The Bite of Winter (International Monster Slayers Book 2)

by Bethany Helwig

  “Bad move, Mason!” Charlie shouts.

  She snaps a blade hand at my throat but I block with my forearm and shove her off. The blonde tries to roll away with the purse but I snag the strap to wrench it towards me. She plants a foot on my chest and pushes hard. The purse rips in two. The skin falls in a lump onto the floor. Again she lunges for it but I send a well-aimed kick into her shoulder to throw her onto her back. I catch the edge of the skin with the toe of my shoe, fling it upwards, and tumble roll backwards to catch it before it lands on the floor again. I have a fleeting moment of triumph. Unfortunately, that leaves me wide open, one hand stretched up in the air with the skin and the other keeping me balanced on the ground. A bare foot meets the side of my face. Pain shocks through my cheekbones, nose, and teeth and I fall backwards. Miraculously, I still manage to clutch the skin to my chest, keeping it away from the blonde.

  I roll out of the way of her next kick coming for my gut and come up on one knee. My entire face pulses and I taste blood in my mouth.

  “Not cool!” I shout.

  I’ve been holding back, it’s true. I didn’t plan on getting into a fight with a selkie, but now she’s ticked me off and has assaulted an agent. We both rise to our feet. I hold the bundle of skin and wait for her to make a move. She shifts back and forth on the balls of her feet.

  “You really don’t want to do this,” I warn. “But take your best shot if you’re stupid enough.”

  She leaps, twists in a perfect circle, and her foot comes flying at me in a roundhouse kick. I drop the skin, grab her foot, and effectively drop her face first onto the floor. I keep my hold on her foot and maneuver to put my knee in the middle of her back to pin her to the floor. My other hand grabs her arm to keep her immobile.

  “Will you knock it off?” I say. She tries to wiggle out of my hold but my magical strength doesn’t allow her to move an inch. “I’m not giving this skin up until I know whose it is. A friend of mine was attacked tonight and whoever that skin belongs to was either involved or a witness. Now you can either help me, or you can drool on the floor until you change your mind. Any questions?”

  “Just one,” she wheezes, my knee in her back not allowing her a good full breath. “Ye’ll give the skin back once I tell ye?”

  “I’ll give it back to who it belongs, not just anyone. I know the power of a selkie skin. I don’t want it falling into hands that’ll abuse it.”

  “Then let me up.”

  I release my hold and stand. When she rolls onto her back I offer her a hand but she ignores the gesture and gets up on her own.

  The mood in the room is drastically different from when we first arrived and the selkies all but ignore Charlie now. He and I follow the blonde to a glass bar along the back of the room where the mermaid that laughed before is sitting. I brush away a trickle of blood coming out of my nose with the back of my hand.

  “Thanks for the help,” I grumble to Charlie.

  “Oh, you clearly had it sorted. My common sense and rationality would have only gotten in the way.”

  Right, ha-ha, what a charmer. “You freakin’ unicorn.”

  “Berserker.”

  The blonde snaps her fingers to get our attention and motions to the bartender who sets down three glasses of something dark blue in front of us along with two bags of ice. The blonde downs her drink in one go and presses the ice to the side of her face. I ignore the drink but take the ice and hold it against my throbbing cheek.

  “That was some fighting back there,” the blonde says. “I’m impressed. What’s yer name?”

  Now she’s impressed? I could have sworn she was furious. “Junior Agent Phoenix Mason.”

  “You can call me Nessa.”

  Charlie downs his drink and leans one elbow on the countertop. “What can you tell us about that skin, Nessa?”

  She sighs and motions for another drink. “Nothing good, I’m afraid. It belongs to my sister Gillian.”

  “Do you know where she is now?” I ask.

  “She was supposed to meet us here tonight and hasn’t showed.” Nessa leans in towards us, her dark eyes fierce. “You said yer friend was attacked. Attacked by what?”

  “A vampire,” I say.

  “Or so she thinks,” Charlie interrupts.

