The Liar Among Creatures (Howl for the Damed: Book Two) (Howl for the Damned 2)

by D. Fischer

  The stress of finding the culprit to this fucking mess is truly getting to him. They’re under the same stress he is, I vow to have a talk with Jacob about how he treats his wolves.

  Slipping my fingers down the back of Jacob’s arm, I grasp his hand to give him the comfort he needs. Tears continue to swell at the sight of how broken Damien is. Though brooding and burly, the world would be a dark place without him in it.

  “Will you tell us when he wakes again?” I ask Reese, my voice thick and croaking. She nods. “Thank you. Do you have anyone in the pack who you trust without a doubt?”

  Jacob makes no move to interject my orders. He doesn’t even seem to be hearing a word I say – eyes glued to the injured wolf.

  I square my shoulders, needing to prove to myself that I can do this. I can be Jacob’s other half. If I can’t, I have no business wanting him. Used to only caring for myself, it’s time I decide my fate – my future. My future is with Jacob. My future is him and these people. My future belongs in the company of my friends who have turned into family. My future is love. My future is the wolf I feed, white, full of goodness and hope, and the promise of a life that will never be lonely.

  This is the wolf I choose. This is the life I choose. I want him, and with him comes greater responsibility. A shared responsibility. An alpha’s mate . . . I can be that. I can be his other half.

  Reese tightens her arms around her middle. “I do. Travis and Trevor, without a doubt. Bia and Chip, too.”

  I nod. “Good. Can you ask them to keep the wolves in the cafeteria? I don’t want anyone to leave it until we find out which one betrayed us and tried to kill Damien.”

  I can be that monster, that freak I’m so determined to call myself. I can own it. Harness it. Remember what you are, my aunt had said. I will.

  “But he already asked them –” she begins, and abruptly cuts off by the look on my face.

  “Just do it.”

  She seemingly shrinks in on herself, a submission. “I can, yes.” She pulls her phone out of her pocket. “Not even to sleep?”

  “The shifters can sleep on the tables for all I care. No one leaves.”

  Reese nods and turns toward a window as she places the phone up to her ear. She talks softly into it, and I start to tug Jacob out of the room, closing the door quietly once we’re in the hall.

  Jacob is in a daze, staring blankly past me. “Come on,” I whisper, tugging him toward the direction of our room. “You need some sleep.”

  “I can’t sleep,” he says robotically. “There’s too much to do.”

  “There’s nothing you can do until Damien is well enough to give us a name.”

  He doesn’t argue after that, and a few minutes later, we hold each other in the spray of the shower. The water is hot and soothing, seeping into muscles I hadn’t realized were cold. Jacob’s half-closed eyes are the only things that convince me to shut the water off, and once we’re dried and under the comforter, he pulls me close, fitting me tightly to his body.

  Seconds later, his soft breathing of sleep tugs me under.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Jacob Trent

  A soft vibration against wood pulls me from my dreams. Hearing the noise, Jinx stirs in my arms. I roll over and snatch my phone from the nightstand before it can fully wake her.

  The letters across the screen read Rex, and I answer immediately, remembering his quest.

  “What did you find?” I ask quietly. I raise myself from the bed and pad across the room as he tells the other shifters in the car to be quiet. The heat from the fireplace licks at my bare legs. Quickly, I exit the room and into the hallway. The door shuts softly behind me.

  “We followed them, and you won’t believe what we found,” Rex says. His voice is laced with rage. I push my hand against the stone wall, bracing myself for the bad news while I let my head droop.

  Soft murmurings of agreement filter in from Rex’s background. “Do you want me to guess, or are you going to spit it out?”

  “We followed them from the bar.”

  I clutch the phone tighter. “Did they spot you?”

  “No,” Rex answers hurriedly. “We kept the lights off the entire time and stayed back a distance.”

  “Where did it lead?”

  “To a house on a reservation.” My head snaps up. “Sort of. It’s on the tip of the reservation, basically the middle of nowhere.”

  “A reservation?” I frown. “Do you have the address?”

  “I don’t need it,” he answers softly.

  I look around the hall, flabbergasted. “What do you mean you don’t need it?” I hiss. “We need that address, Rex.”

  “You already have it.”

