Grave Origins

by Lori Drake

  Joey didn’t like that gleam in his eyes. It was a look that suggested he half wished Gerald would indeed need the cage while they were still in it. She swallowed. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “We don’t rightly know, not fully. He’s always had problems with control, as long as I’ve known him. Then, about eight years ago, his wolf started bleeding into his human consciousness, like whatever used to keep them separate was weakening. It was subtle at first, little shifts in his personality that would be easy to miss. He got paranoid, territorial, aggressive. It wasn’t until we started sensing the shift in his energy that we realized what was going on. He was fighting his wolf every hour of every day, and the more his control slipped, the more power he leaked.”

  This was starting to sound eerily familiar. Joey leaned forward on the balls of her feet, listening intently. She kept her mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt Owen, since he was being so forthcoming.

  “Anyway, Lewis started doing guided meditation with him. It seemed to help. In his moments of clarity, Gerald begged him to build a cage. He was worried his wolf would take control completely and hurt someone, or worse.” He stopped, a far-off look in his eyes for a moment before he shook his head. “Anyway, that’s the deal with the cage.”

  “Did you ever need it?” Joey asked. “Before today, I mean.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, we did.”

  The door at the top of the stairs opened again, and Caroline came back with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a stack of sterile gauze in waxed paper packets. Owen collected them from her with quiet thanks and brought them over to the cage, dumping them on the floor beside the untouched tray.

  “Knock yourself out,” he said. “And have something to eat. It hasn’t been tampered with. I give my word on that.” It was obvious from the set of his jaw that he was done talking about Gerald, and Joey opted not to press her luck. Not when there was something she wanted from him more.

  “Leave the light on?” Joey asked, hoping the request didn’t sound as pathetic as it felt. She gestured at the first-aid supplies. “So we can see what we’re doing.”

  Owen smirked but turned to follow Caroline back to the stairs. “Sure.”

  Their footsteps ascended, and Joey had just crouched to reach between the bars for the alcohol bottle when the light went out, plunging the room into near darkness once more. Her pulse leaped and her breath caught in her throat. A few seconds later, the light flicked on again. A masculine chuckle was cut off by the closing door.

  Joey snatched the alcohol from the floor. “Asshole,” she muttered.

  “Since when are you afraid of the dark?” Ben asked quietly.

  Joey snatched up a few gauze pads too and knee-walked them over to where Ben sat. “I’m not. It just… makes the room feel smaller. Take your shirt off.”

  He opened one eye to regard her, one corner of his mouth twitching. “Wrong brother.”

  Her lip curled in disgust.

  “Oh, come on. It’s a little funny. Anyway, I’d think not being able to see the walls would make it easier.”

  “It doesn’t, okay? Do you want me to help you with your wounds or not?”

  He breathed a resigned sigh and peeled off his bloody shirt, dropping it on the floor. “It’s probably not necessary, but if it’ll make you feel better to have something to do, go for it.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Joey ripped open a couple of the gauze packets and poured alcohol on their contents, then began gently wiping at Ben’s wound.

  At the first touch of the alcohol-soaked gauze to his skin, he flinched and sucked in his stomach, but he bore it without a peep. Cleaning him up wasn’t quite as therapeutic as cleaning a sink might be, but Joey threw herself into the task. They hadn’t brought any tape, so Joey had to settle for pressing clean gauze against the wounds and calling it good. The one in the back stuck, because the wound was still bleeding a little, but the one in front didn’t. She held it in place until Ben took over.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  She nodded, fidgeting with the now-empty paper packets for lack of anything else to do. “Do you think Maria really killed Lewis?”

  “I don't know. I’m sure she’s capable of it, but… I dunno. I did notice something, though.”

  Joey looked up from the discarded paper in her hands. “Hmm?”

  “Owen was wearing a different shirt when he arrived on the scene than he was when we met with them about Maria.”

  “He was?” Joey blinked, pondering the implications of that. “Do you think he did it?”

