Night Broken
Page 36

Carbonnade la flamande, said Adam.
all over the floor, then I look at you.
Mmmm?
Yep, I said, putting my nose against him and breathing him in. Mmmm.
I was just considering the empty bedroom upstairs and weighing it against the possibility that Guayota would choose that moment to attack when someone knocked at the door.
We broke apart.
You have the cat, I said. I dont want to spend another hour looking for her. Ill get the door.
Be careful, was all Adam said.
I checked through the peephole, carefully, because there had been that one movie on bad-movie night where someone had been killed because hed put his eye to the peephole, and the bad guy had stuck a fencing sword through the hole and into the victims eye. Wed stopped the film to argue whether or not it was possible to doand I remained forever scarred by the scene.
It was Rachel, one of Stefans menagerie, one of his sheep. Stefan was gentler on the people he fed from than other vampires Id come into contact with. He found broken people or people who needed something from him so that the exchangetheir blood and the course of their lives for whatever a vampire might provide themwas, if not even, a little more balanced. Most members of a vampires menagerie died slowly, but Stefans people, mostly, thrived under his care. Or they had until Marsilia had happened to them.
I opened the door.
Rachel, like Stefan himself, had gained a little weight back. She didnt look like a crack addict anymore, but she didnt look really healthy, either. Her skin was pale, and there were shadows in her eyes. She didnt look young anymoreand she was around Jesses age. But she was back in her goth costumeblack lacy top, black jeans, and long black gloves that disguised the two fingers Marsiliaor Wulfehad cut off her right hand.
Hey, Mercy, she said. Ive been chasing all over looking for youI assume you know that someone tried to blow up your garage? I gave up about noon, did the shopping and a few errands, and decided to try again before I drove home. This is for you. She handed me an envelope with my name in elegant script.
I opened it and found a lined note card with an address: 21980 Harbor Landing Road, Pasco. And, underneath the address, in the same flowery script: Sorry.
Hel-lo, handsome, purred Rachel. Man with cat is one of my fantasies.
I didnt look up. Hes taken, Rachel, sorry. Shes underage, Adam, andyoure taken. Rachel, this is my husband, Adam. Adam this is Stefans His what? Sheep wasnt any word Id ever use to describe someone I liked, no matter how accurate it was. Stefans.
Sheep is the word youre looking for, said Rachel. Id better get going before the ice cream melts. Bye, Mercy. Bye, Mercys husband.
She turned and trotted out to her car, a nondescript little Ford I hadnt seen before. She waved and took off in a peel of rubber and gravel that made me wince a little as the splatter of small rocks rained down on the SUV.
I twirled the card in my fingers before handing it reluctantly to Adam.
Here, I said, more casually than I felt. I think wed better call Ariana and Elizaveta, dont you think? Someone has got to know how to make werewolves fireproof.
Warren met us at the door to Honeys house.
Hey, boss, he said, drawling like there was nothing wrong, but I could tell that he was upset by the set of his shoulders. We were taking Gary Laughingdog to the bus station like you askedand Kyle says to tell you thank you for making him aid and abet an escaped convict like thatwhen he started having convulsions in the backseat. We pulled over, and he was unconscious, so we brought him back. He hasnt woken up, and Kyle is pretty well resigned to losing his license to practice law.
I gave the cat carrier to Adam and set down the bag of Medea necessities I carried. The cat box and kitty litter were still in the car, and so was my .44 S&W, which Id retrieved from the house. Here. You take the cat and Warren. Ill take Kyle, I said.
Adam gave me a look.
Sorry. You heap big Alpha dog, I told him. Ill let you call it next time. But Im right, and you already know it. Kyle will just make you mad on purposeand Warren will listen better to you than me about relationships because hed feel comfortable storming away from me when I said something he didnt want to hear. Where is Kyle? I directed my question at Warren.
Down the hall, third bedroom on the left. Watching over Laughingdog, who is still unconscious. He frowned at me. Before Christy came, I never thought about how much you manipulate the people around youit doesnt feel like manipulation when you do it.
The difference is, I told him, that I love you and want everyone to be happy. AndI lifted a fingerI know whats best for you.
And, said Adam, Mercys not subtle. When she manipulates you, she wants you to know youve been manipulated.
Id already crossed the living room toward the wing with the bedrooms, but I turned around to stick my tongue out at Adam.
Dont point that at me unless you are going to use it, he said.
I smiled until I was safely out of sight.
The door to the bedroom Warren had indicated was shut, so I knocked.
Kyle opened the door. Id seen Kyle angry before. But I dont think Id ever seen him that angry. Maybe it was because that anger was directed at me.
I slipped through the doorway, though I was pretty sure hed intended to send me on my way. But Im really good at sticking my nose in where no one wants it.
The room was one of those bedrooms that builders throw into huge houses because they know the kids arent going to get a vote about what house their parents buy. Honeys house was huge. This bedroom was maybe ten feet by nine feet. Just big enough for a twin bed and a chest of drawers. I hadnt seen Honeys suite, but I was sure that it wasnt ten feet by nine feet.
The bed that someone had tucked Gary into was a queen-size bed, and that meant there wasnt room for a chest of drawers of any size and that Kyle and I were very close to each other. If hed been a werewolf, Id have been worried.
So, Kyle said mildly as he shut the bedroom door. Were driving to the bus station in Pasco with the guy who had stopped at my house to look for you. Warren, I want you to know, told me that he was a distant relative of yours. I dont know if thats the truthand at this point, I dont think I care. But I digress. The important part is that while Im driving Gary to the bus station, Im still at the pointwhere I trust that what Warren tells me will be the truth. Im just beginning to get a funny feeling, though, because I cant figure out why Warren has been so concerned about ID. Even to get on a bus, Mercy, you need ID, but everyone has ID. Why is Warren worried if this guyyou know, your relativeif he has ID?
