Authors: Dean Murray
"Like
Alec."
She
didn't want to let that particular cat out of the bag, but then
again, I couldn't blame her. She'd always been much tougher and
faster than any normal wolf had any right to be. She paused for
nearly a minute before finally responding.
"Yes,
like Alec. If you could get around behind him and manage a good
clinch you could still kill this guy, but otherwise it will be like
fighting someone in armor."
"Where
are his weak points?"
"I
don't know, Isaac, I swear. I don't…I don't have it. Donovan
might be able to tell you, but I'm not sure he'll be willing to give
away Alec's secrets like that. Just stay clear of this guy, do
whatever it takes."
"I
understand, but I don't think that's going to be possible, Jasmin.
Thanks for warning me though."
The knowledge
that I was going up against someone that had been bred to be even
more dangerous than a normal hybrid should have scared me. Actually
it did scare me, but it didn't change my determination to do what had
to be done. I was already reaching for the disconnect button, but
Jasmin surprised me.
"What
if I came down there, Isaac? I could be down in New Orleans in a day
or so."
It
was the kind of thing that made you love Jasmin even though she'd
spent most of her time as a wolf trying to prove that she was just as
dominant as James and me. She had a big heart, and it was hard to
hold a grudge after she made those kinds of offers, but that was just
who Jasmin was.
Underneath
that hard, indifferent exterior that she used to keep the rest of the
world at arm's length was a person who would sacrifice just about
anything to help her friends. I wanted to take her up on her offer,
but I knew I couldn't do that.
It
didn't sound like Ben had any time to waste, and even if he did, the
two of us plus Ash and Celeste couldn't hope to take on Onyx, Nicolas
and what was left of the rest of their hybrids. Letting her come down
here to help me would just be signing her death warrant.
"No,
it's not worth it, Jas. There's no telling when I'll get backed into
fighting this creep. You could arrive down here, and find me dead,
and end up in the same position I'm looking at right now. Besides, I
couldn't ask you to watch Ben die. You said it yourself. He doesn't
have much time left."
"I
want to tell you that you're wrong, but I can't seem to force myself
to say the words."
That
made me smile. I could visualize exactly what she looked like right
now, her face dropping into a stubborn set as she tried to force
herself to do something she didn't actually want to do.
"I
know. It's because I'm right and you know it. Have you found this
Geoffrey character yet?"
"Yes,
it turns out he's a vampire and I'm going to have to help him before
he'll save Ben for me."
That
was a development that I hadn't been expecting, but it actually made
a lot of sense. We needed to use a vampire to fix the damage the
first vampire had done to Ben. Only there wasn't any way to be sure
that the second vampire was any better than the first.
"I
don't like the sound of that, Jas. Bloodsuckers can't be trusted.
Everything I've ever read says that they are all cunning and amoral
in ways that sometimes even the Coun'hij can't equal."
She
took a deep breath. "I know, but Rachel says it's the only way."
"What
do you need from me?"
"We
need the location of Puppeteer and the rest of the Coun'hij. You've
spent time thinking about where you'd go if you had to leave because
of the way things have been going with Jessica. I need a pack with
ties to the Coun'hij that is small enough that I have a chance of
taking it over."
I
hadn't been expecting that. Until Jasmin's words hit my ear I'd
forgotten entirely that I'd been so close to running away. The Isaac
who'd been contemplating that felt like a different person entirely.
"You
knew that? You knew I was looking at leaving the pack and making a
run for it?"
"Yeah.
I didn't have any evidence, but it's what I would have been doing in
your place. I don't blame you."
"I
figured if you all found out you would feel like I was betraying
you."
"Like
I said, I understand why you wanted out. Can you think of a pack that
might fit the bill?"
I
started mentally running through the list of packs that I'd been
compiling based on every drop of information I could squeeze out of
the delegates sent to meet with Alec.
"I'm
not sure. I was mostly looking for packs that were more independent
than that, since the Coun'hij takes a dim view of people coming in
and deposing leaders who have an established history of toeing the
line. You know, in some ways that could make things easier. The
Coun'hij tends to scrape off the cream of the crop out of their
allied packs, so there doesn't tend to be as much talent there as
what you see in the independent packs."
"Right,
a lot of the time they end up being on the smaller side too."
I
nodded to myself as a clear winner rose to the top of my mind.
"I
think your best bet is Duluth then. Between the cold and the snow
it's one of the less desirable territories, so they haven't had
anyone challenge up there for a couple of decades. You'll still be up
against some stiff competition though. The alpha there isn't anything
special, but he's still got more than two hundred years of fighting
under his belt. Your biggest problem is going to be a guy named
Branson. He's practically an honorary enforcer for the Coun'hij. He's
big and fast, not as big and fast as you, but he's good and you
haven't been in very many fights as a hybrid yet."
"Yeah,
I know. If you've got a better idea for finding the Coun'hij, I'm all
ears."
"Sorry,
nothing comes to mind. I guess we've both got some impossible fights
ahead of us."
"Yeah, I guess we do. I'll see you on the other side."
Isaac Nazir
The Lamia Enclave
After Jasmin
hung up I stared at my phone for nearly a minute. I was stalling, but
I wasn't just stalling. I was even more glad than ever that I hadn't
fought Set. Not only would his queen not have told us what we needed
to know, it was all pointless anyway. Assuming that Jasmin's pet
vampire was even slightly trustworthy, she now had a foolproof way of
tracking the Coun'hij back to their base.
I really did
feel like I was in over my head. There were too many pieces moving
around right now for me to fit everything together. Wyatt, Nicolas
and the order was just part of it. There was also Jasmin, some secret
mission that Jaclyn had been sent on, and probably half a dozen other
things that I didn't even know were going on.
