Nero folded his arms with a smug grin. “You’re already covered in blood,” he said, pointing at Benjamin’s hands and neck. “What’s a little brain added to the mix?”
“You’re sick, Nero. You need help,” he shuddered, pursing his lips. “It’s different when it’s your own kill. Who throws brains at people? Honestly.”
Nero pointed a thumb at his chest. “I fucking do. That’s who.”
I ignored them, turning back to Stevie. “I need your best trackers to help Nosh find the Cauldron. To locate Izzy,” I added, not sure if he’d been told about that since I hadn’t seen him at the fight. Then again, I couldn’t tell most of the wolves apart, so I could have walked right past him a dozen times and not noticed.
Stevie opened his mouth but Nero backhanded him across the shoulder and then leaned in close to whisper in his ear. Stevie stiffened, and then slowly straightened to stare at me. “Benjamin will help,” he said numbly, looking as if he had seen a ghost. “Whatever you need.”
Benjamin eyed him with a thoughtful frown, but he ultimately shrugged, turning to me. “Of course I’ll help.” He took a few steps closer, extending his hand and looking me right in the eyes to show his resolve. Benjamin was like that—he could turn from playful to focused the moment danger arose. “I will get my best wolves on it. I know a few of their old spots where we can start our search. We will find her, Sorin, I promise. Don’t worry about a thing.”
I gripped his forearm and gave him a relieved smile. “Thank you. Victoria and Natalie want to help you.”
He grinned excitedly, pumping his fist. “Oh, hell yeah! The band is back!”
I smiled at his enthusiasm. He had been very close to Natalie back when she was working with the pack. Having the chance to hunt with her again was like a dream come true. “Adam and Eve are watching the castle, but tell Renfield to get every single vampire he can spare to keep an eye on the exits. Have him include the new vampires, too, and keep nullification cuffs on hand in the event you cross paths with an enemy—any witch, no matter if they are dark or light.”
Benjamin nodded soberly, focused on the task ahead.
Stevie was still silent, lost in his own thoughts, so I pressed on. “Same with the wolves. Keep an eye on the perimeter of the park, but I also want everyone watching outwards in case the witches return. Use every wolf you can. I don’t want to hear anything about wolves choosing to instead protect their turf back in their own boroughs. If this goes downhill, their only hope at survival will be fleeing the state, so their boroughs don’t matter.”
Benjamin grimaced, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He gave me a stiff nod, glancing at Stevie warily, wondering why the alpha wasn’t jumping in with suggestions.
“What about the social mixer?” Benjamin finally asked, turning back to me. “Want me to tell Renfield to cancel it?”
I shook my head. “No. That goes off as planned. I want our enemies to see us celebrating, even though we’re being vigilant. It will give them pause, making them wonder why we would be working so hard yet still celebrating. It will make them think we are sitting on some hidden weapon.”
He shared one last look at Stevie, but the alpha werewolf of New York City was now staring up at the castle and didn’t appear to notice his attention. Benjamin shrugged. “Okay, Sorin. Victoria gave me your new phone number, so I’ll let you know when we find Izzy,” he told me. Then he was jogging back towards the museum, lifting his hand to his mouth and letting out a sharp whistle.
I glanced from Nero to Stevie, frowning. “Is everything alright?” I asked. “Did you need anything else, Stevie?” Rather than answering, he turned to Nero with a hopeful grin.
Nero scratched at his beard, a small smile creeping over his face. “I think Sorin is ready to do your favor, Stevie.” The alpha werewolf grinned excitedly.
“That’s not what I asked you, Nero,” I growled angrily.
Nero smiled excitedly. “You kind of did.”
“What does Stevie and his favor have to do with Greece?”
Stevie’s grin evaporated. “Wait. What?”
“Do you trust me?” Nero asked me, ignoring Stevie.
I frowned, glancing back and forth at the pair. “Not at all—”
“Cool,” he said, interrupting me. He grabbed both of us without warning. Then the world snapped to black and we were no longer in Central Park.
