A London Werewolf in America

by A London Werewolf in America (lit)

  Roderick got right to the point. “How’s Albert?”

  “Alive,” Charlie said, “but in bad shape. The doctor’s already here.” He noticed Darinda behind Roderick. “You know any healing spells?”

  “It’s not my forte, but I’ll do what I can. Will they let me near him?”

  “They bloody well better,” Roderick snarled. “Take us to him.”

  The pack had brought Albert to the den. He lay on the floor, atop a buffalo rug. A wiry form, human in shape but not aura, crouched beside him. Ellis hovered at the croucher’s shoulder, alternately growling and whining. Nora stood nearby, a twin clutched in each arm. Coraline wailed and howled. Cole stood white-faced in a corner, apart from the rest of the pack.

  The doctor glanced up when they entered. Fangs flashed at Darinda from within a dark-skinned face. To her surprise, she knew him. Dr. Clark was a vampire, and one of her regular customers. “Yo, Lowell! Fancy meeting you here. Join the party.”

  “I’m not a healer.”

  “Any port in a storm. Get over here. He’s bleeding all over the place.”

  She started forward automatically, but Ellis lunged into her path. His flash of fangs was nowhere near as friendly. Roderick brutally shouldered him aside. “She’s with me. She can help.”

  “She’s human.” Ellis’s voice had devolved so far down to a growl Darinda could barely understand him. “It was a human that shot him!”

  “Not this human.”

  Ellis didn’t hear him. Too far gone. The situation might have escalated into full-blown alpha challenge except Nora leaped in between Roderick and her mate. Then Coraline flung herself into Roderick’s arms and started to sob loudly against his chest. “Maybe you’d better wait in the other room,” Charlie murmured to Darinda.

  She glanced at Clark. He grimaced unhappily. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke a griffin, not at all what Albert needed just now. She let Charlie escort her from the den.

  In the dining room, out of sight and scent of the hair-trigger wolves, she asked Charlie, “How did it happen?”

  “Two shots to the chest. Right in the back yard.” Charlie paced restlessly along the length of the dinner table. “A neighbor heard gunshots and called 911. Luckily the dispatcher knows this is were territory. That’s how I got the call. Good thing, too. Ellis is going scatty. He’d have ripped a human cop to pieces.” He stopped pacing and faced her. “You probably shouldn’t be here.”

  “Tell that to Roderick. I want to help.”

  “I wish you could, but walking in there with your ape smell won’t do any good right now.” He cocked his head at her. “How good are you at forensics?”

  “Worse than I am at healing. You want me to try to trace the bullets?”

  “It’d be a help.” Charlie growled softly. “I’m betting they’re silver.”

  Like the knife from Kelly Drive. “Ellis said a human shot him. Are you sure?”

  “The smell’s all over the yard. Human odor’s hard to fake. Now, normally I’d write this up as your basic species crime, but you and Rod brought in the coyote angle. Coyotes don’t follow wolf protocol, and they don’t mind working with humans. They want territory, but they won’t put themselves in danger. They’ll find a way that keeps them clean.”

  “How does shooting Albert help? He’s beta.”

  “It’s the beta’s job to protect the alpha. Maybe Ellis was the target, and Albert got hit by mistake.”

  “This still doesn’t explain why they’ve attacked Roderick. He doesn’t own territory here in America. He doesn’t even have a pack.”

  “He’ll get both when he mates with Coraline. You want to destroy a pack, you decimate the top ranks. The coyotes wouldn’t want a strong new alpha to come in and mess up their plans.”

  “But how do they know he’s here to marry Coraline? According to every wolf I’ve talked to, nobody knows any coyotes.”

  Charlie scratched the back of his neck. “You got me there. I didn’t want to admit it, but it’s looking more and more like an inside job.”

  “I will admit it,” Darinda said. “We had the Duquesnes pegged at first, but now—”

  She broke off. Even silver bullets wouldn’t cause bleeding a vampire couldn’t stop. But if they had a specific spell on them… She rushed from the dining room, back to the den.

