by Geonn Cannon
“Keeping our own names?”
“I think so, but I’m open to debate.”
Ari shook her head. “No, I agree. And, um... the, um...” She repositioned her hips and lifted her feet. Dale kissed the inside of her thigh. “Word. The word. Wife? We’re okay with wife?”
“What are the options?”
“Partner,” Ari said, “spouse, um...”
Dale said, “No.” She pressed her lips to Ari’s skin. “You’re my wife.”
Ari gasped and writhed and considered the matter settled.
When Dale kissed her way back up Ari’s body a few minutes later, resting her cheek on Ari’s chest to feel it rise and fall as she caught her breath, Dale whispered, “Wife. Yeah. I like that.”
Ari stroked Dale’s hair with one hand while the other explored Dale’s curves. Part of her thought it was awful to be doing this considering the state of their friends. Gwen and Val, missing in action. Marin in imminent danger. Milo traumatized. It felt frivolous and wrong to be having this moment for themselves. Dale took Ari by the wrist and guided it between her legs.
“There,” Dale whispered, craning her neck so she could brush her lips against Ari’s.
“Right here?” Ari asked.
“Mm-huh,” Dale put her head down on Ari’s shoulder, and Ari began to stroke. Ari closed her eyes and pressed her face into Dale’s hair, breathing deeply, listening to the sounds Dale made to set her speed and rhythm.
As she listened to her wife, her partner, her pack moan through her orgasm, Ari realized this was exactly what they needed. They had spent the entire day standing on a cliff, looking down, seeing how far the drop was. In the morning they would have to jump. These were the last few minutes they had to themselves, and she was grateful they were making the time count. Tomorrow they were going to save their family and be heroes.
Tonight was theirs.
Dale’s lips trembled against Ari’s collarbone when she came, and she turned it into a nuzzle as she sank down. Ari accepted her weight, bending her knee and rolling so they could lay side by side. Dale pulled her head back and bumped her nose against Ari’s.
“That felt different.”
“Yeah?” Ari said.
“Don’t ask me why. It’s like...” Her eyes searched Ari’s face. Ari remained silent, grateful to be the object of such intense concentration. Dale’s eyes were very, very green in this light. “It’s like waking up and knowing it’s Christmas or the first day of summer or something.”
“I get that.” She brushed some hair away from Dale’s face. “I’m happy being your Christmas.”
Dale shuddered and lightly kissed Ari’s lips. “I love you, wife.”
“I love you, wife.”
Dale shifted her weight and curled against Ari’s side so they could both watch the fire. They hadn’t built a very big fire, so there were no leaping flames, but the logs were smoldering enough to cast a yellow glow over them. Ari kept her arm around Dale and idly brushed her fingertips up and down her shoulder blade. Dale used the tip of her middle finger to draw designs on the sweat on Ari’s stomach.
“I have a confession to make,” Ari said after a few minutes.
“You’re thinking about Milo?”
“Val, actually,” Ari said. “Being preoccupied by another woman isn’t the best look on tonight of all nights.”
Dale said, “Tonight is a special case, in a lot of ways.”
Ari nodded. “I feel guilty. I sort of suspected she didn’t have much of a personal life. But I can’t believe she could go missing and no one noticed. How could someone just disappear? I didn’t even see a story about it on the news.”
“Yeah,” Dale said. “I’ve been thinking about that, too.”
“She deserves better than that. She’s kind and she’s beautiful. She deserves to have people who care about her, who would notice when she doesn’t show up. I can’t believe the only people who...”
Dale lifted her head to see why Ari trailed off. “The people who what, puppy?”
Ari blinked at the fire. “The people who rely on her at the prison. The wolves.”
Dale pushed herself up on one elbow. “You think they’ll have information about who took her or where she is now?”
“I don’t know,” Ari said. “But she was open with them about being a hunter’s daughter. They still trusted her with their secret. They must have investigated her somehow. Maybe they have someone on the outside who looked into her, who confirmed she was on the level.”
Dale’s eyes widened. “They might have done all the work for us.”
“If there’s something to be found, I’m willing to bet they found it already.” Another thought occurred to her, one that was much more chilling. “If Val has been missing this long, every wolf in that prison could be at the tail end of a dose. We have to go talk to them anyway, find out what they need and figure out how to get it to them.”
Dale grinned and cupped Ari’s cheek. “Good thinking, Ariadne.”
Ari said, “Looks like taking the night off really was good for focusing my mind.”
“I wonder what other epiphanies you can have if we focused it even farther.”
“Hard to say,” Ari said, pulling Dale down to her, “but I’m willing to spend the better part of the night finding out.”
Dale chuckled and rolled back onto Ari.
Chapter Six
Gwen paced by the window, a bit amazed that there wasn’t a dip in the concrete to mark her passage. She’d watched her shadow stretch and shrink and then fade completely as the sun went down, but all her attention was focused on the sounds coming from outside. The hunters had brought someone in. Gwen could smell her; it was another wolf, but beyond that she didn’t know anything. Activity throughout the building had increased tenfold. She estimated there were at least twenty hunters in the building at the moment with even more somewhere outside. How they were masking such a presence in the middle of Seattle was a mystery for another time.
