Dr. Wolf, the Fae Rift Series Book 1- Shockwave (15 page)

“Do you have any better ideas?” Aleric asked.

Dartan shook his head. “Not off the bat, but I feel like a wolf in Edge City, especially a huge one, isn’t going to run around unnoticed. You’ll draw attention, and given the guns I found on the man who shot the wood nymph, I’d say that’s a bad idea.”

“What did you do with him?”

Dartan walked beside Aleric to the back door. “I escorted him to that nurse, Tarli. She likes to call the cops. I told her the man shot a patient and she said she’d take care of him. Last I saw, he was getting hauled off by the police.”

Aleric paused by the door. “I appreciate you handling it.”

“You’re the one that handled it,” Dartan pointed out. “I just came running at the sound of the gunshot.”

“Through direct sunlight.”

Dartan followed Aleric’s gaze to the burns along his arms. “The newspaper didn’t help as much as I hoped it would, but we’re both alive.”

“As long as that’s our goal, I think we’re doing fairly well,” Aleric said.

Dartan nodded, but his expression was grim. “Aleric, I don’t think you should go out there roaming around. It’s too dangerous.”

“You felt what the banshee can do,” Aleric replied. “The last thing we need is the boy getting upset again. Besides, if he can open holes like that, we can get everyone home.”

Dartan nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”

Aleric watched the vampire. “You don’t appear too excited about that.”

Dartan leaned against the wall and folded his arms. “Remember how vampires and werewolves aren’t supposed to be friends?”

“The Fallow Conflict.” Aleric hated the bitterness of his tone when he spoke.

“Let’s just say that I hated werewolves for a reason,” Dartan told him without meeting his gaze. “And I was told they were all dead.”

“We were, are, for all intents and purposes,” Aleric replied.

Dartan shook his head. “Yet here you are, right where you’re not supposed to be. If we go back to Drake City, it’s not going to be good for you.”

Aleric felt the rise of the moon as a tingling along his skin. He wouldn’t be able to put off the need to phase much longer.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice tight with control.

Dartan studied the parking lot through the glass of the door for a moment. “You saved my life, Aleric. You weren’t supposed to do that.”

Aleric’s muscles tensed with the need to change form. Fighting it was painful. “Do you want an apology?” he asked.

Dartan shook his head. “You’re not what you’re supposed to be.”

His words sent a rush of anger through Aleric that was amplified by the adrenaline-charged need to obey the call of the moon.

“What do you expect? A blood-thirsty beast? Your people paid a demon to kill my friend and left her to die at my doorstep. Vampires declared war on every werewolf in Drake City. I lived like a pariah until I woke up here.” He opened the door, gripping it tight with one hand. “You’re a monster acting like a man.”

Aleric regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

Dartan didn’t get upset; he merely studied the wall across from him. “I can’t let you go back there. I took a vow. I figured here it wouldn’t matter; we didn’t have a way to Blays, so I wasn’t obligated to uphold the promises I made.”

The truth struck Aleric. He looked at Dartan. “You need to kill me.”

Dartan shook his head, hesitated, then nodded. “I’m supposed to, yes.”

Aleric’s muscles ached from fighting the change. His limbs shook. He couldn’t control it much longer. He clutched the rag doll so tight his knuckles were white.

“So why haven’t you?”

Dartan shrugged without meeting Aleric’s gaze.

Aleric let out a breath. “I’m done here. We’ll talk about it when I return.”

“If you return,” Dartan said.

Aleric stalked out the door and crossed the parking lot. He was almost to the dumpsters when the need to phase forced him to his knees. He was barely able to pull off his shirt before his body changed form. A few moments later, he stood on four paws. The touch of the moon fell onto his shoulders and back like the warm embrace of a blanket. He looked back at the door. Dartan stood there watching him, his expression unreadable.

Aleric sniffed at the rag doll and locked the scent in his mind. He would know it when he found it. He trotted away from the parking lot, the dumpster, and the hospital without looking back.

