Luke took everyone out to a late lunch, pouring more food into the young woman who’d clearly been going light on meals based on her lack of funds. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties, but she could be quite a bit older as a werewolf. Looks were deceiving when one could live far beyond the age of a normal human.
While they enjoyed coffees and desserts, Luke decided it was a good time to find out what she knew. He looked around to make sure the restaurant was still mostly empty. “Sylvie, what can you tell me about the vampires that were chasing you last night? Do you know where their nest is?”
“Nest? I don’t know this word,” she replied.
“Where they sleep during the day, their home?” Luke elaborated.
“Ah. Yes. They have several of the old buildings on Boulevard Vauban.” She scraped her spoon around the inside of the glass chocolate mousse dish to get the last bit. “It’s near the park they were chasing me through.”
“Can you show us which ones?” Luke pushed his empty plate away and picked up his espresso.
Sylvie nodded, setting the spoon down after determining she couldn’t get any more from the empty bowl. Luke waved the server over to get the check. Once they finished, they returned to the SUV, Sylvie taking shotgun next to Luke so she could guide him. When they drove by the park where they’d met her, Luke chuckled to himself. The park looked far less sinister in the light of day without a horde of angry fangers chasing the woman who now sat to his right.
“OK. These three on the left, I know for sure. Maybe one or two next to it.” Sylvie leaned toward Luke, pointing toward a series of large three-story brick buildings.
Although they were a little worse for wear, the buildings had all the signs of their former glory worked in stone flourishes, arched windows, and beautiful and ornate old wooden doors.
Pablo whistled appreciatively. “Those are some big houses. I bet they can stuff a lot of toothy bastards in there.”
Sam leaned forward between the front seats. “Luke, take a left up here. Avenue Michelet.”
Luke did as requested, following several more directions from Sam until they were on a narrow street headed toward the train station.
“What are we doing back here, Sam?” Luke asked.
“This field on the left. It backs to the vampires’ houses. Those trees are probably screening the property,” Sam replied.
“Hmm. We could park at the train station and walk on back and take a look.” Luke looked back and forth between the empty lot and the road ahead of him.
“Won’t there be thralls watching?” Delilah asked.
“Maybe, but thralls are easy to fool. Besides, they know someone is moving about Cambrai looking for them.” Luke rubbed his chin, mulling the idea over.
“It’s not the worst idea,” Pablo mused.
“What is a thrall?” Sylvie stared at the line of trees.
“A human who serves the vampires. They usually take care of tasks while the vampires sleep for the day,” Sam answered.
Luke decided. “I’m going to find a place to turn so we can park and take a look.”
“No!” Sylvie said, growing agitated. “Not thralls. Not humans. You can’t go.”
Luke pulled into the parking lot on the other side of the train station and the bus depot, picking a spot as far away from activity as possible. Turning the car off, he shifted in his seat so he could face her more easily.
“I think we’re going to need some more details here,” Luke said. He tried to keep the sternness from his voice and face, but they didn’t quite manage it as Sylvie lowered her head and hunched her shoulders.
“It wasn’t just vampires chasing me last night. It was… It was werewolves too.” Sylvie fidgeted with her hands, looking down and avoiding eye contact with Luke.
Sam inhaled sharply. “Are the werewolves aiding the vampires? Are they allies?”
Sylvie pulled her legs up and under her as she turned so she faced the middle of the car. Sylvie looked at Sam in the backseat behind Luke. “They are allies, though lesser.”
“The vampires are in charge?” Luke asked.
“Oui.”
Luke bit back a curse. “How many werewolves?”
“A whole pack,” Sylvie replied. “Maybe more.”
“Well, fuck. That’s going to complicate things.” Luke looked at Sylvie’s face as she avoided eye contact with him. He recognized the profound look of sadness, the grief of loss contained in the dark pools of her eyes. Her clenched jaw spoke to the anger accompanying the look of loss.
