Broken Wolf

by Stacy Claflin

  She also tried to cover up the dark circles under her eyes with makeup, but I could see past that, too.

  We both needed our best friends. Mine was gone, but I could at least try to find Soleil for her. That would require a locator spell, and unfortunately, that wasn’t something I could run.

  I reached for my phone, but realized it was up in my room. Maybe that was for the best. It’d be pretty rude to call anyone at this hour.

  Just as I rose to wash my plate, Carter came in, rubbing his eyes, and wearing only green plaid pajama pants and blue flip-flops.

  “Morning.” I went to the sink.

  “Barely,” he mumbled.

  “What are you doing up?” I rinsed my plate.

  “Weird dream.”

  I dropped the plate. It clattered against some dishes.

  “You okay?” He opened the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk.

  “What was your dream about?”

  He scratched his head. “Something about Iceland? Everything faded as soon as I woke up.”

  “Yeah, same here.”

  Carter gave me a double-take. “That’s weird.”

  “It sure is.” I leaned against the counter. Carter and I both had bad dreams, his was about Iceland, and Victoria had been looking at a site about Iceland before falling asleep.

  “What are you thinking?” He downed a full glass of milk.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What was your dream about?”

  “I can’t remember any of it.”

  He poured himself more milk. “Think it means something? The fact that we both had a nightmare at the same time?”

  “And that Victoria had fallen asleep looking at a site about Iceland.”

  Carter turned to me and his eyes widened. The milk flowed over the edge of his glass.

  “Hey—your milk.”

  He pulled the jug away. I handed him the roll of paper towels. He wiped the counter. “Serious? She was looking at something about Iceland?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What could it mean?”

  “Anything. Nothing.”

  Carter tossed the wet paper towels into the garbage. “Too bad Soleil isn’t here. Seems like she might know something.”

  “She would, but we can’t reach her.”

  “You should call one of the witches.”

  “At this hour?” I shook my head.

  “What if it’s an emergency? Why else would we both be up?”

  “Could be a warning. Or a coincidence.”

  He arched a brow. “You really think that?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “No, it isn’t. And you know it.”

  “Unlikely, but possible.”

  “So, what are you going to do about it, alpha?”

  “Not make any rash decisions. I’m all too aware of how badly that can go after dealing with my father.”

  “He and his evil pack are dead, though. Victoria’s alive. It all worked out.”

  Spoken like a typical young shifter. I held back an eye roll and held his gaze. “I made rash decisions—decisions I regret. Brick is dead. We’re lucky it’s only him. I put too many people I care about in danger.”

  “Your father threatened to wipe us out. Nobody blames you for Brick, or for anything. Least of all, Victoria.”

  “Thanks.” I turned from him and scrubbed my pie dish.

  “You should at least think about calling the witches.”

  “Okay.” I cleaned all the dishes in the sink. From the looks of it, several people had eaten late snacks. The kitchen grew so quiet, I thought Carter had slipped out, but when I turned around, he stood in the same spot.

  “Did you decide?”

  “About calling them?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not at this hour.”

  He glanced up at the clock. “Isn’t this witching hour? Three?”

  “For witches that are up to no good. I’ll call them first thing in the morning.”

  His mouth formed a straight line. “It’s your decision.”

  Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Carter and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

  Jet ran into the kitchen, gasping for air.

  “What’s wrong?” I demanded.

  He leaned against the wall, continuing to breathe heavily, and looked around with wild eyes.

  “You okay?” Carter asked.

  Jet took a minute to calm his breathing. “It was only a dream.”

  “What was it?” I exclaimed.

  He stared at me. “It was a ferocious werewolf.”

  “In Iceland?” Carter asked.

  Jet’s mouth dropped. “How’d you know?”

  “Lucky guess.” Carter threw a knowing expression at me.

  “I’ll call Gessilyn.”

  Jet gave me a double-take. “Because I had a dream?”

  “Because we all had nightmares, and this is the third time tonight Iceland has come up. I’ll be right back.” I ran up to my room, skipping two steps at a time, and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. Pacing, I called Frida. Gessilyn was all but unreachable these days.

  “Hello?” Frida sounded groggy.

  “I’m sorry if I woke you. This is Toby, by the way.”

  She yawned. “What do you need?”

  I explained the dreams and Victoria’s Icelandic tab.

  “I’m really sorry. I wish one of us could help. We’ve been up for three days straight. I’m surprised I even heard the phone, honestly.”

  Disappointment washed through me. “I understand. I shouldn’t have called at this hour. Do you have any ideas, though?”

  “Not being this exhausted. I’d ask Victoria about her tab if I were you. If I think of anything, I’ll give you a call. Might be a couple days.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “Talk to you soon.” The call ended.

  I stuffed my phone into my hoodie’s pocket and headed back downstairs.

  “What’d they say?” Jet asked.

  “They can’t help us.”

  “Now what are we going to do?” Carter asked.

  “I know a guy,” I said. “But it’ll have to wait until morning. I suggest you both get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be busy.”

