Secret of the Wolf(44)

Tobias seemed to realize he was treading on quicksand, for he leaned back in his chair with a low grunt and kept quiet.

"Getting back to the most pressing matter at hand," Caladh said as he rested his forearms on the table. "Do you know where your brother is at least?"

"I don't." Tori knew she wasn't scoring any points here. "But I give you my word, if I find him I will bring him in." She couldn't cut him any more slack. Not now, not after he'd killed people. Not after he'd attacked Dante and Lily.

"I'm sure you understand why we don't trust your word." Vida's tone was as dry as cemetery dust. "You have failed us, Victoria. In no small way."

Tori glanced at the three councilors. The sadness in Caladh's eyes held her.

"Go home," he told her. "We will contact the rest of the council and determine the punishment fitting of such dereliction of duty." His voice softer, he said, "While I personally can understand your inaction, even your desire to believe the best of your brother, I cannot excuse the fact that because you did not speak up, lives have been forever altered. Lives have been lost." He looked over her shoulder at the security guard standing by the chamber doors. "Jeff, you and Conal go with her."

So they were placing Tori under house arrest, sending her home with a werecat and a fey warrior. It wasn't like she had even thought about running, but they were going to make sure she didn't.

Caladh turned a stern gaze on her. "If you hear from your brother … "

"I'll let you know."

"You'd better." This came from Vida.

They dismissed her, and she turned and walked out of the chamber with her head held as high as she could. She knew she'd screwed up, but what else could she have done? She didn't have concrete evidence that Rand had gone rogue. A hunch wasn't enough to turn in her only brother. As soon as she'd had definitive proof, she had come forward.

Only it had been too late to keep Lily from being hurt. Damn it. She should have said something sooner. Whatever punishment the council decided to lay on her, she deserved it.

"Hang on a minute," Jeff said. He went to the security desk, picked up the telephone receiver, and punched in a number. When it was picked up on the other end, he said, "You and I have guard duty." He listened for a moment, then muttered, "Tori Joseph." He glanced at her. "I'll explain it later. Just get up here. We need to go." He hung up the phone and walked back to her. "At least they didn't tell me to chain you up," he said softly, a slight smile tilting one side of his mouth.

Just then Vida came out of the chamber holding a silver bangle.

Tori drew in a breath and extended her arm. The werewolf councilor fastened the bangle around her wrist, using a small key to lock it in place. She pocketed the key and went back into the chamber.

"You were saying?" Tori asked, trying to ignore the slight discomfort she felt from the silver against her skin. At least it was no longer a full moon. She didn't want to go through that again.

Though she should prepare herself. That might be what the council decided was warranted.

"Sorry." Jeff appeared as uncomfortable with the situation as Tori was.

She heard the door to the basement open and looked to see CookeSnal Riordan headed their way. The fey warrior was about six five or six, broad shouldered, lean hipped, with a loose stride that would put a cowboy to shame. He wore a gun strapped to his thigh. Dark hair brushed his shoulders, and green eyes held irritation as they fell on Tori. "I was winning," he muttered. "Aces over eights."

"That's the dead man's hand," Jeff said. "It's probably best we interrupted the poker game."

"Hey, just 'cause Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back while holding that hand doesn't mean everyone who draws those cards is going to die." Con scowled at Jeff as he stopped beside them. "Are we ready?"

Tori sighed. She wasn't scoring points with anyone today. "Let's go, boys," she murmured. They exited the building and she stopped beside her Mini Cooper. "How do we want to do this?"

Con took one look at the vehicle and scowled. "You ride with her. I'll drive my car."

Yeah, she figured he'd have a hard time folding that big body into her Mini. Without a word, Jeff got in the passenger seat. Tori seated herself behind the wheel and started the car, waiting until she saw Con pull his cherry-red Camaro behind her. She pulled out and drove home, making sure not to lose Con at any traffic lights.

Once at home, she parked the Mini in the carport and headed inside, Jeff and Con right behind her. As soon as she unlocked the front door and pushed it open, she knew something was wrong. So did her bodyguards. Con immediately shoved her behind him. "Stay with her," he said.

