by Tanith Frost
Chapter Nineteen
Two nights after my semi-regrettable yet entirely fulfilling night with Silas, I’m reading a heavy book on the history of vampiric clans in North America, curled up on the couch with a steaming cup of coffee to start my night. There’s a small chapter on the Newfoundland Werewolf treaty. It’s not much, but I feel like I might be on to something.
The doorbell buzzes, interrupting my thoughts. It’s a harsh, horrible sound, like it’s designed to be irritating enough that we’ll answer just to make it stop, and far worse than the intercom they’re supposed to use on the outside of the gate. It’s a good thing the one outside the garage hardly ever gets used—most of the werewolves have the sense not to break in through the fence before they come to call on us.
Everything has been quiet for the past two nights. Though the Jeep is in working order, I haven’t been making my rounds. I’ve been too busy reading, too willing to give the werewolves their space, and more than a little concerned that I’ll find Silas’ body torn apart by Joseph’s pack if I venture out.
Something relaxes in my chest as I check the monitors in the office and see him standing under the lights outside the garage, thumbs hooked in the back pockets of his jeans, rocking back on his heels as he looks around.
He’s standing normally, showing no sign that anyone has tried to hurt him. It gives me hope, and more relief than I have any right to feel.
Not that I was worried on anything but a professional level.
I slip my boots on and lace them up tight. I need to get out, and walking with him while we talk will be a chance to spend time with the night. The sky has clouded over, obscuring the near-full moon and the stars, but still. I’ve been cooped up, not wanting to wander alone.
And if I’m honest with myself, I want to be outside because it feels less dangerous. I’m starting to feel the lack of fresh blood. It’s not torture yet. I’m not starving. But my hunger is making me want to seek out other ways to get that feeling of near life, and coffee’s losing its edge. I don’t trust myself not to make the same mistake twice, and Silas is a very tempting mistake.
I meet him in front of the garage and close the big door behind me. We don’t touch as we walk side by side toward the fence and begin a loop around the perimeter. No one watching would get any inkling of what happened the last time he showed up here.
“I talked to Joseph,” he says. “I didn’t tell him what happened, but I wondered out loud whether the vampires might be reaching the end of their patience with us.”
“What did he say to that?”
He kicks a stone out of the way, and it skitters across the dirt of the yard. The air is growing heavy, and a light drizzle tickles my cheeks. I pull my jacket tighter around me.
“He didn’t say anything at first. Then he told me we need to make sure nothing happens to innocent werewolves.”
“Did he sound like he knows who’s not innocent?”
“Maybe.” His brows bunch low over his blue eyes. “Maybe it’s within his own pack, and that means he’ll take care of it. Or maybe he trusts someone else to do the same. Or…”
I slow my steps. “Would he cross pack boundaries if he didn’t think it was being properly taken care of?”
Silas looks back at me. “I don’t know. It’s never happened before. We’re crowded here, always on top of each other. Fights happen, especially at the edges of territories. We kind of accept that. But alphas don’t take on each other’s responsibilities. Other packs aren’t our business. Most of us were his once, but he’s let go, even if he’s never forgiven us for leaving.”
We pick up our pace. The rain is coming down harder now, and much as I’m enjoying the feel of it on my skin, I don’t want to get soaked.
“They’re sending a few vampires out this way,” I tell him. “I’m not supposed to let you know that. They don’t want panic. Daniel said it’s just to check things out, but—”
“We should watch our asses?”
I sigh. “Yeah. I wish I could say you had nothing to worry about if your pack isn’t responsible, but I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like they’re pleased with any of you right now.”
He looks up into the rain, letting it wash over his face. “Are we in danger?”
“I think you always have been.”
“If we ran, they’d find us.”
“They’d try. But I was just reading about the treaty. They have a right to control exposure threats. Right now they’re controlling that by keeping you here during wolf phases. If the killings keep up, they’ll be justified in doing more. But if we can find the killer, or if the murders stop, I think we could stop them.”
He looks back down at me and smiles. “You getting attached to me?”
“Not at all.” I step closer to him. “I just don’t want to see any of you dead, okay? Not even your asshole pack.”
“You have a filthy mouth, you know.”
“You have no idea.”
I spin and walk away before he can respond, letting my hips sway a little more than is strictly necessary. I can’t help it. There’s something about this particular werewolf in wet clothes that makes me stop caring about my loyalties and responsibilities.
Distant headlights cut through the night as we round the corner of the building, and Silas ducks back into the shadows. I move toward the fence, trying to make out the shape of the vehicle, though I already know who it is.
The troops have arrived.
“Stay away from your cabins,” I tell him. “Warn the others.”
He disappears into the gathering shadows. If they flee, it will make them all look guilty. There’s no question about that. But at this point none of them are presumed innocent, and making the vampires’ job easier seems like a very bad idea right now.
I fish my keys from my pocket and walk toward the fence, where a black Escalade waits on the far side of the gate. At least it’s not a troop truck, but it’s big. They could have a good crew in there. Weapons.
