“One of them scratched me.”
“So we saw. But blood test results are back from Clear Blood, and all of them confirm that you’re still human. No werewolf traits at all.”
“The shot?”
“Perhaps. Or you’re very lucky, who knows? Though given your history I’d be inclined to lean on the latter. How are you feeling?”
I sigh. This is a different question from the first, though they sound very similar. “Well, I can hardly say I’m doing my job properly if someone isn’t out to get me, right?”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
I glare at the sheets. “Fine. I’m pissed, okay? No, I’m worse than pissed, I’m fucking livid. You made me give Wendy that shot when you knew it was untested. You knew the effects were still being catalogued, and despite all that, you chose to give him the experimental death injection. Now he’s gone.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Agent.”
“Fuck you.”
He sighs. “I’ll admit, I acted rashly. Though if I’d known it would have such adverse effects on him I can’t say I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I’m a SPEAR agent. My job is to protect and serve.”
“So is mine.”
“Yes, but who are you serving? Who are you protecting?”
“What?”
He gives me a steady look. “We’re the Supernatural Prohibition Extermination and Arrest Regiment. Not the Human Prohibition Extermination and Arrest Regiment. We arrest and exterminate supernatural creatures. Edanes.”
“Wendy didn’t do anything wrong. Are you really trying to rationalize this, Maury, because it’s bullshit. All of it. You brought an untested drug into holding and used it on an edane civilian. Now he’s dead.”
“Because he fought a dominance battle.”
My mouth drops open. “Did you open this conversation with an apology? Because this is a really shitty way to say sorry.”
“I’m apologizing for making you give him the shot, Agent, not for the act of using it. Like I told you at the time, I was fully authorized to use it. Given that man’s strength and attitude at the time, he seemed the perfect candidate for such a strong drug. I only regret that you applied the shot, because now, you seem to be blaming yourself for what happened to him, instead of congratulating yourself for a job well done.”
“He’s dead. My friend is dead because that drug messed with his mind and fucked up his body. If it had been our usual sedation he would have been fine.”
“You don’t know that.” His loud sniff cuts off my attempt to respond. “But that does bring us neatly to the next matter I’d like to discuss with you.”
I look left, then right. Grunt. “Not like I’m going anywhere, Maury. Just get it over with.”
“You describe Wensleydale Gordan as your friend. Following his passing it stands to reason that you’re feeling emotional.”
I push back the sheets to launch out of bed. The needle resists for a moment, then gives with a sharp stab of pain as it yanks out of my flesh. “Emotional? Emotional, Maury? What the fuck? I’m not some poor suburban housewife with a dish of burnt casserole—”
“Sit down, Danika.”
His use of my name is what stops me cold. I hesitate, but he seems willing to wait me out. So I sit. But on the edge of the bed this time, both hands tucked into my lap to keep the medical gown from flapping.
“Emotional. That’s the word used by the Extra Mundane Control Unit, so I’ll do the same. Given your relationship with the deceased and your recent experiences, you are emotionally compromised.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“It means you and Kappa are no longer handling the werewolves.”
Again I stand; once more he waves me down.
“I’ve no proof your actions led to the Dire Wolf rampage through the streets, but I can categorically say that we’re further from answers and resolutions than we were when I gave you the task. So it’s no longer yours.”
Can this day possibly get any worse? I pound my fist into the mattress but stay seated. I even count slowly to ten in an effort to stop myself saying something rash. It works. Kinda.
“When I took the task, I had a healthy, powerful diplomat to help my negotiations between packs. You arrested him. Now he’s dead and the most powerful pack in Angbec is led by a power-hungry lunatic who wants my heart in a dish.”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s a bounty on me, Maury.”
“Again?” He sighs. “All the more reason for you to stay away from werewolves right now. I’m sure Noel and his team are more than capable of bringing this mess under control.”
I risk the tiniest of smiles. So Noel’s taking over? Maybe there’s a chance this whole mess won’t drop still further into a tangled clusterfuck.
“Fine. What about me?”
“You need to bring your team in for debrief. And any other agents who haven’t made it back yet. When you’re up and dressed I’ll have a list ready on your desk.”
My smile dies. “You want me on shepherd duty?”
Maury stands. It’s sharp enough a gesture that I’m caught off guard, but he steps quickly up to the bed and lowers his voice to a sharp hiss. “It may have escaped your notice, Agent, but things are a little delicate right now. SPEAR is a mess and that Addington prick has full jurisdiction over everything we do. You’re lucky to be standing right now, rather than chained to that bed under arrest.”
“What are you saying?”
“He knows you slipped that wolf out of holding, along with the other two. He knows you’ve been avoiding debrief. The only reason he hasn’t ordered you grounded is because I told him you could bring in the others.”
I stare at him. “You told him? Why?”
And just like that, he can no longer meet my gaze. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. I didn’t want anybody to die. I’ve heard some of the agents talking since you came in here. News spreads fast and all anybody talked of was how much safer the Bowl is since you became a pack-friend. No one knows what’s going to happen down there now, but they all agree that this Wensleydale fellow was the only thing keeping that pot from boiling over. Now? It’s anybody’s guess.”
