by Maria Lima
My brother heard the unspoken command, moving swiftly to hold Jacob’s shoulders. Jacob blinked once, then settled back into the stolid, steady gaze. Who was he that he could be so calm? A fanatic? A True Believer? Somehow, his earlier explanation wore thin in his presence. This wasn’t the aura of a religious fanatic nor even one of a rock-steady man of faith. Steely gaze held mine, almost taunting me to find the truth, composed in his knowledge of right but not righteousness.
I closed my eyes and let my senses unfurl, my barriers lower just enough. I reached forward, feeling, touching, hearing, scenting, tasting. Jacob tasted of citrus and oak, cleanliness of purpose and strength of will. The censer smoke of religion just a thin veil over what was behind. A flash of silver bright, a star surrounded by a circle. Jacob, right hand raised as he takes an oath. Oh, holy hells.
Pushing away from him, away from the table, I stood and stared. Tucker, alarmed, tightened his grip. I waved a hand, shaking my head. “No, let him be, Tucker.”
“At your service, ma’am,” Jacob parodied, tipping a nonexistent Stetson.
“So, Sergeant, how in all the bloody hells does a werewolf become a Texas Ranger?”
Tucker, startled, knocked over a salt shaker on the counter behind him. He quickly picked up a pinch of salt and tossed it over his left shoulder.
Jacob seemed startled but not surprised at my words. “It’s more like how does a Texas Ranger become a werewolf,” he said. “Come, Tucker, sit. Keira, sit, please.”
Tucker turned to me for guidance. I sat back down, so he did the same, but to Jacob’s right.
“What’s with the hair?” I motioned toward his long blond hair, pulled back into a short, stubby ponytail, just like the night of the football game. “Not standard, is it?”
He shook his head. “I was undercover before this—drug gang. They pulled me off to—”
“To come here?” I questioned. “Do the Rangers know something about what’s going on around here?” A thought occurred to me. “It’s not terrorism, is it?”
“No, then Homeland Security would be involved. It’s good ol’ boy bigotry, that’s all.” He shrugged. “You know the old saying ‘One riot, one Ranger’?”
I nodded.
“I’d be the one Ranger … well, the one werewolf.”
“You knew about the church, didn’t you? That’s why you came to Marcus.”
“I did,” Jacob said. “I got sent here to work within Company D, in San Antonio. Normally, I’m farther west—with Janna Matjeka’s pack out of Big Bend, Red-wolf tribe. I think your folk know them? Workwise, I report to Company E out of Midland. The captain here called for me because he—”
“Knew you were wolf,” Tucker interjected.
“Yes.”
“How?” I asked. “The Texas Rangers know you’re a wolf?” I was trying to make this information fit. Trying to figure out how one of the oldest law enforcement groups in Texas knew about and condoned werewolves.
“It’s a deep, dark secret,” Jacob replied. “Only three others know. My captain, Company D’s captain, and my sometimes partner, Andy Marks. I’d been mauled by a rogue wer while I was out on patrol, nearly died. Andy found me, took me to Janna. He’s known her since they were high school age. She nursed me back to health.”
“I didn’t know a human could become wer.”
“If they survive, they can,” Tucker explained. “Thing is, wers rarely attack humans and humans who are attacked rarely survive.” He watched Jacob carefully, keeping his expression neutral. I could tell most of my brother’s moods just by looking at him. Tucker was a little surprised, a little pleased. “It takes a strong person to live after a wer attack.”
Jacob simply bowed his head and said nothing for a moment, as if acknowledging my brother’s approval.
“So the church …?” I prompted. Bully for Jacob’s strength, but we had an agenda here—at least I did. I needed to know what the hell he knew.
Jacob continued his story. “Captain Hansen, our local guy, had heard stories about this church, but nothing enough to really warrant an investigation. He’d also twigged to the wolves.”
“How?”
“One of his officers came to the office one day spouting some story about these wolf-looking dogs out by Canyon Lake.”
My heart sank. Marcus and his people were even more oblivious than I’d first imagined. “They were seen?”
