Chapter 17

 

It was after eight when she left her studio. And dark. She pulled her sweater closed, tightening its belt. A restlessness made her antsy. She couldn't shake it. She looked around, ready for an attack, but none came. Her necklace began to throb. She could feel the moonstone pulse near her heart. She raised shaking fingers to it, and a desperate hurry clenched her gut. She had to get to her mother's house. Now.

She jumped behind the steering wheel of her SUV. As she pulled out of the lot, she called Damian on her cell phone. "Mom needs me. I can feel it. I have to get to her."

"I'm right behind you." No questions asked. She liked that. His headlights filled her car as they sped across town.

Barely able to breathe, she pulled onto 29^th Street. Her mother's Lexus wasn't parked in its usual spot. What if she hadn't come to the right place? What if her mom and the kids were out shopping and Weres attacked them there? Lights were on in the living room, and she thought she saw the flicker of the TV set.

She drove past the house and turned at the corner, parking on a different block. Damian pulled to the curb close by, and they made their way through backyards to the narrow slit between her mom's house and the neighbor's. Reece peeked over the privacy fence. No one was outside. She moved toward the front of the house and hid in the shadows there. Damian pointed upward and sprang to a rooftop to keep watch from above.

For the end of September, it was a pleasant evening—cool, but comfortable. A perfect night for riding bikes or taking walks. No Were could pass the protective potion she'd sprinkled around the yard, but her mom and the kids didn't always stay home, did they? Then Reece heard a familiar TV show playing in her mother's front room—The Wild Thornberrys, and tension unraveled inside her. Joseph and Jenny loved that cartoon. She listened more closely. The window was closed, but she could hear noises drift through the glass.

"Jenny! Don't spill that!" her mother's voice called from somewhere nearby. "And Joseph, share. You don't need a whole bowl of popcorn for yourself."

Relief flooded her. Her mom and both kids were home. She was trying to think through her sudden panic when the Lexus slid into its parking place at the curb. Its door opened, and Eugene stepped onto the street. Had he had too much to drink? Was that why the moonstone warned her? Was he going to go inside and start a row?

Reece crouched lower into the shadows, preparing for a long wait, when movement flashed from the neighbor's bushes. Eugene wouldn't be wearing his silver chain, Reece knew. The rogue loped toward him. She'd only protected the yard. She hadn't thought about stepping out of the car onto the street.

Reece ran to block the Were, raised her hand, and hurled energy at it. The chocolate brown rogue flew backward, landed with a thud, and whimpered. Eugene's eyes went wide. He stumbled and had to put out a hand to steady himself against the Lexus.

A second rogue, sleek and sandy-colored, lunged from the opposite yard. Eugene gasped as Reece shot it too. It landed a few feet away.

Eugene took off running. He raced for the house, yelling, "Donna! Open the door! Let me in!"

The porch light flicked on and the door opened wide. Jenny came out to watch Eugene sprint down the sidewalk. He knocked her out of the way when he reached the house and slammed the door behind him. Joseph yanked the door open to reach for his sister. He saw Reece and the two werewolves and froze in place.

"Get in the house and stay there!" Reece hissed. But both wolves stopped where they were. They raised their heads. They sniffed the air and backed away. The sandy colored one raised a back leg to scratch himself. Joseph took another step forward. He pulled the chain out from beneath his shirt. The Weres whined and ran. Reece squinted at the rooftops and saw a shadow jump from one to another, following them.

Joseph put a hand to the silver that circled his neck. "They don't like this, do they?"

Reece's legs felt like rubber. Her mouth was dry. She didn't know if she could speak.

"Reece? Are you okay?" Joseph started toward her.

She raised a hand. "I'm fine. I need to sit down, though." She made it to the bottom step of the porch and collapsed onto it.

"Did it hurt you?" Jenny asked.

"No, but I don't know what I'd do if one of them scratched you." She took a deep breath, fighting for composure. Then she turned and glared. "Never take those necklaces off. Never."

Her mother stumbled across the porch and sat beside her. "What were those?"

"Wild dogs, big ones. And dangerous." She saw Damian crouching on a rooftop farther down the street. He was hunched, waiting. "I can't stay here. You need to go inside and lock your doors. Don't come out without your necklaces on. Don't come out at all anymore tonight."

