by Julie Wetzel
Dropping down next to them, Krissy wiggled her fingers between the bands of black flesh until she found fur. Rage and hate poured over her, making her gasp. She reached for something to keep from being washed away in the torrent of anger. Something warm touched her on the back, and she connected with it. It took her a moment to realize it was Phelan.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Krissy drew in several measured breaths through her mouth before she could answer him. “Yeah,” she said as she found her balance against the anger. “Thanks.” Closing her eyes, she turned her concentration to the wolf under her hand, but the feel of Phelan at her back distracted her. “I’m good now.” She clenched her jaw as Phelan withdrew his hand, leaving her on her own with Cassie’s rage. Once stable, she started to sing.
It was hard to push calm feelings out into a raging creature, but Krissy kept her mind clear and stable as she worked. Slowly, the anger started to subside. As the need for Krissy’s full concentration diminished, she started to notice a warmth running under the other emotions. It was very similar to what she’d found in Phelan. Carefully, she reached for that.
Cassie squirmed and growled as Krissy touched it.
Slowly, Krissy pulled back from that strange warmth in Cassie. Unlike Phelan’s, which had been soft and flowing, this was hard. If it had been a muscle, she would have said it was cramping. It didn’t feel right, so Krissy inspected it more. There was definitely a tension there that shouldn’t be, so she turned her focus on that bit. As she worked, she came upon a node of energy folded into that line of warmth.
Cassie snarled when Krissy focused on it.
This strange reaction told Krissy that the energy was probably causing the anger, and she decided she needed to get this knot out. Concentrating on that one spot, she pressed until the energy snapped loose. She gasped as the memory of pain ripped through her. She felt what Cassie had as her body tore itself apart and came back together in a different form. Krissy clutched onto the hard mass of tentacles in front of her to keep from passing out. This connected her with Zak and transferred some of those painful memories to him.
Zak let out a cry and spasmed just enough for Cassie to break free of his hold.
Her head whipped around and she snapped at Krissy, grazing her with a sharp tooth.
“Krissy,” Phelan yelped and grabbed her back from the attacking wolf.
Unable to function, Krissy hung limp in his arms, gasping for breath as he pulled her from the cage.
“Krissy,” he called again as he dropped to the floor and held her in his arms.
She blinked, trying to focus on him, but was unable to answer him through the shock.
“What happened?” Elliot snapped.
Phelan shook his head and looked to the vampire. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Cassie got loose.”
Slowly, Krissy rolled her head to look at the other man. Her brain felt filled with fog.
Elliot cursed as his eyes caught blood welling up on her arm. He lifted it to take a closer look at the bite. The skin was barely broken. If he worked fast, there was a possible chance he could keep her from turning hairy at the next full moon.
The fog in Krissy’s brain evaporated as Elliot slammed her arm into his mouth and his fangs ripped through her skin. She cried out in pain and tried to yank her arm back.
“No,” Phelan said as he held her so she couldn’t pull away. “Cassie bit you.”
Shocked, Krissy looked up at him.
“Just relax.” Phelan soothed her. “Lycanthropy is very contagious while we are in our lupine form,” he explained. “Even the smallest scratch can be enough to transfer it to another.”
Fear raised Krissy’s heartrate. “Lycanthropy,” she squeaked as she started to realize what had happened. She tried to tug her arm out of Elliot’s grasp, but Phelan put his hand on her arm to stop her struggle.
“Shh. Werewolfism can be prevented if the victim is treated right away,” he explained.
Krissy stilled and looked up at him. “How?”
Phelan drew in a breath and let it rush from him. “Well. You have to clean the wound thoroughly and bleed the victim until you’re sure the taint is gone. Even then, nothing is guaranteed.” He paused and looked at the man sucking on Krissy’s arm. He’d heard about ways to prevent werewolfism, but he’d never been close enough to a victim with a light enough wound to test out the theories. “Let Elliot work. Nothing can bleed a wound like a vampire.”
“Bleed the wound?” Krissy asked. Too many things were zipping through her brain for her to process what he meant.
