"You would start the negotiations, with your alpha's permission, but Amber would have to have the final discussion with him. That's the most important conversation where last-minute concessions or demands are made." He lowered his notebook. "You need to know what he wants, and why he wants Amber as his sponsor."
"I know. We can't negotiate with him until I know what he's hoping to get." She leaned back on the futon again. It was time to get creative.
Chapter 41
TOMMY
“You’re still holding back,” Deward said with a grunt, flexing as he paced in front of him. “Where is the wolf? The hunter inside of you?”
Tommy ground his teeth together, tempted to shift and show him exactly where the wolf was. They’d been at this for over an hour. He’d finally figured out how to hit Deward, but his attempts at sparring were still pathetic.
“Maybe bitten wolves are weaker,” Deward taunted, dropping his hands like Tommy wasn’t even the slightest threat.
Anger rose in his chest, pushing power into his limbs. He charged the troll, slamming right into him. Deward dropped his hips, stepped, and pivoted. He flipped Tommy over his hip in a blinding fast move and let him fall to the mats.
“Anger is better than apathy, but you must focus it!”
Tommy groaned from his place on the ground, but Deward wasn't having it this time. The troll grabbed his arm and yanked him back up to his feet, giving him a slight shove backward to create space.
"We're going to do this again, and you're going to fight me. No more training, no more sparring. You either fight, or I will beat you until you can no longer lift a hand to defend yourself," Deward said, his eyes flashing with irritation.
"Wait, wha––" His question was cut off with a sharp jab that snapped his head backward and blurred his vision. Tears stung at his eyes from the impact on his nose. He bobbed under the next punch, just barely avoiding catching another blow with his face.
The pace of the fight had changed. They were no longer student and teacher. They were opponents. Tommy felt it in every fiber of his being. The drive to fight. To win.
The wolf peered out of his eyes and the instincts of a predator took over. There was nothing to fear. His body would heal. The nervous energy he'd been stuck under for so long began to lift.
He struck back with two fast strikes to stop the barrage Deward had been throwing. He threw all his power behind a third punch. It only grazed Deward’s ribs, but he had been close.
The troll was stronger, taller, and heavier, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. But Tommy wasn't by any means slow. His speed was the only thing that saved him from the surprise uppercut. He threw himself backward, tripping over his own feet, but avoiding the knockout blow.
Deward's foot slammed into his solar plexus, driving all the air from his lungs and picking him up off his feet. He hit the ground at least a yard away and immediately tried to roll back to his feet, but two-hundred fifty pounds of troll landed on top of him before he could move. Deward's first punch hit his jaw, the second his nose.
Feral rage rose up inside of him. He was tired of being beaten. Tired of losing. He’d frozen when those men were shooting at him and Evangeline. He didn’t ever want to freeze again.
He swung his fists wildly while bucking his hips in an attempt to throw the troll off. It wasn't even close to the technique Deward had shown him earlier, but he wasn't just going to lay there and take it. He reached up blindly. His fingers caught on a tusk. He grabbed it and wrenched Deward's head to the side as hard as he could.
The troll roared in outrage, hitting Tommy even harder as he attempted to pry Tommy's hand off his tusk. Tommy's pulled even harder. Deward's weight shifted slightly and he bucked his hips again. The troll was thrown just far enough to the side that he was able to get the leverage to shove him completely away.
He immediately lunged at Deward, tackling him and driving him back down to the mat. He rained punches down on the troll's head. Deward shielded his face with one arm and drilled two hard punches into Tommy's unprotected side. The first one hurt, the second cracked a rib.
Breathing suddenly became extremely difficult. He tried to keep punching, but he could barely move his left arm through the fog of pain. Deward threw another punch, his fist narrowing in on the injury mercilessly. Tommy crumpled and Deward flipped him over with ease.
It only took on more punch and then everything went dark.
Tommy came to what felt like hours later. Deward's father was crouched over him with a look of concern.
"You should not have injured him," the older troll said and he snapped his fingers in front of Tommy's face. "Can you hear me?"
His mouth didn't want to work and it felt like he was outside of his body watching all this happening from above. "Whaaa..."
"He needed to be pushed, father. He was still holding back," Deward protested, only looking slightly remorseful.
"Am fiiiiine," Tommy said, waving away their concern. He wasn't sure he was fine, actually, but he wasn't dying. His ribs felt weird. It hurt, but there was magic rushing through the bones and muscles healing them. "Healin’ jus’ fine.”
"Is his alpha here yet?" Deward's father asked. He was taller, bigger, and nerdier than Deward. Black, thick-framed glasses were perched on his nose and gave him a scholarly look…if you ignored the bulging muscles and the long tusks.
"Almost, she'll be here in about five minutes," Deward replied.
Tommy's eyes went wide and he suddenly felt much more awake. "What? Alpha?"
"Deward called your alpha as soon as you were injured. She'd be able to sense it, of course, so it was proper to call and reassure her that you were safe. Allowing her to believe you were under attack by an enemy would be irresponsible and callous to her responsibility to protect you." Deward's father narrowed his eyes at Tommy, then at Deward. "She should have been informed before the sparring even took place."