“You know this pack, don’t you?” Luke tried to lessen the intensity of his gaze to keep from intimidating her any more than she already was.
“It…” She paused, unbuckling her seatbelt before restarting. “They were my pack.”
“Oh, honey,” Sam whispered from the back.
Delilah reached up and patted her knee, resting her hand there sympathetically. Sylvie snatched it up, clutching it in her hand. Sylvie’s shoulder shook lightly as her breath trembled. Sniffling, she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her other hand. Luke reached across the center console and squeezed her shoulder. She took the squeeze as an invitation and leaned into Luke, resting her head on his shoulder as she cried, her sobs growing heavier. Shocked at the sudden change, Luke hesitated for a few moments before wrapping an arm around her, rubbing her back soothingly.
When Sylvie’s sobbing slowed to a trickle, she sat back. Sam had fished out a pack of travel tissues from somewhere and handed them to the young Black woman who took them gladly, blowing her nose and dabbing at her cheeks. While Sylvie did her best to clean up her face, Sam whispered into Delilah’s ear.
Delilah squeezed Sylvie’s knee. “Sylvie, let’s step outside and take a little walk. The fresh air will do you good.”
Sylvie’s answering nod was wobbly, but she opened the car and stepped out. Pablo let Delilah exit, then rejoined Luke and Sam. Delilah took Sylvie’s hand and led her away from the car, walking slowly.
When Sam determined they were far enough away, she turned to Luke. “Poor dear. Losing your pack is a profound loss. Losing the pack connection is like losing a piece of yourself.”
Luke nodded, brow furrowed. “What does that mean for her family?”
Pablo sighed. “Either willingly or unwillingly, they turned against her and condoned the expulsion or…”
“Or they’re dead,” Sam finished.
Luke clenched his jaw, biting off some of the curses he wanted to spew. “Shit. This throws a wrench into the works. We can’t go up against a werewolf pack and a large nest of vampires with just the five of us.”
“Especially not knowing what her skills are, or if she’ll be able to fight against a former pack mate if it should come to that.” Sam leaned to the side to stare out the window. “They’re coming back. I need to give you a heads up. She’s young and without a pack. I don’t know what kind of pack she was in before, but my guess is it wasn’t the best. Sylvie is already starting to treat you like the pack alpha.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up at the use of the word “alpha.” It was a word they never used for Holly or for their pack situation.
Pablo nodded. “She sees us treating you like the leader, and you exude leadership when you want to. You’re paying for things, and you have a big house and a very fancy car.”
“Pablo’s right. All the markers point to you as the alpha of this group.” Seeing the look of shock on Luke’s face, she added. “I can see it in her body language. All those subtle cues wolves give off. She’s been steadily decreasing eye contact with you for fear of angering you. It’s a bullshit thing bully alphas demand. We’ll do our best to help her out, but she’s going to look to you for leadership and guidance. You’re a kind man, but sometimes you can be a little intense.”
“You’re a good dude, Luke. I think between us, we can coax her out of her shell.” Pablo smiled reassuringly at his friend.
Sam nodded, agreeing with Pablo. “It’ll be delicate until she becomes more comfortable with us all, but if we can keep her around, we can help her find a new pack. I’m sure Pieter’s pack would welcome her, or if she’s willing to make the move, we can bring her into our pack.”
Luke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “OK. We’ll see if we can do right by her. If I mess something up, let me know. I’m good at leading people, but the intricacies of werewolf hierarchies are a mystery to me.”
Pablo reached up and patted Luke’s shoulder. “We got your back, dude!”
“Pablo, why don’t you ride up front with Luke? Dee and I will work on Sylvie,” Sam said.
Pablo hopped out and held the door for Sylvie and Delilah. Sylvie took the middle, letting Delilah have more leg room on the right side.
