by R. J. Blain
“Circumstances are considered in cases like this,” Gerald replied, confirming my suspicions.
Sven slammed his fists against the table. “They would have outed us to the public.”
When the silence dragged on, I considered what I could do to find the truth. There was only one way I could contribute. Bracing myself for the inevitable, I asked, “What happened to their bodies?”
Sven swallowed, lowering his gaze. “They’re buried in the bush, not too far from here.”
“Show me,” I demanded, rising to my feet despite Nicole’s weight against my back.
She squeaked, letting go of me. “Jackson?”
The dead whispered to me, and their demand for freedom was accompanied by their need for justice.
~~*~~
The dead assaulted me with a barrage of wailing, crying, and shrill screams, until the real world passed by me with the haziness of a mirage. I was vaguely aware of following Sven into the forest, following a path weaving through the trees.
A hazy glow enveloped the woods, and in its illumination, something stirred. The endless cycle of life and death spun on around me, from the tiniest of insects to the decaying leaves blanketing the ground. The weight of countless spirits melded together into some vast and cohesive entity.
As I became aware of it, it focused its attention onto me. A shiver went through me at its regard, and for a brief moment, I got the feeling it thought I was an interesting bug, one too amusing to swat quite yet.
At my side, Evelyn whined, bumping my hand with her nose. The forest’s eerie illumination dimmed as though my awareness of her silky fur beneath my fingers bound me closer to her world, sheltering me from the spirits and their influence.
“It’s here,” Sven announced, coming to a halt in a mossy clearing. The dead fell into expectant silent.
I knew the ten teens lying beneath my feet. I carried their souls within the stone tied around my neck. Their cries were faint. Shivering at the cold of their presences, I stared at where they were buried.
How could someone die two deaths?
Those within the stone had been tortured in a white room, their tormented screams ignored, yet those lying beneath my feet had fallen prey to hunting wolves ghosting through the trees at twilight.
All I could tell with any certainty was that those within the gem had died first, and they had no memories of their second death.
I shuddered. How could the dead walk? What had driven them from the white, pristine place they had died to Thunder Bay?
“Jackson?” Richard grabbed my elbow, giving my arm a brisk shake. “What’s wrong?”
“Was there anything unusual about them?” I asked, jerking free of Richard’s hold.
“Everything,” Sven whispered.
Chris shoved his hands into his pockets. “They smelled weird.”
“What did they smell like?” The clearing didn’t look as though it had been touched, yet alone turned into a mass grave for a group of teenagers responsible for the deaths of two Alphas.
“Disinfectant and flowers,” Sven said.
“Flowers?” Nicole crossed her arms over her chest. “What sort of flowers?”
“How would I know? Roses, maybe?”
Poets liked to claim that death had a floral scent, but I hadn’t believed in it. While sometimes I saw the circumstances of someone’s death, smells and sounds eluded me. I could easily imagine the stench of disinfectants clinging to them.
Richard waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Jackson.”
“You didn’t kill them,” I told the Fenerec, unable to raise my voice louder than a whisper. “They were already dead.”
“They were already dead?” Nicole grabbed my arm, pulling me towards her. “What do you mean by that?”
Evelyn growled, and I quieted my mate with a wave of my hand. “They were already dead,” I repeated.
“There’s no such thing as zombies. Dead people do not get up, walk around, and kill others,” she snapped. “It’s inappropriate to joke about these things, Jackson.”
“He’s not joking,” Nirliq said, kneeling so he could stroke his hands over the mossy ground. “The spirits speak. He listens.”
I flinched as the Fenerec gawked at me.
Richard snorted. “This is Jackson we’re talking about here. He’s incapable of joking about something like that. How do you know, Jackson?”
“He’s a witch,” Nirliq chided. “The spirits speak, and he listens. If he were one of my people, he would one day grow to be an Elder among us, a wiseman.”
Turning to Sven, I told him the names of the teenagers buried beneath our feet.