"Ah, well," Tommy said, trying to push up to a sitting position. "I didn't want to worry her."
"Foolish and immature," the old troll said, shaking his head. He extended his hand and, very gently, helped Tommy to his feet. "You will apologize when she arrives."
Tommy swallowed, feeling embarrassed. "Yes, sir."
"Wait for her, I will get refreshments for our guest," Deward's father said before turning and walking away, leaving them alone.
Deward shifted on his feet, looking properly chastised. "Are you okay?"
Tommy grinned at him. "I feel awesome."
Deward looked up, his green face a picture of shock. "What?"
"I lost, but...not because I gave up. I've never done that before. I've never stuck it out," Tommy said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well, you're not dead." Amber's voice cut through the training center. He looked back in surprise, he hadn't felt her coming. She didn't look particularly mad, just curious. She'd kicked off her shoes by the door and was strolling toward them, her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
"I must apologize for the liberty I took in fighting one of your pack without speaking to you first and obtaining your permission," Deward said with a short bow of his head.
Amber raised a brow, glancing at Tommy before responding. "Uh, that's fine. Assuming this idiot agreed to receive a beating?"
"Yeah, I did," Tommy said quickly.
Amber shrugged. "You and Derek have been beating on each other all week. This seems like it'll be more effective. It's no big deal."
Tommy's mouth fell open in shock. "You knew about that?”
She laughed. "Of course I did. You think I don't know when my own brother is hiding something from me? That and the bruises you both had, and pretending nothing was going on every time I got home even though you were both panting? It was either that or a torrid love affair and we both know Derek has the hots for Ceri."
Tommy crossed his arms, feeling even more idiotic for thinking he was hiding it from her. "Well, I guess we were kind of obvious."
&nbs
p; She patted him on the arm, then turned back to Deward. "Do you want to keep training him?"
Deward looked between them, then nodded. "If Tommy is amenable."
Tommy nodded quickly. "Yeah, this is great."
Amber shrugged. "Then feel free to keep knocking each other out."
Deward's father returned at that moment carrying a tray of sodas with a glass of ice in front of each one. There were also two beers on the tray.
"Alpha Amber Hale, welcome to our home," he said with a polite smile.
Amber returned it. "Thank you for welcoming me and Tommy here."
Deward pulled Tommy aside while they continued to exchange small talk and apologies. "Did you mean what you said? That this was helpful?"
He nodded. "It was. I need to know how to fight." Evangeline had brought a new kind of danger to their pack. It felt like he was running out of time, and if he didn't learn fast, he might end up dead. Or someone he cared about would.
This also gave him an idea for how to help Woggy. He’d have to talk to Ceri and make sure it was okay, but he was pretty confident she’d be on board.
"Can you start coming here for tutoring? We can do that first, then train. Most evenings my friends come over to train as well. It would do you good to fight different people so you can see the different strengths and weaknesses we have."
"I'll be over here as often as you'll have me," Tommy said.
Deward slapped his hand on his shoulder. "Then I'll see you tomorrow evening."
Chapter 42
AMBER
Amber walked back inside to a disaster. A loud shriek split the air and a grey blur streaked past her, headed toward living room. An angry, yowling mass of fluff followed close behind as Captain Jack pursued the pixie. His hair was mussed and streaked in…grape jelly?
“What the hell…”
"Dammit Woggy, get back here!" Ceri shouted, stumbling after them as the caboose in the crazy train. She lunged for the cat, but at that moment Woggy took a sharp turn and the cat darted after him. Ceri tripped over the hem of her dress and was sent sprawling onto the floor.
Amber couldn’t help but laugh. “Graceful.”
"Quit laughing at me and help!" Ceri demanded as she untangled her legs.
Tommy hurried around to the other side of the couch and grabbed Woggy just as he shimmied out from under it. Purring loudly, and completely failing in his attempt to look innocent, Captain Jack curled through Tommy's legs. His one eye was locked on the tasty treat Woggy still had clutched in his hands.
Evangeline was peeking over the balcony upstairs to see what was going on, but she disappeared as soon as she noticed Amber looking at her.
Amber walked over and gave Ceri a hand up, which she took with a sigh. "I see you're having a good day.”
Ceri just glared at her. When she saw Tommy though, her eyes went wide. “Tommy, what the hell happened to you?”
He grinned, making his bruised eye close completely. “Trolls.”
"He fired Derek as his trainer and is now letting Deward beat him up," Amber said cheerfully.
“That actually makes sense. Do you want a poultice to help it heal quicker?"
Tommy shook his head. "It should be fine by dinner. I've noticed bruises heal within a few hours."
"I'm going to go take a shower," Amber said. She'd spent the day at the warehouse cleaning –– until she'd gotten the call from the troll –– and she was filthy. Derek had shown up about an hour after she'd gotten there, and he'd been in a rotten mood, but wouldn't say why.
She and Ceri had both agreed they shouldn't go around asking questions the day after a picture of her had been on the news, even if it was just her in wolf form. But she needed something to keep herself occupied, so murdering spiders it was.
