by Sarah Noffke
She glared at Liv, her nostrils flaring. “I should have seen you for what you were, magician.”
Liv took note of the werewolves crowding in from the tavern, Soren in the lead. “You may call me Warrior, pack leader.”
“You have some gall coming into my town alone,” Vera spat, her gray eyes flicking to the pack at Liv’s back. “Did you find out what you needed when you came in on your first visit?”
“I know that you’re in direct violation of the agreement with the House of Seven,” Liv stated, feeling the hairs on her arms rise.
Dark veins had started to radiate from around Vera’s eyes, making her look like she might shift at any moment. It wasn’t nighttime, though.
The werewolves could only change then, Liv told herself. But then she remembered the elderly in the general store. They were stuck like that. What if Vera could change? She was older for a werewolf, probably the oldest in the immediate pack. Liv hadn’t counted on them fighting shifted werewolves. This was supposed to be a quick and easy fight.
“Supposed to.” Those dreaded words that echoed in her brain just before everything went wrong.
The tiny movement of Vera’s eyes should have gone unnoticed by Liv, but the speed enhancement spell she’d placed on herself made it so she didn’t miss it. She knew that if she was going to fight werewolves, she needed to have reflexes to match theirs.
Soren had rocked back on his heels, about to spring forward when Liv flicked her hand over her shoulder like she was shooing a fly away. Soren flew back into two other pack members, all of them smashing into the wall.
Without taking her eyes off Vera, Liv leaned down. “How about we discuss this matter privately? Otherwise, I fear we’ll keep getting pesky interruptions.”
Vera didn’t at first appear willing to indulge Liv on this request. However, Liv knew the only way it would work was to separate the alpha from her pack. The men would lay down their lives to protect her, which meant they’d all die.
“Soren,” Vera said, a growl in her throat. “Take this intruder to the back.”
Liv shook her head. “Although that sounds lovely and not at all like a trap, I’d prefer the wide-open space of the inn. So, what you’re going to do is have your pack go outside and tell all the tourists who are clogging up the street to get back on the bus. Then the driver is going to take them out of this town, giving them some excuse they’ll believe. Starting today, no more tourists will die here.”
Vera’s eyes began to glow as the veins darkened, spreading to her cheeks.
“When your men are out of here,” Liv continued, “you and I are going to sit down like reasonable people and discuss the agreement with the House of Seven and how you can avoid violating it again.”
Cracking her neck to the side, Vera narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me. And you may have a bit of magic, but you’re nothing up against all of us.”
“That’s true, but you don’t want to get in trouble with the House of Seven for harming one of their beloved Warriors, do you?” Liv dared to ask, although she already knew the answer.
“I don’t give a shit what the House of Seven thinks,” Vera said with a sneer.
“Let the tourists leave, and then we’ll discuss this,” Liv requested again, buying them the much needed time.
Vera shook her head, her long gray hair swaying. “My boys are hungry. I’m hungry. Those tourists are ours.”
“I sort of figured you’d feel that way about the perfectly reasonable arrangement I offered,” Liv stated matter-of-factly.
The sound of the bus’s engine firing up made Vera’s ears twitch. “What did you do, Warrior?”
“Since I figured you wouldn’t be at all compliant, I took it upon myself to go ahead and run the tourists out of town,” Liv said, working to keep her voice even as Vera’s eyes glowed hotter. “Apparently, those tourists think the inn had been shut down due to a pest infestation.” Liv tapped her chin like she was thinking. “I have no idea where they got that idea.”
The roar of the bus speeding out of town brought the men at Liv’s back closer. She could feel them breathing down her neck, but she didn’t dare give them her attention.
Liv had done her homework on this one. She knew all the power resided in the old lady standing in front of her. If the men were angry, it was only because they shared a connection with the alpha. She told them how to feel, and what to do, and when to do it. They were her robots, forced to do whatever she wanted. Fane and the others in the village were somewhat removed from her direct line of control, but they were still a part of the pack. A second tier, as Liv had come to think of them.
