Wolves among men (33 page)

“
You did well today, man.”
He smiled as he patted me on the back roughly.

“
You think so?”

“
Yeah.” He nodded. “You’re
going to be fine.” He smiled as he held the door open for me. I
stepped inside and it was only a matter of seconds before I spotted
Sam and Cordillia perched at a small round table near the front
window. I left Matt’s side and moved over to them quickly, eager to
sit down and recoup.

“
So how was training?”
Cordillia smiled up at me as I took a seat next to her.

“
Not too bad, didn’t kill
anyone.” I shrugged. “Looks like your day was productive.” I added
as I pointed out a light purple bruise that had begun to show on
her shoulder just above the thick jagged scar our encounter at the
diner had left her with.

“
Yeah.” She chuckled as
she looked down at it. “Recoil takes some getting used to I guess.”
I nodded. I had never handled a gun let alone fired one in my life,
taking her word for it was the only option I had.

“
So how was Matt out
there?” Sam asked as she pushed a red plastic cup toward me with a
smile. I shrugged as I lifted it to my lips and relished in the
sweet reliving burn I felt as it flooded my throat and quenched the
fire that burned from a hard day’s work. I slammed the empty cup
down on the table and sighed with a smile.

“
He was a typical general
I guess,” I added with another shrug. “He was good with the kids
though.” She nodded as she stared down at her cup with a smile,
tracing the rim with her painted fingers as I watched her. “What
about you?”

“
Huh?” She looked up at
me. “What about me?”

“
What did you
find?”

“
Oh.” She smiled as she
pushed the glass away. “Well the tunnels are mostly caved in and
there’s really no way to get in from above ground but I can’t be
sure until I get some more time to look around.” I looked up as
Cordillia took my cup and walked away from us, leaving Sam and I
alone.

“
What’s on your mind?’ I
asked as I reached over to get her attention.

“
What? Nothing. Why?” she
answered quickly.

“
You’re a terrible liar.”
I smirked.

“
And you’re a nosy
friend.” She chuckled lightly.

“
Okay.” I leaned back in
my chair. “I won’t pry.”

“
Thank you that would be
nice.” She laughed lightly as Cordillia sat back down next to me,
pushing a freshly filled cup in my direction.

“
So how did you do with
the gun?” I asked, turning my attention to my sister. She shrugged
as a smile crept across her lips.

“
Pretty good I
think.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Grant says I have a
talent or something.”

“
That’s good.” I nodded.
“That’s really good.”

“
Yeah?” She smiled over at
me nervously.

“
Look I know I was being
kind of a pain in the ass about it.”

“
Ethan, don’t.” She
smiled, putting her hand up to stop me.

“
Don’t what?”

“
Don’t apologize for
looking out for me, it’s your job.” I nodded my head slowly. She
was right. I wanted her to feel useful, hell I was proud of her for
being able to take care of herself the way she had been and even
though I still wanted to keep her locked away safely in a room
until it was all over a bigger part of me understood that it wasn’t
about what I wanted but what she needed to make this situation
right for her.

My thoughts were interrupted by Mack
as he sat down heavily next to me and handed me Roberts hand
written note with a smile.

“
Hey, man, what’s up?” I
smiled as I took the paper from him and shoved it deep into my
pocket.

“
Not much.” He smiled. “We
found your guy.” My face lit up and my thoughts did too as I grew
excited to hear every tiny detail about our mystery man.

“
Yeah, so who the hell is
he?” I asked with a smile.

“
Well it turns out that
Bryant here is an old world war two vet that came up against a
group like us and survived.”

“
Really? But he’s human? I
thought it was supposed to be nearly impossible for them to fight
us.”

“
Yes and no.” Mack nodded.
“He says that he hid more than anything but after the war he spent
a good chunk of time hunting us and according to this guy during
the war Hitler or rather some of his doctors were making wolves out
of soldiers to try and get some kind of advantage in
battle.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah really, don’t tell
me that actually surprises you?”

“
Why wouldn’t
it?”

“
Come on, man,” He smiled.
“The Nazi’s would have done anything to gain the upper
hand.”

“
True but werewolves? How
did they even know about us?”

“
Legends about werewolves
are pretty heavy in Germany,” Cordillia added.

“
She’s right.” Mack nodded
as I turned my attention to her.

“
Look at the old Grimm
fairy tales, those weren’t meant to be children’s bedtime
stories.”

“
But that doesn’t really
explain how we went from being fairy tales to a viable war strategy
in Nazi Germany.”

“
Well,” Mack sighed.
“Maybe our little friend can shed some light on that for
us.”

“
True.” I
nodded.

“
Do you think he can help
us find Malik?” Cordillia asked sweetly.

“
There’s a chance,
sweetheart.” He smiled as he looked over at her. He turned his
attention back to me and grinned. “So the good news is he wants to
help.”

“
He wants to
what?”

“
Help, Jesus man don’t you
listen?” He chuckled. Cordillia laughed lightly from behind me and
I couldn’t help but join in.

“
Sorry, it’s just a lot to
take in.”

“
Okay well there’s one
last thing,”

“
What’s that?” I looked up
at him expectantly.

“
He’s coming tomorrow
morning to tell us what he knows.”

“
Wow,” I exclaimed. “You
tracked him down in a day.” Mack scoffed and shook his
head.