  “I think he has more motive than Maria.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, he sure as hell had more to gain. He’s been Lewis’s second for, what… ten years? Now he’s Alpha, and he didn’t have to challenge Lewis for it.”

  Joey frowned. “And a hunter being on the loose is the perfect cover-up. Shit.” She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and closed her eyes.

  “It’s just a thought. We can’t prove it.”

  “Not yet, we can’t.”

  “You have an idea?”

  “I’m working on it.” Joey curled up beside him on the concrete floor and pillowed her head on his leg. His hand shifted to her shoulder, rubbing gently. Drawing comfort from the touch, Joey closed her eyes and turned her thoughts inward, doing her best to let the knowledge of her present circumstances fade into the background. It didn’t help much, but it was enough to sustain her for now.

  23

  It was just after nine o’clock when Chris pulled up outside the ranch house. He parked beside Joey’s car and headed for the front door. A woman with graying hair answered his knock and bade him enter once he identified himself. She didn’t introduce herself, just led him to the living room where a man with a close-cropped beard and full head of auburn hair sat in an armchair that dwarfed him somehow, as if it were made for a larger man.

  The man stood and offered a handshake. “Mr. Martin, I presume. Thanks for coming out.”

  Chris shook the offered hand more firmly than strictly necessary, recognizing the man’s deep voice from their brief phone conversation. He was shorter than Chris expected. “You didn’t exactly give me a choice, did you? I’m here for my brother and my mate.”

  Owen gave as good as he got but reclaimed his hand after a moment. “Yeah, about that.”

  Chris frowned. “If any harm has come to them…”

  “I’m afraid there was a bit of a scuffle and… your brother, you say?”

  “Take me to them. Now.” Chris’s wolf rose practically of its own accord, a hint of command sneaking into his voice. A scuffle. Something was wrong with Ben. The hairs on his arms stood up as a chill worked its way down his spine.

  Owen’s eyes narrowed, his own wolf rising in answer. They were both alphas, and Owen shrugged off the tendril of Chris’s power easily enough. “Before I do, I want you to know the full extent of what’s happened. Your… Wait, did you say mate?” His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  Owen’s sudden nervousness set Chris even more on edge. It didn’t help that his wolf was agitated, sending him impressions of jaws locked around the throat of squirming prey. He shoved his wolf back into its cage rather than allow its primal instincts to cloud his thoughts. “Yes. Yes, I did. Take me to them, and then you can explain whatever you want.”

  Owen nodded briskly and set off without another word, leaving Chris to follow in his wake. Chris’s long-legged stride kept pace easily with the shorter man. He glanced around as they passed through the living room and into the kitchen, mentally cataloguing exits in case he had to make a run for it at some point. But there was no way he’d be leaving without Joey.

  Owen opened a door, revealing a flight of wooden stairs descending into a basement room. He motioned for Chris to go ahead of him, but Chris shook his head.

  “After you. I insist.” Chris’s momma didn’t raise no fool.

  Nodding, Owen tromped down the stairs, his boots thudding noisily. Chris followe
d in his wake, his dancer’s footsteps much lighter and his rubber-soled sneakers quieter. He scented blood about halfway down the stairs and hastened his descent until he could duck down and get a better look at what he was walking into. He nearly tripped over his own feet when he found the cage with Joey and Ben inside it.

  He wasn’t sure what was more alarming, the way Joey had her arms curled around her knees and sat there rocking or the fact that his shirtless brother’s pale stomach was covered in blood and a pink square of gauze.

  Chris flew down the rest of the steps and grabbed fistfuls of Owen’s shirt. “Okay, I’m ready for that explanation now.”

  “Let me go,” Owen replied, his eyes hard as he tipped his chin up to meet Chris’s challenging gaze.

  Chris barked a humorless laugh. “You’re lucky I don’t rip your goddamn—”

  “Chris?”

  A hoarse whisper brought him up short. Joey.

  He released his grip on Owen’s shirt and shoved him away in favor of walking over to the cage. Joey’s dark eyes were haunted as she studied him from her still-seated position.

