Heir of the Dog (Liars and Vampires Book 6)

by Robert J. Crane

  “No, they don’t,” I said, staring out the window. “When I left, they were arguing about…well, some things that are basically my fault. Again.” It felt better than I expected to get that off my chest, like things got lighter.

  “What do you mean?” Mill asked.

  “Everything is my fault,” I said, my emotions spinning out of control. When was the last time I had eaten? Or slept properly? These thoughts rattled at the edges of my consciousness as my feelings started to tumble out. “It doesn’t matter what happens, all the choices I make inevitably come back to bite me in some way, even if they turn out for my good. Like, vampires being dead is good, right? But they ruined my life before they died and I still have to deal with all the crap they left behind.”

  Mill was watching me cautiously. Lockwood, too, was listening; I saw his bright green eyes glance at me every few seconds in the rearview mirror as he drove.

  “And it’s not in small ways, no. It’s in big ways. Like running my family’s finances into the ground. Pushing my parents to the brink, so they feel like they have to use unsavory means to make money, which puts us in even more trouble…”

  Mill reached over and took my hand in his. I realized that I was actually still angry at him, but when I tried to pull my hand away from his, he held it fast. “Cassie…” he said, looking at me with his dark blue eyes. “I have to apologize. For the way I acted. You’ve been dealing with so much and I wasn’t helping you like I should’ve been. I’m sorry for being a jerk. I’m sorry for hating on the werewolves. They’re just so…rugged. And they always smell like wet dog.”

  Lockwood smirked from the front seat.

  “And they’re just so…Amish,” Mill said.

  Part of me wanted to pick up our fight right where we had left off. I was already in fight mode from my argument with my parents. But I didn’t have the strength to. That and I really just wanted something to go right today.

  “It’s okay, Mill…” I said. “I’m sorry too. For acting like a stuck-up teenager who really has no idea what it’s like to have lived the life you have or seen the things you’ve seen.”

  He gave me a searching look. “Well…that was a very mature apology. I don’t think you're stuck-up, I think that you were right to challenge me for my attitude. I understand all you wanted to do was help your friend…and that I wasn’t there for you.”

  Lockwood smiled again from the front seat.

  “What is it, faerie boy?” Mill asked. “Why are you so happy up there?”

  “Oh, nothing,” he said, but the smirk was lingering on his face. He was meddling. Acting like my faerie godfather.

  “So, what now?” Mill asked, squeezing my hand. “Lockwood gave me a very brief overview of what’s been happening. Fill me in.”

  I told him everything that had been happening for the last forty-eight hours. I watched a smirk pass over his face for only a second when I told him about my fight with Jed, but it was gone in a flash and he didn’t push me about it.

  “...And then I showed up at home and there were these two weird guys at the front door, talking with Mom. I knew there was something up with her, but I’ve been so worried about what’s going on with Derrick that I didn’t find out what until tonight. And let me tell you, it’s a doozy —”

  “I hate to break up the conversation,” Lockwood said, doing just that. “But I thought that I should let you know…”

  “Know what?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat.

  His green eyes flitted in the rearview, looking past Mill and I. “We’re being followed.”

  Chapter 35

  At the sound of Lockwood's warning, I whipped around in the seat and peered out of the back window into the fallen night. Headlights peered back at me in the gloom and past them, I couldn't see anything.

  “Lady Cassandra, be careful,” Lockwood said. “They’ll see you.”

  I squinted into the dark and I still couldn't see past the headlights of the car behind us. “Take the next turn,” I said. “And then the one after that. Let’s see if they actually are following us.”

  “That’s what I have been doing,” Lockwood said, but still flicking on the turning signal and making the right turn at the light. “Four times now. Unless this is some strange coincidence…”

  We passed under a streetlight and I watched hard as the car following us was flooded with rays of light a few seconds later.

  And the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight as I saw the silver jaguar hood ornament gleaming in the bright light.

  I sunk back down on the seat with a groan.

