by Cheree Alsop
I nodded. “It might work.”
Mitch’s smile widened. “A home for Zev’s Pack. Who knows,” he said with a wink, “We might just have found a place for us in this world.”
Chapter Eight
Mitch’s words stayed with me when I reached the back of the Willards’ home and phased to human form. The fact that I hadn’t seen Ceren since my first class that morning lingered in the back of my mind and bothered me more than I cared to think about. I shoved the slightly slobbery bag with the knife in it into my pocket and jogged toward the house. I pulled open the door to the kitchen and found Virgo on his cellphone at the kitchen table.
I couldn’t tell who he was speaking to, but he gestured with his right arm and then winced. He shoved his phone between his shoulder and his ear and pinned it there while he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it. Just text me the address. Alright. Bye.” He dropped the phone to the table and glanced at me. “That’s a great way to wake up.”
“You’re just waking up?” I said in surprise. “What’s going on?”
“I was tired and James found out that jakhin claws are slightly poisonous to humans, so I figured I would sleep it off,” the warlock said, his tone defensive. “I’m not lazy.”
I lifted my hands to fend off his attack and said, “I meant, what was going on with the phone call?”
“Oh,” he replied with a dry laugh. “Sorry. That was Madam Doxy. They got a location on the person who summoned the jakhins.”
I stared at him. “So after learning that their claws are poisonous to humans, you’re going to go after him?”
“We’re going to go after him,” the warlock replied. “You’re the one who brought her down.”
“And you shoved the knife in her chest,” I reminded him.
He pushed up from the table. “Exactly. So let’s go. Madam Doxy said it’s imperative that we stop him before he summons anything stronger.”
The thought of a creature stronger than the jakhin roaming Brickwell was enough to send me out to the truck. We traveled in silence to the address the witches had given Virgo. I had expected something rundown, not the well-cared for, beautiful lawns and columned home the warlock drove us to. Outdoor lighting bathed the house in warm highlights and led the way from the driveway to the porch. Several windows glowed from within, but there were no shadows to indicate how many people were inside.
“This is it?” I asked in uncertainty.
Virgo followed my gaze to the fancy vehicles in the driveway. I didn’t have to be a car expert to know that they were expensive. The name on the mailbox said Stewart.
“This is the address she gave me,” he replied. He checked it again, then sighed. “Let’s go see what we’re dealing with.”
A knock on the front door remained unanswered. I picked the lock on the gate to the backyard and we slipped through. A lawn mower sat in the middle of the back lawn as though someone had been stopped before completing the job. The lid was off the barbecue grill, though a quick check showed it to be cold. The scent of hot dogs, hamburgers, and marinated chicken breast that had been cooked there made my mouth water and reminded me that I hadn’t eaten since the spaghetti that morning. If we were going to live independently from the Willards’, I was going to have to learn to cook.
“It’s open,” Virgo whispered when he checked the back door.
At my motion, the warlock stepped inside. I followed close behind and shut the door so that I would hear it if someone else came in.
A voice led us through the vast kitchen and down the hall. Pictures of a man and a woman with two children lined the walls. In one, the father held the little girl on his shoulders. In another, the woman threw a baseball to her son. The thought that any of them might be a casualty of the jakhins made me hurry forward.
“It’s just my soul. It was my soul I was worried about. And now there’s so much more at stake.”
The sound of a man babbling increased in volume until we found ourselves looking into the doorway of a home office. The man who was speaking sat in a leather chair with his back to us. The smell of blood and dark magic that came from the room set my teeth on edge. An old book in the middle of the desk behind the man was open. From where we stood, I could see the long limbs and black eyes of a jakhin drawn on the page.
“You should have started with something smaller,” I said.
The man spun in his chair. His eyes widened at the sight of us.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
Virgo gestured toward the creature on the open page of the book. “Tracking down that.”
The man followed his gaze and his face paled. “It was an accident.”
Virgo folded his arms, winced, and lowered them again with an irritated expression. “That’s a costly accident, Mr. Stewart.”
“Tell me about it,” the man said in a whiny voice I immediately disliked. “One wrong spell and they’re conspiring to tear my family to shreds. I had to send my wife and kids to my parents’ house in Greenwood. You’ve got to help me!”
“We killed one of them,” Virgo told him. “If we can track down the other one, we can finish them both for good and put this to rest.” The warlock picked up the book and closed it.
He tucked it under his arm and was about to turn away when Mr. Stewart said, “They’re not the ones I’m worried about.”
I watched the man’s face closely. Fear made his pupils dilate and the burnt wood scent hung on him like a cloak.
“Whatever he’s done, it’s not good,” I told the warlock.
Virgo sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs that faced the desk. “You better start at the beginning,” he told the man.
I chose to remain standing. The smell of the office put me on edge, and it was clear by the sweat that broke out across the man’s forehead to add another layer to his stench that we weren’t about to hear a fairytale.
Mr. Stewart sat in silence for a few moments. His gaze was distant as if he saw something beyond the room in which we waited. His swollen fingers closed and then opened, then finally spread on the wood in front of him to leave sweaty marks on the desk when he moved them.