“By the lieutenant and his buddies—I know, I know, it was damned stupid of the wolves. I knew Marcus’s pack was in the area and that he’d begun to mainstream his older kids. When Captain Hansen called me and I confirmed, he pulled me from the other investigation right away. We didn’t want this to become a witch hunt.”
Nor did I. If normal humans got wind of a werewolf pack for real, I could only imagine the kind of panic this could engender. “You think church members saw wolves and overreacted?”
Jacob nodded. “I do now. At first, I was just investigating the hazing, the whispered stories that this boys’ club was a front. Miller and his gang run things. Have ever since his own father was preacher here.”
“Then that Brotherhood is just a front for white supremacists, isn’t it,” Tucker stated.
I gasped. “That’s what—”
“Yes,” Jacob said, a low growl in the back of his throat. “I was blind, following a lead about a nonfatal beating of a Mexican kid. They try to keep the town, the church ‘pure.’” He rubbed his eyes. “After I got accepted by Mark, I joined the church. Offered to help out with the boys’ group. I’ve been hanging out with them for weeks—and nothing more than pranks happened. They just tried to force people to leave in disgust, in fear.” He stared past us, eyes unfocused. “They’ve never killed before.”
“They killed Margery,” I said.
“And her husband and Maki.” Jacob pushed away from the table and paced up the length of the area. “I wanted to tell Mark at that point—that I was a Ranger, but the captain forbid it. He’s scared that anyone else knowing about me is one too many. He’s already having to juggle too many reports, physicals, fake bloodwork so I can stay on the job. I even begged Janna as my Fenrir, to allow me to reveal myself to Marcus. She refused. She didn’t wish to endanger our pack.” His hands flew to his head, then down again, anxiety written in the tense muscles. “I thought—no, I didn’t think. I was arrogant, careless. Figured I’d work this out. Figured I could handle it. But now Luka’s badly injured, Lev’s dead, and I had no fucking clue.” He whirled and faced me. “They’re good, Keira, good at hiding, good on multiple levels of deceit. I’m a professional, and I never realized they were playing me. I never got to be in any of the secret meetings—only in fake ones.” He slapped his hand against the wooden support beam. “Damn it, I could have come to you. I should have—”
“Nothing,” Tucker said. “You should have nothing.” He stood and joined Jacob, placing a hand on his arm. “You did what you could. No one is infallible. Not even a Ranger.”
“Not even a werewolf who’s a Ranger,” I added, getting up to join them. “Jacob, what’s done is done. Perhaps things would have worked out differently if you’d defied your captain and your Fenrir—but you are a wer and a Ranger and you’ve sworn oaths.” I gazed into his eyes, trying to make him see that I understood his agony. “Adam and I are your lieges, as well, Jacob. I forgive you.”
He sagged against the support beam, head bowed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Truly sorry.”
“I know,” I said and laid a gentle hand on his head. “C’mon, we need to strategize, let’s move forward.” He nodded and stood, giving his head a quick shake as if to re-don the mantle of the Texas Ranger. It worked.
“You know that I really was only being a friend to Bea,” he said quietly. “I wasn’t trying anything, or leading her on. I was just …”
“Offering a friendly shoulder?” I ventured.
“Yes. I realized too late that she’d developed a crush, even now that she’s pregnant.”
> “For fuck’s sake,” I said. “Does everyone know she’s pregnant?”
He shrugged. “I’m a wolf, Keira.”
“The wolves here don’t seem to know … except for Dixxi, but she twigged at the game.”
Jacob nodded. “Sadly, this pack isn’t much of a pack,” he said. “Marcus is a good man but not what they need as a leader. They’re less wolf than human, I’m afraid.”
“We’d discussed that very thing,” Tucker said. “So what now? I’m all for storming the castle.”
“Ditto,” I said. “I don’t need any more evidence. Jacob, you in or are you going to be Ranger on this?”
Jacob’s eyes slitted as his jaw set. “I’m in—but not as Ranger. This is pack business.” I nodded at him as I took his meaning. He was working outside the Texas law now and within pack law. Good.
“Okay, let’s lock up this place and head out. We can meet Niko up at the property and go in the back way.”
