by Sydney Addae
"You made assumptions based on what you saw. The foul brew was removed before we got here, you smelled the sewer. I opened the lid," Abel said. "Incense, not tobacco."
"Pine and wintergreen?" Damian hoped he got those right.
Cain smiled. "Yes, the trees, and wintergreen was in the house, which is odd, don't you think?"
Damian hadn't thought much about it at all. "Odd? Maybe she used it in tea."
"Possibly, but true oil from the wintergreen plant absorbs fast into the skin and causes severe skin irritation and painful, hive-like skin eruptions... in humans. What do you think it does to full-bloods?"
"Cause us to itch?" Heart beating faster, Damian took a step closer to Cain, hoping they'd solved the mystery.
Cain shrugged. "It's a clue to follow." He placed his hand on Damian's shoulder. "Close your eyes."
Damian exhaled and followed instructions. A blindfold was placed over his eyes and his hands were tied behind his back. Unable to move his hands or see the steps in front of him, he walked in the direction he was pushed. The squeak of the porch, the fetid smell of the living room, the click of the door behind him marked his movements.
"I'm inside the house."
"Where?" Abel asked.
Damian opened his mouth and closed it. Instead he inhaled deeply, stale water, whiffs of lavender, rotted wood, rust. "The bathroom."
"Very good." Damian was spun around several times and moved forward. "Where now?"
He inhaled and started coughing. "Goddess that stinks. I would say kitchen but I smell cotton sheets. Bedroom, you moved something in here."
Cain laughed. "Yes, we did, you are right."
A hand waved beneath his nose. "What's that?"
"Do it again?" At first pass Damian didn't smell anything and went deeper. His beast rose to the occasion and broke down the scent. "Blood. Where'd you get that?"
"Tell me, you're doing good. But your beast can break down the components on this item and tell you where it came from," Cain said.
Damian allowed his beast to rise but not break free. Tingling sensations raced from his fingertips to the base of his spine because of the half shift. Color exploded behind his eyelids as he deciphered the scent. "Blood on something metallic. Dirt, and bits of blackberries. That's strange... it's like the metal was used for digging into the dirt and cutting berries from the tree."
"Well done." Cain removed the blindfold and hand restraints.
Energized, Damian opened and closed his hand, inhaled and searched Sheila Height's home. Within seconds he picked up an unfamiliar scent, turned and met Raoul's quizzical gaze.
"Human."
Chapter 8
Damian followed the faint trail of the human through the woods. Now that he was locked onto it, he couldn't believe he’d missed her scent before. Every now and then he'd stop, smell a leaf or branch with the scent. "This way." He pointed. Raoul followed. Cain and Abel left after he mentioned the human scent, saying they had something else to do. Thanking them for their help, he headed into the woods, crisscrossing through swampy water and avoiding anything that could harm him. After an hour, Raoul placed his hand on Damian's arm.
"There's a house beneath the trees ahead surrounded by water. Someone's inside. I think it's the human female from the hospital. No matter what, we can't hurt her, she's important."
"I know she's important to the case, at least until we get some answers from her." Damian ran around him to remain on solid ground as long as possible. When he stood on the opposite side of the bank, he called out. "Hello, I have a few questions to ask, if you don't mind."
Several bullets dotted the ground where Damian stood. "I could've hit you, I'm a damn good shot," a female yelled.
Chest heaving, Damian growled with dropped fangs in the direction of the house.
Raoul's brow rose and he shook his head.
"Fuck you, she's human not wolf. I can't order her to do anything, but I will talk to her," Damian fumed and killed the bug biting his neck. "I just have a couple questions."
"Not interested. Come back tomorrow," she yelled. Her tone held a sharp edge.
Damian swatted a few more bugs, backed up, ran and leapt onto the porch. The structure shook and then stabilized.
"What the hell?" The door flew open and a pint-sized, olive skinned, dark-haired fireball faced him. "Get the hell off my property, right now." She pointed to the bank where Raoul stood staring at them.
