Breaking Out (18 page)

“I’m afraid that pieces of their bodies have
washed up on shore.”

“In your territory?”

“Yes.”

“
Check into the currents. See if it’s
likely for bodies to wash up on a beach out here. I’m thinking
they’d be taken all the way to the mainland.”

“
Gotcha.”

“
We’ll have to hit the morgue and see if
we can get a look at them.”

“Mr. Cuvier?”

“Sorry. The bodies have been sent to the
mainland supernatural facility?”

“Oh no. We have them here. What’s left of
them.”

“I’d like to see the council report.”

“We didn’t contact the local council.”

“Then who…?”

“We take care of pack matters ourselves, Mr.
Cuvier.”

Uncle Aaron had told me that even though
there was a pack council to take care of these matters, a lot of
werewolf packs considered their people to be above the law,
choosing to govern themselves. Wolf societies were mostly military
in nature, the virus that caused loupism wreaking havoc with a
wolf’s control. Strict rules were in play for a reason. A three
hundred pound wolf on a rampage could do a whole lot of damage.

“The Western Pack Council was informed?”

“Of course. That’s how I got in touch with
you and your associate, although Mr. Greenway mentioned nothing
about you having a female assistant.”

“She’s a recent hire.” I smiled the most
charismatically loaded smile appropriate for a business meeting I
could manage, and suddenly all of her attention was back on me.

“Lucky girl.”

I managed to keep myself from blushing by
imagining I was in the freezing ocean. It worked. “Could I see a
sample of the slime you mentioned?” I tossed Jay a pair of gloves
and a couple of evidence jars.

“Certainly.”

We followed Ms. Turner and her three
bodyguards into the living room of an unassuming one-story house
that was empty of furniture except for a boardroom-sized table
surrounded by a dozen chairs. The walls were bare of pictures, the
wooden floors pristine. The whole place smelled of disinfectant,
affecting both Jay and me, two species with an excellent sense of
smell. We’d need all of our senses if we wanted to do our job.

I glanced Jay’s way and he made a waving
motion in front of his nose. I nodded.

“Could we open a window? Shifters have
trouble with chemical smells.”

She stopped and arched an eyebrow, a look
that spoke volumes. This female was used to people following orders
and not making waves. She was waiting for me to say, “Never mind,”
but that wasn’t happening. I waited too.

“Gerald, please open three windows.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Like a trained dog, Gerald did
as he was told.

“Will that be sufficient, Mr. Cuvier?”

“It should be, Ms. Turner.”

We continued through a large archway, and
entered a kitchen. The smell was even stronger in here. Without
asking for permission, I gestured to Jay. He opened the sliding
glass door that led to the small patio, taking in a couple of deep
breaths.

Ms. Turner made no comment. With a tilt of
her head her main flunky, Gerald, opened the fridge, taking out a
plastic container filled with a pink gelatinous substance. Ivy made
a small sound in her throat, beginning to type furiously on her
phone.

Jay put on his gloves and took the container
from Gerald, placing it on the counter and opening it. The smell
that wafted out was not unpleasant, a combination of seaweed, salt,
and sea life.

“Where was this found? I’d rather have
gathered the evidence at the actual site. This could be
contaminated.”

“We are perfectly capable of collecting
scientific evidence.”

“I apologize if I’ve offended you, but we
can’t help you if you don’t allow us to follow procedure.”

“It was found along the shore where our
private ferry docks each evening.”

“Your private ferry?” I hadn’t realized they
didn’t use the public ferry.

“Yes.”

“Have you seen this substance before?”

“Oh, yes. We know the exact species this came
from. We’ve had problems with them recently.”

“And what species are you referring to?”

“Kelpies.”

“Kelpies?” Jay echoed. “Sounds like a case of
hives.”

The female alpha frowned in his direction.
“They are dangerous, not a species to be made light of.”

I glared at Jay, who only shrugged and went
back to his analysis.

“Could you tell me about them, please?”