“Warrior, you’ll pay for this,” Vera snarled, lifting her chin and looking at the men behind Liv. “Go and try to get them back. Soren, you stay with me. We’re going to give this young magician what she wants.”
So far, everything was going to plan. Fane would be waiting for the men, and he’d do his best to keep them away, but hopefully not pay too high a price to do it. That was why Liv had to be fast. The longer they spent in Lupei, the greater the risk that innocent people would be injured.
“Good,” Liv said as Soren sidled up next to her and the other men filed out the door. “You’re going to find a way to work within the agreement. I knew you would be reasonable.”
Vera shook her head. “Oh, no. I would rather die than do that. It might have been good enough for my ancestors, but eating sheep when we were meant to prey on humans is not my way. You wouldn’t understand.”
“So what do you mean, you’re going to give me what I want?” Liv asked, confused.
Soren smacked his fist in his palm, leering down at her. “We’re going to give you a fair fight, Sally. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Liv looked between Vera and Soren, feeling suddenly tiny. “How is this a fair fight? There are two of you and only one of me?”
“We all know that magicians are stronger than werewolves when we haven’t turned,” Vera said, coming around from behind the counter. She was so plain in her jeans and button-up flannel that it was odd to think she was the pack’s leader. “So, two on one. That’s the fair way.”
Liv rolled her eyes; she had expected all this. Not only had Bermuda’s book filled in many of the gaps, but Alina had also advised her the night she had stayed in Lupei.
“Now, first of all, we need to get that pesky cane away from her,” Soren stated, his breath smelling like rotten meat as he exhaled on Liv.
“I’d give it to you, but I need it to walk,” Liv joked. “Well, if you really want it, I guess I can give it over.” She handed him the silver, but he shied away like the sight burned him.
Soren went for Liv’s other side, the one opposite the cane, but the door at the front burst open. Standing on the threshold in a long traveling cloak was a shadowy figure.
“One of the tourists,” Vera said in a hushed voice to Soren. “Bring them in here.”
Trudy pushed back her hood to show her short, spiky hair and smoldering hazel eyes. The staff she’d been carrying before materialized in her hand as she stepped forward into the light.
“I’m no tourist, but I would like to come in,” she said, a blast of green light radiating from her staff and knocking Soren into the back wall. He collided with a bookcase, cracking all the shelves as he slid to the ground.
“Two Warriors,” Vera said, her words hot with anger.
“Oops,” Liv said. “Did I forget to tell you that I brought a friend? My bad.”
Trudy came to stand next to Liv, both of them regarding Vera with mild contempt.
“You have one last chance to surrender and do things as the council dictates,” Liv ordered. “If you don’t, then we’ll have no choice but to put you down.”
If Vera was intimidated by being outnumbered and her best mutt having been subdued, she hid it well. Actually, she must have thought Liv was a comedian because she began to laugh.
Trudy looked sideways at Liv, pro
bably wondering if she was wrong and this was not the alpha, just a looney old woman.
“Do you know how I defeated the last alpha?” Vera asked, leaning forward, her back hunched slightly.
“A really boring game of chess?” Liv guessed.
Vera shook her head, sidestepping like a wolf circling its prey. “My family is the only one with magician blood to ever be born in Lupei. Not only does the wolf live deep in my bones, but the same magic that flows through you runs in my veins.”
Oh, hell! Werewolf magician. Liv hadn’t been expecting that.
“Not the same,” Liv said. “We aren’t corrupt, and neither are the others in your pack. You’re power-hungry, and you have let it go to your head.”
Vera shook her head, hunching over more. “I’ve finally come into my own. It took me a long time to get control over my magic after keeping it a secret for all of my life. My family never wanted anyone to know. They wanted us to live in the shadows, just like everyone in this town. But I knew there was a better way. My way.”
