The Keeping (50 page)

“I was checking on
the state of the safe room. Ensuring it was up to date and in
running order in case you ever need it, Mr. Greyson.”

“Humph.” He
narrowed his eyes and stared at the man he sometimes called friend.
In his life, friend and foe were often two sides of the same coin.
Which side was Aldrich right now? He glanced towards the hut. Did
his peripheral vision catch Aldrich giving his finger a nervous
flick or was it merely a shadow from the leafy branches overhead?
Hmm... “All right. It’s a good enough reason. Damned efficient of
you. But next time I say to stay away, I mean it.”

Aldrich bobbed his
head. “Will you still be ‘incommunicado’ for a few more days,
sir?”

Greyson stared
past the lawyer towards the main house. He might be getting old but
his eyesight was still keen enough to pick out the window in the
upper right-hand corner of the west wing. There was a flicker of
movement there—just a flash of white—but it was enough to let him
know he needed to get moving. He drew his gaze back to the lawyer.
“That’s right. No contact. And don’t you dare let on to anyone I’m
here. You won’t like the consequences, if I discover this
information has become public knowledge. Now clear out.”

“Of course, sir.
Except... I do need to make a few adjustments to some of the
equipment in the safe room. It will cause less suspicion if I do it
now, while almost everyone is away.”

He studied the
lawyer. Something was off, but what? Movement in the upper window
of the main house drew his attention again. Damn! There was no time
for this. “All right. But I want you gone by sunset.
Understood?”

“Perfectly.”
Aldrich nodded serenely as he pulled open the car. “I’ll just go
get what I need and return in about an hour. You’ll never even know
I was here.”

“Make sure of it.”
Greyson watched Aldrich get in his car and drive away at a sedate
pace. Once the car was out of sight, he turned and studied the
small camouflaged hut that housed his secret safe room. Leon was
checking the equipment and would be back to fix it. Uh-huh. He
rubbed his chin, weighing his options before heading back to the
house at a brisk pace. Aldrich might be up to something but it
would have to take back seat to the more pressing matters that were
awaiting him at the main house.

*****

Ryne stepped back
from the door, where he’d been eavesdropping on the conversation
outside. The walls appeared to be reinforced and if it hadn’t been
for his keener than normal hearing, he’d never have been able to
make out what had been said by the men standing some several feet
away. It would seem that Aldrich might be planning on
double-crossing Greyson, since no mention of Melody or himself had
been made. A falling out among the enemy might work to his
advantage.

He turned to check
on Melody. She was resting, her eyes closed, obviously exhausted
from the stress and pain of a partial transformation. If she’d been
a full-blooded werewolf, the first change would have been slightly
uncomfortable but not painful. In fact, once one got used to it,
transforming was actually a pleasant feeling of release, rather
like a small orgasm. Unfortunately, Melody’s body wasn’t ready for
the experience. Some cells were changing, others weren’t. She
likely felt as if she was being torn in two.

Not knowing what
else to do, Ryne began circling the room, hating the feeling of
being trapped. His wolf required space and freedom; confinement
went against his very nature. Testing the window, the door, and the
walls, he began looking for any weakness in the structure. Using
his elbow, he tried to shatter the glass in the window but it
seemed to be some form of bullet proof or shock resistant
substance. Similarly, the door and walls resisted his attempts to
break them down; the only thing he managed to do was bend the door
handle out of shape and give himself a sore shoulder. A frustrated
growl rumbled up from his chest. Yep, this was definitely a safe
room. While it was designed to keep people out, it also served to
keep people in.

He rubbed his
aching joint and sat down on the floor next to Melody, brushing her
hair from her forehead. Her breathing was even; the sleep was
natural rather than the unconscious state she’d been in when he
left her apartment. How many hours ago was that? He glanced at his
watch, having lost track of time. Okay, he still had an hour before
needing to check in with Bryan. It was cutting it close, but there
was still time so that was one positive. Unfortunately, after that
everything else went straight to hell.