“Their shape is most similar to horses when
they are on land, although they grow poisonous claws that kill
almost instantly if their victim is scratched. They live in large
compounds underwater and also on land and are disdainful of the
rights of other supernatural creatures. Some are said to be able to
take on the shape of humans, although it is very rare.”

“Finding this substance on your shore is not
proof of any crime.”

“They are unseelie.” She spat on the counter
near the sample. “Unclean. They are murderers who rip apart my
people and then complain about their rights. They should be
exterminated.”

Her three bodyguards had begun to growl,
their alpha’s intensity exciting them. Ivy had backed up against
the wall, her face ashen. I joined her there, blocking her from the
others with my much larger body. She handed me her phone with a
shaky hand. “Read,” she whispered, holding my arm to steady her
trembling.

“
Wolves r lying. My people dnt harm. There
is stndoff re ancient terr. rights. They took away. We dont kill
unless attacked.”

“I typed in,
“Ur people?”

“
We r peaceful clan.”
She met my gaze
with courage, daring me to call her a liar, daring more than
that.

“
We’ll get more info. Figure out. U’ll
help?”

“
Ys.”

But we have wonderful news. “We caught one
last week.”

“A kelpie?”

“He was sneaking around near our residential
area. We don’t believe he’s responsible for the murders because he
can prove he was out of town at the time, but there is no doubt as
to what his people have done to mine.”

“May I speak to him?”

“I’m afraid not. He’s to be executed in two
days.”

“For trespassing? Harsh.”

“For spying, threatening one of my pack,
trespassing on sacred ground: I can add more if you wish. ”

“And the Council’s given you permission to
execute a member of another sentient species?”

“Sentient, perhaps, but unworthy. And I need
no one’s permission. The alpha and myself have jurisdiction
here.”

“There are some who might disagree with your
assessment of the Kelpies. Particularly in the DR.”

“The Demon Realm has no use for an unseelie
species that admires the creatures of Faerie. Some of them even
worship the fae.”

“Since you’ve already made up your mind as to
who is responsible for the deaths, why am I here, exactly?”

“To report back to your Uncle that we have
followed protocol.”

“And if I don’t?”

Ms. Turner shrugged. “The beast who
trespassed will be dead, and the ones responsible for the death of
our pack mates will be hunted down.” She glanced at Ivy. “Perhaps
this female wasn’t the best choice as an assistant. Our
conversation seems to have sickened her.” The female wolf glided
closer. “What species are you, dear?”

“She’s a leopard.” I covered Ivy lightly with
a leopard scent, hopefully confusing the wolves. “May I see the
bodies, please?”

“Of course, but you may want to leave her and
the other outside.”

“They stay with me.”

“Of course, but it’s rather gruesome.”

IVY

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The bitch
didn’t get that I wasn’t upset about her random bloody pieces of
dead wolf. I was freaking out that one of my people had been
captured and was about to be executed. Whoever it was we had to get
him out of here. Tellek hadn’t told me that any of the clan had
been taken. Why not? Was he hiding something, or was he protecting
me?

“You okay?” Jay had his hand on my shoulder
in a protective way.

“Sure. I’m not freaked out by dead bodies.” I
lied.

“How about dead body parts?” he teased.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to handle it.”
No way was I fainting in front of that lying witch.

“Well, if you start to feel sick, I’ll help
you find a bucket.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes.

Charlie was walking ahead, chatting with Ms.
Liar while two of her goons, Gerald and no name were bringing up
the rear. Maybe they thought we were gonna go running off
somewhere. Maybe start searching for…

Holy crap—I was such an idiot. I could reach
him myself. I stopped Jay in his tracks with a hand on his arm.
Wow. That boy had some serious muscle.
Focus
,
Ivy
. I
whispered as quietly as possible, knowing a shifter would hear me
without any problems. “Jay. Can I ask you a stupid question?”

“The usual kind?”

“I’m not playin’ around right now. I need
your help with something.”

“Sure. Ask away.”

“Can you block me from the two goons? I need
to try to contact their prisoner, and I can’t let them see what I’m
doing.”

