by Devyn Dawson
“Toodles Mr. Greatness. Nice ass; come back and play any time. Don’t bring that bossy Oakley next time!” Issie cried out to us.
When we got to the road we noticed the truck was gone, damn. One thing I still couldn’t get used to was leaving my clothes in random places. I always had the intention of returning to pick them up, not always doing it.
“Looks like we’ll be running. Before we do, what was that about?” I asked Oakley.
He unzipped his leather jacket, getting ready for the shift. “You can’t trust them. Issie used to be a really sweet girl and both of them were accepted to Juilliard School. Issie is a ballerina and her sister was a violinist, until their father was killed. A supernatural poacher was hunting fox shifters; their fur is the most sought after for coats among elite supers. That is how she got that scar on her face. I don’t know why she didn’t heal but she didn’t and the whole thing changed her. I actually went on a couple of dates with her before it happened. She doesn’t trust supers anymore and she will lie to protect her family. Unlike us, she is only out for her skulk. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that big log cabin off Jasmine Drive; that is where they all live.” He tilted his head to the side thinking for a second. “I think there are eleven of them, thirteen if you count her brothers that moved somewhere in Europe. Her family is the only skulk in the United States.” He finished folding up his clothes and set them by a tree.
“That’s crazy. I still don’t get why you’re so mean to her though. I’ve never seen you mean with a woman before.” I tucked my wallet in the travelers pouch I wore around my neck for instances like this.
“Let’s just say, that is the only way you can get the truth out of her,” Oakley said as he got on the ground and shifted.
Looking around, I memorized the exact place we left our stuff. As I ran next to him the rest of the way home, I tried to see him with a girl like Issie. I thought she was cute but way over the edge in the attitude department.
“Took you long enough.” Chrissy said as she stood on the front porch, arms crossed and foot tapping. “I was about to go tell the IT guys to track you.” I looked up at her as she fussed at me, going over to nuzzle her until she put her hand in my pelt and petted me. Her arms went around my neck, I breathed in deeply taking in her fear, her scent and her pheromones until my senses were completely bathed in her essence. She walked over and held the door open for us. I stood on the front door mat doing my best not to track in dirt, my best still left paw prints on the floor. I was apparently the messiest wolf they have to deal with. Luckily I had status, or they would have had me in a dog house for sure.
Chapter 5. Paris
“And now there was no one left who dared to place himself in such danger.” The Owl - Grimm’s Household Tales
PRU
“I don’t know how you do it. You seem so together, and I feel like I’m falling apart.” I sat down on the settee looking out the window and its moving backdrop. The tourists bustled through the streets not letting the recent cold snap hinder their visit.
Mom was in the little kitchenette of our vacation rental with a French pastry chef she hired to teach her the fine art of French cuisine. She nibbled on a fresh croissant they recently brought out of the oven. “Prudence, I’m not falling apart because your father wouldn’t accept that type of behavior. You’re going to be okay, I promise you. Do you want me to assign more of the guys to watch over Abel and have Oak meet us out here. You two need some alone time. You know he loved your dad.” She walked over sitting down on the edge of the small seat, rubbing her hand up and down my arm. “Pru, you know I’m right.”
“I know. Dad would be so mad at me for being such a pain.” I put my forehead against the arm of the chair. “Mom, it would be nice to have nothing more than alone time with Oak, but rest escapes me until I find out who did this to dad.” I shook my head back and forth feeling the sting of tears threatening to fill my eyes. “I didn’t come all the way to Paris to be a downer. When you’re finished with your cooking lesson, meet me in the park. I am for sure getting another espresso on my way out. Who needs sleep?” I stood up, stretching from side to side to loosen up the kinks in my back.
“You might want to slow down on that espresso; you’re going to crash and burn. I’ll be finished in about an hour.” She leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You need to be careful, you’re in vampire territory. No one should do anything, but you never know. You want one of my guards to go with you?” She asked.
I smiled at her, pulling her in for a hug. “I’ll take Gus with me; he has been super fun and given me tons of breathing room. He’s not too bad to look at either.”
I hadn’t even thought about the vampires. I’d even dream walked with Quinny and he warned me the other day. How stupid of me to traipse around like a vigilante and not think about the one enemy I loathe.
The beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg garden was exactly what I needed. It was almost too warm for my winter parka, a welcomed change from the below freezing temperatures of the last few days. The wolf in me was dying to run; it had been exactly a week since my last run causing more jitters than the espresso. I slipped off my raspberry colored mittens shoving them in my pockets. “Gus, tell me, am I boring you to tears?” I asked as we walked down the main pathway passing other tourists enjoying the above freezing temps. A few people were sitting on lawn chairs holding up their Kindles with their gloved hands, obviously enjoying a good book.