16
I coughed, bending at the waist as I grabbed my knees, feeling like I may have left my stomach back in Central Park. “What the hell, Nero?” I demanded angrily. “I thought you needed a totem to do that—” I cut off, noticing our surroundings for the first time.
We stood on a grassy plateau about halfway up a massive, forested mountain. It ended in a cliff about thirty yards away. I spun in a slow circle, marveling at the drastic change of scenery. Our little plateau more resembled an unfinished bridge leading to nowhere—the cliff yawning out over a forested valley far, far below us. Our bridge met the mountain a short distance away at the tree-line of a thick, dark forest—which was the only safe way down. Or up, technically.
Luckily, it was level and at least fifty yards wide so I didn’t fear it snapping off the mountain to send us tumbling down to our deaths in the valley.
There wasn’t a hint of civilization in sight. It was breathtaking.
I stared up at the clear, starlit sky and my mouth opened in awe as a sudden wave of nostalgia rolled over me. The sky was huge and brilliantly lit, much like the nights I had spent in the Americas when I first arrived—and this land was just as empty of human life. The luminous full moon shone down upon the surrounding mountains, bathing everything in a pale glow. It was nothing like the night sky back in the city.
Stevie was staring out towards the cliff. A ring of large, mismatched boulders formed a circle like a broken, discarded crown cast down from the mountain above.
“I don’t think I’ve set foot out of a city in a decade,” Nero said quietly, staring up at the stars. “I almost forgot how big and beautiful it is.” Despite speaking softly, his voice sounded like a shout in the pristine, uninhabited landscape.
“Like the best women,” Stevie murmured somberly.
Nero chuckled absently at his words, still staring up at the sky. “The lights in the city make it harder to see the stars. They call it light pollution.”
I nodded. “It’s just like I remember,” I whispered.
I listened to them taking deep breaths of the cool, clean air; I had forgotten what that felt like after growing accustomed to the city air. It was incredible and pure. And…
“This is not Greece,” I said, turning to Nero. “Explain yourself.”
Stevie wisely took a step back, reading the anger in my tone—because he had good instincts.
“It is better,” Nero said absently, his instincts not as sharp as the alpha werewolf.
“Whatever this is, it’s not better than Greece and I don’t have time for it right now. I’m on a very strict timetable, in case you’ve forgotten. Don’t make me push you off the cliff.”
“It’s a long walk back,” he said dryly. I unsheathed my claws with a warning growl. Nero finally turned to look at me, sighing regretfully. “You’re right. This is not Greece. We’re in upstate New York, and this spot is more important than you realize. More important than I realized. It might just be the key to your victory. I think they call that serendipity.”
I shot a curious glance at Stevie. He was also frowning at Nero, looking just as confused but for different reasons. He had wanted me here for his favor, but something about Nero’s explanation had been a surprise to him as well.
“I don’t think you fully understand my priorities right now, Nero—”
“Perhaps it is you who does not understand your priorities. Maybe you need a reminder. Maybe I do as well,” he said in a resigned tone, studying the cliff as he idly caressed his stump for a wrist. That gesture, more than his words, drew me up short. He glanced over at me. “We’re not
leaving this ledge until you hear me out. You’ll thank me later. And before you threaten me, I’m willing to die for it.”
Stevie’s eyes widened and his hand rose up to grip his beard, giving it a sharp tug—a subconscious gesture on his part. “Um. I’m not willing to die for it. It can definitely wait—”
I held up a hand, cutting him off as I stared at the warlock. “You’re holding me hostage?”
He shrugged. “I guess so.”
I folded my arms. “I don’t understand.”
He nodded satisfactorily. “That’s a good start. For the record, I don’t understand either, but I think our very lives depend on us figuring it out. Now, Stevie told me an interesting story, and I think you need to hear it. But you have to pay for it.”
I gritted my teeth, feeling my pulse rapidly increasing as I glared at the warlock.
“He really doesn’t,” Stevie argued, shaking his head firmly. “I’ll tell him—”
“He has to pay for it!” Nero snarled, gritting his teeth.
