Avery also made plans for four of his wolves to guard the perimeter of the property. The owner lived outside Des Moines on an acreage surrounded by (no surprise) corn fields. It was my job as well as Winkler's and Kelvin's to watch over the Grand Master in closer quarters.
The staff left, the meal was eaten and then the ceremony began. I didn't eat with the others; I stood outside the large dining room while the werewolves laughed and talked. If anything came in that wasn't scheduled, it was my duty to take care of it.
Weldon was giving his blessing, werewolf style, to Avery when one of the wolf guards from outside came through the front door. That normally wouldn't worry me, except he was dragging a young human woman along with him and she was crying. I followed along behind the wolf and the girl as she was hauled into the dining room and tossed in the floor at Avery and Weldon's feet.
"She sneaked back onto the property," the guard declared. "She saw Ruben and Jasper as wolves."
"I didn't sneak, I swear," the girl sobbed. "I left my rings in the kitchen. I took them off to rinse out a few pans before we packed them up. I drove up, two men were at the gate and they told me to park and come inside. That's when I saw the wolves. I just came back for my jewelry. Please let me go." She was terrified. I had no doubt she'd seen werewolves, all right.
"Well, girlie, that's too bad, isn't it?" Avery was almost growling and he had a nasty grin on his face. "Looks like we may have a hunt tonight, folks."
Even Weldon looked a little shocked, I could tell, but he wasn't interrupting. I was about to. Stalking over to Avery and the wolf who'd brought the girl in, I let them know exactly how I felt. "You will do no such thing, you poor excuse for a flea-bitten mutt," I shouted, shaking a finger in Avery's face. "If I have to take on every one of you, I will. But all it takes is just the barest of compulsion," I lowered my voice. "Honey," I lifted the girl to her feet and took her face in my hands; "we'll get your rings. You just drove up and came in, asking us to get your rings for you, didn't you? You didn't see anything except people having their dessert, isn't that right?" The girl nodded, her eyes a little blank. The sobbing stopped.
"Here, now, let's go find your rings," I led her toward the kitchen. We found them in no time. Avery wasn't done, however. "How the hell do we know she won't," Weldon lifted a hand, stopping Avery in mid-bluster, before coming to the girl.
"Ask her to tell us what she saw," he ordered.
"What did you see when you drove back here, hon? Tell the truth." Compulsion dripped from my tongue.
"I drove through the gate and walked up to the house. Everybody was eating dessert and I asked you for my rings. We went to the kitchen to get them. See?" She held the rings up.
"Take her to her car," Weldon growled. I figured I was about to get a fast trip right back to Wlodek and the rest of the Council with a big F on my report card. There wasn't anything else I could have done, however. No way was I going to let Avery and his wolves tear this girl apart because she'd seen two of them who were fool enough to change out on the grounds.
We walked to the girl's car; it was a small import and she chatted on the way, thanked me for my help and then drove off. The wolf who'd dragged her in came out and warned away the other wolves guarding the property.
The four werewolves followed me inside the house where Weldon looked as if he were about to have a stroke. Winkler was up and leaning against one wall of the large dining room, Kelvin was doing the same on the opposite wall. "Now," Weldon said to the wolf who'd dragged the girl inside the house, "tell me what happened, and in the proper order. I warn you, I can smell a lie a mile away and if you want confirmation, then I'll have Lissa here place compulsion on you to tell the truth. What the hell happened with that girl? Start at the beginning. Don't stop until you reach the end. I'm waiting." Weldon crossed his arms angrily over his chest.
"She drove right through the gate and pulled up in front of the house," the wolf who'd brought her in said. "We told her she couldn't come in so she got belligerent with us. Ruben and Jasper had to change when she started fighting with us."
"Lie," Weldon said. "Try again and make it the truth, this time."
I wanted to snicker. That girl couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and twenty pounds, looked to be around five-four and definitely hadn't worked out. If four grown werewolves in their humanoid shape couldn't subdue somebody her size, then they needed to find another form to shift to. Skunk came to mind. I figured they'd seen this as an opportunity to tear someone apart just for the sport of it.
