here,” he murmurs, “the air was thick. Don’t know what it was, but the smell was wrong. And it was quiet. Couldn’t scent another wolf for miles. What’s happening?”
I glance at Rayne, but she still hasn’t moved or opened her eyes. Guess I really am on my own for this one.
“SPEAR is no longer in charge of edane relations. During the riots, Jack called in—”
“Riots?” Spannah’s eyes grow wide. “What are you talking about?”
Guess I’d better start at the top.
I draw a deep breath. “You better stay sitting down, guys. This is going to be a rough one. You too, Noel.”
He sighs. “When you say things like that, I worry. But at least I’ll have answers now.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Moon Fever Page 17
