by Judy Teel
Damn. The lie had backfired. "I don't know," I said, doing my best to sound sincere.
"You are lying, my dear."
The urge to tell her everything pushed against my will and I tried to subtly wipe my sweaty palms on the legs of my jeans. I didn't know if the old witch was using some kind of magical mojo on me, or if it was only the natural intimidating force coming off of her. Either way, the sensation of guilty anxiety was a new one, and I was determined not to spill my guts.
"Dr. Barrett and I discovered that the Weres aren't infected with a virus," I said, making sure to speak loud enough to get everyone's attention. "They have inter-D's attached to them."
Cooper tensed. "Suir aosar?"
The air seemed to suck out of the room on the collective intake of shocked breaths. Even the intrepid Mistress Raevinne paused, her teacup halfway to her mouth. "The Devourers of Souls? How is this possible?"
"How do you know?" Ryker asked, his golden eyes glittering with a focused intensity that looked on the borderline of crazy, but maybe that was just me.
I explained Falcon's invention to them as well as the conditions that we'd found in the prison quarantine. When I finished, I looked directly at Rosalind. "Deg wasn't infected."
She gave me a skeptical look.
"He's your friend. Every minute he's in there puts him at risk," I added.
"No one is my friend," she said, her tone mild.
Ryker nodded toward the door. She hesitated and then crossed the room to go out into the hall where she had an urgent conversation with one of the guards. As he went scurrying off, Rosalind came back in, the focus of her speculation traveling over me as she passed my chair to take up her position by the fireplace, again.
"You must test every eligible member of Bone Clan for infection," Mistress Raevinne said to me. "Begin immediately." Her scrutiny moved to Ryker. "Find a way to solve this problem with the sick without risking further spread of the parasites. I will not have them caged and forgotten."
I flinched as her sharp gaze shot back to me. "This llah v'addh might yet find you a cure."
* * *
Danny lay on his cot staring up at the same spot that had occupied his attention for the last eight weeks, a relaxed calm filling his mind. His mysterious friend had come to him again in his dreams last night and the message this time was not only clear and concise but exhilarating.
So when the grinding and clanking of the locks at the door echoed through the now empty cellblock, Danny knew who was on the other side. He even imagined that he could smell the fear and confusion of the rats in the cage that the abomination carried.
The wolf prince is the first key.
The words danced across his thoughts and Danny knew that he could bear what must be done. He would focus on each small step as his friend had taught him. He would revel in each delicate triumph. This time he would win.
And when it was done, he would be stronger than ever.
The Were stopped at the bars, silent and brooding as usual and set the cage of rats on the floor. "Your freedom for your help," he growled.
"Tempting, but I'm not sure I can trust you." Danny turned his head slowly and met the resentful washed out green eyes of the Were princeling. "Can I?"
"As much as I can trust you," he answered. "It's the perfect alliance."
"Making me the one with the advantage," Danny countered. "For you to even deign to be here means whatever you need from me is a matter of life and death."
"The collar comes off in exchange for your oath."
Danny turned his attention back to the ceiling. "A very broad statement. I'd be an idiot to accept it."
Cooper shoved the cage of rats closer to the bars. "No feeding on any human, practitioner, Were child, or any other human-like entity that you can come up with. In exchange you have free run of the forest to hunt and drain any animal you can catch. You won't wear the collar unless you request it, and then you'll be required to disclose in great detail why you need to be outside during the day."
"And what do I have to do in exchange for this brutal freedom?"
"Watch over those who are infected and see to their comforts including food distribution. Protect Dr. Barrett if he needs to enter their cellblock for any reason. Report any changes to the guards assigned to you. Remove and bury any remains."
A practitioner is the second key.
The second missive played through his mind and Danny laughed. Really, it was too easy. "All that for a few rats and freedom from the collar?"
"If we survive what's ahead," the Were continued, "you walk away with no consequences for trespassing in our territory. But if you ever come back, we'll kill you on sight."
"Always gratifying to be appreciated," he said, stretching as he sat up.
"Do we have a deal?"
You will know when the time has come.
Danny stroked the tips of his fingers lightly over the PRC clamped around his neck. "We have a deal."
CHAPTER SEVEN
llah v'addh, Magical child. That's what Cooper told me Mistress Raevinne had said, and I had no idea what she'd meant by it. Anything from "lucky kid" to "By the way, I know you're Demon-Were" could be a possibility. Just what I needed — something else to worry about.
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the ground around me, mimicking the patterns of the gate to my right and making me feel as if I were trapped in a cage made of bones. Over two hundred Weres in the compound were at risk and I was down to the last groups that Rosalind had sent to me. Out of that, thirty more cases had been found, better than we feared, but still a terrible number to face.
Erika and Miller had already gone to meet Cooper in the apartment he'd been given on another wing of the upper tier. Both practitioners were determined to find a way to stop the pandemic, especially Miller. He'd worked with Cooper for nearly a decade and felt the suffering of Bone Clan more deeply than his sister. Erika was certainly motivated to help, but more from a general desire to ease people's suffering than anything personal.
