Lupo (The Immortals Book 8)

by La Porta, Monica

  Below, the waning moon was reflected on the calm surface of the lagoon, and the mirrored buildings trembled and undulated in the silvery light. Whites and dust pinks and pale yellows colored the dark waters. Above the sea level, trims as delicate as lace decorated the structures, while their façades were dotted with arched windows spaced by slim columns, and the terraces were framed by pointy spires made of white marble. Colonnades contained palaces and delimited the city squares.

  Lupo couldn’t help but say, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Pictures didn’t do the place justice.

  “Byzantine, Gothic, and Moor architecture, all combined,” Raphael commented, looking at the cityscape emerging from the Adriatic Sea. “Also known as Venetian Gothic.”

  “How do you even know those kind of things?” Lupo gave his friend a bewildered look.

  Raphael shrugged. “I like art, and I watch tons of documentaries.”

  “Good for you.” Lupo passed a hand over his face, stomped his boots a few times to completely wake his legs, then stretched his arms, shoulders, and neck. “Let’s go grab our ride.”

  The place was deserted, and they followed the directions to the water taxi terminal’s jetty.

  Heat, mosquitoes, humidity, and the salty scent of marine water permeated the air. Lupo opened his leather jacket, then looked around to get a sense of the place. From Mestre to Venice, they had crossed a bridge connecting the mainland to the aquatic city through a municipal road called Via della Libertà, Freedom Street. At reading the name, he thought it was a good omen and sent another of his silent calls to Jasmine. This too went unanswered, but that didn’t stop him from talking to her. If you would guide me, it would be so much simpler, my sweet panther.

  “I’ll go check the water taxi’s schedule.” Raphael pointed at a column by the other side of the jetty.

  Lupo nodded, checking once again on his cell phone the route they needed to take, and realized the battery was on low. “Damn app—”

  Lupo? Jasmine’s voice startled him.

  I’m here! I’m coming for you.

  Silence followed Lupo’s words. Jasmine was gone again, but she had sounded loud and clear as never before.

  Ahead, Raphael swore. “The last vaporetto left at two am. The next is at five in the morning.”

  “We’ve missed it by fifteen minutes.” Lupo looked around. “We must find another way—” He looked up at the starry sky for inspiration, when a seagull came down from up high and executed a perfect landing on top of one of the water taxis. He first scoffed, then started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Raphael gave him a puzzled look.

  “Ludwig could’ve flown me over—” In his addled state, Lupo hadn’t thought of asking his father for help, and now his phone’s battery was low and the coverage non-existent. “I’m an idiot.”

  Raphael ignored Lupo’s last comment, and said instead, “I’ve tried to send a text to Luisa when we parked, but it didn’t go through. The reception is horrible here. We’ll keep trying.”

  Lupo looked at the boats huddled in grape-like clusters around wooden pylons. “You don’t have to follow me on this,” he said, walking toward the edge of the dock, and a small jet boat anchored to the pier.

  “What are you planning to do?” Raphael asked, a step behind him, his boots resonating in the nightly quiet.

  “Grand theft boat, but I promise to take it back.” Lupo jumped down into the jet, and his heavy landing almost capsized it.

  “Do you know how to drive it at least?” Raphael landed more gracefully.

  “When you were busy studying architecture, I spent my time stealing anything with an engine,” Lupo answered.

  There had been one time, during one of the few orphanage’s field trips, when a patron had paid for a lake vacation for the whole institute. A girl Lupo fancied had told him she wanted to sail the lake. He didn’t know anything about boats, but that hadn’t stopped him from borrowing one from the dock. The result of that escapade was his first second base and a week of detention. Lupo smiled at the memory, and jump-started the jet’s engine, while Raphael freed the boat from the pier.

  “I’ll take navigator duty.” Raphael sat on the low cushion, cell phone in hand displaying a street view map. “We’ll go the same route of the cruisers. Start skirting the harbor.”

  Following Raphael’s directions, Lupo navigated the lagoon a full speed. Buildings rose directly from the water, their doors opening to the sea as if an architect with a whimsical sense of humor had decided to prank his clients. Lupo wondered how many sea-shifters lived in Venice.