Phelan smiled at her. “Yeah. He’ll make sure the taint is removed from your blood.” He glanced over at Elliot. “Vampires are very good at sucking,” he teased.
Elliot shot him a look that could melt flesh from bone, but didn’t stop. After a few more hard pulls, he pulled his fangs from her skin, ran his tongue over the wound to clean it, and made a face. “Yuck. Dog slobber.” He pressed his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding.
Phelan chuckled at him. “Did you get it?”
Sucking the blood from his teeth, Elliot nodded. “I believe so, but only time will tell.”
Krissy stared at the red trickling from the corner of his mouth with a macabre fascination. Some part of her knew she should be terrified, but shock had detached her from those feelings.
Elliot looked down at her with concern. “Maybe we should treat this and get Miss Midlton to bed for now. I fear I took more blood than was good for her health.” Reaching up, he wiped his thumb over the corner of his mouth, removing the line of blood, and then sucked it from his thumb.
“I think you’re right,” Phelan said as he gathered her in his arms and stood up. “Finishing up here can wait for later.”
Releasing her arm, Elliot checked to make sure the blood had stopped before laying it in her lap. “I’ll get Zak and be up behind you.”
Phelan nodded and started down the hall towards the steps.
Krissy looked down at her arm. Two neat holes and a short scratch stood out on her pale skin. She understood why Elliot had bitten her, but what she knew of vampires brought another concern to her mind. “Am I going to be a vampire now?”
This drew a chuckle from Phelan. “I’m more worried that you’ll turn into a werewolf at the next full moon.”
“But he bit me,” she said, reaching over to touch the puncture marks.
“It takes more than one bite to turn someone into a vampire,” Phelan reassured her.
“Oh,” Krissy said as she settled in his arms. Her movements felt heavy, as if she were moving through molasses. “I don’t want to be a vampire.” Her eyes fluttered as fatigue started to take her.
“How would you feel about being a werewolf?” Phelan asked.
Krissy was too close to sleep to answer him, but the question bounced around in her brain. The warmth she had felt in Phelan wrapped around her, and she suddenly knew what it was and why she hadn’t felt it in anyone else before. It was that part of him that was wolf. She drifted off to sleep in his arms, wondering if that was something she could live with.
***
Worry nibbled at Phelan’s mind as he carried Krissy up the basement steps. He trusted Elliot and knew the vampire understood how much blood a human could lose, but the fact that Krissy had passed out so quickly disturbed him. Phelan checked her over again. Besides the fact she was out cold, she didn’t show any of the other signs associated with extreme blood loss. She just seemed exhausted. But then again, the night had been very long for them all. Putting his worry aside, Phelan made his way through the house and up the carpeted steps that led to the second floor.
Rupert’s second floor wasn’t very impressive. When he’d moved in, he’d put in a set of steps and finished out the attic into an inhabitable space. To the right of the steps were several bunks set up for use by any of the wolves that wanted to stay. To the left was a door. Phelan shoved his shoulder into it and popped it loose. It swung open into Phelan�
��s second home.
Crossing the room, Phelan laid Krissy down in the rumpled sheets on his bed. For a moment, he regretted not taking the time to make his bed this morning, but he shook the feeling away as he settled her into place. Ever since Darien had taken Sue in, Phelan had been spending more time at Rupert’s house than at his own. He didn’t live that far away, but it was just easier to crash here so he was on hand when chaos broke out. And chaos had been the name of the game recently.
Standing up, Phelan stared at the petite woman now occupying his bed. He was still amazed that such a slight thing had taken on a rampaging werewolf all by herself. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he carefully pulled the elastic band from her hair, freeing the dark strands. He smoothed her shoulder-length hair down and laid her head on the pillow. Once he was sure she was comfortable, he turned his attention to the wound on her arm.
