“Why the hell were you downtown yesterday?”
“I was following Jorgen. I’d like to slit his throat.”
And he was supposed to be the good guy? Only in his own mind. “Viktor—” I said, and started pulling the phone away from my ear.
“Don’t hang up on me! You’re lucky! No one warned my father. He didn’t know how ruthless they could be.” Viktor snarled on the far end of the line, an animal sound. “There’ll come a time, soon, when Deepest Snow will rue the day, I promise you. Next time you see one of them, tell them that.”
He hung up on me, and my phone showed me the time. It was six fifteen, and I still had to get ready for a date.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The first thing I did was text Sike. “Heard of House Grey?” I waited while brushing my teeth and then gave up on a response.
Lucas knocked on my door precisely at seven P.M. I opened my door and sidled out so he couldn’t see behind me.
“See? I showered.” He looked like he’d tried far harder than I had, wearing a white dress shirt, black suit jacket, and skinny tie. Compared with him I was significantly underdressed. I had on jeans and a baggy sweater that hid my silver belt buckle underneath.
I looked him up and down. “Did I miss where you invited me to prom? Or were you going to tell me about the Book of Mormon?”
He winced, picking at a sleeve. “I haven’t had much time to shop for new clothing since I got here, what with the fighting, the leading my new pack, the dealing with my family, and the guarding you. To be fair, someone else guarded you today while I slept, showered, and found this at the bottom of my suitcase. I think the last time I wore this was at a funeral. Which I realize is morbid, now that I’ve said it out loud.” He took a step back, making room for me to walk forward. “Where are we going to eat?”
I would have punted the decision back to him, but he was new to town, and for someone who was allegedly full of lies and possibly wanted to kill me, he appeared really uncomfortable in his old suit. I took pity on him. “There’s a burger place up a few exits, not too far. If you’re not afraid of getting ketchup on your shirt, that is.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
I waited till we were buckled in and on the road to ask questions. “So tell me about Viktor.”
Lucas shook his head. “We haven’t caught him yet. We’re still looking.”
“Every ship but your four fastest,” I murmured to myself. Not that I was sure I wanted Viktor to get caught. “What’s his history?”
“His father’s pack and my uncle’s pack were in a territory war. Not as humans, but as wolves—every moon, vicious, vicious fights. They threatened to spill over into human time, and neither one of them would back down. My uncle Winter and Fenris Sr. called a truce, and Viktor’s father went along with them into a room. Only Winter came out.”
“Take the exit here. See the sign up there? That’s where we’re going.” I pointed, and Lucas nodded as he hit his turn signal. “Do you think Winter was on the up-and-up?”
“Are you asking me if I think he killed his own son and lied about it to stay in power?”
“I suppose I am.”
I could almost hear the gears turning in Lucas’s mind before he next spoke. “It’s what the gossips have always said. He was my father’s brother. He must have at least considered it.”
“That’s harsh.”
“You should meet my dad.” Lucas’s hands tightened around the steering wheel for a fraction of a second.
“Would you have done that, if you were him? If you needed to? To clear the field?”
Lucas’s head pulled back like he’d been hit. “No. Or I want to say no now.” He looked over at me. “Being pack leader—they say it changes you. But Winter’s always been an angry man.” Lucas snorted. “It’s probably what’s keeping him alive now, the two extra decades of hate.”
The light changed; Lucas turned and went on. “I can’t say what went on in that room. I know what happened afterward, though. Winter said Viktor’s father attacked and killed Fenris Sr., and we had to believe him. We killed all their high-ranking wolves and assimilated the rest by force. Viktor was only ten. Younger than Fenris Jr. is now. It’s why we let him live. A symbolic gesture toward peace—a fragile figurehead.”
“Not so fragile anymore.”
“No. Not if he’s attacking you.” The neon light of the burger joint was shining down on us orange and friendly as we parked. A car with booming bass parked beside us, full of humans with normal lives. Lucas hit his parking brake, then turned toward me. “You’re not the only one with questions tonight, Edie.”