  “What?” Mill asked.

  “I know who’s following us,” I said.

  “Who is it?” Lockwood asked.

  “That scummy lawyer and private investigator that were at my house this afternoon,” I said. “The ones that accused my mom of malfeasance.” I frowned. “Why are they following me? They wouldn’t actually be trying to, like…kidnap me or anything, right?”

  Lockwood’s fingers were gripping the wheel. “I wouldn’t think so, no. Even if they are unsavory, surely they wouldn’t stoop to that level.”

  “Why were they at your house?” Mill asked.

  “Mom’s been stealing money from her clients,” I said, glancing over my shoulder again to see if they were still following us. Of course they were.

  “Your mother doesn’t exactly strike me as someone who would do that,” Mill said.

  “She’s not,” I said. “But she didn’t have enough money to cover the fire damage to our houses here and in New York —”

  “Issues with the insurance company?” Lockwood asked.

  I nodded.

  “And now these guys are following you?” Mill asked. He started to roll up one of his sleeves. “Well. I’ll fix this.”

  My cheeks flushed at Mill’s words. He wanted to protect me that much, huh?

  “My guess is that their intentions are to find some dirt on your mother in order to increase their leverage. They will most likely want a quick settlement,” Lockwood said.

  “Wow, Lockwood,” I said. “That makes sense. Still, this is really scuzzy.”

  “Agreed,” Mill said.

  I looked up at Lockwood. “Can we lose them?”

  “I’ve been trying,” Lockwood said. “However, I don’t think this is their first circus.”

  “Their first circus?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him. “Do you mean their first rodeo?”

  Lockwood’s green eyes narrowed and his cheeks turned pink. “Oops. Yes.”

  “Where’re we heading?” Mill asked. “Do we even know where to start looking for Derrick and his father?”

  I sighed. “No, I don’t. And the only person who might have any idea would be his Mom and she had no idea when I was there just a little while ago.”

  “Perhaps you should try asking her again,” Lockwood said.

  “Dad told me to give her some space, though…” I said.

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Mill said. “And I’m sure she wants to help in the search for her son.”

  “There is a chance Derrick has contacted her since you spoke with her last,” Lockwood said.

  “True.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my numbers until I found Corinna’s, which I got before we left her house. I chewed on my lip as I waited.

  “Hello?” She picked up after the fourth ring. I could hear the fear in her voice.

  “Mrs. Bauer?” I asked. “It’s Cassie Howell.”

  “Cassie?” she asked. “Did you find Derrick? Do you know where he is?”

  “I was just about to ask you that same question,” I said, my heart sinking. “Unfortunately, I don’t know where he is. Not yet. But I’m looking. That’s why I had to call you. I know my dad told you that you needed to rest, but there were a few questions that I had.”

  “Cassie, I really should keep this line open,” she said. “I called the police already and —”

&
nbsp; “You called the police?” I asked. I rolled my eyes. “Mrs. Bauer, you know that the police won’t find anything. They wouldn’t even know what to look for. They have no experience with werewolves.”

  “What was I supposed to do?” she asked, her tone turning from fear to desperation. “Just sit on my hands and hope that he’ll just wander back in the front door?”

  “No,” I said. I was starting to get frustrated. “Not at all. It’s just —”

  “Cassie, I appreciate that you found me when you did this afternoon and that I’m not alone in all of this supernatural insanity. But I have to —”

  “Mrs. Bauer, I get that I’m just a teenager sticking my head into something that doesn’t really concern me,” I said. “But Derrick is becoming a friend of mine and I want to be able to make sure he’s safe, too. And the reality is that I might be the only one who can. So…can I ask you some questions?”

  My question was met with silence on the other end of the line.

  “Did I lose you?” I asked after a few heartbeats’ worth of quiet.

  “No, I’m here,” she said. “What are your questions?”

  Good. At least she thought about what I said and didn’t just immediately write me off.