He sucked in a breath. “I didn’t tell you how many of them there were.”
One by one the ghosts left me, until only my daughter’s faint warmth remained. I dug my fingers into the scruff of Evelyn’s neck. I didn’t know what else I could tell the Thunder Bay Fenerec. I stared at Nicole and Richard, wondering how I would react if either one of them died, let alone both at once.
What would I do if someone killed Evelyn?
Clenching my teeth, I kicked a branch, sending it bouncing across the ground. I had wanted to kill Sven for hurting Evelyn. I was no different than them.
If something happened to any of them, there would be bodies, of that I had no doubt.
What I didn’t understand was how Suzanne was involved, and why my daughter’s soul lingered with the spirits of those who had killed the Alphas.
I exhaled.
All the dead had done was lead me to more questions I didn’t have the answer to.
Richard pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “We’re done here. The rest will wait for morning.”
No one was brave enough to argue with him, not even the dead.
Chapter Twenty
While the aftermath of the earthquake left Thunder Bay in a state of chaos, Richard was able to find a hotel on the outskirts of the city, booking us all in for two nights. Amber, Alex, and Lisa met us in the parking lot as we were sorting out who would be in which room.
Lisa glared at me, anger in her voice when she announced, “I found this Melanie bitch. I’ve arranged a proper meeting with her at noon.”
Gerald scowled. “So you’re the reason she didn’t show up at all?”
The predatory way Nicole’s twin regarded my longtime friend sent a chill running through me. “I had a very long talk with her.”
Uncertain of what Lisa intended to do, I tensed and stepped forward to come between the two of them. Richard’s elbow cracked into my chest as he blocked me. “Both of you, back off,” he ordered.
Lisa grunted, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned against Gerald’s rental. “He got one of our pack hurt.”
Heaving a sigh, Richard shoved me back a few steps. “Lisa. Jackson is a stubborn, manipulative son of a bitch. Gerald probably got suckered right along with the rest of us. Going on a work errand, Jackson? You lied to us—and pulled it off. You cunning, little piece of—”
Nicole cleared her throat. “Richard.”
Lisa grumbled something under her breath, lowered her gaze to the asphalt, and muttered, “I apologize.”
Dismissing the issue with a wave of his hand, Gerald replied, “You didn’t do anything wrong. I want to know is if Melanie was a part of their little trick or not.”
Lisa’s cheek twitched. “She was. After Nirliq called Sven, they got together and decided they had a chance to get some good, old-fashioned revenge. From my understanding, Nirliq had asked them to cooperate. They didn’t listen. You are all right, aren’t you, Jackson? How about you, Evelyn?”
I frowned, looking around. My mate was gone. Blinking at the spot she had occupied minutes before, I tried to piece together when she had disappeared.
Slender arms wrapped around my waist. “I’m fine.” Evelyn rested her cheek against my back.
I smiled, covering her hands with mine. “You changed back.”
“How amazing,
I did! I’m all better now. It doesn’t hurt at all.” Slipping free of my hold on her, she started digging around in my pockets. With a triumphant cry, she found her watch. After putting it back on, she resumed her search, locating her phone next. Richard arched his brows as Evelyn patted me down. “Where is it?” she demanded.
“Where’s what?” I asked, lifting my arms so she could search the pockets of my jacket again.
She growled and nipped my neck. “Where’s my ring?”
“Ring? Was there a ring?” I covered my mouth with my hand. “Oh, my.”
“Jackson!” She resumed searching my pockets, eliciting laughter from everyone as I wiggled my pinky finger for their benefit.
Taking the ring off, I waited until she made frustrating huffing noises before capturing her left hand and slipping it onto her finger. “Mine.”
I was rewarded with a kiss on my neck followed by a nip. “Yours,” she agreed. “Even if you’re a terrible tease.”
“Are you all right, Jackson?” Lisa demanded.
“I’m fine. Tired, but fine.”