  The selkie laughs and the mermaid behind her joins in. They give each other sharp looks and stop instantly. Nessa flips her hair and turns back to us, giving the mermaid the cold shoulder.

  “My sister wouldn’t be taken down by a wee whelp the likes of a vampire. We’re fighters. We’re protectors.”

  She quickly asks for another drink and keeps her eyes down this time. There’s something about the way she says protectors that sounds defensive.

  “Are you protecting someone, or something, now?” I ask.

  This earns me her best glare yet. “Ye ought to know better than to ask me that. I’d never give up information so private.”

  Huh. Okay. I consider the dragon’s barrier at the door upstairs. A barrier like that is uncommon and very unusual for a place like this. Could the selkies be here protecting a dragon? Granted, dragons don’t really need protection. They’re the most powerful magical beings on the planet—well, usually. Hydra are nasty pieces of work that come close to the strength of majestic class dragons. Is there a dragon in this room right now? My eyes scan the women chatting and dancing in groups to a soft melody in the background. I espy more mermaid webbed feet and catch the Scottish accents of the selkies. No one sticks out in this crowd as a dragon in disguise.

  “I’m sorry for the way I reacted,” Nessa continues, her tone losing its hard edge. “I know it wasn’t proper, attacking an agent and all. But it’s my sister’s. That’s the strongest and weakest part of her. I couldn’t have it in another person’s hands, especially not a stranger. Are you going to press charges? Send me to the penitent cells?”

  She waits calmly for an answer. Clearly the threat of the penitent cells doesn’t faze her much, but she’s put the decision in my hands. Charlie glances between us and his lips part. I cut him off before he can pronounce judgment on my behalf.

  “If it were my family,” I say, “I would have done the same. I have done the same. I want to help find your sister and figure out what happened in that alley. If I leave the skin in your care, will you agree to help our investigation however you can?”

  Her lips curl into a smile and she extends her hand. “Aye. I’ll abide to it.”

  “Then you’ll be hearing from us. Call if you hear anything or if Gillian shows up.”

  I give her hand a good shake and pass the skin over. She folds it neatly and sets it in her lap.

  The selkies and mermaids part to let us leave. Charlie and I walk silently side by side back up the stairs, through the noisy club, and into the cold outside. A light snow is beginning to fall illuminated by the warm light of the street lamps.

  “I’ll have to tell Melody what happened, you know,” Charlie says. “That decision not to press charges wasn’t yours to make.”

  “Do whatever you want,” I grumble.

  We trudge along the sidewalk until Melody flags us down from the SUV having returned from dropping Jefferson and Ashley off at the field office. The second we get into the car, Charlie explains what happened in the Blue Comet and doesn’t hold back on the details. Both of them give me looks in the rearview mirror.

  “But Nessa agreed to help?” Melody asks.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Leave it,” she warns. “If they don’t want to make an issue out of it then neither should we. I don’t blame her for trying to start a fight over that skin either. You have no idea how touchy they are about that sort of thing.”

  I lean forward from the backseat. “Do you know who those selkies are protecting here in Duluth?”

  “Does it matter?” Charlie says. We enter the dark area of the docks so I can’t see his expression but I’m sure it’d be sour if I could.

  My fingers dig into the edge of the seat and
the fabric almost starts to tear. “Do you really think it’s a coincidence there was an attack right outside the club where a group of selkies were? A group possibly protecting someone or something? What if the attack wasn’t random? What if that vampire was waiting for Gillian or one of the other selkies and Ashley was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

  Melody raises an eyebrow at Charlie. “You know, she’s got a point.”

  The garage door opens and we park inside the field office. We all hop out and follow Melody up the stairs.

  “Either way,” Melody continues. “We’ve got a selkie missing and a possible unknown monster running around. Get me eyes on the town, Charlie. Start canvasing. See if you can find anything.”

  “Of course,” he says and hurries back to the SUV.