Chapter 14

Dartan’s words drummed through Aleric’s mind as he raced along the sidewalk. The vampire was under a vow to kill any werewolf in Blays. He wished he was surprised, but given the results of the Fallow Conflict, he should have guessed.

The vampires had signed the Armistice of Fae Equality in an agreement to not drink the blood of the fae. It was supposed to help the citizens of Blays feel safe and able to trust vampire-kind. However, the citizens also felt bitter about the taxes they had to pay in order to support the creation of artificial blood for the vampires to drink. Some felt it would be easier if vampires didn’t exist in the first place.

That’s where the werewolves came in. During a secret council of the Drake City government, it was decided that werewolves, as Ashstock and able to fight in either the day or night, would be paid heavily to attack the vampires and wipe them out. Roughly a quarter of the packs refused to get involved, stating that annihilating an entire race wasn’t ethical. Those werewolves who supported the idea rallied together and fought the vampires.

The pack Aleric and Sherian had joined in Drake City avoided the conflict. As the war raged, more packs began to disappear. Soon, the Light fae became involved as citizens also began to vanish. Governor Hornsbellow felt their casualties were too high, so he called a meeting with the vampire leaders and gave proof that the vampires had broken the Armistice.

The vampires admitted that they had broken the treaty, and motions were made to repair the damage done. Most vampires left to Cruor and peace appeared to return to the city. However, while the Light fae rested easily in their houses, the vampires wiped out as many werewolves in Drake City and the rest of Blays as they could get their fangs on. It was an underground movement to take down those who had wronged them, and though the government might have seen what happened, they turned a blind eye in the name of peace.

Aleric saw Sherian in his thoughts again. They hadn’t been romantically involved. Sherian liked a werewolf from the Brighton pack and Aleric flirted with several werewolves who worked in the retail shops, but she had been special to him, a friend who had been there during the darkest of times. Losing her had been an even greater blow than finding out his father planned to sell him to Grimmel after his mother died.

Regret had been the battle Aleric fought every day of his life since. Aleric couldn’t have saved his mother. The sickness had traveled to her organs and there hadn’t been anything the physicians could do to fight it. But perhaps he could have saved Sherian if he had known the vampires were out for blood.

Caught in his thoughts and the thrum of his paws on the pavement, Aleric almost missed the scent. He glanced around with the realization that he also had no idea where he was. No people were in sight at the late hour, and the moon was on its descent. He had run for half the night.

Aleric’s rush had taken him deep into the city in the opposite direction of his earlier travels. The streets smelled sour and garbage filled the alleys as though people no longer cared about sanitation. The exhaust and asphalt scent of the sunbaked city streets hung thick and cloying in the air. The musky wisp of several rats in the nearest pile of garbage went along with the nibbling, scratching sounds deep within the debris.

Within it all, there was another scent like a note rising above the cacophony of a crowded room. It hung there sharp and definite, the faint but clear trace of Elianna’s doll.

Aleric followed the trail down the road between two warehouses. His steps slowed. His instincts warned of danger, though he couldn’t smell anything past the garbage. He glanced behind him just as two forms disappeared around the corner. Aleric backed up slowly so the wall could protect his back if there was an attack. Four forms appeared to his left and the two on his right reappeared with three companions.

A scent reached Aleric’s nose and his ears flattened to his skull. The coppery odor of vampires was unmistakable. He snarled and backed up until his tail brushed the bricks behind him.

“A werewolf in Edge City?” a vampire with a black cloak said.

“I’ve seen stranger things here,” the woman to his right replied.

The first vampire inclined his head. “Humans are such docile creatures; no wonder the appearance of this beast alarmed them. It wouldn’t due to have them spooked.”

“Not at all, Ravad. Should I bring him in?” another vampire asked.

The black-cloaked vampire gave Aleric a smile that revealed his elongated canines. “I do get tired of human blood. A little fae mixed in would be most welcome. What do you think, Tereen?”