  Chapter 6

  Victoria

  I folded Toby’s note and put it in the drawer with all the others. He, Jet, and Carter were likely to be gone all day—doing what, he didn’t say. It probably had to do with wedding preparations.

  That meant I had some time to myself to keep looking into the stone. It took a lot of time to find anything, but at least I was making progress. Nobody seemed to know anything, and what little information was available was hidden online. Everything was shrouded with secret code words—the key one being Fenrisúlfr, which as far as I could tell was what the Icelandic werewolves called the stone.

  I glanced around the room, trying to figure out where my laptop was—I’d been so tired, I couldn’t remember climbing under my covers. Finally, I spotted it and sat with it on my bed.

  Knock, knock.

  I jumped and closed my laptop. “Come in.”

  Zia came in, her multi-colored mane sticking out in all directions. She had dark bands under her eyes. “Do you know where the guys went?”

  “No, just that they’re probably going to be gone all day. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She sat on the bed, yawned, and rubbed her belly. “I wonder what’s up. Jet left a note but didn’t wake me.”

  “Same with Toby. Maybe they still have to finish getting fitted for the tuxes.” I shrugged and eyed my laptop, wanting to read more about the stone. “They’re fine. If it was urgent, they’d have told us.”

  “Why do you keep looking at your computer?”

  My mind raced for an excuse—anything other than the stone. “Jewelry. I need to find the perfect necklace to go with my gown.”

  “Show me what you have.”

  Crap. I didn’t have a single tab open for weddi
ng stuff. “How about breakfast? We need to keep you fed—you’re eating for two now.”

  Ziamara rubbed her eyes. “I am pretty hungry. We can talk wedding stuff downstairs.”

  I jumped up from the bed and helped her up. “How are you feeling? Do you have any way of knowing if you’re getting close?”

  “Everyone tells me I’ll know. So far, I’m just tired. Seems like I get more tired each day.”

  “That makes sense. The little hybrid is growing fast.”

  “My mother wants me to make a trip to the castle so her doctor can look me over.”

  “The doctor Tap referred you to isn’t good enough?” I asked.

  “Not for the queen of vampires.”

  “You seem especially tired. Maybe we should make a day trip while the guys are gone.”

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “You want to go the Fyrsturae castle as a day trip?”

  “Why not?” It would probably do me some good to get my mind off the stone for a while, anyway. And if Ziamara didn’t perk up soon, I’d start to worry. The vampire who usually only slept a few hours once a month had just slept all night yet looked like she hadn’t slept in years.

  “It’s near Mt. St. Helens!”

  “I didn’t say we’d walk.”

  “From the Olympic Peninsula?”

  “Sure. Catch a ferry and then jump on I-5. All you have to do is rest and put up with the music I pick.” I gave her a playful shove.

  She smiled, though it seemed forced. “If you’re sure. You’re the one who has to drive.”

  “One question. How’s parking in the middle of the enchanted forest?”

  “There’s a secure lot not far away. Oh, and that reminds me. It’s the vampire castle.”

  “I know.”

  “Most vampires don’t like werewolves.”

  “Toby’s been there plenty of times.” He’d told me stories of helping the vampires out while I was dead.

  “And people only put up with that because the queen demands it. You’ll have to stay close to me. Nobody will bother you, but don’t expect a warm welcome.”

  “It can’t be any worse than the tribunal Toby’s father put me through.”

  “Well, when you put it that way…”

  “We’d better get ready, then. Let’s get you fed first.”

  Downstairs, my mom had laid out a big spread of food on the table. Some of the guys were already digging in. Everyone spoke about Toby, Jet, and Carter.

  “What about them?” Zia asked and drowned a hash brown in ketchup.

  Sal poured some orange juice. “They all woke up at the same time from similar nightmares.”

  Zia and I exchanged a curious glance.

  “Where are they now?” she asked.

  “They went to see Darrell at the spice shop. I’m not sure what they think he can tell them, but Toby seemed sure he could help.”

  “What were the dreams about?” I poured gravy over a biscuit.

  Sal shrugged. “They didn’t remember much. Something to do with Iceland, it sounded like.”

  I suppressed a gasp. What if it had something to do with the stone? Could their dreams be a sign that I was getting close? I pushed aside the thoughts. Today was about getting Ziamara to the vampire doctor.

  My mom came over to Ziamara and put her palm on her forehead. “Are you feeling okay, dear?”

  “Just tired. Victoria’s going to take me to the castle to see my mother’s doctor.”

  Mom smiled at me. “I’m glad to hear that. It sounds like it’ll be pretty quiet around here today. Just what I need for making the finishing touches on your wedding dress pattern. It’s going to be even better than the one in the magazine.”

  “I can’t wait to see it.” I smiled.

  Zia and I hurried through breakfast and headed upstairs to get ready. Once I was ready, I found her in her room putting on mascara.

  “You look like you’re feeling better.” I leaned against the doorway.

  “I do. It’s amazing what some food, coffee, and a shower will do.”

  “Good.” I pulled out my phone and checked the ferry schedule. “If we leave now, we should be able to just make the next boat to Seattle.”