  Silence falls between us, and a numbing sensation creeps along my bones. “Whose house is it, Rex?” I put every word under a strong alpha command, and I don’t wait long for a curt answer.

  “Kaya Whitethorn’s.”

  Jinx Whitethorn

  “Jinx,” I hear within my sleeping groggy state. I stir under the comforter, my feet tangled around sheets, and grumble when a hand squeezes my shoulder, gently shaking.

  “Jinx, wake up,” the voice says, deep and rumbly. Jacob, I realize.

  “Hmm.”

  “Wake up.”

  I crack my eyes open and peer at the nightstand on Jacob’s side of the bed. Except for the reflection of the fireplace’s screen flickering against the dresser, it’s dark in the room. The clock’s lit numbers beam an ungodly hour, and my stomach twists at the very idea of waking this early. “No,” I whine and snuggle back into my warm pillow. “Go back to sleep.”

  “Seriously, get up. Rex called.” Jacob’s words are rushed with urgency. I roll over and peer at him through one eye. He towers over me, his features shadowed except for the reflection of the flames that dance across his dewy skin.

  “Did he find out anything?” My foggy mind barely touches on the memory of Jacob telling me Rex and a few other wolves were going to tail the Bane shifters. “Is he okay?”

  He nods and helps me sit up. “They’re on their way back now.” Using the room’s voice command, he turns on the lamps so everything is bathed in dim light. “Jinx, where is your aunt?”

  I frown and rub the sleep from my eyes. “In her room?” He shakes his head, and I hear the grind of his teeth. Where else would she be at this hour? “Maybe roaming the halls? I ran into her a few days ago when I couldn’t sleep. She was trying to tire herself out by walking around.”

  His cheek muscles ripple as his jaw flexes over and over again. “She’s not in her room.”

  “Then roaming the halls it is.” I stretch and yawn. Why does the bed feel most comfortable right before you’re forced to leave it? I snap my jaw shut with a harrumph. “What’s this about? Why can’t it wait until the sun comes up?”

  Jacob turns his head away, casting his eyes to the fake fireplace. He watches the flames for a moment while I patiently wait for him to settle with some sort of answer. Outside in the hallway, I can hear the other shifters leave their rooms; doors slam, the sticky tap of bare feet against a solid floor, and the hushed, urgent murmurs to one another.

  I sit up straighter in the bed. “Jacob? What’s this about?”

  Shoulders tense, he says, “The guys followed the Bane to Kaya’s house. Rex and the others are on their way back now.”

  I snort. “Why would the Bane go to my aunt’s house?”

  “To look for your aunt.” His light brown eyes bore into mine now.

  “Why?” I swallow thickly. “Are they trying to get to me through her? Oh god.” I shove the covers from my legs and straighten the large shirt twisted around my torso. “You take the first level and I’ll search this one.”

  I slip my legs through my pajama bottoms, my eyes glued to the door as Jacob opens it. The hall light brightens the dim room, splashing across the twisted comforter. He slides out into the hall, talking quietly to whoever had been waiting for him. I pay no mind. My heart hammers so loud th
e beat floods my ears.

  They’re looking for my aunt. The Bane want my aunt. They couldn’t get me, so they’re trying to get her. Another relative of my father. Do they know my aunt can’t break their curse? Or are they trying to use her as leverage?

  My blood hums and vibrates through every vein and every limb. I fear the worst; if Jacob can’t find her in the room, and we can’t find her in the compound, then they’ve succeeded in taking her from me. I don’t know how. I don’t know how they could have taken her. Probably the mole. Definitely the mole. I growl as I pull my pajama bottoms over my rump and stomp to the door left ajar. I’ll be damned if they put my aunt in danger for the sake of greed.

  Jacob is already gone. His thunderous footfalls echo through the hall, stirring me into action. I start jogging. I poke my head in every room, calling my aunt’s name. One after another after another, even when I can clearly see the room is completely empty. Exiting Amelia’s, I barely spare a glance as Cinder’s door opens. Naked, he peers out into the hall’s bright lights, shielding his eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “My aunt is missing,” I shout over my shoulder.

  “How do you know?”

  I ignore him and call, “Kaya!” Down the long hall, the word is echoed and shoved back at me with full force.

