Wolves and the River of Stone (19 page)

“Ah have something for you all, Dominic.” Zola said as she reached into an inner pocket in her cloak. She pulled out a handful of bronze amulets attached to black silk cords. I recognized the discs. There were a series of runes etched on either side and I knew if I looked at it with the Sight I’d see deep red, yellow, and violet lines twisting around the runes.

“Zola,” Sam said as her fingers ran over the amulet my master had given her just a few months ago. “Are those what I think they are?”

“Yes, Ah suspect so.” Zola handed one to Dominic and then to Vik. “There are two more.” She handed the extras to Vik. “Ah trust you will give them to those who can help us.”

“Zola ... thank you,” Vik said. His eyes were wide as he rubbed one of the amulets between his thumb and forefinger.

Dominic flipped the disk and looked at Sam. “What are these?”

“They’ll protect you from necromancers,” Sam said. “Even if you haven’t fed on them.”

“They’re wards,” Zola said. “Ah only know two other people who can make them, but Philip doesn’t know how to break them.”

“Wards?” Dominic said. “I thought wards could only be created by a powerful Fae.”

“Or a very old woman,” Zola said with a smile.

Dominic laughed and tied the ward around his neck. “Very well. I thank you for your gift.”

Zola nodded.

“Nine o’clock. We’ll see you all there,” Dominic said.

Carter and Hugh stood up, and I followed. I squeezed Sam’s shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Be careful, will you? I don’t want to
make
you be careful.”

She grinned and punched me in the arm as her hand moved to her amulet. “That’s not even funny, Demon.”

I frowned and rubbed my arm. “Ow, I may need that later.”

“One thing,” Zola said. Her voice was low and it grated with her accent. “Remember, Cromlech Glen is built over the meeting place of several dozen ley lines.”

“It’s a nexus,” Foster said.

Zola nodded. “Think before you channel any power. Everything will be more powerful in the glen, and if you forget,” she pointed at me, “you’ll end up looking like burnt bacon.”

“Mmm, bacon is an underrated food,” Vik said.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him. He was wearing a smile. “Better than a ferret?”

“Well, let us not be hasty.”

The wolves both wore baffled expressions while everyone else laughed.

“Enough,” Zola said, “we must prepare.” A sense of pride swelled in my chest as I watched my master. There she was, with an Alpha werewolf and a vampire enforcer following her order without question.

I
t felt good to be back in jeans and a black t-shirt. Before we left, Vik slapped my emergency clothes into my arms and told me to change because I was making him feel old. That got a laugh. Carter called Maggie to let her know who, and what, was coming. Apparently she was excited about meeting the cu siths. I was pretty sure that sentiment would pass the first time they playfully punched holes in her legs. We were on the road a minute later, getting drenched by a nighttime thunderstorm.

“I’m so glad you punched the sunroof out,” Carter said as he glanced toward the gray sky. “I thought you said it wouldn’t be cloudy?” His hair was plastered to the right side of his face where a torrent of rain was coming through the roof.

Foster laughed and tucked himself closer to the middle vent at the front of the dashboard. “Don’t look at me. Hugh said that. But I think he’s right, this is going to clear up fast.”

“Great, that’s helpful,” Carter muttered.

I smiled and stared out the passenger window. I tried really hard not to laugh at Carter but my brain mouth filter slipped as I said, “Do I smell wet dog?”

Even Carter burst into laughter as we cruised down Highway 40.

With the storm, it took about a half hour for us to arrive in Forest Park. The rain stopped as we neared the exit. I directed Carter to the birdcage. It was one of Happy’s favorite haunts, next to the red pandas. By the time Carter pulled to the curb and we both stepped out of the mobile swimming pool, I could feel another presence.

I didn’t even have to focus my Sight to see Happy. He came bounding through the bars of the birdcage, headed straight for us. I saw Carter stiffen as he caught a glimpse of the bear.

“You can see him?” I said.

Carter nodded.

“Huh, that’s new. Commoners still can’t see him, but I guess werewolves go with his new guardian duties.” My skin started to buzz as Happy’s aura came close enough to brush my own. “Hey boy,” I said as I rubbed him behind both ears. There was a time I couldn’t touch Happy without feeding power into his aura. Ever since he’d adopted the little ghost we’d met the year before, that wasn’t the case. I caught a shimmer out of the corner of my eye and the little ghost appeared beside the panda bear. I waved to her. She smiled and then buried her face in Happy’s fur. “Well buddy, we need your help. I think Aeros is coming, so you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

The bear snorted and poked me in the face with his nose.

 “Holy shit,” Carter whispered.

I could hear Foster laughing as I took a step away from Happy. The little ghost girl looked up at Foster’s laugh and smiled when she saw the fairy fluttering above Happy. She waved by opening and closing her hand as Foster swooped closer to her.

I’d only heard Happy speak twice before, and the third time wasn’t any less disturbing. The bear’s mouth rippled, but it didn’t open. His words burned behind my eyes and were suddenly
there,
an ancient bass timpani vibrating across my mind.

I will help. I will bring the child.

Happy snorted and tossed his head. The little ghost climbed onto his back an instant before their forms and auras collapsed into each other and they vanished in silence.

“What happened?” Carter said. “Who was the little girl?”

My eyes widened. “You could see her?”

“Yes.”

“But she’s a ghost,” Foster said. “Werewolves can’t see ghosts.”

Carter’s eyes widened too. “What?”

I shook my head. “Not important now. They’re going to help, that’s what’s important.”

“Is he meeting us at the park?” Foster said.

I scratched my head and started walking toward the car. “I guess. He said he’ll help and he’s bringing the little ghost.”

“But why?” Foster said.