  “I’m here, baby.” He looked over at Owen. “Let them out. Now.”

  Joey slowly unwound her arms from around her legs and shifted onto her knees, crawling toward the bars. The sight of his strong girl laid so low about broke his heart. His hands lifted to the bars automatically.

  “Don’t—”

  Ben’s warning came too late. Chris curled his fingers around the bars, but only for a fraction of a second. It was long enough for the silver to scald his skin, but not long enough to do any serious damage. It still hurt.

  “—touch that,” Ben finished.

  Chris whirled on Owen for a second time. “I said let them out!”

  Owen sauntered over at an unhurried pace, fishing a ring of keys out of his pocket. He stopped short of doing anything productive with them, instead slipping his index finger through the ring and giving it a twirl. “I let them out, and the three of you leave my territory and never come back.”

  Chris growled and stepped close to Owen again, not touching him but glowering at him from his greater height. “I don’t know what happened to Lewis, but it won’t be your territory for long if you don’t let them out.”

  Owen’s shoulders stiffened. “Is that a challenge?”

  “Only if you make it one.”

  “Why don’t you ask them what happened to Lewis?”

  Chris fought the urge to wrap his hands around the man’s neck. Maybe his wolf had had a good idea with the whole jaws-to-the-throat thing. “I’m not playing games with you, little man. You’re the big dog now. I get it. But if you don’t let my people out right now, I’ll break your damn finger and let them out myself.”

  Owen stopped toying with the key ring, his eyes turning wary. Then he shrugged, stepped around Chris, unlocked the cage door, and wrapped his fingers around a rubber-sheathed length of bar just above the lock. He kicked a tray with food and water aside, spilling water across the concrete floor, and swung the door open.

  Joey sprang out of the cage and flung herself at Chris. He caught her, wrapping her securely in his arms and holding her against him. She trembled in his arms, and he knew she wouldn’t really settle down until she could see sky. It would have to wait just a little longer. Ben unfolded himself from his sitting position gingerly, sweeping up the bloody remains of his shirt before getting to his feet. He walked out of the cage slowly, holding his shirt against his stomach, but once he cleared the door and stood next to Owen, Ben reared back and punched him square in the nose. Owen reeled backward, encountered the door of the cage, then stumbled forward again with a cry of alarm. Smirking, Ben stuck a foot out. Owen tripped and went sprawling, landing on the food and spilled water.

  “Asshole,” Ben muttered, then straightened his posture and held out a hand to Chris. They slapped palms and clasped forearms. “Thanks for coming, brother.”

  “Anytime,” Chris said. “Now will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

  “Lewis is dead,” Joey said softly, her face still buried against his chest.

  Red-faced, Owen picked himself up off the floor. Blood flowed from both his nostrils, staining his lips and chin crimson. “Get out! Now!”

  Chris ignored him like the ham-fisted despot he was.

  “Took a silver knife to the back,” Ben said. “Lewis, not me. I got shot.”

  “By him?” Chris guessed, nodding in Owen’s direction.

  “Nah. It was his gun, though. And he’s the one that ordered us locked up, so I figured I owed him one.” Ben shook out his hand, then lifted it and inspected his knuckles.

  “Let’s get out of here and regroup,” Chris said. Joey needed little urging to get moving toward the stairs, but she kept one arm securely around Chris’s waist as they ascended.

  “And don’t come back!” Owen shouted in their wake.

  Joey stumbled in her haste to get down the front steps and away from the house, and might’ve gone down if not for Chris’s steadying hand. Tipping her head back, she gazed up at the starry sky and let the stillness and quiet of the night seep into her pores, soothing her.

  She wasn’t exactly sure how long she’d been in that cursed cage, but she knew how long the drive was, so it had to have been close to three hours. Assuming they’d called Chris promptly and he’d left right away. No, her rational mind told her, it had probably been a bit longer than that. She shivered and tightened her hold on Chris as they stood there quietly, waiting for Ben to join them. He’d remembered their phones on the way out and backtracked to retrieve them from Owen.