"She wanted to argue with us so Ruben and Jasper changed," the werewolf was whining a little.
"A little closer to the truth but still not the truth." Weldon's eyes were hard. "Lissa, come here for a minute." I went.
"Now, wait just a minute," Avery said but Weldon growled low, forcing Avery to back up. He didn't argue past that.
"Lissa, place compulsion on this one to tell the truth," Weldon said. I walked up to the werewolf, and not willing to take any chances, allowed my claws to slide out the entire way. There were a few gasps around the room.
"You will speak only the truth from this point forward," I said, looking the wolf straight in the eye and pointing a claw at him. He nodded. I stepped aside.
"Now," Weldon said. "Tell me exactly what happened."
"She drove up to the gate and Ruben was there, waiting," the werewolf began. "Jasper was on the other side. She asked Ruben if she could come in to get her rings. Ruben told her to park halfway up the drive and wait for him and Jasper to come and escort her to the house. They changed before they got there and started growling. I had to come along and bring her in."
"And why did they change?" Weldon asked almost casually.
"Because we thought it might be fun to hunt with the Grand Master," the wolf muttered.
"You thought I'd find sport in hunting that poor girl down and tearing her to pieces?"
"Yeah." When he said that, I wanted to kill him myself. I'd moved aside so Weldon could question him, pulling my claws back in. Too bad. I might have used the excuse that my hand just slipped. In the vicinity of his neck. Winkler, I noticed, was no longer leaning against the wall and neither was Kelvin. Both stepped forward a little and Winkler was prepared for anything, I could tell.
"You, sit." Weldon barked at the wolf, who sat down at the table. "Avery, Lissa, come with me." Weldon stalked into the kitchen with Avery and me close behind. Winkler and Kelvin stayed outside to watch the others. "Lissa, place compulsion to tell the truth on Avery, here," Weldon ordered. Avery started to protest but I just used compulsion to make him shut up and stand still. Then I placed the one to force him to tell the truth.
"Do you condone this kind of behavior?" Weldon asked. "Has this sort of thing happened before?"
"Simms does seem to have a knack for being around when this happens," Avery whined. "We've had to take care of things several times since I took over."
"And how many times when Corwin was in charge?"
"None that I remember." Avery was sweating.
"And you weren't suspicious?"
"Simms is one of my best guards."
"Really?" Weldon wasn't happy. It looked like I wasn't going to be sent back to the Council after all. "Well," Weldon went on, "I'll be interviewing the Pack one at a time, then. Lissa, send Avery back out and tell him not to go anywhere. Have Winkler send in the others, beginning with the owner of the property."
I nodded at Weldon, then laid compulsion for Avery to go back out, sit down and not cause any trouble. He went.
Winkler sent the Pack in one at a time after that. Most of them told the same story; that Simms or one of the other three assigned to guard duty would bring a human in on the pretext that they'd seen them change and then instigate a hunt. The rest of the Pack would hang back and allow Simms or one of the others to make the kill, which generally ended up quite bloody. The worst of the stories involved a sixteen-year-old boy whose car had broken down on the side of a road. It was all I
could do not to march right out and do all four of them in over that one. Now, there were grieving parents in the area that had no idea what happened to their son.
The stories continued, one on top of another, until Weldon and I learned that Avery and his four pet guards had accounted for at least fourteen disappearances in the Des Moines area. The Pack as a whole found the whole thing reprehensible, but none were willing to challenge their new Packmaster. I got the idea that Simms and his cronies might have interfered with the challenge anyway. None of the Pack came out and said it, but they didn't like Avery's leadership at all. They all talked about Corwin and how good it had been before.
"Those four guards have acquired the taste for human blood," Weldon growled after the last werewolf left the kitchen. I figured I knew what was coming, only this time I wasn't about to argue over it. Innocents had died. They weren't threatening a room full of old vampires who most likely had killed many times. These were humans who hadn't known werewolves existed until they'd been chosen by a handful and hunted down to die. And the sixteen-year-old? One of the werewolf women wept as she described his death, and went on to say that according to local media, he'd gotten a night job to help his parents pay bills during some difficult times. His car had broken down on the way home one evening. That information made me so angry my eyes were likely blood red.