Jenny put her hand over Reece's. "Eugene says your fingers shoot light."

"I used a special stun gun a friend loaned me. I'm helping him hunt the dogs." At Jenny's alarmed look, she added, "It doesn't kill them, just knocks them out."

Joseph's expression told her that he didn't believe her, but her mom sighed with relief. "Thank goodness, we don't need people firing real guns in our front yard." She looked at Reece. "I don't know who your friend is, but he had no business getting you involved in this. Give him his stunner back and tell him to hunt the dogs himself."

Reece's mom hadn't used that tone of voice with her for a long time. It was her protective mother's, snappish tone. Nothing could have made Reece feel more loved.

Her mother gave a jerk of her head. "In the house now, kids. Reece, you should go home and stay safe." She herded Joseph and Jenny inside. Reece waited until she heard the dead bolt slide into place before she hurried down the street to where Damian waited. He raised a hand and motioned for her to circle to the backyard. Then he put a finger to his lips for her to move silently.

Reece dipped between two brownstones and slowly made her way to the Lamberts' patio. There was no party tonight. Instead, the sandy-colored rogue hunched behind their boxwood hedge. At Damian's signal, Reece shot energy at the wolf. The white, hot ball hit it square in the middle of its back. The rogue jerked, then went limp, and Damian swooped off the roof to pin its arms to its side. Reece could hear ribs protest when its fur began to retract. Its claws and canines became nails and teeth. The man/wolf regained consciousness, winced, and writhed in pain. The shift was obviously painful. When it was finished, a forty-something man blinked at her, confused. Then his face flushed beet red and he tried to place a hand over his penis. "Please. Excuse me." His eyes filled with fear when he turned his head and saw Damian.

It was the first time Reece heard Damian curse. A low, steady stream of profanity tumbled out of his lips.

"I can't kill him now. What am I supposed to do with him?" Damian tossed the man over his shoulder and started to the white rental van. Reece scrambled to keep up and climbed into the rear of the vehicle with them. Damian dumped his prisoner, unceremoniously, onto the floor. The man raised his knees, trying to shield as much of his nakedness from them as he could.

"Are you going to torture me?" he asked in a horrified voice.

Damian balled his hands into fists. "Haven't you suffered enough?" He motioned for Reece to loan the man her sweater. She took if off and tossed it to him. He relaxed slightly once it was draped over his lower half.

"What are you?" The man's voice quavered. "Why didn't you crush me? So that you can enjoy killing me inch by inch?"

"She's a witch. I'm a gargoyle. We both have better things to do than play with Weres."

"You aren't going to kill me?"

"Not unless we have to."

The man's expression turned serious. "You should finish me off. Now. Just please, make it fast."

"I don't kill humans."

"It's not safe to be around me," the man argued. "I'm too new. I don't know how to stop it. When I'm nervous or hear a howl, I change no matter how hard I fight it."

"There are good Weres who can teach you what to do. We'll get you to them. For now, though, we have to leave. Someone might come looking for you." Damian started toward the front of the van. He turned to Reece. "What should we do with him?"

"He'll have to stay with us."

"At your place? Another werewolf? At this rate, we'll have a pack."

"Will you be all right if he changes while you're driving?"

"I'll just pull over and knock him out."

The man's eyes went wide, but Reece nodded, satisfied. "I'll see you at home then."

She followed the van across town. She and Damian rode together in the elevator, with the man between them, on the way to her loft. Once inside, the man hurried to the red leather couch and took the blanket off the back of it. He tied it under his arms, so that it hid him from the chest down.

Reece looked at how shaken he was and went to the kitchen. She made sandwiches and coffee to pass around. Food, for her, was a social thing, an offering of comfort.

The man sat at the kitchen table and sighed. His hands shook, and he had to hold the coffee mug with both of them to sip from it.

"When were you changed?" Damian's stance softened. Reece wasn't sure why this man had annoyed him so much, but he'd reconsidered his opinion. There was sympathy in his voice.

"I'm not sure. At first, I was sick. Maybe for weeks. I've been through a half dozen changes. The first one took a long time. I thought I'd die. I was in so much pain, I lost track of days."

"Do you remember what season it was?" Damian persisted.

He frowned, concentrating. "It was early spring. I was starting an herb garden."

