Authors: Judy Teel
"Watch." I aimed the scanner at the female's left side like Falcon had showed me and the pattern of the readout changed. "It's picking up something, but the signal's weak so it's not conclusive. Like a false positive."
I stepped closer to her, confident now that she wouldn't try to make a grab at me. She craned her neck to get a closer look at the scanner, a flicker of interest in her eyes. I aimed the device slightly up and the display went nuts, the spikes looking like the teeth of an alligator. Triumph swept through me. "Got the bastards."
I turned to Dr. Barrett. "For this strong a signal, I'd say she has more than one hooked into her."
Dr. Barrett looked at the scanner, then at Marie and finally at me. "Shall we test the others for comparison?"
I paced to the next cell. The wolf lay on his side now, panting in quick, shallow breaths. Marie jumped to her feet and pressed her face between the bars. "What does it mean?" she asked, her voice hoarse as if she'd spent too many hours screaming, a thought that sickened me.
I didn't want to tell her the truth. The news that creatures her people had named "Devourers of Souls" were attached to her wasn't helpful or compassionate news at this point. "It means we can look for a way to help you."
Her haunted eyes widened. "Please," she whispered. "My mate is dead. Our son..."
Around us, those that could, gripped the bars of their cells and pressed forward. Whispered pleas rose up around us. "Please help us," Marie said as she slid to the floor of her prison, exhausted from her brief burst of hope.
"Addison," Dr. Barrett said, pointing at the scanner.
I looked down at the fluctuating readout and how close together the spikes in data were. "A rough estimate, maybe four of them?"
"I'm next," the man in the cell beside the wolf said.
And so we went, on down the line. Every one of the incarcerated Weres showed the same frantic pattern on Falcon's scanner to varying degrees. We turned to test the people in the facing row and I came to a stop. Sympathy and sorrow clogged my throat again. Knox stood at the bars, the red tips in his short brown hair barely discernible in the sweat and filth that plastered it to his head.
I watched the double spike pattern establish itself on the readout as I waved the scanner from left to right. "Two, I'd say, " Dr. Barrett noted.
Knox looked away for a moment and when his gaze swung back to me, his eyes shone wet in the circle of light from the flashlight. "Is my cousin okay?" I gave him a questioning look. "Sharon?" he clarified.
"After she was released, I heard she went home."
"If you ever see her again, tell her that I'm glad it worked out this way."
The heaviness of that simple statement crushed down on my heart. "I will."
Dr. Barrett and I continued down the row, every prisoner showing some level of infection. We reached the last cell, Dr. Barrett's light splashed through the bars, streaking shadows across the Were inside. Leaning against the wall next to the bars like he was lounging in a club waiting for his buddies to show up, he watched us, a wary mockery in his almond-shaped eyes.
Deg.
"What happened?" I asked as I ran the scanner over him. I had no love for the guy, but I was sorry to see him in here.
He shrugged.
I glanced down at the readout. The line was flat. I reset the scanner and tried again. No change.
"This man clear of infection," Dr. Barrett said in alarm.
"Why are you in here?" I asked Deg again.
"If any of them die, you're the next available host," Dr. Barrett pointed out. "This is unacceptable." He went to the cellblock door and started pounding on it to get the guards' attention.
Deg's insolent gaze swept over me. "I'm surprised they didn't throw you in here. You were right in front of Jesse when he popped out."
"Humans aren't at risk," I reminded him.
"No," Deg drawled. "Only Weres." And something in his tone made my stomach knot.
I heard the locks clanking and grinding and retreated to stand next to Dr. Barrett while the two guards strained to open the door. I couldn't bring myself to wish Deg had to stay in here. On the other hand, I didn't look forward to what kind of trouble he might stir up once he was out.
No good ever came of borrowing trouble, I reminded myself. Right now my only obligation was to get him out of quarantine and to see that those who stayed behind received more humane treatment.