  Someone, probably Nora, had gotten Ellis seated on the couch. He leaped up when Darinda dashed in, a snarl on his lips. She barely spared him a glance. She dropped down beside Albert, opposite Clark. Albert’s pallid complexion and gaspy breaths frightened her. “Have you found the bullets?”

  “Not yet. They’re in pretty deep. I can’t get him stabilized.”

  He said more, but she barely heard him. She could taste the magic on her tongue, fluid and slippery. The silver bullets had indeed been spelled, just like the knife. “Roderick,” she said, “there’s a vial in my bag labeled cleanser. I need it.”

  He darted at once to fetch her bag. The second he left Ellis’s side the Duquesne alpha launched himself at Darinda. She slammed him back onto the couch with a gesture and closed her fist. Thickened air pinned him in place. “Don’t interrupt. I think I know what’s wrong and I think I can save him.”

  Ellis strained against the air. “Take your stinking paws off him, you damned dirty ape!”

  Darinda snapped her hand. Ellis’s jaw clacked shut and stayed shut. Wordlessly Roderick handed over her bag and joined Charlie and Nora by the couch. Coraline grabbed his arm and hugged herself to his side. Camilla and Bentley had gone wolf and shivered together at their mother’s feet.

  “So, Lowell, what we got?” Clark said.

  “A flow spell, laid on the bullets. It’s meant to keep water running, but it works on any liquid. That’s why he won’t stop bleeding.” She sprinkled the cleanser liberally over Albert’s wounds and chanted the strongest spell-breaker she knew. He’d lost so much blood already, no telling if she was in time.

  Abruptly the cords of magic snapped. The fresh, lively scent of the cleanser swept out the filthy reek of death. A greasy gray cloud misted out of the bullet holes, hovered a moment over Albert’s chest, then melted away. Darinda sat back, suddenly weak in the limbs.

  “All right,” Clark said. “Now we’re cooking.” He poured a gummy liquid from his own bag into Albert’s wounds. The bleeding stopped almost at once. Albert’s skin remained waxen, but his breathing evened out.

  Darinda was impressed. “Coagulant?”

  “Old family recipe.” Clark grinned. “Managing blood is a vampire specialty. No way I’m digging into him here. He’s coming back to my office.”

  “Will he make it?” Roderick said.

  “Too soon to tell. Who wants to help me load him up?”

  The entire family moved as one, including Ellis once Darinda released him. He didn’t look at her. Neither did any of the others. They lifted Albert, bloody rug and all, and carried him outside. Charlie went ahead to open doors.

  Clark’s ambulance sat at the side of the house, near Charlie’s Crown Vic. Darinda hadn’t even noticed the two vehicles when she’d pulled up. She helped Clark open the back and set up the gurney. “You finally got an ambulance. I was wondering.”

  “Had to. You put a siren on a hearse and people look at you funny. You did good, Lowell. Want a job?”

  “Already got one.” She hopped down and stayed well out of the way while the Duquesnes bundled Albert into the ambulance. Ellis climbed in with him. Clark took off with siren blaring and lights stabbing red at the trees.

  “I’m going to need statements from everyone,” Charlie said to Nora. “You up to it?”

  Whimpering, she nodded. She herded the still-wolf twins inside. Cole had taken Coraline’s arm and guided her unsteady steps back to the house. Charlie brought up the rear.

  To her surprise Darinda found Roderick beside her. “I thought you went inside,” she said.

  “Not yet. I’ll have to stay, just for a bit. They need the com
fort of an alpha’s presence. It’s best you stay clear. They’re sensitive just now.”

  “I understand.”

  She started for the car, but he touched her arm. Before she could guess what he had in mind he bent his head and kissed her.

  The kiss took her completely by surprise. She hadn’t expected his mouth to be so gentle or so warm on hers. Wolves had a reputation for sudden, ravenous attacks. This held unguessed-at caring, a request instead of a demand. Before she knew what was happening she had submitted, surrendering to instinct. She leaned into his embrace and opened her lips to his tender assault, reveling in the flood of heady sensation the contact between them brought.

  When he finally released her, she couldn’t let him go. She didn’t trust her legs to hold her up. He arched a brow, amused. “Did I do it wrong?”