Laughing, Richard clapped my shoulder. “You should be tired after bullying a pack of Fenerec. You get the room with the jacuzzi and a choice of having Alex and Lisa or Nicole and I for roommates.”
“Evelyn, Gerald, and Amber,” I grumbled.
“What’s wrong with me?” Lisa and Nicole demanded.
“Ladies, please. Jackson, of course Evelyn will be sharing with you, but you’re not sharing with Gerald and Amber,” Richard replied.
Narrowing my eyes, I considered the Alpha, wondering what his problem was. “Why not?”
Bursting out laughing, Richard prodded my shoulder with a finger. “You’d end up trying to sleep with one eye open, Jackson. You’re still tense. The last thing you need is to be rooming with people you feel you need to protect.”
I glared at him, batting his hand away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“He really doesn’t,” Evelyn said, hugging me. “It’s cute.”
“No, it’s not. All he’s going to do is make himself sick—sicker, as the case is. We’ve talked about this before, Jackson. You’re dominant.”
“And what does that have to do with anything?”
Nicole slid between Richard and me, clicking her tongue. “Let me, darling. Jackson, you’re you. You protect those you cherish. Gerald’s one of your closest friends. He’s a Normal, and you know it. Lisa would flatten you in a fight, by the way. Yet there you were. Lisa got a little cranky and raised her voice to him, and you were ready to get involved. Dominant is just a fancy word for overprotective idiot.”
Snorting, Richard backed off, shaking his head. “You’re terrible, Nicolina.”
“What? It’s true. Look, Jackson. You’ve always been dominant, but you’re also a sensor. Because you’re Evelyn’s mate, her instincts are brushing off on you. If we put them in the same room with you, you wouldn’t sleep a wink. You’d toss and turn trying to sleep with one eye open. Alex and Richard are both overprotective idiots. By being with you, you’d actually get some rest because there are other overprotective idiots nearby. It’s how pack works. You’ll get used to it, eventually.”
Evelyn hugged me tightly. “She’s right, you know. Just give in. You won’t win.”
Nicole grinned at me. “I could just zap you. It’s been a long time since Richard’s let me zap anyone.”
“You actually let him tell you what you can and can’t do?” I blurted.
“Well, not really,” she admitted. “I might on principle. How could you trick us like that? You lied to us!”
Richard wrinkled his nose. “And he got away with it, that’s what astonishes me. He actually got away with it. Gerald, you I can understand. You’re a slimy government worker. But you, Jackson?”
I wrinkled my nose back at him. “I didn’t tell a single lie. I’ve been hired to handle some business for the Canadian government. That business brought me here.”
“It’s true,” Gerald said, pulling out his phone. After several moments of fussing, he read, “And I quote, ‘Offer him a blank check. I want this resolved now.’ Because Suzanne is involved with our business, we came here.”
“You should have told me,” Richard chided.
“Why? So you could stop me from coming?” I snapped.
“I’m not that stupid. Do you have any idea how dangerous a pack without an Alpha is?”
I sighed. “Richard, it’s not like I knew there were Fenerec here. I didn’t.”
“In my defense, while I knew that Nirliq was a Fenerec, I had no idea about the others or their hostility towards Jackson,” Gerald said, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Well, I hadn’t known Russell and Janet were dead either,” Richard admitted. “They have always been quiet. It’s not uncommon for them to drop off the radar for years at a time. What amazes me is that the pack hasn’t run wild yet.”
“Omega,” Evelyn whispered.
“Likely. They’re lucky. None of them are very old. Without Nirliq, there would be a lot more bodies—theirs included. Omegas make it easier for Fenerec to stay calm. It gives the others someone to focus on and protect. Omegas add cohesion to a pack. But they aren’t a substitute for an Alpha. I’ll make some phone calls tonight and find some candidates. None of them are capable, not if Jackson can stare them down like he did.”
