Black Rook (9 page)

“She’s probably nervous,” Rook said.

“Mind your own health, son.” He spoke with a fond gruffness that made Rook smile, but it did nothing to ease Brynn’s nerves. “Miss Atwood, I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s possible you’re having a reaction to your own poison.”

“No, I can’t be.” She shook her head, which turned out to be a mistake. Her vision blurred, and perspiration broke out on her forehead and upper lip.

“Brynn?” Rook said. He grabbed her hand, squeezed it. The shock of his touch grounded her briefly, before being broken again by dizziness. She tried to press back and couldn’t manage it. Something was very wrong.

“It’s all right, young one,” Dr. Mike said. “It’ll be all right, you’ll see.”

“This isn’t happening,” Brynn said. Her voice sounded muffled, far away.

The sleeve of her t-shirt was pushed up, then something cold touched her shoulder. She tried to look, but Rook turned her head back toward him. She focused on him—his concerned eyes, his full lips, on those strange silver things in his ears and the hints of tattoos on his neck. Something stung her shoulder.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“You’ll be okay,” Rook said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

A rush of vertigo changed everything, and Brynn reached for him even as she fell.

***

Carrying an unconscious woman down the stairs and out the front door of the auction house was a little too conspicuous for Rook. Of course, laying Brynn out on the office floor on a couple of towels, with the wicker chair cushions as pillows, wasn’t a spectacular compromise, but it was the best he and Knight could do. Even Dr. Mike was surprised at how quickly she’d succumbed to the small dose of ketamine he’d given her to counteract the poison. She wasn’t full-blood loup garou, and she’d been exposed to the poison longer than Rook, which seemed to account for her strange symptoms. Dizziness instead of the forewarned seizures.

He just hoped they’d acted quickly enough.

Once he deemed Brynn stable and sleeping, Dr. Mike packed up his bag, blood samples, and the ring, and he returned to his office to run his tests. With his own strength returning, Rook found himself pacing the length of the office, agitated and confined by the small room. His steps fell in uneven measures, creating an imperfect melody in his mind that did nothing to distract him.

“You’re making me dizzy,” Knight said from his perch on the edge of Father’s desk. The wicker chairs were not comfortable without the cushions, and no one but Father sat in his leather chair.

Rook mentally flipped him off and continued pacing. “How could she not know?”

“About what?”

“Having loup blood.”

“If her Magus blood is dominant, it’s possible she’s never even shifted. We’ve stumbled across human-loup half-breeds who have no idea they’re part loup.”

“But her father has to know. He’d have to know her mother wasn’t human or Magus or whatever it is they marry.”

“Rook.” Knight’s warning tone shaved the edge off Rook’s frustration. Insulting Brynn’s people wouldn’t help them figure this out—or help them decide what or how to tell Brynn about her reaction to the poison.

“I’m sorry.” Rook stopped pacing and leaned against the wall near Brynn’s head. She looked so peaceful asleep, so fragile, and his protective instincts increased. Instincts fed directly by his beast, which confused him even more. His mind screamed that she was the enemy, an unknown, and her dual nature made her dangerous. Maybe more than any of them knew, because no one like her had ever existed before.

And even if she proved herself an ally, rather than an enemy, as a half-breed she would still be at risk in Cornerstone.

Because of the fact that human-loup half-breeds were not fertile, the pairing was generally prohibited. In very rare instances, run Alphas could give permission for a human to be brought into a run and for a marriage to occur, but they were extremely rare and children were forbidden. Loup garou, as a species, were less than ten thousand in number across the entire country. Survival depended on procreation. In fifteen years, Father had given five of their Gray Wolves permission to marry humans, but for a Black or White Wolf, it was simply not allowed by run law.

Rogue half-breeds were an entirely different problem. Their parents were often loup who left their runs and the protection of their Alpha, and they lived outside the laws of the loup garou. Half-breeds were difficult to control, and they excelled at causing trouble with humans. They also seemed to enjoy antagonizing their full-blood kin, often to the point of violence.

