The same twisting dark bonds that had locked Rose up were present in the wolf. Same pattern, same flow towards an intricate knot I could sense but not unravel.
Same faint heartbeat beneath it.
I stumbled back too quickly and ended up on my ass against the wall. I knew what Bernie Barnes was up to. I knew where all his power was coming from. The emaciated bodies filled in the final puzzle piece.
It shouldn’t have been possible, but somehow he had found a way to paralyze shifters and then cannibalize their innate power for his own spells.
“He’s not dead, is he? He’s like mom. That’s what mom is gonna be. No, no,” Harper cried out and started to come around the desk.
“Get her out of here, Levi,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “I’ll meet you guys at the car. Go!”
Levi’s eyes met mine and he nodded gravely, understanding what I meant to do. He grabbed Harper’s arm and yanked her toward the door we’d come in. “Come on, kid. We need to get out of here.”
Tears streaming down her face, she looked at me and then nodded bleakly.
I waited until they were through the door and out of sight before I walked over to the shelf and picked up one of the daggers. I wanted to cuss Alek and his stupid fucking visions right out, but it wasn’t him who had done this. His vision was about to come true, in a way, but it was my choice. I’m good at lying and at running, but I try not to lie to myself too much. It’s a bad habit.
I stood over the wolf, my hand shaking as I held the dagger. I knew I should drive it into the wolf’s heart. Which would make me a killer.
Warmth spread through me as a furry head butted into my side, rocking me on my feet. Wolf, my guardian, materialized beside me and nudged my arm again. I looked at her through blurred vision. The tears I’d been trying to shed in the last two days were here finally, stinging as they ran down my cheeks.
“Okay,” I whispered, “Message received.”
I knelt and drove the dagger into the wolf’s chest.
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
Chapter 8
We didn’t have to track Alek down. He was waiting for us outside the game shop when we arrived after a silent and tense car ride.
“We know who it is.”
“He has Ezee.”
“He has my brother.”
All three of us spoke on top of each other and Alek held up a hand.
“One at a time, and maybe not out here?” He looked at me and frowned. “I smell blood.”
“I’m fine,” I said. I pulled out my keys, bumping my bruised hip as I did so. Another painful reminder that I wasn’t fine. Nothing was. Again I felt irrational anger at Alek for coming into my world and wrecking everything. Two days ago everything had been normal. Now, my life was ruined. Again.
Inside the shop, Levi and I quickly explained what had happened at the school. I pushed the miniatures to the side and Levi laid out the map we’d found. Harper sat heavily in my chair behind the desk and booted up my computer.
“Think he actually works there? We can find out who he really is on the faculty page, I think,” she said. Her face was too calm, her eyes puffy but clear. She had the hollow look of someone who had suffered too much pain too quickly and burned down to an empty core of rage.
I knew that feeling. I knew that look. Intimately. I was halfway there myself. The other half? Sheer terror.
“I’m going upstairs to get a new shirt,” I said.
Alek followed me. I wasn’t really surprised.
“If we are going to talk,” I said, “Then you better do that silence ward thingy you did last night.” Fuck. Only last night I’d been bleeding in my bathtub. Two nights ago I’d been plotting how to sucker my players into their latest adventure and rolling up stats on a Liche Lord.
Silvery magic slipped over the walls of my bedroom. I pulled out a batman tee-shirt and pulled off the bloody hoodie and my torn up shirt. I kept my back to Alek and he waited until I was clothed again before speaking.
“This Bernie Barnes, he’s a sorcerer like you?” he asked.
So, he had figured out what I was. Guess that wasn’t really a surprise.
“No. He’s using rituals, which I guess makes him a warlock. The magic isn’t inside him, he’s stealing it. I think that’s what the ley line map and his notes are about.” I sat heavily on my bed and looked down at my hands. There was dried blood under my nails. Awesome. Tears threatened again. Twenty plus years without crying and now I was about to do it twice in a day. More awesome.