White Winter (The Black Year Series Book 2) (37 page)

Alice shook her head. “It’s out of the question. You people have done enough damage as it is. The last thing this world needs is unkillable werewolves.”

“They’d be bound by the law. Look at your son’s champion, Mrs. Black. His pack is in shambles, his father dead… he hates your son, I can smell it. But he
obeys.
”

Jonas looked at Kieran. The winter wolf stared straight ahead.

“You should have waited,” Alice said.

“Waited for what, Mrs. Black? With all due respect to your husband, his vision was always on a vampire’s terms. I’m not talking about a distant future; I’m talking about today. Turn my men into winter wolves and we will keep the peace. A few of us in each city, eternal and incorruptible. We’ll fix this without your endless scheming. All you have to do is let go.”

They stood facing each other without flinching, Tarik’s eyes burning like coals and Alice’s drowning the light.

“Tell him,” Alice said.

“What?” Jonas said.

“Order Kieran to tell him. It’s the only way he’ll believe it.”

Jonas nodded. “Kieran, tell the councilor how to make a winter wolf.”

Kieran did. He explained the starvation and the beatings, the long hours spent memorizing the law so he wouldn’t break it. He explained being exiled so his brother wouldn’t kill him, and how much the silver nitrate burned when he started injecting himself. He spoke while tears streamed down his face, until he’d followed Jonas’ order and there was nothing left to say.

Tarik laughed. “This is a trick.”

Alice said nothing.

“He’s telling the truth,” Jonas said. “Look at him.”

“You planned this, this deception!” Tarik said. Slivers of white showed at the edges of his eyes.

Alice turned and walked back to the Agency. “This is a waste of time,” she said.

“You planted the lie in his head beforehand! I was faithful to the law - as faithful as anyone can be expected to be,” he said. “How
dare
you blame us for our mortality?”

Jonas took a step forward. “Councilor…”

“No! If you won’t help, we’ll make our own future. We’ll rally the clans. We’ll fight. We don’t have to be immortal to create a new world.”

“But they’re bringing
tanks
,” Jonas said.

Tarik’s eyes glowed. “Not all of us have lived lives of comfort, vampire. I think we will surprise them.”

He started walking north and barked. His honor guard fell in behind him. Six more white shapes detached themselves from the snow - werewolves in winter camouflage, with weapons concealed beneath their cloaks.

When they were gone, Jonas turned to Kieran. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes,” Kieran croaked, fists balled at his sides.

“Werewolves don’t hold grudges,” Jonas said weakly, trying to smile.

“But a winter wolf never forgets.”

♘

How’s Jim doing?
Eve asked.

Healing. Most of his organs have shut down; he’s only drinking blood, now,
Jonas sent.

Eve shivered.

Jonas tightened his arm around her. He kept his head back; her hair kept tickling his nose.
How’s Viviane?

Vulnerable. She hasn’t gone to see him yet. I don’t think she was ready.

Jonas raised himself on his elbow. “Ready for what?”

Eve half-turned toward him. “Responsibility? A relationship? It gets pretty crowded in a puppeteer’s head sometimes, Jonas.”

“Is that how
you
feel?” Jonas asked.

She frowned at him. “What? No, sweetie, that’s not how I feel. I’ve been stressed lately, but we’re the one thing that’s okay. We are okay, aren’t we?”

He stroked her side and kissed her cheek. “Yeah, we’re okay.”

She turned the rest of the way toward him and nuzzled into his chest.

♘

Jonas walked into his mother’s office. “Can we talk about-”

Alice raised her hand, then pointed at her earpiece, then waved him to the chairs. He sat down. She put her call on speaker.

“My apologies, Senator Wright. To what do I owe the pleasure this late in the evening?”

“Just a courtesy call, Mrs. Black, to let you know the blockade will be in place by mid-morning.”

“In what numbers, Senator?”

There was a pause, then he said, “I’m not sure how that’s relevant, Mrs. Black.”

“It’s relevant because if you intend to seal off the bridges, a few national guardsmen and police units will do. But if any part of your plan involves coming into the city, you’ll need a reinforced mechanized brigade or a regiment of Marines.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Edwards is fully aware of-”

“Begging your pardon, senator, but he’s not. No living human has seen what happens when you irritate that many werewolves at once. You haven’t had to because of the work my people do.”

“Are you able to bring a quick end to the standoff, Mrs. Black?”

Alice paused, then answered, “No.”

“The city’s occupation is costing the US government 320 million dollars a day. We’re moving forward. I’ve spoken with my colleagues - many of whom are less reluctant to speak with me now - and we’ve agreed it’s time we found a human solution to the supernatural issue.”

“I see,” Alice said. “Good evening, senator.”

“Good evening, Mrs. Black.” She tapped her earpiece, then set it down on her desk.

“What do you think is going to happen?” Jonas said.

Alice pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think the military’s going to come in and try to kill every werewolf they find.”

“You don’t think they’ll be allowed to surrender?”

“I’m more worried about the military than the werewolves, Jonas. These are just guardsmen and some of Edwards’ specialists. It will take weeks to mobilize regular troops. I think Wright and the Committee are hoping for a quick win they can feed the press.”

“And if the werewolves win?”

“They’ll break out, kill or turn anyone in their way… If it weren’t for your father, I’d say our best chance was to lock ourselves in a vault for a few decades.”

So that’s it,
Jonas realized.
That’s how the prophecy plays out. I have to-

Alice glared at him. “No. Don’t you even think about it. This is
exactly
how people get forced into fulfilling prophecies. We’re going to stop this.”

