Winter Wolf (38 page)

I remembered Scott’s anxiety before his death and feared for Alex. The cure wasn’t within my grasp yet. If I didn’t stop him, he’d transform as Scott had done when under stress.

And like Scott, Alex would die.

“No.” The firmness in Richard’s reply made his brother flinch. “I only trust
you
to stay with her.”

“But, Richard—”

“No, Alex. You can’t. Stay here, calm yourself down, and wait with her. You can’t. You’re too sick.”

I smelled Richard’s fear and I thought Alex did too, because he shut his mouth and stayed with me as his brother stormed towards Dominic’s house.

Richard was right. Alex was sick—too sick. The wolf within me despaired, the strength of her growing with each passing moment. Even the moonstone grieved, as if it too had bowed to the inevitable.

Nothing Richard could do would save Alex. Only I could do something.

But what?

I shoved my nose against Alex’s neck, cringing at the heat radiating from him. I breathed deep, closing my eyes so I could sense the illness. Underneath the hungering virus, I could feel Alex’s body, like the Fenerec within Dominic’s house, struggling to heal the damage being done to it.

Bit by bit, he was failing.

I thought about it. When the fever had been raging through me, I had cooled it with ice. I couldn’t tell if it had died, but I’d felt relief. Maybe I couldn’t cure the plague completely, but could I summon the cold again and buy him time that way?

The wolf within feared for Alex and her desperation clawed at me. I feared for Alex, too—and not just for Richard’s sake.

All I could do was try. I drew electricity from the street lights, tapping into the main power lines. Static crackled over my fur. I shivered at the chill of ice spreading from my paws. I heard it crackle, sweeping up my chest until my breath froze in my lungs. Alex’s heat burned my frigid nose. He tried to pull away, but I opened my mouth and touched my fangs to his throat.

“W-what are you d-doing?” Alex’s teeth chattered.

The wolf within panicked and I silenced both her and Alex with a low rumbling growl.

Alex’s skin writhed and shifted beneath my teeth. I bit harder, tasting blood on my tongue. He froze, but I could feel him struggling not to join with the wolf hidden inside of him. If Alex transformed, he would die. I couldn’t let him.

Richard had left him with me. Richard couldn’t protect his brother. The task of protecting Alex belonged to me.

I focused on the fever. If I could lower his temperature and restrain the plague, maybe he had a chance. Maybe I could chill the virus enough for him to transform without dying. I needed to buy him enough time for me to discover a real cure for the plague.

Heat burned through me, entering my mouth and searing down into my stomach. I shuddered from the pain, drawing more of the cold to me. I meant to shift my weight, but I couldn’t move. Ice encased me and its chill reached out to embrace Alex as well.

I stole more of the fever-heat from Alex. As I absorbed the energy, the temperature dropped around me. Someone cried out in alarm. It wasn’t Alex; while he trembled against me, he didn’t make a sound.

It felt like an eternity, but Alex’s temperature lowered. While the plague was still within him, it fell into torpor. I could sense the other illnesses within him, but the plague no longer controlled them.

The wolf within observed through me and her relief became my own.

I opened my eyes to the falling of glittering snow. It swirled down, melting as it struck the ground. Ice clung to my fur; what hadn’t fallen out bleached to a bluish white. I flexed my paws and a shower of frost broke away fell to the ground. I released Alex’s neck, sat back, and stared up at him. With wide eyes, he lifted a hand to his throat, touching where I had bitten him. The puncture marks closed, leaving behind a few bloodied smears.

“What have you done?” he whispered, reaching out to touch my neck. I leaned away from him. Along my shoulder, a coat of white fur replaced the patches mange and abuse had rubbed away.

I turned my ears back, annoyed with my inability to communicate with him. When Alex didn’t move, I lifted my paw and pointed at Dominic’s house.

“I can’t. I’ve been given my orders,” was his bitter reply.

I shook myself off, sending another cascade of snow and ice flying off my coat. Snow continued to fall, although I wasn’t trying to influence the temperature any longer. The street lights dimmed and flickered. I lurched towards the front gate, turning to stare at Alex.

“You’re going to get me in trouble.”

That didn’t stop him from following me. A cop car with its lights flashing screeched to a halt at the gate. With a shocked start, I recognized Detective Harding as he got out of the car..

“Who’s in charge?” Harding bellowed.

Alex muttered a few curses, checked the street for other cars, and ran over to the police car. I followed, wondering why the detective had come. Was Dominic’s house even in his jurisdiction?

Harding caught sight of me and his eyes widened.

“I guess that’s me,” Alex said as he came to a halt in front of Detective Harding. He held out his hand. “I’m Alex Murphy.”

“You’re a Fenerec,” Harding said, though his eyes never left me and his stance remained tensed.

“I’m the Second of the Yellowknife Pack, sir. Who might you be?”

“Detective Harding. An Inquisitor called me about some bodies?”

I gawked at the detective in shock. Harding
knew
about the Inquisition?  Did that mean
Harding
was an Inquisitor? I shuddered. How close had I come to capture when Scott had died? Had the man suspected me of being anything other than a Normal?

Alex made a thoughtful noise. “From my understanding, there are at least two dead from gunshot wounds and one other.”

“One other?” Harding’s gaze flickered from me to Alex. “More Fenerec business?”

“I’m sorry, Detective Harding. I haven’t been to the scene yet.” Alex pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Richard? What’s going on? There’s a cop out here asking questions.”

While faint, the wolf’s keen hearing could make out Richard’s voice on the other end of the line. “One of the Inquisition’s?”

“I believe so.” Alex covered the cell’s microphone with his hand. “Which division are you with?”

“Police or Inquisition?” Harding asked.

“Inquisition.”

