Stronger Than Blood

by Genevieve J. Griffin

  Her head slowly turned from side to side. “No one deserves to feel that miserable, B. Not him, not you, not anybody.”

  “Who said I was miserable? I’m having a fantastic time.”

  “Are you?” she said. “Are you really?”

  Then Madison whispered, “Dear God. What did you do?”

  It was a question with a thousand possible answers, but she was pointing at the floor. Slowly I realized what she meant. Somewhere in the midst of finding me a costume, we’d forgotten to get me any shoes. The path I’d made across the floor, every single dance step, was marked with bloody footprints.

  I’d ripped my feet up on the run to get here, and I hadn’t even noticed.

  Ayu and Pandora stepped up, looking grim. They’d seen it, too.

  “B,” Ayu said. “You’re shaking—”

  And then—oh, of course it was right then—we heard the howl.

  Everyone was already tense, but the sound was what made Madison cut the music, which only made it worse. We were left in silence, with everyone huddling together against whatever had made that wild, ragged sound.

  Somebody laughed weakly and said, “Jake, that wasn’t you, was it?”

  It wasn’t. It was Brandon.

  His sudden presence in my head was shocking. The sense of him was so fragmented, and his eerie, echoing howl made my toes curl. My feet still didn’t hurt, but I could see blood seeping out. The broken skin didn’t want to heal.

  “We better get these morsels out of here,” Pandora said dourly.

  I returned to Lacey, who was rubbing her bruised wrist, and Madison. “You have to get everyone inside. Now.”

  I was prepared for a fight, but Madison, who looked like she knew what that howl meant, didn’t argue. She clapped her hands once and shouted, “Hey, everyone! The real drinks are inside!”

  I had to give her credit—that worked. Most of the crowd cheered and charged ahead.

  “Great,” she muttered in everyone’s wake. “Now I’ve got to break into Dad’s liquor cabinet. He’s going to kill me…”

  “Better him than what’s out there,” I said.

  She didn’t reply. She only dragged Lacey inside and slammed the door. Then the lights cut off, too, leaving us wolves outside in the dark.

  Well, I guess we deserved that.

  Around us, the wind was picking up. Strange noises rustled up from the forest, and the darkened lanterns began to swing. Beyond it all, fabric ghosts dangled eerily from the trees. “Gotta hand it to her,” Ayu said under her breath. “This is creepy as fuck.”

  “Coming from you, that actually means something,” Pandora said, with a swift kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek. Then she began to shed her clothes. “If anyone inside is watching, behead them for me.”

  Nobody was, which didn’t improve the situation. I was going to have to transform, too. But in this state, what was I about to do to myself?

  I just wasn’t sure I had much choice.

  We stashed our clothes under a nearby bush before we turned to each other. Really, given the chance to look, I had to admit they were both gorgeous. And here I was—little mousy, broken me—left to watch as they clasped hands to share a little strength before they flung themselves into the transformation. I wanted someone with me so badly I nearly howled.

  Raoul, I called, wondering if he could hear me. Why hadn’t I thought to tell him where I was going? Why hadn’t I stopped to think at all? Raoul, I need…

  I didn’t finish, because Ayu and Pandora were turning, and I had to follow suit.

  It was beginning to hurt less, but the detachment this time—I felt almost nothing—spooked me. What had felt more vivid in wolf form before didn’t pop anymore, either. I had to struggle to focus on the undercurrent of rage and grief that was Brandon’s psychic imprint.

  Pandora, though, snapped alert, ready to run. I tried to hold her back. You guard the house, I said. Somehow, it was easier to speak this time, although my mind and body felt oddly out of sync. I tried hard to center myself. You’re stronger. You have to protect everyone.

  But you—

  I’m going, I said, testing out a few steps. My legs held. After him.

  I put my head down. With a burst of effort, I vaulted across the width of the swimming pool.

  I’ll divert him, I said, over their wordless flash of surprise. Guard the house!

  With that, I was off. Brandon had been loping downhill, but when he sensed me approaching, I felt him rear up to sniff me out. I set off at a different angle. Just as I hoped, he changed his path to follow.

