“He’s behind us,” Keller said, turning around slowly.
Balaur stood about fifty feet away on the base of a tumbled column. As he raised his head, his long hair glowed like moonbeams. He focused his large dark eyes on Keller, and his sculpted lips moved in a slight smile.
“Excellent,” Alex said. “I knew Keller would draw him out.”
“It may be a bit late to ask, but shouldn’t we have crucifixes or something?” Seva asked.
“A crucifix would be no protection,” Cosmina said. “Balaur was a Catholic in life. He does not fear the cross.”
“What does he fear?” Seva asked. “A stake? A silver bullet?”
“It wouldn’t be safe to get close enough to him to use a stake,” Alex said.
“Is there any protection against a vampire?”
“If you attract the notice of such a creature, you must be extremely strong-willed to avoid becoming a pet or a slave.”
“He’s staring at us,” Keller said in a loud whisper. “And he can hear us.”
Alex put a hand over his heart and inclined his head respectfully to Balaur. “Voivode,” he said and made a halting speech in Dacian. When he was finished, there was silence for a moment as Alex appeared to be listening, and then he spoke again. “Balaur has communicated that he will go back to his resting place, but he wants Mr. Key—Keller—for company. He asks that Mr. Song renounce his claim.” Alex gave Seva an inquiring glance.
“Tell him to go fuck himself,” Seva said calmly.
Balaur turned his attention to Seva. His lips drew back and he showed his fangs in a snarl.
“Stop it!” Cosmina put a hand on Seva’s forearm. “Don’t challenge him.”
“If he thinks he’s taking Keller with him, I’ll damn sure challenge him,” Seva answered. “I’ll break his pretty neck.”
“You’re no match for Balaur,” Alex cautioned.
“I won’t let him take Keller without a fight.”
“That goes double for me,” Keller said. “Not that I’m not enjoying you being my dashing white knight.”
Balaur rose a couple of feet into the air and drifted closer to the humans. His gaze was fixed on Keller.
Alex spoke in the ancient tongue again and waited for an answer. When it came, he took Cosmina’s hand and pulled her farther away. “Balaur is not being reasonable. This is my fault. I used Keller to lure Balaur out because I was sure I could convince him to return to his rest. I truly never imagined this would happen, but I want you to leave now.”
Cosmina shook her head. “I might be female, but I’m still a Balancal. I’ll stay.”
Before Alex could argue, Seva stepped in front of Keller. Seva met Balaur’s gaze and held it. His fear grew with each passing second, but he told himself it was a trick to weaken him, and he stood fast despite the compulsion to run.
“You are strong.” Balaur smiled. “Perhaps I should take you both.”
“I’m right here anytime you want to try,” Seva said.
Balaur cocked his head in a charming mannerism and regarded Seva with the expression of a wolf watching a puppy growl. “You will come to me.”
Seva felt the force of the vampire’s will working on him and set himself to resist. His mind and his muscles strained with the effort of refusing Balaur’s command. He was aware of Keller’s presence at his back, like the heat of a fireplace, and it gave him the strength to defy the ancient being. However, Alex was right; Seva was no match for Balaur. He was shaking and close to crumbling when the moon sailed free of the clouds again.
Seva stopped trembling as he felt a profound change come over him. Something broke open at his core and spilled out into every cell of his body. Agony possessed him, and he yelled as his muscles rippled and his bones bent and compressed themselves into new configurations. Glossy black fur bloomed from his skin, and his nails sharpened to points. His skull narrowed and elongated, and sharp fangs slid into place. Seva’s eyes burned like blue flames as he raised his pointed snout and howled in challenge.
With a bird of prey’s scream of rage, Balaur flung himself at Seva. They collided and tore at each other with their claws before breaking apart. Each landed lightly and stood glaring at the other. Blood flowed down to patter on the leaves even as their wounds healed.
“What the hell? Seva?” Keller said softly.
Balaur raised bone-china fingers to his mouth and tasted Seva’s blood. “Delicious. I do have a weakness for shape-shifter blood.” After another lick, Balaur’s smile faded. “Whelp, you were sired by Gavril Balancal?”