The female vampire smiled. “Most welcome, even if it is Ashstock blood. At this point, anything sounds lovely.”

They closed in on Aleric. He had seen Dartan’s strength. One werewolf against seven vampires would be a losing battle for sure, but he wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

Aleric bared his teeth and a rumbling snarl rolled from his throat. The first vampire made a grab for his head. Aleric dove beneath the vampire’s arm and bit his ribs. The vampire yelled and slammed a fist into the side of Aleric’s face. The punch threw him and he rolled with it, coming back up on his feet.

Two vampires charged. Aleric leaped at the first one and clamped down on her shoulder. The second vampire grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him across the alley. He hit the warehouse wall and fell to the ground. Two vampires pounced before he could rise. He yelped as teeth sunk into the skin between his shoulder blades. Fists pummeled his ribs, knocking the air out from him.

Aleric ran straight for the wall. He spun at the last second, slamming one of the vampires against the wood. The second let go at the impact. Aleric slashed the vampire’s leg with his fangs and leaped out of the way before the vampire could catch him. Another vampire grabbed him in hands stronger than any human’s and threw him against the wall again. Aleric hit the ground in a daze. Seven forms advanced on him, their shadows cloaks of darkness in the fading moonlight.

Aleric growled. The smell of the doll lingered in his nose. They had the banshee’s sister. He knew that for certain. He had to get past them to free her. He wouldn’t leave a young girl in their greedy clutches.

Aleric sprang at Ravad. The vampire backed up in surprise and Aleric’s teeth clicked shut millimeters from his throat. A vampire to Ravad’s right grabbed Aleric by the ears and slammed his forehead against the werewolf’s. Aleric dropped to the ground. He felt four sets of teeth sink into his flesh. The feeling of his blood being sucked by the vampires made his skin run cold. He tried to fight, but Ravad held him down, pinning Aleric against the pavement with unforgiving strength.

“Wait!” a voice called.

The vampires lifted their heads, breaking contact with Aleric.

Familiarity struck Aleric through the pain-filled haze. He looked past the vampires to a form at the corner. Dartan barely glanced at him before the vampire’s red eyes met those of the Dark fae around Aleric.

“Leave the werewolf to me.”

“Prince Dartan,” Ravad said with a note of loathing. “I thought you were dead.”

“Me, too,” Dartan replied. “Fortunately, I appear somewhat more resilient against sunlight than you hoped.”

“I wasn’t the one who left you in that garden.”

Dartan’s eyes narrowed. “Did I mention it was a garden?”

Ravad met the younger vampire’s glare with one of his own. “What do you want, Inheritant?”

Dartan gestured to Aleric. “The werewolf.”

Ravad shook his head. “That’s not happening.”

Dartan held the older vampire’s gaze. “I’m bringing him to my father as you should have.”

“And how do you intend to control him?” Ravad asked.

Dartan hefted the gun he held. Aleric recognized it as the tranquilizer gun from Dr. Indley.

“With tranquilizers. Father would want the honor of draining the Werewolf of Edge City himself.” He speared Ravad with a look. “You know that.”

“It was our intent to bring the werewolf to His Lordship, but the creature put up such a fight we wanted to drain him a bit to make him a little more amenable to our demands.”

“Just a bit?” Dartan said. “He looks rather deflated. Perhaps you got a bit overenthusiastic?”

“Perhaps,” Ravad replied.

Dartan gave Aleric a cold once-over as though he inspected a bag of blood for freshness. “I could probably handle him in his current physical state, but just to be sure….” He pointed the gun at Aleric’s head. The barest hint of a smile crossed the vampire’s mouth and he shifted to barrel to aim at Aleric’s shoulder. He squeezed the trigger.

