Only Human (36 page)

That didn’t sound good. “What do you mean, enemies?”

“Word has gone out that you killed—”

His pause felt unnatural, so I filled in the blanks for him, “Surtr.”

His nod was terse but relieved. He couldn’t tell me, but was happy I knew. “Aaron has been doing damage control, and until Mordecai is up and around, that is the best we can hope for. Aaron is letting people believe you killed Sutherland because you were angry he killed Mordecai, and you did not realize he could heal from such an injury as you saw. This is why Aaron has not given you news of how Mordecai is faring.”

“Can you tell me how he’s doing?”

“His body is putting itself back together but he has not yet awakened. He is currently packed in fertile earth and will be until we sense a heartbeat, when we will extract him from the ground and give him sustenance.”

“You
buried
him?”

“He needs the healing touch of mother earth around him as he mends from such a wound.”

Lauren came down the aisle towards the back of the theater, and I felt Abbott dissipate the circle around us. I took note of what they were doing on stage, realized she probably had fifteen minutes they wouldn’t need her, and I handed her my lap desk and her backpack so she could get some homework done, and she took everything backstage where the lighting was better.

When she was gone I turned back to Abbott. “How is it that Mordecai will live, and yet everyone seems to be in agreement I killed Sutherland? Are we
sure
he can’t come back?”

He held up a finger and put the sound dampener thing back in place before answering, “You may have killed him true, but the only way to know for sure is to give him a change to regenerate, and a group of the long-lived is in agreement this can’t happen. So, a teaspoon of his ashes was put into a mixture similar to concrete and shaped into a small, smooth rock. It will degrade over hundreds of years, releasing the ashes slowly, allowing time to scatter them even more. It was deposited in the Tennessee River, in a spot where it is not likely to be immediately washed downstream. We have dispatched people around the world to scatter him far and wide, either as dust, or in similar stones. Pieces of him will be put on mountaintops away from water sources, as well as in various river systems around the world. We also have a few vaults designed to last dozens of millennia, secreted around the world, and some of his ashes will go into them, as well.”

He stopped, as if deciding whether to tell me something, and finally said, “A little known fact, but since you killed him I will tell you. Some of his ashes will be melted into lead and hidden away in various dry caves, far from current day volcanically active areas. A few glass dishes and vases were also created, with his ground bones in the glass. This is a secret only known to the elite, but I trust you will keep it. The point is — it is possible he will show up again several hundred thousand years from now, when we’ve had enough earth changes so all of those ashes find their way into the ocean, where the laws of attraction can bring them together. However, only Mordecai is likely to still be alive to see it. So, for our purposes, you killed him.”

Yeah, okay. I could see that, but it brought up another question. “If someone had taken half of Mordecai to the other side of the world, he couldn’t heal?”

“I do not believe that is accurate. Legend has it, an immortal’s body can regenerate when it has the tiniest bit over half, all in one place. I suppose this is to keep them from regenerating two of themselves. At any rate, if they had quartered him and scattered the various parts, he could not regenerate until over half of the pieces found themselves in one place again. When Sutherland split him, it’s doubtful both halves were exactly the same size, so the larger of the two sides would have regenerated what was missing.”

Even Abbott was resorting to legend on this one, and I figured only Mordecai could tell me the facts, though somehow I doubted he’d want to. I moved onto a subject Abbott should know more about. “Are there more than two kinds of vampire?”

“Yes, but to my knowledge there are only two kinds here in Chattanooga.”

“Are any of them evil? The kind that can’t be around holy objects, or is that a total myth?”

“As far as I know the holy objects thing is a myth, though there is one race some would consider evil.”

“Can you tell me about them?”

“They are not here. They stay in the largest cities, so you shouldn’t meet them.”

“You don’t want to tell me about them?”

“No.”

Okay, I wanted information, so I’d get as many questions answered as I could, and if there was time I’d come back and re-ask what he’d refused to answer. I jumped to my biggest question. “Do we know why the wolves collapsed?”