Without stopping to think about how to do it, Seva shivered and resumed his natural form so he could speak. “Gavril attacked me in the woods a few nights ago and I was scratched pretty badly.”
Balaur turned his thwarted gaze on Alex. “I see that I must forfeit this match if I am to honor my pact with the Balancals. And I must honor it or forfeit my mastery of the beasts.” Immediately he began to fade like a dream upon waking.
“Wait,” Keller called out to the vampire.
“What would you ask me, sweetblood?”
“You bit me. Am I going to become a vampire?”
Balaur’s lips pulled into a smile that showed a hint of fang. “I will let the pup explain.” And he was gone.
“That is a very cool trick,” Keller said. “Like a Polaroid in reverse… and much faster.”
“And now I know why the wolves attacked Keller but wouldn’t attack you,” Alex said to Seva. “They recognized you as one of their own. If you were not Gavril’s, Balaur Nyar would have destroyed you.”
“I’m—” Seva staggered. “I’m a little disoriented.”
Cosmina put her arm through Seva’s. “It passes.”
Keller took Seva’s other arm. “Are we in the clear?” he asked Alex.
“I believe we are. Popescu’s little resort consortium will thrash about uselessly without him to guide it. We have more time to convince the government to make this a national park. You know who killed Mr. Cynwrig and why. I think we’re all happy.”
“Not quite,” Keller said, looking expectant.
“Oh, yes, of course. I’ll explain about the Balancals’ pact with Balaur when we get back to town,” Alex offered.
“That would be nice, but I was talking about our rental car that’s still parked at the other end of the tunnel,” Keller said. “I’d also like to know what’s going to happen to me. Especially after Seva’s cool magic trick.”
“It just came over me,” Seva said in a quiet voice.
“The full moon,” Keller said sagely.
“That’s a myth,” Alex scoffed. “What happened tonight was a coincidence.”
“But the myth about being bitten by a were—”
“Lupine therianthrope,” Alex said.
“Right. So the myth about being bitten by a lupine therianthrope and becoming one is true?” Keller pointed at Seva.
“The bite or scratch of a werewolf can only trigger the propensity if the gene is already present.”
“So I’ve always had this in my blood?” Seva asked curiously.
Alex nodded. “You could have lived your entire life in ignorance if nothing ever triggered the change.”
Seva punched Keller on the arm.
“Ow!” Keller gave him a reproachful look. “What was that for?”
“For bringing me to Romania.”
Alex and Cosmina chuckled as Keller sputtered.
“Come on,” Cosmina said. “Pick up the pace. I need a drink.”
AT the edge of town, a figure stepped from the shadow of the first building. Darius pointed his gun at the group and ordered them to halt.
“Oh man, I knew we were forgetting something besides the car,” Keller groaned.
“I’ve got this,” Alex said. On the last word, he moved forward so swiftly, he was almost a blur. He took the gun from Darius’s hand and knocked Darius’s head against the wall of the building. The policeman dropped to the ground and lay still.
“Are you just going to leave him there?” Seva asked as Alex walked away.
“It’s too much trouble to do anything else with him,” Cosmina said. “He was working with those bastards, and I imagine they will punish him much more severely than any court.”
“I’m good with that,” Keller said. He put an arm around Seva’s neck as they walked through the village.
After a few drinks at the local bar, Keller asked Alex about his superspeed. “So is that a werewolf thing?”
“No, it has nothing to do with the therianthrope gene. After my first year at university, I came back here to do drawings of the ruins for a paper I was going to write. Instead I woke Balaur.”
“Of course, being attracted to handsome young men, Balaur couldn’t resist my brother,” Cosmina said. “But I disturbed him before he had a chance to enslave Alexandru.”
“The sight of a furious she-wolf coming at you is most unnerving,” Alex said, and Keller nodded his agreement. “Balaur retreated. He was not able to turn me, but I gained some benefit from his bite. My senses are sharper, and as you saw, I can move quickly if I need to. It burns a lot of energy, but it’s handy.” He smiled at Keller. “I’m sure you’ll find it handy as well.”