“Los Angeles’s Main Headquarters.”

Alex dutifully informed his brother of Harding’s affiliation.

“Send him in. Warn him it’s bad,” Richard snarled, and I heard more wolf than man in the Fenerec’s voice. Alex relayed Richard’s message.

“Who was that?”

Hanging up , Alex gestured towards the opened gate. “Richard Murphy is the Alpha of my pack, Detective Harding. He is with Mr. Desmond and Ms. Arlington, an Inquisition witch. I better come with you. He says I should warn you that it’s pretty bad in there.” Alex smelled of fear. He looked down at me. “You better come too. If Richard finds out I let you out of my sight for even a minute…”

At a loss of how to tell Alex I wasn’t amused by his submission to Richard or the idea of going back to Dominic’s house, I settled on a glower. The snow fell harder.

“I know who Amber is. She’s the one who called me. What
are
you doing here, anyway? I wasn’t aware we had Canadians in our territory.”

“I’m not sure how much I can tell you,” Alex admitted, heading towards the gate. “Mr. Desmond’s daughter was here when her Inquisition phone was broken.”

Harding hissed, “Wait, Mr. Desmond? The Fenerec?”

I put my ears back. Did everyone know who my father was? What was so special about my father? Richard respected him, but I hadn’t gotten the feeling he was a well-known person.

“Yes,
that
Mr. Desmond. Richard’s with him, so hopefully more heads won’t roll.” Alex nudged me with his knee, shaking his head a little. Puzzled, I sat next to him and tried to figure out what the Fenerec was trying to tell me.

“So the emergency signal triggered?”

“Yes. The phone registered two different blows, so whoever broke it did intentionally. The phone continued transmitting a signal for a while. It hadn’t changed positions up until the point the signal was lost.” Alex hesitated, sighed, and shrugged. “Miss Desmond was aware of the phone’s properties and how to trigger them. She was supposed to be picked up from here at six, but when Mr. Desmond arrived, no one was answering the gate and the house looked quiet. Without a warrant or permission, we couldn’t enter private property of a Normal. It stayed that way until we heard gunfire.”

“And Miss Desmond was not one of the victims?”

“No.”

“So there’s several bodies and a missing woman. Is there anything else I should know?”

“From my understanding, the Normal wasn’t supposed to have any known relationships with any paranormals
or
the Fenerec.” Alex led the way to the gate. I considered hiding, but sighed and thought better of it. I had no way of knowing how long I had suppressed the plague for. If I wanted to protect him, I had to stay near him. “When the gate opened, we took that to be an invitation to enter.”

“Gunfire gave you just cause to go in,” Harding assured Alex.

I listened to their conversation apprehensively. It’d only be a matter of time before my guilt was made known. I had killed two men. They deserved it. With chilling horror, I realized I would do it again if necessary.

Guilt smothered me; not only had I killed two men, I didn’t want to face what I had done.

I felt the wolf’s approval and couldn’t sense anything from the moonstone.

When Alex and Detective Harding passed through the gates, I followed in their wake.

~~*~~

Someone I didn’t know met us halfway down the driveway. He reeked of fear. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t a Fenerec. He cleared his throat. “Which one of you is the cop?”

Detective Harding looked down at his uniform and then glared at the man. “That would be me.”

“They’re inside, sir.” The man hiccuped, covered his mouth, and headed for the gate. He only made it a few feet before he bent over retching.

“Another one of
those,
” Detective Harding muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”

The double doors leading into Dominic’s house were open. Every light in the house was on. Someone had set up several spotlights in the front yard, not far from where I had shot Dominic and Patrick. Amber met us as we drew closer to the house, and she stared at Alex with her mouth gaping open. “You came?”

“Richard sounded like he might need me.”

“That’s an understatement,” Amber muttered. “I left before the fur started flying. You’re our LAPD chap? I’m Amber.” She held out her hand to Detective Harding.

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Harding replied, shaking Amber’s hand. “What’s the situation?”

“One Fenerec is dead from plague, the owner of the house is dead from a gunshot wound, along with one other. Judging from his personal effects and the statement of a witness, he was an unregistered sorcerer.”

“There’s a witness?”

“Three of them, though I’m afraid two of them aren’t fit to talk right now.” Shuddering, Amber pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “It’s complicated, but two men were thrown through windows when they got a little too aggressive with a Fenerec. I think they’ll live, but they’ll need an ambulance.”

“I’ll call Headquarters for a dispatch. Who is the owner of the house?”

“Dominic Calveno. He was an—”

“Agent for movie stars,” Detective Harding interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’ve met. We’ve spoken several times regarding one of his clients, one Nicole Thomas.”

Amber coughed, glancing over her shoulder. “Mr. Desmond is Miss Thomas’s father, Detective Harding.”

Detective Harding made a strangled noise. “Pardon?”

I put my ears back. Alex reached down and tugged at my fur. I wondered what he was trying to tell me.

“I’m Nicole’s witch and she’s Mr. Desmond’s daughter.” Amber straightened, hands on her hips in a defiant posture.

Amber was
my
witch? What did she mean by that? I knew she was a witch, but I hadn’t put any sort of claim on her. I hadn’t hired her, either—that had been Richard’s doing.

Clearing his throat, Alex caught Amber by the shoulders, spun her around, and gave her a gentle push. “Why don’t you take us to my brother, Amber.”

“What
are
you doing here? Richard told you—”

“Just take us to my brother. Please.”

“He’s going to kill you first. When he’s done, he’s going to kill me. I hope this makes you happy, Alex.” Amber stomped down the hall. I waited for Detective Harding and Alex to follow her before trailing behind them. As we drew closer, the metallic stench of blood froze me in my tracks. I shook at the memory of pulling the trigger.