Two small lines of blood trickled from the puncture marks, but the bite looked clean. Digging in a box under the nightstand, Phelan came up with a bag of medical supplies. Several of the recent fights had left the wolves involved bleeding and bruised. Although their metabolisms healed them quickly, a few had been bad enough to require bandaging. Phelan had gathered some basic first aid stuff to keep the injured wolves from bleeding everywhere while they healed. Another rummage through the box produced the bottle of isopropyl alcohol Phelan used to clean his knives. Laying his supplies on the bed, he thoroughly cleaned and wrapped Krissy’s wounded arm.
“How’s it look?”
Phelan glanced up as Elliot came into the room. “Not bad,” he said, placing the last piece of tape on Krissy’s arm. He laid her arm down along her side, pulled the covers into place, and started to gather his supplies back into the bag. “How’d everything go downstairs?”
Elliot walked over to the foot of the bed. “Strange,” he said as he placed Zak down on top of the blankets.
The fay growled at him but didn’t move far.
Phelan cocked his head in concern. “Strange?”
Elliot tucked Zak’s tentacles in around him. “It took some coaxing to get Zak to turn Cassie loose. I was ready for her to attack us, but she didn’t.”
“She didn’t?” Phelan asked.
“Oh, she snapped a few times, but nothing like I expected,” Elliot explained. “She backed herself into the corner and snarled while I pulled Zak from the cage.”
“Pulled him from the cage?”
“Yeah, cranky here wouldn’t even get himself out,” Elliot said, glaring down at the grumpy fay. “I had to open the door and drag him out. He got snappy when I tried to put him down, so I carried him up. I figured that would be better than leaving him on the floor.”
Zak growled again and thrashed some of his smaller feelers. He squirmed a little closer to Krissy’s legs, but didn’t get very far before flopping to the bed in exhaustion.
Phelan glanced between the tired fay and the woman tucked into his bed. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking up at Elliot.
Elliot crossed his arms over his chest. “I think we may have a serious problem.”
“Other than werewolves losing control?” Phelan asked as he stood up. He checked on Krissy one more time before moving his supplies back to the box under his nightstand.
“There’s magic involved in this,” Elliot said.
Phelan stood up and stared at the vampire as he processed Elliot’s words. “That makes sense, but how can you tell? Rupert and I checked each of the wolves and couldn’t find any spells on them.”
Elliot made a thoughtful noise as he considered the possibilities. “I’m not as accomplished at magic as Darien, but I know power when I feel it. And, although I didn’t sense anything unusual about any of the wolves, there was a sudden burst of energy right before Cassie’s final attack.”
“Burst of power?”
“Yes.” Elliot nodded gravely. “I think Miss Midlton stumbled upon something while she was trying to soothe Cassie.”
Phelan looked at her thoughtfully. “That would explain why she passed out so quickly.”
“It would also explain Zak’s sudden lack of motivation.”
“Backlash?” Phelan surmised as he considered the situation.
“Maybe,” Elliot answered.
Zak made a rumbling noise, but didn’t move from his spot.
“What could do this?” Phelan asked.
“Any number of things,” Elliot said, dropping his hands to his sides again. “But it would have to be fierce to take Zak down.”
“That still leaves a lot on the chopping block,” Phelan said as he turned to lead the way out so Krissy could get some rest. “Where do we start?”
Elliot sighed deeply before following. “That’s a good question. Normally, I would ask Darien. He has a much-wider range of knowledge than I.”
“But he’s not here right now,” Phelan protested.
“So we’re just going to have to figure it out on our own,” Elliot said, stepping out of the room. “That is, unless you want me to call Lord Dakine.”
Phelan turned around and shut the door behind him as he considered this possibility. Rupert had been very adamant about limiting outside involvement. “No,” he finally answered as he turned to Elliot. “Let’s keep this in the pack. If we can’t figure it out, we’ll see what Rupert wants to do.”
“As you wish,” Elliot agreed. He cocked his head as something came to mind. “By the way, where is Rupert?” He glanced around as if the question would bring the missing alpha. “I thought he was going to meet up with us, but it’s been hours since we parted.”
“That’s a good question,” Phelan said, looking around the room at the bunks and seeing the wolves they’d saved. It was good to see that Ruby had moved them to a more comfortable place. Rupert should have been there checking on his people. “Let’s go find out.” Turning towards the steps, Phelan led the way down. They’d been too busy in the basement to really worry about the missing alpha, but now that there was time to think, his absence was noticeable.
