“That’s a little over the top, wouldn’t you say?” Sal asked.
“No. He led his people. They may be trolls, but he led them all.”
“Does that make Toby a king?” Jet folded his arms. “Before all the dead crossed over, he was the head alpha over all packs in the world.”
“A lot of supernatural kings tend to be tyrannical,” I said. “Neither Tap nor I have ever had any interest in that. I was more of an overseer.”
Victoria stared at me, her eyes wide. “You were the alpha that the other alphas answered to?”
I glared at Jet. He had to bring that up now, didn’t he?
Jet shrugged, and Victoria continued looking at me expectantly.
“It’s true.” I sighed. “Now isn’t the time to go over the details, but yes. I started a movement of peace. There was harmony between every pack, and we even broke the ages-old vampire-werewolf hatred.”
Her mouth gaped. “So, that’s what a world without our fathers looks like.”
“It’s not quite that simple, but essentially. And once the tyrants of old returned, it took almost no time at all to destroy everything we worked so hard to build.”
Victoria frowned. “I wish I could have seen it.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Me, too. You’d have loved it.”
Gessilyn ran out. Brick wasn’t far behind.
“What’s going on?” I exclaimed.
She stood tall, eying the dead body. “That’s what I intend to find out.”
“Black magic?” I asked.
Gessilyn nodded. “Nothing good ever comes from it.”
“What does it mean?” Victoria asked.
“I’m hoping my parents can help figure that out.”
The sun was quickly lowering.
I frowned. “I’m going to have to get to that card game soon.”
“Really?” Jet exclaimed. “Now?”
“Am I supposed to miss the first one due to finding a body buried on our property?” I asked. “Is that going to help any of the rumors already going around?”
“I guess not.”
“Look, I don’t like it any more than the rest of you, but if we’re going to live with the humans, we need to keep up appearances. There’s no other choice. Gessilyn’s on this. We’ve got Soleil and Tap, also.
“Victoria and I were on our way to the Faeble before you interrupted us,” Soleil said.
“You two should head over there,” I said. “Let him know what’s going on. Maybe he’s heard something. If not, he can listen to conversation and see if anything arises.”
“I can listen, too.” Soleil tapped her ears. “These babies are trained in the art of eavesdropping.”
“Great,” Dillon muttered.
“What’s taking them so long to figure it out?” My stomach tightened.
“You can always stay here,” Jet said.
“How do you suggest I do that?”
“Just say you can’t make it. You don’t have to tell them you’ve got a dead body.” He shrugged.
“Then I’m on the outs with some of the chattier professors.” I shook my head and glanced at the time. “Maybe I can have a winning streak, and they’ll want to end early.”
“We’ll find out if Tap knows anything,” Victoria said.
“Thank you.” I gave her a quick kiss. “You guys should go so you can get your homework done before your trip to Seattle tomorrow.”
“Are you going to pick me up?” Ziamara asked.
Soleil shook her head. “Sorry, we can’t come here—half the people going with us are human. You and I can head over together in the morning.”
They discussed their plans, and I headed inside to find Gessilyn. Moonhaven was quiet. A floorboard creaked underfoot.
“Gessilyn,” I called.
Where was she?
I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.
Toby: Where ru?
Gessilyn: At Mother’s. Looking into old manuscripts. Talk soon.
Toby: OK. Hurry.
Gessilyn: I will.
I went back outside. Soleil, Ziamara, and Victoria were talking, outside her car.
“Are you leaving?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Victoria said. “We’re going to have a sleepover tonight.”
“Let me know if you need anything.” I wrapped my arms around her and took possession of her lips and let the kiss linger. We really needed to set a wedding date. After all these years away from her, I didn’t want to be apart any longer.
She pressed herself closer and stared at me, pink covering her cheeks.
“You, too.” I glanced at Ziamara. “You stay safe, too.”
“What about me?” Soleil threw me a playful pout. “Don’t you want me safe, too?”
I chuckled. “Somehow I’m not too worried about a valkyrie.”
Soleil shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. Not too many give me a run for my money. Let’s go. The later it gets, the busier Tap will be.”
Victoria and I stole another kiss before climbing into our respective vehicles. My Hummer roared to life, and I put the address Roger had given me into the GPS. It wasn’t too far away, at least.
I waited for Victoria and the girls to go through the gate before going myself. I closed it and followed the directions, which led me to a sleepy-looking residential area and parked in front of the house, which had four cars in the driveway and a couple more on the curb.
The front door opened before I reached it. Roger stepped out wearing a green visor and a huge smile. “Password.”
“What?”
He laughed and slapped my shoulder. “Works for me. Come on in. We’re all downstairs. Did you bring anything to eat or drink?” He glanced down at my empty hands.
“I didn’t realize—”
“No worries. You’re the newbie. Come on in.” He pulled me inside and slammed the door. “Now that we’re all here, we can get started. Hope you brought some cash.”
“That I did.”
He led me down some stairs. “That’s more important than snacks, anyway. Did you get lost or something?”
“Something came up at home.”
