Insidious Winds (13 page)

“Thanks for the geography lesson, snob.”

“No problem, twat. Besides, being offensive is my
job, so shut up and let me be the racist one. Now, where’s the bitch we get to
skin?”

“My parents… Luana and Matheus Lycosa… are at their
home,” Henry said.

So he finally understood that they weren’t his real
parents. Henry’s mother was not from Earth, let alone a regular jaguar.
Somehow, she had ended up trapped here and injured. I hadn’t told Henry
everything; I told him Luana wasn’t his real mother, but not that I was almost
certain Luana killed his mother. Until I had proof, I wasn’t going to give him
another reason to kill her, because I agreed with him; Scott needed his father
to not be a murderer.

Luana and Matheus had taken everything else from him.
I would kill them before I let them take that. He killed Rebecca Ashcraft under
the control of John, but nobody blamed him. I was already stained with the
blood of John and Gale.
What’s two more
?

“Got a computer?” I asked.

“It was destroyed when I was attacked. The library
has computers, but it doesn’t open until eight.”

I checked my watch and sighed. I hadn’t realized it
was so late. “Do you still have service on your phone?”

“I have minutes, but my phone is at your place,”
Henry said. “I didn’t think I would need it at the school.”

“Okay. We’ll drop Marcus and Darwin off at the
library in the morning and then we’ll go to your parents’ place. We need his
name and who he was adopted by. With that, maybe we can at least get a general
location.”

“Are you sure he was adopted?” Darwin asked.

“If anyone in this world has a lick of sense. We’ll
find out for sure tomorrow.” None of us really wanted to call a time out, but
it had been a very long night and we would make fatal mistakes if we weren’t
sharp.

*          *          *

I woke to the smell of coffee and bacon. I sat up and
tried to stretch the kinks out of my arms and back. Darwin, Henry, and Marcus
were eating breakfast at the coffee table. Henry motioned to a paper sack and
large coffee, which were obviously set out for me. Darwin raised an eyebrow.

“You may want to get those bones looked at, Gramp---”
Henry cut him off by smacking him in the back of the head. “Hey! If I had
turned my head, you would have---”

“Then act your age,” Henry interrupted.

“At least I’m not the only one who finds you annoying,”
Marcus added.

Henry growled at him. “Children, behave.”

Marcus was actually Henry’s age. Then again, I had
read that inside every eighty-year-old was an eighteen-year-old. I thought it
really depended on the person. I knew men who were older than me that acted
like they were still teenagers, and I knew teenagers who acted like they were
middle-aged. Although many of my experiences made me cautious and jaded, I
didn’t want to live life as if I were already dead. It was my goal when I first
started dealing with Astrid’s betrayal that I would be responsible and careful,
but not worry too much about the end.

My roommates were both in their twenties. While I
felt pretty much the same as I did when I was twenty, I thought back on some of
my actions with shame. I said things I shouldn’t have to friends, did things on
a whim instead of staying in and studying, and ridiculed others when I saw
their flaws were the same as mine. I even tried to blame my problems on Astrid.

Henry was more responsible than most people I knew,
but he had to be. He was raised by his parents to be a world-class thief, which
required him to develop a working persona and a public persona, while also
burying his real self. His British accent was a small part of his real self
that he had clung to his entire life. Above all, he was extremely protective
and the bravest man I knew.

At twenty-two, Darwin was brilliant, yet rather
immature. In the year and a half I knew him, I learned that he did absolutely
nothing on a whim. Everything he did and every word he said was carefully
thought out. He goofed off because he was intelligent enough to succeed anyway.
He made people laugh or pissed them off because he knew he could, and sometimes
to distract them. He wasn’t wise like Hunt or Vincent, but he was invaluable in
fighting any enemy.

I tuned them out and tried to enjoy my breakfast. As
much as I missed my quiet, peaceful mornings before I started attending
Quintessence, my roommates were entertaining. Or maybe they were an acquired
taste. Ironically, it felt very normal.