  “Nuh.” Darinda cleared her throat. “N-no. That was just right.” She waited for her galloping pulse to slow to a trot. “What was that about?”

  “For standing by us. For helping Albert. They’ll never thank you. They don’t appreciate help from a human. I do. I wanted you to know.”

  Okay, heart, Darinda thought, slow down or there’s going to be serious trouble. Where in Hecate’s name did a werewolf learn how to kiss like a human? And to get so damned good at it, too. “You’re welcome.”

  He draped his arm around her waist. This time the possessiveness didn’t rankle so much. “Come inside. I want you near.”

  She didn’t resist his guiding her back to the house. “I’m glad to see you’ve overcome your aversion to touching,” he said.

  That snapped her out of it. “Bite me.”

  “Later, perhaps.”

  He brought her to the dining room and left her with a wolf’s kiss, a brief flick of his tongue against her cheek. “I won’t be long, I promise. I just need to see they’re settled.”

  “Take your time,” she mumbled to the empty room. With him gone she could think more clearly, breathe more easily again.

  This was bad. This was disastrous. Casual attraction was one thing. You looked, you lusted, you smiled and moved on. Serious attraction, where your urges waved torches and pitchforks and stormed the castle of good common sense, was another monster entirely.

  He was a wolf. A carnivore, a predator. Arrogant, overbearing, possessive and bigoted. Also thoughtful, protective, gentle, generous and considerate. He was a creature of power, emotion and instinct, just like a witch.

  A kiss is just a kiss, she told herself. It didn’t have to mean anything. It couldn’t mean anything. He was getting married in less than a week, for Goddess’s sake.

  The King of Spades, married to the Queen of Hearts. If only she could get that pesky reading out of her mind.

  She caught herself pacing around the dining room table and stopped. In the silence she gradually became aware of a vaguely-familiar tapping sound. Eager for distraction, she followed it.

  The sound guided her to a small room toward the back of the house. By the time she arrived in the doorway she’d placed it: fingers tapping on a keyboard. The door stood ajar. She glanced inside.

  The room had the look of a large pantry, converted into small guest quarters. It had just enough space for a cot, a bureau, and the desk where Cole Duquesne sat with a laptop. He read the message on the screen and typed in a reply. Then he paused and sniffed the air.

  Darinda rapped on the door. “It’s just me.”

  “I know.” He signed off and shut the laptop before he turned around. “Does Officer Meadows want me?”

  “Not yet, I don’t think. I heard you on the computer.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Chat room,” he explained. “I had to talk to somebody. The shes are all, just, you know.” Belatedly, he motioned to her. “C’mon in.”

  “This is fine.” Small as it was, this was still Cole’s space, and she didn’t want to intrude. As an omega he had little enough of his own, as these skimpy quarters attested. “I didn’t realize weres had chat rooms. Or used computers, for that matter. Silly. Why wouldn’t you?”

  “It’s more common than it used to be,” Cole said. “Uncle Ellis won’t touch it. Too old school. He just growls at it. The twins are more with it. Camilla’s on Facebook. Bentley likes the games.” He looked at the floor. She noted his room had no window. “How’s Uncle Albert?”

  “No word yet. I’m sure he’ll be all right. You can help out, you know. You could go to your family.”

  Cole snorted. “And do what?”

  “Well, it seems to me you’re currently the household’s ranking male. Unless you think Bentley can handle it?”

  “Hey, you’re right.” He jumped up and dashed past her, head up and spine straightened from its habitual omega slouch. Darinda chuckled. She was just full of good deeds tonight.

  Alone again, she wandered back to the dining room and from there to the foyer. She found the foyer chairs more comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, she hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep in one until Roderick’s gentle shake on her shoulder awakened her. “Uh?” she responded groggily. “What time is it?”

  “Late,” he murmured. “Ellis is back, and he’s in full paranoid alpha mode. We both need to get our tails out of here. Charlie’s already gone.”

  “Albert?”

  “The doctor thinks he’ll make it, but he’ll be a long time in recovery. There’s nothing more we can do.”

  No one came to show them out. They left quietly.

  On the way back to Meadowlands Darinda related her conversation with Charlie. “It isn’t just you,” she said. “It’s all of you. All the higher ranks.”