  She grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”

  We hurried to my car and sang along with the music until we boarded the ferry. It was a relief to see her more energetic. Once on the boat, we headed for one of the decks. The chilly breeze kept most everyone else inside. I tried to enjoy the downtime, knowing I had a lot of driving ahead of me.

  Once back in the car and on the road again, Ziamara fell asleep. I sipped some coffee and soon found my thoughts wandering back to the stone. Could it really break the curse and allow us all to shift any time? Would it come with a price? Was it something I could actually wear walking down the aisle?

  The more I thought about it, the faster my heart raced. As soon as we knew that Ziamara was okay, I needed to get back to my search—and I would need to take it beyond online. I’d have to convince one of the witches to help me get to Iceland with rune travel.

  A rib popped. I was getting too excited. If I didn’t get my feelings under control, I’d shift right there on the freeway. I took deep breaths and focused on the scenery. Plenty of evergreens, but without the snow we had on the coast. In a way, it was hard to believe we were in the same state.

  The sore rib stopped hurting. I took another deep breath and continued focusing on the sights. I would just have to keep my mind off the stone as much as possible. At least until shifting was feasible. Then once that was out of my system, I could work on narrowing down exactly where it was.

  Two and a half hours later, Ziamara stretched. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. Guess I’m terrible company.”

  “I got to pick the music the whole time. You did me a favor,” I teased.

  She chuckled. “That’s good. Oh, it looks like we’re getting close.”

  “See? Not so bad for a day trip.”

  “Not when I slept for most of the ride.” She yawned. “We’ll need to get off in a few exits. I’ll have to give you directions to the parking garage. It’s pretty out of the way.”

  “Is it just for supernaturals?”

  “You’d think, but no. Run by humans.”

  “And my Bentley will be safe? Toby gave it to me.”

  “It’ll be fine. They get pricey cars all the time.”

  “Okay.” If it was good enough for the vampire royalty, then it was good enough for me.

  “Our exit—Oh!”

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  Zia clutched her stomach and cried out. “I don’t know, but it hurts!”

  Chapter 7

  Toby

  The three of us sat quietly around the table. Carter and Jet studied everything in Darrell’s upper room—the books, the scrolls, the spices hanging from the ceiling to dry out. I studied the items from Soleil’s room that we’d brought, hoping they would be enough to locate her. She could be anywhere in the world—including places time had forgotten. Or she may have gone back to Valhalla, as unlikely as that was, and I doubted any magic could find her there.

  I ran my finger across the screen of her cell phone. It lit up, full of charge. I picked up a framed photo of her and Brick in front of one of Moonhaven’s many fireplaces. Both of their smiles were as wide as could be. It crushed me that they would never see each other again. They deserved happiness as much as anyone else. Beyond those two items lay her brush with a few stray blonde hairs stuck between the bristles and some of her jewelry. Darrell needed personal items. Hopefully that would be enough.

  “What’s taking him so long?” Jet asked.

  I set the photo back on the table. “He has to find a rarely-used herb in his basement. Apparently running a locator spell for a valkyrie is a little more complicated.”

  “I’m surprised it’s possible at all,” Carter said.

  “Nothing’s impossible,” I said.

  “She’s not even from this wo
rld.”

  “I doubt she went back. She’s in hiding from her leaders because she’s supposed to be in pursuit of someone. A dictator, was it?”

  “That sounds right.”

  Stairs creaked, glasses clanged together, and Darrell huffed and puffed as he made his way up the staircase.

  I jumped up and met him. “Let me help you with those.” I took half the containers from him and set them on the table next to Soleil’s things.

  “Thanks.” He gasped for air and placed the rest down. “I had to substitute one ingredient for another. It’s complicated. I won’t explain it unless you want me to.”

  “As long as the substitution is just as good. You think you can find her?”

  Darrell glanced over at the glass jars. “This is our best chance.”

  “Let’s get started, then.” I took my seat.

  He pulled out a world map from a shelf and spread it across the table, pushing everything else out of the way without knocking anything off the table.

  “Can someone grab me that pot over there?” He pointed to a shelf in the corner.

  Carter got up and handed it to Darrell, who pulled one of Soleil’s hairs from the brush and let it fall into the pot before adding small amounts of the ingredients from the jars he’d brought up. The last one was a clear liquid, and he emptied the container and mixed everything together, whispering to himself.

  The concoction hissed and sizzled. Jet and Carter exchanged curious glances. Darrell placed Soleil’s items on each corner of the map—the phone on one, her brush on the next one, and the picture and jewelry on the remaining corners.

  He stepped back and raised both hands high into the air. A cool breeze ruffled my hair. Darrell shouted in a foreign language and the lights went out. The mixture in the pot glowed green and bubbled to the edge, finally spilling over and running down the pot and across the map. It moved in a circular motion, covering each continent.

  The circles grew smaller, covering less area. It moved across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Then it finally settled over Egypt, bubbling and growing smaller until just a small dot sat near the northern-most edge of the country.