Wolfsbane, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series) (6 page)

While I stood beside Cash struggling with my indiffe
rence, grief gripped the pack. Men and women -all of them wolves and now Cash's pack- filled the old military hanger to max capacity. All eyes were downcast in a show of submission and respect as they waited for their alpha to address them. Their pain and fear of the unknown was easy to read despite their averted eyes.

Cash's voice filled the vacuum. His first command as a
lpha caught me completely off guard. "Maurin is under pack protection, my protection. There will be no retribution for the death of the omega from an obvious act of self defense. Any wolf in violation of this will suffer my wrath, for a very long and painful time before succumbing to Wolfsbane. By my order she is free to leave and report back to the Council what she has witnessed tonight."

I took that as my cue to exit. I had seen more than enough of the inner workings of the pack for one night an
yway. I wasn't sure it was wise to make his first order as alpha a threat but if he felt it was necessary I wasn't going to argue. Cash had accomplished two things in making that statement. One, now I knew there was a very real possibility one or more of the pack could come after me. And two the pack knew he would not only cause bodily harm but rip the wolf from their body. A fate I assumed was worse than death since that hadn't even been an option.

Conry was right on my heels as I broke the veil that separated reality from the between and went home. I could still hear the gasps and whispers of how the hell did I just do that as the rip in reality closed and I collapsed on my couch.

4

My phone was ringing incessantly. I had been trying to ignore it for the last hour. Ten rings ago I had decided it wasn't a solicitor and most likely another emergency but I couldn't bring myself to get up off the couch and answer it. Five rings ago it dawned on me it was most likely the wo
man I called my mother -since my cell phone hadn't rung once, simply because I never gave her the number- and I had even less motivation to pick up. Certain she was just calling to give me grief for letting Frankie down by choosing work over my sister I was determined to let the phone ring all night - well technically morning. One ring ago I realized what time it really was and that in lieu of leaving hateful messages on my machine she chose to hang up and dial again, I concluded something was actually wrong.

"Hello?" I never bothered to put the receiver next to my ear, the skeptical part of me ready to hang up at the first insult.

"I know you are behind this. You're always making a mess of everything. You're miserable and alone, no surprise
there but I will not allow you to drag your sister down with you. Put Francesca on the phone now!" She was yelling, a show of passion and anger I had never seen before.

I was about to hit the off button on my phone when I read between the insults. My sister wasn't home. "Frankie's not here." I croaked, exhaustion still audible in my voice.

"Don't bother lying. I know she's there. Where else would she be?" She regained her composure and was back to the ice queen I was familiar with.

"I said she's not here. So she went out for awhile, that's not a crime. She's a grown woman. Give her some space." Why did I answer the phone?

"She was supposed to be here hours ago. You expect me to believe your sister just went out for a walk the morning of her wedding and lost track of time? The hair stylist and make-up artist are already here, the photographer is on his way and your sister just went for a stroll, is that it?" She barked.

"Don't bite my head off, I'm not the one who lost the bride. That was on your watch." I snapped back. "The way this conversation should have gone was Maurin your sister took off. She's not here or
at her apartment. I don't know where else to look. I need your help."

I was met with silence on the other end. "I am hanging up now. Call me if she changes her mind about the whole runaway bride thing."

"You care more about breaking me than your sister? Fine Maurin, I need your help." The last part was laced with anger.

I knew how much it cost her to say those words. A smile crept across my face. I would have looked for Frankie an
yway. "I'll bring her home."

She didn't say thank you or anything else for that ma
tter before she hung up. I dragged myself off the couch, managing to get myself cleaned up in record time despite lingering aches and pains from last night's activities. I had planned on going to see the Council before the ceremony. If I didn't find Frankie fast there wouldn't be enough time and standing up the Council was not an option. Of course if I didn't find her there wouldn't be a ceremony to worry about so it wouldn't matter. That line of thinking wasn't getting me any closer to finding my sister. I gave a little whistle for Conry. I already knew where my first stop was going to be.

My soon to be brother-in-law was a mess sitting on their expensive leather couch in the clothes he had obviously slept in. Hang over, suffering from the same cold feet as my sister, concern for her safety or guilt for having done som
ething to make her run? I intended to find out.

Moving through the between was definitely a stealthy mode of transportation. He never heard me come in. I had been watching him for a couple minutes and he had no clue I was there. Conry gave a little huff, announcing our pre
sence.

I wasn't sure how much Michael actually knew about me but the look of absolute terror on his face told me not nearly enough. It was becoming painfully obvious that even Frankie wasn't comfortable telling people what I really was. Although in her defense, it wasn't like I told her exactly what that was.

"How the hell... Your sister said you were... but she never said you could... What are you?" Michael sputtered.

"All that Ivy League education and you can't even ma
nage to string a proper sentence together. You disappoint me Michael." His face was stricken with fear. His chest heaved as he sucked in breath after breath trying to calm down and failing miserably. He was going to hyperventilate. "In her defense, she doesn't have a clue about what I really am. What did you do to my sister Michael?" I let the menace in my voice hang in the air before pressing him further.

"I asked you a question. What did you do to make my sister run Michael?" My voice was cold, void of all emotion. It had the desired effect.

"We, we had a fight. I..." He stammered.

I moved with a swiftness I wouldn't have thought poss
ible given my lack of sleep and time to heal."If there is so much as a hair out of place when I find her..." I warned. I jerked him up off the couch. Conry sensed my anger and moved forward, snarling.