“And how does having me round up lost sheep help with any of that?”
He backs up. Smiles. “You’re a resourceful agent, Danika. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Back to normal volume, Maury clears his throat and smooths invisible wrinkles out of his jacket. “When you’re signed off here, report to HQ for your fresh orders. Understand?”
“Uh. Yeah, I get it.”
“Good.” And with that, he’s gone.
Chapter Twenty-six
Someone brought me clothes. No one will confirm, but who else could it be but Rayne?
I test my injured arm by swinging it in a large arc. The bulky bandage shouldn’t stop me moving and the pain is manageable for now. Pleased, I pull on a cropped tee and top it with a longer shirt.
My mind races as I button it up.
It shouldn’t be too hard to find agents who have eluded debrief, especially if I have their names. What will be tricky is convincing them to come in, especially if they happen to be edane, and something tells me that’s exactly what they are.
For the first time, I consider that maybe Noel was on to something. Could it be that I think more like an edane creature than a human? After all, I was quick enough to avoid debrief too. Sure my reasons were different, but does that change the facts?
Jeans next, a snug pair with a high waist and extra pockets on the back and thighs.
Yes, this is definitely Rayne’s handiwork.
The thought of her at home, going through my room, picking out things for me to wear, makes me sigh. I put the thought aside, along with several other painful ones, and bend low enough to zip the side of my boots.
Getting back to HQ isn’t much of a bother. I’m able to hitch a ride with another team in exchange for answering a string of curious questions without snapping
at them. I would say they got the better end of the deal.
They ask about Rayne and the werewolves. They ask my opinion on the new wolf pack and what affect Wendy’s death will have on wolf politics. I’m as honest as I can be without giving in to the horrible blend of guilt, anger, and misery stirring quietly through my gut.
Without Wendy, everything is going to be far more difficult. This new pack, named Blood Moon, are dangerous and actively claiming territory while bolstering their numbers. With the recent riot, all of Angbec’s established packs have taken hits to their numbers and are in no fit state to fight off a new one. Especially one with such a unique pack power.
By the time we get back to HQ the agents hanging on my every word look as bummed out as I feel. Ah well. At least it’s not just me now.
Entry procedure has changed since my last use of it. I still need to use the clean room and be scanned all over, but before reaching that stage is another checkpoint. Two armed soldiers quick-scanning SPEAR ID lanyards. I lift mine from its dangling cord on my hip and hold it up for them to check.
“That belongs on your neck,” says one of the pair.
I smile. “Eat me.”
The pair share a glance, shrug, then wave me through.
The system takes longer than usual to recognize my credentials. I can’t help but wonder if the delay is another EMCU thing, put in place to have more of their soldiers ready to greet me on the other side.
I needn’t have worried. When the vacuum seal releases on the door and I finally step through, everything else seems to be business as usual. Oh, except for the huge decrease in visible agents. It’s quiet. Eerily so, and though I can’t put my finger on it, something inside me pushes back against the oddness of it all.
Most of the desks and workstations are empty. The training room with its glass viewing window is dim and uninhabited. I find myself pining for the blue-skinned grumpy gargoyle who usually gives his lessons there. I’ve had so many bruises from sparring with that big oaf, but without him, I wouldn’t be able to fight as I do. In fact, I’d have been dead long before now.
I find my desk among all the others and take a moment to sit. So strange to be there as though nothing has happened. To remember the last time I sat here before my world became a sad, topsy-turvy mess. As ever the surface is covered in chittarik droppings and my “in” tray is filled to overflowing. I’d attend to some of the items there, but I have work to do first.
Inside a clear plastic folder is a typed list of names, SPEAR IDs, and team numbers as promised by Maury. There must be at least thirty agents on this list, all of them known to be evading military debrief.
It’s good to know that I’m not the only one to call bullshit on this debrief fiasco.
I see my own name in there as well as Rayne’s, but both have been crossed out with a line of red Biro and a notation next to them reading, “Briefed.”’
Yay. Guess we’re off the hook.
I fold the list, pocket it, and prepare to leave, pausing only when I tune fully into the sounds at the edge of my hearing. Footsteps.
I turn. “Pippa?”
* * *
My sister grins as she approaches my desk, arms spread wide. I fling myself at her, gathering her smaller frame in for a hug.
Once upon a time, I might have squished her little body with my combat trained body. Now she hugs back effortlessly, even causing me brief discomfort as her vampire strength outstrips mine.
“Are you okay?”
We both speak at the same moment, the exact same question.
She laughs, I laugh, and for a glorious two seconds, we’re just two sisters, laughing at each other and the similar way our minds work.
“I’m fine,” she says, stepping back to look me over. “The Foundation sent me here to assist with some questions the military had, so I thought I’d drop by up here. It’s really quiet.”
“I know. Lots of the agents are still out.”
“But aren’t there normally a bunch of post chittarik roosting here?”
