Requiem for the Dead

by Kelly Meding

  Three children, each with pale green eyes, mugged for whoever had taken the picture. Two girls had auburn hair, and the boy blond. They seemed the same age, but the identical eye color made me wonder. "Kitsune?" I asked.

  "Correct," Rufus said. "The girl on the left is Autumn at her first year."

  Explained why she looked like she was in pre-school. The resemblance was there, but I wouldn't have pegged her right away. Her face was thinner, hair darker. The other girl didn't seem familiar, but the boy… the boy did.

  "If you make us guess the other two, I'll punch you," Kismet said. "Wheelchair or not."

  Rufus gave her a wry look. "I won't drag out the suspense, Gina. The other two children are Snow and Rain."

  "Fuck me sideways," I said. No wonder the boy had seemed familiar. "Snow is the asshole who tried to kill me."

  "You may be required to narrow that down more," Eulan said.

  Holy shit, the vampire made a joke.

  "Five years ago, under orders from the brass, Wyatt killed a Kitsune woman named Rain," I said for those not in the know. "He was supposed to kill her human lover, too, Wyatt's own Hunter. His name was Cole." Rufus and Kismet knew this story, but by the expressions of horror on Astrid and Marcus's faces, they hadn't heard it. Maybe it wasn't my secret to tell, but the connection had to be made. "Wyatt faked Cole's death, tried to wipe his memory of the whole thing, but Cole remembered and he came back this spring for revenge. He called himself Leonard Call then."

  A light went off for Astrid. "The man responsible for the attack at Parker's Palace?"

  "That's him. He was working with Snow, because Snow was Rain's brother. They both wanted to bring down the Triads, and they were willing to do a hell of a lot to make that happen." I looked at the photo again. "Autumn has a past with Snow and Rain. Is she related?"

  "Impossible," Astrid said. "We are well aware of Snow's crimes. We would not have allowed a relative into the Watchtower without proper scrutiny."

  "They aren't related," Rufus said. "At least, not as far as I can find. But this proves a connection of some sort, and it lends itself to motive on Autumn's part."

  "To go after Wyatt, maybe, if she's pissed about Snow and Rain," I said, "but not Tybalt. And why work with Vale?"

  "Vale represents the same ideals that Snow and Call did, Evy. Radical change. The Watchtower Initiative was probably the largest shift in paranormal power that this city has seen since the inception of the Triads. It's more balanced, but it is still a system of government, and no government will ever be without its opponents."

  "We don't have to understand their motives to stop them," Astrid said.

  "No, but it gives us a clearer picture of our enemy," Rufus said. "Vale is our current target, but what if his actions are a small part of a larger organization? What if it's more than simply the Bengals working with a vengeful Kitsune?"

  "I say it's worth considering when we have evidence that this organization still exists."

  "We've seen it in bits and pieces, haven't we? Call and Snow. Belle and Foss. They're all symptoms of a larger problem."

  "Like what, Rufus? Humans and Therians just can't get along? That's bullshit."

  "No." Rufus gripped the edge of the table, his face set. He did something then that I rarely saw. He used his powerful forearms to lever to his feet, keeping a strong hold on the table for support. "The larger problem was one designed by the Fey, something they continue to manipulate from wherever they've fled to. They want us to destroy ourselves. I'm sure they'd have preferred the fast method of allowing the Tainted to cross the Break and kill us all in one fell swoop, but we threw a huge wrench into those works.

  "The Fey live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. They'll let us break ourselves down, piece by piece, by whispering dissension in our ears, as they have for the last decade. We cannot allow that to happen."

  I hadn't seen Rufus get worked into a lather over anything in a long time, and the sight was welcoming. I only wished Wyatt was here to see his old friend getting his groove back. Rufus slunk back into his wheelchair, having said his piece. And he was absolutely right in his words. We were fighting a nearly incorporeal battle with an enemy that would outlive all of us.

  "None of this helps us find Tybalt," Kismet said after a moment's silence.

  "Something tells me Vale won't stick his nose out again until the duel," Astrid said. "Autumn strikes me as too smart to take Tybalt any place she knows we'd be likely to look for him. We'll be extremely lucky to find them before six-thirty."