Pleased she didn't have the gun, Damian spoke quickly. "Miss, I have a few questions to ask you first, then I will leave." Damian touched his recorder and looked into blue gray eyes that spit fire.
"You'll leave now before you wreck my home." She made a shooing motion. "Go on, I'll meet you over there with him."
"Damian," Raoul called, his tone frosty. "Come over here and wait for her. She's not lying, she'll meet with us."
Damian's gaze lingered on Raoul a second longer, took in his tight jaw, clenched fist. "What's wrong with you? She's just a small thing, she won't hurt you."
"I know. Just... just come over here so we can get this over with."
"If my porch falls into the swamp, I'll feed your ass to the gators," she said.
"Sure you will," Damian said, moving to make room to jump. "What's your name?"
"Why should I tell you anything?"
"Because you went through a lot of trouble to get us to find you. Now stop fooling around and come over here," Raoul said, his tone harsh. His chest heaved and his fists clenched.
Damian stared at his normally unflappable friend. "Pull it together."
"There's no way this turns out good. Let's just see what she wants and get out of here."
"She wants? I don't care what she wants, I'm investigating the itch, remember? That's the only thing I want to know."
"All of this is to get something, Cain or Abel said it, but you missed that. She's not going to tell us anything until she asks for whatever she wants." Raoul kicked the plant, picked up stone and tossed it in the trees before releasing a loud growl.
Damian leapt to the shore a few feet in front of Raoul, who walked in a tight circle watching the small house. "What's going on with you?"
"Don't know but... I don't know."
Damian placed his hands on Raoul's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "You're burning up, are you sick? Is it that itching shit?"
"No. Nothing like that, I'm not itching."
"Are the two of you hugging? Is this a private moment I'm interrupting?"
Raoul's eyes narrowed as he locked gazes with the female. "What have you done to me?" he gritted out.
She met his gaze. "Nothing, you're not involved in this at all." She turned her back on Raoul and looked up at Damian. "What do you want to know?"
Damian stared at Raoul a few seconds longer before looking down. "Your name?" He hadn't meant to sound gruff but Raoul looked as though he would attack the human and he couldn't allow that.
Her brow rose and nostrils flared.
"Please," Damian added, barely holding onto his patience.
"Ivona. Now what do you wish to ask me?" She looked at her watch and then back at him.
Temporarily stunned by the hostility flowing between Ivona and Raoul, Damian stood in front of Raoul, blocking him from view. "What were you doing at the clinic yesterday?"
"Delivering a plant."
"What kind of plant and to who?" Damian swatted a few more bugs.
"I planned to leave it for Sheila, but couldn't get to her so I placed it on the table and left."
"How'd you get in there? Did you know the code?" Damian remembered the doctor keying in a series of numbers.
"Not exactly. Look what is it you really want to know?" She sounded as if he was wasting her time.
"What do you know about Sheila's itching?"
"She's cursed. A spell was placed on her." The words dropped so matter-of-factly, it took Damian a second to understand what she'd said.
"Cursed?"
Ivona nodded. H
er blue-gray gaze flicked over him and then over his shoulder at Raoul.
"What makes you think that? Did she say something to you about it?" Damian asked, wondering what Alpha Bart would say about this turn of events.
Ivona shrugged. "She's a mean bitch, didn't talk to people much. Kept to herself, spent a lot of time in the woods. Probably got a lover or something." She pushed several long dark strands of her hair behind her ears.
"So you don't know her personally?" Damian asked.
"No. Not really."
"How do you know she's cursed? And if she's cursed, what about the others? How'd they get cursed?" Damian crossed his arms and looked down at her.
Her gaze flicked from him to Raoul and back again. He started to offer assurance of her safety when she pulled a bottle out of her purse and sprayed him and Raoul in the face and ran.
