Fox Revenge (Madison Wolves #5) (28 page)

"Don't be like this."

"Like what? What am I being like? Like someone who isn't allowed to make her own choices?"

"You need help."

"And we seem to disagree on what form that help should take. Eventually one of us will change her mind. Are you prepared to jail me forever, Elisabeth? Are you? Is Lara? Right now I am hurt and angry, but those emotions are going to turn deeply bitter, and you know I won't be able to stop that. Either give me what I want or leave me the fuck alone."

Wordlessly she collected the uneaten food. At the doorway though, she paused. "I'm sorry, Michaela. I wish we could find a better way. Or a compromise. If there is something you want to eat in the morning, let us know." Then she stepped out.

My cell door closed, and I was left alone.

I curled up and willed myself to sleep.

* * * *

The next day went much the same. In the morning, Serena arrived with food I didn't eat. She gave me a bathroom break. Vivian stopped by and tried talking to me. I ignored her. Elisabeth and Lara both tried to talk to me, and I ignored them as well. I ignored my food and water and didn't talk to anyone except to ask for bathroom breaks and to thank them for bathroom breaks.

Vivian came by in the late afternoon, and I continued to ignore her.

Everyone who stopped in tried to entice me to eat. They were even more concerned I wasn't drinking any water.

The second full day went the same, but twenty minutes after Vivian left, Lara returned with Elisabeth and Serena.

"You will drink the water, Michaela," Lara said.

"I'm not thirsty," I said dully.

"You could try working with Vivian," Lara said. "You could try to get better, not wallow in your sorrow."

"When you have
walked in my shoes," I screamed, "you may then lecture me."

The room echoed with my words and then it was again silent for several minutes. I stared at the floor, curled up with my knees tucked to my chest, my back against the wall.

"Michaela," Lara said eventually. "We will not force feed you. Yet. You will drink the water. If you prefer something else, we will get it."

I looked up at her, glaring. "And if I don't?"

"We will pour it down your throat."

I looked away, not responding, livid at another choice being taken from me. We sat that way for several minutes, none of us saying anything.

Finally, Lara sighed. "I'm sorry, Elisabeth. Do it."

"No," I said. I held my hand out. "I'll drink it."

Serena stepped over and handed me a bottle of water, the top already opened. I drank it slowly while they watched. She took the bottle from me when I finished.

"Thank you," Lara said softly. "Another bottle every hour until we feel you have rehydrated, then normal amounts after that. Elisabeth or Serena will watch you drink them. If you want something else, you may ask."

"I don't deserve to be treated like this."

"You should be under professional observation, Michaela."

I looked up at them. "Honestly?" I asked in a small voice.

"Yes. You aren't thinking clearly. You should eat. When you finally escape, you're going to want your strength."

I knew it was a ploy, even if she was right. But I also knew I wasn't going to escape unless she let me.

"Not eating or drinking were the only pieces of control I had left, Lara. Now you have taken one more away from me."

"Trade me," she said.

"What?"

"Trade me. Find something else, and start eating."

I started to cry quietly. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Do you want us to stay?" she asked kindly.

"No."

"Is there someone else you want?"

"No."

Elisabeth helped Lara to stand, and they filed out. After that, I drank the water whenever Serena or Elisabeth handed me a bottle.

Nothing else changed.

The next day, the three of them returned together.

"What now?"

"What would you like for breakfast?" Lara asked.

"Not hungry."

"Trade me," Lara said. "Or offer a wager."

"Go away," I said. "Unless you intend to hold me down and force food down my throat, go away."

Serena handed me a water bottle. I drank it, and they left.

I ignored Vivian and drank the water they gave me.

I did nothing but sleep, drink water, and go to the bathroom.

I lost track of the days. I lost the ability to thank them for bathroom breaks. I stopped asking for them.

I wet my bed.

I didn't even notice. Elisabeth did. "Oh honey," she said as soon as she walked in. I could barely look at her; I had so little energy.
I didn't know what she was upset about now.

When I finally understood, I sobbed in embarrassment. I let Elisabeth hold me, even though I knew I stank horribly.