  "So we sit on our asses for the next three hours, waiting for Vale to call?"

  "I won't risk sending anyone else out searching tonight. The city is too big, and we don't know how many other eyes and ears Vale has."

  Kismet didn't reply. The tightness in her shoulders, the press of her mouth, was answer enough. She'd lost Felix. She'd lost Baylor. She nearly lost Milo. Tybalt was more a brother to her than a coworker. I could see her pain radiating across the table.

  "If Vale calls again in the meantime, I'll let you know," Astrid said. "If he contacts any of you, I expect the same." The final comment was directed at Kismet, who nodded blandly.

  I followed Kismet out of Ops and halfway to the infirmary before saying, "We'll get him back, Gina. He's gotten through worse scrapes."

  "I know he has." She stopped walking and sagged against a storefront. "We all have, but everyone's luck runs out at some point. We all pay for our choices."

  The penny dropped. "You think this is Vale's payback for you not going along with him this morning?"

  "Yes, I do. Vale is fucking insane, Evy, and I didn't play ball, so Tybalt gets to suffer for it."

  "Vale already had a grudge against Tybalt."

  She shook her head, and I saw something in Kismet that I often did myself—taking the blame when a loved one is in danger, even if it's not directly her fault.

  I leaned against the wall next to her, so I wasn't hovering over her shorter frame quite so much. I ran a hand through my hair, startled to remember it was cut so short. The ends ran through my fingertips above my shoulders. I was all about trying new things lately, so why not pull out the Supportive Friend Card and play? She was my friend, after all.

  "Gina, what was the leverage Vale had over you?" I asked. "Because if it's something I can help you fix, we'll fix it."

  She laughed through another harsher sound that was almost a sob. "It's nothing you can fix, Evy, but thanks. It was information."

  "That he was holding over you?"

  "That he offered to give me." The corridor was quiet, our voices low enough to not echo. Even so, Kismet opened the nearest door and I followed her inside. The interior was empty, freshly painted, its purpose unclear. But it was also private, and this chat seemed to call for serious privacy.

  "Vale said he had information on the whereabouts of someone I've been looking for," Kismet said. "Vale knew the information was important to me, but saving the lives of the vampires is bigger than my grudge, so I refused."

  "How do you know the info was legit?"

  "I don't. I don't know how he found out my connection to the man, since I've kept that a secret from everyone except one person, and he's dead."

  I took a stab at that. Kismet once told me about the Hunter she'd fallen in love with and lost about two years ago—that she'd told him details about her past that very few people knew. "Lucas Moore?"

  "Yeah. Lucas is the only person who knew certain things about my past, things I've never told Wyatt or Tybalt, or anyone else in my life right now."

  "Your past before you changed your name?"

  She gave me a shrewd look. "Yes."

  "The man you're looking for hurt you?"

  "Hurt is a very small word for what he did to me." Hate rippled through her, followed by a shiver. She closed her eyes briefly, opening them again to blink away a sheen of tears. "I was a fifteen year-old runaway, Evy. And he was a grown man."

  She didn't need to say more. My hea
rt hurt for Gina Kismet, and for the unnamed horrors she'd endured. I didn't press. I never would. We had both survived terrible things. Gina had reinvented herself, become one of the fiercest warriors I'd ever known. She was my friend, and I didn't have a lot of those.

  "I got away with help from a friend," Kismet said after a moment. "I got away, but so did he."

  A roar of fury hit me. "He never paid?"

  "He disappeared. I pushed it aside, joined the Army, began a new life as someone else. It was almost ten years after the fact before I finally told Lucas everything. But it put the man back in my mind, and I started putting out feelers. Nothing ever came back with results."

  "Until Vale."

  "Yep."

  "Fuck, Gina. I'm sorry you gave up the chance to find that fucker and feed his balls to him."

  Her lips twitched. "So am I."

  "I won't say anything to anyone."

  "I know you won't. Thank you."

  "You're welcome."

  "About Tybalt—"

  "Don't say anything because it will upset Milo, right?"

  "Exactly."

