by Tara Lain
Khadija stepped forward and bowed from the waist, her palms folded together. Her unique beauty seemed to glow in this odd place. “My sisters, this is Dashiell Mercury of whom I have spoken. Dash, these are my people.” She looked around.
“Make it short,” a cool voice said. “I won’t have my sisters in jeopardy.” An older but still startlingly beautiful woman wearing a head scarf in black with gold studs around the face stepped forward. “I am Lalita, the first among equals of the Drusans. If I were the leader, you wouldn’t be here, but my sisters have ruled against me. Do not betray their trust.”
Dash glanced around. Drusans? How many supernatural beings were there he knew nothing about?
Khadija nodded toward Lalita. “Older sister is kind and understanding.” She looked at the others. “As you know, I have undertaken the protection of the true and innocent by watching over the one called Jazz. Dash and two others have joined me in this dedication, but there are only four of us against a force of some magnitude and power. I ask for help from the keepers of the light.”
The room was silent except for the whirring and grinding of some machinery in the distance.
“Who are the other two?” Lalita asked.
There might have been a slight change in Dij’s calm demeanor. “They are human, but exceptional humans.” Her voice rose slightly. He’d never heard Dij sound even a tiny bit desperate. First time.
The word human had sparked a noise like wind among the sisters, hissing and whispering. Lalita frowned, and it was a scaryass sight. “We do not reveal ourselves to humans. You know that, Khadija! How can you put us in such danger?”
“I trust Carla and Benjamin with my life.”
“It’s a good thing, because they now own it. But you had no right to make that decision for us.”
Dij folded her hands calmly. “They know no more than that I am supernatural. That’s why I brought only Dash here today.” She bowed low. “No sister can tell another what to do. I honor your choices.” She gave Dash a nod and walked to the door.
At the door, a female stepped forward and folded her hands in front of Dij. “I’d like to help you.” The girl was almost shockingly beautiful and, amazingly, had clear blue eyes framed by a blue-green head scarf.
“I can’t let you do that, Fatima. It’s too dangerous.”
Those amazing eyes rose to Dij’s. “But were we not born to secure the righteous against the forces of dark?”
Dij just smiled. “No one can tell another sister what to do. I honor your choice.” She broke into a smile and hugged the beautiful girl.
Stepping into the alley, their small band was one gorgeous Drusan stronger—whatever that meant.
She bowed to Dash. “I am Fatima, and I am honored to accept your quest.”
He bowed back.
As they walked toward Nardo’s warehouse, Dij frantically whispered to Fatima in a language Dash had never heard, and that was saying something because he spoke a lot of languages.
Five minutes later, Dash peered around the corner of the alley toward Nardo’s warehouse diagonally across the street. A couple of big men knocked and then waited, looking around suspiciously. Dash glanced at Dij. “Take a look. I think they’re werewolves. Do you agree?”
She stepped in front of him and peeked, then lurched back. “One of them looked toward me. I don’t think he saw me. And I agree, they have a similar power signature to Jazz, though not nearly as strong.” She motioned for Fatima to look.
Dash nodded. “I’m not that good at reading wolves yet. I didn’t even know they existed until I met Jazz. Did you?”
She nodded. “Yes. I went to Vanessen Enterprises partly to watch over Jazz. Protection of the light is one of our functions.” Fatima smiled like she agreed.
Okay, well, that opened up a river of questions—for another time. Dash looked around the corner again. Wait. He held up a hand for Dij and Fatima. The door had opened, and the two wolves stood beside it. Just then, a high-end SUV pulled up and another big dude got out. He looked around like the other two, then nodded toward the back door of the vehicle. A tall man—Dash used the word “man” conveniently as Bopherson had said—emerged from the SUV, reeking of power that Dash fully grasped. His shaggy mane of brown hair caught the light, though his eyes were covered by sunglasses.
Dash frowned and held his breath as the male who had to be Nardo seemed to take in the scene, then walked straight into the entrance of the warehouse. The door closed behind him.