She picked me up and carried me from the room. I lolled in her arms. She said, "Close the door. Absolutely no one goes in."

Then she carried me home. Lara was in the living room, napping on the sofa.

"What happened?" she yelled.

"Nothing," Elisabeth said. "I am handling it."

Elisabeth carried me upstairs, set me on the edge of the tub, and started the water. She pulled my horrible clothes off me then lowered me into the rising water.

Lara appeared in the doorway moving slowly. Her nose told the story. I turned away, still sobbing my embarrassment.

"Oh honey," she said.

Elisabeth collected my clothes from the floor and tossed them into the shower. She turned the water on and let the water wash away the evidence.

"Find someone to stay with her," Elisabeth said. "Let her bathe. Wash her hair. I'll take care of the other evidence."

"It's going to just happen again," I said.

"No, it won't," Elisabeth said. "I'll see to it."

Lara made a phone call, and a few minutes later, Serena and Francesca arrived. She talked to them quietly, and then the two of them replaced Elisabeth. Francesca bathed me like a baby while Serena waited.

Elisabeth disappeared. She was gone for a while. Francesca and Serena had just pulled me from the tub when she got back. They were drying me and helping me to dress. Elisabeth stepped into the room, picked me up, and carried me into the bedroom. Lara was sitting on the bed. Elisabeth set me on the bed, and Lara lay down on her side, trying to cuddle me. I turned away from her and let her hold me for a minute, then I pushed away from her and stood up.

"Take me back to my cell," I said. "Unless you're letting me go."

Elisabeth and Serena were kind as they marched me back to the cell.

Elisabeth had cleaned my room for me. Everything was fresh.

After that, I got a bathroom break with every bottle of water, whether I needed it or not, and another one late at night. There weren't any other accidents.

I still didn't eat.

I had no idea how long I'd been kept in the cell, but I found out later it was nine days. Lara was nearly due. I hadn't eaten a single morsel of food.

The door open and Lara shuffled in slowly, Elisabeth behind her.

"Please sit up," Lara said. I struggled, and Elisabeth helped me. Then she helped Lara sit down beside me.

"Six months," Lara said. "If they're alive in six months, I'll hire Greg. I won't let you do this yourself. It's more complicated than you realize."

"Hire him now."

"He's still not available."

"Will he be available in six months?"

"If he's not," she said. "We'll help you do it."

I looked over at her. "Help me now."

She sighed. "Serena," she said. Serena stepped into the room. I noticed they weren't closing the door in between visitors. I was too weak to take advantage of it.

Lara noticed me glance at the door. "You'd have a chance if you had kept your strength up."

I shook my head. I didn't want to waste energy on the words. I knew there were more wolves outside my door.

Serena handed Lara a manila folder.

Lara removed a picture from the folder and handed it to me. It was black and white and was just blobs. I couldn't really focus on it.

"What?"

"That's my latest ultrasound. That's Rebecca, and that's Celeste. Or maybe the other way around. I'm not sure."

I looked at the ultrasound. "Pretty."

"Our babies, Michaela."

"Your babies."

"Our babies!" she yelled. "Those are our babies. Our babies. Our babies. They have two mothers. And I am not raising them alone. We started this together, and you are going to help me raise them. You are going to teach them to become pups, and you are going to teach them what it means to be a fox. Our babies!"

I stared at the ultrasound, too dull-witted to understand.

Lara handed me another photo. It was a picture of her and me at our wedding.

I started to cry.

She handed me another photo: her and me in fur. We were playing.

Then a photo of her alone in fur. Then her as a human, looking very happy.

"I took this one," I said.

"Yes, you did. And I was looking at you and thinking of how much love I was feeling."

There was a photo of Elisabeth. One of Angel and Scarlett together. One of my students from last year.

There was a get-well card Kaylee
had made and another signed by all my current students.

She had a picture of me in my kayak and a second one with both of us taken the day I'd used my fishing rod to let her drag me through a race. I was laughing.

"This isn't fair," I told her.

"This is what you've forgotten!" Then she pulled them all away from me except the ultrasound. "Our babies need you! I need you!"

