by K. R. Willis
She thought about it for a minute, and then said, “So that’s why you need the list of who has access.” Her fists opened and closed at her sides and her cheeks flamed almost as red as her hair. “It was an inside job.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “We don’t know anything for sure, but that’s what we’re here to find out.” I couldn’t blame her for being upset. If I found out that someone I knew and worked with had done something that led to the death of the man I loved…yeah, I’d be pissed, too.
Sally walked over to the computer sitting on her desk, and began typing. A few minutes later, she handed me a printout with a list of names on it. “These are all the people who have the code to the keypad on the blood storage room. If anyone else has the code, it isn’t sanctioned by the hospital or us,” she said.
The page contained roughly twenty people’s names. I quickly scanned through the list. “Is there anyone here you’re not sure about, or has been acting strange lately?” I asked. Maybe Sally could narrow the list a little.
She studied it for several minutes. “I know all the doctors, nurses, and technicians on this list fairly well, save for one. Come to think of it, she hasn’t been to work in several days either. No one seems to know where she is, and she hasn’t called in.” She pointed to a name on the list that read: Janelle Williams – Lab tech.
“Okay. That’s as good a place to start as any. Can you pull up her file and give me her phone number and address? While you’re doing that, I’m going to see if Rya can pick up any scents that might help us.” She nodded, and I headed back into the blood storage room we had left propped open. Rya trotted in behind me and surveyed the room.
Do you smell anything that might tell us who took my blood? I asked her.
There’s a faint…something. I can’t get a bead on it. She walked around the room, stopping and sniffing every few feet. When she got to the cabinet that held my blood, she inhaled deeply. Her lips drew back and she made a chuffing sound. She stopped and looked back at me. It’s at least a week old, but I smell wolf.
Wolf? Crap. The werewolves were up to their eyeballs in this whole thing. So at some point, a werewolf was in this room, and I bet you he or she took my blood. But why would a werewolf kill two of its own? Do you think it could be from a rival pack?
I have no idea.
Sally waited for me at her desk with another printout that had Janelle’s phone number and address on it. She handed it to me, and I told her what Rya found.
“A werewolf, working here in the hospital? How is that possible? Wouldn’t someone have noticed?” she asked. Her eyes darted to the empty desks of the other technicians who worked in the lab with her.
“Supernaturals have blended in with society for eons, and we never knew they were there until they announced their existence. There’s no telling how many people work in this hospital that aren’t what they seem. Not everyone wears the charms like they’re supposed to.”
“Great. Thanks a lot, Keira. Now I’m going to be looking at everyone and wondering if they’re really human,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“I need to get going. I have to call Miss Williams, and possibly check out where she lives before nightfall.” Sally followed me as I started walking toward the doors.
“Be careful. What if she’s the werewolf or the one responsible for taking your blood? Heck, she might be both. What if she doesn’t like being confronted?”
“Look, we don’t know that the werewolf took my blood, just that one gained access to that room at some point.”
“Yeah, but—”
“And besides,” I said before she could finish protesting, “I’m prepared this time.” I showed her the dagger I’d tucked inside my waistband, then lifted my ponytail so she could see the sword hidden there. “Plus, I have Rya with me now.”
Rya rubbed along Sally’s leg as she passed, and then joined me by the door. Sally’s eyebrows still scrunched together in worry, but they eased some with the knowledge I had Rya and some weapons this time.
“Fine, just be careful.”
“We will,” I promised and left. Now I just had to make sure I didn’t break that promise.
CHAPTER 13
The happy woman’s voice on the other end of the line when I called Janelle Williams’ number said it was no longer in service. Of course not. That would make my life too easy. I had a feeling my luck would run that way, so I was already driving to where the hospital records said she lived.
The address on the paper took me to a small run-down neighborhood outside of Vaughn with houses that badly needed painting, and lawns that looked as though they hadn’t seen a lawnmower in ages. One of the houses had an old car propped up on blocks with its tires and rims missing, as though it was slowly being stripped for parts. Another house we passed had shutters around the windows that hung by a nail—literally. Nearly every house on the block suffered from some state of disrepair. Seeing houses like these made me glad my apartment building enforced rules against this sort of thing.
At the end of the street I stopped at the mailbox with 5446 W. Lansing Dr. painted on the side, and pulled over by the sidewalk. I stepped out of the truck and walked up the sidewalk through a busted white picket fence gate that hung half off its hinges, and used what little remained of the sun’s rays to look around. The dilapidated house in front of me had DO NOT ENTER, and KEEP OUT! spray-painted on several spots around the outside. I double-checked the address, and sure enough, this was it.
Looks like someone doesn’t really want to be found, I told Rya.
It would seem so. I do not smell werewolf, nor do I smell human at this address. No one has lived here for a very long time. Why would anyone go to such lengths to remain hidden unless they are covering up something?
I believe you’re right. All this definitely hints that this Janelle Williams is hiding something. Dammit! This was our only lead, now how are we supposed to find her?
Maybe George knows something, she said.