I shrugged. “Let’s just get down to the park.”

Carter shook his head in a slow and deliberate manner as he climbed back into the rental. “That was weird.”

Foster laughed. “You’re driving a necromancer and a fairy around with no roof in a thunderstorm.”

Carter stared at Foster for a moment. “You make a good argument.” He started the SUV and we took the long way through the park to Kingshighway. It took us past the History Museum and I wondered how Cassie was doing. I frowned when I thought of Sam attacking me on those steps last year. A few minutes later we were back on Highway 44 and headed to Laumeier.

Carter’s hands flexed around the steering wheel hard enough to make the leather creak.

“You alright?” I said.

He ran his left hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I just, I hope we’re doing the right thing here.”

“Yeah, so do I.”

“Look on the bright side,” Foster said. “If it’s not the right thing, you’ll be too dead to worry about it.”

Carter grimaced. “Thanks, I feel much better now.”

“There is no better way to die, than to die with your enemies’ entrails in your fist.”

Carter pulled a disgusted face and glanced at Foster. “What?”

“There is no better-”

“Stop, never mind. I heard you the first time.”

“What’s up with the wolf?” Foster said as he looked at me.

“Gee, I have no clue.”

“Was it the entrails?”

I burst into laughter. I even caught a hint of a smile on Carter’s face. Foster and I had learned a long time ago to laugh in the face of adversity and atrocities. It was that or endure a psychotic break that would make a dark necromancer proud. Or go over the falls in a barrel, whichever you prefer.

The mood sobered as we pulled off the highway and wrapped around to the entrance of Laumeier Sculpture Park. I couldn’t hide a grin when Carter backed out of the parking space and straightened the SUV.

He glanced at me and said, “What?”

“I didn’t say a word.”

He turned off the car and got out. I did the same, and Foster fluttered past my head before I closed the door.

Something hammered against my senses as soon as my feet hit the asphalt. “Shit, there are more dead here than there should be.”

“What do you mean?” Carter said.

I could feel them. I pointed to the path we were about to take. “We’re going to be walking right over them.”

“A trap?”

I nodded.

Carter jumped as a seven-foot fairy suddenly appeared beside him. Foster drew his sword and held it in reverse, against the length of his right forearm as we moved forward.

“I’m impressed, Carter,” I said. “I think most people would have run screaming from this mess by now.”

He laughed without humor. “I am the Alpha of my pack. And they shouldn’t have screwed with Maggie. I don’t run screaming from anything.” He glanced at Foster. “Not even a crazy fairy.”

Foster flashed his teeth and took the lead.

“I’ve never been here at night,” I said.

“I’ve never been here at all,” Carter said. “It feels homey.”

“I think you mean creepy,” I said as I looked around at the encroaching trees. I tried to walk in silence, but the gravel paths were a little uneven and crunched beneath my boots. I leaned into Carter and whispered, “Everyone should be in position already, right?”

He glanced at his watch and nodded as Foster looked skyward at the crystal clear night and nodded. Carter grabbed my arm and placed his index finger to his mouth. Foster and I stood stock still. Carter stripped out of his clothes, stepped off the path, and tucked them inside a wooden structure that reminded me of a small Aztec temple. He didn’t even break stride, only released a muffled grunt, as his body began to shimmer and pop and a covering of khaki fur flowed over him in the moonlight. The wave of power his transformation pulled in was warm against my aura.

“Are those boxer briefs?” I said.

The wolf-man grinned and snapped the waistband lightly against his thigh with a carefully controlled claw.

Foster slapped his hand over his mouth and I could see he was losing the battle not to laugh. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face either until a darker wave of power brushed my aura. I shivered and we all fell silent again in the darkness.

“They’re here,” I whispered.

There was a rustling on the path behind us and the cricket song abruptly died. My head snapped around. My eyes scanned the shadowy edge of the woods to either side, but nothing was there. I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart and started down the path behind Foster and beside the werewolf.

Every instinct screamed at me to get off the path, but we were the bait. Instincts be damned. It wasn’t much longer before the dark, looming visage of Cromlech Glen came into view. The circular earthworks were covered in grass, split with a narrow access point in the northwest. The woods surrounding Cromlech Glen were unbroken but for our path and one other. The rim of the structure was lit with an orange glow from the inside, turning the trees around us to dense black shadows. My eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so the two burning torches at the center of the glen looked bright as the sun. I could see shadowy figures moving past our limited view into the circle of the glen. A man at the far side was pointing to the southeast and my heart pounded in my ears as I thought I heard the word ‘vampires.’ One of the silhouettes closest to us screamed. Two figures started running at us from the interior of the glen.

Carter’s ears swiveled back and forth, pausing and twitching. His right ear locked its position and he tapped me on the arm. He pointed to the edge of the earthworks to our right. I could barely make out a pale green glow when it suddenly spiked into brilliant blue flames.

The wolf’s ears flattened. I shook my head and gave him a thumbs up. I knew the green glow and the blue fire. Zola was summoning Aeros. It was time to move.

Carter was two steps ahead of me. I heard him growl, “Alpha,” as he dove at the first incoming man, planting his front claws in the dirt and then exploding from his crouch. It took me a moment to realize the man in back was a werewolf. He was coming fast with a confident smirk on his dark face. I realized then I was looking at the Alpha who’d been causing Carter so much grief. By the time I finished thinking about it, Carter’s clawed fist smashed through the first man’s ribcage and tore out bits and pieces I was sure were vital.

“Son of a bitch,” I said. Two more shadows came tearing out of the woods to our left, along the north side of the glen. The figure in back was a huge, fully-formed werewolf. I drew my pepperbox from the holster beneath my left arm and leveled it at the wolf.