  Jefferson is waiting near the door with Ashley hugging her arms to herself—there are streaks on her cheeks from crying. I pat her on the shoulder and look to Jefferson.

  “No charges at this time,” he says in an undertone. “But we’re recommending she do an hour with a counselor from Underground.”

  “No penitent cells?” I whisper, surprised.

  “Agent Boyd and I will forward our assessments to the Minneapolis Division and they’ll make a decision. For now we just need to get her home until we hear back.”

  I nod and wrap an arm around Ashley’s shoulders to guide her to the door. Melody walks us out and gives me a pat on the back before I climb into the passenger seat. Jefferson guns the engine and we fly out of the warehouse district and return to the chaos that is Canal Park so we can pick up Ashley’s car. The traffic’s as slow as sludge again so I prop my elbow against the window and tuck my chin into my hand to wait it out.

  “So, you got into a fight with someone already?” Jefferson asks gruffly.

  I give him a sharp look. “How did you—I didn’t say anything yet—”

  “You’ve got a fat lip and a shiner coming on.”

  “Oh. Right.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the side window. “I didn’t get in trouble. It’s fine.”

  “Are you fine?”

  “Is that concern I hear? I’m touched, Jefferson.”

  He rolls his eyes. “More like concerned for your sanity.”

  “Oh, please.”

  I’m working on a witty comeback when my phone buzzes. I pull it out expecting to see Hawk’s crossed-eye photo on the screen but it’s the number for the Minneapolis Division Headquarters. Nervous, I pick up and press the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Identification please,” a bored woman’s voice says.

  “0919-32, Junior Agent Phoenix Mason.”

  “Please hold.”

  When Jefferson gives me a questioning look I just shrug. I have no idea who’s calling. Maybe it’s Witty with an important update? He usually just emails though. The seconds tick by until the line clicks and a deep baritone comes on.

  “Mason, this is Director Knox. We need to talk.”

  Chapter 4

  I forget how to speak. Director Knox is calling me personally? That’s never ever, ever happened. Sure, I’ve been to his office a few times—usually because I was misbehaving—but he’s never called before. I haven’t done anything wrong. Well, I did just get into a fight with a selkie but even if the director has managed to catch wind of that already, which I highly doubt, he wouldn’t be the one reprimanding me.

  “Sir,” is all I manage to come up with in reply.

  “What’s your current hearing radius status?” Director Knox asks.

  I glance to Jefferson and over my shoulder to Ashley in the seat behind me. “Two, one agent and one civilian,” I answer for the appropriate response. At that Jefferson swivels his head sharply in my direction. He clearly knows I’m getting into a serious conversation here. A hearing radius check is only done for highly sensitive information.

  “I need you at Underground first thing tomorrow morning,” the director says. “Just you. Your brother and Agent Barnes are strictly forbidden from accompanying you. Check in with Agent Snow at the lifts at 0700 hours. Confirm?”

  I’ve got a thousand questions but I know he won’t answer any of them. I’ve got to follow procedure. “Confirmed.”

  “Then I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Good night, Junior Agent Mason.” The line cuts out and I’m left stunned, still clutching the phone to my ear expecting more until I finally tuck it back into my pocket.

  “Who was that?” Jefferson asks. “What’s going on?”

  “It was Director Knox,” I say numbly. “He wants to meet me tomorrow morning.”

  “Did he say why?”

  There are only two reasons I can think of for why the director would want to see me and only me, without Hawk or Jefferson along for the ride. It could have something to do with the night I plugged Dasc full of bullets. I had been cleared of the shooting, did a couple rounds of counseling, and moved on. Most junior agents never have to deal with something so drastic before becoming full-fledged agents. Lucky me. I’m afraid there’s something the counselor might have put in a report to the director saying I’m unfit for duty or some nonsense. Yet, I still can’t picture the director talking to me personally for that.