As I swept the scanner over the young female Were in front of me, my stomach tensed up like it had been doing ever since I started checking people. Based on the symptoms of the new cases, Dr. Barrett and Miller had determined that they were newly infected and that scared the hell out of all of us. Infections without a direct line of exposure meant that the new inter-Ds were coming through and we still had no idea how to contain them except for the quarantine.
Watching Rosalind direct the assigned guards to escort the sick to the cellblock, my mind tumbled through the conversation Cooper and I had when he told me that Danny was being put in charge of quarantine. After the yelling stopped, he was able to explain his reasoning and even though I didn't like it, I had to admit it was sound. Danny was the only person in the compound who couldn't get infected but was strong enough to contain a crazed Were. I still hated the thought of him running around without a PRC on.
"You're clear," I said to the Were standing in front of me, and she sagged with relief. I watched her stride across the compound, a spring in her step as she joined a small group who came forward to hug her. I looked down the line as the next Were came up and was surprised to see Noah bringing up the rear. With his head hanging low, he looked like he had the cares of the world on his shoulders, which didn't make sense since I'd checked him not two hours ago and he was fine.
I tested the next fifteen people and found two more undetected cases. I'd have to remember to tell the others that we should probably recheck every day to make sure this wasn't the new trend. The thought that it might be took the fatigue already weighing down my shoulders and doubled it.
Noah stepped up. "I want to be tested again." He shifted from foot to foot and rubbed his ear.
"What's going on, Noah?" A telltale flush swept over his cheeks. "Come on. Spill," I said, trying to go for stern, but ending up sounding more like an exhausted adult who really doesn't want to deal with another drama.
"The guy everyone's talk
ing about you fighting..." Noah stared at his worn running shoes. "He was my brother."
"Deg?" I asked, completely confused as my gaze skimmed over Noah's blonde hair and I mentally compared it to Deg's Native American coloring.
He shook his head. "The guy who started shifting weird. The one who disappeared."
"I...I'm sorry."
He glanced at me and then back to his feet. "Jesse's been hiding in some of the underground passages that aren't used much. I've been taking him food."
Alarm constricted my stomach. "For how long?"
"About four days," His shoulders hunched forward. "Deg tried to stop him when he started going crazy. He... He heard me yelling. I was trying to get Jesse to follow me back into the tunnels."
"And he attacked Deg?" I asked, pretty sure I already knew the answer.
Noah nodded. "When Jesse spotted the kids, Deg grabbed him. He started to shift, but Deg threw him against a wall. Jesse went to wolf really fast and I think Deg was caught by surprise. My brother got past him."
I let out a breath. "I should read you the riot act, you know that, right? He could have hurt a lot of people. He almost killed you."
Noah seemed to shrink in on himself. "And you."
"But I get how you thought you were doing the right thing," I added quietly. "I know something about keeping secrets to protect the people you care about." I studied him and suddenly knew why he looked so familiar and why he'd tried so hard to save his brother. "Was Jesse your only brother?"
His brows drew down. "They said Sean was murdered in the city last summer. He wrote to tell us he was getting married and then..." He glanced away.
My mouth went dry. During the murder case that Cooper and I had worked on, the Were that was sacrificed as part of a ritual to bring an ancient demon-god into our dimension was someone from Cooper's Clan. I didn't want to think about Noah being touched by something like that. But I also understood that he had a right to know what had happened to him.
"The FBI was involved so I can't give you any details on the case," I said. "I can tell you that he didn't suffer." He'd been drugged when his throat was slit so the chances were good I was right, though no one would ever know for sure. I wasn't about to tell the kid those kinds of details, though. "His killer died for her crimes." And we'd managed to stop Aedodra from crossing into our world.
Noah released a sigh like he'd been holding his breath for a very long time. He rubbed a hand over his face and gave a coughing sniff, the kind that guys do when they don't want anyone to know they're crying. "That's more than anyone else would tell me."
"They don't mean to treat you like a kid," I said, softly. "They're protecting you because they love you."
"I know, but I have to take care of myself now. Jesse was the only family I had left after Mom got infected." He sniffed and met my gaze. "I'll help you stop whatever's hurting us any way that I can. I got nothing more to lose."
Turning, Noah trudged toward the stronghold. He slogged up the steps to the second tier, and a terrible thought hit me. Without realizing it, somewhere along the way I'd added the kid to my small list of those I considered family. When would I ever learn?
A warm tingle trailed down my back and the scent of meadows and moonlight drifted around me. "Hi, Cooper," I said as I turned around.
He pulled me against his chest and brushed his mouth across mine, surprising the hell out of me. A warm buzz of interest fired up south of my equator as he flicked his tongue across my bottom lip. Sliding his hand down my back, he snugged my hips tightly against his and the electricity between us blazed into second gear. Being Were was a lot like being Noah's age — a roller coaster ride of emotions that you tried desperately to control, but that usually got the better of you.
Giving in to the familiar pleasure of going lightheaded from Cooper's touch, I darted my tongue into his mouth as I reached up and buried my fingers in his silky soft hair. The beat of his heart kicked up, matching the pace of mine and I smiled against his mouth. Always nice to know that your lust wasn't one-sided.