  When they passed a series of larger islets facing the city proper, Raphael turned toward his right side and said, “Those are all part of the Judecca.” Then he looked to the other side. “Now keep to the city’s contour, until we pass Rio de Giardini. Soon after, we turn left into Rio de S. Elena.”

  As Lupo had pushed his bike over the asphalt, so he did with the jet that skipped on the water like a flat stone.

  “There.” Raphael gestured to hang a left.

  In his eagerness, Lupo jerked the steering wheel to the side and almost sent them against the railing of one of the buildings bordering the river way. He adjusted the trajectory at the last moment, but the jet was caught in the waves created by the faulty maneuver and skidded toward the opposite direction. Another jerk of his tired hands and Lupo regained control of the boat.

  “That was fun.” Raphael had landed on the floor.

  Reaching down with one hand, Lupo helped Raphael up, then asked, “Now where?”

  “Calle Carnaro is our stop.”

  “Once there, we go right or left?” Lupo made sure the bridge they were passing under wasn’t Calle Carnaro yet.

  “I don’t know—” Frowning, Raphael zoomed in on the map. “From the civic number alone, I can’t say.”

  A second bridge was looming ahead, and Lupo slowed the jet to read the marble plaque attached to one of its supporting columns. “That’s Calle Carnaro. Now what?”

  “We must leave the jet here.” Raphael helped him anchor the boat to a pylon under the bridge.

  They hopped on the eroded marble bench that doubled as walkway, then took the equally eroded steps leading up to the street. On the bridge, Lupo squinted to read the number on the closest buildings to his right.

  “One hundred and nineteen, one hundred and eighteen—” He turned in the opposite direction and started running. “That way.”

  As he passed residential villas, he made sure the numbers were growing. Finally, he stopped before a three-story villa and double checked its civic number. One hundred twenty-five.

  The building was painted in Pompeian red with white, lacy trim, arched windows united by delicate-looking twisted columns, three balconies with white, marble railings in the same design, and finally a terraced roof guarded by intricate spires.

  Beautiful to look at, the house façade seemed fragile, and not easy to work with when one wanted to commit breaking and entering. Lupo tried to assess which of the many cosmetic trims was strong enough to support his weight, but he soon resigned himself to the idea that none of the railings and decorative columns would.

  As he was pacing along the narrow lane bordering the house, the lights in one of the rooms on the third floor were turned on. Shadows moved before the windows, and Lupo’s ears caught angry shouts. His heart slammed against his chest, as he heard Jasmine’s name being called. The house was now alive, and the altercation moved from one room to the next.

  “Don’t come any closer!” a woman screamed.

  It was Jasmine.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It took a moment for Lupo to realize he hadn’t heard Jasmine in his mind.

  “She’s in that room.” Raphael indicated the French doors opening into a small balcony on the third floor, which was now ablaze with lights and shouts.

  “I need you to create a diversion.” Lupo’s eyes went to the entrance door a few feet from them.

>   With a nod, Raphael walked to the door and started banging at it, while at the same time he depressed the door bell, creating a ruckus that awakened a few strays. Adding to the melee, several of the neighbors looked out of their windows, threatening to call the police.

  Raphael’s plan worked though, because the commotion inside the house left the top floor and moved downstairs.

  Throwing caution to the wind, Lupo started scaling the building’s façade. Most of the trimming on the wall was in the form of bas-relief, and his squared boots were too big, making it difficult for him to climb. Any time he tried to hoist himself up, he slid down, breaking part of the trims.

  “Lupo!”

  He looked up, and saw Jasmine, a dark shape illuminated by the inside light.

  Without thinking, he shifted, and a moment later his wolf climbed the wall, jumping from one balcony to the other, until he reached Jasmine’s window.

  All clad in black, she waited for him, tears in her eyes, and hugged the wolf, crying in his fur. “You came!”

  Lupo shifted in her arms, his mouth searching for her before the change had even completed, his hands grabbing her chiton to bring her closer, lowering the headpiece with a jerk that freed her long hair. Warm, salty tears mingled with their frantic kisses. He stroked her back, in long possessive caresses that made her gasp into his mouth.

