He stretched his arm out, and she stepped in through the same front door that Daegan and Jackson had just gone through a few minutes earlier. Neither man was anywhere she could see when she stepped into a bright dining room with the kitchen directly to the right. There was an open doorway leading to a basement behind the table, and a set of stairs leading up to the second story next to it.
“Let’s go upstairs while Jackson and Daegen get Ethan settled. And please, forgive me, if I have to take any phone calls while we’re talking. I’m expecting a few important ones I can’t miss.”
"Sure," she found herself saying. Her hand slid over the polished mahogany banister, and her bare feet were silent on the wooden treads as she went up to the next floor in the four-story domicile.
Henry hesitated at the top of the steps as Natalie entered the living room. She sat on the edge of a plush royal blue sofa, a fire burning low in the sleek stone fireplace. "Are you cold? Do you want me to see if I can find you something else to put on?"
Natalie glanced down at Declan’s t-shirt she wore. It was his. There was no way she could bring herself to take it off, not when it smelled like him and provided her with a small amount of comfort. “No.”
“I understand,” he said softly as he sat down on the light gray armchair across from her. “There’s a blanket behind you if you want that instead.”
She saw the light gray cashmere, took it, and spread it out over her legs and cold feet. “Who are you?”
“Henry Crane, werewolf leader of district three and mate to the witch Lucille. I worked with Malcolm up until his work took him out of Long Lake and into Boston. I’ve known your mate since he was still in diapers and I’ve been serving as his mentor since he took over district one, or Azarov territory as you probably know it.”
“Mentor?” Ruby’s advice to Declan while they were sitting at his kitchen table came crashing back. Was Henry who she’d been talking about?
He cocked his head. “Do you know who I am?”
“I know about you. I think. Not much.” She sighed. “Not anything, really. I know of your existence.”
“You’re human.”
There was no sense in denying it. "Yeah."
“Funny,” he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over his knee. “You’re not the first human posing as a witch I’ve met over the past few days.”
“No?”
"Is Lila Blackburn a woman you know? Although I doubt her last name is truly Blackburn."
If Grandma Ruby hadn’t explicitly told Declan she could trust his mentor, she’d have kept her lips sealed. She would’ve taken Lila’s humanity and that of her other friends to the grave, but right now, she was out of options. The only name she wouldn’t utter – the name Ruby had made her promise to keep to herself – was Carey’s.
You better not be completely full of shit, Ruby.
“Connelly,” Natalie supplied. “And yeah, I know her.”
“Is she the source?”
“What do you mean?”
“The source of the magic that clings to your skin, making you scent as a witch.”
She shook her head. “No. Lila is as human as I am.”
“Are there others beside the two of you?”
“Yeah. Four.” Natalie cleared her throat. “Four other human women like Lila and myself.”
“How…?”
“It’s a long story, Henry, and one we probably don’t have time to get into. Are you going to rescue Declan?” Her chest constricted at the sound of his name.
“That’s the idea, although we haven’t figured out how we’re going to do it yet.”
Jackson chose that moment to come up the stairs and stand next to the fireplace. Natalie quieted, watching him and waiting to see what he wanted. “Ethan’s secure.”
“Good. Good work.”
“And you,” Natalie said, pointing at him. “You cornered me in the damn Council House and started yammering on about how I smell.”
He shrugged. “Didn’t take long for you to start smelling like Azarov, though, did it? You stank of secrets before then.”
"And then you stalked me into the sitting room and prodded Red Bowinger until he flipped out on you!"
"Yeah…I'll give you that one. The fact that you didn't heal right away is what drew everyone's attention to something not being right with you. It didn't take long for some of the vampires to taste the blood you left behind, and they nailed you pretty quick, human."
“This is your fault.”
Natalie wanted to slap that smirk right off his face. “Want me to take you to holding? I’m sure Bowinger would be happy to have you under his control. He’d probably get off on giving you his shifter herpes.”
She gagged. “No, thank you. What were you doing with him anyway if you’re working with Henry?”
“Someone has to keep tabs on the CE.”
“You’re the inside man.”
“One of many. I’ve known Declan since we fought in Toronto. How many years ago was that?” he asked Henry.
“Six? Seven?”
"Something like that." Jackson met her icy stare. "Declan's a decent guy. Hard to find those nowadays, especially in the circles we were traveling. They were full of Red Bowingers and ones like him."
She shook her head and looked toward the window. The sun was starting to come up.
“Hear anything yet?” Jackson asked Henry.
“No. They’ll arraign him soon, I’m sure. Until then, we wait.”
And wait, she did. It was hours before Henry's phone rang. Hours of him trying to explain to her how he started the Resistance fifty years ago with Lucille to end the Council's control on mating. He lost his wife and child in childbirth. Lucille died trying to push a hybrid baby into the world while running from CE officers who were determined to take the child as soon as it was born.
Just like Everleigh.
Somehow the witch severed the mate-claim. Through her magic, she separated them in a last-ditch attempt to save Henry's life while she passed on to the other side. Natalie's heart hurt for him. The thought of severing those ties with Declan was unfathomable. She couldn't begin to comprehend what Henry's life must have been like after the death of his mate and their only child.