“I’ve never been to Paris before, so I’m actually enjoying it, Pru. It would be better if you weren’t so sad all of the time.” Gus said in his deep manly voice. He recently came to us from a pack in Utah. We beefed up our security when my dad died adding ten more people to our pack. We probably had a stricter regiment to join our pack than the CIA. No joke. Gus won gold medals in the 2010 werewolf Olympics in all strongman events. Dad had put him on our shortlist the week before he passed away.
“I have been a drag lately. I’ll tell you what; the rest of the day will be filled with fun and games. I won’t even do any research on the rogue wolves in the area. I am curious about something though. You know this is vampire territory?” I jumped in front of him so I could look into his face. “I think tomorrow I want to see if we can track down any information about Arien. I know I’m focused on my dad, but Abel’s sister is running around doing gawd-knows-what and I need to figure out where she is.” I smiled innocently at him.
All six feet plus of Gus was laughing, his Bieberish hair hanging in front of his chocolate brown eyes. “You’re always looking for trouble Pru. I’ll help you, but I ain’t gonna say I like it. Those vamps make me want to break things.” He made a fist and punched his other hand, joking around for the first time since he joined us.
“You’re alright Gus, they make me want to break things too…..mainly their face.” We laughed and took in the enchanting sights of the park.
Chapter 6. Chilly
“They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into the daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky.” Strong Hans ~ Grimm’s Household Tales
“Bye mom! Breakfast was delicious! That French chef seemed to inspire the chef de patisserie in you.” I leaned over doing my best not to knock over her coffee as I kissed her on the cheek.
“Pru? Stay out of trouble, I don’t want any attention brought to us,” mom said. She slid a buttery croissant across the breakfast bar to me.
“I can’t possibly eat another bite. I’ll do my best to avoid attention.” I wrapped my scarf around my neck and pulled my Northface knitted hat down over my ears. Grabbing the croissant and holding it with my teeth I shoved my hands into my mittens. “See you later, ciao.”
Gus and I stepped out into the frigid morning. “Don’t freak out, but we’re going to take the Metro to the Vampire Museum.” I put my hands up, waving them back and forth. “I know, I know. I don’t even know if it is a play on the whole vampire sce
ne that is popular or if it is legit. They have some books though that I’d like to take a look at.” I pulled a map out of my jacket pocket. “Look, I did some research last night and then mapped out our day. Our biggest obstacle is actually running into a vampire. Don’t give me that look; there is a treaty in place that prohibits them from attacking us without just cause. It is only good within the Paris city limits; we will stay within those boundaries. We,” I pointed back and forth between us “will be a notch in a belt for a vampire if we break the treaty. Let’s try not to be a notch today.”
He buttoned the top button on his tailored black pea coat as he shook his head back and forth “you don’t think going to a vamp museum will wave a red flag that we’re in town? What is the book that may get us killed?” We practically broke out into a run as we walked as fast as possible to the warmth of the Metro. “Damn girl, are we racing?”
“Ha, Ha. Come on, I’ll fill you in on our way.”
Chapter 7. Museum
“Presently the guest came, and knocked politely and courteously at the house-door.” Clever Gretel ~ Grimm’s Household Tales
The enormous wooden door chimed as Gus pulled it open, announcing our entrance. The well worn table, doubling as a desk, did little to hide the petite girl sitting behind it. She was bundled up in a wool cardigan and scarf. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail that didn’t disguise the fact her hair was either not combed or so curly and wild it was impossible to tame, even pulled back. “Could you pull that door closed, you’re letting out all the heat,” she said haughtily; even in her French accent she sounded perturbed.
Gus pulled the door closed and removed his leather gloves placing them in the pockets of his pea-coat. “This is the Vampire Museum, right?” He asked.
She rolled her eyes and said “Americans, always wanting a rendezvous with a vampire. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are all out of vampires today.” She rocked her head back and forth as she annunciated each word.
I put both of my hands on the table trying my best to keep my tempter in check. “Awesome, you speak English. Obviously you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, we however didn’t. I understand you have some rare books on vampires that you allow the public to view. I’d like to view them.” I mentally took a deep breath to calm myself down.
“Do you have an appointment?” The lady asked as she pulled out a well worn leather appointment book. Her wire glasses slipped down her nose as she turned the pages to the current date. Shaking her head back and forth she said “oh look right here.” She points to the blank page. “No, it doesn’t look like you have one.”
Another imaginary breath before saying, “no, we don’t have an appointment. We aren’t here romanticizing vampires; we’re here because we are giving a lecture in America about vampires at the supernatural convention next month. We want to be as well informed as possible.” I lie and smile as sweetly as possible.
“It looks like we can fit you in at one this afternoon.” She says cocking her head to the side pursing her lips sarcastically.
“Really?” I looked around and could tell we were the only people in the building. I listened for heartbeats, picking up nothing. “It doesn’t look like you’re busy right now.”