  “If he isn’t out in five, we should go in after him,” she murmured, after a few deep breaths of the crisp air.

  “He can handle himself.” Chris pressed a kiss into her hair. His breath tickled her scalp, and she sighed and burrowed closer to him.

  All she wanted to do was rub his scent all over her. That was her wolf’s influence, but she was too tired to keep her at bay just then. “Missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” he murmured, his mouth still close to the top of her head. He stroked her hair. “More than you can imagine.”

  Joey fell silent and focused on settling down while they waited. At least the time spent in the cage had been enough for her splitting headache to subside. Her head wasn’t even tender anymore. Ben emerged from the house a couple of minutes later and held out her phone.

  She took it from him. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. So, now what?” Ben said.

  “Withdraw and regroup,” Chris said.

  Ben chuckled and punched his shoulder. “You’ve been hanging out with Sam too much.”

  “No arguments here,” Chris muttered. “Speaking of which, though, I should call him and let him know you’re both okay.”

  Joey took one last deep breath, then detached herself from Chris to give him some space to do so. Together, the three of them ambled in the direction of the cars.

  “You want me to take your car so you can catch Chris up?” Ben asked along the way.

  Joey nodded and passed him her keys. “See you at the motel.”

  A few minutes later, they were heading back toward town. Closing her eyes, Joey breathed in the fresh air that streamed in through the cracked windows.

  “You okay?” Chris asked.

  “Hmm?” She rolled her head to the left and studied his profile.

  “You didn’t ask to drive. I kind of expected it, after what you’ve been through tonight.”

  “Oh.” Joey thought about it a moment and shrugged. “I didn’t feel a need to, I guess.”

  He glanced at her with a smile and offered his hand. She laced her fingers with his and let their joined hands rest against her leg.

  “I think Owen killed Lewis,” she said.

  “Oh? Why? I mean, besides the fact that I’ve known him for a hot minute and he seems like a complete sociopath.”

  Joey snorted softly. “Oddly, he didn’t se
em that bad until he became Alpha. Anyway… a few reasons. One, it happened right after I told them about Maria’s past as a hunter. Two, Ben says that Owen was wearing a different shirt when we found the body than he was when we met with him and Lewis before the murder. Three, Lewis wasn’t in Cincinnati around the time Maria’s parents were killed. We figured that out definitively, so even if she wanted to pick up that old vendetta, she’d have no motive. And four… well, it’s more conjecture than anything, but a knife to the back says betrayal by someone you trusted to me.”

  “Also, Maria prefers garrotes.”

  Joey laughed. “That’s what Ben said.”

  Snickering, Chris lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. But he quickly sobered again. “I don’t think you’re off the mark. It does seem a little convenient. I didn’t get the impression that he was grieving the loss of his Alpha all that much.”

  “Yeah, no shit.” Joey blew out a breath and shook her head, then remembered what she’d learned about Maria’s parents. “I don’t suppose Adam’s dug up anything on Maria’s dad?”

  “Not yet, no. Why?”

  “I know why.”

  “Are you going to tell me, or just tease me?”

  “I do like teasing you, but I’ve had a long day, so you’re off the hook. Paul Evans was human.”

  Chris looked straight at her for a moment. The car drifted to the right until the thunk thunk thunk of the tires hitting the textured pavement along the shoulder made him snap his attention back to the front and steer into the middle of the lane. “Maria’s father was human? How’s that even possible?”

  Joey smiled wryly. “Honestly, I was hoping your birds-and-bees talk was more accurate than mine. I didn’t know it was possible for a half-breed to go through the change, either.”

  “Is there any chance Maria’s mother lied about her child’s father?”

  “Sure, there’s always a chance. But it’s not like we can ask her. She’s been dead more than two decades. But if Maria’s father was human, there’s at least an outside chance that she and Jack really are twins.”

  “She’ll probably be happy to hear that.”