by T. A. White
I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. "Yeah. I did."
There was a crash on the line. When Jerry came back, his voice was calm. It was scarier than the volcano had ever been. "You leave me no choice." I really hadn't. "Aileen, you are no longer employed with Hermes Courier. Henceforth, you are banished from our offices and no longer operate under our banner or protection. Hermes will never work with you or deliver to you."
My exhale was tremulous. That hurt more than I thought it would. My job was important to me. I might bitch and groan about it, but a large part of me had found purpose in it, and I'd made connections that would have been otherwise impossible.
"I understand, Jerry. And, I'm sorry."
His sigh was heavy. "I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice."
My throat was tight and my voice wobbly as I said, "I know."
"They're going to come after you now. Every spook with a vendetta against the vampires will consider you fair game."
I nodded, forgetting he couldn't see me.
"Consider joining a clan," he said, his voice barely audible. "It will provide protection."
My laugh sounded soggy. "I doubt that's a possibility anymore. Thanks, though."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll figure something else out. It's no longer your problem." I cleared my throat. "I appreciate everything you did for me. I know it hasn't always been easy and wasn't something you ever wanted, but I thank you anyway."
There was a heavy silence. "Ah, lass. You know better to say thank you to a fey."
I snorted lightly. "You never confirmed your species, so those rules don't count."
"They always count," he returned, his voice normal. There was a pause. "Good luck, Aileen."
"Thanks."
The line went dead before I could say anything else.
The phone dropped into my lap. I was unemployed now. I'm sure once it sunk in and I processed what had just happened, I'd feel panicked, but for now I just felt resigned. The question of what I was going to do, how I was going to live without an income, was too big for my mental state now. Like so many things tonight, it was a problem I would have to solve later. Perhaps when my rent came due and I was unable to pay it.
*
The hour flew by and the moment of reckoning loomed over me like a freight train barreling down the tracks. A part of me had thought I would come up with some brilliant but insane plan by now—one that would magically fix things and save both Caroline and myself from our mistakes. Nothing came to mind, which left me standing alone at the base of the tracks ten minutes before the meet time.
The tracks were exactly how I remembered, an old wooden bridge crossing the river. On this side, the tracks extended to within ten feet of Riverside Road before disappearing. Trees framed it on either side, since the riverfront had been turned into a metro park. There were old brick buildings just up the bank, remnants of a time in Columbus's history where all goods flowed under the power of the river.
Liam and his men, as well as Brax and his pack, waited in the shadows, leaving me to draw Caroline out alone. It kind of felt like I was in a high stakes thriller blockbuster. They'd fitted me with a wire so they could hear what was said and so they could ensure I held up my end of the bargain.
I looked at the train tracks above me and sighed. It was time.
Climbing the short hill to the tracks didn't take long. Standing on top of them, I looked around. No sign of Caroline. No sign of anyone, really. Liam and Brax had done a good job of keeping their people hidden so it looked like I was alone. Not surprising, considering both were apex predators, and this wouldn't be the first prey they hunted.
I walked out onto the tracks, careful to watch my step. Some of the boards on this thing weren't stable. They were old and twisted, a few missing, forcing me to widen my stride to jump over them. Twenty feet away from the bank I stopped before turning and looking out over the river. An inky black blot against the sky, it was lined by the shadowy shape of trees around the edges. The moon was out, almost full. Another day and it would be. It was clear tonight, the moon's light made it easy to see by—even if I had not been a vampire.
I stuffed my hands in my pocket and watched the river flow by, the moon reflected in its dark depths—its lights dancing across the surface. Wind blew my hair away from my face as I let myself be, let myself just feel the night around me, the insects singing and the railroad bridge creaking under me. It was so peaceful. Quiet, with a solitude that called to my deepest self.
"You always did like this place at night," Caroline said from several feet away.
I didn't jump, nor did I look away from the river and starry sky before me. "So did you."
Caroline looked out at the river, a small smile on her face. "Guess that's why we're friends."
"I thought you were my friend so you could cheat off me in math class."
She snorted. "Hardly. It was always you looking over my shoulder, if you remember."
A smile broke across my face. "Oh, yeah."
Her lips twisted in an answering smile, and she looked down and away. "Thanks for meeting me, Aileen."
I grunted.
"No, really. I mean it. I know I haven't been easy these last few months, what with locking you out and then showing up out of nowhere." Her shoulders hunched, that same edginess she'd had in my apartment making another appearance. I took my hands out of my pocket, not wanting to get caught unaware if she flipped.
Not that it would do me much good. Both Brax and Liam had seemed certain that if she changed and attacked me, I would stand little chance. Her wolf was evidently much stronger than my vampire, and since neither would chance giving me a gun after last time, I would have to face her with nothing but my fists. Cheery prospect that.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I thought I could handle this by myself, and I can't." Her voice was raw and her eyes glassy as she admitted that. "It's just too big for me, and I don't have enough experience with the wolf. I need someone at my back."
"Let me bring in Brax, then. He can help with your wolf much better than I could," I pleaded.