Weldon walked back into the dining room after the last Pack member was questioned. "Avery, I had no idea I'd be doing anything other than officially confirming your status as Packmaster when I arrived," Weldon sighed. "As of this moment, I am revoking that status. You and those four over there will be executed. Tonight." He turned to the owner of the house. "I don't wish to do this in your home," Weldon said. "We'll go out back for this. Who wants to help hold them?"
Several male werewolves stood, including the property owner. There were only two female werewolves in the bunch to begin with, both of them mated. Weldon nodded at the Pack members who stood, Avery and the four were taken and we all trooped out to the back fence surrounding the house. Avery looked like a deer in the headlights by that time. I had no idea how he'd thought his four guards weren't up to something, and he'd hunted those humans right alongside them. Now, he was going to pay for that with his life.
Weldon turned and took Avery down himself. Winkler got three of the others. Simms was now the only one left; he'd been the one to haul in the boy. Weldon deliberately held him back until last. "Lissa, do you want this one?" Weldon asked me softly. I walked up to Simms, who'd watched all the others die in front of him. He swallowed hard when I approached.
"I don't know, Weldon," I said, turning around and forcing the claws out on my hand. My back was to Simms so he didn't see. Whirling so fast I was more than likely a blur, I sliced through his neck. The two who held him looked on in amazement as Simms toppled, his head never leaving his body until it was flat in the grass. It rolled away after that. "Yeah, I guess I did want that one," I said, retracting my claws.
I washed my hands inside the house while Weldon talked to the rest of the Pack, who decided in a democratic fashion which wolf they wanted as interim Packmaster. It ended up being the property owner, who seemed to have leadership qualities. I didn't think anybody was willing to challenge him, either. He chose his Second right away; Norwood had argued several times with Avery over what Simms and the others were doing. Weldon gave his blessing to the interim Packmaster, told him he'd be back in six months to see how things were going, thanked the man for the meal and we left. The Pack had some accidents to arrange to explain dead bodies.
"Some days I hate my job," Weldon shrugged out of his shirt first thing when we got back to the room. Avery may have gotten a bite or two in, but he wasn't much of a challenge for the Grand Master. Winkler, having done away with three of the others, also had a few bites but nothing that wouldn't heal quickly. At least they didn't seem to have the vampire's allergy to werewolf saliva like I did. I sat outside in Weldon's little sitting area, doing my duty as a bodyguard while he took a shower and cleaned up.
"Lissa, I hate to put you back in that bag, but I want to leave first thing in the morning," Weldon said when he walked out of the bathroom dressed in a towel. He called the pilot and co-pilot, had them bring the bag over and take the cooler and most of the other luggage back with them. We only kept what we'd need for the following day. I pulled out more fleece to dress in since I was going to be unconscious when they hauled me out of there in the morning.
* * *
"It's a good thing she's small and limber," Weldon mumbled to Winkler, who'd folded up the body bag that held Lissa's sleeping body. He had her not only folded up but hanging from a hook on the cart the bellboy was wheeling toward the cab. Winkler tossed the bag into the trunk on top of the other bags. Weldon gave him a hard look, Winkler shrugged and they climbed into the cab after tipping the bellboy.
The jet ran into a bit of turbulence over Lake Michigan on the way to Grand Rapids. "I think Lissa's lucky she's missing this," Weldon was bouncing around in his seat. Winkler was tapping away on his computer; Kelvin was humming The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
"Wrong lake," Winkler muttered in Kelvin's direction.