She only snapped out of her trance when she heard the door unlocking. Val came in with a bag of fast-food, which she held up apologetically as she closed the door behind her.
“Sorry. It’s been a hectic day. They forgot to feed you.”
“What’s happening out there?” Gwen asked, taking the cheeseburger.
Val sighed. “They have a prisoner. A canidae. She’s chained up, and they’re filming her so they can livestream someone transforming into a wolf live on the internet.”
Gwen suddenly lost her appetite. “How’d they capture her?”
Val looked away.
“Don’t chicken out on me now.”
“Milo found her.”
Gwen narrowed her eyes. “Milo would never lead hunters to another wolf.”
“You don’t understand what they were doing to her. Your experiences here have been very different. You know the saying about how there are no bad dogs, just bad owners? They found ways to force her to transform. Electroshock, mainly. They tried medication. Sleep deprivation. They were using her like a lab rat.”
Gwen’s hand trembled with the urge to grab Val and slam her against the wall. “You knew about this and didn’t stop it?”
“I’m the one who kept her alive. I’m the one who brought her back from the edge when they went too far. I’m...” She cut herself off and looked at the floor. “I’m the one who told them they needed a control group. Otherwise they would have been experimenting on you at the same time, more than what they already were. I thought if I couldn’t save you both from that, I should at least save one.”
“You chose wrong.”
“And you know Milo would say the same thing.” Val went to the window and wrapped her arms around herself. “By the end, she was basically hypnotized and highly susceptible. They told her they wanted a wolf, and she went out and found one. But that’s where the hope comes in. Milo found the other wolf, a girl named Marin, but stopped herself from leading her into the hunters’ trap. She attacked the
m so Marin could get away.”
“That’s what this morning was all about?”
Val nodded. “They managed to tag Marin with a tracker, but Milo got away clean. As far as I know, she’s safe at home.”
“But still suffering the effects of whatever these monsters did to her.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Val said.
Gwen said, “I suppose so. What the hell do they have on you? You told me there was nothing on the outside for you.”
“Sure, now. After six months of being locked up in here, I’m probably homeless and unemployed. But when they first took me, there was hope. They threatened my job. They said if I escaped, they would leak a story that I’d been smuggling drugs into the prison where I worked. I would’ve lost my job and gone to prison.”
“You’re in prison right now.”
“Yeah. Didn’t really think that one through until it had been a couple of weeks and I realized there was really no winning.”
“You could have argued that the drug smuggling charges were bogus.”
“Except they weren’t. The hunters would have made something up, and I’m sure whatever lie they concocted would have looked legit, but the truth is, I was smuggling drugs into the prison. I was providing the means to create the drug that kept canidae patients like your daughter from transforming.”
“I didn’t think the hunters knew about that.”
“I don’t think they did. It was a fucking bluff, and they happened to get lucky.”
Gwen sighed and hung her head. “I’m tired of the bad guys getting lucky.”
“We have to hope we’re getting lucky, too. Milo is out there. That’s a big win for us, even if she is at less than a hundred percent. And if she managed to find Ariadne and Dale, you know they’re going to do everything in their power to make this right.”
“True.” She looked at the window. “I wish I was out there helping them right now.”
“Well, for now, the hunters want to keep you alive. Probably so they have a backup wolf in case anything happens to Marin. Not the most comforting thought, but it’s something. And they’re still willing to feed you, which I wasn’t entirely sure about. They have a freezer full of frozen dinners, but I convinced them to go an extra step. I thought you’d appreciate the fresh meat even if it is a little greasy.”
“I do. Thank you, Val. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Milo during this whole damn ordeal.”
Val nodded. “It’s the least I can do. And I’m glad I can be useful.”
“Keep me updated as much as possible. I don’t know what exactly I can do from here, but...”
“It’s good to have information,” Val said. “I get it. I work in a prison, I know how powerful the right knowledge can be.”
“Thank you,” Gwen said.
Val left, and Gwen heard the lock click on the door as soon as she was gone. The burger was already gone, so she stood up and went back to the window to start pacing again. She didn’t know if it would be possible to actually make a dip in the concrete, but she might as well keep trying until another activity presented itself.
***
The waiting room was full of families, a few lawyers, and a single private investigator sitting at a table next to the vending machines. She’d woken up that morning before the sun was up, but stayed in bed until Dale was also awake to avoid a lecture. She even allowed herself a leisurely breakfast before she called Eva Cardoso with an update about what she planned to do to find her sister. Dale had taken the time to call Milo and see how she was doing.
“Better naps,” Dale had reported when she hung up. “She barely slept all night and feels achy, but not worse than yesterday. She’s taking the morning to rest and hopefully heal.”
Ari had promised to check in on her later in the day. At the moment, she was at the prison as early as possible, within ten minutes of visiting hours beginning, fingernails tapping on the table and one foot bouncing underneath as she waited for her guest. She was about to check her watch when a door at the far end of the room opened and a guard emerged with the prisoner Ari had asked to see. Gladys Celestin raised an eyebrow when she saw Ari waiting for her, then smiled up at the guard as she took her seat across the table from her. Ari had bought a bag of chips and an orange soda and pushed them forward.