“Rules are rules. I know you Americans like to break rules, but we don’t. What you consider not busy is irrelevant.” She held up a steaming mug with both hands. “I’m enjoying my café au lait. If one doesn’t work for you, I can squeeze you in next week.” She says as she flips the blank pages to the following week.
“One is fine, merci.” Gus says as he pulled on my arm and opened the door to leave.
“I thought I was going to hurt her.” I leaned against the stone wall outside the building for balance as I fiddled with a stone in my shoe. “I guess we’ll go to the Père Lachaise Cemetery.” Gus put his arm around me and I instinctively pulled away. Feeling a little awkward I pulled out the metro schedule.
“You’re seriously dragging me to a cemetery when its five hundred degrees below zero?” Gus laughed that deep laugh of his. “It isn’t getting any warmer out here; let’s get on with the Pru filled tour.”
“It is said that the family of that famous vampire Pascale Norwid is buried there and he often has fresh flowers delivered to his wife’s grave. I want to find out what florist he uses, it would at least give us a lead.” We jumped on the Metro right before the doors closed with a loud swoosh.
Gus and I were on guard every time we took any public transportation, the train was full and only had poles with hand straps to stand at. Gus’ girth alone allowed room for only the two of us at our pole. The smell of sweat lingered in the air giving me the willies to think what it must smell like in the heat of the summer months. “Psst, check out your two o’clock do you get a weird vibe from her?” Opting to use our telepathic pack wolf ability for communication.
Gus tilted his head backwards and side to side like he was stretching out a kink in his neck. “Smells witchy to me. It looks like she has an amulet around her neck.”
“Yeah, I get that too. She looks to be about my age, give or take a year, but not older than twenty for sure. I don’t think she is an issue. She however is nuts wearing that full broomstick skirt in January. A little odd she doesn’t have her coat zipped up, probably has a ways to go and doesn’t want to acclimate to the weather.”
The doors opened with an electronic strength and speed. Gus and I walked past the witch girl making eye contact with her; her eyes grew wide and changed back in an instant. She gave me a passive smile as she touched the amulet around her neck. Odd.
The capacious gate to the cemetery was like no other I’ve ever seen. The ornate columns that flanked each side of the entrance caused me to catch my breath just a little.
‘And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing
And sparkling evermore,
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
Was but to sing,
In voices of surpassing beauty,
The wit and wisdom of their king.’
The poem ran through my head like a memory with a secret message. It was as though I’d been to this place before. I was sure I’d written in my journal about this entrance.
“Just then, what were you quoting? It was eerily beautiful.” Gus asked as we passed across the threshold into the cemetery.
“Oh, sorry; I didn’t realize I was thinking in pack, it was ‘The Haunted Palace’, I’m not sure why it popped in my head. It’s a Poe poem, I’m not exactly known for quoting poetry at random times.” I stopped for a second to wrap my scarf tighter around my neck, blocking out the spaces between my hat and collar.
We walked around taking in the gothic tombs and wrought iron fences. I wondered how many of the graves belonged to supernaturals from another time. The sizes of the tombs were so much taller than Gus and the ominous feeling it evoked put my senses on guard.
“I didn’t expect there to be so many trees, did you?” I asked him.
“No, not at all. Did you see that grave of Francois Felix Faure? It was creepy how they did the stone as a statue of him as if they poured concrete over his corpse. I hope no one ever does that to me.” He smirked a little.
“Oh, eww I got a visual of that.” I shuddered “come on, I think it is towards the back on the right hand side.” We walked up a set of moss covered stairs and onto a narrow path. The graves in the Oklahoma cemeteries were all underground. The only place I’d ever seen the above ground tombs was in Louisiana. “Can you read that street sign? We are looking for Transversale 2.”
A man dressed in coveralls with dirt caked on the knees stepped out from behind one of the moss covered tombs. “You’re not far mademoiselle, keep going straight. What forgotten soul are you looking for?” The man asked in a heavy French accent.
I calmed my jittery nerves and said, “I’m looking for the graves for the family of Mr. Pascale Norwid.”
The man’s eyes grew wide and he stepped closer with his finger to his lips. “Shhh, you don’t want to announce that name out loud. You should turn back and go find a nice café to see, or go find the grave of Mr. James Morrison. Let me take you there.” The man whispered.
I shook my head no and whispered back “we’re doing some research, we aren’t here to disturb any curses the graves may have. My friend here, he studies the supernatural,” I said as I looped my arm through Gus’.
“As long as you are aware… you can’t say that you haven’t been warned. As I said, it is straight away. You may want to think twice before…..” He didn’t finish the sentence, only shook his head and walked away.
“Well, that was interesting.” I say as we started weaving in and out of the graves hoping it was a shortcut to the plot.
With my arm still looped through Gus’ he periodically pulled me closer to steady me on the uneven ground. “Pru, you are definitely fearless.” We both looked up and come to a halt at the same time.