“Shit!” Dash looked at Dij and Fatima a little frantically. “He may know we’re here. If he’s anything like Jazz, he could smell us, or he might have sensed our magic. We need to get farther away.”
Fatima spoke softly. “We are well shielded.”
“You sure are. It took me a while to figure out Khadija wasn’t human.” He wiped a hand over his neck. “I’m shielded as well, but Nardo and I have the same kind of magic, so it’s harder to hide.”
“Since Nardo is in that building, there’s a good chance that Jazz is in there too,” Dij said.
Dash nodded. “I thought of that.” He closed his eyes and tried to tune into Jazz’s feelings. “Hell!”
“What is it?”
He shook his head. “Before, I got nothing, and I was really worried. But now Jazz’s feelings are all over the place. Total chaos.”
“Perhaps it’s because Nardo has arrived.” Dij pressed a hand to her lips.
“We must enter the structure,” Fatima said. “My sister and I can deal with the males if you can get us in.”
Dash nodded. “I can.” His voice came out breathy; he was still knocked around by Jazz’s wild feelings.
“But then we must deal with the mage,” Dij added. “I’m afraid we can’t catch him by surprise enough that he’d be susceptible to our power. It may fall to you, Dash. Are you his equal?”
Dash shook his head. “I doubt it. I don’t know for sure. But I’m not even a master mage. I’m told I’m good, but I’ve still got a lot to learn.” Great, just what he needed. A reminder of a chance he’d pretty much thrown away. He breathed. “But we’ve got to try—”
His cell buzzed, and he grabbed for it. “I’ll tell them to come here.”
Dij nodded as Dash clicked the phone. “Hi, we need—”
“Dash! Dash they’ve got BeBop! They took him.”
“Who?”
“Some big, burly guys. He said he wanted to get closer so he could see if Jazz was there. He climbed the building. Shit, man, I thought I was a good climber. Anyway, he peeked inside an upstairs window and called me to say he saw Jazz. Then he started down, and somebody grabbed him from a lower window and pulled him in. I saw it happen, but I couldn’t do crap!”
“Was he sure he saw Jazz there? Because Nardo’s here.”
“He said he saw him.” There was a pause. “Damn, Dash, if Nardo’s there—”
“Then we need to get our asses to where you are as fast as New York transportation allows.”
“I’ll meet you at the subway exit.”
Twenty totally frustrating minutes later, Dash, Dij, and Fatima ran up the steps of the subway to see Carla practically dancing at the top. She grabbed Dash’s arm. “Damn, man, will you please get some floo powder!” She cocked her head at Fatima. “Uh, hi.”
Fatima’s eyes widened. “Oh my. You are human.”
“Yes, ma’am. Gen-u-ine.”
Fatima bowed low. “I am Fatima, sister of Khadija. I’m honored to share your quest.”
Carla shook herself like a dog. “What the hell? We need all the help we can get. Come on. Hurry.”
High-tops pumping, Carla set a blistering pace. Fortunately, Dij and Fatima both wore jeans and sneakers, so they kept up. Dash’s heart kept beating way too fast, and he had to calm it down. We have a chance. We have a chance.
JAZZ GASPED for breath and watched BeBop’s eyelids flutter. The kid had fought so hard, the wolf who carried him in gave up and pressed a cloth over his nose that knocked h
im out. Now he lay in a heap on a big chair by the wall, wrists bound but nothing else. They knew BeBop couldn’t shift into something that might wriggle out of his ties like Jazz could.
Welcome back pain. When the wolf guard had dragged in BeBop, Radsy had freaked, then replaced Jazz’s soft ropes with the zip ties, doubled this time, and bound his wrists so tightly to his ankles that his back practically snapped in two every time he breathed. His back flamed from being bowed in an unnatural arch, his wrists and ankles, already rubbed bloody, turned to raw meat under the stiff plastic, and his neck felt like someone had broken it. Worse, he wanted to sink into an eternal hole full of crap. He’d gotten BeBop into this, and he couldn’t get him out. Some damned werewolf wizard I am.