I CLOSED the front door of the deli, locking it with the keys Jacob gave me. “Damn, this strip center is looking like the last gasp of abandonment,” I said, motioning around me. “I mean, check it out—the café’s closed and locked up. The deli’s closed and locked up. The laundry’s under renovation until August. The video store’s closed for vacation.” I sighed. Hell, even the parking lot lights seemed dimmer, faded somehow against the night sky.
“It’s summer, sis,” Tucker reminded me gently. “This happens.”
“It’s just so …”
“Sad,” Jacob said. “This is a sad place now.”
I turned in surprise. “You feel the sadness?”
“There’s been a lot of anguish here, death, misery. I can smell it. It lingers.”
“You can smell like that in human shape?” I asked. “Lev’s abilities were much less sharp when he wasn’t wolf.”
“With all due respect, Keira,” Jacob said, “Like I said, there’s too little wolf about that pack. We may not be natural shapeshifters, but my pack is still real wolf.”
Tucker nodded in agreement. “Your wolf is much stronger. I’ve felt it all along.” He motioned toward the buildings. “You’re right about this place. It does need a huge cleansing.”
“I thought I was the only one who felt that way about the center,” I muttered and shook my head. “I’m going to call Isabel—not because of what y’all just said, but I want her to go help Luka out. Then perhaps she can help me with the cleansing.”
“She’s our aunt,” explained Tucker as he climbed into my Rover, Jacob getting into the back.
“A healer. That’s good. The boy’s in bad shape. I took the liberty of sending one of the pack women to the clinic,” he said. “To sit with Dixxi and Luka. I called in another favor, too.”
“Oh?” I tossed Tucker my keys, gave Jacob back his.
“Lev,” he said. “Normally, he’d be autopsied as a crime victim.” Crap, I hadn’t thought of that. “I called the captain, he’s pulling a few strings and taking charge of Lev’s body as part of an ongoing need-to-know investigation.”
“You can do that?”
“Evidently,” he said. “Cap’s been in this area for nearly his full twenty. He knows where bodies are buried. He wants to keep this quiet as much as I do.”
Logical … and practical. One more hurrah for the Rangers being on our side in this. “Let’s get going,” I said. “I’ll call Isabel as we drive.”
As I pressed the speed dial button and hit Call, a wave of wrongness washed over me, just like I’d felt at the football game. I turned and Jacob’s eyes rolled back as he slumped onto the floorboards, body twisted and twitching. “Jacob,” I yelled and turned in my seat. Reaching down, I touched his hand, trying to force calm and serenity into him. Instead, I got a rush of rank energy, dark, rotten, and as twisted as Jacob’s body. “Tucker, he’s been poisoned. Something—damn it, I can’t. Drive, Tucker, get us to the ranch.”
I held on to Jacob’s hand and the phone with the other. Isabel’s voice had been saying “hello” for at least a minute when I finally heard it.
“Keira, what is it?” She immediately went into action mode. “I’m packing now. The plane’s already warming up.”
“How?” I babbled.
“Please,” she admonished. “You’re the heir, dearling. I’ve been getting ready to come to you since this morning. I had to wait for a plane to get here. Minerva was off somewhere.” She didn’t volunteer where Gigi had gone, nor did I ask. That wasn’t important.
“I’ve got a young werewolf in an emergency clinic nearly burned to death. He’s in desperate need of a master healer, and I’ve another wolf right here, poisoned by something. How fast can you get here?”
“We’ll take off in ten,” she said, her voice turning businesslike. “It will still be close to three hours.”
“Damn it.” Jacob’s twitches grew more violent and I held on tighter. “Fast as you can, Aunt.” I thumbed the End Call button and tossed the phone on the floor, slipping my body back to the rear of the car. I fell against the left side as Tucker took a turn.
“Only fifteen more minutes,” he said. “Fuck.”
“What?” I managed to wedge myself onto the floor and hold on to Jacob, one hand holding his jaw. “Fifteen minutes isn’t bad.”
“No, not that. My phone’s buzzing,” he said. “In my pocket.”
“Ignore it. I’m going to try to see if I can stabilize him. My binding is still on him, so that may be what delayed the poison reaction.”
