Black Night
Page 26

“Outside door?” I asked.
A faerie pointed wordlessly at a heavy oak door on the other side of the kitchen. The wolf’s howls grew louder, more anguished, and suddenly the howls of the other wolves rang out inside the castle.
I pushed open the door and emerged into the darkness of full night. The forest that surrounded the castle loomed above the outer walls. I listened for a moment to the sound of howls now growing faint, and turned left. The wolf was dying. I could feel it.
I turned the corner on the castle and was suddenly knocked back by a powerful shock wave. For the third time I was struck by a sense of wrongness, a sense that this was outside the natural order of things. It was the feeling I associated with Ramuell, and I knew the wolf was already dead.
I didn’t have time to think or to protect myself as the shock wave hit, and I felt my magic wink out in an instant.
Great. Now I was totally helpless and surrounded by enemies, and the wolf was beyond help. But I could still try to discover the identity of its attacker. I knew one thing for sure—this was the same creature that had killed the other wolves. The shock wave confirmed that.
The darkness made it hard to see, and my lack of magic meant that I couldn’t conjure up a ball of flame to light my way. Amarantha had lit the catwalks with torches, but here on the ground everything was swathed in shadow. Beezle puffed and panted behind me. The wolf had long since stopped crying, and the howls of the other wolves had ceased.
I ran forward blindly and tripped, flew a few feet and landed on my face in the dirt. Dirt and other things. Thank goodness my mouth was closed.
I came to my knees and looked around in the faint light. The same scene of carnage that had greeted me twice before was here. The coppery smell of blood filled the air.
“Dammit,” I said to Beezle. “How many times are we going to be too late?”
“A question I have asked myself, as well, Madeline Black,” a rumbling voice said behind me.
I stood and turned to face Wade, Jude, James and another wolf I didn’t know.
“You didn’t see anyone, either?” I asked.
“We see you, Agent,” James growled.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said. “I was trying to help him.”
“Peace, James,” Wade said with a cautioning hand.
“Why, Wade?” Jude said, angrily pushing forward. He bristled all over with fury. “Three times she has been at the death of a pack member. This time she’s covered in blood. What more do you want?”
“Uh, how about some evidence?” I asked.
“I see the evidence all over you,” Jude said, and James growled in agreement.
Wolves could see much better than I could in the dark. I’m sure that I appeared pretty incriminating, but I wasn’t about to be tried for a crime I didn’t commit.
“I was racing to help your pack mate and I tripped in the dark,” I said patiently. I didn’t have any magic to defend myself and I wasn’t about to go hand to hand with a wolf a hundred pounds heavier than me.
“If Madeline Black says that is what happened, then it is so,” Wade said.
Jude made a noise of frustration, but he stepped away from me. He had to obey his alpha or challenge him in front of the pack.
I looked at Wade, ignoring Jude. “How was your pack mate separated from the rest of you?”
I knew that members of the pack generally slept as wolves in a large community pile, and the disheveled appearance of the others indicated that they had settled in for the night.
“Ethan said he was feeling restless,” Wade said. “Faerie magic is not comfortable for us. Ethan tolerated it less well than others.”
“So was he followed outside, or did the killer just take the opportunity that presented itself?” I wondered.
“And was the killer already here under some pretext, or did he follow us and lie in wait?” Wade said. He turned to speak to the other two. “Collect the remains and search for clues.”
He beckoned me closer, and we moved slightly away from the rest of the pack. “Have you any theories, Madeline Black?”
I shook my head. “I can’t figure out the killer’s motivation. Is someone trying to sabotage your negotiations with Amarantha? If they are, there are more effective ways of doing that. It would be difficult to connect the deaths in Chicago with the faeries seeing as they did not occur in Amarantha’s kingdom. Why were your pack mates out alone in the city, anyway?”
“We had come to the city for another purpose. Both times our pack mates were called on their cell phones and left quickly. Neither time did they indicate who had called them or why.”
“So they were lured by someone. Do you have enemies that could do this?”
Wade grinned, and it was more the showing of teeth than a pleasant smile. “Our oldest and most determined enemy has long been your grandfather Lucifer.”