"So you can change at will?" Damian's voice turned hard again. "Why did you attack Reece's family?"

Reece finally understood his anger. He was being protective. He'd panicked as much as she did when Jenny came out on the porch, followed by Joseph. She reached a hand across the table to place over his.

"At will?" The man stared at his hands on the mug. "At their will. If they snap at us and scare us or howl as a pack, we change. They know it. They do it on purpose."

So, it wasn't his choice. The alpha manipulated the new rogues. Reece's voice softened. "Has shifting gotten easier for you?"

"I'm still not good at it. I'm slow. It always hurts."

"Maybe it's because you fight it so hard."

"Wouldn't you?" He ran a hand through his wavy, light brown hair. "I turn into a monster. I never know what I'm going to do. I might…"

"You can learn to control it," Damian said, regaining some of his calm.

"Impossible."

"Older werewolves can teach you. Do you remember why you attacked Reece's step father?"

The man glanced at Reece. "That was your dad? I'm sorry."

"Do you know why you attacked him?" Damian persevered.

"I can't tell you."

"Can't, or won't?"

The man looked at his mug, avoiding his gaze.

Damian pushed himself from his chair and started for the door. He opened it and held it wide. "Then go. Join your pack again."

"No. I'll run. They'll make me do something bad."

"You will anyway, even if you stay on your own."

"You can't help me. If Selena finds me, she'll kill us all."

"We can protect ourselves, and we'll protect you." There was enough flint in Damian's voice, Reece believed him.

"Don't get involved. You could end up like me." The man put down his mug and grimaced. "This isn't a life. I'll never be normal again."

"We can't be changed," Reece said.

"Then they'll kill you."

Damian was out of patience. "If all you want to do is feel sorry for yourself, fine. Go hide somewhere. But it won't help. When the moon's full, you'll change. And you'll kill someone."

"I'll drive my car into a tree."

"Can't. You have wolf survival instincts. But think about this. If you help us stop the rogues, you might save another person from becoming a werewolf."

The man met Damian's eyes. "What makes you think you can stop them?"

"I've done it before. I'll do it again."

"Then use me. They're nothing but scum. Paws tells us who to attack. He tells us where and when."

"Us?"

The man shrugged. "There's a rogue network. Four of us lived together. Bones—he liked to collect peoples' fingers—watched over me, Spikes, and Choco."

"Do you have real names?" Damian asked.

"Choco's name is LeRoy. I don't know his last name. Spikes won't go by her human name anymore. She said that part of her is gone. I'm Jeremy Meyers."

"Meyers?" Reece studied him with surprise. "Our mayor's son?"

"They pressured Dad to throw votes. I talked him out of it, so they came for me. Then they threatened to kill Celeste." At Damian's frown, he said, "My ex-wife. Neither of us cared, so they left her alone."

Damian's edgy mood returned. "They're involved in politics too?"

"What better way to control Bay City?"

"This is about more than just money, isn't it?" Reece said.

"They have a small power core, and they're ambitious." Jeremy rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Dad's been in politics a long time. I recognize power plays when I see them."

"Who's they?" Reece asked.

Jeremy shook his head. "I've only met Paws and Selena. A different wolf went to my dad."

"Mercury," Reece said. "He makes the deals."

"Does your ex-wife know what happened to you?" Damian asked.

"If she does, she's probably celebrating."

"I take it your divorce wasn't friendly," Reece said.

"That's putting it mildly. I didn't think anything could be worse, but I was wrong." He studied his fingernails. "Look at me now."

"Do you have kids?" Damian asked.

"Two boys—both grown. Neither live in town or anywhere close by. Dad's already called them and told them to stay away from here, no matter what happens or who calls them."

Damian looked out the French doors to the view of the city. "Do you know how many rogues there are?"

"No, we stay in different places. Paws is in charge of all of us."

"The dingy-colored rogue who lives at the warehouse?"

"With Selena."

"The girl with the long, platinum hair?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I only saw her as a silver werewolf. We're all afraid of her. If she comes for you, you're dead."

"What do they want?" Damian asked. "What are they after?"

"Paws grew up in the hood. Bones was part of a motorcycle gang. They mean to make the mafia look like Girl Scouts. If anyone goes against them, they send rogues to finish them off."