Kane was waiting
for his call. His brother would be anxious, not wanting to disperse
the pack but not willing to risk their safety by waiting too long.
Ryne ground his teeth and cursed Aldrich for taking his phone. The
dispersal was one thing—if it happened, the members could be called
back, but how long would Kane wait before issuing the order to
destroy the remaining pack? A knot formed in Ryne’s gut as he
contemplated what would happen if he didn’t make that call in the
next few hours.

Leaning his head
against the wall, he inhaled deeply and forced himself to be calm
and logical as he puzzled over who knew what and the implications
of each bit of knowledge. How many people did he need to find and
silence? Together Aldrich, Greyson, and Melody each had possession
of a plethora of truths, half-truths, and misconceptions. Out of
the three, Melody knew the most; she just wasn’t aware of it yet.
In a way, that made her the most dangerous to the safety of his
kind. How she reacted, when the pieces of the puzzle fell together,
would determine her fate.

Beside him, Melody
stirred and pressed closer to him. The simple gesture made his
heart beat faster. In her sleep she still trusted him, but how she
would feel once she was awake might be a different story. When
she’d first seen him at her apartment building, she hadn’t been
pleased, no doubt still feeling the sting of their parting words.
And, even though she called out his name when he had charged into
this room, it was probably due more to surprise than any actual joy
at his presence.

Loathe to disturb
her, but knowing they had an hour at best before Aldrich returned,
he gently shook her awake. He needed to figure out if she was
really an innocent in all of this, explain about the
transformation, formulate a plan to get out of here in one piece
and then deal with those who knew more than they should.

“Melody? You have
to wake up. We need to talk.”

“Hmm? Ryne?” She
blinked at him sleepily, her brow slowly furrowing as awareness
returned. Ryne could tell, by the expression on her face, the
moment she realized where she was. Pushing herself upright, she
brushed her hair from her face and looked around at her
surroundings. “What the hell is going on? Why are you here? And why
am I here?”

Ryne helped her up
sit up, steadying her until she found her balance. “Well, it’s
complicated.”

“Complicated?” She
glowered at him. “And, why do I suspect that the complications are
mostly your fault?”

Her tone of voice
irritated him and he snapped back at her. “Well, some of it is,
though strictly speaking, your presence is what started
everything.”

“Me? I didn’t do
anything!”

“Yes, you did. You
kept insisting on interviewing me.”

“So? It’s a
perfectly reasonable request!”

“Which I chose to
decline. You should have just gone away.” Ryne chose to take a hard
line with her. If he pushed enough, he might get to the truth
behind her presence in Stump River and Smythston.

“Gone away! After
chasing you half way across the continent? I don’t think so! There
was too much money involved.”

Ryne pounced on
her statement. “Ah-ha! So now we have your real motive. You said
the interview was for a course you were taking. That you were just
interested in my art. But that’s not the whole truth, is it? You’re
in this with Aldrich!”

Melody huffed and
looked away.

He pressed his
advantage. “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s why you won’t look at me.
You lied about the interview. What was the real reason you were
trying to find me?” He grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to face
him.

She compressed her
lips before sighing and giving in. “All right. I’ll tell you,
especially since it appears Aldrich was lying to me or has gone off
his rocker or something.”

Ryne settled back
and crossed his arms. He kept his eyes carefully trained on her so
he could gauge the truth of what she was about to tell him.

“This rich guy
named Greyson wants information on you—I was never really told
exactly why; they just hinted that it might be for an article in an
art magazine and that he was this big collector who liked your
work. Anyway, Aldrich was in charge of interviewing people for the
job and somehow got hold of my name. I was surprised I was hired
because he didn’t seem to like me, and I’m still just a student.
But, for whatever reason, I was offered the job. It paid a small
fortune; enough that I could quit working and go back to school
full time, so I took the assignment.”

