“Except that she had to run for her life,” Henry added.
James glared at him.
“And what about you two?” Hunter turned to Henry and Rachel. “Did he also show up in your bed?”
“No, he showed up in my high school, disappeared, and just showed up again now.”
“Now that sounds more like the men I know.” Marni wrinkled up her face.
“You’ll meet someone else. Stop whining.” Denny shook his head.
“I’m not whining.”
“Can we please get back to the point?” Talen stamped his foot into the dirt.
“What is the point?” Hunter asked.
“We need your help.” I put it out there.
Hunter laughed. “Of course you do.”
“We need your assistance in an urgent matter. It is not humorous.”
“What is it?” Denny asked.
“We heard you can defeat the darkness.” Henry straightened up. He was much taller than I’d thought from my initial impression.
“The darkness?” Hunter’s expression turned serious.
“Those touched by darkness.” James body stiffened.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Hunter shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“You have to know.” I wasn’t willing to accept we’d come so far for nothing. Talen couldn’t be wrong.
“What makes you say that?” Hunter met my eye.
“Because Talen wouldn’t have brought us here if you couldn’t.”
“What makes you think the Arco is trustworthy?”
“It’s our only hope.” I knew I sounded desperate, but I also knew my life couldn’t return to normal unless we figured this out. Or at least whatever normal was now.
“I still don’t understand what you want from me. Why do you think I can help?” Hunter’s voice rose an octave.
“If you are truly the descendent of the Dire Kings, you would know.” Talen crossed his arms.
“The Dire Kings?” Rachel raised a brow. “Now he’s not just a giant wolf, but also a king?”
“A descendent of a king,” Talen corrected. “Big difference.”
Hunter furrowed his brow. “I am, and I admit I have heard the term touched by darkness, but no one ever gave me a cure.”
“No one should have to give you something. You should just know.” Talen pressed.
Hunter nodded. “Right.”
“Maybe you need to connect with your ancestors.” Talen suggested as though that covered everything.
Hunter glanced at Denny and Marni. “Are you listening to this guy?”
“It isn’t that inconceivable.” Denny stopped his pacing.
“In what way?” Hunter seemed to be seriously considering his words. It surprised me because I assumed wolf leaders would be alpha, ignore everyone else types.
“Our people did that in ancient times, conceivably we could do it now.”
“But why? Because these kids showed up asking for our help?” Hunter frowned.
“We’re not kids!” Rachel snapped.
Marni laughed. “I like the girls. We should keep them around.”
“No one is keeping us anywhere.” I felt a surge of confidence fill me. “Either you can help us or you can’t.”
“Why?” Denny stepped toward me. “Why do you need this help?”
“Because these darkness guys are trying to kill me. And there is a chance they are also targeting my friend.” I felt a pang as I thought about Grace.
Hunter gave Denny a look before turning back to me. “Look, I want to help. I may even be able to. Emphasis on may.”
I nodded, wanting him to continue.
“But I am going to need more information from all of you first.”
“What do you need to know?” Talen asked.
“The darkness has been gone for ages. How was it unleashed?” Hunter tilted his head.
“His father.” Talen pointed to James.
“Gee, thanks, Talen.” James stiffened.
“Your father?” Hunter pointed to James. “Your father is behind this?”
“My father is dead. That is all there is to it, but he was a Cipher.”
“A Cipher?” Denny’s bugged out. “Are you sure? That can’t be possible.”
“It is.” Henry collaborated. “He could also build armies out of the undead.”
“The undead?” Rachel blanched.
“Yes, zombies.” I nodded. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but they keep talking about it.”
“Do you know what a Cipher is?” Denny looked at me.
“Not really,” I admitted.
“It’s evil. You are dating the son of evil.”
“We prefer to refer to him as the son of darkness.” Talen’s face lit up.
James threw him a deadly look.
“James isn’t his father. I know the kind of man he is.” Even if there was still so much more about him to learn.
“I doubt you do.” An expression that looked a whole lot like worry crossed Denny’s face.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, and watched Brad’s name flash across the screen. I walked away and picked up. “Brad?”
“I went over there, and the apartment was empty.” His voice was hollow.
“Grace and Mac weren’t there?” Her boyfriend worked from home, so he was almost always there.
“No. It was empty. As in there was nothing there. Everything is gone, Ainsley.”
I pushed the phone closer to my ear, aware everyone was watching me. “How do you know? Did you break in?”
“No.” He took in a sharp breath. “I didn’t have to. The door was unlocked.”
“But that’s crazy.” And scary. Unbelievably scary.
“I agree. And now I’m wondering if you know more about this than you let on.”
“What?” I gasped. “What are you accusing me of exactly?”
“Something is up. Grace wouldn’t up and move without telling her family. I need your help.”
“You just went from accusatory to asking me to help you out?” If it had been anyone else that would have surprised me, but Brad’s behavior was impossible to predict.
