Magic & Memory (22 page)

“It still seems odd that this werewolf would know anything about the attack on Bryn’s house,” she mused.

“From what I pieced together by reading Augustine’s thoughts, apparently all members of a werewolf pack are sort of hardwired together. Even spread out over a couple hundred mile territory, they still know what other pack members are thinking. They’re also really careful not to cross into anyone else’s territory, so the weres at Bryn’s house had to be members of this same greater bay area pack.”

“If they’re all wired together, wouldn’t the whole pack be coming after the werewolf we kidnapped right about now?”

“They would if he could tell them where he was,” Alastair explained. “But he’s in a trunk and has no idea where he’s going, so neither does the pack.”

They sat quietly for a bit, Alastair monitoring the various emotions he was sensing. After a while Lu asked, “Any change?”

“No. They’re doing fine, though Joey’s still quite nervous.”

Lu sighed and said, “We should have gone along.”

“I’m sorry, Lu,” Alastair said softly. “I should have gone in Joey’s place. I just wanted a chance to talk to you in private, that’s why I sent him to do this. We were right not to take you along, because I think the interrogation is going to become rather brutal. But I should have been the one to go.”

“Why do you say that?”  

“Because I know you care for Joey, and he cares for you as well. You’ll be upset if he gets hurt.”

“Well, sure I care about him. He’s become a friend. But I’d be upset if you got hurt, too.”

Alastair leaned against the headboard and pulled his knees up, hugging them to his chest. Lu noticed that his left hand had healed completely, with no sign whatsoever of that awful burn. He struggled with what he was about to say, trying to keep his expression composed even as anguish coursed through him. “Lu…I wanted a chance to tell you that if you’d rather be with Joey, I understand.” His voice was almost a whisper as he looked down at the bedspread.

“
What
?”

He forced himself to keep talking. “I see the way you two connect, and I know he’s much better suited to you. He’s close to your age. You have similar backgrounds. And he’s still so human, probably more so than I ever was.”

“Alastair, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I can see why he’d be the one you’d want. He’s a good choice, Joey’s a nice person. And he would keep you safe. All I seem to do is draw danger to you, and to him as well. You’d both be so much better off without me.”

“Is this your indirect way of breaking up with me?” Lu asked. “I mean, not that you and I are even really a couple…are we?”

 “To me, it feels like we’re a couple. It’s always felt like that, like we somehow just belong together,” Alastair said softly. “But then, maybe it’s just me. It’s not like you had any choice but to stay with me when we got chased out of your home. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way…and maybe you’re just biding your time until you’re free of me.” He looked unfathomably sad.

“Can’t you tell how I feel about you?” Lu asked gently.

“I know you care about me…but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to be with me.”

Lu reached out and gently ran the palm of her hand over his cheek. “I
do
want to be with you, Alastair, more than anything. Since I met you, I can’t even imagine my life without you in it.”

He met her gaze and said, “Even after all you’ve learned about me? Because I’ve been learning about myself at the same time, Lu, and I’ve been horrified at all I’ve found out. I can’t imagine why you’d want to be around me.”

She pulled him close and rested her forehead against his, and said gently, “Nothing I’ve learned has made the slightest difference in how I feel about you.”

“It hasn’t?”

“Nope.”

He hugged her to him. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered against her hair. “I’m so incredibly lucky to have found you.”

“We’re lucky to have found each other.”

“I can’t believe you still think that, even after all the bad things that have happened as a result of meeting me.”

“Of course I do.”

          Alastair cradled Lu against him as he said softly, “I just wish -- well, first and foremost I wish that I wasn’t constantly putting you in danger. And I wish I’d turned out to be someone different. Someone normal.”

          “From what I’ve seen, you’ve taken what was inflicted on you and turned it into something amazing,” she said. “You defend innocent people by going after the monsters that would destroy them. I think you’re a hero.”

          “I don’t feel like a hero. I feel like a freak.”

          “You’ve been through so much these last few days, Allie,” Lu told him, caressing his arm, “and learned some really unexpected things about yourself. It’s a lot to absorb. Don’t judge yourself too harshly, ok? Just live with it a while, let it all sink in a bit.”

          “It
has
been truly overwhelming. And you’ve been my one salvation throughout all of this, my lifeline in this sea of confusion.” He held her, and Lu kissed his cheek and snuggled against him.

          Alastair gently raised Lu’s chin with his fingertips, tilting her face up to his, and looked into her eyes for a long moment. And then his lips lightly brushed hers. He kissed her tentatively at first. Softly. The kiss deepened as Lu embraced him, her heart racing as he held her in his arms, his own pulse racing right in time with hers.

          When they finally broke apart he whispered, “You’re sure I’m what you want?”

          “I’m sure.”

          Alastair let his eyes close, allowing himself to relax just a bit, to feel a little hope, a little happiness as he held her. They were peaceful together, quiet in this perfect moment.

But in the next instant fear cut through Alastair’s mind like a dagger. He leapt off the bed, his body vibrating with tension as he cried out, “Oh God!”

Lu jumped up too. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

 Joey’s in trouble!”

 “Did Augustine hurt him?”

Alastair shook his head. “No. Joey’s being attacked by werewolves, lots of them. I don’t know how the pack found them so quickly!” He turned to Lu with wild, fearful eyes. “I need to go. I need to help him!”

He went to reach for her to bring her along, but she said, “No, I’ll only slow you down. Go! I’ll be fine.”

 “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Go!”

And he was gone in an instant, the door swinging shut after him.