“Ha.” Keller smacked Seva on the shoulder. “You’re not the only one who’s special,” he said smugly.
“Am I the only one who’s tired?” Seva asked, ignoring him.
“We should get to bed,” Keller agreed. “We have to go pick up that car tomorrow and get in touch with Mr. Fitzroy.”
“I can help with that,” Alex said. “Cosmina is probably tired of babysitting you.”
Cosmina’s laugh rang out. “Not at all.”
“Someday there will be more words about you two knowing what was going on and how dangerous it was, but not helping nearly as much as you should have,” Seva said in a firm, no-nonsense tone.
“But we’ll say good night, now,” Keller said as he and Seva rose and made ready to head to the inn.
“I will be briefing Mr. Fitzroy on the mission and the existence of TWISM later tonight,” Alex said. “Would you like me to give him any message?”
“Yeah,” Keller said. “Tell him we’re going on vacation.”
“Somewhere without foggy forests,” Seva added as they walked away.
“So what did you think of our first long mission together?” Keller asked as they walked down the street to their room at the inn.
Seva hummed thoughtfully. “Don’t let it go to your head, but I would have to say, on the whole, it sucked.”
“You had me at ‘head.’” Keller nudged Seva and laughed as he ran down the street with Seva in hot pursuit.
Epilogue
Two weeks later, enjoying the sun in Costa Rica on a well-deserved vacation
THE waves ran in, edged with creamy foam, to prostrate themselves on the sand before running away again. The air was warm, and a soft breeze meandered down the beach to ruffle salt-stiffened hair and to kiss sun-browned skin. Near a line of palm trees, two men lay in a hammock and watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon. Though the hammock was intended for one, neither man was uncomfortable.
Keller lay on his back, clad in nothing but the towel he’d dried off with. Draped over him was Seva, lithe and languid as a cat in the sun. Seva was wearing even less than Keller, and his round bottom was a lovely cinnamon color. They didn’t have to worry about who might see them on this private beach in Costa Rica, so Seva had no compunctions about taking one of Keller’s nipples between his teeth to suck lightly on it. Keller made a rumbling, purring sound in his chest and then jerked as Seva flicked the nipple with the tip of his tongue.
“Ready to go again, you little sex maniac?” Keller asked drowsily.
“I wouldn’t mind. Or we could go for another swim before sundown.”
Keller stretched and put his arms around Seva. “I love how you feel.”
Seva walked his fingers up the steps of Keller’s lats. “Me too. I can’t say I enjoyed the experience of being mauled by a were—by a lupine therianthrope, but I’m not sorry it happened either, since it helped bring us together.”
Keller kissed Seva lightly. “I feel the same way about Balaur biting me. I would have gone through life denying half of myself.”
“Only half?”
Keller pinched him. “You know what I mean. Maybe we should go back and visit just to thank the old guy.”
“You’re as lazy as a croon.”
“You know you love it.”
Seva looked down into Keller’s warm amber-green eyes. “You’re right. I do. Your cockiness used to make me crazy. It still does, but now it’s for a different reason.”
“Stop it. You’ll make me blush.”
“I love it when you blush. It starts in your face, but then it spreads down so far,” Seva teased, trailing his hand down Keller’s chest to indicate just how far—and then not stopping.
“I’m fair-skinned.” Keller shrugged, running a hand down Seva’s back. “We can’t all get tan after two minutes in the sun, you know.”
“I love your fair skin.” Seva drew his fingernails down Keller’s chest, making him gasp a little with the pleasurable pain. “I like seeing the marks of my hands on you after we fuck. They fade so quickly.”
Keller chuckled. “Another thing I can thank good old Balaur for.”
“I hope Alex didn’t have too hard a time explaining things to Mr. Fitzroy.”
“If he did, he deserved it.” Keller cupped one of Seva’s buttcheeks and squeezed. “He could have saved us a lot of trouble by being honest with us.”