She picked up her earpiece and typed a number on her computer keypad. A few seconds later she frowned. She typed again. “Idiots. They’re ignoring my calls,” she said. She tapped her earpiece. “Chief? Get a helicopter on the roof in ten minutes, I’m going to DC.” She listened, then said, “I don’t care where you get it, Chief. Call in some favors; steal one if you have to.”

She pulled the earpiece off and started shutting her computer down. “This is going to require blackmail, bribes, and a lot of talking. It’s going to take me at least until sunrise; I won’t be back until tomorrow night, maybe later if they set a no-fly zone over the city. Sit in your room, make-out with your girlfriend or whatever other tomfoolery the two of you get up to, but do not leave this building.”

His ears, face, and neck heated. He felt like he was going to die of shame. “Yes, mom.”
She called it tomfoolery! Who does that?
As she headed for the door, he said, “What if they send troops in anyway, and it looks like they’re going to lose?”

She hesitated. “I’m not sure there’s anything you could do, Jonas. Just don’t get killed, and don’t destroy the world for the sake of a city.”

Jonas nodded, feeling useless. He just wished there was something he could do.

“Pray,” she said. She shook her head. “Maybe He’ll listen; there’s a first time for everything.”

♘

Jonas closed his father’s Bible and set it next to the books he’d checked out from the Agency’s small library. There weren’t any fun books on the shelf, just stuff on vampires, military history, werewolf law, and his own copy of the enforcers’ handbook that covered everything from exigent circumstances to interactions with the human hierarchy. He needed to hit up a bookstore once the city was back to normal.

He left his room and rode the elevator down one floor, then headed to transient quarters. He found Jim’s room and knocked on the door.

The door slid open. Jim looked half awake, barefoot and dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. The stump of his right arm was still bandaged. That would take longer to heal.

“Hey, Jonas,” Jim said. “What are you doing down here?”

“Grabbing something to drink. Care to join me?”

“I… Yeah. Let me just put some shoes on.” He slid on a pair of flip-flops and they walked to the cafeteria, the sound of Jim’s shoes slapping the floor echoing in the empty hallways.

It was just them in the room. Jonas grabbed two blood packs from the fridge, set one in front of Jim, and sat down. “You’re looking pretty,” Jonas said.

“I am, aren’t I? Frank said something about a glamour, but I’m not sure how vampire mumbo jumbo could improve on perfection. Could you…?” Jim waved his stump at the blood pack.

“Sorry,” Jonas said. He pulled the tab, poked the straw in, and slid it back to Jim. The fledgling picked it up with his left hand and brought it to his lips, then his eyes went blank as he swallowed.

It took longer than Jonas expected. He wondered if he’d looked that… vacant when he’d first started drinking blood. He prepped his own pack. He even had time for a sip before Jim finally blinked and exhaled and looked at his empty pack.

“Damn it,” Jim said.

“It gets better,” Jonas said, taking another sip before setting his down.

“How long was I out?”

Jonas shrugged. “About ten seconds, give or take.”

Jim sighed.

“You’re not evacuating?”

Jim shrugged. “Viv’s staying. I guess we have enough blood to last a few weeks, and someone has to defend the place, now that all the wolves and the… the humans are gone. Any word on how many people are left in the city?”

Jonas shook his head. “The news said several hundred thousand people have shown up in evacuation centers, but they didn’t have a precise number. Chief thinks it could be close to a million, but there’s no way to know how many are alive, dead from exposure, or worse.”

“And werewolves?”

“Upwards of 40,000 according to Kieran. He can feel them, I guess. They’re turning people.”

Jim grimaced. “It’s the full moon tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a lot of pissed off people for Edwards to deal with.”

“My mom’s trying to stop the army from coming into the city, or at least delay them.”

Jim snorted. “Think that’ll work?”

“If anyone can, it’s her,” Jonas said.

“It’s an attack on US soil, man. Even Black Alice won’t be able to stop what’s coming. But maybe she can delay it.”

Jonas nodded, looking at Jim but not really knowing what to say. There was nothing to do but wait and hope.

They sat in awkward silence, until Jim said, “Want a refill?” waving his empty pack.

“Thanks. You sure you can-?”

“I’ll manage,” Jim said. He opened the door and grabbed two from the fridge left handed, then sat back down. Jonas prepped Jim’s and passed it over.

“So how are you doing? How’s Eve?” Jim asked.

Jonas snorted. “I have no idea. I feel like everything I do pisses somebody off, even when I mean well. And Eve’s great, she really is. We’re close, right? I don’t know if you and Viviane were sharing memories before you… anyway, she
knows
me. But sometimes she really likes that, and sometimes it’s like she can’t wait to get away from me.” Jonas frowned and ripped the tab off his second pack. “She says we’re okay.”

“Girls can be like that, sometimes,” Jim said.

“Viviane still avoiding you?” Jonas asked.

Jim looked up. “You heard about that, did you?”

Jonas shrugged.

“Yeah. Hasn’t even spoken to me since it happened. It’s like she feels guilty for turning me,” Jim said, lifting his blood pack. “I know it wasn’t my first choice, but-” He blanked out again.

Jonas took a drink while he waited.

“-it sure as hell beats the alternative.”

Jonas nodded.

“And speaking of me dying, Frank said you and your mom weren’t exactly overjoyed I made it. What’s up with-” He broke off and looked over Jonas’ shoulder.

Jonas turned and saw Viviane leaning in the doorway. She looked more uncertain than he’d ever seen her, like she couldn’t decide whether to come in or run away. “I’ll give you guys some privacy,” Jonas said, grabbing his drink from the table and standing.

“Thanks,” Jim said.

Jonas paused, then said, “Hey, Jim? I heard Frank saying you made some kind of stew for him. It was the day the kids were hitting each other with the ropes. Could I get the recipe?”