*          *          *

Henry didn’t look too well. I knew he would prefer to
find his kid without facing those who took Scott from him. We got in the truck
and Henry drove us through the small town. He pulled up to what looked like a
coffee shop.

“This is the library.” He told Darwin the name of the
orphanage in Arizona that burned down as Darwin and Marcus got out. “Wait,” he
said quickly right before they were out of earshot. He shook his head. “About a
year after they took Scott from me, they moved us up here. Luana hates the
cold, but we’ve moved around a lot, so I didn’t think anything of it until now.
They may have wanted to move to keep an eye on Scott, or possibly to keep me
from being too close to him.”

“Well, it’s a start,” Darwin said.

We drove for another few minutes until Henry pulled
up to a massive mansion. He scowled at it instead of turning off the engine.

“Can you handle it?”

“Of course. I have always been angry with them, but I
used to believe they were the only ones who could help me. Under the full moon,
I’m calmer at the school than I am here. I thought it was Addison. Now I know
it was that my jaguar knew the truth. I believe Amelia’s magic is starting to
work. I never get this angry unless the moon is full.”

“What about before Zoe’s death?”

“I was always very calm and patient outside of the
full moon. After her death, I was just… numb. I feel the violence of my jaguar,
but it too is numbed. It’s the only way I can control him, which is why I’m
dangerous under the full moon.”

“Think of the man who took you in when you were lost
in London. Be a role model for your son just like that man was for you. Trust
me; there have been plenty of people I wanted to shoot before. After killing
John, I realize that it’s not worth it. You can stay out here if you want; I
can handle them.”

“They’ll attack you before you get out of the car.
I’m going to go up to the door. When I’m clear of the doorway, you can come
in.”

“I have mind control.”

“Alright. Get your gun out. If they shift, shoot.
They’re regular jaguar shifters, but you cannot take their skill lightly.” We
got out and went to the door, where Henry rang the doorbell. “The guards attack
anyone who tries to enter the house unannounced,” he explained.

A moment later, the door opened and a tall, thin man
with slick black hair gave Henry a disapproving sneer. “The masters of the
house will not be seeing anyone today, boy. You can leave your payment on the
step.”

I switched the safety off and gestured with my gun
for him to move aside.

“Don’t be a prude, Jameson,” a shrill, overly
enthusiastic voice said from behind the doorman. “I always welcome a visit from
my dear son.”

The man moved aside and I saw Luana Lycosa walking
leisurely down a grand staircase. She was athletically built with dark brown
hair, dark brown eyes, and a natural tan. In workout clothes or a jungle
survival movie, she would have been a knockout. In a dark blue ball gown that emphasized
her six-pack instead of any feminine traits, she just looked out of place. Her
hair was up in curls as if she were going somewhere fancy. She didn’t have a
good facial structure for it.

I reached out for her mind and encountered a jaguar.
She was more cat than person.
This isn’t going to go well
. Her smile was
as cold and false as one could be.

“Tell me,” she said, stopping at the door so that we
couldn’t enter, “have you found your little abomination? Maybe you got lucky
and someone drowned it when they had the chance. Your father wanted to drown
you since you were born, but I told him you were worth more alive.” She looked
at me and her false smile fell into a disgusted sneer. “I see that I was wrong.
I wonder if that human whore you---”

She didn’t get another word out before a horse-sized
jaguar slammed her to the ground. He growled in her face, but held back.

When she laughed, a thought seeped through her jaguar
mind. “Henry, stop!” I shouted. Henry retreated just an inch.

Another laugh drew our attention to the balcony
around the living room. Matheus laughed harder. “Go ahead, boy. Kill your
mother. Tear her flesh from her bones and eat her heart. She’s pregnant.”

Henry jumped away and shifted back into his person
form. His expression was horrified. “You can’t be serious. You cannot raise a
baby.”

Luana stood and dusted herself off with a scowl. “Of
course I don’t want to raise it. That would be worthless.” Her expression
brightened. “Fortunately, it’s a pure blood jaguar shifter and is worth a
lot
of money. We already have bids on it, and we don’t even know the sex yet!”