“I was being haunted,” he began.
Virgo glanced at me. I ignored the chill that ran down my spine and kept focused on the man.
“After that earthquake that threw everything around in here, my world turned on end.” He speared Virgo with a look. “It cracked the foundation of my house. Can you believe that?”
“I can,” the warlock said, his tone dry.
Mr. Stewart sighed and clasped his fingers together. “Anyway, I was throwing out the chandelier that broke when Sam’s ghost showed up.” He hesitated, then rubbed his forehead hard enough to leave red marks. After a glance at me, he focused his attention back on Virgo and said, “I guess it’s my fault for killing him.”
Ice spiked through my veins. I saw Virgo’s shoulders straighten. Whatever pain the warlock’s arm was giving him didn’t hold a candle to the man’s words.
“You killed someone?” Virgo asked quietly.
Mr. Stewart nodded. “It was an accident, sort of.”
At our expressions of disbelief, he said, “Look, if someone catches you in a Ponzi scheme, what are you going to do? Let him take you to jail? I couldn’t do that to my wife and kids. They’d be humiliated!”
“So you killed him?” Virgo asked. “Really?”
“I paid to have him killed, but same thing, I guess,” Mr. Stewart replied. “At least, that’s what Sam’s ghost kept telling me when he started following me around here night and day.”
“So you tried to banish him,” Virgo guessed.
The man shrugged. “I inherited that book along with a bunch of my crazy grandfather’s other things when he died. I remembered seeing something about ghosts when I put it on the shelf in here, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.”
“Did the jakhins chase the ghost away?” I asked.
The man lo
oked at me. “I didn’t summon them to chase away the ghost. I summoned a, what was it called again?” He paused, then said, “A khavis.” He gave a visible shudder. “I summoned a khavis to get rid of the ghost. It did, but then it terrorized my family and I didn’t know what to do. It wanted to kill my children!” He shook his head. “I didn’t know what to do to get rid of it until I found the spell to summon the jakhins. It said something about them being a threat to beings from both realms, so I gave it a try.”
He rubbed his face before he said, “The jakhins took one look at the khavis and ran out of the house. The khavis took off after them and never looked back.” He put his arms around himself. “But I can’t let my family come back here until its safe. And it’ll never be safe with any of those things around.” Tears filled his eyes. He squeezed them shut with his fingers beneath his glasses. His other hand trembled on the desk. “I didn’t mean to endanger my family, and now they can’t come back home. I should have just let Sam report me.”
Virgo and I exchanged a glance. I didn’t know what a khavis was, but one fact remained clear. He needed to pay for murdering this Sam fellow.
I took a step forward, but Virgo held up a hand. He didn’t even look at me. That fact that he knew what I had been thinking was irking.
“If you confess to your crimes and turn yourself in, we’ll take care of the khavis,” Virgo told him.
“Turn himself in?” I said. “Virgo, he killed someone.”
“I’ll turn myself in,” the man sputtered, rising. “Just take care of the monsters and protect my family.” He held out a hand and shook Virgo’s heartily. “Thank you so much. You’re protecting my wife and my children. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
Virgo pulled his hand away and wiped his palm down the front of his shirt.
“But he killed someone,” I said.
My hands itched to pay out the justice he deserved. I had been raised in an environment of kill or be killed. I had learned to fight with knives, guns, and every other weapon imaginable from the moment I could walk. I had lived every day with blood on my hands.
But during my time with humans, I had learned that they were fair, caring, and considerate. They saw to the needs of others before their own, and they gave selflessly. The fact that this man stood before us with blood on his hands, slandering the very meaning of humanity, made my blood boil in my veins. He had been raised to know better. He had children who looked to him as an example. And yet he smiled in relief that we would take care of the creatures he had released into this world to deal with the ghost who haunted him. The bitter taste that filled my mouth refused to leave.
I walked around the desk.
“Zev,” Virgo began.
I silenced him with a look. I didn’t know what to say. There was no way to phrase how I was feeling. The reality of what I saw before me threatened to undermine the very delicate framework I had begun to build when I left the Lair.
Humans had become an example to me of all I had yet to learn. Students dedicated themselves to studying math, science, the arts, and other things far beyond defending oneself or trying to reach the top of a rigged hierarchy. I had taken steps of my own to embrace that side of me, to find a way beyond the animalistic way I was raised.
Yet before me stood an unrepentant example that perhaps some humans weren’t so very far removed from the animals themselves. I felt betrayed, disheartened, and the need for vengeance made my muscles tighten.
“What’s up with your friend?” Mr. Stewart asked Virgo. His eyes shifted between the warlock and me.
“Just sit down,” Virgo warned. He kept his gaze on me, his expression uncertain. “Zev, what are you doing?”
“You took another man’s life,” I said to the man. “And you don’t even care about that.”
I sniffed the air around him. I could smell fear, cowardice, and old urine, but no regret. His only sorrow came from the impact to his family.
“You deserve to die,” I said.
