Mortal Kiss (24 page)

“I’ve got a penknife,” Lucas told them. “I can probably pick the lock.”

“You know how to pick locks?” Liz asked, shocked.

Lucas nodded, attempting a small smile. “When I was a kid, Mom’s bodyguard used to lock me in my room at night. Just don’t tell anyone, OK?”

Sure enough, Lucas made short work of the lock. It opened with a sharp click. All three of them looked around as if Mitch Wilson might have snuck up on them while their backs were turned, but they were still alone. Lucas stepped back to let Liz push the door wide open.

“OK,” Faye said, looking around the neat room. There were a desk with drawers, two filing cabinets and a bookcase. “Where should we start?”

Lucas and Faye took a filing cabinet each, leaving the desk to Liz. They searched in silence for several minutes, the room full of the sound of rustling paper.

“What are we looking for, exactly?” Lucas asked, opening another file drawer. “All I’m finding here are bills and receipts.”

“Same here,” said Faye. “These all look like notes from old police cases.”

“I think we’ll know it when we see it,” Liz said softly. “It’s just going to be something out of the ordinary. Maybe something about what’s been happening around here—this all started with that body in the woods, so maybe that. Or something about his visit with Mercy? Maybe he wrote notes about that and it’ll tell us something about how she—”

She stopped, and the other two looked up. “Liz?” Faye asked. “What is it?”

Liz straightened up from where she had been bent over one of the desk drawers. She turned slowly. In her hands was a small silver box. It was covered in intricate engraving.

“Have you seen that before?” Lucas asked.

Liz shook her head. “Never.”

Faye took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “OK, let’s look inside.”

They knew they’d found what they were looking for the moment they opened the lid. Inside was a neatly curled piece of yellowed paper, tied with a red ribbon. Liz slid the ribbon off and gently unfurled the paper to reveal closely packed writing in a language none of them had ever seen before.

“What do you think it is?” Lucas asked.

Liz shook her head. “No idea. It looks ancient. What do you think, Faye?”

Lucas and Liz looked up to see Faye staring into the box. Something else was in there, underneath the scroll. It was an engraved gold locket on a delicate chain. Slowly, Faye reached out and picked it up, running the chain through her fingers as she held it up to the light.

“Faye?” Liz asked. “What’s the matter?”

“I recognize this,” Faye whispered. “I think—I think it was my mother’s. My dad kept it after she died. I can remember seeing him look at it sometimes, when I was very young.”

She dropped it into her palm and gently opened the locket. Lucas and Liz crowded closer to look inside.

“Omigod, Faye!” said Liz. “That’s you!”

Faye nodded, tears in her eyes. “That was my fifteenth birthday. My dad took this picture—I wondered where it went. He must have put it in the locket, but … but why would it be here, in your dad’s desk?”

Liz shook her head, still grasping the scroll. “I don’t know, Faye. But I think we should take the locket and this paper to Joe. Right now.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lucas asked as Liz parked her car in the snowy woods. “I mean, from what you were saying, they think I’m the spawn of evil. They’re not going to be too happy about me turning up unannounced, are they?”

“Technically,” said Liz, pulling on a warm coat, “you
are
the spawn of evil.”

Lucas looked at her, unsure whether she was joking or not. “Gee, thanks, Liz.”

“Liz,” Faye hissed, “don’t say that!”

“But Faye and I don’t hold that against you,” Liz added quickly. “Much. Well, not anymore, anyway. I’m sure the bikers will say the same. Especially if you’re willing to help us.”

“I’ve already said I am,” Lucas muttered, trudging through the snow.

“Well, OK, then.”

Lucas sighed as he followed the two girls through the forest. Liz was being true to her word in trusting Faye, but it was clear she wasn’t sure about him. Lucas couldn’t blame her, really. If the situation had been reversed, he wouldn’t have been happy hanging out with someone who, only a few hours earlier, he’d been told was pure evil. Catching up, Lucas fell in step beside Liz, nudging her arm in what he hoped was a friendly gesture.

“So, you found Jimmy, then, huh?” he asked. “He’s the geeky one, right?”

“He’s not really that geeky,” said Liz.

“He is, kind of.”

Liz tried to suppress a grin but failed. “Yeah. You’re right. He is, kind of.”

