Secret of the Wolf(45)

"New lives? Or will they just keep doing what they've been doing, only in a new place?" She could hardly believe what she was hearing. How had all of this been going on under her nose and she'd had no clue?

"Stefan told me I would be a leader when the next Influx happened." His eyes held pleading. "There isn't a whole lot I'm good at. But making people like us … " His eyes took on the shine of fanaticism. "That was something I could do." Pride joined the madness. "And I was good at it, wasn't I? None of you had a clue who the rogue was." A slight smile curled his lips, before his eyes fluttered then closed, and he slumped in her arms.

Her heart stuttered, but then she saw his chest moving. She blew out a sigh of relief. Even though he'd done terrible things, she didn't want him to die, though that outcome would most likely come about once the council rendered their verdict. He was still her brother, and she loved him.

"We know who the rogue is now, don't we?" she whispered, fighting back tears. "So in the end you weren't good at that, either."

She sat with her unconscious brother, two burly bodyguards standing behind her, and waited for the ambulance.
                       
       
           



       Chapter Twenty
The next morning, Dante woke from a restless sleep with a crick in his neck from sitting in a chair at Lily's bedside. Seeing that she still slept, he rose as quietly as he could and stretched, biting back a groan as stiff muscles protested the movement. He stared at his sister. The bruises on her face were gone, the split lip healed. She looked as if nothing had happened.

Except she had been forever changed. And he, he would go on as before. Human, with a finite life span. The knowledge had eaten away at him ever since the doctor had confirmed Lily's transition just after midnight, though Dante and Lily had both known it before then. His sister had taken the news better than he had, and in the light of day, he had to admit it could have been worse.

She could be dead. At least now she'd be around a long, long time.

He used the bathroom and then washed his hands. He splashed cold water on his face and rinsed his mouth out. When he came out of the lavatory, Lily was awake. "Good mornin'," he said, sitting on the mattress beside her. "How're you feelin'?"

Her smile was more carefree than he'd seen it in a long while. "I feel great." Her smile faded. "But you look like crap. Have you been here all night?"

"Thanks. And, yeah, I have." He took her hand in his. "I couldn't go home until I knew you were gonna be all right."

"I'm gonna be fine, Dante. I can feel it." She turned her head to stare out the window. "It's terrifying and wonderful at the same time." She looked at him, her eyes dark and wide. "It's a little creepy to be honest, but I know I'll be okay."

"Do you … feel different?" He couldn't contain his curiosity. Not too long ago he'd thought perhaps he'd be going through this same thing, after all.

She tilted her head to one side, considering, then her gaze met his again. "Everything looks brighter. Smells are crisper, and my sense of touch … " She turned her hand over to grip his. "It's almost like I can feel the ridges in your fingertips."

"That particular sense will fade soon."

Dante turned toward the voice from the doorway. It was Ash.

"You'll keep your enhanced sense of smell and vision, and wait until you eat something for the first time … " The werewolf liaison gave a brief smile. "Your sense of taste, well, you'll be amazed." He looked at Dante. "Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

"Sure." Dante glanced at Lily. With a squeeze of her fingers, he said, "I'll be right back."

"I'll be here," she said with a smile.

He went with Ash down to the end of the hallway. "What's up?" Dante asked.

"I want to talk to you about a couple of things." Ash leaned one shoulder against the wall. "First off, how's your sister?"

Dante lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Physically she's fine. The wounds are gone and she's in no pain. Emotionally, she seems to be adjusting surprisingly well."

"It happens that way sometimes. It'll hit her a little later and she'll have second thoughts." Ash held Dante's gaze. "We'll make sure she's all right, man. You can count on that."

"I know you will." Dante pushed aside the thought that the best personake to help his sister was Tori. He'd have to figure out later where she fit into his life, if anywhere. Right now he was too angry with her.

"Okay, next thing." Ash took a breath and blew it out between pursed lips. "I realize you and I don't know each other all that well, and if I'm really stepping out of line, you let me know." His eyes met Dante's. "As you can imagine, Tori's in real trouble here."

"She should be." Anger that Dante had managed to bury beneath worry for his sister roared to the surface. "If she'd come forward about Randall, my sister wouldn't be in there." He pointed back toward Lily's room.

"Maybe." Ash bent one leg, crossing his ankles. "I understand why she didn't. Can't you? She had no proof, just an initial reaction to facts." He shook his head. "If the situation were reversed, would you have done it differently?"

"If I suspected that my sister might be out there killing people? Hell, yeah." Dante paused. First of all, he knew he would have dismissed any initial suspicions he might have had because he knew his sister. Not that she wasn't capable of murder-under the right circumstances, he firmly believed anyone was capable-but he didn't think she'd go around murdering random people.

Second, someone would have had to have produced some mighty strong evidence for him to have accepted what his gut was telling him and his heart was denying.

He pushed that all back and looked at Ash. "I'm having a hard time getting past the fact that Tori suspected her brother, didn't tell me, and now my sister's a freaking werewolf."

"You could look at it this way," Ash said. "Now you don't have to worry about her ever getting sick with some sort of disease."

As far as Dante was aware, Ash didn't know about Lily's bout with cancer, but he had a valid point. Dante looked down the hallway. On one level, he recognized that the attack had, in the long term, saved his sister's life.

That didn't change the fact that Tori had suspected her brother yet didn't say anything to anyone.

Could he have told on Lily? He didn't know. "It was a tough situation for Tori to be in," he finally responded.

"Yeah." Ash straightened away from the wall. "Look, ordinarily the quadrant liaison where the victim lives would handle this part, but since that's Tori and she's caught up in all of this, the council's asked me to debrief your sister."

Dante hooked his thumbs over his belt. "What's that entail?"

"Just asking her about what happened, getting details of the attack, and walking her through what her life is going to be like from now on." He rubbed a hand over his chin. "She'll need to come to several orientations, and her first full-moon shift will have to be supervised." When Dante sent him a confused frown, Ash added, "The first full-moon shift is confusing and painful, and the hunger is … " He shook his head. "Left unsupervised, a new werewolf could cut a swath of carnage through town that would demand appropriate retribution." He pursed his lips. "Being a preternatural doesn't mean you can't be killed. It just takes a bit more to get the job done."

Dante nodded. "Let me talk to her for a minute."

"Sure thing." Ash paused, then said in a rough voice, "There's just one more thing."

"What?"

"Randall Langston was brought in around midnight. He's in a room the next floor up."

"In the secure wing." Dante clenched his jaw. The bastard who'd attacked his sister had been one floor up this whole time?

Ash nodded. "He came out of surgery about an hour ago. Seems someone plugged him with a silver bull a ily thet."

"Hmph. Only one hit?" Dante braced his palm against the wall. "Guess I need to get to the practice range."

"Yes, well." The werewolf liaison gave a small grin. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. He won't be able to get to your sister while she's in here. And in a few weeks he won't be anybody's problem anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Preternatural justice is swift. And deadly. He turned people without authorization and killed innocents. His life is forfeit."

God. Poor Tori. Dante couldn't help but feel sorry for her. To find her brother only to lose him again, irrevocably this time … He shook his head.

"Yeah," Ash said softly. "It sucks to be Tori right about now." His eyes were dark with compassion. "You might want to cut her some slack."

Dante looked at him but said nothing.

The werewolf liaison shrugged. He pointed toward the nurses' station. "I'll be over there, getting to know the ladies." He ambled off, hands in his front pockets.

Dante went back into his sister's room. She'd turned on the TV and looked away from the news program when he walked in. She peered over his shoulder. "Where's the other guy?"