A yelp escaped Aleric when the needle point of the tranquilizer impacted with the force of a bullet. He waited, expecting the numbing rush of the horse sedative. Instead, a strange, bubbling sensation filled his veins. The taste of grass filled his mouth. Aleric looked up at Dartan in surprise.

Dartan crouched and sunk his hands into Aleric’s thick fur.

“Act tranquilized,” he hissed in Aleric’s ear.

The vampire stood and hefted Aleric onto his shoulders. Aleric let his head and limbs flop over the vampire’s back and chest. The bite wounds from the vampires throbbed, but he was grateful to be alive. Where he would end up after the sun rose was left to be determined.

“I just want to reiterate that I’m grateful you’re alive,” Ravad said, falling in behind Dartan. “His Lordship was quite beside himself at the disappearance of his only son.”

“Very much so,” Tereen seconded. “Right Brell?”

“Oh, definitely,” Brell said.

“I’m sure he was,” Dartan muttered. He glanced back at the vampires. “How is the lair coming along?”

“Very well,” Ravad reported. “His Lordship is quite pleased with the progress. He says as soon as the excavating is finished, we’ll begin Phase Two.”

Aleric wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what Phase Two was. He kept his eyes half-closed. Dartan carried him without showing any sign of exhaustion beneath the werewolf’s weight. The vampires walked between the rundown buildings with a knowledge of the streets that told of much time spent there. When Dartan reached the base of a huge building, the doors opened without hesitation.

“Welcome back, Inheritant,” a low voice said.

“Thank you, Crode,” Dartan replied. “I’ve come with a gift for my father.”

“He’s overseeing the conclusion of Phase One, my Prince. You’ll find him in the lower levels,” Crode answered.

Dartan gave a single nod and led the way down the long hallway. Aleric lost track of how many stairs and hallways they traversed. It felt as though they climbed down beyond the normal limits of human architecture by the time Dartan’s footsteps slowed. He paused at a door.

“Open,” he demanded.

“For whom?” a voice asked from the other side.

Dartan glared at the panel in the door. “For the Inheritant, Gron. You know who I am.”

The thick door slid aside with the sound of metal gears.

“I just had to know my eyes weren’t failing me,” an ancient vampire with white skin and a hump on his back replied when Dartan stepped through.

Dartan walked past without answering. Cells lined the walls in the hundreds. Aleric glanced at them while keeping up the appearance of being under heavy tranquilization. Each cell was empty.

“Phase Two,” Dartan said under his breath.

Aleric realized the vampire was speaking low enough that only he could hear.

“My father brought me here from Blays a week ago. I told him what they were doing was wrong. We argued. He said I didn’t respect his vision. A few days later, I woke up in a hospital covered in burns.”

Dartan reached the end of the hallway and took the right-hand branch. He pushed open the doors at the end without waiting for anyone to open them.

“Father,” he said.

A chill ran through Aleric’s veins at the sight of the hundreds of vampires that filled the rectangular chamber. A lone vampire sat at the end of a very long table while the other Dark fae waited respectfully along the walls.

Aleric recognized the vampire. The fact that he was in Lord Targesh’s lair set his teeth on edge. It was all he could do to remain limp across Dartan’s shoulders.

The vampire wore a long red cloak over his black clothes. A silver clasp with the stamp of the ironwork troll held the cloak around Lord Targesh’s neck.

“I was told you were dead,” the Vampire Lord said when Dartan approached.

“I hear the sorrow in your voice,” Dartan replied dryly. “Don’t hold back, Father. No one will judge your tears.”

The vampire speared him with a look. “You always were a ridiculous sot prattling on about who knows what. Your opinions regarding our actions here have been discussed and disregarded for the good of the clan.”

Dartan inclined his head. “I respect that, and to prove it, I’ve brought you a gift.”

The vampire’s head rose.

Dartan grabbed Aleric by the scruff of his neck and threw him down onto the table. His body made a resounding thud on the thick wood.

“A werewolf?” Lord Targesh said in surprise. “Where did you find this Ashstock beast?”