  Why are you here? he said. You?

  Fair question, I suppose. What was I doing, thinking I belonged at Madison’s party of all places? That I belonged anywhere?

  I growled. What are you doing here? I shot back. You think you’re going to find your girlfriend here or something? You think you can get her back?

  There was a blast of anger, masked by a laugh. Think you’re so smart…

  His shadow moved between the trees. Then he broke through the underbrush. He was stretching up into his human self, looking wilder than I’d ever seen him. There were still twigs in his hair, dirty smudges across his skin, and his eyes—

  I turned away, but I could hear him well enough.

  “You,” he said, laughing. “You’re asking me why I’m here? You haven’t figured it out?”

  I growled again, but he kept talking.

  “Humans aren’t worth protecting, B. Not these people. Not this town. They think they’re so powerful that they can keep us out? It’s time we showed them who’s got the power here…”

  I slammed my front paws into his shoulders, shoving him down to the ground. He didn’t seem to feel the pain. He just laughed again, like the whole thing was one enormous joke. His blood was welling up beneath my claws, and he didn’t even care.

  “I want to have some fun tonight,” he rasped, “and I’m not going to let Ilsa’s new bitch get in my way.”

  I reared up, splitting out of wolf form and back into my own. “I’m not Ilsa’s anything. And I’m not going to let you hurt these people.”

  He took that like a dare. “Come on,” he said, pressing hard against me. For an instant he sounded just like his brother. “You want me to behave? You could just tell me to. You could have your way with anything. Anyone. You could already have taken Ilsa down. But you are too…much…of a coward.”

  I let go with one hand to punch him clear across the mouth.

  “You bastard,” I screamed.

  He was still laughing, even while the blood streamed from his split lip and something much more like a sob began bubbling up from his throat. “They’re not your friends down there, B. No one is.” He stared deep into my eyes, long enough that I could see both tears and madness in his. “We are all alone.”

  I wanted to hit him again, but the pain in his words stopped me.

  That was why I made the mistake of letting go.

  I found myself flat on my back before I’d even realized he’d moved, and then there was a bloody kiss pressed hard against my mouth.

  I was lost in his memories before I had a chance to cry out. Fragments of Brandon’s whole life filtered in, too fast to even process, but I could taste the loss and anger, and the terror of ending up alone, of coming apart like his father did, of dying like his brother did. I was kicking him by then and trying to push him off, but I don’t think he even noticed, at least not until I wrenched my head aside hard enough to snap something. When he hesitated, I let out a gurgling, choked-off scream.

  It was still loud enough to announce my location. And fortunately for me, Pandora and Ayu had decided not to follow my instructions.

  They crashed through the underbrush and tackled Brandon. For a second I was afraid they’d do to him what they did to Kane, but they only held him away from me, waiting while his gasps became the sobs that had been threatening to emerge before. His anger shattered into pieces. All that was left was an exhausted, broken boy cr
umpled on the forest floor.

  Hands gently touched my face, and someone murmured, “Is she…? Did—”

  “I don’t think he got that far.”

  “Would’ve, the bastard.”

  “No,” I heard Brandon say, in a strangely broken voice. “No, I wouldn’t—”

  “Shut up,” Ayu snapped. “B. Look at me. Are you okay?”

  I gingerly turned my head. The bones painfully mended. Once they did, I could tell that someone was also touching my shoulder, and my feet hurt like absolute hell. The change from human to wolf and back again seemed to have flushed my system and knocked my senses back into shape, for better or worse.

  “I think so,” I said.

  Pandora and Ayu helped me sit up. Neither of them looked surprised when I tried to scoot as far away from Brandon as possible. His wildness had faded, though, and what remained looked more like self-hatred. I left him to it, and tried to wipe the blood off my mouth. “Get him out of here,” I finally said.

  “With pleasure,” Pandora muttered, hauling him away. He didn’t protest.

  Ayu sat with me until I stopped shaking, and eventually walked me back to the cabins. Raoul greeted us there, looking shattered.