  Milo hated being handled as much as I did, but if he found out Tybalt was in trouble, Vansis would have to sedate him to keep him in bed. He didn't need that stress. I just hoped he slept the night and I didn't have to lie to his face.

  The sandwiches had, indeed, been delivered to Wyatt and Company. The pups were sleeping in their shared cubicle. Wyatt roused himself from a doze and came out into the hall so Kismet and I could fill him in on our night. He took everything with a surprising amount of calm, because Wyatt didn't generally do calm well, especially when left out of important discoveries and discussions. His primary concern, even while listening to us, was on the two boys sleeping in the next room and their missing brother.

  It made me love him more than ever.

  "We have two-ish hours until Vale calls again," I said. "I hate waiting."

  "I know you do," Wyatt said. "Has Marcus chosen a third yet?"

  "I don't know. Not that he's told us."

  "It should be you," he said to Kismet.

  "I don't have a stake in Clan politics," she replied.

  "No, but you do have a stake in Tybalt's life."

  "It's Marcus's choice."

  "So put a bug in his ear. He's inside, probably sitting with Milo."

  She shook her head. "I don't want Milo to know about Tybalt. And I doubt Marcus does, either."

  "Sparing someone bad news often backfires, Gina."

  "If Milo could do anything other than lay there suffering, in pain because of what Vale did, then I'd tell him. Milo has a long recovery ahead of him, Wyatt. If something happens to Tybalt tonight, he'll be grieving enough by morning."

  Kismet pivoted and walked back toward Ops and the sleeping quarters. I watched her go, wishing I could do something for my friend.

  Wyatt sighed heavily, then folded me into a warm, welcoming hug. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, grateful for his heat, his love—every single thing he gave me every day.

  "You be careful at that duel," he whispered. "Don't give Vale the benefit of the doubt. Expect him to double-cross you."

  "I do, trust me. How are the boys?"

  "Comfortable now, but they're worried about John. They can't sense his fear and it's making them a little crazy."

  "Vale says he's keeping John unconscious. Maybe that's why they can't feel him."

  "Could be. Evy, when are you going to talk to the Frosts?"

  I groaned and tugged away, putting him at arm's reach. "What the hell, Wyatt? Now isn't exactly the best time to have a heart-to-heart with my non-parents."

  "We both know more than most that tomorrow isn't a promise. They deserve to hear from you, in case tomorrow never comes."

  "I don't know what to say to them. The truth is insane."

  "Alex believed you."

  "Yeah, and then the truth bit him on the ass and killed him."

  "What about Leo?"

  "The truth tried to bite him, too, in Alex's apartment, if you recall." In the shape of a big damn were-cat. "And then he got the hell out of town."

  "Do you blame him?"

  "Not a bit." His significant look made something click. "So you think if I come clean with the Frosts, they'll freak, then accept, and then get out of town before one of them gets eaten by something ugly?"

  "It's worth a shot. They've been kidnapped once for being in this city."

  "Yeah, well, everyone close to me gets kidnapped at one point or another. It was just their turn."

  "Don't condemn them for caring about you."

  "They don't care about me, Wyatt. They care about their daughter, a damaged and frightened woman who killed herself in the bathtub. I'm not her."

  "So tell them that. Tell them the truth and let them decide who they care about. Maybe they'll make tracks for the nearest bus station or maybe they'll surprise you."

  "I don't want them to surprise me. I want them out of this fucking city before it devours them too." I wanted Stephen and Lori Frost out of harm's way, period. Even if it meant bullying them out.

  We didn't have guest quarters in the Watchtower. Astrid had apparently seized an empty store, installed cots and a pile of books, and left it guarded. The store was on the same end of the compound as the regular sleeping quarters and the main bathroom facilities. Sandburg, a likeable guy whose true form was a ferret, was sitting in a chair outside the store, seemingly bored out of his skull.

  "I was wondering when you'd show up," he said.

  "Yeah, well, my schedule's been pretty full."

  "Mine, too, of escorting people to the toilet. That woman has a bladder the size of a peanut."

  I snickered. "Take a break, Sandburg. I'll watch them for a little while."

  "You don't have to ask me twice."