  Then there’s the only other option, the one that sets my heart hammering in my chest and makes my palms sweaty. The IMS could have discovered what I carry in my blood. They could have found out my magic could be a cure for the werewolves and I’ll be in trouble for not revealing it sooner—right before they haul me away to drain that cure out of me, even if it kills me. It’s still hard for me to imagine the IMS, the people I work for, could be capable of such things, but Jefferson drilling that scenario into my head each day certainly helps me to picture it. I look to him and see his jaw clench, tension knit between his eyebrows. He’s thinking the same thing I am.

  “He didn’t say why,” I say quietly.

  Ashley sniffles in the background and doesn’t ask what’s going on. Maybe she can sense the strain and anxiety filling up the inside of the SUV. I won’t have backup when I head to Division per the director’s orders. I’ll be completely alone. What a day this has been.

  We finally get to Ashley’s car in the lot and I take the wheel while she sits shotgun. The lights of the SUV follow us as I navigate the prickly traffic. My mind is elsewhere and I almost miss a couple of lights before we begin the ascent up the side of the hill out of Duluth. Dark trees and fields pass around us as we fly down the interstate with nothing but the headlights to guide the way.

  The long drive to Moose Lake is done in silence. Ashley doesn’t even insist on turning on the radio like she usually does. I take us straight to her house first where her mother stomps outside to greet us. I give Ashley a half-hearted smile, which she doesn’t seem to have the energy to return, before she bails out and meets her angry mother. From the shouting, I get the gist that Ashley was supposed to be home a while ago. Her parents don’t know what Ashley is—we didn’t tell them at Ashley’s request—so we can’t exactly explain the whole incident in Duluth. Instead, Ashley gloomily says she was at a party and continues to have her ear shouted off.

  In the midst of the battle, I sneak out of the driver’s seat and hustle to where Jefferson is waiting in the SUV. Ashley gives me a pathetic wave to let me know she’s fine and we should take off. I sure hope she doesn’t get in too much trouble, but I have bigger worries at the moment. Eventually the two of them go inside and Jefferson drives us home. The floodlights on the barn welcome us back and Hawk stands in the doorway to the cabin.

  I climb out of the SUV and walk stiffly to meet him. His face shows alarm and he grasps my shoulders once I’m close enough.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asks. “What’s going on?”

  Jefferson puts his hands on both our shoulders. “Why don’t we take this inside? Then Phoenix can explain.”

  We do as we’re told and I lean against the table in the small kitchen. Hawk hovers nearby with his arms c
rossed and a frown planted on his face. I relay the short message from the director and then we stand in a triangle pondering our toes.

  “I don’t like this,” Hawk growls. “Why can’t I go with you? I don’t understand that. There’s no reason for them to ban me from Underground. I could still go to visit and—”

  “If the director specifically asked us not to come,” Jefferson interrupts, “then showing up is just going to make things worse. Let’s not jump the gun. We don’t know what Director Knox wants. It might not have anything to do with Phoenix’s ability.”

  “And if it does?” I say quietly and purse my lips. “Maybe we’ve been blowing this out of proportion. Who cares if they know? Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

  “I’ve told you a hundred times—” Jefferson says in a very impatient tone but I’ve heard enough.

  “And you’ve never told me why you think they’d bleed me dry,” I snap. “What if they just want to help? Jefferson, I want to help them find a cure. If I’m it, then why am I hiding? There are millions of werewolves out there that could benefit from my blood!”

  “You don’t understand,” he says darkly and moves in close to glare at me. “You don’t understand the lengths they are willing to go.”

  “Then help me understand!”

  He clenches his jaw, walks away into his room without another word, and slams the door behind him.

  “That was real informative!” I shout after him. I lift a fist to throw it into the table but stop myself before I punch a hole straight through it. I’m angry and confused and irritated. Why is Jefferson so convinced the worst will happen?

  I’m kind of surprised Hawk hasn’t said anything more. He leans against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest and shadows fall over his eyes.

  “And what about you?” I say, my voice still loud. “Do you think the community that raised us is capable of doing something horrible to me?”