Good thinking. I walked back over to Old Red with Rya hot on my heels. When I opened the door, she leapt in and made herself at home on the passenger side. I climbed in and fired up the engine.
So far, the only lead I had was a bust. In a matter of just a few days, things had gone from bad to worse, and I was chasing ghosts. As I drove out of the neighborhood and hit the long stretch of road between me and the main highway, I sent up a silent prayer that George would speak with me and that he would have some answers.
***
About forty minutes later I pulled into the parking lot at the Blu Moon and spotted George greeting customers at the front door. It was early, so there weren’t that many people here yet.
At least something went right today.
As long as he doesn’t try to kill you on sight, Rya answered, even though the thought hadn’t been directed at her.
Don’t remind me. To help sway the odds in my direction, I made the decision to leave my weapons in the truck tucked under the seat. I wanted George to talk to me, which, considering the circumstances, asked a lot. Being armed might make him think I was being aggressive, especially since he’d removed the dead werewolf from my apartment, and I had inadvertently been responsible for his Alpha pair and several other pack members being killed. Yeah, I was asking a whole lot.
The more I sat there and thought about it, the less I wanted to open the door and go talk to him. I’d been at Leo’s for three days, I had no idea what happened while I recuperated. What if George blamed me? What if whatever small friendship I considered us having had disappeared with the deaths of his pack mates? I was at a dead end. Rya remained silent while I figured out what to do. Finally, I sighed. I really didn’t have any other avenues to pursue that I could think of.
Come with me, but stay hidden unless you have to protect me. She nodded her massive head, and I opened the door.
As soon as George saw me approaching, the pleasant smi
le he used with the customers vanished, his posture stiffened. The warm welcome I had hoped for faded away, but then again, he hadn’t attacked me yet.
He took a few steps toward me, and then stopped in a defensive pose. “Why are you here?” His voice had lowered to a deep thrumming bass, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “You need to leave. Now.” A rumbling growl started low in his chest and he looked like he might pounce.
I’d come this far; it was too late to turn back now. “George, please. Someone stole my blood from the hospital, and is using it against you guys. I don’t know how, but I’m trying to find out. That’s why I’m here. Do you know who Janelle Williams is? Is she a member of your pack? We think she’s involved.” I rambled everything out in what seemed like one breath in an effort to tell him as much as I could before he made me leave or attacked me.
George took a few more steps toward me, and lowered his voice. “Keira, you need to leave. Half the supernaturals here tonight are waiting for you to show up. I’m breaking pack law just speaking to you.”
I cringed inwardly as he towered over me, but I didn’t move. “I’m sorry, George, please…”
Maybe it was the “please,” or the desperation in my voice, but some of the hostility in George’s posture softened. He rapped his knuckles on the steel door twice, then grabbed me by the arm—a little rough, but not aggressive—and led me away from the door to the side of the building. Another bouncer took his place greeting customers and checking IDs.
Once we cleared the corner, he jerked me to a halt and let go so abruptly I stumbled and almost fell flat on my face, but managed to grab on to the concrete wall and stay upright.
“Dammit, Keira.” He paced back and forth, his back stiff as each footstep crunched loudly on the gravel. “Are you trying to get us both killed? Damn near everyone in that club who isn’t human is under orders to either capture or kill you.”
“I’m sorry, George, I just…wait. What?”
He stopped pacing and faced me, his amber wolf eyes shining brightly in the overhead security light. I took a step back, afraid his wolf was taking control. Rya brushed against my leg, letting me know she was still there if this went south. My legs froze as I remembered not to run. If I ran, the wolf would take over for sure. Predators chase prey.
George closed his eyes and breathed deeply for several tense moments. When he opened them, they were normal. His voice, on the other hand, wasn’t. It was deep and guttural when he said, “Keira, every member of my pack has been ordered to kill you on sight. The Vampire Council has given orders to capture you. The witches and the trolls are undecided. None of their kind have died yet, but they are anxious and on edge.” He took another menacing step toward me. His breath blew hot across my cheek. “My wolf wants you dead, but what’s left of my human side wants to know why you killed them.” Power rolled across his body. Every corded muscle was strung tight, ready to uncurl and lash out.
My body trembled and my heart pounded as I quickly explained how they had attacked me first. How I hadn’t wanted to hurt them, but defended myself.
George stared deeply into my eyes for several terrifying heartbeats, searching my words for truth. He must have found it because he backed away and gave me a curt nod. “Fair enough.” I breathed for the first time in what like ages. “To answer your question, no, I don’t know a Janelle Williams. She is not pack.”
My heart sank with his words. My chance at finding the person responsible for all this quickly withered away. I opened my mouth to ask him another question when he raised his hand. His head tilted to the side as he listened to something. I couldn’t hear anything over the thumping music vibrating through the walls from inside the club.
Suddenly, his eyes met mine. “They know you’re here. You have to leave. Don’t come here again.” With that he strode toward the front door; the gravel beneath his feet crunched like jagged glass.
He’s right, Rya said.
As if to punctuate her statement, a commotion broke out inside the club. The redheaded bouncer disappeared inside, and George yelled at me, “Go!”