Lu’s heart pounded. She was terrified for Joey and for Alastair, but also afraid for herself. It was the first time she’d been left alone since all of this had begun, and all of a sudden she felt incredibly vulnerable.

She engaged the deadbolt on the door and slid the security chain in place, then crossed the room to Joey’s duffle bag and pulled out a big wooden stake and a sharp hunting knife. She took both of these to the bed with her and sat with her back to the wall, hugging her knees to her chest, a weapon in each hand.

Lu listened intently, but all she heard were the normal sounds of the motel -- a tv on somewhere, the heater rattling, cars passing on the street. She stared at the door, tense and alert, feeling the minutes tick by. It was as if time had grown weary, moving laboriously the way one moves under water. Five minutes felt like an hour, ten an eternity. She kept expecting something to happen to her. But eventually the quiet, regular sounds of the motel lulled her, convincing her to relax, her shoulders slumping slightly.

And suddenly the window beside her was shattering, spraying her with glass as it exploded inward. Her screams died in her throat as something grabbed her, dragging her out into the night.

Lu swam up to consciousness slowly. Her body hurt in a hundred different places, but much of it was drowned out by the sharp, blinding ache in her head. Her eyelids fluttered, and she heard a voice right beside her ear whispering fervently, “Please wake up, Lu. Please baby, just wake up.”

          Her face was wet with cold tears, and she realized after a moment they weren’t hers. “Joey,” she said, her voice weak and raspy.

          Joey cradled her gently in his arms, his cheek against hers. A sob escaped him as he pulled back to look at her and said, “Thank God you’re awake.”

          She lifted her lids and focused on his pale green eyes, which were shot through with red. “Joey,” she whispered. “You’re ok. Alastair went to help you. I was so scared.” Talking was a huge effort, and she closed her eyes again.

          “Stay with me, Lu. Please baby,” he pleaded. “You’ve been badly hurt. I’m trying to fix as much as I can, but you have to try to stay awake. Can you hear me?”

          She managed a single nod, which took all her energy.

          After a while she became aware of a soft, pleasant sensation at her throat, moving slowly up to her face. “Feels good,” she muttered, eyes still closed. “What’re you doing?”

          “Trying to stop the bleeding. You’ve lost so much blood, Lu. They dragged you through a window, you were cut in dozens of places.” She felt him kiss her cheek before his tongue carefully traced a line from her jaw to her temple.

He went to shift her slightly so he could reach the other side of her face, and she gasped at the pain. She would have cried out, but she somehow didn’t have the strength. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Joey whispered. He dragged his arm across his eyes to clear the tears, and then carefully extracted a piece of glass from her cheek. She didn’t make a sound as he did this.

Joey worked meticulously, tirelessly, and after a while all the cuts were closed. His sweatshirt and jeans were soaked with her blood, sticking to his body. He leaned against the cold cement wall and cradled her to him, wishing he had some way to warm her, that he at least had body heat to provide.

She was motionless, her breathing and heartbeat dangerously faint. He felt so utterly helpless, so alone. He tried calling to Alastair again, but again it felt as though his thoughts ricocheted right back to him. That had to mean this place was shielded by magic, impenetrable. Alastair probably couldn’t hear him.

No one could.

And Lu was dying in his arms.

Alastair watched from behind police tape as human officers tried to make sense of the crime scene. The window of his motel room was shattered inward, Lu’s blood everywhere. The smell of werewolf was thick in the air, as thick as it had been at the beach where Joey had been taken.

Overwhelming despair and helplessness washed over him as he stood at the edge of the parking lot, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. “I shouldn’t have left her alone,” he whispered, fighting back tears. “What was I thinking? I should never have left her.”

A gentle hand squeezed his shoulder. “You couldn’t help but respond to Joey’s distress call,” Augustine said quietly. “He’s your progeny, you had to go to his aid.”

“I shouldn’t have left her,” Alastair repeated.

“It’ll be dawn soon, Allie. We need to go to my hotel. We can’t be out here when the sun comes up.”

Alastair shook his head. “No. We have to find them. We have to track down the werewolves and get Lu and Joey back. Do you think they’re still alive? I can’t sense Joey at all.” His voice broke before he finished speaking.

“I’m sure they’re still alive, but we won’t be able to help them in daylight. The best thing we can do is get some rest, gather our strength, and then go after them at sundown.” Augustine’s voice was low, soothing. Almost hypnotic. Despite himself, Alastair felt himself agreeing.

          He let Augustine lead him back to the Impala, where he sank numbly onto the passenger seat. And in a few minutes they were pulling into the deserted predawn parking lot of the Chaminade Hotel. The sky was beginning to lighten to steel grey, birdsong already punctuating the stillness as Augustine cut the engine.

          When they got to the room, Alastair lay down on the mattress and curled up into a ball, hugging himself tightly and pressing his eyes shut. Augustine pulled a blanket over him, his voice soothing and gentle as he said, “Get some sleep, Allie, you need to rest.”   

Alastair tried to fight his exhaustion, but it was impossible. He was asleep in moments.

And then Augustine smiled, his eyes the cold, hard, ice blue of a glacier.

“Where are we? What’s going on?”

Lu struggled to sit up, her head pounding. She pressed a palm to her forehead and turned to look at Joey, who was propping her up with an arm around her shoulders.

          How do you feel?” Joey asked.

          “Like my head got run over by a garbage truck.”

          “Thank God you’re finally awake,” he said. “I was so worried.”

          “Where are we?” Lu repeated, looking around at stark cement walls.

          “I’m not sure,” Joey said. “I was out for a while too, after Augustine incapacitated me. I don’t know where he’s keeping us.”

          “Augustine?”