The real problem with Brynn Atwood was that no one had ever encountered a loup-Magus half-breed. Her scent alone would turn heads in town. Rook understood his father’s reasons for keeping Brynn close for now, but she would never be completely safe in Cornerstone. After this, she may no longer be safe with the Magi, either, but that wasn’t his problem to worry over.

Easier said than done. She was under his skin already, and he wanted her back out.

“You might want to get a handle on your feelings, little brother,” Knight said. “Your emotions are rolling off you like a smoke signal.”

Damn Knight anyway for being a White Wolf and able to sense his emotional chaos. Rook had absolutely no reason to like Brynn—none that made logical sense—but he did. He was confused and protective and angry, and he didn’t handle those emotions well. He’d scare her off before they became friends, and maybe that was a good thing.

“If my emotions are bothering you, you don’t have to stay up here and babysit me. I’m sure your adoring fans miss you downstairs.”

“Bite me.”

“Hey, who stuck a needle in whose ass?”

“Not something I’ll ever brag about, trust me.”

“Well, thank you anyway.”

Knight blinked. “For what?”

“For listening to her and not just reacting.” Rook caught his brother’s eye and held his gaze. Knight spent so much time seeing after the emotional state of others that Rook doubted the man paid much attention to himself—and when Knight had walked into the office earlier, he’d been as close to losing control as Rook had ever seen. “I’m not sure if you realize just how pissed you were, but I know you. So thanks for keeping it together and helping us.”

“I was helping
you
.”

“Either way, thanks.”

“Anytime. Just try not to poison yourself anymore, okay?”

Rook grinned. “Deal.”

Chapter Six

Waking up on the floor wasn’t the least dignified thing Brynn had ever done, but it certainly made her top ten list. Her back ached from the hard wood, made no softer by the large beach towels spread out beneath her and, for a split second, she forgot where she was and why she’d passed out in the first place.

Everything rushed back when a familiar face came into her line of sight, looking down at her from above. “Welcome back,” Rook said. He smiled like her waking was the highlight of his day, when her very presence there had caused him nothing but pain.

“Thank you.” His handsome smile filled her with warmth, and she clung to the unfamiliar feeling as she tested her limbs and found them all in working order. Her right shoulder was sore, likely from the injection she vaguely recalled receiving from Dr. Mike. She’d reacted to the toxin in her ring after all, which made no sense. Her father said they’d been using the toxin for years without any Magus suffering ill effects. What was so different about her that she’d required the antidote?

“Can you sit up?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Rook held out his hand, and Brynn took it without hesitation. He pulled gently. She maneuvered into a sitting position with only a slight twinge from her lower back. No dizziness, no nausea, no blurred vision. They were alone in the office, which was oddly silent. It took her a moment to realize the distant hum of voices was gone.

“How long was I asleep?”

“About two hours.”

“Two hours? Sweet Avesta, that’s a long time.”

“I was starting to worry, but Dr. Mike said it was normal.”

“You didn’t pass out for two hours.”

“I’m also a full-blood loup garou. The ketamine didn’t affect me the same way it did you.”

He had an excellent point. Before today, the strongest drug she’d ever taken was aspirin for the occasional headache. She’d never had cause or occasion to ingest prescription drugs. It made sense that her system might react poorly. “Is the auction over?”

“A little while ago. Everyone’s cleaning up.”

“Oh.”

Rook gave her hand a squeeze, and she realized that neither of them had let go. His larger hand dwarfed hers, and yet seemed to fit perfectly. “You sound disappointed.”

Brynn shook her head no, even though she was. “I had hoped to observe more, that’s all. Why aren’t you assisting them?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up, so we could go home and get some dinner. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

At the mention of food, her stomach gave a soft rumble, and she laughed. “I haven’t eaten anything all day, actually. Coming here, I was too nervous to eat.”

“Good. My father has a large meal for all of the auction employees after every sale, to say thank you for their work.”

“How large a meal?” The idea of being in a dining room full of loup garou sent a cold shock down her spine that settled in the pit of her stomach.

Rook covered their joined hands with his free hand. “We can go over early and get plates before everyone else shows up. Sitting down with a dozen strangers probably sounds a little intimidating, doesn’t it?”