The way I saw it, a certain person's brother owed me.
*
*
*
By the time Dr. Barrett and I reached Ryker's suite, I'd worked myself up into a pretty good lather over the living conditions of the infected Weres. I was all set to bully my way past the guards and was disappointed when they opened the door for us as if we were expected.
I stomped in and came to a stop, my gaze sweeping around the large open room, surprised to see that it was laid out almost identically to my apartment with the exception of a few upgrades. In one corner, a small fountain made of artfully stacked natural stones with plants around it. In the middle, Mistress Raevinne held court from a large and comfortable looking leather sofa, a homey looking quilt across her lap, her granddaughter sitting on one side of her and Agent Miller on the other. And by the fireplace, Ryker seemed to be having a meeting. In fact, Cooper's brown brindled hair was close enough to the shiny white head of Rosalind to make my trigger finger itch.
As the door shut behind me, they all looked up. My irritation must have showed because her light green eyes glittered with amusement as she met my gaze. "The miracle human has arrived at last."
Mistress Raevinne got a bead on Dr. Barrett and lifted her chin in the air. Her gaze blazed at him.
"I believe I have some research to do," he said to me, though his attention stayed on Mistress Raevinne. "If you'll excuse me." Giving the other practitioner a deep bow, he ducked out into the hall.
She watched the door close as if she expected him to reappear just to displease her. Finally, she looked at me, gesturing toward the chair next to Miller. "Come, sit."
Since I had no interest in joining a conversation that included the ridiculously tall and stunningly beautiful Rosalind, I obliged her. Sinking down into the overstuffed matching leather chair, I gave Miller a quick smile and then contemplated the plates of apple pie on the coffee table between us. At least Dr. Barrett's peace offering hadn't been rejected. "What got you an invite to this party?" I asked Miller.
"This is my sister, Erika." He nodded toward Mistress Raevinne's granddaughter.
I paused in the middle of snagging the biggest slice of pie. "Your what?"
"And my grandmother."
The fork slid off the plate and clattered to the table. "No kidding?"
"What better reason to make such a long journey?" Mistress Raevinne said as she picked up the fork and handed it to Miller, who put it back on my plate.
I sat back and let my tension sink into the luxurious cushioning of the chair. "I can think of a lot of reasons," I said, not liking her know-it-all tone.
"I would enjoy hearing what those might be," the older woman replied, amusement twinkling in her eyes.
Taking a large bite of the pastry, I focused on the sweet cinnamon goodness of the baked apples instead of how much she inexplicably irritated and intimidated me.
"I'd like to hear something about the man who spoke to you and then disappeared with the infected Were," Rosalind said from her post by the fireplace.
"Looks like we all have unanswered questions," I muttered around my mouthful of pie.
Cooper crossed the room with his usual liquid grace and settled himself on the armrest of my chair. The heat and energy radiating off his body flowed around me, calming my nerves despite my annoyance. "Why is she here?" I asked Cooper in a low voice.
"Rosalind is my appointed lieutenant."
I grit my teeth. "What about Stillman." My friend had been almost fanatically loyal to Cooper since the war. I doubted she was going to be too happy about this.
"She would never put me above the Clan," he said quietly. "Rosalind would."
"Tell us about the man who took the ill Were," Mistress Raevinne interjected. A beat of silence and then the energy in the room sharpened, the point of it focusing right at me.
Scraping up the last sugary bite of apple pie from my plate, I attempted to gather my thoughts. I'd come in planning to confront the powers that be about the quarantine. Instead I found myself under the gun over something I wasn't about to disclose to anyone, maybe not even Cooper.
When you're in a spot, redirect, I always say. Also, the best lies have some truth in them. Especially in a roomful of Weres. "I think I've seen him before. By those ruins about ten miles north of here."
I felt Cooper's surprise brush along my skin as Ryker got me in his sights. Pale with sweat beading up on his forehead, the authority in his gaze was still sharp enough to make my stomach curl into a shaky ball. "No one is to go within three miles of that area."