“I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to be doing here. Can you come meet me? It would be easier to do this together. And no, that isn’t a sorry attempt to get you to see me again.”
“I can’t. I’m not in Charleston.” I felt powerless. The momentary confidence that had fueled me had disappeared.
“Then where are you?” His words were pointed and accusatory.
I thought it over. At least I had a city he’d heard of to mention. “The New Orleans area.”
“Why are you there?” He grunted. “You are involved in this, aren’t you? You think I’m an idiot?”
“I’m not involved. Where is Grace? She can’t have just disappeared.” This couldn’t have anything to do with me. The whole house was cleaned out. That was completely different. Right?
A loud throat clearing reminded me I was definitely not alone. “I’ll call you back.” I pocketed my phone not sure what to make of the news.
“The apartment was empty?” Hunter asked.
“Uh, how do you know?”
“I have good hearing.” He smiled.
“Oh… so you heard all of that?”
“Yes. Hope that wasn’t a friend of yours, because he was a real piece of work.”
“He is not her friend,” James answered for me. “What was that about an empty apartment?”
“She’s gone. So is her boyfriend. And all of their stuff. Brad says the entire apartment is empty.”
Hunter nodded. “Give me the details so I can hunt her down.”
“Um, yeah. I don’t want anyone hunting her down.”
He laughed. “I meant find her. I’m pretty good at finding people, especially the ones that don’t want to be found or who are hidden by those who don’t want to be. I have a friend who’s even better at it.”
“A friend?” I looked at the other wolves.
“Not them. Michelle. I can call her.”
James shook his head. “We didn’t come here to have you hunt someone down. We came for a way to defeat the darkness.”
“But she is concerned for her friend.”
“What do you mean the apartment is empty?” Rachel asked. “As in she moved out?”
“It makes no sense. She shares the place with her boyfriend, and now that I think about it his parents actually own it, so it’s not like they’d get evicted.”
Rachel scrunched up her face. “Okay, maybe there is a perfectly logical explanation. Bugs or something? They had to move out and get it exterminated? I’ve heard bed bugs are all over the city right now.” She cringed.
“But wouldn’t she have told me? Or Brad?” I wanted to believe Rachel’s explanation, but she was just trying to put me at ease.
“Maybe she tried but your phone was off and you didn’t get the message? And maybe she didn’t want to tell her cousin?” Rachel shrugged. “Sorry, that’s it for ideas.”
“I need to find out if her mom knows, but I have no clue how to contact her.” I knew Grace, but I didn’t know her family well.
“Don’t you think Brad should do that? It should be pretty easy for him,” James suggested.
“I guess that means I have to call him back.” I pulled out my phone and called a person I never thought I’d call so many times in one day.
14
James
My father’s followers were involved in Grace’s disappearance. I was sure of it. I knew the second Brad confirmed our fears. Grace had not told her parents she was moving anywhere. And they had not heard from her in days. The same could be said for her boyfriend’s family.
“Do you think this is because of me?” Ainsley’s face was tight and stressed. “Is it possible it was something unrelated?” There was such hope in her voice. I wished to keep it there.
“Of course that is possible. People run away all the time, but the timing is highly suspicious.” It would have been far easier to push the blame off Ainsley, and at the same time myself, but that would not help anyone. Denial was dangerous. “There would be no reason to hurt her though. If they took her it would be to use her over you. She would have to be alive and well for that to work.”
“But why clean out the whole apartment?” Denny asked. “That’s the part bothering me.”
“Other than symbolism?” Talen held out his hand palm up. “There is something very potent about seeing a completely empty apartment. It leaves no possibility that the person will simply return.”
Rachel shivered. “Who are these people? These dark ones or whatever you call them?”
“People you never want to meet.” Henry put a hand on her shoulder. “Which is why we are here looking for help.”
“I will repeat my offer of assistance to find your missing friends.” Hunter looked between Ainsley and me. “I know more about finding missing people than I do about defeating darkness.”
“We will only accept the investigation help if you also agree to help us in our fight.” Talen puffed out his chest. “We did not travel this far to get help locating a girl.”
“I already told you I would try to help, but I don’t know how.” Hunter shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“Your friend seems to.” Talen turned to Denny. “You seem to know a lot.”
Denny shook his head. “I wouldn’t say I know a lot, but I am open to the possibility that we can be of assistance.”
“If we find Ainsley’s friend, we will find the bad guys, right?” Rachel asked. “So we need to do that while at the same time learn how to get rid of the darkness? That is if I’m following all this stuff.”
“True.” Talen nodded. “That is a surprisingly apt assessment.”
“Why is it surprising?”
“Because it comes from you.”
Rachel lunged for Talen but Henry jumped in the way. “Easy now. We have enough enemies to fight already.”
“He will treat you with respect.” Henry glowered at Talen.
Talen nodded. “Understood.”