“Oh,” I said, not knowing what to say. I kind of wanted to apologize for my bloodline, but I resisted the urge. “But have you found any evidence that the deaths are related to Lucifer?”
“Sadly, no,” Wade replied. “But then, there is no evidence that it isn’t Lucifer. There is no evidence of any kind to incriminate anyone. And before you ask, yes, there are other packs with which we have grievances.”
“So it could have nothing to do with the fallen or the faeries and have everything to do with a pack argument.”
Wade nodded. “Yes, that could be. But if it is pack related, the wolves must be getting magical assistance from another party. Werewolves have the magic to shift from one form to another. We are incredibly strong and heal quickly, but we do not have the ability to spellcast as you and some other creatures do. A wolf attacking another wolf would leave traces of itself behind—in scent, in rent flesh and fur. If another pack is attacking us, then someone is following behind to ensure that no evidence is left behind, and that someone is using magic.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Why is it that the more we talk about it, the more complicated it becomes? If there’s no evidence, how are we going to find the killer and stop him?”
“Him?” Wade said. “How do you know it is a him?”
I shrugged. “I assumed, I guess. Somehow I tend not to think of women as being this cruel.”
And the deaths were cruel. It was one thing to kill—out of need, out of self-defense—but this was not simple murder. The killer had clearly taken a rapacious enjoyment in shredding the victim into pieces.
“If you think that a female is not capable of this, then you have obviously not spent enough time with Amarantha,” Wade said.
“Well, that’s comforting,” I muttered. “Speaking of the queen, are you going to tell her about this? I’m kind of surprised the whole castle isn’t out here gaping.”
“I am not surprised. Faeries are generally reluctant to involve themselves in situations not to their advantage.”
“So there could be a witness somewhere inside the castle, but we’ll never know because the faerie wouldn’t see the advantage in telling us?”
“That is correct,” Wade replied.
“Do you know how much I hate it here?” I muttered.
Wade laughed, a giant belly laugh that boomed through the courtyard. “Even if you are the granddaughter of Lucifer, I like you, Madeline Black.”
I smiled back. It was hard not to like the big burly wolf.
He nodded to me, sobering. “I must assist my pack in the burial of our brother. Until we meet again. En Taro Adun!”
He turned and walked away before I had a chance to ask him what on earth “En Taro Adun” meant.
Beezle fluttered up. “Have we had enough excitement for one night yet?”
“Oh, yeah,” I replied. “Snacks?”
“Only if you brought something good. I’m not eating any of those granola bars.”
“Right, because a vitamin might enter your bloodstream and then your whole system would go into shock.”
We walked back into the castle through a side door. I was forced to ask one of the servants for directions back to my room. He wordlessly beckoned us to follow him.
After another twisting and turning adventure through the maze that was Amarantha’s castle, we came to our room. I was looking forward to swallowing one of Beezle’s hated granola bars, showering the gore and dirt off me and collapsing into bed. But as soon as I opened the door, I realized I wasn’t going to get my wish anytime soon.
Nathaniel stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and a furious look on his face.
“Where in the four hells have you been, and why are you covered in blood?”
12
“UH, I THINK I MIGHT TAKE A FLY OUT TO THE BALCONY I saw down the way,” Beezle said. “Back in a little while.”
He flew back out the door and pulled it shut behind him. Traitor.
“What are you doing in here?” I snapped back. I was tired, I was filthy, and I was in absolutely no mood for Nathaniel. “I thought I locked that door.”
“It is an insult to our future marriage to put a locked door between us.”
“It is also an insult to your future wife to assume that her wishes have no bearing if they interfere with yours.”
He waved that comment away. “You did not answer my question. Why are you covered in blood? What have you been doing, killing more of Amarantha’s pets? I warn you, I will not take it kindly if you do anything further to jeopardize the months of hard work I have committed to reestablishing relations with the faeries.”
“Is that all you can think about?” I shouted. “There are bigger things going on here than your advancement in Lucifer’s kingdom.”
“As my future wife, you should be more invested in my advancement—” he began.
I cut him off. “Enough. Really, enough. You need to stop acting like you can use our engagement as some kind of lever to get me to do what you want. I don’t want to marry you, and you talking about it like I’m entering into indentured servitude is not making me feel better about the situation.”