He and Jadz sit together on a smaller sofa and look expectantly at me.
Great. Here we go.
* * *
Half an hour later, if not for the slight wobble in his step, I might never have known that Wendy was anything less than himself. He paces the living room, tight, stiff steps back and forth across the rug which already has a faint trail of grime from his filthy shoes. Another, longer trail marks Spannah’s retreat to the bathroom a few moments before when the lad removed himself with the excuse of a churning stomach.
Whether the product of true nausea or fear, it doesn’t matter; I fully sympathize with Spannah and half wish I could do the same. Instead, I force myself to watch and wait.
Even Jadz and Noel have stepped away, their excuse being to give us privacy and to keep Dire Wolf matters from the ears of Grey Tails. I’ve no doubt that Jadz could listen in easily if she wants to, but the gesture is appreciated regardless.
Wendy growls under his breath, clenching and unclenching his fingers which are tipped with inky black claws. “That dog,” he cries. “That mutt. That mongrel. That…that…” he snarls, that awful, throat-rippling, feral exhalation so foreign on a humanoid body. “I knew he had ideas, but that he’d go this far? Swine. I’ll kill him. I’ll tear his limbs off his body one at a time. How dare he do this? How dare he splinter my pack—my pack—like this.”
More fur bristles on Wendy’s hands and neck, ever more visible as his rage swells. When he next looks at me, his eyes glow with werewolf amber. His fury is palpable against my skin.
“Wendy, it’s going to be okay—”
He whirls on me with a roar, huge fangs exposed between his thinly stretched lips. “Chalks is injured. That is not okay.” His pacing becomes a wobbly but purposeful stride toward the door. “I’m going after them. Now. Aleksandar can’t get away with this. He’ll know what it means to cross me. He’ll—” Wendy bares his teeth at Rayne, still standing in the doorway. “Move.”
At last she looks up. Her gaze skips to me for the briefest second, but then she directs her attention to Wendy. “No.”
“Get out of my way.”
“No.” Her voice is soft but firm. “Until we know the streets are safe and that you are in a fit state, you should stay here.”
Wendy’s shoulders rise visibly. More fur erupts across his face and neck. “You don’t tell me what to do.”
“You’re too close to the situation to think clearly right now, Mr. Gordan. Your rationale is flawed.”
“Don’t make me say it again, fanger.”
“Okay.” I step forward, hands raised. “Maybe we all need to stop for a second and think clearly.”
“I’m clearer than I’ve ever been. I let my pack down. I trusted you, but I should have followed my gut instinct and stayed with my pups. I’m their alpha, their leader. They need me and I wasn’t there. I let that monster take them all on his mad little mission and now who knows where they are. I need to find them. And end him. I should have done it before, but I’m…I was too soft.” A note of sadness drifts across his voice, gone as quickly as it arrived. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
Rayne moves to stand more firmly in the door. She even puts her hands to either side of the frame to block it fully. “We need information first. You don’t know where Aleksandar is, you don’t know where the rest of your pack are, you have no idea what the sedation shot has done to you long-term, and we have no idea how long the drug from those drones stays active in the atmosphere. We need a plan.”
“I need to find my people. Last chance, fanger.” Wendy’s weight shifts to the balls of his feet. I can see him preparing to pounce.
In response, a silver sheen slides across Rayne’s eyes, clouding the usual autumnal brown.
I wedge myself between them, extending both hands to make space. I may as well have shoved against a brick wall for the difference my efforts make against Rayne, but Wendy actually stumbles a step back. He regains the lost ground quickly, but not before we notice the difference.
I expect him to back down after that, or at least acknowledge that he is still weak, but if anything that ignites his stubborn streak to a more passionate flame. Wendy glares down at me from his increased height, frowning through features almost lost beneath the fur and angled jawline of his hybrid form.
“Don’t make me hurt you, meat sack. I need to get out of this house.”
“You’re in no state to go outside tonight.”