  Cinder curses as he tips something over inside his room, fumbling for clothes or shoes or whatever. I don’t bother to wait around to see if he’ll follow me. Using the wall to propel myself, I turn a sharp corner and continue through the hall, my fear skyrocketing every second I don’t see her.

  Minutes later, I’m back to where I started, standing, staring inside Kaya’s empty room through the wide-open door. My chest heaves with exertion and adrenaline. Spirit whispers push at my back, urging me inside, but my feet are glued to the floor.

  She’s gone. Gone. Gone. My mind can’t wrap around it. Her bed is made as if she never slept in it, and there’s not a single item left behind. Not one item.

  She wasn’t on this level, and Jacob hasn’t returned either. Cinder, now fully dressed, ruffles his hair as he strides to me, Sara close behind. I spare them a glance and Sara, confused and tired, hugs a robe tightly around her middle.

  “Tell me what’s going on,” Cinder demands.

  Numbly, I answer without turning to face him. “Rex followed the Bane to my aunt’s house on the reservation. We can’t find my aunt anywhere in this compound.”

  “So that’s where they went when the bar closed,” he grumbles, lilted with the lingering effects of sleep. “You think some of them went to her house to find her?” he adds doubtfully. “I don’t think they’d do that. Not when we’re sniffing hot on their heels.”

  “What are you saying?”

  He crosses his arms. “Did anyone consider that this was a trap? They could be leading us to believe they’re going after your aunt when actually, they’re coming here for Jinx.”

  “No, they wouldn’t,” Sara snorts. I turn to face her, whirling so fast Cinder and Sara each take a step back to avoid my messy swinging braid. I raise an eyebrow at her, refusing to speak for fear I might shout. “Kaya left last night.”

  “What?” I shout. Cinder flinches.

  Sara shrugs. The gesture is so small. It makes me regret the brashness of my tone. “I saw her leave out the front door last night. Right after I left you and Jacob outside.” She frowns. “I thought you knew. She had her bag and everything. I – I thought that since you succeeded, she decided to go home. I mean, she didn’t appear sneaky or anything. Jinx, I –”

  “Where the hell did she go?” I demand, fists clenching.

  “I don’t know,” Sara admits smarmily. “She wasn’t being sneaky about it, so I had no reason to suspect anything besides her returning home.”

  So they could have taken her. They could have gotten wind of her returning to her house, unguarded, and taken her.

  “Did you ever see her come back in?”

  Her sleepy eyes scowl darkly. “No. I went to sleep.” She jerks her thumb to Cinder, indicating she went to bed with him.

  I rub my hands over my face, the adrenaline and fear pumping through my body until I feel wholly numb with it. “They have her,” I whisper, close to tears. “They have her, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s all my fault.”

  Why would she leave? And without telling me? Surely she knew how stupid that choice was.

  Cinder places a hand on my shoulder, wets his lips like he’s preparing to say something heart-wrenching, then someone calls my name. It floats up through the nearby stairs, and Cinder’s mouth snaps shut. The three of us look in that direction.

  “Jinx,” Jacob calls again, voice urgent.

  Glancing at my friends with blossoming hope, I jog warily through the hall with Cinder and Sara right behind me. “Did they find her?” Sara asks unhelpfully. Cinder murmurs his response, but I can’t concentrate enough to hear his answer. If they found her, she might be dead. Maybe she’s not. Maybe everything is fine. Maybe this was all a huge misunderstanding.

  We take the flight down two steps at a time and meet Jacob at the bottom. His hand is braced on the rail, knuckles light. I skid to a halt before him, and hair tickles my cheek with each heavy breath. He says nothing as he stares down at me. I nearly burst from my skin.

  “What? What is it? Did you find her?”

  He reacts with a small shake of his head. “No,” he murmurs. “But Chip found something, or the lack thereof.”

  A fog seeps into my brain that’s already tapped out on stress. To try and clear it, I blink hard and rub my eyes. All around us, the pack has woken. On the main floor, I hear orders being barked and shifted wolves yipping outside. My entire family is awake, alert, and on the hunt.

