Bastien was by the wood burning stove, pouring coffee into a tin cup. How very pioneer of him. He offered it to me and I took it. He poured himself a cup and sat down on the worn sofa. It was a newer one, as were the other bits and pieces of furniture. So I sat on the chair closest to him.
I sipped the coffee and it was surprisingly good. Chicory of course. "Bastien—"
"Très belle, manifique, chérie." He smiled at me and I was reminded again how alluring he was. "You have blossomed with amour, Samantha." I liked the way he said my name, like no one else. "Why are you here?"
"Because it's come to my attention you're not shifting. And apparently someone named Court is vying for Alpha."
He didn't agree or disagree, just watched me. "You are concerned, no?"
"No…I mean yes, I'm concerned. You're what keeps the accord in place, Bastien. You have to stay Alpha. So I…" Okay so how was I going to put this? "I heard another rumor that the reason you're not shifting is because…"
He arched a brow at me. "Oui?"
"Because of me. That I broke your heart so you've lost the will to shift."
I really, really wasn't expecting a deep belly laugh out of him. I mean, seriously…ouch? So I waited with growing irksomeness as he continued to laugh himself into tears. He rolled over on the couch and then set his tin cup on the wood coffee table along with the boob magazines and army surplus catalogs.
When he quieted down I set my own cup on the table. "Are you done making fun of me?"
"Oh no…I mean no I wasn't making fun of you, belle. It's just…" He wiped at his eyes and pushed a lock of red hair away. He'd grown a slight beard along his jawline. It looked good. "It's just…hearing that from you. It warmed my heart."
"So you're not pining."
"No."
"And you're not, not-shifting because of me?"
He shrugged with his shoulders. "Not really. My shifting doesn't have anything to do with how I feel about you." He abruptly sobered and looked very serious. "My feelings haven't changed, chérie. They never will."
"But I love—"
He held up his hand. "I know where your heart is. I know with whom. And I will be here in case his stupidity gets in the way of his duties. But my reasons for not embracing my wolf form are more complicated."
"How complicated? Is it a curse?" I put my hands on my hips even while sitting. "Is it Arden? Did she do this?"
"No. It 'twas not Arden." He scooted to the edge of the sofa. "Samantha, this situation calls for patience. My reasons for not becoming a wolf are my own."
"Answer me this," I leaned toward him. "Is it voluntary? Or involuntary?" When he frowned I had to rephrase. "Can you really not shift?"
"No. I cannot. And I will not."
"But if they try to attack you…"
He smiled at me. "You speak of their war council. I know of it. There is more to survival than brute force. I have survived for a very, very long time. Court and his followers don't frighten me. But I do need to speak with Ben—" He stopped moving and tilted his head to the right and became very, very still.
I felt the hairs on my arms rise as I sensed something. I wasn't sure what it was, just that it was familiar. Something I'd been close to before.
My Elementals appeared because they sensed it too. They looked worried, but determined.
"Sam!" came Kyle's voice. "We got company!"
Bastien was up and gone before I could shove my bag under the coffee table. I grabbed my gun, checked the ammunition and then stepped outside, giving my Elementals their orders to take up defensive positions.
Jack and Kyle stood on the porch. Kyle's hands were aflame with magic as he faced forward. I didn't recognize any of the wolves facing us.
There were four visible, standing just outside the cleared area, back in the trees. They weren't trying to hide themselves. They wanted us to see them. Three men and one woman.
They were Aces pack.
"It's Court," Jack said as he growled low in his throat. As an apogee, turning without the full moon would be difficult. He could do it, but I'd have to make him mad first.
"Which one?" I asked.
"Right here," the dark-skinned one said as he stepped forward. He wore jeans, boots and a denim vest covered in army patches. None of which he'd earned in any armed service, I was sure. Tattoos decorated his muscular arms and shaved head. Tribal from the looks of some. Others looked like…magical symbols. And they looked like welts…like fresh tattoos.
"Hold it right there," I said as I raised my gun. "This is private property."
"Yes, it is," Court said as he stopped on the edge of the clearing. "Property that doesn't belong to the Witch that holds it." He laughed and I saw sharp teeth. Which made sense since these were wolves.
And then his eyes went red. All red, just like…
A Leviathan.
"Hello, Samantha. You miss your aunt Ina?" He held up his hands and laughed as he said, "I'm baaaaaack…"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Dionysus."
TEN
SAMANTHA
Dionysus had overshadowed a Lycan. And he had Lycan backup. Had he been overshadowing this Lycan since he abandoned Ina's body? It would be a perfect cover. Who would think that inside of a Lycan pack there was a Leviathan? They both loved the taste of blood. So what if one of them drank a lot more of it than the others?
"I thought you'd be happier to see me. After all, I did raise you to be mine."
I shot him a bird. "Nice to see you back in a male body, Dionysus. Bet you had a lot of penis envy for what—eighteen, nineteen years?"