I raced across the parking lot, arms pumping furiously as my breath puffed out in little bursts. The parking lot hadn’t been that full when I arrived so I’d found a place to park close to the front of the club, a small favor I thanked the Great Spirit for now. Rya let go of the magic keeping her hidden, and leapt into the truck as soon as I yanked open the door. The engine roared to life and the tires squealed as I peeled out of the parking lot.
As we put precious distance between us and the turmoil outside the club, I glanced in my rearview mirror. The last thing I saw before I lost sight of the club was a bunch of angry looking supernaturals ganging up on George. As I drove out of sight, I said a quick prayer he wouldn’t get hurt because of me.
CHAPTER 14
An hour later, I sat in Leo’s office. It felt like I just left the place, which technically, I guess I had, but Leo was the only vampire I knew and I needed to know how bad it was on their side of things. What George told me had me worried. My chest tightened as I thought about George.
George can take care of himself, Rya reiterated for the umpteenth time.
I took a deep breath and blew it out. Right. I needed to worry about myself. “George said the Vampire Council has given orders to capture me,” I told Leo. “Why? What do they want with me?” A thought suddenly occurred to me. What if Leo turned me over to them? He’d shown compassion by caring for me for three days, and he’d even kissed me, but what if all that was moot now? My body tensed and I sought the comforting feel of cold steel between my shoulder blades. I’d strapped my weapons back on after leaving the Blu Moon.
Leo’s eyes narrowed as if he knew where my thoughts had gone. He sat across from me at his desk in a pair of tan riding breeches and a white cotton shirt that looked like he’d stolen it from a Renaissance fair. He leaned back in his chair and glared at me; the vein in his neck bulged. “After everything, you still think me a monster.” It wasn’t a question, but more a heated statement. “Very well. I only recently learned of the Council’s orders. Some of its members and I are, as you might say, not on the best of terms, therefore I do not always receive their biddings right away. Even if I had, I would not have turned you over.” Icicles could have formed on those last words he spoke them so coldly.
I no longer thought of him as a monster, per se, but self-preservation was a hard ship to abandon. Instead of apologizing, I said, “So just how much trouble am I in?” I knew very little about vampires other than what the general public knew. They tended to be more secretive about their world than the werewolves.
“The Vampire Council manages all the vampires in North America, a type of government if you will. They will no doubt dispatch someone to bring you in. As for what they want, exactly, I do not know.” His voice was even, but some emotion flitted across his face before disappearing. My stomach cramped because, if I wasn’t mistaken, it looked a whole lot like fear.
An involuntary shiver racked my body. If Leo feared what was coming for me, I didn’t stand a chance. The fight with Jeremy and his wolves popped into my head, and how, if Leo and Arnaud hadn’t been there, I’d probably be dead right now. I was barely skating by, and I didn’t think it would last much longer.
“Okay,” I said, determined. “So what do I do? How do I get the Council off my ass?”
Leo snorted. “You do not get the Council off your…ass, as you so eloquently put it, but I will speak with them on your behalf. Perhaps they will rescind the order long enough for you to figure out who is behind all this.” Leo suddenly looked tired, and guilt flashed through me for my earlier actions. He’d been nothing less than a gentleman as of late, but I still treated him like the asshole that walked into my shop and tried to bully me out of it.
“Thank you,” I said. Leo watched me intently, but didn’t say anything. “You’ve done more than you had to, and for that I’m grateful.” He still didn’t say anything as I rose
from my chair. “Come on, Rya, we should go.” Still nothing. I turned to go and squeaked when I ran into Leo. He’d gone from sitting in his chair to standing in front of me in the blink of an eye. I tried to take a step back, but his arm snaked out and encircled my waist, pulling me to him.
“I told you I would not forget the gift you bestowed upon me.” My heart raced as he leaned in closer. “I am vampire, the walking dead, and yet you saved my life. For this, I will do many things until I feel my debt has been repaid.” His lips ghosted across mine, then disappeared in a swirl of air as he returned to his chair.
My heart galloped like a racehorse and my lips tingled. What was he trying to do to me? When I glanced in his direction, he didn’t look up. He’d busied himself with some paperwork, effectively dismissing me.
Okay, then. I ignored Rya’s amusement, and marched out of his office.
***
What’s so funny, I asked Rya as we bounced along on the empty back roads between Leo’s house and mine. Her laughter floated around my mind like a song stuck on repeat.
You hate that you like him, and his chivalrous beliefs dictate that you be a willing participant. She tittered like an old mother hen about to marry off her chicks. You might as well just get on with it.
I do not. My indignation carried enough weight to squash an ant. Did I like him? If you’d asked me that a week ago I would have said, “Hell no!” but now, after everything that had happened…I wasn’t sure. He’d saved my life at the risk of his own, he’d cared for me until I was well enough to go home, he helped me now, and for whatever reason Rya really seemed to like him.
Damn. I pushed the pedal on Old Red and opened her up on the deserted road, letting the sound of her engine sooth my jumbled thoughts like a salve. Rya chuffed in amusement all the way home.