She looked up at Elisabeth. "Help me up please." Elisabeth and Serena pulled her to her feet. Lara left all the pictures.

"You will eat your breakfast," Lara said. "You are going to need your strength. Greg Freund gets here in an hour to help plan your assault. You may want a shower as well. Everyone will be waiting when you are ready."

And then slowly she walked out. I stared after her. Francesca and Karen were waiting, and I saw them each take an arm, and then she was out of sight.

I looked at the ultrasound. "Her babies," I said quietly.

"No," Elisabeth said. "Your babies. Do you want to shower before or after breakfast?"

I blinked at her. "I don't understand."

"That's because you haven't been eating," she said. "Normally you catch on much quicker."

"She's letting me go?"

"Yes."

"I won?"

"If that's what you call it," Elisabeth said.

I looked at the photos, one after another. Then I set them aside and struggled to climb to my feet. Serena stepped forward and helped me.

"Do I stink?" I asked.

"Yes," Elisabeth said.

"One or two bites, then a shower, then breakfast."

Serena stepped out of the room and came back with a plate. "Fruit or cold chicken?" she asked. "We'll have a hot meal for you after your shower, whatever you want."

I looked at the fruit and took a slice of apple. Then a piece of chicken. I tried to take the entire plate from her, but my hands shook too badly.

"I'll bring the plate," she offered. "Just let me know when you want something."

I took another apple slice and nodded. Then Elisabeth helped me walk slowly home.

* * * *

Lara didn't eat breakfast with me. I actually hadn't seen her.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"My house," Elisabeth said. "Crying."

I didn't have an answer for that. I ate slowly and carefully, not caring much what it was. I remembered there was bacon.

"I'm going to get sick if I eat more," I said. I hadn't eaten much.

"We'll bring it with us," Elisabeth said. "We have a warming plate ready in the conference room."

I nodded and climbed to my feet. Elisabeth helped me walk back to the barracks. I was still pretty unsteady. I climbed the stairs slowly.

When I stepped into the conference room, Greg and Wendy were there along with Serena, Karen and Emanuel.

Greg and Wendy looked at me with sad eyes, but they crossed the room and hugged me. Elisabeth helped me to a chair, and everyone else sat down, Elisabeth next to me. Greg had the head of the table. Greg had a stack of manila folders in front of him. Elisabeth had one as well.

"I thought you weren't available."

"I'm not," he said. "I'm heading back this afternoon. I don't know how long the current assignment is going to take. I'm so sorry, Michaela."

"Not your fault.
Thank you for coming."

I looked around the room. "I'm not going to be much good today."

"We have several briefings to discuss," Elisabeth said. "We'll go over them and we'll decide the best course. You will spend the time to get strong before we will let you pursue it. We can refine when your brain is working better."

"All right," I said. "Who is running this?"

"Greg and I are," Elisabeth said. "We're just waiting for two more people and we can start."

I turned to Greg. "Can you tell us about your current assignment?"

"Sorry," he said. "We don't do that. You understand."

I nodded.

We sat quietly. I didn't have anything to say, and they were waiting.

Then the door opened, and Scarlett and Angel stepped in.

I turned to Elisabeth. "What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"You two should be in school," I said.

"This is more important," Scarlett said.

"They can't help," I told Elisabeth.

"They are here for a reason," Elisabeth said. "Are you really going to fight about this?"

"No. I'm sorry."

I accepted hugs from both of them. Then they stood behind me, a hand on each of my shoulders.

"They're here to touch me?" I asked.

"Partly," Elisabeth said. "Ready to get started?"

I nodded.

"All right," she said. "This is not bait and switch. Greg is here to help plan the assault. But there is a price."

"What price?"

"You have to look at every photo I give you. Really look at it."

I nodded, and she slipped the first photo from her folder. "These are your babies," she said. It was the ultrasound I had seen earlier. "This one is Celeste Elisabeth Burns," she said, pointing. "And this is Rebecca Angel Burns. Or maybe the other way around."

"Really?" Angel asked.

"Really," Elisabeth said.

Angel kissed the top of my head. I took the photo from Elisabeth and stared at it. "Lara's babies," I said quietly.