"Later," he growled as he pulled back and several parts of me sent up a cry of protest. Until I remembered that we were standing in the middle of the compound. "What happened to playing it cool?"
Defiance mixed with smoky pleasure in his silver-green eyes. "I'd rather get started on the acceptance phase of the plan. It'll make being together easier after Ryker recovers."
I looked away and pretended to have trouble turning off the scanner. Feeling the warmth of his happiness blanketing my heart soothed away every worry, and every hurt that I'd endured over the last few days.
I didn't have the courage to tell him that I was afraid we were already too late.
* * *
As part of Cooper's new disclosure plan, we ate an early dinner together in the common dining room, an open medium-sized building attached to the kitchen that reminded me of the kind of place where church congregations gathered for covered dish suppers. I'd had some experience with the concept from my first foster mother, who'd believed in spiritual community and made sure that her family participated in it every Wednesday and Sunday.
The large room seated about two hundred people, though from what I'd heard most of the families got their own supplies and cooked in their apartments. Despite that, most meals there was a core group of unmated Clan members scattered in small groups throughout the tables. Personally, I didn't see why anyone would ever want to eat anything but Dr. Barrett's cooking. The man was a genius, especially where desserts were concerned. I wouldn't have thought that whipping up herbal medicine and the occasional spell would be the same talent that produced delicious food, but apparently it did.
Cooper touched the back of my hand to draw me out of my thoughts. "Come to my suite tonight," he said in a low, smoky voice. "I miss you."
A shudder of raw lust skipped happily through my stomach. I licked the last of my chocolate pudding off of my spoon, enjoying the way his eyes deepened to a moonlit green. "I have to help the practitioners. Knowing what we're up against is only the first step. We still have to find a way to stop it."
"Your understanding of how the dimensions work could expose you," he said, shoving the last bite of his gigantic portion of roast beef into his mouth.
"For all they know, I'm a voracious reader."
He leveled an amused look at me. "You are a voracious reader."
"Exactly." But he wasn't all wrong about the risk. As a Demon-Were, I could not only shift, but if anything tore through the barrier between the dimensions, I could smell it if I was near the point of entrance. I stopped eating and stared at Cooper. "How could I have missed that?" I whispered. "Jesse's breath stunk like rotten Jasmine, the way a breach smells to me."
"And Travis?" Cooper asked.
I thought back over the times I'd been near an infected Were. "No, but I might have seen shadows coming off of him which could have been when the inter-Ds attached to Knox. It was shady, though. It could have been nothing." I wondered if a new inter-D had attached to Jesse right at the end and that's what I'd picked up on.
"You can't know everything, Addie. You can't save everyone." Cooper studied my face for a heartbeat longer than was strictly necessary, and then leaned forward. "I'm sorry. I should have told you about my position in the Clan and what it could mean to us."
My speculations about the pandemic fizzled as the air seemed to get a little thicker, making it hard to breath. I stacked my plate on top of his, not liking that deep down, I was hurt that he hadn't trusted me. Bruised feelings were something I'd never had time for. I still didn't, I reminded myself. "You should make it up to me," I said, keeping my tone light.
"I thought that might be awkward here in the middle of the dining hall."
"I doubt they'll think you less of a man if you take my dirty dishes up," I said, a smile flirting at the corner of my mouth.
Cooper released a long, exaggerated sigh and gathered up our dishes. While he scraped the plates into the trashcan by the bac
kdoor and then put them into the wash tub next to it, I admired his backside and the way the muscles of his arms flexed as he worked. Who said chores couldn't be fun?
When he came back to the table and held out his hand. "Take a walk with me," he said, his voice deep with promise.
My hormones sent a little flush of anticipation to a couple of key places. "By the gleam in your eyes, I'm not sure how much walking we'll accomplish."
"Then you know you'll like it if you say yes."
As I slipped my hand into his and stood, I could feel everyone staring, though when I glanced around no one was being obvious about it. Vamps, on the other hand, were tremendous gossips, though they liked to pretend their nosiness was all about gathering intel. Unless they were deep into spy mode, a curious vampire would stare at anything that interested them and never feel a blink of embarrassment.
I strolled with Cooper out of the dining hall and across the compound, mentally daring anyone to step in front of us and challenge our relationship. In fact a large part of me hoped Rosalind would do exactly that. The pleasure of kicking her ass would be a great warm-up to the promise in Cooper's eyes.
We strolled out of the gate and the guards didn't give a squeak of protest. I wasn't the type who likes to live in another person's shadow, but I had to admit being the girlfriend of the Alpha's brother had its perks.
"Feel like running?" Cooper asked after we'd gone a safe distance from the compound. I returned his teasing smile, slipped my hand from his and took off.
I didn't hold back as I freed my body from the constant awareness of acting human. Happiness bubbled up inside me and burst out in a laugh of pure joy.
Cooper easily kept pace with me and our stride ate up the ground as the woods sped past us, nothing but a dusky haze of green. As we ran, the sky took on the delicious tint of cotton candy above the treetops as the blue overhead deepened toward indigo. I savored the feel and smell of all the life pushing around me and allowed myself to believe that living here with Cooper could be as close to perfect as I'd ever get.