“We have a theory.”

He didn’t say anything else, and I tried not to snap as I asked, “Can you tell me?”

“Long ago there was a race called the Berserkers. Legend has it they were the first werewolves. Today’s wolves are nothing like the Berserkers of old, but if they are the original beginning of the line, then it’s possible…” He shook his head, “If any Berserkers are still alive, they could conceivably gain control over today’s werewolves.”

“You think Surtr was in league with a Berserker? That he wasn’t alone?”

“Surtr’s grandfather was a Berserker, so it’s possible he was able to take control of them because of his heritage. Since we had the pack alpha with us, a Berserker would’ve been able to affect the entire pack through the Alpha.”

“But, what about Cora?”

“The prevailing theory has her proximity to you somehow protecting her from what Sutherland was doing.” He paused, his voice careful as he asked, “Cora had to be re-bound to the pack Alpha. She no longer belonged to him, was no longer included in the pack’s blood bond. You don’t recall binding her to you, do you?”

“I wouldn’t have a clue of how to go about it.”

“The pack Alpha has asked to see you. Aaron has refused to allow it, but I think it’s something you should know.”

“Is he going to be pissed if I bound one of his people to me?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes. However, in this situation I hope he can see reason, especially if you did it without meaning to. It can be argued you subconsciously protected your friend.”

“Nathan is the Lion King, right?”

He nodded. “The Amakhosi, yes. He is over all of the lions in the world, not just the local pack.”

Yeah, and all cats as well, but I didn’t point that out. “Would it be beneficial to have the Lion’s Amakhosi go with me to talk to the Wolf’s Alpha?”

“It might be more beneficial to have a Vampire Master with a large territory with you. There are sometimes ego problems — dominance issues — between Alpha shifters of different animals. There should be no such issue between wolf and vampire.”

“Would you?”

“Certainly. If you want me at your side I will be happy to escort you.”

“Is there a leader over the other type of vampire?”

“Not in the same way. Since my race are magical beings, or I believe you’re more comfortable with the term metaphysical beings, we can be bound together. The other vampires cannot do so, and thus their society is set up a good deal more loosely. Bran is quite old and disgustingly rich. Most consider him the person to go to if you need to speak with someone of importance, but there is no official leader.”

“Let me guess, Bran is Alex’s friend, and your friend, and it’s his blood I drank?”

“Only blood from an old and powerful vampire would have helped you, as badly as you were hurt.”

“Can you set up the meeting?”

“Yes, my darling.” Aaaaand it was back to annoying me again. I’d need to contemplate this, as I knew being hurt when he didn’t say it, yet annoyed when he did, pointed to internal conflict. Sometimes being a therapist is a pain in the ass, as it forces you to confront your own issues.

“Okay,” I said, ignoring my internal conflict for the time being. “I also need to take Aaron’s advice and work on coming to more than just a truce with Nathan, but I can handle that on my own.”

“Can I set up a meeting with Bran for tomorrow?”

“You
are
trying to gain me allies, aren’t you? You think someone will come after me for killing Surtr?”

“Use his current name, please. Sutherland. But yes, I believe you have drawn unwelcome attention to yourself. Aaron is not pleased because he was wrong. If he’d let you fight the first night, this would not have happened. If you helped Aaron and Mordecai kill him it wouldn’t be the huge deal it is since you single-handedly took him down.”

“This is the spider thing again, isn’t it? I’m an unknown and it scares them for an unknown to wield this kind of killing power?”

“Probably.”

“So, do I gain as many allies as possible and make myself so much of a threat they can’t afford to kill me, or do I try to show them I’m not really a threat so they leave me alone?”

“The latter plan will not work. You need to surround yourself with allies, my darling.”

Lauren’s voice came to me, crystal clear and beautiful, and I stopped talking to Abbott a few seconds to watch and listen. As much as I loved her and wanted to listen, though, I had more questions for Abbott.

“Why
exactly
am I worth protecting? Why are you willing to ask your people to fight other bad guys on my behalf? That’s the threat, isn’t it? If I’m harmed then it’s war between your people and their people?”