“What do you think—”
“No idea,” I said. “I’m shite at poisons. He wasn’t eating or drinking anything at the deli when we got there, but who knows, maybe he’d had something before. Now hush.”
I maneuvered my body on top of Jacob’s, hands now holding his face as I concentrated on building a stasis, increasing the binding to more of a neutral holding energy. His colors had gone from the clear, sharp citrus to a muddy green-black winding its way through his system. I pressed my lips to his forehead. “Slow,” I whispered. “Mynd yn araf.” I lapsed into Welsh, stronger at spellcasting in my mother tongue. The dark color became sluggish, thick. I forced my energy around it, gold-white light weaving and braiding a cage, stifling its progress. A minute stretched into two, into four, and finally, the invading poison just stopped, held in place. Jacob’s eyes fluttered open, then closed again, a soft sigh as his body relaxed into sleep.
My own phone began to buzz against the floorboard. “I’ve got it,” I said and reached over Jacob’s still head to grab it. “What?” I muttered into the receiver without checking the caller ID.
“Where are you?” Adam’s voice thundered.
Glancing out the window, I took my bearings. “About five minutes away. I’ve got Jacob here, he’s been—”
“Poisoned, I know,” Adam said.
Tucker jerked the wheel as he heard Adam’s answer, his preternatural hearing just as sharp as ever.
“How?”
“Not now. Get here and I’ll explain. Is he stable?”
“Yes. I managed to bind the poison and put him in a sort of stasis. Isabel’s on her way.”
“So I gathered. She phoned me a few minutes ago wanting to make sure I knew to prep the runway.”
I’d forgotten about that. “Thank the bloody stars Gigi saw fit to equip the ranch with a private airstrip,” I said. “Did everyone else get there?”
Adam paused so long I thought I’d lost the call. “Hello?”
“I’m here, and yes. I’ll explain when you get here.” He ended the call.
Explain what? Tucker didn’t even bother to talk to me but forced the car to move even faster down the treacherous winding road. Something, indeed, was up.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“HE POISONED JACOB,” Adam said as we hustled Jacob into the living room and laid him down on one of the couches.
“He who?” I asked. I arranged Jacob’s arms to his side. Crossing them on his chest was just too macabre,
though probably more comfortable. “Isabel’s on her way,” I said as an aside. “I’ve got him in a temporary stasis. Not sure how long it’ll hold.”
Adam joined me. He touched Jacob’s forehead. “I think he’ll be all right,” he said. “His blood flows sluggishly. Perhaps that will save him.” Adam turned to me. “Marcus did it.”
I whirled to face him. “What? How?”
“Wolfsbane.” Mark’s ragged voice came from behind me. He was sitting in one of the dining room chairs to our left. I’d not noticed him there, his aura suppressed by grief and what? Guilt, perhaps.
“Why on earth?” Words failed me.
“I thought he was behind the murders,” he said in a small voice. “He was new, arrogant.”
“Not done, Fenrir, not done,” I said. “Poison’s the weapon of a coward, Mark. It’s not elegant, nor was it called for. Jacob’s on our side. If you’d suspected him, you should have called him on it, called him out. You’re the Fenrir, the leader of the pack.” I meant no disrespect in calling up the name of that old tune, but wanted to rub the man’s nose in reality.
Mark livened a little, anger slicing through him. I felt the energy change, but just a little. “How? He was seducing Bea right out from under Lev’s nose. He’s a member of that damned church. He’s part of it, I just know.”
“You know nothing of the sort.” I attacked. “Marcus Ashkarian, you are one poor excuse for a Fenrir. You’ve let the pack get soft, weak, interbred too much so that you lost the wolf. You’re not a fighter or a warrior and have misled yourself by your immersion in books and research. Not that any of those things are inherently bad, but in a werewolf pack, you must be the supreme leader, leading by example and strength. Instead, you’ve channeled all your energy into other things. There is no backbone to your pack and they are lost. Bringing in new wolves did nothing but lose them even more. And you, deciding to ‘man up’ and poison a person you suspected—not done, Mark, not done.” I repeated my earlier admonishment. This was not the powerful Fenrir I’d felt at the football game. He’d channeled his energy, all his potential power into what? Hatred, jealousy?