I fought down the urge to duck my head and say, "Yes, sir," and set my plate back on the coffee table. "I'm not a member of your Clan."
"That has been painfully obvious since the moment you arrived," Rosalind commented.
"Who is the man that you have seen?" Mistress Raevinne asked as she poured more tea into her cup from the pot in front of her.
Damn. The lie had backfired. "I don't know," I said, doing my best to sound sincere.
"You are lying, my dear."
The urge to tell her everything pushed against my will and I tried to subtly wipe my sweaty palms on the legs of my jeans. I didn't know if the old witch was using some kind of magical mojo on me, or if it was only the natural intimidating force coming off of her. Either way, the sensation of guilty anxiety was a new one, and I was determined not to spill my guts.
"Dr. Barrett and I discovered that the Weres aren't infected with a virus," I said, making sure to speak loud enough to get everyone's attention. "They have inter-D's attached to them."
Cooper tensed. "
Suir aosar
?"
The air seemed to suck out of the room on the collective intake of shocked breaths. Even the intrepid Mistress Raevinne paused, her teacup halfway to her mouth. "The Devourers of Souls? How is this possible?"
"How do you know?" Ryker asked, his golden eyes glittering with a focused intensity that looked on the borderline of crazy, but maybe that was just me.
I explained Falcon's invention to them as well as the conditions that we'd found in the prison quarantine. When I finished, I looked directly at Rosalind. "Deg wasn't infected."
She gave me a skeptical look.
"He's your friend. Every minute he's in there puts him at risk," I added.
"No one is my friend," she said, her tone mild.
Ryker nodded toward the door. She hesitated and then crossed the room to go out into the hall where she had an urgent conversation with one of the guards. As he went scurrying off, Rosalind came back in, the focus of her speculation traveling over me as she passed my chair to take up her position by the fireplace, again.
"You must test every eligible member of Bone Clan for infection," Mistress Raevinne said to me. "Begin immediately." Her scrutiny moved to Ryker. "Find a way to solve this problem with the sick without risking further spread of the parasites. I will not have them caged and forgotten."
I flinched as her sharp gaze shot back to me. "This
llah v'addh
might yet find you a cure."
*
*
*
Danny lay on his cot staring up at the same spot that had occupied his attention for the last eight weeks, a relaxed calm filling his mind. His mysterious friend had come to him again in his dreams last night and the message this time was not only clear and concise but exhilarating.
So when the grinding and clanking of the locks at the door echoed through the now empty cellblock, Danny knew who was on the other side. He even imagined that he could smell the fear and confusion of the rats in the cage that the abomination carried.
The wolf prince is the first key.
The words danced across his thoughts and Danny knew that he could bear what must be done. He would focus on each small step as his friend had taught him. He would revel in each delicate triumph. This time he would win.
And when it was done, he would be stronger than ever.
The Were stopped at the bars, silent and brooding as usual and set the cage of rats on the floor. "Your freedom for your help," he growled.
"Tempting, but I'm not sure I can trust you." Danny turned his head slowly and met the resentful washed out green eyes of the Were princeling. "Can I?"
"As much as I can trust you," he answered. "It's the perfect alliance."
"Making me the one with the advantage," Danny countered. "For you to even deign to be here means whatever you need from me is a matter of life and death."
"The collar comes off in exchange for your oath."
Danny turned his attention back to the ceiling. "A very broad statement. I'd be an idiot to accept it."
Cooper shoved the cage of rats closer to the bars. "No feeding on any human, practitioner, Were child, or any other human-like entity that you can come up with. In exchange you have free run of the forest to hunt and drain any animal you can catch. You won't wear the collar unless you request it, and then you'll be required to disclose in great detail why you need to be outside during the day."
"And what do I have to do in exchange for this brutal freedom?"