Once they left the lake behind, the turbulence cleared up and the jet landed in Grand Rapids without further incident. It was still early, nearing noon, so the three werewolves rented an SUV, loaded it up and drove toward a hotel. The local Packmaster wasn't expecting them until later that evening. Weldon wanted to leave the dust of Des Moines behind him as quickly as he could; the Pack there had mourning to do and needed time to regroup without his interference. Three rooms were booked at the Marriott downtown, which was also near the Grand River; Winkler preferred a water view whenever he could get it. Weldon made the call to the local Packmaster, letting him know they'd arrived early and where they'd booked rooms, assuring him that they just wanted to relax a little before going to dinner with the Packmaster, his wife and Second later on.
* * *
Sunset was a little after five that Thursday and we were one week away from Thanksgiving when my eyes popped open. Winkler had already pulled me from the bag and settled me on his bed, propped up with extra pillows. He had a bag of blood out for me too, handing it over the moment I realized he was sitting next to me. Kelvin, who walked in from the Grand Master's room through the connecting door, watched in fascination as I drank my meal. Winkler took the third of a bag that I couldn't finish and locked it inside the cooler. He still had the key with him for some reason and hadn't given it to me. He and I both knew that I could pop the lock off the cooler if it was necessary, but I still couldn't figure the whole thing out. Winkler wasn't taking any chances with my blood supply and that puzzled me a little.
I cleaned up and changed after my meal; Weldon called the Packmaster for the name of the restaurant where we were eating and said he'd meet him there. I think Weldon wanted as little small talk and chitchat as possible without appearing rude. The night before hadn't settled well with him, I could tell.
This Packmaster had a werewolf wife, and while she'd been informed that Weldon was bringing a female vampire as a bodyguard, I think she was expecting somebody dressed in a revealing black leather bustier and stiletto heels while showing fang to everybody. When I showed up in a nice charcoal gray suit with a black turtleneck under the jacket, I almost heard her sigh of relief. My short boots didn't have more than a two-inch heel.
"Are you really, oh, you know," she said across the table. I smiled and nodded at her, hoping to put her at ease. She sat between her husband and Weldon; I was wedged between Winkler and Kelvin on the opposite side of the booth. The Second, a quiet werewolf, had an extra chair on the outside edge and seemed content to listen while everyone else talked. Once again we were at a steak place, only this one served ribs, seafood and a little chicken as well. Winkler went out on a limb and ordered two lobsters.
Kelvin ordered chicken and ribs; I ordered a salad and the soup du jour. My phone rang while we waited for food to be
served. I checked caller ID—it was Gavin. I'd sent him an email when I woke earlier, telling him everything was fine. That wasn't sufficient, I guess.
"I'll take this elsewhere," I said, attempting to scoot Winkler over so I could get out. He had the seat on the outside.
"It's all right, you can take it here," Winkler refused to budge. My phone rang again so I rolled my eyes a little at Weldon, whose expression was unreadable. I'd have to talk to Gavin with everybody listening in.
"Hi, honey," I said as brightly as I could when I answered. No need to transmit to the Packmaster and his missus that the vampire on the other end was more than likely frowning deeply and waiting to lecture me about staying away from Winkler and every other male on the face of the planet.
"Lissa, are you well?" I'd just told him I was in the email. Maybe I should have translated it into French or something so he'd understand it better. I didn't say that, though.
"I'm very well," I said. "We're having dinner right now." I was hoping he'd make this short and sweet as a result. Ever since René's little fiasco and the thing with the bomb, well, he'd gotten worse.
"Lissa, I just wanted to hear your voice," he said. He almost sounded lonely. Fuck.
"Honey, I miss you," I said. I tried to get Winkler to let me out again, but he wasn't moving, choosing to grin as he crunched into a breadstick. More than likely werewolf hearing is just as good as vampire hearing so everybody at the table was getting to hear my conversation with Gavin. "Honey, are you going to be available for Christmas?" I asked, trying to point the conversation in a better direction. Plus, Weldon was supposed to give me a break and I'd only told Winkler I'd do Thanksgiving dinner.
"I don't know, cherie. Right now there are no assignments but that could change as it usually does."
"All right." I sighed. "Let me know, okay?"
Blood Passage (Blood Destiny #2) Page 13