“OK. Now that we’ve done recon for the day, I think it’s back to base. There’s nothing we can safely do today. Plus, I want to check in with Jamaal and see how he and the others are settling in. I’ll let Émile know we’ll need dinner.” Luke turned the ignition on and pointed their ride back to Belgium and their temporary home.
* * *
Luke and Pablo fetched another round of beers from the bar and brought them back to the private sitting room. They’d retired to it after dinner so they could be cozy. As they drove back, the day had turned cool and drizzly and then the night became cold and rainy. Luke built a fire in the stone fireplace.
“Have you called Waffleboy and let him know the skinny?” Pablo asked as Luke walked through the door.
“No.” Luke handed Sam a glass of the Belgian strong dark ale. “With Sylvie’s news, I’m worried the leak he’s having might be related and I don’t want the news that we know getting into the wrong ears. For now, let’s keep this close to our vest.”
Sam nodded. “That’s probably smart.”
She sat in a cushy armchair with a blanket wrapped around her legs. Luke handed a couple glasses of the blanche to Delilah and Sylvie who sat on a small couch. Sylvie, her own clothes in need of laundering, wore a t-shirt borrowed from Sam. Sylvie looked tired and sad, her head leaning against Delilah’s shoulder, her legs drawn up under her as they shared a blanket.
Luke took his favorite wingback armchair near the fireplace, setting his glass of Nostradamus on the small, round, antique side table. Once Pablo settled down with his beer in another cushy chair, Luke looked around the room and made eye contact with everyone to make sure they were ready, finishing with Sylvie. She hesitated but eventually gave him a slight nod.
Luke licked his lips and inhaled. “Sylvie, first I want to thank you for stopping us before we got in over our head. It is much appreciated. I’m fluent in French, if you can ignore my Belgian accent.”
Sylvie smiled at the joke.
Luke continued, “If it would be easier to continue in French, I can translate what needs to be translated to my friends. Although we all are multilingual, I’m the only one who speaks French.”
“No. I can do it in English,” she replied.
Luke nodded. “I don’t know what your goals are, but if you wish to continue hunting vampires, we can help you. My friends here have been doing it for around a year now, very effectively might I add. I’ve been doing it for a while longer.”
Delilah snorted. Pablo chuckled.
Sylvie looked up at Delilah, a quizzical look on her face, but directed her questions to Luke. “Why do your friends always laugh when you’re vague about your age?”
“They like to make jokes about my extreme senior citizen status,” Luke replied
“Senior citizen? I do not know this phrase,” Sylvie said.
“It means he’s a really old guy. A gray hair,” Pablo replied, chuckling some more.
“Pablo finds it amusing to make fun of my age, although he’s the second oldest here by about twice Sam’s age. As you know, Sam and Pablo are werewolves. Pablo is the second of the pack we’re in. Sam is the wife of the packleader. The three of us are on the pack’s council. Delilah is also a member of the pack. She teaches unarmed combat.”
Sylvie looked at Delilah again, seeming impressed, before returning her head to Delilah’s shoulder.
“Who are you? Humans aren’t asked to be on pack councils.” Sylvie took a sip from her beer.
“I’m going to extend you the trust of my identity, or at least part of it. I hope you will trust us so we can all work together. My name, currently, is Luke Irontree, although you won’t find that name on any official paperwork. I was born about an hour northwest of here, a very long time ago.”
“How long ago?”
“A little over nineteen hundred years ago,” Luke replied, picking up his beer.
Sylvie eyes grew wide as her jaw slowly dropped. “That’s…” She stopped before finishing it with what Luke guessed was the word “impossible.”
Luke shrugged. “It’s not. Vampires can live that long or longer. I just get my immortality from a different source than vampires. They’re my enemy. I’ve been fighting them for nearly all my life. If you are an enemy of the vampire, you’re a friend of mine, as long as you don’t do something else to make an adversary of me. The people you see here are my closest friends—my family. I would trust each of them with my life and have done so frequently. You will find no finer people, werewolf or human, than the people you see here.”