She sprang from the floor, hands extended, and grabbed the rickety chandelier overhead. Swinging her legs, the old woman flew to the other side of the room and landed with a thud, one hand on the floor and the other in the air. Soren followed a similar path as her, flying through the air as if he were suspended on hidden wires.
Using her magic, Vera dropped him by the door, where he stumbled upright, appearing as though he’d just awoken from a gnarly nap.
“You know, this inn has been in my family for a long, long time,” Vera said, her voice gravelly.
Liv was just about to plan an attack when she realized that her arms were pinned to her side. She jerked her gaze to Trudy and read the same frantic expression on her face.
“This inn is special to us,” Vera continued. “And therefore it has certain charms that work only for us. It does our bidding.”
Liv tried to break free from the invisible restraints that bound her arms to her side, but she was unable to do so.
“I do look forward to dealing with you both soon,” Vera said, her eyes sliding to different places around the room. “However, let’s reconvene later. Say, after sunset—when I’ve changed into something more comfortable.”
Vera then grabbed Soren by the arm and yanked him outside, shutting the door to the inn behind them and locking Liv and Trudy inside.
Chapter Twenty-Six
As soon as the door shut, the immobility spell was gone, allowing the Warriors to move again.
Chewing her lip, Liv turned around slowly to face Trudy. “Soooo…”
Trudy closed her eyes for a half-beat to calm herself.
“That bit about her being a magician was new,” Liv said, glancing around the inn, trying to figure out how they could possibly escape.
“Which makes her a hybrid, and not someone I want to face after dark when she’s shifted,” Trudy stated.
“My thoughts exactly, which means we’ve got to find a way out of here.” Liv pointed to a vase on a high shelf, trying to determine if it was a magical artifact that Vera had used to seal the place shut.
“I suspect that if what Vera says is true about the inn, there is no easy way out unless she releases us herself,” Trudy said, trying the door and finding it sealed shut, not just locked like a regular door that would budge a tiny bit. This one was magically sealed in place, no air even coming through the cracks.
“There has to be something that Dogbrain missed,” Liv said, picking up a slight magical vibration from the vase. “Vera looked around at certain places before darting out of here. Do you think that the place is sealed using artifacts?”
“I think it’s possible,” Trudy said, pulling out her cell phone and then frowning.
“Let me guess, no reception?” Liv asked.
“Yes, which is odd, since I’ve been able to call out both when I was three hundred feet underground and a mile in the air.”
Liv arched an eyebrow at the Warrior. “I think I need to hear the stories regarding those locations.”
Trudy cracked a smile. “Well, it appears that we’ll have several hours to exchange stories. You can tell me how you got that bite on your leg and the other one on your arm.”
Liv froze. Her bites were covered.
Hester had told Trudy! That was the only explanation. Suddenly Liv felt shortsighted for trusting the Councilor.
“Do you know how Hester is a healer?” Trudy asked her, partially hiding a smirk.
And a liar who doesn’t keep her word, Liv thought. Instead of saying that, she simply nodded.
“Well, in our family, each member is gifted with a strange and rare ability that doesn’t pull from the magical reserves,” Trudy explained. “I know it’s weird, and after I tell you this, you don’t have to shield yourself. It wouldn’t do you any good anyway.”
Liv tilted her head to the side, wondering what the hell the Warrior was going to say next.
“I have x-ray vision,” Trudy admitted. “I try not to use it, but it’s sort of automatic. Most of the time I don’t even know I’m doing it, but it’s hard to ignore that huge bite on your leg or the one on your arm.”
Liv looked down at her covered limbs. “So you can see…”
“That you’re concealing a sword under your cape,” Trudy stated. “And also that you’re wearing mismatched socks.”
Liv sighed. “Is nothing sacred anymore?”
Trudy chuckled. “It’s a weird gift. Usually it doesn’t give me the advantages most would think. Actually, most of the time, it makes me sympathetic to my enemy. It’s hard to take them seriously when they are wearing Batman underwear.”