“I am calling Michelle.” Hunter pulled out his phone. “Hey, yeah. In the mood to help me find someone? Can you meet me at the camp? Fine. See you then.” He smiled as if at a secret joke before returning his phone to his pocket. “She will be here tonight. She has some other business to attend to first.”
“What do we do until then?” I asked.
“Figure out how to defeat the darkness.” Henry said it simply. “Denny, are you ready to share what you know?”
“I don’t know how to defeat it. Our kind was hunted for years, so most of the older generation is gone.”
“Hunted?” Ainsley asked in alarm. “Why?”
“Politics.” Hunter shrugged. “Not anything you need to know about. We are good at what we do.”
“Politics?” Rachel raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware wolves dealt with politics.”
“We aren’t wolves.” Hunter cocked his head to the side.
“We saw you. You are a wolf. Trust me. I wouldn’t forget a detail like that.” Rachel wrapped her sweatshirt tighter around her. Henry moved closer to her.
Hunter looked at his friends before answering. “We’re Dires.”
“Meaning…” Rachel started.
“Related to the Dire Wolves?” Ainsley asked excitedly. “I did a report on them in elementary school. But they are extinct.”
“The non-shifter version is extinct.”
“Next you are going to tell us there are saber- tooth tiger shifters running around.” Rachel laughed.
“There are, but I would stay away from the Sabers. I’ve had enough bad experiences with them.” Hunter’s face darkened.
“Wait, that was a joke.” Rachel kicked the dirt with the toe of her black boot.
“I know what it was.” Hunter laughed.
“Ok, how about we continue this discussion while we get something to eat?” Denny suggested.
“Something to eat? What kind of food do you have here?” Rachel’s voice dripped in skepticism.
He smiled. “I wasn’t suggesting we eat here. You wouldn’t like what we eat, but there is a great little place a few miles down the road.”
“Are you hungry?” I asked Ainsley.
She nodded. “We haven’t eaten much. But we’re also short on time.”
“We have to talk anyway, might as well do it over food.” Denny shrugged. “Right?”
“He kind of has a point.” Henry looked to me for an answer.
“We can do it as long as it does not take too long.” I led Ainsley back toward the car.
“Eating lunch with a bunch of wolves,” Rachel mumbled under her breath while she got in the back seat.
I gently pulled the keys from Ainsley’s hand. “Want me to drive? I figure we have more to worry about than me driving without a valid license.”
“Absolutely.” She walked around toward the passenger side. I opened the door for her and waited for her to buckle before I closed the door.
I waited for Denny’s truck to pull around us before following them out toward the road.
We drove down the country road for a few miles, before the truck turned onto a two lane paved road. They pulled to a stop in a gravel parking lot outside a small building with a large neon red sign that said “Diner.” I parked next to the truck. Despite the more pressing matters on our hands, we needed to eat. Besides, you could often learn the most about and from people while sharing a meal, and we needed both from these wolves.
We walked inside the compact but comfortable restaurant. The walls were covered in photographs of smiling families. I wondered if they were stock photos or actual people. Before I could dwell on it for long, Hunter approached a desk at the front of the restaurant. He smiled broadly at a young waitress who showed us to a table. I slid into a chair next to Ainsley. Rachel and Henry were on our side of the table while Tale
n and the wolves sat across from us. It was nearly comical. The wolves versus the humans. Comical if we were not so concerned about everything else.
“They serve breakfast all day here. They supposedly make fantastic pancakes, but I usually stick to the steak.” Denny handed out the pile of menus that had been left in the center of the table.
“Do you only eat meat?” Rachel leaned forward.
“We prefer raw meat, but we’ve adapted,” Hunter explained.
“I’m going to try the banana pancakes.” Rachel closed her menu. “What are you getting, Ainsley?”
“A western omelet.”
“That’s what I’m getting.” I was surprised we were ordering the same thing. Maybe we had more similar tastes in food than I thought.
“Great minds think alike.” Ainsley smiled.
“And great tastes.”
Talen groaned. “You two disgust me.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Why does that bother you? They are happy together. There are worse things.”
“James has lost himself.”
“Lost himself how?” Marni asked.
“Lost himself in her.” Talen pointed at Ainsley.
“You have some serious anti-girl thing going on with you.” Marni rocked back in her chair. “It’s not going to fly here.”
“I have nothing against women. I have something against warriors taking mates. It weakens them.”
“And James is a warrior?” Marni assessed me with her eyes.
“Of the strongest kind.” Talen sounded almost complimentary.
“And you think Ainsley weakens him?” Denny asked.
“She only strengthens me.” I was a stronger and better man because of her.
“You are a changed man.” Talen scowled.
“Maybe he is changed for the better.” Hunter rested an elbow on the table. “Even if you cannot see it.”
The same waitress came over and took our orders. As soon as she walked away, Denny continued the conversation as if it had never fallen off. “I agree. Sometimes what we see as bad is actually good.”
“So the wolves who own a dive bar are also eternal optimist philosophers.” Rachel nodded. “Good to know.”
Forged in Ice Page 12