Stevie shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but—”
“ENOUGH FUCKING BICKERING!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, unsheathing my claws and panting hoarsely. My voice cracked across the twilight valley like thunder, booming loud enough to make the ground rumble. Nero gasped, staring at me with genuine fear.
Stevie had clapped his hands over his ears with a pained wince and he was standing about five steps back from me. His face was as pale as a sheet as he stared at my claws.
“That’s n-new,” Nero stammered, pointing at my claws as he also backed away a step.
I glanced down to find golden lightning crackling over the tips of my claws, arcing down over my hand and occasionally stabbing at the ground around me where faint tendrils of smoke rose from the blackened grass. I gasped, just as startled as them, and the electricity winked out.
“I…” My vision wobbled and I almost fell as a severe case of vertigo overtook me. I took a deep breath, holding my arms out to maintain my balance. My throat hurt from my shout, and I felt like I had torn my vocal chords. “I’m…sorry,” I whispered, turning away as guilt and shame and embarrassment hammered at me. I couldn’t make myself meet their eyes.
My friends were silent for so long that I feared they might have fled.
“It’s okay, Sorin. I think,” Nero said uncertainly. “Is that the first time it’s happened?”
I nodded, still unable to look at them.
“Okay. Well. Did you shit your pants, too, then?” he asked shakily.
I laughed unsteadily, turning to look at him. My shoulders were shaking with concern, but laughter helped. “You didn’t really, did you?” I asked, feeling a fit of giggles bubbling up inside my chest.
Nero smiled warmly, shaking his head. “Near miss, though,” he admitted. “I just wanted to make sure you could still laugh.” He motioned me back over. Stevie nodded, still staring at my hands, but with awe now that the…shock had worn off.
I let out an unsteady breath and made my way back.
Nero cleared his throat. “Can I ask a question?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Sure. But I’m going to sit down for a minute. I feel dizzy.” I did so, grounding my hands to support my weight as I leaned back, trying to calm my racing pulse.
They sat down beside me so that we formed a row facing the cliff and valley.
“You’re surprised, but I saw recognition in your eyes, too. After they stopped glowing, anyway,” he said carefully.
I glanced at him, surprised. “My eyes were glowing?”
He nodded. “Just like your hands.”
“Looked like…quivers of lightning bolts,” Stevie added.
I shuddered. “Yeah…” And before I knew it, I was giving them a very brief but complete explanation of the Olympians and my recent encounters with my distant family. My father. My son. Dracula. Why I had asked Nero to take me to Greece…
Once finished, I let out a breath and fixed my gaze on my hands, waiting for them to speak. I rotated my wrists, wondering what had caused my outburst of power—of lightning. I’d been angry and frustrated plenty of times. What had been different about tonight?
One thing was for certain. I’d just received proof that Zeus might actually be my father.
“So that was why the lightning was so fucking crazy that night,” Stevie murmured, tugging at his beard. I nodded silently.
Nero cleared his throat. “In light of recent events, I believe I can concede the point that Sorin has paid for your story, werewolf,” he said haughtily. I snorted at his understatement.
Stevie held his arms out, indicating the cliff. “This is a secret, sacred place that only alphas of the Crescent and their seconds-in-command know about. Natalie and Benjamin both know about it—which was why I was so furious about you taking Natalie from me, and why I needed you to agree to this favor if you wanted me to agree to give her away.”
I nodded in confused silence, scanning our surroundings pensively.
“Alphas have always come here to clear their heads before difficult decisions—and to hunt in the surrounding forests. It’s a Native American tradition, ironically. To commune with our ancestors and talk to the great wolf spirit. I never understood that. Figured we might have had ties to them at one point long ago. Until tonight, no others were permitted to visit this sacred land. You’re welcome.”
I swallowed, my throat suddenly tight with emotion to hear that the wolves had ties to the Native Americans.
