Reflected (Silver Series) (15 page)

In the park before they’d gone running, and then to the club. The club where he’d vanished upstairs for a drink. Had he really been panicked at all, or had that all been an act so he could get time alone to send the information he’d tricked out of her? Send it to—

“Madrid.” Felicia returned to the full text of the latest e-mail, tried to match it to her faint memory of her e-mail three years ago. It truly was a work of art, and while she’d never seen anything of any length Madrid had written before, he was artful enough with spoken words. He must have been the one who had created this forgery. “Madrid may have sent you to get me alone, to get … material out of me for this stupid forgery, but it won’t work!” She was yelling by the end. She shoved at the phone violently back at Enrique’s chest. If only smashing it would have destroyed the e-mails. “No one will believe you! Everyone knows Papa’s gone. And I must have the original e-mail somewhere, I can show them…”

Enrique took the phone away from her and tucked it back into his pocket with exaggerated gentleness. “But you were so helpfully specific about Silver’s weaknesses. You told me they were already trying to get rid of you; why would they see this as anything other than a Lady-sent excuse?”

He tried to take her hand, the soothing gesture spoiled by his continuing smirk, and she slapped him away. “Why would I write you guys in English, then, purse dog?” She had the feeling of snapping after a retreating prey’s tail, forever just too short, but she had to try.

Enrique raised his eyebrows. “But you did.”

Felicia slashed her hand. “Three years ago, yes, I guess I did. But that was because I wanted to prove that even if I was whining about missing home, I was committed to Papa and English and my new home. If I’m your coconspirator, that’s stupid.”

Enrique pulled his phone out again and reread the screen with pretend deliberation. “I don’t know. It sounds awfully bad. Do you think they’ll even think about the language? You lied to hide me. Twice.” He looked up at her and smiled with too much teeth. “Perhaps your father is desperate to try to keep you, but he’s not here.”

Felicia pressed shaking hands over her face. She could imagine everyone’s reaction. She could imagine it perfectly well. She’d lied, and she
had
told Enrique everything he’d put in the e-mail. And the e-mail sounded like her because it was her words, just twisted.

Felicia’s stomach heaved, perhaps more from the alcohol than anything, but she swallowed it down. She needed to think about this later, with a clear head. Maybe a way out would be visible then. Meanwhile—“Why? I know this isn’t just revenge, fucking with me to punish me.”

Enrique patted her cheek and pulled away before she could bite at him. “We can talk about that tomorrow. I told you, I need your help with something. Don’t worry, no one will get hurt, we’re just going to change the balance of power a little.”

Change the balance of power: translation, get her father and Silver out of it. Felicia could guess that much. She thought about demanding more details, but a headache was gouging painful fingers into her head, and maybe tomorrow she’d see a way out of it and it would all be moot anyway. She let jagged silence fall. Enrique smiled and didn’t break it either.

It continued as the cab arrived, as they rode back to the lot and then drove back to the house. When they crossed from the light pollution of downtown Bellevue—business signs, cars’ headlights, eternally lit windows—to the comparative darkness of the neighborhood with only soft orange streetlights, the darkness seemed oppressive to Felicia rather than freeing as it usually did.

When they pulled into the driveway, Silver was sitting on the front step. Her white hair shone under the porch light, and her fingers drifted above the concrete beside her, like she was petting something Felicia couldn’t see. It was far from the craziest Felicia had seen her act, and tonight she almost could imagine a tangle of shadows hulking there.

Felicia didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, not when she had Enrique’s leverage tightening around her like a leg trap and a headache pounding behind her eyes, but she especially didn’t want to see Silver. She hadn’t meant to give Enrique her weaknesses. She’d been just talking. While drunk and stupid. Very, very stupid.

“See you tomorrow,” Enrique said brightly as he got out of the car.

Felicia shoved her door open and growled wordlessly in response. She waited until Enrique had collected his bag and headed off into the night before turning to the house to go in and sleep it off in wolf. She felt too Lady-damned sick to deal with any of this right now. Lady grant things would be better in the morning. Please.