The most
concerning thing though was the fact that there was something wrong
with Alec. Dodging my calls was one thing. Not picking up when Jasmin
called was something else entirely. She and Alec were thick as
thieves.
That was why I
was stalling. As long as I didn't make the call I needed to make to
Alec, then there was still a chance that he would pick up the phone
and have a magic solution to everything wrong in the world. Once I
called and he didn't pick up then I'd be fully committed.
I started to
press his speed-dial number, but my phone started ringing a split
second before I dialed him. It was Jessica.
"Isaac,
are you there?"
For a second I
couldn't get any words out, but then my voice started working again.
"Hi,
Jessica. I didn't expect to hear from you, is everything okay?"
I was walking a
wire that was razor-thin. Every step hurt and I could fall at any
moment, but my only chance was to keep walking and hope that there
was something left of me to save on the other side of this
conversation. I struggled to keep my voice casual, to keep from
sounding like the jilted boyfriend that I'd been for so long.
"I'm okay.
This is going to sound stupid, but I just wanted to know if you
really meant the things you said in your message earlier. Have you
really moved on?"
There was
something in her voice that I couldn't quite identify. That was proof
enough to overcome any doubt I might have had that I was doing the
right thing. With Jess there was never a time that I couldn't tell
what all of those little signs meant. Jessica was a different person.
"Yeah. I
know that's probably hard to believe after the way that I've been
acting, but I really did mean every word of it. I'm glad that you're
happy now. I'm not going to pretend that I don't still have concerns
about Wyatt and the others, but more than anything I just want you to
be happy."
There was what
I thought was wonder in her voice when she finally responded a few
seconds later. "I called up thinking that this was just some
ploy to get me to talk to you. I didn't expect to believe you, but I
think I do. How did you finally manage to move on? What was it that
did the trick for you?"
She'd just
finished saying that she believed me, but I sensed traces of what I
thought were doubt still in her voice.
"I can
understand why you're having a hard time believing that I've moved
on, Jessica, but I really have. I think it was two things really. I
finally realized that Jess is gone. You really are a different
person, there isn't any shared history there, we don't have a flame
that we could rekindle under the right circumstances. The
relationship I had with Jess is as gone as if her body had died when
Oblivion took away your memories."
"What was
the other thing?"
Her voice
caught oddly, probably in relief that I really did seem to be ready
to leave her alone.
"I met
someone. It's complicated, but I think she'll be good for me and that
I'll be good for her too."
"Do you
love her?"
This time I
recognized what I was hearing. There was regret there in her voice,
but even that was understandable. She'd spent untold hours running
away from me, but there had still probably been a sense of security
to the arrangement. She'd always known that if all else failed that
she could go back to me and I would take her without complaint.
"I'm
sorry, Jessica. I don't mean to be insensitive. I'm only telling you
this because I want you to know that you can go off and be happy
without worrying about me. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still
have some worries where Wyatt is concerned, but to be honest I'd have
the same worries even if you weren't dating him. I found some stuff
that isn't adding up and it's making me nervous."
She giggled,
which was an odd response, but she started talking again before I
could ask her what was so funny.
"No, don't
worry about me, Isaac. You aren't being hurtful, this was all stuff
that I needed to hear. I'm better off knowing what's going on. I'm
really happy for you. I know you don't need my blessing, but you have
it."
"Thanks,
Jessica. That means a lot—I really appreciate it."
"I need to
go, Isaac. I'll talk to you another day?"
I knew I was
probably undoing most of the progress I'd just made, but I couldn't
help it. Something in her voice awakened protective instincts that
hadn't really had a chance to start to atrophy yet.
"Jess,
there's something wrong, isn't there? Is it Wyatt, is he involved in
something that is making you uncomfortable?"
"No,
honestly, Wyatt is incredible. I don't know what you've found in the
last few days, but he's shown me everything now that we're back here
at his home. There isn't anything shady going on, in fact it's the
opposite of shady. He's so amazing that I honestly tell myself at
least half a dozen times a day that I don't deserve him."
Something there
still wasn't right.
"Is it
that he's there? Say 'maybe' if there's someone there listening, if
there's a reason that you can't tell me the truth."
"No,
Isaac, it's not like that, I promise. I'm all by myself right now and
nobody has me locked up or anything. You don't need to worry. I'm
sorry if I sound like I'm falling apart, I'm just really happy for
you. I know that I haven't been very grateful, but I just want you to
know that I haven't forgotten the time you saved me from the
vampires. You're a pretty great guy and I guess that being out here
has made me a little nostalgic for old times."
She took an
odd, choking breath. "I'm happy for you, I guess I just miss you
and Andrew more than I expected to."
She was telling
the truth. I knew even the new Jessica well enough to know when she
wasn't lying.
"Okay, now
I feel like an idiot. I didn't mean to overreact, I guess some of the
stuff that I've seen recently has me even more paranoid than I'd
realized."
"You're
fine, Isaac. Honestly, your protectiveness is one of your best
qualities. I'm sorry that I gave you so much crap about that before."
There was a
couple of seconds of silence, but Jessica broke it before it could
really get awkward.
"I'm sorry
to cut things short, but there is this party that I'm supposed to go
to."
"No
worries, Jessica. I'll catch up with you later—I'm glad that
things are going so well for the two of you and that I turned out to
be wrong about Wyatt."
Isaac Nazir
The Lamia Enclave
As I hung up I
felt bad about lying to Jessica, but there wasn't any other way that
conversation could have really gone down. If I'd told her that I
wasn't planning on ever seeing her again, it would have sounded like
some kind of massive sympathy play.
This had been
much better. She knew that I was happy and that I wanted her to be
happy.
There weren't
any more valid reasons to put off my call to Alec, so I dialed him
and held my breath until his phone started ringing.