"No, you can't do that," she snapped. "I don't know if he can be trusted. There are things going on here that you don't understand. His pack is part of it, and I'm not sure which of his wolves are compromised."
"Caroline."
"I said no." Her voice took on a deep timber, her eyes shifting and her wolf peering out at me. To my othersight, that wolf bared its fangs, power flicking around it uneasily.
"Okay, let's just stay calm." I held up my hands.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and visibly calming. The wolf beside her faded slightly until it was just a shadow clinging to her shoulders. Present, but not moments from ripping out my throat.
"I am trying to stay in control. It’s like there’re two Caroline’s fighting for my body, and one of them is so very angry,” she admitted, her voice desperate as she looked at me. “You bringing him up over and over, when you know I don't want to go back to that place, isn’t helping matters," she said, her voice strained.
"You know I'm just trying to help. What did you mean about his wolves being compromised?" I asked, changing the subject and getting her mind off Brax.
She took a deep breath and shook herself, like a dog shaking off rain. It was a mannerism unlike Caroline, bringing home the point that this was my friend, but it wasn't, too.
"You know that project you had me work on earlier this year. The one that resulted in this?" She gestured to herself.
"Where you traced the Bennet lineage?" I asked. How could I forget? It was responsible for our current predicament.
"That wasn't just the descendants of just any random person, was it?" She stalked along the steel girder of the railroad tracks, her balance perfect as she moved back and forth, unable to stay still.
"No, it wasn't," I admitted.
"Who was it?"
"A vampire. A powerful one."
&
nbsp; "And you got me got involved in that." The words were an accusation.
"Yes."
"It didn't occur to you the danger you were placing me in," Caroline's voice deepened, her wolf moving closer to the surface. Before, I'd only caught glimpses, flashes of it. Mostly its head, an impression of its body. Now, it was closer to fully formed, and it was big. Bigger than it should have been.
"I didn't think they'd go after you," I confessed.
"Well, they did," she snapped, her voice breaking. "Do you know what it's like to be trapped in your own body, unable to think or do anything but feel horror at what is happening to you?"
Yes. My words didn't leave my mouth as I stared at her with sorrow. Admitting such a thing wouldn't help and wasn't even important right now.
"I don't know how they learned about you," I said. "The only place we were together was that gala you dragged me to."
She stilled. "What do you mean?"
"The vampires were there. They were all over the place. It's why I put distance between us and then dragged you out. I hoped it would keep you off their radar. Guess I was wrong." I took a step closer. "I still don't know why they targeted you. It's not like I'm worth anything, and they couldn't have known about the research."
"They did," she admitted, her voice cold. "I don't know how, but they kept asking me about it. I should have left it alone after, but I didn't. I wanted to know why my life had been ripped apart, so I kept digging. That's when I found it."
"Found what?"
"His descendants are still alive, and they're right here in Columbus." Her face shone with victory.
"I don't understand how that's pertinent to what’s happening," I said, wishing we'd been able to keep that little tidbit secret. With Liam and a half-dozen other vampires listening, this information was bound to get back to Thomas. How long before he tried to ruin other lives by turning them into little, baby vampires whether they wanted the change or not?
"It's the reason for everything," she said, her voice close to a growl. "I thought I could track down the why, maybe get some closure, but they're too smart. They keep covering the evidence."
"Caroline, I need you to stay calm," I said. She was close to losing it, her eyes taking on a wild gleam, her gestures frenetic.
"They almost caught me in the alley, but I got away," she said.
I stilled. "What alley? Where?"
"The one in German Village," she said.
I took a deep breath, the sensation almost painful. "What did you do when they almost caught you?"
I didn't want the answer, not really, but I couldn't stop myself from asking.
"What?" She seemed disinterested in the question, waving it away. "That's not important right now."
"Did you kill those people?" I asked, my voice brittle.
Her movements stopped, and she gave me a sidelong look, suspicion dawning. "Why are you asking that?"
"It's important," I said, my throat tight. "Did you kill those people?"
She stared at me for a long moment before twitching and shaking her head. "What? No?"
"You may not remember," I said, unable to let this go. "I'm told that your memories can get spotty near the full moon for the first few months."
"What are you talking about?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"The people in the alley way. Did you kill them?"
"What? No. How could you think that?" She looked horrified at my accusation.
"Your scent was there, and when you called me you kept talking about blood," I said.
She threw up her hands. "Yes, I was there, but I didn't kill them. I arrived after they were already dead. The blood may have made my wolf a little excited, but I didn’t murder them."
I fell quiet, thinking. Could she be telling the truth?
"How could you think that?" She appeared genuinely hurt that I thought she had killed them. "You know me. You know I'm not capable of that. For God's sake, I was a vegetarian until this whole werewolf thing happened."
"You were?" That was a new development.
"Yes!"
"Since when?" I just couldn't picture it. Caroline loved burgers.
"Since a year after you left," she said, her voice still outraged.