“I remember you liking these when I was in here.”
“Good memory,” Gladys said, taking the snack. “And a good sign I should prepare for the worst when a meeting starts with a bribe. So make me feel like you actually want to see me. Give me a little chitchat first. How is Segura doing?”
Ari smiled. “Segura’s doing great. She and her partner moved upstate a few months ago. They’re still getting settled, but they’re really happy.”
“As long as she keeps that probation officer happy, too.” Gladys popped a chip into her mouth. “And you? Staying out of trouble?”
“As much as I can,” Ari said. “I got married yesterday.”
Gladys made an indescribable sound of happiness. “Oh, I love to hear that. The human you mentioned? She still being good to you?”
“Better than I deserve.”
Gladys laughed and winked. “Good for you, sweetie.”
“How are things in here?”
“Kunz has been living up her big bad hero reputation. She thought she liked people being scared of her, but after she saved you from being killed, she realized respect is better. So she’s made it clear she’s watching out for everybody.”
Ari said, “It’s good to know my time here had positive consequences.”
“Mm-hmm.” She popped another chip into her mouth. “Okay. I feel less cheap now. What brings you back to the old bricks-and-bars hotel? Something to do with the fact Dr. Val has been missing for the past couple months, probably.”
Ari said, “Yeah. Dale and I just found out about it. I’m so sorry it’s taken us so long. As near as we can figure, she’s been missing for about six months. That means you and the others in here are probably at the very end of your last dose. If you tell me where I can get the ingredients, I can find a way to get it inside.”
Gladys tilted her head to her side. “Aw, here I thought you were being selfish and just coming to see how I could help you. But you thought we were in trouble. You’re a good egg, Ariadne. We appreciate you thinking about us, but you don’t have to worry. Once Dr. Val had been missing for a month, we knew we were on a deadline. We already found a new source. We’re all good in here.”
Ari’s shoulders relaxed. “You’re sure?”
“Positive, sweetie.” She folded her hands on the table in front of her. “But I think you were trying to kill two birds with one stone again. You need to get your hands on the stuff?”
“Not necessarily,” Ari said. “We were thinking that if you trusted Val to be in charge of getting what you need, despite knowing she’s a hunter, you probably did a fair amount of background research on her to make sure she could be trusted. I thought that research might help us find her. It could at least give us a place to start looking.”
Gladys opened her soda. “Makes sense. I’m not sure you’ll like what I have to give you, though.”
“Well, I’m not sure I’m in a position to like it or not.”
“Fair point. To start with, you’re absolutely correct. We weren’t just going to trust this little huntress who came in here saying she wanted to help. As far as we know, hunters don’t even know the drug exists and we’d like to keep it that way. So we found out everything we could about her. We have ways of getting information even in here.”
Ari cocked an eyebrow. “I bet you do.”
Gladys smirked proudly. “So I won’t bore you with the how and get right to what you need to know. Val’s father is named Gabriel Roemer. He’s apparently one of the big-time hunters. His line goes back generations. The kind of person who would be pissed off if he had a daughter instead of a son to carry on his mighty line. We found evidence that he tried to make her t
he son he never had. She trained in archery and sharpshooting before she was ten. There are photos of her as a ten-year-old in bright orange jackets holding rifles taller than she is. But it never stuck. The thing that sold us is when we found out what finally made her cut ties with him.”
Gladys stopped talking and rolled the edge of her soda can on the table. Ari gave her a moment before she glanced at the clock and held out her hands. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”
“I’m not. I just don’t like this part of the story.” She breathed in deeply and let it out through her nose. “Gabriel finally decided it was time for a trial by fire. Either Val was going to be his successor, or she was going to be useful in another way. He, um. He captured a canidae and locked it in a cage. He lied to Val to get her to go into the cage, then locked the door behind her.”
“Fuck,” Ari said. She was surprised Val had never brought this up, but she also understood it wasn’t exactly the kind of story you told unless you were extremely comfortable with a person. “What the hell was his thinking on that?”
“Either Val would kill the wolf, or the wolf would bite Val and infect her, and Gabriel could examine her to see what happened after a canidae bite.”
Ari tried to keep her breathing steady. “Experiments.”
“Oh yeah. Old Gabe considers himself a scientist. Like Mengele, I suppose. Inhumane medical tests on living patients. I guess he thought he would find a canidae gene he could cut out.”
“Did Val... I mean, I assume she...”
“She’s never actually brought it up,” Gladys said. “Unsurprisingly. And the place where we found the story, which is just a journal kept by one of Gabriel’s assistants, didn’t reveal how it ended. But we can see that she wasn’t bitten. So we can assume whatever happened wasn’t great.”
Ari fought back her nausea. “Yeah.”
“He’s always been one of the holdouts. Most hunters have pretty much gone to seed, but not him. I admit, when we found out Val had Roemer blood, we almost turned our backs on her. But then, one of us got sick. Her name was Elena. You didn’t meet her; she passed away, despite Val’s best efforts. But we saw how hard she fought. We watched her fight to save our friend and we watched her shut down when she failed. That’s when we knew we could trust her.”