“I don’t know how you live with all those college kids.” Roger shook his head. “It’d drive me nuts. Being around them all day is enough to send me to the liquor cabinet.”
“We’re family, and they just need a little guidance.” And a witch to keep them safe from black magic.
Roger and I rounded a corner to a dimly lit room. Five of our colleagues sat around a round table, stuffing food into their mouths.
“Foley!” several exclaimed.
“Grab a seat,” Roger said. “I’m going to see if the beers are ready.”
“He likes to stick them in the freezer until they’re just so,” said Nick. He was from the math department, also.
“Nice.” I took the empty seat next to him.
“You any good?” asked a guy I recognized, but couldn’t think of his name.
“He teaches stats,” Nick said. “We all have to watch out. He can figure out the probability of us talking smack.”
“It’s pretty high,” said Lewis from history.
Everyone around the table roared with laughter.
Roger reappeared with an armload of bottles. He handed one to each of us. “Chilled to perfection.”
Lewis shuffled a stack of cards—it looked like two decks—and dealt them.
I grabbed a handful of popcorn before checking out my hand. He’d dealt me a perfect straight.
“Newbie goes last.” Roger laughed.
Nick shook his head and gave me a sympathetic glance. “He loves initiations. If you make it through tonight, you’ll be one of us.”
I gave Roger my fiercest stare. “Bring it on.”
“See?” Roger said. “I told you he was nothing like the last guy.”
Lewis busted out laughing. “I thought that poor guy was going to burst into tears.”
Roger shrugged. “Wouldn�
��t be the first time.”
Nick shoved some poker chips my way and explained the values they used for each color. I grabbed some and planned my moves. As it turned out, I could’ve won the round, but I didn’t want to find out what other initiations Roger had in mind, so I folded. I’d let them think I was just an average player for a few rounds before showing them what I was really made of. If only they’d known I’d been playing card games for far longer than any of them had been alive—even the ones with salt and pepper hair.
As the night wore on, Roger continued bringing down more chilled-to-perfection drinks. Once the chips and dip disappeared, Lewis grinned. “Time for Uncle Dan’s.”
“Now we bring out the good stuff.” Roger got up and disappeared again.
“Is that a new beer?” I asked.
Lewis looked at me like I was crazy. “I thought you were from around here.”
“I am.”
“And you’ve never had Uncle Dan’s?”
“Uncle Dan’s what?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“Seriously, you’ve never had it?” Nick asked.
“Nope.” I’d eaten unicorn horn flakes more times than I could count, but they thought I was crazy for not having… whatever it was they were talking about.
Roger came down balancing a bowl of chips and a bowl of dip.
I arched a brow. Everyone dug in, scooping out mountains of dip onto their chips.
“Hope you mixed up a second batch this time,” Lewis said, scooping out more.
“Yep.” Roger glanced at me. “Try some. You’re not officially a Northwesterner until you’ve had Uncle Dan’s dip.”
“Okay.” I grabbed a curved chip and scooped a little of the white dip.
“Come on,” Nick said. “You need more.”
“All right.” I took as much as the others had. They all watched in eager expectation. I took a bite. The thick, creamy dip sent an explosion of tastes through my mouth. It was kind of like ranch, only so much better. I reached for more.
“See?”
“Now you can say you’re from here.”
“The new guy likes it!”
“It’s like crack,” Roger said. “Once you start, there’s no stopping.”
I laughed, glad I’d decided to join the game. It was fun to get away from all the worries back at Moonhaven for a while. Plus, now I had a new food to introduce to the pack.
Lewis handed me the stack of cards. “You’re dealer this round.”
We laughed and played for a few hours, and I left with about twenty more dollars in my pocket than when I’d started. To my relief, there were no actual initiations.
As I climbed into the Hummer, the joy from the evening slipped away. What was going on at Moonhaven with the dead body?
Chapter 7
Victoria
“Maybe we should get down to the car,” Sasha said. “Looks like we’re almost there.” She’d been eager to get off the ferry since the moment it disembarked.
I finished off my coffee and glanced out the window. “We’re still a little ways off. I want to go out onto the deck again.”
Sasha covered her mouth. “I’m going to the car. See you guys there.”
“Poor thing.” Jacey, one of our Waldensian house mates, frowned. She fluffed her long, layered black hair. “I’d go with her, but I want to go on the deck with you. Does that make me awful?”
“No,” said Cheyenne, Jacey’s roommate. “I’ll go down with her.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at her. “I just need to stretch my legs.”
Jacey and I went out to the deck, where Soleil and Ziamara stood, watching the water as their hair flapped around in the breeze.
“Where’s everyone else?” Soleil asked. “Don’t tell me I scared them away.”
Jacey laughed. “Hardly. Poor Sasha is totally seasick.”
“Oh,” Soleil said. “I can—”
I shot her a glare.
She rolled her eyes at me. “—see if they sell any medicine inside.”
“Would it do any good at this point?” Jacey glanced toward the land, which was rapidly approaching.
Soleil shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Never been green on a boat.”
Ziamara pulled her rainbow hair into a bun. “Must be awful. I love being out here—I couldn’t imagine it making me nauseated.”