He told her his purpose. Of how he slowly climbed the political ladder, making allies along the way, until the Resistance was established and gained enough underground support for their hopes of overthrowing the Council to begin to take fruition.
Most of the CE was still out of Henry's control and remained firmly in Dis's hands, but a lot of the hybrids were with the Resistance because they remembered. They remembered their parents and they remembered being taken from them and forced into servitude. Forced to enforce the laws they abhorred because even after years and years of abuse, the families they loved were still under threat from the Council.
What a fucked-up world, indeed.
Werewolf enforcement remained under the control of each district for now, but Henry divulged that Dis made a motion to change that only a few days before they arrived in Boston. Declan controlled district one, meaning enforcement there would most likely back him. District three, which Natalie found out included all the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, were firmly behind Henry. That boded well for them, given their location.
District five, which was most of the Pacific Northwest including the Vastag territory in Wyoming, was firmly under the control of Kevin Vastag, Jackson’s father, who was currently in Long Lake, New York keeping the other district leaders placated and cutting off communication from Boston – and Malcolm – to the other district leaders.
District one may belong to Declan, she learned, but his seat in Long Lake remained empty, thanks to Malcolm’s desire to dissolve the district system altogether and bring full control under the Council.
"He's a good man, but he’s confused," Henry said about Malcolm. "He wants the Council to work, but he knows it's not working like it should. Celeste has be
en whispering in his ear for almost a decade, and now he's in too deep to back out."
The jarring sound of his cell phone almost caused Natalie to drop the steaming cup of tea she held in her hands. Henry fed her and asked twice more if she wanted to change her clothes or rest, to which she repeatedly gave him a firm no.
She bit her lip, waiting silently as the old werewolf lifted the phone to his ear. He didn't say anything, ending the call a second later.
There was a small twitch of a smile on his face as he put his phone back into his pocket. “They arraigned him. Declan pled not guilty. Trial starts this afternoon.”
She recognized one of Henry’s biggest fears was that Declan would succumb and plead guilty, realizing that there was no way he’d ever escape the charges against him. “What does that mean?”
“He’s bought us a little more time.”
14
“Make the call,” Henry said, nodding toward Daegan who had come upstairs to join them.
Daegan was a hybrid, that much she knew, but she felt it was most likely rude to ask what he was mixed with. He dialed a number on his cell phone and said, "The day of disaster is near." He disconnected the call and slid the phone back into his pocket.
Three minutes later, Jackson’s phone rang.
“What’s up, St. John?” There was a second of silence before Jackson said, “Azarov was arrested this morning. Something about mating a human.”
Silence. The last name was familiar to her, but she didn’t know where she knew it from.
"Mm-hmm…yeah, I didn't believe it myself either." Jackson looked at her, a crooked smile on his face. "Trial is set to start this afternoon sometime. It's not looking good, though. I got to take a look at the girl. I don't know how he plans to fight the charges when their biggest piece of evidence has his teeth marks in her shoulder."
He said a few more things before disconnecting the call and leaning back against the stone mantle of the fireplace.
“You’re playing whoever that was,” she accused.
“That is how you keep your alliances a secret and how you figure out who is on your side and who isn’t,” Jackson declared, his arms crossed over his chest. “That’s how everyone becomes involved without anyone else knowing about it.”
She shook her head. “Who is he?”
"Benjamin St. John. District one werewolf enforcer who checked in last night in Portland. He had a female slayer in tow who apparently was heard spouting off about werewolves and witches in the Cantor area. He has ties to Gabriel and Kaleb, and I'd bet my life they're the next phone call that man's going to make."
She looked from Jackson to Henry and back again. Henry fished his own phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “We’ll wait about thirty minutes for Ben to relay the news, for them to absorb what’s happening here, and for them to start thinking about how they plan to fix it, if at all.”
“They’ll want to fix it.”
“I suspect you’re right, Natalie. In thirty minutes, call Lila. Tell her what’s going on, but I’m asking you to not repeat anything we’ve discussed here. Not yet. If all goes well, I’ll take it from there. You just have to establish contact.”
Talk to Lila. She could do that. The woman would flip her lid when she heard what was going on. “Why the run around? With her and with the other guy?”
“Your mate was just charged with treason. No one here wants that charge – plus sedition.”
Daegan disappeared downstairs to check on Ethan while Henry and Jackson discussed different potential plans. Natalie listened halfheartedly, her hand wrapped around Henry’s cell phone as she waited for the moment when she could type in Lila’s number and speak with her.
“It’s time,” Henry told her a little while later.
Natalie sucked in a deep breath and dialed the number she knew by heart. It rang over and over, and for a brief moment, she was scared it would go to voicemail. She hadn't thought about the possibility of Lila not answering.
"Who is this?" Lila's voice was sharp as a knife and sounded absolutely beautiful to Natalie's ears.
“Natalie,” she said, unable to suppress the emotion that was getting ready to overflow. She dashed away the tears that were starting to well in her eyes.