Ive just finished driving over the cable bridge when suddenly, Gary screams in my ear like Girl Number Two in some horror flick. It sounds like he is dying, so I pull right over on the side of the road instead of putting my foot on the gas and ramming the guy in front of me, which is that first reflex impulse I have when someone screams in my ear. He paused, looking at me.
I figured that only a stupid person would say anything until hed wound all the way down, so I stayed quiet and tried to look sympathetic.
Kyles foot tapped a rapid tattoo as he waited for me to respond. Finally, he said, Warren gets out and opens the back door like he isnt surprised. Like he expected Gary Laughingdoghe bit out Garys name with special emphasis, separating the last name until the Laughing and the dog were really two separate wordsto break out screaming at any time. Warren whips off his belt and shoves it between Garys teeth because, Mercy, this relative of yours that we were just going to shove on a bus is having a grand mal seizure.
So here I am, busy worried about what kind of people Im associating with who are callously throwing a relative on a bus who has grand mal seizures so often that my partner isnt surprised by itwhen my brain catches up with what the newscaster on the radio has been announcing. Can you imagine my amazement that Gary Laughingdog escaped from the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center? All this time when I thought I was escorting your relative, Ive really been harboring an escaped convict. He waited again, but I wasnt that dumb.
He rocked forward as if he wanted to pace, but there just wasnt room. I explode all over my partner because it is instantly obvious to me that you and Adam both knew where hed come frombecause youd talked to him before he came to my house. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Warren had known, too. Im the only one left out of the hey, this guy is an escaped convict knowledge circle.
This is when I could have spoken, after he enunciated his problem, but he didnt stop talking so I could explain.
I told Warren when he lied to me about what he was that I dont like lies, he said. Liars cant be trusted. He told me that he would never lie to me again.
He stopped talking then, but I had no words. Id forgotten. Id forgotten how much he hated to be lied to. How could I have forgotten, when he and Warren had broken up over it? Not over Warrens being a werewolf but over Warrens not telling Kyle what he was. Theyd gotten back together, but it had been rough.
Gary moved his arm over his eyes. Drama, drama, drama, he whispered.
You shut up, I snapped. Warren and Kyle were going to break up, and it was my fault.
You quit yelling while youre in the room with the guy with a migraine, Gary told me. Look, Kyle. I get you. Weve been trying to keep the whole escaped-prisoner thing away from yougive you plausible deniabilitybut thats obviously done. You go call the police and let them know you found me, and Ill go quietly. Youll keep your licensebecause you called them as soon as you found out, and well all support you on that. But if you do, you have to know that it means that Warren and Adam will die.
Kyles whole body turned to face the man on the bed. What?
If Im not here when the pack faces off with Guayota, Gary said, very slowly and clearly like people do when they are talking to young children or people who dont speak English, then Guayota wins by killing all the wolves. Thats what this last Seeing was about.
He pulled his arm off his eyes and squinted at me. Let this be a lesson to you, pup. Do not deal with Coyote. Hell screw you over every time. Had I had this vision while lying in prison, Id have let everyone die because, hey, what did I care? Bunch of werewolves I dont know bite the big one, big whoop. But Coyote waits until I meet everyone first. I like Adam. Hes what an Alpha is supposed to be and so seldom is. I like Warren, and I really, really think Honey is hot. I cant just go back to jailno matter how safe from Coyoteand let them all die.
Coyote? asked Kyle. He looked at me and frowned.
Dear old Dad, said Gary. Mine and hers. Thats how were related.
Not mine, I snapped. My father was Joe Old Coyote who rode bulls and killed vampires. The vampires killed him and made it look like a car wreck. If my father was Coyote, then he abandoned my mother when she was sixteen and pregnant. If Coyote was my father Id have to hunt him down and kill him.
My father was Joe Old Coyote, who died on a road in the middle of nowhere in Montana before I was born. He didnt know that he was just a shell Coyote wore because Coyote had grown bored. He wouldnt have left us if hed had a choice. After he died, my mother had to leave me with werewolves because she didnt know what to do with me and because she was too young to work at most jobs full-time. So shed left me. And I was a freaking grown-up, so I could just deal. I was happy. My mother was happy.
And my father was dead. And if my father was Joe Old Coyote, I didnt have to kill him.
Both Gary and Kyle were looking at me oddly, and I realized that I must have said all of that out loud. I cleared my throat. So, yes, daddy issues. Both of us, Kyle. Gary was in jail because Coyote managed to facilitate his breaking the law, then left him to be picked up by the police. I looked at Gary. You know, if you wanted to be really paranoid, you might consider that Coyote wouldnt be excited about having Guayota here, in Coyotes playground. You might think that maybe you were in jail so that you were somewhere I could find you when I needed to ask someone how to get it touch with Coyote.
He closed his eyes and nodded. Ive had the same thought. But didnt you come find me because some fae dude wanted the walking stick you gave Coyote? Hed have to have manipulated him, too.
I dropped to the floor because it was just barely possible. Here Id been complaining about Christys manipulations. But she was minor-league next to Coyote.
It wouldnt take much, right? I mused. Beauclaire isnt fond of humans. And here is one of his fathers artifacts in the hands of a human despite all the fae whod tried to take it from her. Im sure Coyote knows a few of the fae who might whisper in Beauclaires ear. I looked at Gary. Tell me Im just being paranoid.