“So can you only see through clothes?” Liv asked. “And if so, that’s the creepiest gift I’ve ever heard of.”
Trudy pulled a pair of glasses from her cape, sliding them on. They were tinted greenish-blue. “I had a friend make these for me. They prevent my gift from working. If you’d like, I’ll wear them when I’m around you now that you know the truth.”
“So the council doesn’t know?” Liv asked. “They know about Hester, though, don’t they?”
“Yes, but that’s because Hester’s gift is important and has saved many a Warrior,” Trudy began. “Mine can be practical in battle, but there’s no real reason for me to disclose it. Our parents were sensitive about our gifts, not wanting us to be exploited for them.”
“Yes, I could see how you’d be targeted if people knew.”
“And to answer your question,” Trudy continued, “I can see through almost anything, within reason. Not too thick of walls or from really long distances, but if I’m close to something, I can usually make out what’s on the other side.”
“That’s incredibly valuable,” Liv stated. “Is there anyone else in the inn? Anything you see that might help us?”
Trudy pulled off the glasses, searching the space before shaking her head. “No, we’re alone in here. And I’m not certain. I have my doubts about getting out of here. I’ve tried to find a weak space with my magic, and the building is locked up thoroughly.”
Liv nodded, having tried the same thing.
Trudy slipped the glasses back on and strode past Liv in the direction of the tavern. “Well, it sounds like we need to strategize for when that door is open and Vera has changed.”
“Where are you going?” Liv asked, following her.
“I don’t know about you,” Trudy called over her shoulder, “but we’re going to need food to keep up our reserves, and I could use a drink. Maybe while I’m fixing us something, you can tell me what took a hunk out of your leg and why my sister didn’t tell me about it?”
“How do you know that Hester knows anything about it?” Liv asked.
Trudy stopped, giving her a skeptical expression. “Does she?”
Liv wanted to lie, but Trudy’s eyes seemed to cut right through her. “Yeah, maybe.”
“I thought so.” Trudy continued into the tavern, headed for the kitchen. “If I was mauled by some
thing like whatever attacked you, I’d call my sister too.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I just wish you’d make more potatoes,” Liv said, ladling a heaping pile of the mashed potatoes which were overflowing from a large pot onto her plate.
“Ha-ha,” Trudy stated. “I told you the other vegetables weren’t really up to my standards. And the meat? Well, it looked questionable.”
“Please tell me it wasn’t human,” Liv said, pushing her plate away, suddenly not hungry.
Trudy shook her head. “No, but it definitely wasn’t fresh. I’m guessing that they don’t keep anything fresh on hand since they catch theirs every day.”
Liv took a big spoonful of potatoes and eyed the lumpy mess. “Were you hoping that if Vera defeats us, we’ll have the last laugh when she realizes you boiled every single one of her potatoes?”
Pointing with her fork at the pan, Trudy chewed with her mouth slightly open. “I’m hoping if you help me finish that pot of mashed potatoes, Vera won’t be defeating us. All we need is a good plan and our reserves full.”
“She’ll be changed, though,” Liv argued, staring down at the blob of white on her plate.
“There are two of us.”
“But she’s part magician,” Liv countered.
“You’ve got that cane,” Trudy said, taking a sip of her whiskey. Liv had declined any alcohol, thinking it was better to keep her head clear. The other Warrior had said she actually thought better after a single drink.
“And she’s got a pack of seemingly loyal pups.”
Trudy smiled between bites. “We’d make a fine good cop, bad cop pair.”
“I’m guessing that means I’d be the bad cop, doesn’t it?”
Trudy nodded. “You have some valid points, and that’s why we have to be strategic. If I was betting, I’d guess that Vera will be less about strategy and more about simple assault. That’s why when she lets us out of here, we have to do something unexpected.”
Liv thought for a moment. “What if we set fire to the place? Werewolves hate fire, right?”