"I didn't touch her. I swear." He practically shrieked, tr
ying to pry my grip from his no doubt expensive dress shirt. Sensing the effort to free himself was pointless he hung there defeated and completely emasculated.

"So why isn't she at her mothe
r's putting her on wedding dress?" I gave him a little shake, letting him know I wasn't entirely convinced. His face showed his confusion over my Freudian slip, so I shook him again until I could see he was focused once again on my sister and not the state of my relationship with my family. He'd have to do better at hiding his emotion if he had any hope of being a lawyer.

"We were talking about the wedding, about moving to D.C. in the summer. My father said I shouldn't say an
ything, that what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her." He was a blubbering mess and hadn't even actually confessed yet. I could only imagine how this went with Frankie last night.

I knew my expression darkened as my grip tightened. "What did you do? Make it quick Michael, my patience is wearing thin."

"It was a few months before we were engaged. There was this study group for the bar, every Thursday. You know pizza and beer, that kind of thing." I waved him on with my free hand hoping he would get to the point so I could start looking for Frankie. "Ashley was struggling with the mock exam, at least she said she was. I stayed to help. I didn't mean for anything to happen. One minute we were going over constitutional law and the next we were.....I told Frankie it was meaningless. If anything it made me realize how much I loved her."

One thing led to another? His words gave a ring of truth the ridiculous fears I had earlier about Aidan and the my
sterious woman he was traveling with. I was dangerously close to losing control of my temper.

"I'm sure she took comfort in the fact that the sex was meaning
less. You're a complete fucking idiot. You waited until the night before your wedding to confess your inability to keep your dick in your pants?" I dropped him on the couch with enough force to rock it backwards. The back of his head smacked the wall hard enough to dent the drywall. I watched with satisfaction as his eyes rolled back and his eyelids fluttered. From the looks of the apartment Frankie left before she had time to got angry. Giving him a mild concussion was the least I could do.

I was already slipping into the between when he r
egained his ability to focus. He was begging me to tell her how sorry he was and convince her to come home as their apartment disappeared. I stood in the place between realities and tried to figure out my next move. It wasn't like I'd spent a lot of time hanging out with my sister lately. I didn't have a clue where she went when she needed to be alone.

"Where do you think she is Conry? How are we going to find her, huh boy?" I said squatting down to give him a good scratch behind his ears. He nudged
me with his muzzle and knocked me off balance. I plopped down beside him. "We don't have time to play Conry. We need to find Frankie and get her to at least call home. Maybe she took the train to Providence."

This was the longest I had been in the between with no clear destination. It was like lucid dreaming. Places I had used the between to travel to flashed in front of me. I would think of a place Frankie might be and it would begin to m
aterialize only to dissolve as another place came to mind. My stomach lurched as each place came in and out of focus. I was going to need some Dramamine if I didn't settle on one destination soon. I closed my eyes and focused on just my sister. I pictured her exactly as she was when I left her at the luncheon yesterday, laughing and smiling with her friends. I concentrated on nothing but Frankie until I could practically feel that gravitational pull she had. I didn't try to figure out where she was, deciding instead to let the between lead me to her. I followed the pulling sensation until I felt cold, hard concrete beneath me. I sat there for a second, letting my stomach settle.

I opened my eyes and cursed my sister.

5

"Of all the places, damn it Frankie." I grumbled. It was bad enough that I had to bring her back to Beacon Hill and the dragon lady. "Make yourself scarce Conry. You aren't allowed in."

I crossed the street still baffled at how my sister ended up here. I took a deep breath and opened the door to The Daily Grind. I was about to go in when I realized Conry was still stuck to my side. I told him to stay, sit and lie down but he ignored all of my commands. I gave up. What's the worst that could happen, they'd toss me out? I was pretty sure that would happen regardless.

Conry evaporated as soon as I walked through the door. Cool! I knew he was there, I could still feel his breath on my hand. If we could manage to avoid bumping into anyone they'd never know my mystical dog was there.

Frankie looked up as soon as the little chime above the door rang out. "Maurin!" She exclaimed. "It took you long
enough. I've had enough espresso to keep me awake for a week waiting for you."

I grimaced as she practically shouted my name. Every eye in the room was focused on me. I tried not to squirm under the scrutiny of so many unfriendly faces. "Frankie we need to go."

"You said you came here all the time. I thought you liked this place?" She whined. "I've been sitting here alone like a total loser hoping you'd show up."

"I'm giving up coffee." She raised a skeptical brow. "Fine, I haven't given up anything. I'm kind of banned from the Grind." I cut her off before she could ask me why. "Firstly, I used to come here alone all the time and I am not a loser. Secondly, we're not here to talk about me. I'm taking you home, let's go Frankie."

"Sit down Maurin. I'm not going home." She informed me.

"Fine, we can go somewhere else." She just crossed her arms and sat back in my favorite chair
like an insolent child. I fought the urge to tip her out of the chair and plop down on the warn leathery cushions. Man I missed this place. "Did you hear what I said? We're leaving. My money's no good here."

"Well mine is. I gave that girl a fifty dollar tip. So sit down and order something so we can talk. I really need some sisterly advice."
She was glaring at me, daring me with her eyes to argue. I remembered the skill with which she would throw a tantrum as a child and sensed we weren't far from a repeat performance.