The Night Beat, From the Necropolis Enforcement Files (39 page)

I put my head back down on my paws. “Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter 56

Of course, from my perspective, the plan shouldn’t have included anyone other than me and Jack being at my place. Freddy, Sexy Cindy, Merc and L.K. tagging along wasn’t how I felt the plan should go down.

I’d been too tired to protest too much, though. Jack and I were in my bedroom on the Prosaic City side of the building. I’d been too exhausted to slide over, and I didn’t feel up to making sure Jack could handle it right now. The others were on the Necropolis side, so we could see and hear them if we wanted to, and ignore them if we so chose. I so chose.

Jack had managed the transition back to human form without too much trouble, so after some fine “we survived” lovemaking, we were sleeping wrapped around each other.

Along about sunset I woke up. I could have slept longer, but a couple of centuries of training mean an internal alarm clock doesn’t shut off just because you’ve had a rough time the night and half the day before.

My moving roused Jack. He gave me a sleepy smile. “Hey, you.”

“Hey yourself. How’re you feeling?”

“Different.” He kissed my nose. “But good. Better. Stronger.”

“You are. You’re one of the stronger undeads now.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you what you wanted…before I made the decision for you.”

Jack shook his head. “This is what I would have picked. What I wanted to be, as soon as I knew you loved me back.”

My throat felt tight. “I hope we make it through everything to make it all worthwhile.”

“It’s already worthwhile, to me.” He sighed, stretched and sat up. “So, brief me. What’re my strengths and weaknesses now?”

This was a little sudden, at least in my experience. Most newly formed undeads were confused, like Freddy and Sexy Cindy had been. Then again, Jack had been clear on everything prior to the change, so maybe that was it. “I think we need to figure out the Prince’s next steps.”

“Sure, but I’d like to know how to defend myself when the time comes, which I’m sure will be sooner, not later. Like, what can kill me now?”

“Not much.”

“What’s my best form of attack?”

“Uh, depends on what you’re fighting.”

“Do we really run in a pack? I mean, I haven’t seen any werewolves other than you and Ralph. Are there more?”

“Yeah, plenty.”

“Where are they? Why aren’t they fighting with us?”

Jack’s curiosity was unsettling me for some reason. The base of my tail, in particular, was upset. “We’re sort of…instinctive. Show up when needed, sort of thing.” I hadn’t asked this many questions of Black Wolf, but maybe that was just me. Though the base of my tail said it wasn’t just me, since I’d seen plenty of werewolves form over the course of time. You woke up with a lot of this knowledge in you -- at least, you were supposed to.

I figured I’d screwed up Jack’s transition somehow, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. I’d never made another werewolf before. There had never been a need or an older, more experienced werewolf or undead was with me and made the determination. Since he’d joined up and made it through basic training, Ken had made all the transition decisions for our unit. I could understand why he was upset with me -- precedent alone said I’d overstepped my bounds, let alone the situation.

“We need to figure out who the mole is.” I realized the base of my tail was what had shoved that statement out, not my conscious mind.

Jack shrugged. “Could be anyone. Probably one of the ones you’re closest to. If I were going to bet, I’d put my money on Ken, Ralph or Monty. Though really, it could be any of them.”

This didn’t make me feel warm and snuggly. “Maybe we don’t have a mole.” This was wishful thinking. I knew we did, and my tail agreed.

“Oh, I’m sure we do.” He stroked my face. “But you can count on me. I’ve got your back.”

“And I’ve got yours.” I couldn’t let it go, though. “But, wouldn’t we have spotted
something
, if we had a mole?”

“Don’t know. I mean, our side has moles in the Prince’s ranks, right?”

“I guess. I don’t work that side of undercover. Just the human side.”

Jack gave me a searching look, like I’d seen him give a perp we knew was lying. “Come on, Vic. I’m on your side. We need to determine who the mole is, you’re right. So, does our side have double agents?”

“Yes. But I don’t know who any of them are.” This was true enough that I could get it past Jack. I hoped.

“So, they have double agents, too. And it should be someone we’d never suspect, right? Or else, they’re a pretty crappy double agent.”

“I guess.”

I didn’t want to stay on topic now, but Jack pressed on. “So, maybe it’s a like for like thing. Say it’s Monty who’s the mole. Who would be his counterpart on the Prince’s side? Or Ralph’s or Ken’s?”

I considered this. “I have no idea.” I didn’t. I wasn’t clear on the Prince’s real hierarchy. You had your major minions and your lesser minions. But if they were set up like Necropolis Enforcement or not, I didn’t know for certain. Nor did it seem remotely relevant.

“Is the Count the right counterpart to the Prince?”

“Not…not really.” I rubbed my forehead. “We don’t line up like they do, I don’t think. Our leaders are the Gods and Monsters.”

“You mean the beings who never show up when you need them?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jack snorted in disgust. “Where were the Gods and Monsters today when we needed them? Nowhere around.”

“They work through us, mostly.”

“Right. Bang up job today.”

“We’re all still here, and you said you didn’t mind being undead.”

“I don’t. I just think that maybe our side’s not listening to the right leaders. Or rather, our leaders aren’t taking much of an active interest.”

“They do. They’re always there when we really need them.” I considered mentioning that Yahweh and Usen had saved me when I’d really needed it but refrained.

“Won’t matter.” Jack got out of bed, stretched again, shifted between human, wolf, and werewolf forms for a bit, then trotted to the bathroom. “Whatever comes, we’ll handle it,” he called as I heard the shower start.