The speakers behind us crackled, and then the captain announced it was time to return to the vehicles.
We made our way down to Sasha’s Highlander. She had the driver’s seat reclined and Cheyenne sat next to her. The rest of us climbed in the back.
“Are we there yet?” Sasha moaned.
“Just about,” Jacey reassured her.
“Do you want me to drive?” I asked. “You look like you could use a break.”
“Maybe. Let’s see if I feel better once the floor stops moving.”
“I’d have suggested driving around if I knew you get seasick,” I said.
“Me, too.”
“Let’s get our minds off it,” Soleil said. She reached into the front and turned up the music.
Sasha groaned.
“Maybe you should let someone else drive,” Cheyenne said.
“No, I’m fine.” Sasha put the seat upright and clutched the steering wheel. “See? Better already.”
Ziamara and I exchanged doubtful expressions.
By the time we drove off the ferry and onto land, Sasha was singing to the music and joking. She still looked a little green, but nowhere near as bad as before.
“You know how to get to the Space Needle?” Jacey asked.
“Nope,” Sasha said.
“What time’s our lunch reservation?” I asked.
“Reservations?” Cheyenne asked.
“We can’t just show up?” asked Sasha.
“Guess we’ll find out.” I shrugged.
Someone’s stomach rumbled. Everyone laughed, but no one took credit for it.
Once we got on the freeway, traffic barely moved.
“Should we stop and eat somewhere else?” Jacey asked. “I don’t care if we eat up there or not.”
“It’s the Space Needle,” Cheyenne whined. “My parents got engaged there. I can’t come to the city without going there.”
“You don’t have to tell them,” Jacey pointed out.
Soleil and I exchanged an amused glance. It was really nice to get away and not have to worry about anything more than seasickness or where to eat.
Cheyenne turned and looked at us. “You guys want to have lunch six hundred feet above ground, right?”
Sasha moaned again. “I hope I don’t get sick.”
“It’s not floating in water.”
“And it might be after three before we get there.” Sasha blared her horn at someone who cut her off. “Yeah, back at you, pal.”
We finally made it off the freeway and to the Seattle Center. As we drove around, looking for a place to park, we passed the needle. It had a line wrapped around it.
“Is that for the restaurant?” Ziamara asked.
“Please can we just eat somewhere else?” Jacey begged. “We can go up the elevator later, Chey. Then you can tell your parents you were there. We can walk on the deck and everything.”
“Fine.” Cheyenne sighed. “Let’s just eat at the courtyard, but we’re not leaving until I’ve been to the top of the needle.”
We all agreed. My stomach was rumbling, and I would have agreed to eat just about anything.
After we got out of the car, Ziamara pulled me aside. “Do you smell that?”
I sniffed. “Werewolves. They’re not too far away.”
“They smell different.”
“Probably mutts.”
“Mutts?” Ziamara asked.
“Humans turned from being bitten,” I said.
“Really?” she asked. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“It’s usually frowned upon,” I said. “And by that, I mean punishable by death in most packs.”
Ziamara flinched. “That’s harsh.” She’d been born human and turned into a vampire.
“That’s also why Toby is so against the traditional ways and refuses to follow them. Just about everything is punishable by death.” I shuddered, thinking back to my own death—all because Toby and I wanted to marry each other. Death was definitely the preferred option when my other choice was marrying that tyrant, Franklin, who had always looked at me like I was a servant and puppy factory.
Sasha turned around. “What are you guys doing? Come on!”
The three of us hurried over to them. The mutt smell lingered, almost like we were following it. Or they were following us.
I shook my head. That was ridiculous. Some newly-turned wolves were probably just hanging out.
We all got food at the courtyard and took it outside. It was chilly, but sunny.
“Where are we going shopping?” Jacey asked.
Sasha shot me a knowing glance. “We’re finding a cute bag for Victoria. I don’t know how you can carry around that backpack.”
“It’s convenient.” I shrugged and bit into my burger.
“You’re hopeless,” Sasha said. “I don’t get how you can be so stylish in practically every other way, and then not care about your bag. I mean, really. You may as well just throw on any old pair of ugly shoes.”
Cheyenne gasped. “Now that’s just mean.”
A new werewolf scent drifted our way. Ziamara and I exchanged a worried glance. It wasn’t a mutt. In fact, it smelled eerily close to my pack of origin—the very ones who felt I’d betrayed them. They wanted me dead.
I choked on a fry.
“You okay?” Sasha’s eyes widened.
Soleil whacked me on the back, somehow helping to dislodge the food.
“I’m fine.” I would be unless someone dragged me to my father.
“Where do we want to go next?” Cheyenne asked.
While they discussed shopping, I scanned the periphery. Nothing looked out of place, but then again, everyone in the pack probably dressed in modern clothes, making it all that much harder to spot them in a crowd.
“Does that sound good?” Jacey asked. “Victoria?”
I snapped my attention back to my friends. “Uh, yeah. Whatever you guys want to do.”
Soleil arched a brow. “You okay?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
She frowned, obviously knowing the truth.
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