*   *   *

Death stood and moved out of the way as Felicia walked carefully up to the den’s entrance. She stank of the stuff people drank to relax, or not be themselves for a while, though Silver knew few Were who bothered with it. Maybe with a wild self as well as a tame, it took twice as much to manage not to be them.

Silver’s eyes widened—Felicia’s wild self held its ears flat and had its tail tucked between its legs. Now under the drink, she smelled something that might have been fear. What had that young man said to her? What had he done? Silver shoved to her feet and went to her immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“Silver, don’t.” Felicia rubbed her temple as if her head pained her. “It’s nothing, okay? Everything’s fine. I showed the roamer the sights, he and Tom snarled at each other, and now I just want to sleep.”

“Roanoke,” Silver corrected her absently. She caught Felicia’s arm. Everything was not fine, a night-blind, nose-blind human could see that. “Tom was angry when he got back. But was it more than snarling? Did the roamer do something? Did he chase after you said no?” Silver couldn’t touch the lump in her pocket with her hand busy, but she knew her silver chain was there by the feeling against her hip. Felicia could defend herself, but Silver and this young man would still have words, if he had begun a chase Felicia didn’t invite. Silver metal would help make him listen.

“No!” That didn’t smell like a lie, at least. Felicia jerked her arm away and stood stiffer, more challenging. Had Silver imagined the fear earlier? Maybe it had been only guilty anticipation of her alpha’s reaction to disobedience. “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” Felicia said.

“I’m your alpha, and you have work to do. You can’t be out playing all night. And when Tom is carrying out my orders, you need to follow them.” That slipped out before Silver considered it properly, automatic in response to that challenging stance.

Felicia bowed her head just low enough to be respectful. “Roanoke. I’m sorry for not coming home on time.” She stomped into the den.

Silver swallowed a call after her and stood alone outside. Alone but for Death, of course. The distant roar of the humans’ rivers had faded for the night, but it never truly left this place, full of dens rather than trees. What did she do now? Would a mother follow Felicia, badger her until she broke down and admitted what had happened? Or would a mother treat Felicia as an adult and figure that if things had gone wrong and needed to be repaired with Tom or anyone else, the young woman could fix them herself?

“You forgot sitting back and letting it get so bad she breaks herself. A broken daughter cannot protest when you pick up the pieces.” Death tipped his muzzle up to look at the stars, broken pieces of the Lady’s first child, before she made the Were. “Though pieces cannot always be put back together.”

“Stop it,” Silver said without heat. Death knew her better than to think doing nothing would ever be an option for her. Even waiting was better than doing nothing, because it meant you had a plan ready for when the situation changed, as it inevitably did. Dare would do the right thing, but Dare wasn’t here, only her. And she wouldn’t do nothing, even if what she did was the wrong thing.

“Get to it, then,” Death said and jumped off the step to be about his nightly hunting. He did that while she slept, and Silver took that as a good suggestion. Time to sleep, and she would speak to Felicia again in the morning.

10

Felicia had never been in such pain in her life. She hadn’t thought it was so bad when she woke up, just a dull pounding inside her skull, but it didn’t
end.
She didn’t understand how something so dull and weak could become so terrible. It didn’t ease even for a few seconds. She’d been hurt, sometimes quite badly, roughhousing as a child, but that pain faded quickly with healing. She put her paws over her head and muzzle and tried not to think about what the pain was making her stomach do. Why couldn’t she just die and get it over with?

She couldn’t lie under her bed in misery forever, though. Felicia finally crawled out. When you were injured normally, you were supposed to eat and shift, so she supposed she should force herself to do those things in case they helped. She shifted back to human and pulled on yesterday’s underwear and jeans because Susan didn’t like it when they walked around nude, even in the house. She made it as far as a bra and decided she didn’t care about anything else.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she realized breakfast involved all kinds of work when you showed up after the main meal had already been cooked and cleared away. Despite her stomach’s protests, she thought food would help, but what food? Felicia collapsed in a chair at the kitchen table and put her palms over her eyes to block out the indirect sunlight sneaking through the windows. Thank the Lady the kitchen didn’t face east. Even seeing hurt.