  “We must leave,” she murmured, leaning back.

  Too shaken to answer, he bumped his forehead with hers and nodded. Then he reached for her mouth again, but a cry coming from the far corner of the room stopped him. It had sounded like a soft roar. Like one a kitten would make. Or a very tiny wolf’s growl.

  Jasmine’s expression changed, from happiness to terror. “We must go now, before they try to take her away from me again.”

  His senses were overloaded with information he couldn’t process all at once. “Jasmine?”

  She didn’t look at him, but ran toward a large wicker basket overflowing with heaps of cotton towels. At first glance, Lupo had dismissed it as a laundry hamper, but as he stepped closer to it, he noticed something cocooned in all that fabric. Something miniscule in size, and yet it had the power to hold Jasmine’s entire attention, and therefore Lupo’s as well.

  “Don’t cry, mon coeur. Maman’s here,” Jasmine reached down, grabbed a bundle of fabric and cradled it to her chest. “They’re coming back.”

  “Jasmine, what did you just say?” Lupo’s ears had already caught the noise of running steps advancing toward the third floor, but he couldn’t look away from the bundle in Jasmine’s arms. She kept it at such an angle, he couldn’t see what was inside. But he had understood her French, and even if he hadn’t, his nose had already told him the truth.

  “Whatever happens, don’t let them near her.” Jasmine’s eyes went to the door, then back to him.

  Only now, he realized how her speech was slow and how her eyes were slightly out of focus. She swayed, and Lupo was immediately at her side to support her. As he looked down, the folds of the bundle opened and a miniature hand with the tiniest fingers he had ever seen appeared. He reached down with a shaking hand and pushed the fabric aside.

  A set of dark eyes stared back into his, and he was lost in them. His eyes filling with moisture, and his heart exploding in his chest, he whispered, “My baby girl—”

  The baby’s perfect pink mouth formed a smile and bubbles came out of her disclosed lips as she cooed.

  Lupo’s wolf sauntered in the astral plane where Jasmine’s panther cuddled two cubs, a black panther and a russet wolf. He licked first Jasmine’s panther, then crouched on his haunches and smelled her babies. The round, furry heads bobbed up and down as they fed, but when the wolf leaned closer, they released the mother’s nipples with a pop, and pushed their wet snouts into the wolf’s flank. The wolf passed his long tongue over the cub’s bodies, and inhaled their scent that was half his and half his beloved panther.

  Lupo’s finger reached for the full head of black curls. “I dreamed of you, baby girl, but you’re even more beautiful than I could ever imagine—”

  He couldn’t finish his thought.

  The door was unlocked from the outside, and before Lupo could do anything, Jasmine’s father broke into the room, followed by two young men, and Jasmine’s mother.

  “You—” Looking at Lupo, Jasmine’s father choked on the single word as if it were a curse. Cruel eyes and a mouth flattened into a thin line, the man advanced to the center of the room. His chest was inflated and he struggled through every breath he took to maintain his human form. “You, filthy scum. How did you find us?” His breath smelled of alcohol, and his movements were jerky. “It doesn’t matter. Tonight, it all ends. I don’t care what the Council says. I’ll kill you and that—”

  “Karol, no! I beg you—” Jasmine’s mother grabbed his husband’s jacket, trying to pull him toward the door. “Please, let them go—”

  The need to protect his family possessed Lupo before he could even rationalize the sentiment. He had already placed Jasmine and the baby behind him, and his body assumed a fighting position.

  “Father, please, listen to mother,” one of the young men said, joining forces with his mother and hooking his arm into his father’s elbow.

  The remaining brother, just a teenager, ran toward Jasmine.

  A crashing sound came from downstairs, then running steps followed, and a few seconds later Raphael entered the room without stopping at the door. Mr. Conte barely looked at the newcomer, who had just whisked past him. The man’s only reaction was a snarl that escaped his throat, while he kept his eyes trained over Lupo’s shoulder.