This was odd behavior on top of odd behavior, for Jack and for a newly turned werewolf. Canines weren’t enamored with bathing. We did it because it was expected of us, but a werewolf pack out in the field could and would enthusiastically roll in dung before they’d willingly take a bath. We were animals and animals liked to smell like they should, not like perfumes and soap.

In the time I’d known him, I couldn’t recall Ralph ever trotting off to shower after a big battle. I never did it, either. We bathed daily, but because we had to fit in, not because we wanted to. But I could hear Jack, happily humming away, while the smell of soap wafted through this side of my apartment.

The realization that something was wrong and I had no idea of what to do reared up and waved its paw at me. If Black Wolf had still been unalive, I’d have called him for guidance. I’d have done the same with any of his pack. But they were all dead, killed off one by one. It was one of the reasons werewolves didn’t run in packs any more. The Prince’s side had used that against us, lying in wait for the moment a werewolf strayed even a little bit from their pack, pouncing on him, dusting him when he was all alone.

Ralph felt we should have banded more strongly together. The other undeads didn’t. We scattered into different teams, made up of a variety of undeads. It had kept the remaining werewolves alive. But Ralph said we weren’t as strong. And part of me knew he was right.

He was angry with me, and he had every right to be. He could be the mole, and the Gods and Monsters knew enough signs said it was possible. But he was the only one who would understand, immediately, why I was freaked out. I hit his numbers on my wrist-com.

“Yes?” Ralph sounded just this side of sleepy and still on that side of angry.

“I’m sorry. Something’s wrong.”

“Everything, but what do you mean specifically?”

“Jack’s taking a shower.” There was dead silence on the other side of my wrist-com. “Ralph? You still there?”

“Are you alone with him?” Ralph’s voice was strained.

“Sort of. Cindy, Freddy, Merc and L.K. are on the other side of my apartment. The Necropolis side.”

“Get over to them. Now.” Ralph wasn’t my superior in Enforcement hierarchy and he wasn’t my mate or my pack leader. But the tone of his voice told me that now wasn’t the time to pull any kind of rank.

I scrambled towards the line separating Prosaic City from Necropolis just as Jack walked out, one towel around his waist, the other drying his hair. “What’s up?” He sounded normal. He looked normal. He looked totally drool-worthy, too. But the base of my tail said it didn’t care.

I jumped for the other side, but Jack caught me around my waist, spun and tossed me back onto the bed. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, as he climbed into bed with me.

“Nothing.” Canines don’t lie well as a rule and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to win any awards this time. “Just need to check on the others.”

“They can wait.” Jack grabbed my wrists and shoved me back onto the bed. “C’mon, Vic.” He smiled, a really sexy, enticing smile. “We haven’t even tried to do it doggy-style yet.”

I wondered if, on another day, I would have found this appealing. Maybe. But today it struck me as totally wrong, and off-putting to the nth degree. “Jack, now isn’t a good time.”

His eyes narrowed. “As I understand it, werewolves are a pack-like animal. And that means there’s a pack leader.” He leaned closer to me. “And that pack leader is supposed to be male.” He wasn’t growling, but only just. “And you promised me -- together forever, no one in between.”

“What about Susan?” The words came from somewhere, but not the front of my mind.

Jack grinned. “She’s not in between us.”

“But you’re sleeping with her.”

He shrugged. “So what?”

I’d said it in the present tense, not the past. And he hadn’t argued. True we’d only become a couple a day or so earlier, but in my experience, you explained past lovers as being past, if only to appease the current lover. And he wasn’t even trying to make an excuse.

“Get off me.”

He bared his teeth at me. He was still in human form, but I realized he made Ralph’s growl look kindly. “You’re mine. And I do what I want with what’s mine.”

I started to fight in earnest. He’d always been bigger, but as an undead, I’d been stronger. But not any more. My struggles were futile. In fact, I could tell he was enjoying them. I wanted to cry, but that wasn’t an option. Survive first, cry later.

The shift happened naturally -- I was fighting and I fought best in wolf form. But it didn’t work. He still had my paws in an iron grip. I was reluctant to claw his stomach with my hind claws -- what if he was just having a bad reaction to the transformation?

Jack grinned, and it looked feral. “You like it rough?”

I decided, confused or not, he was getting the claws. I raked his stomach, but he transformed to wolf, too, and all I got was fur. “Back off.”

“Bad girl.”

“I’ll give you a bad girl.” I lunged up and caught his throat. But he batted my head away with a paw like it was nothing. On the positive side, this meant one of my front paws was free and I raked at his head with it. On the negative side, he’d hit my head hard and I felt it.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” Jack snarled.

“Me? You’re the one acting all Call of the Wild.” I managed to scramble away and off the bed. Sadly, Jack was between me and the Necropolis slide point. “So what’s up with you and Susan the Dispatcher?”

“Come on. Animals aren’t monogamous.”

“Wolves are.”

As Jack lunged across the bed at me and I leaped out of the way, all the angelic warnings coursed through my mind. Ken’s worries, too. They’d been worried about Jack’s ability to face the Prince because they were picking up something wrong with him. Something I’d either never noticed or ignored.

I focused now, while he played with me. It was play, too. He’d lunge, I’d leap, he’d bat at me, I’d scramble out of the way. He never let me get near enough to the slide point to cross over and he also blocked my path to the door. He was good, I had to give him that. Too good for a brand new undead.