“Here.” Someone set something in front of Felicia. Susan, by the voice and scent. Felicia reluctantly opened her eyes to find a glass of water and a couple brown pills. “I’m not surprised you guys don’t have any of your own in the house, and Lord knows I have to buy in bulk for cramps. Take those two, and I can give you more in four hours if you need them.”

Felicia stared at the pills, not comprehending. Medicine? She supposed that did make sense for pain, but what good would human medicine do for pain that could defeat Were healing? She gave Susan an incredulous look. The older woman wasn’t dressed as formally as she usually was for work, but she still looked self-assured, brown hair subtly and elegantly styled.

“You’re not at work?” Felicia wasn’t sure of the time, but she knew it was later than that.

“I’m taking a half day. Edmond has a preschool thing later this morning.” Susan turned Felicia’s palm over, put the pills in, and then directed her mercilessly through the process of swallowing them whole. Felicia did it, because that was easier than not doing it.

Susan nodded once and then sat down in the chair across from her. “Your first hangover, I take it. Your father explained the Were version to me at one point—the headache is caused by dehydration, and since you didn’t drink any water, your healing can’t do anything about it. Finish that.” She nudged the glass closer. “A couple more during breakfast, and you should be back to normal.”

Felicia glared balefully at Susan and decided that hearing for too long also hurt. She chugged the water and set the glass down with a clunk. Susan nodded approvingly and got her another. “Fun night?” she asked, not bothering to hide the amused irony in her voice. She sat again, chin on her hand. “Don’t get me wrong, you have my sympathies. I remember one real fucker of a hangover I had in college, freshman year.”

Felicia eyed at Susan. “You don’t swear,” she protested, and then winced at herself. That sounded prey-stupid out loud. But it was true, she’d never even heard Susan use any human swear words before.

Susan laughed, the bright sound stabbing into the pain at Felicia’s temple. “I’m twenty-eight, puppy. Just because my impressionable young son is usually around doesn’t mean I’ve transformed into a prude.”

Felicia grumbled under her breath and started drinking the second glass of water with smaller swallows this time. She was sort of starting to feel better.

The concern in Susan’s face eased, and she petted Felicia’s hair reassuringly after filling the glass for a third time. “When you missed breakfast, Silver was worried about you, but I told her to let you sleep. I gather that roamer was trouble after all?”

The easing pain made room for the rest of Felicia’s problems to come crowding back in. She’d lied to protect Enrique, and now he had e-mails as well to prove to the others that she was on Madrid’s side, helping him to work against her alphas. If Felicia tried to tell her side of the story, say, to Susan right this minute, would anyone believe her?

She doubted it. Everyone had seen the way she’d welcomed Enrique, seen the way she was fighting with her father and Silver.

Susan was waiting for her reaction, so Felicia drew breath without really knowing what her words would be. “It was nothing. Just a wild night and now a hangover, apparently. And boys being boys. I wish Silver would let it go.”

Susan raised her eyebrows in an expression of extreme dubiousness. Felicia kept her expression blank. Susan couldn’t smell anything on her, and she refused to crack in any other way. Maybe no one would believe her, but that didn’t mean Enrique had her cornered before his shotgun. It just meant she’d have to deal with him alone. It didn’t matter that he’d been taking lessons from Madrid; he was alone here in North America, and she must be able to outsmart him somehow.

Felicia’s stomach growled, and she realized that while she’d been worrying, the last of her physical headache had seeped away. She pushed to her feet. She’d be able to think of a plan to thwart Enrique better if she wasn’t hungry. “I’m going to make bacon. Did you eat already?”

Susan snorted and gestured no thanks to the offer. “Oh, to be a Were,” she said, watching Felicia get out the pan and meat. Felicia supposed she was referring to how many strips she was squeezing into the pan. Susan never seemed to let herself eat much.

Felicia had expected Susan to go about her business, but the other woman stayed at the table, angled in her chair to watch Felicia cook. “I have a question for you,” Susan said when the initial sizzle of the bacon had died down. “I think the vocabulary is a little out of Silver’s realm. But it pertains to pack business, so I’ll need your word that you’ll keep whatever I say private.”