  “There’s got to be a place where Thomas would take Derrick,” I said. “A place that only they could go. Maybe a secret hideout? Or maybe a place where they would traditionally turn another werewolf?”

  She was silent again.

  “I know that we might be grasping at straws, here, but —”

  “Tommy did say something once,” she said quietly. “About the turning. It happened on his dad’s farm.”

  I turned my eyes, wide with fear, to Mill who could hear the whole conversation.

  “Okay,” I said. “Thank you, Mrs. Bauer. I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Wait, you don’t think that Thomas would actually take him there, do you? Tonight?” The fear in her voice was threatening to unhinge me.

  “I don’t know for sure,” I said. “But I have the cavalry in tow, so we’ll get him, okay? Just don’t worry about it.”

  Like she was going to listen to that.

  We said goodbye and I looked up at Lockwood. “Old Man Bauer’s farm,” I said. “I should’ve known that was where this was going to end up.”

  “So, we’re headed back to Sarasota?” Mill asked.

  “Guess so,” I said.

  Lockwood’s gaze was glued to the back window. “A grand tour, I suppose. Or perhaps a caravan.”

  “All right, this is getting ridiculous,” Mill said. He looked over at me. “Do you want me to take care of them?”

  “What do you mean, 'take care of them'?” I asked. I tried not to imagine him leaping onto their windshield, ripping them both out of the car before tearing their throats out.

  “Just scare them off,” Mill said.

  “Not eating them?” I asked

  He gave me a look. “I don’t like the taste of scumbags.”

  I smirked. “Good to know.”

  “But seriously – do you want me to deal with them?” Mill asked.

  I debated for a half a second and then sighed. “No. I don’t want you to do anything crazy.”

  We settled into an uneasy silence as Lockwood turned the car yet again. The black Jaguar followed, of course and the longer they stayed with us, the more I started to regret telling Mill to leave it be.

  Chapter 36

  It was after eleven when we finally made it to Sarasota. Lockwood thankfully remembered the way to the Bauer farm and we continued down the long, straight stretch of road to the east after we got off the interstate.

  I stared out of the window up at the sky. Living just north of Tampa meant enough light pollution that I never saw the stars anymore, or hardly at all. I saw a few particularly bright ones, but I missed the countless stars I was able to see back in New York. The moon overhead was full and brilliant. It made the fields around us look like they were glowing and I could see almost as clearly as I could during the day.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin when a howl broke through the silence of the night. I grabbed for Mill’s hand. I wondered for a second if it was Jed. There were a lot of other werewolves around, too. But Jed was surely out there somewhere.

  An uneasy squirming in my heart came and went as I thought about Jed, about our fight. I wondered what he was up to right now. And, a little embarrassed, I wondered if he'd forgiven me.

  “It is the full moon, isn’t it?” Lockwood said, glancing up. “Caution is advised, then.”

  The closer we got to the farm, the more howls we heard in the distance, over the smooth purr of the Maserati.

  Mr. Armani suit and his creepy compadre were still following after us, something that Lockwood felt I needed to be reminded of every ten minutes or so. They were hanging back as we turned onto the long drive that led to the Bauer farm.

  Lockwood stopped the car a ways back from the house and barn, his headlights flooding the dirt driveway with light. The edge of the forest that the farm butted up against was filled with shadows. It was eerie, like something out of a horror movie. The trees swayed in the wind, like bony fingers scraping against the sky overhead.

  The farmhouse was dark and quiet. The barn door was slightly open and a metal bucket was just outside in the dust, lying on its side, the contents having splashed all over the ground. Something had kicked it over and didn’t care to stop and pick it up. Another gust of wind sent it rolling, tumbling across the rough ground like a tumbleweed in an old Western.

  One lone echoing howl filled the night and I was glad that we were inside the car still.

  “That one was close,” I said just above a whisper.

  Mill’s face was hard as he stared out into the night. “Yes.”

  A few more answering howls were heard from somewhere farther in the distance.