“What I want to know is why that pack didn’t run wild tonight.” Nicole shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Jackson was a threat to them. There wasn’t anyone around to control them. Their wolves should have run wild.”
Pulling away from me, Evelyn leaned against Gerald’s rental beside Lisa. “Jackson wouldn’t let them change.”
“What?” I wasn’t the only one to blurt the question. All of us stared at Evelyn. My mouth hung open. Was such a thing even possible?
Amber nodded. “I can see that. Once he isn’t completely lacking control, he’ll be a damned good witch.”
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
“I tried to change after Sven hit me. I couldn’t. You wouldn’t let me,” Evelyn whispered.
I sucked in a breath. “What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I couldn’t change, not until you told me I could. Stubborn witch,” my mate grumbled. “You need to learn control, Mister.”
Amber smiled, stepping to me. Standing on her toes, she reached up and patted my cheek. “She’s right. I’ll see if I can reach someone I know who might be able to teach you.”
“You can’t teach him?” Evelyn asked.
“Not a chance, Evelyn. Sorry. I’m a fire witch, and I don’t know of a single earth witch who causes earthquakes when threatened or pissed off. So far as I know, he’s unique. That’s probably a good thing.”
“That’s just great. First we’re saddled with Nicolina the Witch Desmond. Now we have Jackson? They’re going to accuse me of starting the supernatural version of an arms race,” Richard grumbled.
Pursing her lips, Nicole stepped close to her husband and prodded him in the chest. “Care to repeat that?”
“I’ll take the couple least likely to kill me in my sleep,” I announced, backing away from the feuding Alphas.
Before I could make my escape, Richard reached out, hooked his arm around my neck, and pulled me down so he could grind his knuckles against my head. “Maybe if you didn’t cause so much trouble, you wouldn’t have to worry about us coming after you. Do you want him, Alex?”
“And lose sleep? Forget it, Richard. He’s all yours.”
“It’s decided,” Richard announced. “You’re with me, Jackson. Now, there is one last thing I want to know.”
Breaking free of Richard’s grip, I scrambled out of his reach. “What?” I asked warily.
“Aren’t you a gemstone sensor?”
“I plead the Fifth Amendment and the Eleventh of the Canadian Charter of Rights,” I replied.
He growled at me. “Jackson.”
“Look, I don’t want to end up as some research project, okay?”
“Why would you think that?” Nicole blurted.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t worried about it happening to you,” I snapped. When she flinched, I felt the blood drain out of my face. “Jesus. I’m sorry, Nicole.”
She hesitated, but nodded. “Okay. Fine. Fair point. I forgive you. But start talking. What are you hiding? If we don’t know, we can’t protect you.”
“Nirliq already told you,” I muttered.
“The spirits speak?” Richard asked.
I nodded.
Amber’s eyes widened. “You can talk to the dead?”
A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed, turning to Evelyn. How would their view of me change once they learned what I could do? All of my life, I had lived with the fear of how others would react. If my witchcraft was disconcerting enough to worry my brother, how would others feel?
Not everyone would be as accepting as my mate.
She smiled at me. “Go ahead, Jackson. It’s okay. They’re pack.”
I sighed, staring at the ground so I wouldn’t have to look anyone in the eye. “Normally I just know their names, okay? Elliot asks me to identify bodies. All I need to see is a photograph. It happens at places of death and burial, too.”
“Holy Mother of God,” Gerald whispered. “That’s how you built that list?”
“From those red stones.” A shudder ran through me. “They’re haunting me.”
My friend grabbed my shoulders. “Even Suzanne?”
I flinched. “Yes.”
Letting me go, Gerald backed away from me. “Your little girl. That’s how you learned about her?” At the horror in my friend’s voice, I looked up at him.
Drawing a deep breath, I exhaled slowly and nodded. “That’s how I knew.”
It was Richard who broke the silence by clearing his throat. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. One way or another, we’ll find out what happened to her, and why. So do I swear.”
I believed him.