Sylvie looked toward Sam who nodded at her, then up at Delilah who gave her a smile and a nod.
“He speaks the truth. He is what he says he is,” Delilah added.
Sylvie nodded, returning her gaze to Luke.
“We’ve built that camaraderie over time and a lot of hard events. Now, if we’re going to include you, we might have to skip over the time part, but the hard events… Well, you stepped right in the middle of them, and I’m guessing you’re in the middle of some of your own. My intuition tells me you’re not a threat to us, that we can place our trust in you. My friends agree. I know you’re wary, but I’m hoping—we’re hoping—you’ll take a leap of faith and give us your trust in kind.”
Sylvie sat quietly, her eyes drifting away from Luke’s only to dart back into contact again. Chewing on her lips, she came to a decision and nodded. “OK.”
“Tell us who you are, please.” Luke smiled, but knew authority had crept into his eyes.
“My name is Simone Sylvie Kiara Ndiaye. I’m twenty-five. I’m from Libourne, near Bordeaux.” She stopped to take a drink of her beer.
“Can you tell us about what happened with your pack, dear?” Sam asked.
Sylvie nodded. “Yes. I was born in it, but my parents were new members when they joined. They’d migrated from Senegal when they were young and were assigned to the Bordeaux pack.”
“How were they? Were they accepting? Welcoming? The pack, I mean.” Sam took a sniff of her dark beer, then took a drink and looked to Luke. “Oh, this is lovely, Luke.”
“I guess the pack was alright. Some people were nicer than others. I’m not sure what happened, but when I returned home from university, the pack leadership had changed. People started agitating for a ‘pure French pack.’ Besides us, there were a Moroccan family and a family from Cameroon, so we were greatly outnumbered. I’m not sure what happened to the family from Cameroon, but I think they fled. Then one night…” Sylvie’s hands started to tremble.
Delilah gently took the beer from her hand and set it on the table next to her, then wrapped her arm around Sylvie’s shoulder, whispering, “It’s OK. You can trust us.”
Shaking, tears fell from Sylvie’s eyes. “They killed them. Maman et papa. Their bodies…”
Sylvie gave into the sobbing. Delilah held her close, rubbing her back and shoulders. Sam stood up, closing the distance quickly, and squatted in front of the small couch, taking Sylvie’s hand. When Luke looked to Pablo, his best friend’s eyes held profound compassion for the young woman. In a room full of people whose lives were filled with pain and loss, Sylvie was one more wounded soul, and everyone there empathized, wanting to help shoulder her grief.
When her crying subsided, Sam stood and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Neither Delilah nor Sylvie seemed interested in changing their positions, Delilah’s arm wrapped around the pretty young woman.
Luke gave Sylvie a kind smile. “I’m sorry for bringing this up for you. You don’t have to go into details. I’m sorry for your loss. If you’re ready to continue, and it’s OK if you’re not, but how is the Bordeaux pack involved with vampires?”
Sniffling, Sylvie cleared her throat. “We all knew about the Bordeaux nest. It was a scary rumor, but none of the pack would work anywhere near it nor would they move through the area near dark. It was rumored a powerful vampire lord lived in a château there, and we avoided it…until the new pack leadership took power. We weren’t a wealthy pack, but the new pack leaders were dripping with gaudy bobbles and rumors of a powerful new ally who’d reward loyalty. I think the vampires helped them seize control of the pack and now they serve the vampires as their thugs.”
“What are they doing so far from Bordeaux?” Pablo wondered.
“I don’t know. I’ve tried to pick up what information I could. I think they’re planning to go to war with a powerful werewolf pack.”
Luke exchanged looks with his friends. Leaning forward in his chair, he fixed his intense gaze on Sylvie. “Do you know who this vampire lord is?”
“I don’t know his name, but I’ve heard him called Le Mousquetaire.”