He looked at me a few seconds, and I didn’t like that he was deciding which answer to give me. However, Aaron wasn’t giving me any answers at all, so I sat patiently and let Abbott figure it out.

“Besides the fact we like you and are fascinated by you, we also realize you’re important. Aaron, Mordecai, and I are in agreement you are likely to play some important part in the future, and you must be protected and trained. Battles between good and evil actually do pop up every once in a while, and if you’re around for one of those it could be a big help for our side. I believe Nathan also feels this way, though he has not spoken up.”

I really needed to work on things with Nathan. I’d try to find a time we could talk, now that he seemed inclined to actually use words when communicating with me.

I had more questions, but rehearsal was breaking up and kids scattering, so I asked the one I’d meant to ask at the beginning.

“How much longer will I smell of the other vampire?”

“If you do nothing, about a week. However, there are a few things you can do if you wish to rid yourself of the scent.”

“I’d like to, please, so I don’t feel as if I have to hide.”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t have asked it of you, but if you’re willing, it will be better. You’ll need to drink either two bottles of wine, or eight shots of Jack Daniels. Over the course of the evening you will also need to drink at least a half-gallon of non-alcoholic fluid, and spend an hour in a very hot bath with four cups of Epsom salts in it. You should also grate and steep four whole cloves of garlic in another half-gallon of water, for at least six hours, and you need to awaken around four in the morning, drink the garlic mixture, and then go back to sleep. I’m told eating garlic bread as you drink it helps keep one from becoming nauseated.”

I shook my head. “I was fine till you got to the part about the garlic. That’s… rough.”

He nodded. “The first part will work it out of your system over the next couple of days, the garlic will allow you to lose the smell by tomorrow. Washing the scent out is one thing, replacing it with something else is another.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

“What time is good for you tomorrow?”

“I have a short day, so any time after one o’clock”

He dissolved our little bubble and walked Lauren and me to my car as he told me, “I’ll call or email you later with a time for tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The drinking and bath that night weren’t too bad, but the garlic was brutal. I didn’t manage to go back to sleep afterwards, and thought I may never want garlic again.

The next morning I saw a few patients and then went to Lauren’s school and had lunch with her. Abbott had managed to get the werewolf Alpha to meet us at the coterie house at four, and I still had some time to kill so I went home and wasted five minutes trying to put a flame on the end of my finger before I worked on creating and dissipating both a knife and a quarterstaff.

Abbott called me a little after three to let me know he was awake, so I headed to the coterie house, made my way through the three guards, and fell into his arms as the bottom door closed behind me.

I’d changed into a hunter green pants suit with a cream colored silk blouse, and Abbott was wearing a black suit with a hunter green shirt under, and a tie with greens and blacks. We matched. I started to ask him if he wanted to change or if he wanted me to go home and change, but then decided to just go with it.

“How do I smell?” I asked, a bit nervous.

“Like you ate Italian last night and went way overboard, but I don’t smell Bran, my darling. You did well.”

He pulled me a little closer to him, but when I stepped away, he let me go.

“Good. Can I get you to give me a crash course? I need to know everything I can about the werewolf Alpha, as well as how wolf society runs. I’ve been around some of the wolves on missions, and Cora, of course, but I don’t know too much about how the pack operates.”

“You’ve met the Alpha?”

“Yes, Randall Bevering, but we’ve never talked beyond a polite introduction.” When Aaron needed assistance with a supernatural problem, Randall occasionally helped. I also knew Randall had given his wolves permission to work for Aaron if they wished.

Abbott told me he had the impression Randall was honorable, though with a quick and furious temper. Randall’s second in command, the Beta, was someone I didn’t think I’d met before, named Zach, and his third in command, the Gamma, was Cora. I was shocked, I’d known she was a bad-ass but was surprised to hear she was so high in the pack structure. I’d seen her with the other wolves, and while they showed her respect, she’d never treated them as if she was better than them.