  “B! I heard you, but I couldn’t…” He trailed off, and tried to start over. “Are you—”

  I shrank away from his hands, and hated myself for it. Ayu openly glared.

  “Weren’t you supposed to be guarding Brandon tonight?” she said, in a voice laced with arsenic.

  He looked so guilty. I wrapped my arms protectively around myself while Ayu cast another dagger-sharp look at him. Then she led me back to my room, where I curled up in bed and pretended fiercely to be asleep.

  And I waited until she left me alone to finally let myself cry.

  *

  Raoul came to see me in the morning. I didn’t let him inside. I didn’t want to blame him, exactly, but I still flinched upon seeing him. He didn’t know what to do about me then. Human interaction: still kind of foreign to this guy.

  As if I were the expert, I know.

  Meanwhile, I was still wrapped up only in my bedsheet, since last night’s escapade had left me without my clothes again. Not the strongest position to be in when I was still edgy around anyone of the XY persuasion. At least he figured that out, and didn’t press closer.

  “I am sorry,” he said quietly.

  I peered at him from beneath my hair, almost skeptically. I had to wonder how Brandon had gotten past him in the first place. Raoul was supposed to be able to persuade him to stay put, after all. What had happened? Maybe a knock-down, drag-out fight, with Brandon overpowering him at the last by throwing giant timber frames at his head…?

  “The Elder called me,” he said haltingly. “I had to go. And then I couldn’t get away.”

  “Oh,” I replied, my voice soft. I had to admit, I understood.

  “He…was almost lucid. He showed me something. We need to…” He looked me over again. “Later. Once you’re better.”

  I cleared my throat, searching for a different topic. “Listen…does anyone here have a cell phone?”

  He looked nonplussed. “I think Ayu might still have one.”

  “Could you ask her to bring it over?”

  Raoul nodded slowly and stepped away. I only stopped him at the last second with a question I didn’t want to ask, but I needed the answer. “Where is Brandon now?”

  He looked grim. “Your house isn’t the only one with a cellar,” he said.

  Leaving me to my own imagination on that one, he turned and walked away.

  I didn’t open the door again until Ayu showed up. This morning she’d forgone her usual corset-tight clothes and had opted for a loose, flowing robe instead. It looked expensive. She pulled the phone from one of its pockets, somewhere in the silken depths.

  “Use too many of my minutes and I’ll cut you,” she said, reclining on my bed while I perched on the nearest chair.

  “Somehow I can’t imagine you paying cell phone bills,” I said.

  She shrugged. “My parents still do it.” In response to my surprised look, she added, “They know I’m…out in the world. I told them I was at art school. They think I’m wasting my life.” She let out a low, bitter laugh. “I visit sometimes. My brother the genius programmer, my engineer parents, and…me. You can imagine.”

  I thought uneasily of my own family. “How long do you think you can keep lying to them?”

  She glowered at me. “Make your call.”

  I dialed Cee’s number before I could change my mind. Several rings passed before I heard an uncertain “Hello?” on the line. She probably didn’t recognize the number. What would she do when she heard it was me? “Hey, Cee.”

  Silence. I shut my eyes.

  “I promised you an explanation,” I said. Ayu eyed me. “So…”

  “B, this is really going beyond—”

  “Also, I need help getting my clothes back.”

  She went dumb. Ayu only smirked.

  “Listen,” I sighed. “I need to get them back from Madison’s, but I know she’s not going to want me over there.”

  “No shit,” Ayu added. I kicked one leg of the bed.

  “So maybe could you do me a huge favor and pick those up, and…” The list of acceptable places we could meet seemed very short. I couldn’t tell her to come here again, and I wasn’t welcome in town. What option was worse? Could I risk it? “Could I come by your place?” I said at last.

  I knew from Lacey’s pause that it wasn’t. She tacitly agreed, though, by saying, “Where on earth did you leave the clothes?”

  “Under a bush in the backyard. Can’t really be sure which one.”

  There was another, longer silence. “You’re asking an awful lot here, B.”

  “I know. I know. Half an hour?”