“
Screw that, no, too much
work. I called and asked.” I laughed loudly and shook my
head.

“
Really? No need to be
subtle about it huh?” I spoke as my laughter began to die
down.

“
This is war, man, no use
for subtlety.” He grinned. “How are you doing with the sharp
shooting there miss?” He nodded toward Cordillia. She smiled
happily and crossed her arms on the table in front of
her.

“
Good, Grant says I got
talent.”

“
Well Grant’s never
wrong.” He smiled. “He also rarely compliments so take that as an
honor, little lady.”

He winked at her before standing and
leaving us to entertain ourselves. After the long day we’d had and
the early morning that was to come, I could feel the pangs of a
much needed sleep behind my eyes.

“
I don’t know about you
but I’m ready for bed,” Cordillia muttered as she rubbed her
eyes.

“
Did Grant show you to
your room?” She smiled and nodded her head gently.

“
Yeah but I told him I
would rather sleep in yours for now.”

“
Really, why?”

“
Come on, Ethan,” She
rolled her eyes and smiled. “The last time I slept alone I was
kidnapped by a group of supernatural creatures that tried to use me
as a bartering chip to win a war.” She laughed heavily as she
spoke, “I kind of want to bypass all of that and just get some
freaking sleep.”

“
Okay,” I chuckled. “I
can’t say that I blame you.” I stood and smiled as I offered her my
hand and pulled her into a quick hug. “You go on ahead, I’ll be
right behind you.” She nodded as she pulled away and disappeared
through the large double doors, letting them close behind her with
a loud clap. I turned to Sam, her eyes still fixed on nothing as
she sipped from her cup gingerly. I offered her my hand and waited
as she looked up at me slowly.

“
What?”

“
Let’s go for a walk.” I
smiled down at her. She shook her head softly and turned her eyes
back to her cup. “That wasn’t a question, Sam.” She looked up at me
quickly and opened her mouth to protest. I shook my head and waved
my hand at her, waiting patiently as she thought about my offer.
Finally she slid her hand into mine and allowed me to help her out
of her chair.

“
I just want to go to bed,
Ethan, really.”

“
Okay,” I nodded. “then
let me walk you there.” I offered her my arm and waited as she
looked up at me, a soft smile shaping her lips as she snaked her
arm in mine and chuckled lightly as I walked her out of the
building and into the cool night air.

Slowly and without purpose, we walked
through the courtyard past the abandoned tables, past the small
group of boys that embellished proudly their accomplishments of the
day and past the thick line of Apple trees that hid the living
quarters from plain sight.

“
It’s my daughter’s
birthday tomorrow.” Sam sighed as I reached to pull the heavy metal
door open. I stopped, letting my fingers slide off of the handle
and turned to face her. “That’s what’s on my mind since you’re so
curious to know.” She leaned back against the apple tree behind her
and turned her eyes to the ground.

“
You have a daughter?” I
lied. I wasn’t sure if her past was something I was meant to know
about but judging by the soft smirk that crossed her lips she knew
as well as everyone else that I was a terrible liar.

“
I know you talked to
James.”

“
Yeah?” I rubbed the back
of my neck nervously as she looked up at me.

“
You know I had a
daughter,” her voice wavered as she turned her eyes back to the
ground. “You know what happened to us, I know that.” I leaned back
against the tree behind me and shoved my hands deep into my
pockets.

“
How old was she?” Sam
sniffed loudly and smiled.

“
Eleven,” she looked up at
me with a weak smile. “She’d just turned eleven two days before…”
She trailed off and shook her head.

“
You okay?” I asked
softly. She looked up at me and nodded, a weak half smile crossed
her face as she met my worried gaze.

“
Yeah, I mean it’s rough
but I’ve had over a hundred years to kind of put things in their
place you know.” I chuckled.

“
It still bothers you
though.”

“
Oh what? Are you talking
about tonight?” I nodded. “Just because I’ve made peace with what
happened doesn’t mean I don’t still have my regrets but I’m
okay.”

“
You sure about that?” Sam
yawned loudly and nodded.

“
Yeah I’m sure.” I didn’t
believe her, not fully anyway but somewhere deep within my instinct
I knew it was better not to question. I nodded and smiled over at
her before reaching to pull the heavy metal door open and hold it
steady as she slid past me.

“
You know,” I began as I
matched my stride to hers. “If you need to talk-”

“
Thanks.” She smiled over
at me before I could even finish my offer. “Really I appreciate it
but I’m okay.” We stopped at her door and I nodded as she crossed
her arms at her chest and chewed her lip nervously. I nodded and
smiled over at her, wishing there was more that I could do but
knowing somewhere deep down that there was no easing a pain like
that.

I pulled her into one last hug before
saying goodnight and disappearing into my room. Cordillia groaned
as I crawled into bed and rolled onto my side and as I closed my
eyes allowing the soft lull of sleep to wash over me I could have
sworn I heard the sound of soft crying echoing from somewhere far
away.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Groaning loudly, I buried my face deep
into my pillow as the incessant sounds of knocking echoed through
my room and shook me from my sleep. There hadn’t been a day since I
arrived where I was allowed to wake up on my own terms but times
being what they were I had no choice but to set aside my personal
comfort and do just what was asked.