  He handed me the door key, then scurried off. As I slipped the key into the lock I took a deep, cleansing breath that did shit to settle my jumping nerves.

  Here goes nothing.

  I tapped my knuckles on the door. A polite warning before I opened it.

  The room was lit by a pair of bare bulb floor lamps. The cots stood close together near a wall, and the Frosts were sitting side by side, resting but not asleep. They came to life the moment they realized I'd intruded. They blinked at me from a distance of about twenty feet, unsteady. The haircut and newfound emo goth look was probably throwing them for a loop.

  "Chalice?" Lori asked. "Honey, is that you?"

  "Kind of," I said, shutting the door and pocketing the key.

  She looked like she wanted to rush me, to yank me into a bone-crushing hug, but refrained. She did seem a bit green around the edges. Shock, likely. Next to her, Stephen stared at me like I might attack, pissed off while Lori was simply baffled.

  "What is going on here?" Stephen asked. "First we don't hear from you for months. Your records disappear from the face of the planet. You leave the apartment. You don't tell us Alex is dead. You barely spoke to us the other morning, and you were with that strange boy. And then we… we…."

  "Got kidnapped by a were-tiger?" I said. "Is that the phrase you were grasping for?"

  "No, because shapeshifters don't exist."

  "You are so wrong about that. The guy who's been guarding you? He shifts into a ferret. The doctor you saw when you first got here? Grizzly bear."

  Stephen frowned. "And I suppose you'll tell me the boy who came to the diner with you shifts into a bald eagle."

  "No, Milo's totally human. I've never met an eagle-shifter, but one of my best friends is an osprey."

  "Chalice—"

  "My name isn't Chalice." I closed half the distance between them in slow, measured steps, stopping when Lori inched away. She was definitely freaked. "Look, I know this is going to sound incredibly insane, but I need you both to keep an open mind and hear me out."

  Stephen wrapped his arms around his trembling wife, and I wished I had Wyatt here to back me up. I held my ground, and I hel
d Stephen's distrustful gaze.

  "On May 20th of this year, around four o'clock in the morning, your daughter, Chalice Frost, drew a hot bath in her apartment, got in, and sliced both her wrists open. She died before her roommate, Alex Forrester, came home and found her."

  Lori choked, a hand covering her mouth. Stephen looked disgusted, like I was making up the whole thing.

  "A few days earlier, a young woman was being tortured by goblins and left to die. She was a kind of paranormal bounty hunter, and her death was part of a bigger plan, something I'm not getting into right now. But a man loved her, this woman, and he refused to believe she was gone forever. So he went to an elf, who gave him a spell to bring her back to life. But since her body was gone, she came back in the body of someone else who had just died. She was resurrected in Chalice's body."

  "You're on drugs, aren't you?" Stephen said. His voice betrayed grief, though, and less anger than before.

  "I wish. I'm the woman who was tortured to death and brought back. My name is Evangeline Stone, and I have been this person ever since. Chalice's wasn't supposed to be my body, but that's how it turned out."

  "No. No, Chalice, if you're angry with us, we can fix it. We can get you help."

  I snorted. He thought I was certifiable. Maybe so, but not for this. This was the God's honest truth. "Alex didn't believe me at first either, until he got up close and personal with my life. Shapeshifters aren't the only creatures that exist. Vampires, goblins, trolls, gargoyles, fairies, gnomes, sprites…they're all real. And some of them are very dangerous. The man who was holding you prisoner and threatening to kill you unless I did him a favor? He's a shapeshifter."

  Lori made a soft, choking sound behind her hand.

  "Alex didn't die in a fire. He was bitten by a half-Blood vampire and he turned. He died from a bullet to the back of his head to release him. To set him free from the monster that had taken over his mind and body. To keep him from killing." My heart pounded hard. I couldn't make myself tell them that I'd put the bullet in Alex's head, and it had been one of the worst moments of my afterlife. Alex had deserved so much more than he got.

  And I would forever live with the uncertainty of those few hours he was a Halfie, loose on the streets, free to attack and feed. I wanted to believe that he wasn't, but I'd never know if Alex died a killer.