I roll the gate back, and the driver lowers his window as he pulls forward. He’s wearing anti-glare aviator glasses that he pushes back on his head before clicking on the overhead light, giving me a good look at a face that’s attractive in a hollow-cheeked, eerie kind of way. “Aviva?”
“That’s me.”
“Glad you’re out. We thought we might be in trouble when you didn’t answer the phone.” He squints up at the rain. “Bad night for a walk.”
“Just doing a quick fence patrol,” I tell him. “I’m getting a little stir crazy in here.”
He laughs. It’s cold, but sounds sincere. “I can only imagine. We’ll have you out of here soon enough. Daniel told me about the Jeep. Maybe we’ll take a look at that for you.” He offers his right hand, and I shake it. “Royce. This is Erica.” He nods to the passenger seat, and the vampire sitting there nods to me. She’s got long, black hair and mid-toned brown eyes. Royce’s are a deep blue. They’re both older than me.
I know my own pale grey irises would give me away as new even if they hadn’t been briefed about me. They’ll expect me to defer to them, though I’ve been here longer than they have and understand the situation far better.
I try not to think about how the alpha wolves here seem to have to earn respect, how their packs obey because they choose to. How Silas seemed surprised I hadn’t stolen control from Paul.
What did he see in me to ask that question? To desire me? Trust me?
“Want a ride back?” Erica asks. Her deep red lips curl up into a smile, and I’m very aware of the impression I must be making. Wet and bedraggled, not a smudge of makeup on my face. Excellent.
“Thanks, but I’ll just lock up here and make a run for it. I don’t think I can get any wetter.”
Royce waves me off and drives toward the lights of the compound.
Only two of them. Maybe they really are just here to help.
They park outside, as I need them to think I can’t move the Jeep. The beds in the rooms I offer th
em are made up already, but the air is as stale as it was in my room when I arrived. I hadn’t even considered accommodations.
Neither of them complains. They each brought a big, squared-off duffel bag that looks like police issue. I ignore the clanking noises from Erica’s as she swings it up and sets it on the bed.
“I’ll leave you two to get settled,” I tell her, “and then I can fill you in on anything you need to know about the situation.”
She nods, looking a little amused at my attempt to have some kind of control. At least, I assume that’s what she’s smiling at. She’s hard to read, but I take comfort in the fact that I don’t feel any actual malice directed at me.
I head to the office, where the message light is flashing. I press the button on the cassette tape playback, expecting Royce’s voice telling me they’re almost here.
Instead, a male voice fills the office, controlled on the surface, but bristling with anxiety just below.
“Ah, Paul. It’s Billy Miller. Doctor Bill from town. You said to call if… Paul, we have another body. Susannah was out hiking before sundown out your way, and…”
He pauses, takes a long, shaky breath. “Paul, we don’t know this one. She’s an outsider.”
Chapter Twenty
Royce calls Doctor Bill back, then announces that we’ll take the Escalade down to the village immediately.
He and Erica have already taken over, and I’m too numb to let my pride get hurt over it. I’m halfway back into vampire mode now anyway. It’s like a switch has flipped in my mind, and all of my training is snapping back into place. Respect elders and those in positions of authority. Fit in, do as I must for the good of Maelstrom. It’s an experience somewhere between returning to a comfortable habit and slipping into a straitjacket. I know it’s for the best, but it chafes me now in ways I never felt before.
Much as I’ve hated being alone and cooped up here, much as I disliked Paul’s disinterested company before that, I realize now that I was getting something unexpected out of this bottom-tier job assignment.
Freedom.
I was taking charge, asking whatever I wanted, not answering to anyone but myself even though Paul was technically my boss. Making connections because I decided to, not because someone else allowed it.
And I liked it. Maybe that’s why I chose to stay and help the wolves. It was my decision, and I feel like it was the right one, but maybe it was selfish, too. I wanted that freedom.
Things seemed so much clearer before Erica and Royce showed up and took over. I’m questioning myself now, feeling new again as I quickly relearn old lessons: I am untried, I am unworthy, and my personal thoughts and feelings about things are decidedly unwelcome.
Within vampire culture, it’s all true. I just hadn’t realized until right now how much it sucks.
I follow Royce and Erica to the garage and climb into the back seat, finally realizing what it meant every time Daniel did the same for me. He gave me authority I hadn’t earned, just to make things easier for me in my future dealings with Paul.
He’s tried so many times to smooth my way, to call out my potential even when I wanted to give up. I’m glad he can’t see how I’ve been playing with fire here, threatening everything he’s helped me build by associating with the werewolves.
The body lies just outside of sanctuary land, not far from Irene’s territory. The rain has abated slightly by the time we get there, but the air is still heavy, threatening another downpour. The headlights of a filthy pickup truck illuminate a group of four people standing still and silent, waiting.
We climb out of the Escalade, and Erica approaches the body while Royce speaks quietly with Doctor Bill, who seems confused about who these new people are.
I glance around and spot Susannah standing alone a short distance away, head hung low, long hair hanging wet over her face.
“Have you been out here the whole time?” I ask her.