He’d started sensing Dash in his mind, which just made it worse. Like he could see heaven but never, ever reach it. Knowing BeBop was here meant Dash and Carla and Dij were trying to rescue him, and that made him crazy.
“Man, you’re one sorry looking excuse for a werewolf.” BeBop’s snarky voice made Jazz crane his already straining neck to see his face.
“I know. How the furry have fallen.” He sighed. “So does that mean you all know? Carla and Dij too?”
“Yep. Can’t keep secrets from the Society, my man.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Uh, riding to the rescue?”
“Total fail.”
“You noticed. How come they have you trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and I’m sitting here jack free, relatively speaking?” He held up his bound wrists.
“To keep me from shifting.”
“Oh, right.” He got up and walked closer to Jazz’s cot, then plopped on his butt on the floor where Jazz could see him more comfortably. “That all looks hella painful.”
“You noticed.”
“So we’re in deep shit, right?”
“Yes. Nardo hasn’t killed me yet because he wants me to help him.”
“Yeah, that’s what we figured out. You’re both the same anomaly, right?”
“Crap, man, I’ll need to hear how you figured that out, but while this dude may be trying to recruit me, I’m not sure he’ll be motivated to keep you guys alive. Hell, once he knows he can’t have me, I’m a dead wolf too. We need to get out of here, but I’m not sure we can beat him.”
BeBop rested his head on his knees. “That’s crappy news.”
“Yeah.”
“Might as well try. We’re dead anyway.” BeBop raised his head.
“Yeah, you and a lot of other wonderful people will be dead because of me, a damned gutter rat you made your friend.” He shook his head against the heat that pressed behind his eyes, then wished he hadn’t, it hurt so badly.
“Come on. This isn’t because of you. Nardo would have done his shit with or without you. We would have fought him with or without you. Don’t get a swelled head.”
Jazz sucked in a little breath and let it out as a laugh. Maybe the gods gave him BeBop for perspective? “Okay, so how the hell do we get out of here?”
“That’s more like it.” BeBop leaned forward. “First off, you can bet the rest of the team has some plot afoot, but we can’t depend on that, so we better come up with our own plan, man.”
“Okay, but I’m a little tied up at the moment.”
“Couldn’t resist that one, could you?” He stared around the room.
“Nope.”
“Do you think the room’s bugged?”
“I’ve thought about it, but I expect Nardo figures he can just listen in or read our minds, so why bother with technology.”
BeBop spurted out a laugh. “You’re not comforting.” He glanced toward the door. “So those dudes who brought me in are wolves, right?”
“Most of them.”
“But not super cool, A-plus werewolves like you?”
“They’re not alphas if that’s what you mean.”
“What’s the big advantage to being an alpha?”
“Better hearing, sight, reflexes, the ability to shift at will, some other stuff.”
“Hmm. So if we can get you loose, you can shift?”
“Yeah, but Nardo’s a werewolf. I imagine he’s got his bases covered. That’s why I’m tied up like this.”
“Can’t you just spell those ties away?”
“Nardo said if he sensed a trickle of magic from me, he’d shut me down, probably permanently. I’m not sure I could do it anyway. I’m a real newbie magician.” Jazz gasped as his whole head lit up like a computer screen.
“What’s wrong?”
Jazz couldn’t answer. His brain filled with something between a thought and a feeling. Ready. Ready.
BeBop continued talking. “Yeah, so I think we’ve gotta figure out how to get you out of those ties so you can wolfize.”
Jazz nodded. “Right. It’s not much, but it’s our only hope.” He widened his eyes at BeBop. Was that message wishful thinking, or did it mean something?
BeBop got up and walked closer to Jazz, inspecting his bonds. “How the hell are we going to get these things off?”
Suddenly, his head came up like a meerkat’s. Yells and crashes exploded from outside the room. The Superordinary Society had arrived.
Chapter Thirty-Two
A GUNSHOT! Fuck. Jazz wiggled to get loose. Maybe if I shift, it won’t kill me. He’d started gathering heat when all the screaming stopped.