“I’ve never actually spoken to him before,” Lucas went on, teasing. “So you’ll probably have to translate. I don’t speak Geek.”

Liz shook her head, “Oh,
mean
. And you’re trying to convince me you’re not the spawn of evil?”

“How am I doing so far?”

Liz stuck her tongue out at him, a sparkle in her eye. “The jury’s out.”

The camp, once they reached it, was empty except for Jimmy. Lucas watched him get to his feet as they arrived, grinning at Liz.

“You’re up!” she exclaimed, rushing to his side. “Are you sure you should be walking?”

“I’m fine. Anyway, Joe said I need to exercise the leg. They’re all out on patrol. Well, except Finn—he went off to Winter Mill High. Didn’t you see him there?”

“We weren’t there that long,” Lucas told him.

Jimmy looked at him suspiciously. “What are
you
doing here?”

“It’s OK, Jimmy,” Faye began. “He’s going to help us. You see—”

There was the sudden sound of branches parting behind them, and Finn came striding into the clearing.

“You?” he said angrily, spotting Lucas. “How did you find this place?”

“Finn, it’s OK,” Faye said, holding up her hands as Finn advanced on Lucas.

“He’s with us.”

“What do you mean, he’s with you?”

“We brought him here. He’s got—”

Finn turned on her. “You brought him here? After everything we told you?”

“Finn, he’s not like Mercy.” Faye tried to explain. “He’s going to help us. Look, we need to see Joe. We found—”

“Help us?”
Finn repeated in disbelief. “He’s not here to help us. He’s fooled you, Faye. He’s a spy. Deception—it’s what his mother’s so good at.”

“And how would you know?” Lucas retorted, equally angry. “Or do you think you can sniff it out with your super-mutt senses?”

Finn narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. The girls have told me what you are. It figures. I always thought I could smell wet dog whenever you were around.”

Finn growled, a sound that rattled deeper in his chest than any noise a human could produce. He paced closer, and Lucas saw a yellow tint in his eyes.

“And what about you?” Finn snarled, teeth bared. “What are you, half-breed? Let’s face it, with a mother like yours, no one has any idea what you really are.”

Lucas stood his ground as Finn came closer. He couldn’t back down, but he was scared. Finn’s anger shimmered around him like a visible glow. His hair seemed to be standing up in sharp spikes, and Lucas could see that all his muscles were primed, despite the bruises that peppered his shoulders.

“Finn,” he heard Faye say. “Calm down. Please. Lucas isn’t what you think, I promise. He’s with us.”

Finn bared his teeth, growling again, and Lucas saw his canines, sharp, powerful … growing. Then he saw a flicker of amusement pass through Finn’s amber eyes.

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” The half-wolf growled, low enough for only Lucas to hear. “Well, guess what? You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Suddenly, someone shoved Lucas in the shoulder—hard. He was knocked sideways and stumbled, dropping to the ground at Finn’s feet. In his place stood another biker—Joe, the leader Faye and Liz had told him about. Joe’s arms were bare despite the snow, and Lucas could see the thick hair on them standing on end.

Joe was in Finn’s face, so close that they were almost nose to nose. “Back off, boy.”

Lucas pushed himself to his feet, shocked to see that Joe’s eyes were glowing a feral yellow too. He and Finn were standing face to face, shoulders bunched, hackles raised, about to fight. Lucas backed away, one step at a time.

“He’s Mercy’s kin,” Lucas heard Finn say. “He’s the enemy.”

“Mercy would never have let him come here alone,” growled Joe. “Use your brain. If he’s here, he’s here for a reason.”

Lucas heard Faye’s voice beside him. “There is a reason,” she said, her voice shaky. “We found this scroll, but we can’t read it. We thought you might know what it is.”

Joe held out his hand, gesturing for the paper, but didn’t break his gaze at Finn. Rage radiated from the two men in waves. Faye jumped forward, dropping the aging scroll into the biker’s large hand. He held it up, shifting his eyes from Finn to the scroll briefly as he unfurled it. As their eye contact broke, Lucas saw Finn look at Faye, and he could almost see the spark that shot between them.

“Where did you get this?” Joe asked after a moment.

“I—I found it in my father’s study.” Liz spoke up nervously. “He’d locked it away. With a locket that had a photograph of Faye in it.”

Joe said nothing for a moment, studying the scroll. Then he placed a hand on Finn’s chest.