As they walked, Phelan turned his thoughts from Rupert and considered the vampire following him. Over the course of the last few years, Phelan had made it a point to study the vampires in Brenton. He’d wanted to be ready with a strategy if the truce Darien had forged ever broke down. He’d learned much, but there were a few on his list who still remained an enigma to him.
The first was Darien. Other than the public face of his company, there wasn’t much information floating around about the true master of the city. Phelan knew he was ancient, very powerful, and not to be crossed. Darien was keen on making sure the peace in Brenton held, but other than settling the disagreements between the werewolves and the vampires, he’d kept pretty much to himself. The ifrit’s attack on Vicky had forced the great man back into his place in the world of the supernatural and revealed a whole side Phelan hadn’t realized existed.
The second was the vampire following him. Phelan knew Elliot was Darien’s second, but Elliot hadn’t been around long enough for Phelan to gather more than the basic information. Cassie had spent time with Elliot’s people. Phelan had been able to get some information from her on Elliot’s menagerie, but she’d been very tightlipped about the vampire himself. From what Phelan could see, he was a charming man who held the rank of master, but Phelan didn’t understand Elliot’s willingness to step into Darien’s new kiss when he didn’t have any fledglings of his own.
At first, Phelan thought it was because they were old friends and Darien really needed the help, but recently, Elliot seemed more reserved and dedicated to Darien. Almost as if he were a servant, waiting on his master’s bidding. Having watched Darien and the way he treated his people, Phelan didn’t think the greater man was the kind of person to demand his lessers to serve him—unless there was something going on that his long list of informants had missed. Phelan considered this possibility for a moment before shaking it away. No, his informants hadn’t missed anything. There was something unusual going on with El
liot. The question was—what?
Phelan chewed over the possibilities as he led the way through the house and back up the steps to the security office. He was perplexed to find that Trevor wasn’t there anymore. A blonde woman occupied his seat instead. “Hey, Lucy.”
The plump woman glanced back over her shoulder. Her brilliant blue eyes were framed by purple-rimmed glasses. “Hey, boss.” She turned back to the computer bank in front of her.
“Where’s Trevor?” Phelan asked, confused by the missing man.
“He went to bed over an hour ago,” Lucy said as she scanned over her screens, keeping a close watch on everything.
“Oh,” Phelan said in shock. He glanced out the window. It was still dark out, but there was a hint of purple to the air that spoke of dawn. Unsure how it had gotten so late, he turned to look at the vampire standing next to him. Asking Elliot to leave at such a late hour would be impolite. Besides, there was still so much they had to do. “Would you like to stay for the day?”
Elliot let out a soft, ironic laugh. “Since I doubt I could get somewhere safe before dawn, hospitality would be appreciated.”
Phelan nodded and turned back to Lucy. “Where’s Rupert?”
“He’s on his way back from the farm.”
“The farm?” Phelan asked. “But I thought he went to Alchemy to break up the fight between Mac and Marco.”
Lucy nodded and pushed up her glasses. “He did,” she answered as she flipped over to the notes Trevor had left them. “He and Mitzy broke up that argument and took the boys home. They were on their way back here when Rupert got a call for help. Apparently, another fight broke out.”
“Another fight?” Phelan said in an exasperated tone. “Why didn’t anyone call me?”
Lucy looked back over her shoulder at him. “You were busy,” she said as if the answer were obvious.
Phelan let out a growl of disapproval. “Trevor should have called me.” There was a note of anger in his voice that made Lucy raise an eyebrow.
“You’ll have to take that up with Trevor,” she answered as she tapped away at the keyboard, switching over to a screen when something caught her eye. “But I suspect he told Rupert about what was going on downstairs, and Rupert told him not to disturb you.” The center screen filled up with the video feed from the basement. Ruby and another wolf were busy carrying Neal out of the cell, most likely to a more comfortable bed upstairs.