BeBop looked at him, then ran over and managed to drag Jazz off the daybed.
“Ow! Shit!”
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t got a knife. We have to get you out of here.”
“You go. I’m going to try shifting.”
“In that position? Holy crap, can you do that?”
“Maybe.”
“What do you think’s going on?”
Running footsteps sounded from the eerie silence on the other side of the door. BeBop looked around frantically and settled on his shoe, which he ripped off. Holding it like a samurai sword, he poised beside the door. Jazz would have laughed if BeBop’s life wasn’t hanging in the balance.
The door flew open as if blown by a huge wind, and Dash ran through. With his midnight hair flying and green eyes glowing like jewels, he looked like a prince. Hell, he looked like a god.
BeBop threw the shoe. Dash flicked it aside with a tiny wiggle of his finger.
“Oh God, sorry, Dash. I thought you were a bad guy.”
Dash looked at Jazz. “Gods!” He raised a hand and the ties fell off. Literally flew off. Blood rushed into Jazz’s limbs, and he almost fainted from the pain. Dash yelled, “Get him!”
BeBop and Dash picked up Jazz under his arms and started dragging him toward the door.
Jazz drew a breath. “I can walk. I can.” He struggled to get his feet under him. “If I live through this—” He pointed at Dash. “—you’re going to teach me every damned trick and spell there is, from the beginning of time, including Merlin and Harry Potter. Got it?”
Dash wrapped an arm around Jazz’s shoulders, and they rushed into the hall, where a little light seeped in through the covered windows.
Along the ornate, antique length of the hallway, five huge wolves stood frozen like granite statues.
“What the hell happened to them?” Jazz asked.
Carla ran over. “Dij and Fatima happened to them. Let’s go.”
Confused, Jazz hobbled down the stairs, out the front door, and hit full sunlight. Whew. When had it turned to day? He blinked against the brilliance.
“Close your eyes. We’ve got you.” Dash held a palm in front of Jazz’s face as they paused in a stand of trees a couple doors down from Nardo’s house.
Jazz grabbed Dash’s arm. “We need to get to my house. It’s the safest place.”
Dash shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’s two hours away.”
“If we can get to the Vanessen building, we might be able to fly home in the helicopter,” Carla suggested.
Dash frowned. “We’re not dealing with
human violence or even werewolf power here. Nardo has big magic. If he showed up at the Vanessen building with his pack of wolves, think of all the innocent humans he can hurt. It’s too risky.”
“Do you think he’s willing to be so public?” Jazz leaned heavily on Dash.
Dash shrugged. “He doesn’t care. He can wipe people’s memories.”
Carla spread her arms. “So where the hell can we go?”
The beautiful woman in the head scarf spoke—who was she? Jazz wondered. “I think we must go to our sisters.”
Khadija shook her head. “They don’t wish to help.”
“They don’t wish to help one supernatural boy, but to prevent the decimation of humans, they must become involved.”
“Just tell me it’s closer than Connecticut,” Carla said.
Dij started walking at top speed toward the subway.
“Wouldn’t a cab be faster?” Dash asked.
Dij shook her head and kept walking. “There are six of us. Too many for one cab, and it’s unwise to split up.”
BeBop bounded in front of Dij. “Besides, when they tell this tale, and they will, they can’t say the heroes escaped destruction via Uber.”
On the partly empty afternoon subway, Jazz turned to Carla. “Can you call my family? Try to explain what’s going on without being too detailed?”
“Got it.” She pulled out her phone.
Dash’s phone buzzed for like the fifth time in the last fifteen minutes. “Who’s that?” Jazz asked.
“Lys. She can feel the magic.”
“Shouldn’t you answer?”
“No reason. She doesn’t want me here, but I plan to stay. What can I tell her?”
Carla stared at him wide-eyed as she slipped her phone back in her pocket. “Shit man, can you do that? I mean, isn’t she like your Obi-Won?”