  “I’m at school, B.”

  I winced. I’d totally forgotten. “After, then?”

  Eventually she said “fine,” and disconnected. I handed the phone back to Ayu.

  “Thanks,” I said dully. “Um…you want to come down there with me?”

  “Sorry, but you’re on your own with this one. I’m too tired to play wolf-and-mouse with the cops just now.”

  I could tell she wasn’t lying. Her eyes still looked dark, and she seemed uncomfortable, stiff and sore. It was probably why she’d dressed down, by her standards. I sighed and went for my own remaining clothes: a shirt Pandora had donated, which was long but at least comfortable, and Ayu’s tight but tolerable jeans. For once I was glad the shoes were large on me, because my feet hurt too much for anything else.

  “Don’t fall asleep on my bed,” I said. Ayu only snorted. Her eyes were already closed. I turned away, reluctantly stopping to eat something before heading for the door.

  I couldn’t take the car. I didn’t even know who had the keys, let alone how to drive the thing. The only real option I had—and it wasn’t going to be fun—was to walk.

  Even my old exercise treks around town weren’t enough to prepare me for this. I’d hoped the pick-me-up from the meal would help, even though I hated to be relying on it. Still, my feet were still tender, and it was a long walk. I took it gradually. At least it gave me time to rehearse what to tell Lacey. I kept muttering things while I walked, or limped, or stopped to massage my overworked legs. I tried not to think about how much easier it would be on four feet instead of two—or how much worse this could get if any officers on patrol spotted me.

  So I skulked through back alleys and down quiet side streets, and resolutely ignored everything else until I got to Lacey’s. Unfortunately, once I did, I wasn’t alone.

  A man was out in the front yard, picking up fallen branches from the latest windstorms. Going by his strawberry-blond hair, it must be Lacey’s father. I stopped short of the yard, waving an uncertain greeting when he saw me.

  “Hi,” he replied. “Sorry, not sure we’ve met. Are you one of Lacey’s friends?”

  I tried not to winc
e. Of course he wouldn’t recognize me, even if Lacey had been telling stories about that poor girl with the crutches. I decided, very abruptly, to lie.

  “Yeah. My name’s Sara.” I hated myself instantly. It was my mother’s name. “I just came by to pick up something from Cee.”

  He nodded, and tugged a heavy branch a few inches closer to his flatbed. Feeling guilty about just watching him work, I went to help him. My legs might have been tired, but my arms apparently weren’t—just a quick hoist, and the branch flew into place. I blinked. For a second there, I’d felt weirdly like Pandora.

  “Okay…now I feel old.” Mr. Hilliard sounded impressed. “I’m Dan, by the way. Do you want to come inside? Cee just got home. She’s taking a shower, but she should be down in a minute.”

  I let go of his proffered hand after a good, firm shake and nodded slowly. I didn’t see a good way to avoid it, so I followed Dan inside.

  I’d been here before, of course, but I’d missed most of the downstairs. Down the main hallway were rows of studio photographs, showing Lacey and her parents at ascending ages. Everyone was smiling and perfectly happy. I felt more out of place the further along we got. Then I noticed how her mother became progressively thinner, and eventually her hair disappeared under a scarf. Then her wan face disappeared from the portraits altogether. My heart sank. I guess that would be one good reason Lacey kept trying to fix the unfixable.

  At least until the unfixable became irredeemable. Like me.

  “I’ve always been so proud of her,” Dan said, tapping a photo of his daughter during a dance recital. Then he chuckled. “Oh, you don’t want to listen to me brag. Have a seat. Do you want anything? Coke? Seltzer water? I think there’s some pomegranate juice in the fridge…”

  I’d never even tasted a pomegranate. I sat uneasily on a white-upholstered couch, looked up at the giant vaulted ceiling, and said in a very small voice, “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll just finish up outside, then. She’ll be down in a minute.”

  I murmured a thank-you, and studied the assortment of carved-crystal animals on the coffee table until he went away. I was holding a tiny, howling wolf in one hand when Lacey finally descended the stairs.