  At Lupo’s silent request, Raphael moved to his side. Between the two of them, they created a wall for Jasmine, the baby, and her brother to hide behind.

  “Release the abomination to me,” the father ordered, looking behind Lupo’s shoulder. “You, dog, move out of the way.”

  While, Jasmine’s mother cried and her older brother redoubled his effort to pull his father back, Jasmine remained silent. Even with his back to her, Lupo could feel her energy that was at the same time scared and angry. He felt their baby feeding from Jasmine’s energy and reacting to the array of emotions saturating the room with a small roar and a whimper.

  Lupo’s wolf was out the moment Mr. Conte stepped forward. The were-panther jerked his arm and freed himself from his son’s hold, while at the same time swung his hand around and slapped his wife. The woman fell back and hit her head on the wall.

  “Maman!” The son crouched by the woman who lay motionless on the floor.

  Lupo’s wolf didn’t move from his guarding spot, but waited for the crazed were-panther to make his move. The baby’s dual animals were terrified, and Jasmine’s panther was busy calming them.

  Among Jasmine’s brother’s cries, Mr. Conte shifted and ran toward Lupo’s wolf.

  The wolf slashed at the panther’s flank, hitting the thick skin with sharp claws. Heedless of the blood pouring from two deep cuts, the panther attacked, aiming at the wolf’s head. Hampered by his need to protect his family and unable to move freely and leave them open to the panther’s wrath, the wolf jumped to the side. He wasn’t fast enough and the panther sunk his fangs into his neck.

  Jasmine, who had maintained her silence until now, screamed in anger. Lupo’s wolf sent her panther a direct command to stay put. Jasmine’s panther whined, but she gathered her puppies close and covered them with her big paws. Her brother’s panther joined them in the astral plan, standing sentinel over them. Raphael’s wolf too entered the field and stood side by side with the he-panther.

  Relieved that Jasmine was doubly shielded, Lupo’s wolf focused on the enemy before him, and circled the panther, snapping and pawing as the other animal grew frustrated and exposed his flank. Whenever the panther leaned forward and opened his jaws to bite Lupo’s wolf, he sidestepped on his long legs. From the outside, the two animals seemed engaged in a fast dance around each other.

  Despite Lupo�
�s fatigue, compared to the panther who kept moving forward, his wolf had the advantage of being lucid and controlled every attack with an economy of movements. The wolf knew one miscalculation from his part would result in something worse than his defeat. If he died, his family would too, and that gave him the strength to fight the panther.

  Soon, the panther acted as if he had nothing to lose, and his attacks became reckless, without minding his own safety, but exposing himself more and more. If it made the wolf’s counterattacks easier, and he did hit the target in several occasions, the panther’s absence of a tactic also made it difficult for the wolf to anticipate his actions. The madness that ensued resulted in a sparring where the panther would slash and bite while being attacked, as if he didn’t feel pain and wasn’t slowed by the wounds.

  After an attempted feint to the right that the wolf saw through rather easily, the panther lunged past him and landed before Jasmine. Lupo’s wolf roared in pain as he realized how he had been tricked into leaving his family open. Raphael shifted, and his wolf took the brunt of the panther’s attack, which gave Lupo’s wolf time to pounce on the panther.

  Jasmine’s brother threw himself over her and the baby as Lupo’s wolf went for the panther’s throat. Going for the kill, his jaws closed around the sensitive spot under the panther’s chin, and his fangs lowered and pierced the skin. Blood flooded the wolf’s mouth, but as he was about to jerk his enemy’s head for the fatal blow, he stopped, remembering at the last moment it was Jasmine’s father he was killing.

  At the same time, majestic wings appeared outside of the window, and a booming voice said, “Mr. Conte, you are under arrest for the kidnap, torture, and attempted murder of Lupo Solis. You are also accused of possession and distribution of angelic spiked V you sold to Regina Coeli’s inmates.”

  Ludwig hovered outside, his whole being radiating energy in white waves that illuminated the room. His eyes locked with Lupo’s wolf and gave him a nod.

  Lupo shifted back and fell to the floor. “Dad…”