“Lucas Morrow is not our enemy, Finn.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because this is the language of Annwn. It’s definitely not something Mercy would give up willingly. Especially to her enemy.”

“It could be a trick!”

“It’s not a trick.”

“It’s not,” said Lucas, feeling he had to speak up. “I swear.”

Finn turned toward him, teeth still bared. “And what makes you think I’m going to trust you?”

“Finn,” Joe said quietly. “You’re going to have to.”

“Why? What makes him so trustworthy all of a sudden? You might all have been taken in, but I haven’t. He’s a snake, hiding in the grass, that’s all.”

Joe shook his head. “He’s not. Finn, this is something I should have told you years ago. Lucas … Lucas is your brother.”

Finn felt Joe’s words hit him in the chest like a jackhammer. He blinked, staring from his father to Lucas and back. He shook his head, not wanting to believe what he’d just heard.

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you your mother was one of Mercy’s human servants whom the wolves took with us when we escaped her control.”

“Right,” said Finn. “You said … you said that the two of you fell in love once you were clear of Mercy’s bonds. That you planned to make a life together, with me.”

Joe nodded. “But life on the road was hard, and then your mother got sick and died before you were even old enough to sit up on your own.”

“So what?” Finn asked, feeling the solid ground of his identity begin to shift. “What are you saying now, Dad?”

“That it was a lie, Finn. It was all a lie. I’m sorry. There was no servant girl. Mercy did not keep human servants back then.”

“Then who?” Finn whispered, glancing at Lucas. “You can’t be saying … you can’t mean …”

“Mercy.”

Finn shut his eyes. “No. No … no, I don’t believe it.” He turned away, every nerve suddenly raw. He knew that everyone was looking at him, and he wanted to run, to get away. How could this be true? How could his father have lied to him like this? His father, whom he had trusted so completely, with every aspect of his life? To lie to him—about something so huge, so important …

“I’m sorry,” Joe said quietly, taking a step forward. “Finn, I’m sorry. I’ve tried to tell you so many times. But it never seemed right.”

Finn opened his eyes, looking at Joe in a new light. “I don’t understand,” he said. “I just don’t understand how …”

“She would have enslaved you, the way she had trapped the rest of us,” Joe said. “So I took you when we fled. You were so small, but I couldn’t leave you with her, Finn. I couldn’t.”

Finn could feel the wolf-rage flowing in his veins, just below the surface of his human self. He wanted to run until there was nothing of Finn left, until there was only the wolf. He wanted to hunt something … anything.

“How could you not tell me?” he asked Joe. “How could you drag me around, keeping this from me for so long?”

Joe shook his head. “I’m sorry. I truly am. When you were younger, I thought it would be better—easier—than you knowing the truth. And then the years passed … the centuries … and there was no way to tell you.”

“There was,” Finn said in a voice so harsh it burned his own throat. “You just preferred the lie.”

He looked around. They were all staring at him—Faye, Liz, Jimmy and Lucas. They were all so young, so clueless. How could they possibly understand? There was a battle to fight,
the
battle. And now …

Finn had to get away. He had to be anywhere, anywhere but here. Turning, he strode toward his bike. He heard his father shout after him, but he didn’t listen. Throwing his leg across the seat, he kicked the engine into gear and skidded out of camp.

The last thing he heard was Faye’s voice, calling for him to stop. And then the wind in his ears blasted everything away.

#

Faye ran forward as Finn went to his bike. “Finn! Wait!”

He didn’t stop, the bike disappearing into the trees long before the sound of his engine faded from the air. She felt a strong hand on her arm.

“Let him go,” said Joe. His face was weary. “He’ll need time.” He raised the scroll. “You did well, finding this. It could be exactly what we need.” He let go of her arm and sat down, intent on the ancient paper.

Faye turned back to the others, who were standing still, in shock. Jimmy’s face had lost the color it had previously regained. “Jimmy?” Faye asked. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” he said faintly, trying to smile. “I just … maybe I should sit down for a while.”

Faye watched as Liz slipped her arm through Jimmy’s. “Come on,” said her friend. “It’s too cold out here, anyway. You should be inside.”

“I’m OK,” Jimmy protested. “I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.”

“I’ll come with you,” Liz told him. “I’m cold out here, Jimmy.”