“Same. I’m covered in Deward’s sweat.” Tommy sniffed his arm, then grimaced. “Sweaty trolls don’t smell great.”
“I’m going to clean up the giant mess these two knuckleheads made.” Ceri grabbed Captain Jack and lifted him with both hands. He meowed mournfully. “No complaining. You’re getting a bath.”
Amber snorted and headed toward her room before Ceri could rope her into helping bathe the vicious beast.
As she dropped her things on the dresser next to her bedroom door, the faint scent of cigarettes drifted toward her. Frowning, she looked for the source and noticed a single, folded sheet of paper sat on the dresser where she'd just dumped her keys. She grabbed it, Thallan's scent filling her nose.
Come see me, alone.
Alarm bells went off in her head and she crumpled the paper in her hand. He must have seen the news like everyone else. He'd know why she was involved.
Only Ceri was still in the living room when she walked back through. She could hear Tommy upstairs in the shower. Eloise and Evangeline were talking quietly.
"What's wrong?" Ceri asked.
Amber handed her the note, worst case scenarios running through her head. Would he try to hurt Evangeline? Or kick them out? They'd be screwed if he told them to leave. "I'm going to go see him and get it over with."
"Maybe I should come with you."
Amber shook her head. "I don't want to piss him off. This could already be dicey."
Ceri looked hesitant.
"If he tries to murder me, you'll feel it through the pack bond. I'll be fine."
"Fine. But you're coming straight back here and explaining what's going on."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Amber agreed with a nod.
She left out the back door and jogged across the lawn. The wind had picked up since they got home. It smelled like rain.
Thallan's house looked ominous in the moonlight. It would be a full moon in a few days, but the heavy clouds were blocking most of the light tonight. She hopped up onto the porch and let herself in through the front door.
Her footsteps echoed through the empty house. It really was like a tomb in here. It even smelled like death. Like something rotten. She wrinkled her nose and hurried to the study she knew Thallan was hiding out in.
The door was open and warm light spilled into the hallway.
Thallan stepped into the doorway, a disturbing excitement on his face. She'd never seen him look so alive, but the tension in his body worried her. “I told you it wasn’t your friend.”
"What's your point?" she asked.
He turned away and vanished into the office. Rolling her eyes, she followed. He was pacing the length of the room puffing on his cigarette like he needed the smoke to live.
“You wanted to talk?” she prompted, feeling a strong urge to leave. He looked completely manic.
His head snapped up and he pointed the glowing end of the cigarette at her. “The demon has called in its mark.”
She nodded impatiently. “Yes.”
He took one last drag on the cigarette then flicked it into the hardwood floor, grinding it out with his foot, not caring about the scorch mark it left on the wood floor. “Is it here?”
“No, not that I can see.” Her hand went to her mark automatically. The sensation she’d come to associate with Angel’s presence was gone, for now.
“Then we have to talk, quickly. We won’t have many chances to execute my plan,” Thallan said, a dark grin spreading across his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to kill it.”
Amber’s gut twisted. Angel was a threat to her. She shouldn't care, but she did. The idea of just murdering him made her skin crawl. “What? Why?”
“Because he killed my wife!” Thallan shouted, spittle flying from his lips. He advanced on her, forcing her to move backward until she hit the bookshelf. “He’s a liar and a murderer, and I swore I would have my revenge!”
“He killed your wife? Is that why you have the mark?”
Thallan turned away, disgust clear on his face. “I made a deal with the devil. Traded my soul. All I wanted was for him to heal her. For two months, I thought he had done it, and that my sacrifice was
worth it.” He lifted his face toward her. “Then she was killed in a car accident. I know he did it. That monster manipulated me and stole the only thing that mattered. He killed her!”
Amber swallowed and pushed herself off the bookshelf. She wasn’t sure if she should believe Thallan or not. Why would the demon kill his wife? But if he had, would he betray her too?
“What’s your plan?” she asked. If he was going to do this, she at least needed to know what he was thinking.
Thallan straightened slightly and walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a long, flat box. Lifting a thin, silver chain from around his neck, he pulled a key out of his shirt which he used to open the box.
He picked up a thin, white blade. It glowed as though it were filled with light, casting a strange pallor over his skin. He rotated it slowly and it pushed back the shadows of the room.
“This,” he said, his eyes fixed on the shimmering metal, “can kill a demon.”
“What the hell is it?” Amber whispered.
“That doesn’t matter. All I need is an opportunity. The demon must be visible to the physical realm, not just the apparition you sometimes see. It will be at its most vulnerable then.” He tightened his grip on the knife. “That will be my moment to strike.”
"I can't do this," Amber said, shaking her head.
Thallan's lips peeled back from his teeth and he advanced on her, reminding her of the two wolves she’d seen fighting for alpha. He looked feral. "You don't get to say no."
"Your wife died in a car wreck. Why do you think it was his fault?"
"It's the only explanation!" Thallan shouted at her, spittle flying from his lips. "She was my light, and that bastard killed her! I know he did, even if no one believes me."
He was insane. She'd always suspected it, but she hadn't realized how bad it was. His insanity was infecting everything around him. The house, the grounds...they were rotting from the inside out because of the hate he held inside him.
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