“You’re just a kid,” the man replied, turning to face me. “How you can even stand there and say—”
But his words cut off when he met my glare. He closed his mouth and sat down on his chair. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were wide with terror.
I leaned over him and put a hand on each armrest of the chair.
“Do you really want your children to follow in their father’s footsteps?” I asked in a low growl. “Choose your next words very carefully, Mr. Stewart. You are a murderer, a coward, and a stain upon what it means to be human. When you leave this room with my friend, if you choose to do anything other than give the police an entire confession of the murder performed at your bidding, I will hunt you down and murder you myself. And it won’t be quick. Do you understand?”
His mouth opened and shut like a trout. “I-I understand,” he finally said in a strained voice.
I couldn’t stand the smell in the air any longer. I rose and walked out of the room. It took several minutes of stalking up and down the hallway for me to get my heartrate back under control. I had hoped that he would refuse. I had wanted more than anything to follow through with my threat, right there, in front of Virgo and the world if need be.
I crouched with my back against the wall and buried my head in my hands. The wolf inside me wanted to deal justice to the man. It would be so easy to phase and go back in there. Virgo wouldn’t be able to stop me. The man would get what he deserved.
Do it, the Master’s voice whispered in my head. Show him who is the most powerful. Make him pay for his actions. Tear him limb from limb.
I dug my fingers into my hair and gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. The many brands along my torso burned with the sweat that soaked my clothes. I fought to maintain control.
He should feel the pain of your fangs, the Master’s voice taunted. Show him what werewolves are made of. Make him pay for all of your brethren and sisters.
“The police are on their way.”
Virgo’s voice tore me from the Master’s words. I staggered to my feet.
“Are you alright?” the warlock asked as he steadied me.
I nodded, but didn’t trust myself to speak. I glanced toward the room.
“He’s tied to the chair,” Virgo said. “I made him sign a confession. The police will find it when they get here. They’ll make sure justice is served.” His eyebrows pulled together. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said in a rough voice I barely recognized.
“We’d better go,” the warlock replied, his gaze uncertain as he searched my face. “I called them on his phone. There’s nothing to trace us back here.”
“Good,” I replied.
It took all of my self-control to walk down the hall after the warlock. The further I got from the man, the easier it became. We stepped into the backyard and the Master’s voice vanished from my head altogether. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Virgo glanced at me from where he wiped our fingerprints off the door, but he didn’t press me. I appreciated his silence.
We watched from the cab of his truck parked further down the road as the policemen arrested Mr. Stewart and hauled him into a waiting cop car.
“That was exciting,” Virgo said, his tone questioning.
“I need some air,” I told him.
I opened the door and climbed out. The warlock joined me a few seconds later.
“What was that in there?”
I shook my head. “Don’t ask.”
Virgo’s eyebrows rose. “I’ve got to ask. I need to know I can trust you in situations like this.”
I shot him a flat look. “Do you expect more murderers who sent monsters after the ghosts of their victims?”
“I don’t know,” the warlock replied. His eyes flashed. “But if there are, are you going to murder them yourself?”
“It’s tempting,” I said.
His eyes narrowed.
The warlock’s cellphone rang and saved us from wherever
the heated conversation was going.
I turned away and found myself face to face with Ceren. A smile touched my lips before I even realized it. Just the sight of her made my muscles relax. The worry that had pressed relentlessly at the back of my mind during her absence eased like air being let out of a balloon.
“Hi,” she said with an almost-shy smile.
“Hi,” I replied.
She looked me over. “Rough night?” she guessed.
I blew out a breath to indicate that it was an understatement and she smiled again.
“That’s right,” Virgo said from where he had climbed into the bed of the truck with the book spread out on his knees. “Khavis. K-H-A-V-I-S.”
He hit the speaker phone in time for me to hear James reply, “I was afraid that wasn’t a typo.”
“What does it say?” the warlock asked. He glanced at me. “Zev’s listening, too.”
“You’re not going to like this,” James replied, his voice tinny over the speakerphone.
“Shoot,” Virgo said.
James’ voice took on a monotone rhythm as if he was reading. “It says the khavis is an ancient phantom known as a ghost eater. It devours souls and is a threat to all who encounter it. Its only weakness is itself. It will hunt and devour all within its reach.”
“A ghost eater,” I repeated.
Ceren and I looked at each other.
“What was that?” Virgo asked.
“What?”
“That,” Virgo repeated, motioning between Ceren and me. “Is she here?”
“Who’s there?” James asked over the phone.
Virgo rolled his eyes. “Zev’s been haunted by some ghost. She’s apparently here right now.”
“She’s not ‘some ghost’,” I said at the same time that James said, “A girl ghost?”
A smile touched Virgo’s lips. “Apparently.”
“What does she look like?” James asked.
Virgo shot me an interested look. “Yeah, Zev. If she’s real, describe her. Make me a believer.”
I couldn’t blame the warlock for becoming bitter after losing both of his parents, but after our encounter with Mr. Stewart and finding out that there was a creature out there who was a potential threat to Ceren, I wasn’t in the mood to be messed with.