"Your babies," Elisabeth said. "Can you see them both?"

"Elisabeth, this is stupid."

"This is the price," she said. "You want the information we have. You want to plan an assault. You want Karen's rifle. You want food and support. This is the price. Pay it."

I nodded.

"Point to the two babies," she said. "Show me your babies."

"Lara's babies," I said.

"Your babies," she said. "Which one is which?"

I pointed them out. "We'll name them after they're born," I said. "Celeste Elisabeth and Rebecca Angel."

"Who picked the names?"

"I did."

"Do you see their heads?" I pointed. "Toes?" I pointed. "Hands?" I pointed. "Two beautiful, healthy babies, Michaela. Look at them."

I stared at the ultrasound and nodded. Elisabeth eventually took the photo from me and handed it to Scarlett. She stepped around the table and pinned the photo to the wall where I could see it.

"Greg?" Elisabeth asked.

He opened one of his folders and withdrew a piece of paper. He slid it to me, facing me. I took it. It was a map of Iowa.

"Iowa," he said. "The state's pack has fragmented badly over the last six years. We color-coded the approximate range of each of the fragments. Those borders are not fixed, so don't read too much into them."

I stared at the map.

"There are contingents in Sioux City and Dubuque," Greg explained. "They have small ranges, but they have considered themselves isolated from the main pack for a long time, years, we believe, perhaps decades. They keep to themselves. There have been recent attempts to consume them by the surrounding contingents, but we believe they have not gone well. Our data is not as reliable as we would like."

I looked at Elisabeth and pointed to Des Moines. "There's a Des Moines faction, and they seem to be biggest, according to this map."

"Yes," she said.

"However, the ones you want are in Iowa City," Greg added.

I stared at the map then set it down. Elisabeth pulled the next photo from her folder. "This is Lara when she was Kaylee's age," Elisabeth said. I stared at the photo.

"She was beautiful even then," I said.

"Yes, and fiercely independent," Elisabeth said. "No one realized then she would become our alpha, but in hindsight, it should have been obvious."

I stared at the photo of my wife. I looked at it, then at Angel. "Family resemblance," I said.

"Yes, a little," Elisabeth said. "Angel has her build."

"She's much bigger than I am," Angel said.

"You haven't finished filling out," Elisabeth said. Then Elisabeth took the photo and handed it to Angel. She pinned it to the wall.

Greg began talking again. He slid an aerial photo to me, or perhaps an image from Google Maps. "It is unfortunate we aren't going after the Des Moines faction," he said. "This is a photo of their compound. As you can see, it is quite the fortress."

"And that would be a good thing?" I asked.

"Yes." He slid several more photos. "This is the Iowa City headquarters." I was staring at multiple pictures of a large house in suburbia.

I looked back and forth between the two. "Why is the fortress better?"

"I'm glad you asked that," he
said. He leaned past Elisabeth and moved the aerial view of the Iowa City neighborhood to the top. "We highlighted the pack house. As you can see, they have neighbors. Human neighbors." I stared at the photo.

"They set up their headquarters in the middle of a human residential neighborhood?"

"Yes," he said. "With significantly closer neighbors than the house in Madison."

"There are implications," Wendy said. "Basically, an all out military-style assault couldn't be ignored by the human authorities. The other difficulties are related."

"There are also no good places for surveillance that aren't under human control," Greg said. "The photos we've taken have been either at extreme range or from walk-by surveillance."

I looked at the two choices, the compound just outside Des Moines or the neighborhood in Iowa City.

"Michaela," Elisabeth said. "This is the main reason why we refused to help you. If it were the Des Moines pack, the answer would have been different."

"It's not the only reason," Karen said. "We'll get to those."

I nodded before looking at the folder in front of Elisabeth. She pulled out a picture from my wedding day. She added several more. "Do you remember this day from a little over a year ago?" she asked.

"Yes." I stared at the photos.

"What is this one?" she asked.

"Lara and I. Kaylee and Thomas. You and Angel."

"Do you remember your ears?" Angel asked.

"The pack kept howling," I said.

"Why were they howling?" she asked.

"They were happy."