Pack of Strays (The Fangborn Series Book 2) (12 page)

It made a connection, glowing weakly. Not perfect, but better.

Go with your gut,
Sean had said.

I kept on with that until I ran out of spare parts and things t
o fi
x.

“Okay, so what was the lesson here today?” Sean asked.

“I can’t fuck with the bracelet. But I can repair it. Improve it.” That brought with it a satisfaction I hadn’t dreamt possible. I could do something besides fight. I could learn.

“Okay, good. Now, let’s have another look at the thing from the museum that sent you running. Get you back on track.”

The screen came up on the computer without anyone typing, revealing silver coins with inscriptions.

Without thinking, I went to a cabinet I hadn’t explored before. One drawer opened, and—

I was in another time, another place, walking alongside a life-sized version of the Arabic figure on the miniature boat. He seemed very at home and unsurprised to see me as he chatted in a language I didn’t understand.

While I let his words wash over me without comprehension, I examined his clothing. Long flowing robes with full sleeves; there was embroidery at his upper arms and neck. His slippers were good leather, carefully made. All suggested he was very wealthy and probably of high status. He wore a small turban with a trailing tail; his beard was carefully groomed.

We were walking through a medieval city on a hill. A warm breeze caressed my face. Relaxing, I felt myself settle into a rhythm of walking slowly over the unpaved narrow roads.

The volume faded in and out. For some reason, it didn’t upset me. I was able to concentrate on listening hard and remembering, enjoying our companionable stroll. Suddenly, I was able to tune in and understand most of his words.

“—the gold was acquired at the place of Constantine. The Cousin who made it had an eye for the purest, the most sublime materials. There are several things there I think you must see. One moved from my homeland to a place outside the city. And another, a pool w
ithin a
holy place, filled with silver. I’ve also I heard rumors of the
oldest
among us near there. He is very dangerous and has been hidden against the world’s prying eyes, but well worth your attention. His kind are known to be wise and rich, and he may be able to help you with information, not gold.” He smiled, glancing at my travel-worn clothes. “ Though
perhaps
in your case, a little treasure wouldn’t be amiss.”

It was nice to have someone speak kindly to me, even if I didn’t understand all of his words. He made a sign, with his hands, that I knew indicated he was also Fangborn and that he knew I was. It was nice to be near a Family member who didn’t want to run away. He wasn’t afraid, didn’t tell me I was wrong.

He seemed to read my mind. “But you’re not done yet. Maybe when you are done with your journeys, your friends will not take you so foul. Will yo
u go?”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Excellent then.”

I paused to ask a question.

He held up a hand in farewell. “Peace be with you.”

He dissipated. I was back in the lab.

I closed up the drawer. Sean raised his eyebrows.

“I guess I need to go to Istanbul.” Even as I said it, I was surprised. There was no pain in my stomach; he’d asked if I’d go, and I’d agreed. I’d had my marching orders straight from the artifacts’ chosen voice.

“The trader … he said ‘the place of Constantine.’”

Sean nodded and was gone.
The lab vanished, and I was back on the hotel bed.

A click at the bathroom door. Adam had returned while I was … in the lab. Elsewhere. The door was shut, the security chain dangling, the screws pulled from the wall. His face was red and damp, as though he’d been splashing it with water. He mopped at himself with a towel.

I sat up, but before I could say anything, he asked, “You don’t speak Arabic, do you, Zoe?”

Not what I was expecting. I was protective of my talk with the trader and a little abashed that Adam had to bust down the door. “You’ve seen the file on me. You know I don’t.”

“School’s not the only place you pick up a language,” he snapped. He’d been worried.

I was nervous. I hadn’t told him anything about what I’d seen and heard. I would have sworn that the trader had been speaking in English to me, and now I wondered …

Adam was silent a long time. So I decided to focus on how to remove the melted screwdriver from the now equally melted
carpeting
. The stink of burning plastic and metal filled the air and left a bad taste in my mouth.

“You were thrashing around on the bed. I went to wake you up. When I touched your shoulder, I heard another man’s voice. Speaking Arabic.”

I shrugged. “I was mumbling in my sleep.”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently. “Your lips weren’t moving. I heard it … in my head. Like I was watching TV, but it was all impressions; it happened in a second, and it stopped when I took my hand away.”

I couldn’t speak Arabic, but I was reminded of an oracle called “Download” who’d accosted me in Cambridge and filled my brain with images and stories just by touching me. “Any idea what I … he was saying?”

“Talking about travelers, foreign lands.” So Adam
could
speak Arabic. “Some of the words sounded … archaic. I didn’t get all o
f it
.”

Not only was I speaking in tongues, I was transmitting what I could see and what I couldn’t understand.

“Zoe, how did you do that? What happened to you? I’ve been worried.”

“It’s … complicated. I … had another vision, I guess is the best way to describe it.”

“Okay—less complicated than you think, given your record. But what’s that?” He pointed to the smoking pile of slag on the floor. It had finally cooled down a little.

I had been so caught up in the tranquility of the warm twilight walk that I’d forgotten what had preceded it. I started shaking, thinking of what I’d tried and failed to do. I thought of the alien presence taking me over, body and soul.

Time to confess; Adam needed to know the worst. “It’s … it’s spreading.” I wrapped my arms around my legs, rested my chin on my knees. “I tried to … get them off me. No dice.”

“What’s spreading?”