"Dionysus?" the wolf to his left said. "What the hell she call'n you that for?"
"Shove it, Nash." Court/Dionysus kept his attention focused on me. "We know the big bad wolf is here, and he's not leaving here alive. Once he's out of the way, that just leaves the other problem."
He was doing exactly what Cromwell believed he would. He was trying to get rid of all obstacles in his path to me. I could see it now. I glanced at Nash. "So Court hasn't told you, huh? That he's got a Leviathan inside of him?"
"A what?"
"A Vampire. He's not even Court anymore, 'cause Leviathan Vampires destroy their host's soul," said Kyle. His hands glowed with power.
Getting ahead of the game, I sent my Salamander over to Jack and told him to light a little fire under the man's ass. And he did. Within seconds, Jack shifted from human to wolf—and either he'd gotten better at this or I'd never noticed how big he was, but Jack's shoulder height was even with Kyle's upper arm. Big. Black. And damn scary.
"Kill them," Court/Dionysus said. "But leave me the girl."
Jack launched before any of the others had a chance and he jumped the wolf named Nash. In fact, Jack got to him before he even had a chance to shift.
The shorter of the wolves, standing between the female and Court ran at Kyle, but Kyle was ready and blasted the bastard backward. The wolf, still in human form, flipped in the air and landed in the woods. Kyle glanced at me, winked, and went after his intended.
When the Leviathan's eyes widened, I glanced over to see Bastien beside me holding the biggest fucking gun known to wolf and man. He might not be shifting—but damn—he was packing.
Bastien pointed it at Court. "Want me to take him, chérie?"
"Naw. You get rid of the bitch." I smiled at Court/Dionysus. "Dionysus and I have some talking to do."
Bastien aimed the gun at the girl, but she was fast and disappeared into the woods. He leaned in, kissed my cheek, and ran off after her. I sent a silent blessing after him, along with my Sylph to keep an eye on the three of them. I needed to know these were the only players Dionysus brought with him.
"So," Dionysus stepped through the boundary and stood several feet from me. "Aren't you going to unleash your Arcane Power against me? Make me pay for what happened to your lover?"
"No." I did summon my Elements, and all of them came to me, except for my Sylph, who kept a running image commentary in the back o
f my thoughts. I held my weapon up, aimed at his face. "The last time you forced me to use my Arcane a girl's soul was stolen. I'm not going to help you destroy the wolf's soul."
"P'fff…it's already quite gone, Sam. Every body I touch loses itself, one way or another. But please…understand. The soul I'm riding here isn't that of the wolf."
I winced. "Is it…Arwen?"
"No. I'm afraid she didn't last as long as I'd hoped. I left her inside Ina with the promise if she could sustain that body, she would have it." He shrugged and gave me an exaggerated sigh. "Alas…she could not."
Son of a bitch. "So you just left Ina's body there in her own garden."
"That was never her garden, Sam. It was always mine. But I see the Parliament covered it all up for you. Tsk, tsk. Pity really. Having you locked up in jail would have proven the best place for you. All packaged and ready to go. I'm afraid that jacked my surprise for you."
Abruptly, he shifted from human to wolf. It wasn't as smooth a transition as Bastien's or some of the other wolves I'd seen. This was drastic, with the snap and pop of ripping bone and skin, the crack of cartilage, and I wondered if whomever's soul he was riding inside of Court could feel the agony, if Dionysus was shunting that pain to them. Whoever they were, they powerless to do anything.
So I shot him in the head.
The bullet hit its mark and lodged into the wolf's skull. The damage to its brain abruptly halted the transformation so he was stuck between human and wolf. If I really thought about it, it was the most frightening thing I'd ever seen.
I thought he'd scream in pain. I didn't expect him to laugh. But I should have. I stepped aside as my Gnome swung her axe at his back legs. The blade struck tendons as blood spurted up and splashed across her face. I fired again as I tossed a good-sized fireball at the creature and set it on fire as it stumbled.
It screamed and went down, and though my Gnome raised her axe in triumphant glee…I knew this was too easy.
Way…too easy.
I heard the sound of gunfire again and the scream of something in pain.
I stepped back as the burning, charred husk of the half-wolf, half-man continued to snap and crack as it shifted again, and then again. It was man, and then wolf, and then half, and then it twisted and lengthened until it finally came up out of a pile of ash. It wasn't a wolf anymore.
And it wasn't human.
A large black panther. Its red eyes focused on me as it crept closer.
I called on my Salamander and he instantly became the flaming gun in my hand again. I fired at the advancing panther.
The Salamander's bullets became tiny needles of flame as they pierced the big cat's coat, but it didn't matter. It still kept coming closer. Dionysus couldn't feel the pain, but I suspected the soul he had could. And knowing that every wound I inflicted on the body was a wound I inflicted on that soul handicapped me. I found myself afraid to use magic against him.
And he knew that. That bastard knew he'd found a weakness.
Elemental Soul (The Eldritch Files Book 5) Page 7