"Oh my god, Natalie!" Lila screamed. "It's Natalie! Natalie's on the phone!" There was a loud commotion coming through the line, and for a split second, she had to pull the phone away from her oversensitive ears. "Where are you?"
“I’m safe for the moment. Listen, Lila, the Council has Declan. They arrested him this morning.”
“I know, I heard. We got a call…look, where are you? We’ll come get you.”
“You can’t.”
“Wanna bet? We’re already packing up. Do you really think Gabriel and Kaleb are going to let anything happen to Declan? Jesus, Natalie, you have no idea how worried we’ve—”
“Thank God, you’re okay,” Beth’s voice cut in on the line.
“Beth? Why are you with Lila?”
“Andrea’s here too.”
Her heart thundering, the tears she had been trying to hold in came pouring down her face. Henry and Jackson were staring at her, but she didn't care. "She's okay? The warlocks…"
"She mated Cole." Henry perked up at the name, as did Jackson. It didn't surprise her both men could hear the entirety of her conversation.
“Who the hell is Cole?”
“He’s a warlock. Kind of a tool if I’m honest, but I guess she could’ve picked worse. His brother and these massive Ice Giants attacked us this morning. He and Andrea are running from some guy named Dis who is some psycho warlock. Forced them to mate and all that.”
This was becoming too much for her. “Ice Giants? I—”
Henry reached across from where he was sitting and put his hand on her arm. “Get Gabriel or Kaleb on the phone and let me speak with them,” he said with a nod. “It’s okay.”
“Beth, I need to speak with either Gabriel or Kaleb.”
“Kaleb’s outside packing up the truck but Gabriel’s right here. Hang on.”
There was the sound of rustling before Gabriel's deep voice came over the line. "Natalie?"
“Yeah. I need you to talk to someone.”
“Are they holding you prisoner?”
“No, it’s not like that. Here. Just talk to him.”
She thrust the phone toward Henry, and he took it from her before settling back in his chair. "Gabriel Azarov?"
“Who is this?” she heard Gabriel ask.
“I’m surprised you’ve forgotten my voice already. It’s only been what? Three days since you’ve seen me last? This is Henry.”
"Henry?" Pause. "District three?"
“The one and only.”
Silence and then, “What the fuck—?”
Declan sat on the floor of his cell and stared at the wall. He was brought back down after his arraignment, but it wouldn’t be much longer before they came to retrieve him again. One of the CE officers brought him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which he left in the plastic wrap sitting on the floor in front of him.
“You should eat that,” Zachariah said from his cell. “It’ll probably be your last meal.”
“All the more reason not to eat it. I don’t want to die with peanut butter the last thing I tasted.”
At least when they brought him up for the trial, he would see Natalie again. As painful as it was to think about, just the thought of her being in the same room with him one more time was enough to lift some of the aches threatening to consume him. The Council would take one look at her shoulder, and that would be enough to find him guilty.
He didn't look up at the sound of feet on the concrete floor. The familiar scent filled his nose, and a second later, someone carefully sat down on the floor just on the outside of his bars and reached between them.
“Lady, no,” one of the officers barked. “Keep your hands on the outside.”
"You already searched me," Paula scoffed. "This may b
e the last time I get to speak with my son, so by God, I'll touch him if I want to."
"I don't think you're supposed to argue with the guards, mom," Declan said, looking up at her. Her face was streaked with tears but she wore a firm resolve on her features. Shooting a dagger-filled glare at the guards as if daring them to say something, she reached through the bars and touched his cheek.
“My son. My poor, stupid son,” she cried as she stroked his face. “What did you do?”
“You know.”
“But why? What were you thinking?”
"I was thinking I love her."
She shook her head. “You can’t.”
"I can, and I do."
“But Declan,” she said, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper, “she’s human. You risked all of our—”
“Do you really believe that?” He pulled away from her hand and Paula grasped the bar. “You met her. You had dinner with her and helped her pick out clothes. Do you really think she’s a danger to anyone?”
“She was a danger to you.”
"No, mom. Not at all." He blew out a harsh breath and met his mother's eyes. "Do you know how lonely I was? Do you?" Paula stayed silent, so he pressed on. "Natalie came into my life and made me realize what I'd been missing. Ever since I took the territory from dad, I've been alone. Gabriel and Kaleb made half an attempt to help, but they have their own shit going on most of the time. Hannah was here with you and dad, and so that left me. Alone and trying to run a territory."
“There were plenty of werewolf females in Cantor.”
He shook his head. “Lacey Novak tried to push a mating with me only after Gabriel shut her down. Her friends were just as bad. The only thing I’ve ever been to any werewolf female around there was a way for them to start their social climb. It was never about a partnership, which is what I needed.”
“You could’ve looked elsewhere—”
“And found who? Between my fighting days, my position, and my father, everyone knows who I am. I’m an easy meal ticket. Natalie came into my life and for the first time I can remember I was able to just sit in a room with someone and just be. There was no social pressure, no talk about politics except to explain things to her. She found out what I was pretty damn quick, accepted it without question, and loved me anyway. She knew about my position and my father, but neither one of those things meant anything to her. Natalie fell in love with me for me just as I did with her.”
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