I pulled back the collar of my shirt and showed him my
shoulder
.

He put out his hand to touch it, paused, and waited for me to nod. It didn’t matter now. Maybe he’d get zapped. Maybe he’d learn the hard way what was happening to me.

Nothing. A distant feeling of rough finger tips gently brushing my skin.

Whoa …

That was real, understandable. That was human. I followed that sensation eagerly.

I put my hand on his thigh, the closest I’d ever been to him, intentionally. I reached up and pulled his head down closer to mine and kissed him. He responded after a hesitant moment.

Intriguing, passionate, human. Human was good, human was uncomplicated—or complicated in all the best ways.

I pulled him closer, and he finished the kiss, then pulled away.

“What? Why?”

“Zoe—” Adam was a picture of confusion and reluctance. He stood up.

“If you don’t want to—” I thought I would cry with frustration. I needed this. I needed to reassure myself.

“I—I’m not sure you do. It’s been a long two days, neither of us has had much sleep. I don’t want to add to your confusion. To your drama.”

“I thought I was making it pretty clear that I was okay with this.” I swallowed. Sounding a little distraught, I tried to compose myself. “I’m
fine
with this.”

“Yeah, but even so.” He took my hand. “I’m going to go out for … a walk. A half hour or so. If, when I come back, you decide you’re not interested … well. Not
good
, but at least I’ll know I wasn’t being a dick, taking advantage of you. If you still do, well, then we’ll see what happens.”

“Adam—”

“It’s okay.” He smiled, uncertainly, and left.

Which made me feel like a complete idiot. My anger rose, but I was determined not to make the day any worse, tried to reason it out.

He might not like me. It would be unfair to use him. And what about Will?

What about Will? He cut you loose when he tried to get you recaptured by the TRG.

Enough. Sugar, food, shower, Zoe. If we’re going to have to be grown up about all of this, let’s not unleash the Beast.

It had been a long time since I’d thought of myself as harboring the Beast, my name for my werewolf self before I knew better. The idea of the Beast had become more comforting than whatever aberration I was now.

In the hotel lobby, I bought soda and pretzels. I thought about leaving, looking for a decent meal, but figured I should stick around long enough to apologize. Grown up, all the way down. See this to the end, the sooner, the better. We’d go out to dinner together.

“Good decision, Zoe,” Sean said in my ear. “You’ve got too much on your mind to get messed up with him. And besides, there’s Will.”

“Will ditched me,” I muttered. “He’s angry with me, with what he thought I did. We’re done, as least as far as he’s concerned.” I realized I was talking aloud and tried to keep from moving my lips. “Plus, I don’t care if you were Will’s friend. You don’t get a say i
n thi
s.”

“Hey, I got no dog in this race. I just want to keep you on track. Not that Nichols isn’t your type …”

Do I have a type?
“He’s not. He’s just a friend, a guy.”

“Oh, of course he is. Light-haired, authority-type, all-
American
boy with an unknown past. Remind you of anyone?”

“Will told me about his past.”

“Yeah, but only after you were going out. You
do
like a little hidden mystery, allure.”

“Sean, I’m not having this conversation with you.” I switched him off, banishing him from my presence.

It didn’t help. It was starting to be apparent to me that Adam and I had the right chemistry, at least for me. I did want him to be more than a companion. Damn it.

But that was my problem, not his.

Alone at last, I returned to the room and consumed carbs and sugar eagerly. My headache eased, my emotions settled. I almost felt like myself—or what I remembered of myself.

Shower, then, and when Adam gets back, I’ll buy him dinner. A night on the town before I go to Istanbul, and if I go alone, no hard feelings.

Good,
I thought.
That’s settled. Adult, fair, thoughtful. That’s not evil.

I was better already. That’s all I had to do, to keep my head straight. Keep my head
human
, no matter what the rest of m
e was
.

I finished the shower, feeling so much improved I celebrated by donning clean clothes. Maybe I’d even buy a few replacement T-shirts, a pair of jeans. I had a mission, and I was still myself.

I dried off my hair, wrapped the towel around me, and went into the room to get my bag and the clothes.

Adam was there. He threw a small paper bag onto the
nightstand
.

He saw me and immediately turned. “I’ll be right back.”

“No. Don’t bother.”

I was about to say, “I’m good, and thank you for giving me that space to figure it out,” but instead I crossed the room and put my hand on his arm. Reached up and stroked his face, stubble from having not shaved since New Jersey. It had been a long few days, but I wasn’t tired now.

I stood on tiptoe. In case he didn’t get the message, I pressed myself against him and said, “You should stay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He swallowed a couple of times. “Well, I’m gonna—” He gestured to the bathroom. “I need a few minutes, then. Clean up.”

His voice had gone hoarse, and any fear or hope I’d had that he’d reject me fled. My spirits lifted for the first time in ages.

“No! I mean, don’t leave me again.”

“I’m not, I—”

“I’ll come with you.”

I let the towel fall away, and walked toward the bathroom. As plain as I could make it, and if he wanted to follow—or run—he could. I liked the feeling of simple human lust, liked that I might be able to do something about it.

I went to the shower, turned it on, and got in. Grabbed th
e soa
p,
rubbed it over my hands, closed my eyes, face under the shower. Even the shower was better than the first one I’d taken, the soap a normal thing. Either way, this was better than what I was feeling before. A better kind of emptiness, loneliness, confusion.