“I won’t say it again.”
“Neither will I. This is for your own good, Wendy, please. Don’t make me pull rank.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Try me.”
He growls.
I wait.
Rayne touches my shoulder. It’s only an instant, but enough to grab my attention. “You need to get out of the way.”
“But—”
“This is going to get ugly. Please move.”
Frustration boils through my gut. Why can’t I fix this? Why won’t anybody listen to me? Fuck, why is there nothing I can do?
A glancing blow across the side of my face throws my head to the side. Brightly coloured stars spin across my vision, but I’m still standing. I right myself and find Wendy preparing a second punch. He’s slow though, and I drop to my knees and out of reach even as his arm goes overhead. He topples, falling beside me in a heap of panting, angry wolf fur.
“Wendy, please. Come on. You must see that you’re not right. That sedation shot, its effects are still in you.”
“But my pack—”
“You can’t even hit me. Please.” I put my hand on his shoulder.
He flings it away with a roar of rage and scrambles to his feet. Or at least he tries to. Rayne stands over him in a heartbeat, one hand pressed down against the back of his neck. He pushes up against it, but her grip is strong and immobile.
“Let me go, fanger. You hear me? You won’t stop me helping my pups, you won’t stop me—”
“Wensleydale Gordan,” I speak as loudly as I dare. “By your pledge and your word I order you to sit down and stop fighting.”
Silence.
I can almost taste my pulse.
“You…you…”
“I’m sorry.” The words are out before I can catch them. “I’m sorry, Wendy, but you have to stay here tonight. Don’t make this worse.”
“Worse? How can it get worse?” He sighs, the fight visibly flooding out of him. “My pups. I’ve failed them.”
Slow and easy, I scoot away from him on my hands and arse. “You haven’t failed them. We just need more time.”
“Time.” Wendy grunts but doesn’t move. “The one thing we don’t have. What now, meat sack? If I can’t leave this house and you don’t know where my pups are, what are we going to do?”
“We need help. And I think I know who to call.”
* * *
“Voicemail again.” I end the third call from my mobile and drop it in my lap.
In front of me, Wendy has returned to pacing, only this time Spannah is with him. He follows right on his alpha’s heels, scurrying to avoid being trodden on each time Wendy turns. He doesn’t speak, but his eyes dart constantly with worry and fear.
“If you can’t get hold of her, why keep me here? We’re wasting the time I could be using to find my pups.”
Back in the door frame, Rayne readjusts her stance, but says nothing.
“You punched me and I barely felt it, Wendy. You can’t go back out there until we check on you. We need to know that the sedative hasn’t made you—”
My phone rings, a standard two-tone chime of a call from a number I don’t have stored. I have it answered and against my ear before the round of rings end. “Karson. You need to get off the line I’m waiting for a call, and—”
“No, no, don’t hang up, it’s me.”
A huge sigh of relief flees my lips. Hadn’t quite realized I’d been holding my breath. “Pip?”
“Yes, what’s wron
g?” Her voice is low, almost a whisper, and muffled as if by her hand.
“I need your help. Can you get out here? I have an address for you and—”
“I can’t.”
My grip tightens on the phone. “Come on, Pip, I wouldn’t ask for this if I didn’t need it. Please don’t be stubborn and weird about this.”
“I’m not. Haven’t you heard? SPEAR is on lockdown.”
“I…” I lick my lips. “Of course I know, but what does that have to do with you?”
A pause, rustling, and then her voice is back, more muffled than ever. “Some guys showed up from the military and started ordering us around. They stopped all our research. They’ve locked down every experiment running through the Foundation and are collecting all the researchers.”
“What? Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Honest, I’m hiding in a supply cupboard right now. I had to find somewhere I could use a phone without them trying to cart me off somewhere. What’s happening?”
This time as I wrap my fingers harder around the phone, it’s as if gripping a lifeline. “Jack kicked off some weird emergency fail-safe. It brought the military in.”