  “The hunt’s on.” His eyes lit with a vicious rage she thanked the Goddess wasn’t meant for her. “Enough of this. It’s time we took steps.”

  * * * *

  “Leave?” Aunt Letty said, aghast. “Absolutely not.”

  “Absolutely yes. They’re targeting high-rankers, and I won’t put you in danger. You’re to stay in the city with Eugene until I settle this.”

  “Or until they settle you,” Eugene said. “Forgive my bluntness, but are you scatty? You’ll be alone up here in coyote territory. You might as well stick a bull’s-eye on your back.”

  “He won’t be alone,” Darinda said. “I’ll be here.”

  “Like that’ll help.”

  Letty silenced her son with a lift of her lip. “Roddy, this is unacceptable. I won’t let a pack of coyotes drive me out of my home. Besides, I promised your mother—”

  “Mother’s not here. You’re leaving with Eugene, and that’s the end of it.”

  “I’m calling Charles.”

  “He’ll back me up. Put your hackles down, it’s decided. Now, what do you need?”

  And that was that. They surrendered to the will of the alpha. Darinda stood off to the side while Eugene helped his mother put together an overnight bag. “I’ll be back tomorrow for whatever else she needs,” he said. He reeked of relief. “Charlie will swing by here as often as he can.”

  “Warn him to be careful. He could be a target as well.” Roderick pitched this low, so Aunt Letty wouldn’t catch it. “The rest of you ought to be safe enough.”

  “I hope.” Eugene stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I wouldn’t be you for anything.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

  Eugene took Aunt Letty’s bag, and all three of them escorted her to Eugene’s car. Darinda cast her senses as far as she could, and kept a wary eye on the yard, the trees, and the city reservoir fence across the street. She saw too much undergrowth for comfort, but no yellow gleam of were eyes. Roderick, she noticed, did the same as she, his nose amply filling in for a telepathic scan.

  “You call me every day,” Aunt Letty said to him, even as Eugene helped her into his car. She turned unexpectedly to Darinda. “And you, dear, you watch out for him. And do look after yourself.” Darinda could only nod mutely.

  They watched the car until its taillights were lost behind a curve in the drive then r
eturned to the house. “Nobody’s around,” Darinda said. “Not within my range. I think the fun’s over for tonight.”

  Roderick slammed into the house and stalked about the parlor. Darinda shut and locked the door. “Eugene’s right, you know,” she said. “All you’ve done is make yourself an easier target.”

  “I’m already a target. No point in putting family in the crosshairs.” He stopped pacing. “Or you. You needn’t stay.”

  “You hired me to protect you.”

  “All right, then, you’re fired.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t walk away while someone’s plotting deliberate harm. Anyway, I promised Aunt Letty I’d watch out for you.”

  “And a witch’s oath is sacrosanct.” His mouth twitched, the start of a smile. “All right. I can use a second pair of eyes. Pity there’s nothing we can do about that sorry human nose of yours.”

  “I have other resources.”

  “Excellent ones, as I’ve observed. Perhaps this is best. You’re still convinced someone close to me is behind this?”

  “The cards have never lied to me.”

  “Scat.” He began to pace again, a feral beast in a shrinking cage. “You know, I’d nearly convinced myself Mother was behind this. But she has no reason to kill Albert Duquesne. Or Ellis Duquesne, for that matter.”

  “Maybe we should keep tabs on your family. If they’re not behind this, they could be targets, too.” She ignored his cynical snort. “Do you have a computer with Internet access at home? Do you know how to use one?”

  “Of course. I don’t much care for it, though. The screen hurts my eyes.”

  Darinda considered. She’d been all over Meadowlands her first day here, as part of her security duties. Aunt Letty didn’t own a computer, or even a cell phone. Old school, as Cole Duquesne would put it. “I’ll bet Emma’s got Internet. She can email your family in England. Find out if your mother’s had any unexplained brushes with death lately. Or if she has connections here in Philadelphia.”

  She grew self-consciously aware of his intent stare, and the light that had kindled in his eyes. She held herself perfectly still. Any move could provoke a predator. “What?”