Henry looked at me and everything in his expression
told me to do something. I pushed my power outward to incapacitate every person
in the mansion. I didn’t give them a command; I froze their thoughts. This was
the highest level of control and something I had only ever done with animals
that were trying to attack.

“You can ask your questions. They’ll do whatever you
tell them now.”

“Anything?”

“As far as I know.”

“Father, hold your breath until your wife tells me
everything
you
know about my son,” he said immediately, as if he had
planned this. “Mother, tell me everything you know about my son. And do it
quick before you become a widow.”

“I dropped him off at Second Hope Orphanage in
Arizona. I had a friend look into it a week later when you showed resistance
and found out that he was in a foster family and in the process of adoption. I
didn’t want his name. I told Carla to keep an eye on him. The orphanage burned
down a month later and the adoption was set back due to medical complications,
since he had no birth or medical records.”

“He’s sick?”

“The family thought so, but the tests were
non-conclusive. After six months, he suddenly recovered. The family moved up
north and he stayed with them for another eight months before they declined the
adoption and sent him back into state care. When asked why, they just said they
couldn’t handle his special needs.”

“Where was he sent?”

“I didn’t ask. He was fostered out again to a family
with eight other foster kids. He was returned six months later. The family said
he didn’t fit in with them. The orphanage evaluated his mental and physical
health and determined that he was advanced, but needed more socializing. He was
given to a childless couple who were prepared to challenge and socialize him.”

I looked up at Matheus, who was turning a dangerous
shade of red. “Henry, you need to hurry this up or tell him to breathe.”

He didn’t even look at the man. “I need every detail.
Keep going.”

“They were investigated after several anonymous tips
and it was discovered that they were doing experiments on him including shock
therapy to test his reflexes, pain threshold, and healing.”

“Oh, god.”

“He spent two months in a hospital before he was
given to another family. They also sent him back for odd behavior. This
happened again and again. He never spent more than four months with a family
since then, except for his last one. They took him in a year ago and adopted
him two months ago.”

“Give me a name.”

“I don’t know any names.”

Matheus collapsed to his knees. If he were human, he
would probably have been dead by now. “Henry, let him go.”

“He could breathe if she said everything. Obviously,
she hasn’t. I want a name!”

“I told you everything I know!” she looked up at her
husband and true fear bled through my power. As cruel as she was, she loved
Matheus.

“Henry, you don’t want to murder him.”

Henry shoved his mother against the wall. “His name!”

“Matheus, breathe and tell Henry what he wants to
know!” I yelled, dropping my power over the household to focus on him.

Matheus desperately sucked in air. It took nearly two
minutes before he could get the words out, all the while Henry was one inch
away from choking Luana. “Bryson Stewart.”

Henry dropped his mother. “That’s his name?” He
glared up at Matheus, daring the older jaguar shifter to lie. Matheus nodded,
still panting. “If you ever even think about coming after me or my son, I will
slowly burn every inch of your flesh and then skin you alive.” With that, Henry
turned and started to walk out.

I felt a hint of relief in Matheus’s mind and I knew
he was hiding something else. “Wait.” Henry stopped and looked at me. “What are
you not telling us?” I asked Matheus. He glared at me, but I wasn’t going to
strengthen my control over him unless he gave me trouble.

“A few weeks ago, a man came by wanting to know
everything about Henry, including what was most important to him. He said Henry
stole something from him.”

“And you told him about Henry’s son.”

“He offered us a lot of money. With Henry no longer
listening to us, the boy wasn’t worth anything anymore, especially when we
didn’t have to tell Henry about it. The kid is half human; we were doing what
was best for Henry when we got rid of it.”

I had to shove Henry back to keep him from attacking
Matheus. His hands shifted and I barely managed to avoid being nicked by his
claws. “Killing him will just waste time.” He turned and left without another
word. I let my power take hold of Luana’s mind again as well as Matheus’s.
Fortunately, I had learned to distance myself from the minds I controlled so I
didn’t have to hear their thoughts.