Ryne narrowed his
eyes, considering the information. It seemed too simple. “If that’s
the case, then why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Because secrecy
was one of the conditions of the job.” She shook her head. “I know,
I know; it sounds suspicious, and I did wonder, but the money was
too good to pass up. And then, when you didn’t want an interview,
Aldrich started to threaten that Greyson would sue me for the
return of all the money, even what I’d already spent tracking you
down.” Melody rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she stared
about the small room. “It was just an interview with a nature
photographer, for heaven’s sake. Nothing that earth shattering. I
figured it was easy money; what could possibly go wrong?” She
snorted inelegantly. “Now look at the mess I’m in!”

“Yeah, well...”
Ryne rubbed the back of his neck. “In normal circumstances, an
interview with a nature photographer would be a simple job.” Her
aura let him know she was speaking the truth so at least part of
his concerns had been dealt with. Now came the hard part; breaking
the news to her about werewolves.

Melody fixed her
eyes on him, a speculative look on her face. “But you’re not a
simple photographer, are you Ryne?

“Not exactly.”

“Then what? Do you
smuggle drugs in the picture frames? Are you in debt to the Mob?
Wanted for murder? Robbing a bank?”

“No. Nothing
illegal.”

“Then what?”

“Well...” Ryne
tried to think of any easy way to tell her, but knew they didn’t
have time to beat around the bush. He might just as well spit it
out. “You see... I’m a werewolf.”

Melody blinked at
him then gave a distinctly un-amused laugh. “Right and so am I. And
when there’s a full moon, I get all furry and start howling. Come
on, Ryne. Give me a break. I feel like crap because...well...I
don’t know why, but I do. The point is, I’m just not in the mood
for stupid stories.”

“I’m not joking. I
really am a werewolf and so are you. Well, technically you’re only
partially a werewolf since you’re still undergoing cellular
changes, but eventually you will be.”

Ryne watched as
she got a funny look on her face and then began to ease away from
him. “You actually believe those books I saw in your house, don’t
you? And I bet you’re a card carrying member of that Lycan website
I came across, too.”

“We don’t really
carry cards, but yes, my name’s on the registry.”

She threw her
hands up in the air. “Oh, this is just great. I’m locked in a room
with a wannabe wolf-boy and some psycho lawyer is trying to
‘persuade’ me to hand over a report about said wolf-boy.”

“Stop with the
wolf-boy crap and get rid of the attitude.” Ryne felt his patience
wearing thin. It had never been one of his strong points, and
Melody’s mocking was stretching it to the limits. “This situation
is serious. A lot of lives are at stake, not just ours, and we
don’t have that much time before that fucking Aldrich returns.
There
are
werewolves. I’m one. You are becoming one and
Aldrich wants that report so he can find other packs and do God
only knows what to them.”

His tone of voice
caught her attention and she sobered. “You really believe this
stuff, don’t you?”

“Not only do I
believe it, I live it, every day. And soon you will, too.” He saw
her open her mouth to comment but headed her off with stern words.
“Let’s cut to the chase. I’ll do a little demo. You will not scream
or pass out or do anything else clichéd. You will sit, watch and
then we’ll discuss the situation in a calm, rational manner. Got
it?”

She nodded and
Ryne couldn’t help but allow a fleeting smile at the way she just
shut up and listened when he went into Alpha mode. Damn, but that
made for a nice change. Stepping back, he brought forth his wolf.
Around him, the air seemed to shimmer, his vision temporarily
blurred, then just as quickly, it cleared and he was looking up at
Melody’s gaping face. He couldn’t help but give a delighted yip and
wag of his tail at being able to rub her face in her disbelief.
However, the situation was too serious to spend time on such
childish actions. Quickly, he transformed back and sat back
down.

“Wow.”

He raised his
eyebrows at her bland response and waited expectantly for further
comment. When none came, he frowned. “That’s it? Just ‘wow?’ No
questions? No ‘how’d you do that?’”

“Oh, I have
questions. Lots and lots of questions. Like, what kind of drug did
you or Aldrich slip me? And why? I mean, sure you might have this
fantasy life thing about werewolves, but why do you have to drag me
into it?”

Ryne growled in
frustration. “You weren’t drugged. You really did see me change
into a wolf and as for why I’m dragging you into
this...well...you’re becoming a werewolf, too.”