“I doubt they left him with his cell
phone.”

“No, you doofus, I can talk to him another
way.”

“Um, so you’re one of those vicious kelpie
creatures?”

“We’re not vicious. We’re peaceful.”

“That’s not what she…” I pinched his arm.
“Ow. Why’d you do that?”

“Because you’re trusting that witch and not
me.”

“You’ve been lying to us all this time.”

“I know, I know, but now I need your help.
You can yell at me later.”

He smiled—pretty cute look for the big guy.
“Deal. And bears don’t forget.”

“Thought that was elephants.”

“Them too.”

We’d come to a wooden structure no larger
than a small hunter’s cabin. Like a good puppy, Gerald opened the
door for his master. She and Charlie walked up the porch steps.

Jay called out. “We’re staying out here. The
kid doesn’t feel too good.”

Charlie took a look, waited a moment, and
nodded.

“Mark. Stay with them, please.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Mark stood by the door and
watched us.

I grabbed Jay’s arm. “Now take me over to
that tree and pretend to come on to me.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. We need some privacy.”

“We’re gonna stand in the shade, Mark. That
okay?”

The wolf chuckled. “Yeah, sure kid. Go at it,
only I think you can do better than that scraggly little twit.”

“Hey!” I took two steps toward the asshole
who’d dissed me, meaning to stomp on his oversized foot, but Jay
clutched at my shoulder and steered me away. “Wait…”

“C’mon.” He dragged me to the oak. “Think
about what we’re doing out here.”

“Fine.” I leaned my back against the trunk
and pushed him in front of me. “Don’t freak out when you see my
eyes change.”

“Please, I associate with just about every
species you could imagine. They all go into eye warp when they use
magic.’

“We’ll see. “ The best way to contact one of
my kind was in the ocean, but it could be done on land if the other
party was close enough. I reached out with my energy, speaking
mind-to-mind in my language, hoping he was strong enough to answer
me.

“
Who is here?”

“
Can you help me?”

“
Where are you?”

“
In a land structure, wooden.”

“
Give me coordinates.”
The knowledge
of what plain we occupied, where our spirits existed in each
moment, was one of our gifts. The prisoner sent me his star
coordinates along with longitude and latitude and like a GPS I was
able to zero in on his exact location, 1.23 miles southwest of the
tree I leaned against.

“
We will come. Do not give up heart. I am
in the company of Charles Cuvier.”

“
The prince? He is dangerous.”

“
He is not as we thought. He will help me
find you.”

I swayed for a moment, coming out of the
trance, but Jay was there to steady me. “Your eyes weren’t freaky
at all. They were kind of a shiny green, like the sea.”

“Disappointed?”

“Nah, I liked watching you.”

“Jay. We have to dump this guy now and get my
clan member back to his family.”

“That’s not happening.”

“Why?”

“Lots of reasons, but the obvious one is the
lump under his jacket. He’s got a gun.”

“You’re a grizzly, right? You could knock out
a wolf with one good swipe of your paw.”

“Okay, little girl, you need to listen to me.
If I attack a wolf who hasn’t shown any aggression toward us and
whose alpha has officially extended us her hospitality because of
an agreement both parties accepted, then I will be brought up
before the Western Pack Council and probably thrown in jail for a
couple of years. If I really hurt the guy I could be executed. Even
worse, it could start a war.”

“But he’s innocent and he’s going to
die.”

Jay sighed, scratching his head. “We’ll talk
to Charlie after we leave the island.”

“No. That’s too late. I know where he is
right now and they might decide to move him.”

“Iv, take it easy. You’re not helping the guy
by freaking out.”

I scowled at the big dope. “Fine.” I pushed
away from the tree. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

I quickly puzzled out a plan. If I walked
over there and got really flirty, maybe I could get close enough to
kick him in the nuts. That would definitely take him down.

Someone tugged on my ponytail. “Forget it.”
Jay said.

“You just try to stop me, Yogi.” I shouted,
trying to dislodge his hand.