“A bit, yes.” She ought to pull her hands away, to separate them, but she liked the touch—a fact that stirred her gut with unease. Rook wasn’t a murderer, but he was still loup garou, and therefore capable of terrible violence. He should terrify her, not make her feel so strangely safe.

“No problem. If you’re feeling up to it, we can walk over now.”

“All right.”

He released her hand when she was on her feet, and she found herself missing his touch. Despite their violent beginning, he comforted her in a way she couldn’t explain, and in a way she didn’t dare ask for. Anything beyond this tentative friendship was impossible, because as soon as Alpha McQueen gave her permission, she was going home. Part of her rebelled at the idea of needing permission, that in some way she was a prisoner, but acquiescing to the request was easier than fighting. She had no resources to battle the loup garou now that her ring was gone.

After giving her back the necklace—they both agreed that shielding her Magi nature was still the best route for now—Rook led and she followed him out of the office she’d walked into only hours earlier fully expecting to confront her father’s future killer. Nothing today had turned out the way she’d imagined.

Contrary to the bustle of activity from before, the downstairs entry was empty. A few bodies moved around in the main room to her left, but Rook turned right and headed for the doors. The evening was still warm, but less humid than just a few hours ago, and the parking lot was nearly empty. Her rental car sat in its space, quiet and unassuming.

“We can take my car,” she said, realizing too late that Knight still had her keys. Yet another way for them to keep her in town.

“It’s just one street over,” Rook replied.

“Okay.”

Brynn took a good look at the layout of Cornerstone as they walked. Main Street connected off a busier state road and the majority of town seemed to be settled around it. The auction house was the first actual building marking the start of town, and just beyond it on Main was a large brick building that advertised a diner and coffee shop. More brick and stone buildings, their architecture dating back to the nineteenth century, stretched as far down Main as she could see, until the road seemed to turn left. Dozens of homes were built on side alleys feeding off Main, stretching back for several blocks, dotted with ancient oaks, elms, and willow trees.

The town itself was built in a valley, with the Appalachian Mountains rising up on all sides like a box canyon and only one road in or out. The wilderness around them probably gave the loup garou residents plenty of freedom to roam in their animal forms, and it also offered a great deal of protection from the outside world.

A sidewalk began on the other side of the auction parking lot, and she followed Rook past the busy diner and its steady flow of patrons. A few gave her a second glance, but she kept her head down and stayed close to Rook. Even if someone could sniff past the medallion and tell she was a Magus, she doubted they’d bother her as long as she stuck close to the Alpha’s son.

At the end of the block, Rook turned left down a narrow street wide enough for one car at a time to get through. Federal- and colonial-style houses lined both sides of the street, some with large yards, others with front doors that opened right onto the sidewalk. The trees shaded the road from the late-setting sun, creating a sense of peace she’d never felt in her hometown of Chestnut Hill. Hundreds of loup garou had lived and died here; she felt their history in every brick and board and sidewalk stone.

Rook crossed the street and stopped in front of the third house down. A waist-high iron fence ran the length of the yard, protecting the lovely three-story Victorian home behind it. A long porch stretched across the front, and a single spire on the right side of the house made her think of a fairy-tale princess trapped in a tower. A massive willow tree stood in the center of the yard, its long, leaf-covered branches bending far enough to brush the trimmed lawn.

“Is this your home?” Brynn asked.

“Yep.”

“It’s beautiful, Rook.”

“Thank you.”

An open gate took them down a stone path that led straight to the front porch. Brynn felt strange walking into the home of a loup garou, but Rook seemed perfectly at ease with her presence. As though what they were doing was absolutely normal, and she was just an acquaintance coming home for dinner. He opened the front door and held it so Brynn could go inside.

The foyer gave her an instant sense of what she imagined the rest of the house would be—a blend of vintage antique and lived-in comfort. A round, ornately carved table held a vase of fresh flowers, and right below it was a jumble of sneakers and work boots. An antique oak hall tree was covered in a similar mix of sweatshirts and baseball caps. The dueling scents of furniture polish and cooking food made her smile with its hominess.