Pippa gasps. “Project Revival?”
“And how do you know about that?”
“There’s a lot of stuff I know about that I probably shouldn’t. It’s amazing what people let slip in the cafeteria queue. Anyway, if that’s what this is I don’t want to get caught hiding. They’ll arrest me.”
“But I need you. You’re the only one I can trust right now, and Wendy is all messed up. Remember the sedative I told you about? The new one that Maury used? It’s still in him and it’s making him weak. It has to be the Q-whatever it was you said.”
I can all but hear her nodding. From over the line come a few muffled bumps and half whispered conversation. It passes after a moment or two.
“Quilax?” She makes an annoyed clicking sound with her tongue. “No, I told you, it’s still in Scotland. We’re not allowed to use it here.”
“Then I need you to confirm what they did use because Wendy is in big trouble right now. He can barely stand.”
Wendy completes his latest circuit of the rug and snatches the phone from my hand. As I move to retrieve it, Spannah slides into my path with a slow shake of the head.
“Pips, you little she-wolf, it’s me.” Wendy speaks into the phone with the faintest of smiles on his furry lips. “Yeah, yeah, well you know the meat sack, mayhaps better than me. She’s an idiot.”
“Hey.”
He ignores me. “An idiot, but I’m grateful for her. I was rotting in that cell.” A pause. “No, I feel fine up top, but my body…I hate to say it, but I’m slow. Couldn’t string up a cat right now.”
Wendy continues talking to my sister while I impotently try to get close enough to hear. May well as not have bothered though, because even with the phone to my ear it was hard to hear. Spannah keeps himself between the pair of us, apologetic, but resolute.
“…a sample? Fine, you can have one. I’ll bring it over.” Wendy’s quick frown tells me clear as day the response to that statement. “Then how do I get it to you? Sunup isn’t far off, you know?” Pause. Grunt. “Fine. We’ll sort it. Stand by. Oh, and have your sister back.” He flips the phone over his shoulder and walks off through another door leading deeper into the house.
I fumble to catch the flying device and press it back to my ear. “Pip, what’s going on?”
“You need to get me a sample of Wensleydale’s blood. What he describes sounds like the Q174X, but I can’t be sure. I can test it against Scotland results and see what we’re dealing with.”
“Fine. I’ll bring it.”
“No.” Her voice is a sibilant hiss. “You of all people don’t want to get caught up here. You’ll never get away. It has to be someone else.”
“Like who?”
“Figure it out. You have about an hour before it’s too late.”
“But—”
The line clicks and the conversation dies. Well, shit.
Rayne moves away from her post by the door. “I could take it?”
“I don’t know if that’s wise. I think you need to stay away from SPEAR until we get Wendy fixed. Unless you want to stay in for debrief.”
She looks unhappy but resigned. “Maybe Jadz?”
“Again, werewolf. We don’t know if that stuff is still in the air or even if there’s more coming. Same for Spannah. We need to keep edanes off the streets.”
Noel ambles through the same door Wendy just used. He holds a small Tupperware tub half filled with a thick, red looking liquid. “Then me, sí? I’ll go.”
Rayne’s nostrils flare. She turns aside quick enough that she actually bumps into the door frame.
“Did Wendy already give you that blood?”
A shrug from Noel. “He is like you, I think, quick with decisions and impulsive. He explained what your little sister said and I agree. You can’t go. So I will.”
I smile. Can’t help it. “Just can’t help but get yourself involved, can you?”
“Bah.” He flaps a hand at me. “Why should you have all the fun? Besides I see your eyes. You are tired. When did you last sleep?”
I chance a glance at my watch. “Ugh. Too long ago.”
“Then rest now. Spend some time with your Rayne before the sun rises. It won’t be long from now, sí?”
“But what about Wendy?”