Obviously not talking to her.

Rand was home-she could smell him. There was also another person's scent, one she hadn't smelled in over a week. Stefan. He'd been here, too.

She could also smell blood. Someone had been wounded. Rand? She put her weight on one foot and then the other, anxious to get inside to check on her brother.

In a few seconds, Con called out, "Tori, you should get back here."

She ran to her brother's bedroom and found him on the floor. Con was already on the phone talking to dispatch. She vaguely heard him order an ambulance and a security force.

Tori knelt beside Rand. His green eyes were glazed with pain. Blood stained the right side of his shirt. She unbuttoned it and carefully lifted the material away from him. A bullet wound between his fourth and fifth ribs still oozed blood. Now she knew which one of them had been hurt.

"Damned cop had silver bullets," Rand muttered from between clenched teeth. "Last shot caught me in the side." He gave a short laugh that ended in a moan. "That hurts. Bullet's still in me."

She looked up at Con.

"Ambulance should be here in a few minutes," he said.

Turning her gaze back to her brother, she asked, "You attacked Lily with a bullet in your side?" At the thought of Dante's sister lying on the floor, bleeding from several bites, anger flooded her anew. Rand was damned lucky he was hurt, or he'd have gotten it from her.

He gave a weak nod. "I thought if I shifted to human and back to wolf again it would push the bullet out, but I think it made things worse." He coughed and then groaned.

"Why, Rand? Why did you attack Dante? Even worse, why would you attack his sister?"

Rand's lips tightened. "The cop had it coming. He was taking you away from me. As for the girl … " He coughed, blood mixed with spittle coating his mouth. "She was in the way. I followed you that night, you know. When you went there for dinner and spent the night with him. I saw him put the device into his gun safe the next morning. I knew Stefan would be pleased if I were to return it to him." He looked highly satisfied with himself. "Pluims puts, I wanted to make the cop suffer. He shot me."

"You attacked him!" Part of Tori wanted to shush him, keep him from talking about the rift device in front of the two guards, but the larger part of her didn't care. She needed answers, because she didn't understand his reasoning. Had he lost his grip on reality? "They're my friends, Rand. I can't believe you would … " She reached out and grabbed a jacket off the end of his bed and draped it over him. "I don't understand any of this. Why did you do it?"

"I never meant … I didn't want to betray you," Rand whispered. "That's why the other attacks happened outside of your jurisdiction. I didn't want to jeopardize your job."

"Oh, give me a freaking break." Tori was torn between being worried for him and just being plain mad. "Admit it. You didn't want me to catch on to what you were up to. Besides, the last attack where you killed someone took place in my quadrant."

"I lost control. I got a taste for flesh. For blood." He coughed and winced. "Stefan said … " He bit his lip and then met her eyes. "He said that I could prove my worth to those in the group who didn't have faith in me. He said I could join him. I could be one of his lieutenants if I turned people." He drew in a breath and then winced. "I needed something to believe. Someone to believe."

"Rand, there are all kinds of things you could have chosen to believe in, like honor, courage, and virtue, which mean more than money and power. That money and power mean nothing if you've sacrificed your integrity for them. And, maybe most important, that good always wins over evil. Always." She stared down at him. Lifting a hand, she stroked the hair at his temple. "Those are things worth believing in, aren't they?"

"Maybe." His breath rattled in his throat. "What if I needed more? I've never been strong like you. Independent, not caring what other people think of you. I care. I wanted to have someone, just one person, look at me and say, ‘There goes a man who's made a difference.'"

"Instead, you've helped increase the tension between humanity and the rest of us. You've probably cost me my job." She held up her wrist to show him the silver wrapped around it. "And you hurt people I care about."

He didn't seem fazed by her accusation or by her current predicament. He ran his tongue over his dry lips. "But in the end the cop and his sister are fine, aren't they? I mean, they didn't die. And you, you're good at a lot of things. You'll be able to get another job. Me, on the other hand … Stefan's been in touch with people in the other dimension. Additional holding cells are being built and criminals of all species are ready to be stripped of their bodies so they can start new lives here on Earth. There'll be even more of us."