Damian wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sneezed. His beast objected strongly to whatever chemicals or flowers or herbs were in the concoction. In self-preservation mode he shifted into his hybrid, shook his head, coughed and spit out the remnants of the spray. Raoul lay shaking on the ground a few feet away. Muscles quivering, teeth bared with canines elongated, Damian picked up a decayed stump and threw it with unerring accuracy toward the door of the small house. It knocked down the door and came out the back of the house, leaving a gaping hole in the makeshift kitchen. He picked up another log and threw it, knocking out a side of the structure exposing a bed, toppled dresser and chair to the elements.
Raoul moaned.
Damian lifted his friend, turned, and ran back to their car. Gently, he placed Raoul on the back seat.
"Go find her," Raoul said, between coughs.
"I intend to, just need to make sure you're okay."
Raoul waved his hand. "Find her, but don't hurt her."
Instead of making false promises, Damian turned and headed back into the woods intent on finding the human. Tracing the scent of the spray she’d used on them, he caught her at the side of another road entering a small truck. Either she didn't see him or she thought he'd allow her to drive off without answering questions. Damian leapt onto the bed of the truck, the front of the car lifted and the wheels spun.
Ivona screamed, turned to look at him through the back window. "Stop that shit," she yelled. "Get off. Have you forgotten I'm a good shot?"
He shook his head. "What did you spray on him?"
"What?"
Damian jumped down, opened the truck door, grabbed her by the throat lifting her from the ground. She scratched and tried to get out of his grip.
"Stop," she said raggedly.
He loosened his hold but didn't release her.
"You bitch." He picked her up, turned and ran. Branches and twigs slapped his face and scraped his side. When they stopped, he dropped her on the ground. She rubbed her bruised neck and sucked in as much air as possible.
He rifled through her purse and held the small brown bottle in front of her. "I'll give you what you gave him."
Ivona looked at the bottle and then at him and laughed. "Okay, I'm tired anyway."
He shook it a few times.
She swallowed hard. "It's just something to put him to sleep. He'll wake in a few hours, no harm done."
"You thought you could escape us?" She knew they were full-blood hunters, what was her game?
Anger flashed across her face before she bowed her head. "I was afraid."
"Of Raoul?"
"Who?"
"The one who yelled at you." He pointed to the long, lean body of the blond lying on the back seat of the vehicle.
"Yes. I thought... I was scared."
"He wouldn't hurt you, but you shouldn't have sprayed us. We could've killed you on the spot for that and tossed your broken body into the swamp."
Her head snapped up and she met his gaze. "I'm sorry, just scared, that's all."
He nodded. "Tell me what's going on? You poisoned Sheila Height?"
"What? No. Maybe." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes. I fed her a potion and cursed her. She had a list of men, quite a long list actually, that she wanted cursed. In order for that to happen I had to curse her as well." She straightened in her seat and met his gaze. "There were over a hundred men on the list, including your Alpha."
Without thinking he grabbed her around her neck and squeezed.
She fought to break his hold. "Kill me and they'll all die," she said on a ragged breath.
He flung her to the ground and stood over her. Chest heaving, he pointed at her. "Whatever you've done, stop the itching right now or you'll die."
She swallowed hard, her gaze slid to the side and landed on Raoul. "I will... after you help me."
Damian took a step closer. "You're in no position to make conditions."
She cleared her throat and stood slowly. "Yes, yes I am."
Unsure how to handle her, Damian watched as she pulled confidence around her shoulders like a cape.
"As soon as you help rescue my mom."
"Rescue your mom?" He didn't mean to yell but obviously she didn't understand what was happening in the clinic.
She shook her head. "Yes, she's being held prisoner."
Jaw tight, fist clenched. "Rescue your mom? Are you out of your mind? After deliberately infecting people, you expect me to help you?"
Her back straightened, and her gaze never wavered. "Yes, after she's free I'll give you the serum."
"Give it to us now," Damian growled, his wolf close to the surface.