  “We should go,” Lockwood said. I saw a flicker of green light from between his fingers. Something magical. He was preparing.

  “He’s right, we won’t find Derrick sitting in here,” Mill said, but there was a tightness in his voice that made my stomach queasy.

  Quietly, all three of us got out of the car. I pushed the door shut silently, then bumped it close with my hip to avoid making noise. The warm air washed over me, brushing some of my hair out of my face. Even with the heat a chill washed over my skin. That werewolf was close. And I couldn’t see anything outside of the field of light from Lockwood’s headlamps, which he’d left on for us.

  Mill walked around the back of the car to stand beside me. His closeness made me feel a little safer as I stared around into the dark.

  “Look,” he whispered to me. “I know you like these Amish. They seem sweet to you, or whatever. But if they catch us here tonight, during the full moon, they will rip us to shreds.”

  A lump appeared in my throat. So the full moon really did make them all crazy. Why did Thomas have to steal Derrick away during the full moon? Why couldn’t it have been when the other werewolves were nice and calm and not stalking around in the darkness, just beyond the reach of the shadows?

  I jumped as I heard what sounded like an animal padding across the grass from somewhere in the shadows.

  Mill moved between me and the sound.

  “Lady Cassandra,” Lockwood whispered from the front of the car. “Come here.”

  Slowly, I made my way over to him, keeping my eyes glued to the darkness, to the empty farmhouse, to the open barn door. Something was going to pop out at me and scare me half to death, I just knew it.

  “Thomas is about,” Lockwood said, pointing to a patch of complete blackness behind the farmhouse. “He is watching us. He’s protecting —”

  And then I saw him. Just before the tree line, there was a tall, thick pine tree that was surrounded with round, flat stones and sand. It was almost like an altar.

  But that wasn’t what surprised me. It was the fact that Derrick was tied to that tree, his arms wrapped all the way around to
the back. He was doubled over, his chin lolling against his chest.

  “Lockwood, you don’t think he’s —” I said.

  Another howl rent the air and my nerves burned like electric currents were coursing through my veins.

  Derrick’s chin snapped up at the sound and I gasped.

  His eyes went wide, wild and terrified. He'd been jarred awake by the howl. His blond hair was sticking to his forehead, his face shining with sweat. Teeth gritted, jaw clenched, he was straining at the bindings behind his back.

  “Cassie?” he gasped, spittle flying out from between his lips. “What are you doing here?”

  I cautiously moved toward him. “I came to get you, Derrick.”

  “No, Cassie,” he said, desperation coating his words.

  My skin began to crawl.

  “I’m not leaving you here,” I said. “I brought help. We're going to —”

  “Go, Cassie, go!” Derrick said. “Now, go!”

  A low, deep growl sounded from right behind me. I could almost feel breath on the back of my neck. The gravel crunched on the ground beneath my feet as I turned to look over my shoulder.

  And was met with the face of a werewolf.

  Chapter 37

  “Cassie!”

  I wasn’t sure if it was Mill, Lockwood, or Derrick shouting at me. Maybe all three of them at the same time.

  The werewolf, who I could only assume was Thomas, plowed me down as easily as if I were a young child. I hit the ground with a thump, all my weight landing on my back, plus that of the wolf. My head rang and the stench wafting off of him made my eyes water and bile rise to the back of my throat. The shock of being knocked over faded immediately, adrenaline driving me back to panicked alertness.

  Thomas raised his clawed paw that looked like it was the size of a manhole cover. It rose slowly, as if to bat into me like a punch and just as he brought it down, he disappeared from my view with a thud.

  I looked to my left at the sign of movement and saw Mill land on top of Thomas some ten feet away, the two combining in a tangled mess of limbs. Mill had moved in a blur to tackle him off of me and the snarling they produced was terrible. Mill had him pinned, but Thomas's long teeth were gnashing at my boyfriend. Mill’s own fangs were bared, but his strength was clearly matched by Thomas’s.