"That doesn't mean you didn't kill them," I said in a soft voice. I wanted to believe her, but she made it hard. She barely seemed in control. I could see her losing her temper and doing something she would regret later. Hell, I'd been in her shoes once upon a time, was still in her shoes on my worst days, if I wanted to be honest. Sometimes the only way I held on was through a wish and a prayer. Perhaps she hadn't had my luck.
"Come on, Aileen. You know me."
"I thought I did," I admitted. "I'm not so sure anymore."
She laughed. It was a bitter sound. "Then why are you here if you think I'm some homicidal wolf on a rampage?"
My throat locked down, and I was unable to think of a lie. The shame showed on my face, and I found it hard to meet her eyes.
"You didn't," she said, denial in her voice. Her eyes went over my shoulder. "Please tell me you didn't."
My voice was steady and seemed to come from far away as I straightened. "You need more help than I can provide. Look at you. Since we've been talking, you've almost lost your grip on the wolf twice. You're a danger to yourself and others."
She screamed, a long sound that turned into a howl. "I can't believe you. You're a hypocrite."
"Yeah," I admitted in a soft, defeated voice. "Feels like it right now, too."
Dark shapes swarmed across the ground, their movements a blur. Some were in their wolf form as they stalked along the bridge. Liam appeared at the other end, behind Caroline, cutting off her escape as Brax padded along the rail behind me.
Caroline snarled, falling into a defensive crouch as she looked between the two. Her eyes had taken on an amber sheen, and her fingers were tensed into claws.
"You're going to let them kill me," she accused, her eyes swung to mine.
"No one is going to kill you. They just want to help," I said.
"You don't know them. Brax will put me down if he thinks I've tasted human blood." Her voice was guttural.
My gaze turned towards him, a question in them. The grim look on his face did not allay my concerns.
"Stupid, Aileen. That was always your problem—acting first and then thinking of the consequences later." Caroline's voice filled with pain as her body twisted.
Within moments, a wolf stood in her place, the change faster than it should have been given her age. I took a step back, finally seeing why Brax and Sondra had been so convinced that Caroline was a danger. She was double the size of other wolves I'd seen, her head even with my shoulder and her fur shining white in the pale moonlight.
The wolf snarled, the sound dangerous, calling to the primal part of me. The one that recognized long ago that humans were not the top of the food chain. It was the part that originated from a time when our ancestors lived in caves. It sparked an immediate flight response.
"Caroline, calm down. They're not going to kill you. I made them promise," I said, backing away from the wolf whose head towered above mine.
"Aileen," Liam yelled, flying forward almost faster than my eyes could track. "Run."
I couldn't do that, struck with the sense that the moment I turned my back on her she'd rip my head from my shoulders. Not to say anything was stopping her from doing that now.
"Caroline." My voice rose in warning and fear.
Her paws inched forward, her head lowered in a hunting pose, her eyes tracking my every movement. Her nostrils flared, scenting the fear I couldn't stuff far enough inside. Another growl came, this one so low it was almost silent. Only the vibration of it felt, the sound of danger.
Caroline wasn't in those eyes. This was a predator. One that decided I had to go—whether that was because it was hungry, or saw me as a threat, I didn't know.
My eyes went to Liam, closing fast as he moved with a spook's speed to cover more
ground than a human ever could. It still wasn't going to be enough. She was too close, and I was too slow.
"Caroline, no!" Brax roared from behind me, the alpha in his voice. Power flowed from him. The wolf's paws paused before she shook off its effects, advancing on me with that same stealthy creep.
Her muscles bunched. I threw myself to the side—her teeth closing on my arm instead of my neck. I screamed, a long, thin sound of pain as those teeth savaged my arm. They unlatched to close on my leg, her head shook hard once. There were twin roars, one a wolf's and the other the pissed off sound of a big cat crossed with a very angry bear.
Caroline released me, dropping me to the tracks and sprang backwards. Liam landed between us, fully vamped out. His fangs lowered as he hissed, his eyes glowing with that electric blue. Claws tipped each finger as he crouched in front of me. Brax's wolf barreled into hers, forcing her further back.
Pain savaged me, fire flaring up in my arm even as my leg went numb, the cold of a glacier's ice sheet inching up the limb. The two extremes competed with each other as I struggled up.
"Stay down, Aileen. You're bleeding out," Liam ordered, his voice otherworldly. He didn't turn to see if I obeyed. I did, but only because I was too weak to fight off the compulsion. I could see the veins of his power reaching out to me from him, soothing my worries and convincing me that he was right.
My eyes slid shut, and I slumped to the ground, my head bouncing off the steel track like a rag doll’s. It was too much effort to get up anyway.
"Caroline," I whispered.
The wolf's ears swiveled forward as she looked my way. She made a hurt sound, almost a whimper and then she bounded over the side of the tracks. There was a splash below, followed by several more, as Brax's wolves followed her.
I pulled myself along the tracks until I could look over the edge, the effort stealing the last of my strength. Blood coated the wood and metal under me, drops of it falling to the water below. Down the river, I could just make out the ripple of water as a wolf paddled along, letting the current do most of the work. Several wolves trailed behind, falling farther behind as the bigger wolf widened the distance.