  “What do you mean?” Cinder asks. Jacob doesn’t elaborate. He beckons us, turns on his heel, and we follow him to Chip’s lab. Sara slips her hand into mine at some point, providing stable support when the world feels like it’s tumbling around me. We were supposed to protect her. She was here to help me, and we were supposed to keep her safe while doing so.

  Why isn’t Jacob telling me what I want to know? Perhaps he doesn’t know what to say. Perhaps Chip can explain it better. Perhaps I should be preparing myself. Would they lay a dead body on Chip’s pristine metal table?

  Chip and Bia are both still in their pajamas. Bia’s has a pattern of cartoon characters stamped across the pant leggings, but Chip’s are silky, striped black and red. Jacob must have pulled them straight from their bed in a similar fashion to the way I woke Cinder and Sara.

  We approach the table, and my friend squeezes my hand hard. Chip has a grimace on his face while Bia bites her nails.

  “What is it?” I demand, looking around and seeing nothing out of the ordinary besides two anxious shifters practically dancing with nervous energy.

  “The book is gone,” Chip whispers.

  My heart plummets to my toes, and Cinder’s breathing hitches. “My father’s book?” Chip nods solemnly. “And the necklace?”

  Bia holds it up. Whispers wash from the swinging pendant, urgent and demanding. Somehow, the wolf spirits’ presence doesn’t ease this feeling, a sinking sensation that what I’m going to be told next is exactly what I don’t want to hear.

  “We hadn’t put the book back with the pendant yet,” Bia murmurs, head hung in shame. “We had a lapse in judgment and left it out to catch a few hours’ sleep. We didn’t think –” Her voice is as quiet as the hum of the refrigerator, and I can tell she’s taking the blame for this. I don’t have it in me to console her – to make her feel better – because I don’t have it in me to convince myself something terrible hasn’t happened here.

  “Someone in this compound took it,” Chip adds.

  Someone. Someone I love has been lying to me. Someone I trusted. Rage fills me.

  “Whoever came for the book didn’t have time to snoop for the necklace,” Chip adds. He grabs his mate’s free hand and twines his fingers in between her
s.

  Silence falls in the lab as the implication settles between the six of us. Everyone had been kept in the cafeteria save for the few people who couldn’t have possibly hurt Damien. Everyone except the woman who snuck out of the compound without telling a soul she was leaving.

  Sara is the first to break through our thoughts with a growl worthy of any shifter. “I never liked that woman.”

  No apologies or ‘told you so’s. Only the blunt truth. I swallow thickly and close my eyes as the tears flood them. Hot tears. Heavy tears. I cover my face with my hands and suppress a shudder.

  “You’re the one who contacted her,” Jacob says to Chip. “Before she arrived, what was said?”

  “I introduced myself,” he says, holding his ground. “I told her the situation.”

  “And that was?”

  After a pause, he says “That Jinx might be her niece, she needed her help, and we’d open our doors so she could stay here.”

  I slide my hands from my face, pulling and tugging at the skin to feel something else. Anything else. Jacob opens his mouth, eyes glowing bright green, but Chip cuts him off with a wide-eyed look. His hand drops from Bia’s. “I – I never gave her the address.”

  “What?” Cinder asks. “What do you mean?”

  Chip leans on the table, supporting his weight with both hands. He searches the glistening metal surface. “I never gave her the address. She agreed to come without any argument. She didn’t even sound surprised. She gave a date when she’d be here, and that was it.” He flicks his gaze to Jacob’s. “Then, she hung up.”

  “She knew where the compound was without having been told?” Cinder barks.

  “Oh my god,” Sara whispers.

  “Wait a minute,” I begin, holding up my hand. “You think my aunt is the mole we’ve been looking for? My aunt? The one who came here and has done nothing but good things? My aunt, who came out of the goodness of her heart to help the daughter of her dead brother – a niece who has the ability to skinwalk?” I meet each of their eyes. “Did you all forget about the fact that suspected skinwalkers used to be killed by their tribe? Why the hell would she come here and not try to kill me? If she’s working with the Bane, why would she not try to kill me?” I throw my hands in the air. “She had plenty of time to whisk me away!” To myself, I admit I would have gone with her, too. When she came here, I didn’t trust her. Slowly, she had managed to wiggle a way into my heart. I would have gone anywhere she suggested without question.