"No. After you help me." She took a step backward.
"She can burn in hell," he said.
Her eyes widened and then snapped fire. "If you don't help and we get to her in a few days, she will," She paused. "But so will your Alpha."
Damian threw his head back and howled. The sound of his frustration filled the air. His beast pushed against his skin, eager to annihilate the roadblock standing between him and completion of his assignment.
In the distance, howls joined his, merging into a long resonant note of camaraderie. "Hawke." With a few brief sentences he explained the situation.
"Who is her mother?"
"I don't know." He refused to consider her request, it amounted to blackmail, something they shouldn't tolerate.
"Asia said find out who's her mother, where's she located, and what's involved." Hawke said.
"We can't give into her demands, what if she has another virus or asks for something else? This one has no honor, we can't trust her," Damian said.
"No, we can't and won't. Buy us some time, ask the questions, get as much information as you can."
Damian faced Ivona. Her gaze skittered away and then locked onto his. He opened his hand and then closed it again. "Who's your mother? Where is she? What do you need us to do?" he asked in a hard tone.
"Tara. She's in Lochmond Eyre in Scotland and I need you to help rescue her from there. She's being held prisoner," she spoke quickly, her jaw tight.
He relayed her message to Hawke.
"Mistress is concerned at the threat to La Patron," Hawke said. "She's not happy."
Damian nodded even though Hawke couldn't see. "Understandable, neither am I at this moment."
"Remain steady. La Patron doesn't want to negotiate but Mistress refuses to take chances, they're discussing it now."
Damian locked gazes with Ivona, wishing her every manner of painful death imaginable. Her face remained stoic in spite of her fear wafting in the air.
"Mistress has instructed Matt and Passen to find a cure for the itching. She believes, and I concur, if the witch has a serum as well as spoke a curse, it's the serum that'll correct the itching. Most of the lab is now working on the problem."
"That's good." He waited for further instructions.
"Send the contents of the spray she used on Raoul. The brothers, Cain and Abel, are sending samples of the concoction she used to dampen her smell and some other herbs they found in the house."
"Good, we can find a cure without the h
uman." Damian hated the idea of compromising with anyone who'd created their problem.
"Not necessarily. As an added precaution we may need to go along with her request as a back-up."
"No...no, no. That's wrong."
"Yes, it's wrong and we'll make sure she and her kind never does this again, but for now, pack comes first. One person has died behind this; we can't risk anyone else."
Damian's beast leapt in his chest. "What?" he said as soon as he bought the animal under control.
"Chain your animal. This is one of those times you follow instructions even when you don't think it's the best course of action. Trust your Alpha. He knows what he's doing," Hawke said.
"But it makes no sense. She used the shit that messed with her scent; I can't tell if she's lying or not. Maybe this is all a trick to get us off track for the rebels or something." He ran his hand through his hair and then pinned her to the spot when she took a step backward.
A low growl rose from his lips.
The color bled from her face as she froze in place.
"All good points. The twins are returning."
"Tyrone and Tyrese? They're here?" Damian asked
"No. Cain and Abel. La Patron asked them to assist."
"With what?" He inhaled and picked up their scents, they were close.
"They will scent her for lies and watch your territory for rebels in your absence," Hawke said.
Damian shook his head. This was crazy. "La Patron believes her?"
"I didn't ask or question his directions." Hawke paused. "Let's just say Mistress wants all bases covered and that's a part of it, but she's pissed and that's not good for the human. I suspect she will be in for a few surprises on this journey. Barticus has been contacted and is preparing a team to assist when you arrive."
Pleased his grandfather had been notified, the tension ebbed somewhat. "So this is a real place? You've located it already?"
"The moment you said La Patron and Alpha Bartholomew were targeted, we verified everything. It's a real place," Hawke said.
Cain and Abel exited from the woods and headed toward Ivona. She backed up until her heels hit the tree. "What is it you want, human?" Cain asked.