She looks up, startled. She seems a bit out of it, eyes glassy and bloodshot. Not drugged, though. Just upset. She gives me a wary look. “I couldn’t leave her,” she says. “I found her and I called back to town. I don’t care for cell phones, but we’re all supposed to carry them now, just in case. Bill told me to go home when it started raining, or at least sit in his truck, but I… I couldn’t.”
“I’m sorry you had to be the one to find her.”
“I can’t believe they’d do this,” she says, voice trembling, her formerly calm veneer shattered. “Even now. The power in the air here seems like such a good thing. Natural, deep-rooted, strong. Peaceful.” She wipes her nose on her sleeve. “What is it, Aviva? This power?”
I’m a little surprised she remembers my name. The living don’t usually hold on to memories of us that well unless they write the details down or come into frequent contact with us. But she is different, this one. I wonder whether the victim was, too, to have been able to find this place that pushes most people away.
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. I’m not going to explain my power or the werewolves’, how they seem so opposite, or how I’m starting to wonder whether they’re only two sides of the same coin. Light and dark, but not good and evil.
I hope.
It would be one thing to talk about it with another vampire, if there were any who seemed receptive to my ideas, or to a werewolf, who are at least a part of this power web. But not with humans. There are lines I’m not willing to cross.
I feel like I owe her something, though. I reach for the pendant that hasn’t left my throat since the night she gave it to me. “I don’t think it’s good or bad,” I tell her. “It’s just… there. And the wolves are probably not good or bad, either. They’re just trying to survive.”
“Then why are they doing this?” she asks. “They’re not killing for food.”
And they’re endangering themselves. I look back at Erica and Royce, who are now examining the body. I doubt I’ll get time alone with this one like I did the first. I also doubt it would tell me anything useful.
I reach up and unhook the chain from around my neck. “You want this back?”
She gives me a forced smile and shakes her head, then opens the collar of her jacket, exposing a pendant in a similar blue shade that’s shaped into an elongated, rounded triangle. “I’m something of a collector of gemstones,” she explains, surprising me not in the least. “You keep it. It suits you.”
I draw a deep breath. It’s supposed to be habitual when we’re around the living, but I realize that I haven’t been doing it tonight except to speak. “You’re a kind person, Susannah.”
She smiles again, sadly. “I had a good feeling about you. You’re strange. Inhuman, but I try not to jump to conclusions.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to stop this,” I tell her, and I mean it. While protecting the innocent werewolves has kept me going, there are the townsfolk to think of as well.
She looks over at Erica, who’s watching us with narrowed eyes. Susannah shivers. “They’re here to end it, aren’t they?”
“We’ll see. Can you tell me what happened?”
Susannah fills me in quickly on the details as she remembers them. She found the body lying here, throat torn out like the others, but more beaten up than either of them. The body was cold, and Susannah didn’t fear that the killer wolf might still be around.
“Do you think she was alone?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” She frowns. “It will be bad if she wasn’t and her companion ran away, won’t it? For the town. The wolves.”
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “Definitely bad for the wolves. I have a feeling the story would die pretty quickly if it got out, though.”
Death is our specialty, after all.
I leave her and crouch to examine the body. Erica and Royce have moved on and are speaking to the living now, ignoring me. There’s no harm in trying.
The victim lies face-down in the grass, wearing shorts and a pink t-shirt, dirty blonde hair tied up i
n a ponytail. There’s a blue sweatshirt tied around her waist. It was warm earlier. She didn’t have a chance to feel the evening’s chill.
I roll her over. She looks peaceful, but there’s something eerie about the way her green-blue eyes stare up into the night sky. I close her eyes and my own, then place my hand on the cold skin of her forehead. I only get the faintest hint of a shadow. Canine. No question that the wolves are doing this. I almost wish I could think they were being framed. I wouldn’t put it past some vampires to try it, to start something like this just to have a reason to be rid of them. But it’s there in the shadow. Huge wolf, savage fangs. She ran from it—no, them. Two wolves.
The shadows waver, and I reach up with my other hand to hold my pendant. Just in case.
She ran. That’s why she looks so beat up. One of them tackled her from behind. I feel her panic, the pain shooting through her shoulders as claws tear at her backpack, rolling her over.
And then nothing.
“See anything interesting?” Erica asks from behind me, and my eyes fly open.
“Nothing unexpected,” I tell her. “The other two were the same, throats torn out. They were knocked backwards, though.” I point to the long claw marks on the backs of our victim’s bare arms. “This one came closer to escaping.”
Erica’s red lips tighten into a thin line. “Good thing she didn’t.”
I grit my teeth. Every time I think I’m accepting vampires for what we are, something reminds me of how cold we can be.
“Do you need me for anything?” I ask. “I’d like to take a look around, see what there might be to see.”
“Go ahead,” she says. “We should be through with these people soon.”
There’s something of a verbal eyeroll in her voice, as though this is miles beneath her. I look back to Susannah, who’s broken up about this, who won’t get the answers she wants but will keep her faith in what she feels anyway. A fountain of anger bubbles up in me.
There’s more I can do here. There has to be.