Damian was silent a minute, considering the implications. "The mafia stays behind the scenes. It dips its fingers into anything and everything."

"And it's ruthless." Jeremy looked out the French doors to the city beyond. "They won't stop here. Why would they? Using rogues as muscle is brilliant. A carload of gangsters did a drive-by shooting at our house when Bones first took us there. They didn't want us in their territory. Paws and Bones were riddled with bullets. They instantly healed, then shredded their rivals. No one's bothered us since."

Reece cringed. The rogues were more vicious than she'd imagined.

"Then why did Bones break the rules?" Damian asked. "He had to know the consequences."

A good question. Sure, Bones was big and bulky. Older, too, if Reece was to go by his salt and pepper coloring. But she'd watched Selena in action. She wouldn't go against her, if she had a choice.

"Bones had a terrible temper. He heard that another wolf said something bad about him. He got all worked up. That's all I know."

"But he took a group of rogues to attack Wedge's wolf," Damian said.

"We didn't have a choice. If we disobeyed Bones, he made us regret it."

Damian stared. "You were part of that?"

Jeremy pulled his leg out from under the blanket and pointed to a long, deep scar. "That other wolf was stronger than all of us put together. Bones was in bad shape when we turned and ran. He healed fast, though. I'm still on the mend."

"Would Bones have killed Wedge's wolf?"

"That was our orders, but the three of us weren't any good at it. Even when we worked together, we couldn't do it." Jeremy took a minute to rearrange his blanket, fighting for composure. "I'm not proud of what I did. It's against Selena's rules for any of us to kill a human, thank God, or who knows what Bones would have told us to do? Paws did take us on a hunt, though. I woke up in the morning next to a deer we'd killed. I was covered in blood." He shivered.

"That's part of your inner wolf," Damian said.

"I've stayed with the pack because I'm afraid to be out on my own, afraid of what I might do. But I don't trust Paws. I don't trust anyone anymore, not even myself."

Damian turned to him and patted his shoulder. "You're not alone anymore."

"But what about my father? Can you keep him safe? My mother's gone, but Dad's doing good work. Paws said if I messed up, they'd go after him."

Damian glanced at Reece. "Can we help him?"

"I'll visit Hecate. We'll make more necklaces."

"I'll send Benito to watch over your dad tonight," Damian said.

Jeremy's eyelids drooped. He yawned. "I'm sorry. Changing is still hard for me. It makes me tired."

There was a quick knock, and the apartment door opened. Andre walked inside. He stopped and sniffed the air. His gray eyes narrowed on the rogue. "What the hell?"

"He was sent after Reece's step father. We caught him," Damian said.

"And you brought him home?"

"We brought you here, didn't we?" Reece's brows puckered, studying him. He smelled of bistro—sauteed foods and expensive cologne, but his face was haggard. "You look like shit. What happened?"

The corner of Andre's mouth crooked. "It was a long night."

She looked at Jeremy, then back to Andre. "You two should crash. Both of you look like you need sleep."

"The couch is mine," Andre said. "Furball knows that, right?"

"I can sleep anywhere." Jeremy looked like he might collapse in his chair.

"Good. I'm beat. Let's call it a night." Andre sank onto the sofa. He reached for his blanket. It wasn't there. Opening one eye, he said, "Furry stole my blanket. You have more than one set of covers, don't you?"

Jeremy pushed himself to his feet and started for the recliner. "When can you help my dad? The sooner I know he's safe, the better."

"I'll stop at Hecate's tomorrow," Reece assured him.

"Hey! What about my dad, the people I care about?" Andre slid off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it on the floor.

"We'll make necklaces for them too."

He tugged off his jeans. "Do you have a spare blanket or do you want to see me naked again?"

"You're a sick man," Reece told him.

He grinned. "Great, isn't it?"

Reece brought a quilt from her bedroom cupboard. Andre pulled it over himself and snuggled beneath it.

Reece glanced at Jeremy. He pushed back in the recliner and couldn't keep his eyes open.

"It's been a big day for all of us." Damian kissed the tip of her nose. "You're tired too. I'll see you in the morning."

She didn't argue. She went to the bedroom, kicked off her shoes, and fell onto the bed. She'd undress in a minute. And brush her teeth. And wash her face…..