“You can’t help if you are exhausted. Besides, he must wait. While you talked, Jadzia spoke with her pack mates. The drones the colonel spoke of? They still travel the streets and occasionally spray their gas. Werewolves are not safe outside, so regardless, we all must wait. But me?” He taps his chest with fake bravado. “I’m strong.”
“You’re thick-headed.”
“Same difference.” He waves the tub at me. “So I will take this and you, Dee-Dee, will stay here in the safe. Sí?”
I’d give a lot to argue with him, but now that he’s mentioned sleep I can feel a yawn rising from deep within me. I remember how I should have slept the day before but hadn’t been able to because of worry over Rayne. I remember my nap the morning previous; even that was nothing substantial.
Now, at close to four thirty, at last it’s beginning to catch up.
With a sigh, I lower myself to the comfy squishiness of Jadz’s larger sofa. “Fine. Just don’t do anything stupid while you’re out there.”
“No, no, that is your job.”
“Oh, ha-bloody-ha.”
He grins and grabs a thick leather jacket from a rail near the door. After feeding himself into it, he tucks the tub of blood into an inside pocket. “See? I’m funny. Now, try to behave while I am gone. I will be as fast as I can.”
“You’d better.”
Noel places a hand over his heart. “I hear what you truly mean, Dee-Dee, and of course you are welcome. Soon. I will return soon.”
And with that he’s gone.
I’m alone with Rayne again.
She still stands near the door, a vast distance away within the confines of the living area. She sighs. I sit straight.
It’s time we had a conversation.
Chapter Twenty-one
Stretched up on her tiptoes, Rayne extends a hand while the other presses flat against the window frame. I pass her a thick strip of masking tape which she uses to further secure the sheet of black-out fabric pressed against the window glass.
“More, please.” She smooths the tape in place then holds out her hand for another.
I hold the sticky strip on the tip of my index finger. “Rayne? Can we talk about this? Please? We can’t put it off forever.”
A loud burst of hammering cuts the air. Even though I know it’s Jadz, even though I know she and Spannah are outside boarding up all the windows, I can’t help but jump at the sudden interruption.
The bangs continue for a few more seconds, then stop. A flurry of movement…the sound of heavy lifting�
��then more banging.
Rayne ignores it all. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Clearly there is. But I need you to know, I’m not afraid of you. I know you won’t hurt me.”
She sighs. “You think it’s that simple? That you can say ‘I’m not scared’ and all will be right again?”
“No, but—”
“You can’t possibly understand what this is like, Danika.” She stares down at her fingers. “I thought I had control. I thought I understood what I needed in order to be safe, but I hadn’t really been tested. I thought I was strong, but…”
“You are strong.”
Her shoulders buck, a quick burst of silent laughter. “Not strong enough. “Do you have any idea what you smell like? How rich and sweet the air is?”
“No. But you haven’t touched me. You’ve not done a thing. How can you doubt your control after that?”
At last she turns. Still she doesn’t look at me, but at least I can see her face. “Because I haven’t touched you yet. Or come close to you. Distance helps, but…what kind of girlfriend can I possibly be if I can’t touch you. Don’t you remember when I tried?”
“It’s not just about touch.”
She growls, then begins to pace.
Wow. How can she be so small and dainty and yet such a bundle of power and strength? I can almost feel it pouring off her, the innate strength that comes from her edane state of being.
Her bare feet sink into the plush carpet, leaving tiny indentations that fill slowly as she walks by, only to depress again as she retraces her steps.
“Rayne, can’t you see, I want to work through this with you. I want to reach a point that we’re all comfortable and that you feel safe enough to touch me. That’s all I want. Please.”
“Well, we can’t. Right now there are more important things to worry about. Like light-proofing this room. Tape, please.”
I sigh, but what more can I do? I rip another strip off the roll of tape and Rayne returns to the window to further secure the blackout fabric.
Another loud selection of raps indicates another board going into place.
By now, the room should be as light-tight as it’s ever going to get.
Moon Fever Page 18