“Is that right?” Seva said a little breathlessly as Keller trailed a fingertip down his crack. “And if he had told us, you would have believed him?”
“No, of course not. I’m still not sure I believe what happened, but that doesn’t change the fact that he should have been up-front with us.” Keller felt the shiver that ran through Seva’s frame when he rubbed his hole. “Hey, don’t you wolf out on top of me!”
Seva bit him lightly on the arm. “I won’t. That just feels so good.”
“Until you learn to control yourself better, I’m putting a ban on sex alfresco.”
“In that case….” Seva rolled off Keller and onto the ground. “Race you to the house.” On the last word, he transformed into a sleek wolf with glossy black fur and electric blue eyes. He grinned at Keller, tongue lolling out, and then ran for the house.
“Cheater!” Keller yelled after him, but he was grinning too. Using the ability imparted by Balaur’s kiss, he shifted into high speed and gained the threshold just behind Seva. Keller threw himself at the wolf, and they rolled across the floor, tangled together, as Seva reverted to human form. They made love until they fell asleep from exhaustion and woke to make love again.
A week or so later, ready to report back to the boss, Queens
“GOOD morning, gentlemen.” Mr. Fitzroy rose from his desk as his two top agents entered his office. “Mr. Key, Mr. Song, please sit.” He glanced at his secretary. “Ms. Shapely, please see that I’m not disturbed until further notice.”
Keller snickered and collected a disapproving look from his boss.
He and Seva took seats and waited for Fitzroy to speak again. GLEN’s leader sat and then pulled out one of the desk’s deep drawers. He brought out a cut-crystal brandy decanter and three matching Waterford glasses. “May I offer you a drop of Courvoisier?”
After drinks were poured, Fitzroy raised his glass, and the other two men followed suit. “With my thanks,” he said solemnly before he drank.
“It was our pleasure, sir,” Keller said and drank his cognac. “Wow! That’s good.”
“No need to wax poetic, Mr. Key,” Fitzroy said, rolling his eyes. “Will you have another?”
“No, thank you,” Seva answered. “My belly’s on fire.”
“I’ve no doubt, Mr. Song. No doubt at all about the fire in your belly.” Fitzroy favored Seva with one of hi
s rare approving smiles. “Have you any questions for me before I debrief you?”
“Just one,” Keller said. “Did you find the mole?”
“I’m afraid not,” Fitzroy said with a tinge of embarrassment in his voice. “Security measures have been stepped up, naturally, and the investigation continues.”
“Maybe we could help with that?”
“I have other work for you, as it happens.”
“I’m all ears, sir,” Keller said with a droll glance at Seva, daring his partner to make a rejoinder.
“Now, gentlemen,” Mr. Fitzroy said, “as I know neither of you would attempt to play a joke on me, what am I to make of all this talk of the supernatural?”
“That Hamlet was right: there is a lot more out there than we suspect,” Seva said placidly as he held his boss’s gaze.
“A lot of things I didn’t believe in turned out to be true,” Keller added with a shrug. “The world looks a whole lot different than it did before we went to Romania.”
“I see.” Fitzroy steepled his fingers and regarded the two agents without a trace of humor in his face or voice. “Then I assume I may take every word of your reports and those of Mr. Balancal as the unvarnished truth.”
“Yes, sir,” Keller and Seva replied in unison.
Keller glanced at Seva. Seva raised his eyebrows. Keller nodded. A second later the air around Seva rippled like a heat mirage. A second after that, a large black wolf sat in Seva’s place.
“What a hell of a thing,” Fitzroy said softly, after a moment of stunned silence.
“You’ll get no argument from me, sir,” Keller agreed. He grinned when the wolf gave him an affronted look. “Relax, it’s a compliment.”
“And he can do this… trick anytime he likes?” Fitzroy asked, sounding a trifle dazed.
“He can now.”
“I see. So there were instances when he couldn’t control the… transformation?”
“Oh, yes, there were instances.” Keller’s tone spoke volumes. The wolf’s expression was downright reproachful. Keller reached across to run his fingers through the thick ruff of fur around Seva’s neck.
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