“I’ve come here dozens of times and I never saw any wolf spirit,” Stevie muttered dismissively. His silence stretched long enough for me to glance over at him. He was studying me curiously. “Until after I met you. After the night you destroyed the blood bank,” he said meaningfully. I blinked, not sure what to say. He nodded at the look on my face. “Yeah. I came here to think long and hard about working with you—getting involved in vampire politics. Since werewolves don’t work with vampires. Ever.” I smiled guiltily. “Anyway, I saw the legendary spirit wolf that night. It was only out of the corner of my eye, but I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I immediately went searching, assuming I’d seen a wild wolf and that my mind had exaggerated it as a result of the sacred legend. But I found—and smelled—nothing. Not a track and not a scent.”
“That’s the part that caught my attention,” Nero said. “I told him we had to get you up here at all costs.” He was staring intently at the cliff as if hoping to see this spirit wolf. I followed his gaze, frowning. Then it hit me. Lucian had been the first werewolf. Was this ledge…his grave? If the werewolves found this spot sacred and shared stories about a great spirit wolf…
They meant Lucian’s spirit! And if Stevie had seen Lucian’s spirit here…
Then Nero’s reason for taking me here tonight suddenly made sense. The veil between life and death was thin enough for a spirit to cross over.
Which meant it was thin enough for me to cross over the other way!
“Holy shit,” I snapped, jumping to my feet. “You saw Lucian’s spirit!” I spun to Nero, tugging him to his feet. “Where is the entrance to the Underworld? Maybe I’ll see him when I cross over!” I rambled on excitedly, jostling his arm frantically. “Come on, Nero. Show me!”
Stevie was staring at me with a sad smile. “That’s the rumor,” he admitted, “and why we don’t tell other werewolves about it. Otherwise this place would become a tourist destination.”
My joy deflated at the look on his face in addition to Nero’s silence. “What’s wrong?”
Stevie sighed. “It didn’t make me feel better. He was just a wolf out of the corner of my eye. No great epiphany or revelation. No sense of peace or recognition. It was actually worse than not seeing him at all. Like learning that Santa isn’t real.”
I frowned at him. Nero was nodding empathetically. “Ghosts do not bring peace,” he said sadly. “That is a cruel myth. They only bring up old pains. I learned that as a necromancer.”
/>
I felt a sharp warning sensation at the base of my neck, and the temperature dropped enough for me to see my breath. I spun with a snarl, focusing on the source of the warning sensation just as Nero and Stevie let out sharp gasps of surprise.
My eyes settled on the cliff and I froze, unable to breathe. My heart skipped a beat, and then suddenly thundered in my chest as if making up for the hiccup. I blinked rapidly, wondering if I was imagining things from Stevie’s fanciful story.
Because there, atop the tallest boulder, bathed in a waterfall of moonlight, stood the largest natural wolf I’d ever seen in my life. Except he wasn’t natural in any form or fashion, because he was easily as large as a car. The pale moonlight made his fur glow like a ghostly apparition.
He watched us with intelligent suspicion. It wasn’t an aggressive look, but it definitely wasn’t friendly either. His fur rippled faintly in the breeze, and I saw vapor pulsing from his nostrils.
“Spirits do not breathe,” Nero whispered.
I nodded woodenly, my heart thumping hard enough that I thought I might be able to see it beating through my shirt if I looked down.
“Lucian,” I breathed, “is not a spirit.”
The wolf tensed upon hearing his name, his attention locking onto me like I was a rabbit who had suddenly moved in the underbrush. Compared to his current size, I was a startled rabbit.
17
I remained motionless so as not to provoke him. Thankfully, so did Nero and Stevie. We stared at the king of all werewolves. My other best friend. It was Lucian.
But…it also wasn’t Lucian.
He was impossibly huge. Either that or the moonlight and the elevation was making him seem more monstrous than he really was. Because his back appeared to be even with my shoulders, his head rising above my own. Each paw was the size of three of my boots, and I found myself beginning to doubt our discovery—that maybe this creature wasn’t Lucian at all.
Maybe this was just a giant supernatural wolf hiding up in the mountains—much like the Nephilim had hidden in the sewers below Central Park. Because werewolves could shift into four-legged beasts, but they never looked quite like natural wolves. Their structure was just different enough that if they stood side-by-side, you would know one of them wasn’t right.
Devil’s Blood: Shade of Devil Book 3 Page 11