At last I understand why the office is so eerily quiet. Not just the missing agents, but the lack of any fluttering, clicking, chattering, or screeching from the chittarik usually flying to and fro.
Sure enough, as I turn to look, all the roosts are empty with no sign of a small, scaly dragon-pest in sight.
“Guess Addington cleared them all out too. What a dick.”
“Well, Norma is at home. She isn’t happy about it, but I locked her in. Figured it was best with all those drones flying around.”
“Oh, good. Thank you.” I am grateful, but suddenly I really could do with a cuddle from my weird little pet.
“So how are you holding up?” She smiles at me, gentle and pitying. “With Wensleydale?”
I flinch. “You heard about that?”
“We all did. Quite a few wolves arrived at the Foundation from the aftermath of that dominance battle. And we’ve been flooded with werewolves since the drones went active.”
“The Quliax killed him.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
“Nor yours.”
I meet her gaze. “I know.”
“Do you? And what’s going on between you and Rayne?”
“Nothing.”
“Stop that. I know you two have broken up, or something equally crazy. She told me when she came back to grab some of your things. What on earth are you doing?”
“Me?”
“You can’t break up with her.”
I can hear the angry clack as my teeth snap together. “I’ll have you know she’s the one who dumped me. I just tried to be honest about what I was feeling, and she overheard me while I was talking to Noel.”
“Well, it’s all ridiculous. Do you have any idea what she’s been through for you?”
“I know, I know, Quinn and Vixen treated her like shit, but she’s still here, putting up with it and being an agent. But like I said this wasn’t my idea and—”
“No.” Pippa slaps her hand on the desk. “After all that. She’s been coming to the Foundation for tests every week. She’s trying to figure out how to control the monster.”
I don’t get it and I know my expression says as much. Pippa, on the other hand, is clearly frustrated over how I can’t seem to read her mind.
“Not a literal monster, she’s talking about the beast inside. Y’know, that hunger? The urge to kill? All of us vampires have to suffer the animal within, but some control it better than others. She wanted to learn how to control that side of herself and her hungers so she wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
“What?”
Pippa nods. She leans on the edge of the desk and stares long and hard. “We’ve been working on it for weeks now, triggering blood mania under controlled conditions to see if a particular thing makes it better or worse.”
Wait, so this is where Rayne has been going night after night? This is why I’ve barely seen her at home recently? Because she was out having tests and experiments?
“What the hell?” This is too much. I have to sit down.
More droppings squish under my butt as I do, but I don’t care. How could Rayne have done this? And without me knowing?
“But she has been eating, right? Like, getting her weekly doses from the Foundation blood stores?”
Pippa suddenly looks sheepish. “Yes, of course. I’m not crazy. Starving herself to get the trigger was an idea she had, but I wouldn’t let her. It’s too dangerous. After that, I made sure she got her share by…uh…making sure she got the good stuff.”
“‘Good stuff’? There are gourmet blood bags now?”
“Everyone has their preferred blood type. I’m quite partial to O-neg which is great because it’s pretty common. Rayne, however, seems to like AB-pos, so in return for her help, I get it for her when I can.”
My stomach does a weird little flip-flop.
As if sensing my discomfort, Pippa rushes on. “It’s not weird, or
creepy. It just means she doesn’t have to drink from the big batches the Foundation usually makes to feed the vampire population. Anyway, what I’m saying is, she’s been helping my research into mania, both how and why it happens. She’s been having test after test, screening after screening, all in an effort to figure out how to be safe. For you.”
“Me?” I feel like an idiot just repeating what she says, but my mind is struggling to keep up.
“Well, why else would she go this far? Since the whole Vixen mess, people are keener than ever to understand vampire blood chemistry and psychology. We have all the samples we could ask for and more, but the funded research is very specific, most into artificial blood synthesis. This is a side project she asked me to conduct in an effort to protect you.”
Not again. My words are stuck in the back of my throat. I want to speak, but the lump of pride and pleasure is just too big. “I…she…”
“Yes.” Pippa actually seems impatient. “She knows she’s dangerous, Dani. We all do, but she’s the only one with a real stake in making sure she’s safe to be around. So, she did everything in her power to make it that way. And you still dumped her.”
“I didn’t do the dumping.”
“You may as well have.” Pippa tangles her hands in her hair. “Okay, look. Just…talk to her, okay? Or something. What you two have, it’s special and it’s too good to let it end over a misunderstanding.”
“Watching her decimate half a pack of werewolves isn’t a misunderstanding, Pip.”
She leans off the desk. “A pack of werewolves that wanted you dead if I understand all the rumours, Miss Now-I-Have-A-Bounty-On-My-Head. Again. That’s rage induced mania. It can be triggered by a heightened emotional state, but it needs to be pretty darn heightened. It’s actually rare. Mania induced by hunger is the most common and that’s easy to treat, just make sure we don’t go hungry.” She sighs. “But mania in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s a defence mechanism or a protective instinct.”
“Then why is it called ‘mania’?”
Another level look. “What would you call it, then? ‘Trigger responsive inner strength proliferation’?”
Moon Fever Page 24
