and he stared down into the short glass, watching the ice cubes slowly spin but not drinking.
“At least you stopped pacing,” Celia said softly.
He tore his eyes from the glass to meet her gaze.
“What else is wrong?” she asked. “You’re wrapped in tension like a field of static.”
Not wanting to answer her, he drank.
Celia rose from her seat and drew close. “Erik misses you,” she said. A gentle smile claimed her lips. “He’d never admit it but I know. He feels guilty about taking the money.”
Under order of the old Rege, the Omori—the Zvonul’s version of the Secret Service—had bribed the two other members of Johnny’s band with twenty-five grand each. They had told Erik and Feral they were “no longer in Lycanthropia with Johnny.” The band was officially dead, and the cash was their severance pay. The former Rege meant to undermine Johnny in every way he could.
“He shouldn’t,” Johnny said. “When the Omori show up at your door, you comply.” He’d said those words before, but he hadn’t been the Domn Lup then. Now he wondered what else the old Rege might have had the Omori do. . . .
Celia started to put her hand on his forearm, then stopped. “Johnny, he’s not even playing his drums. He needs to. It . . . it gets the aggression out. He’s bottling it up and it’s feeding that guilt. You guys have to get together and play, if not for shows, then for the fun it was for all of you.”
He wondered if she’d felt that flare of energy as well, and if that was why she refrained from touching him.
“You don’t have to give up the music,” she said. “You can still play as a band.”
“The hell he can!”
They spun as one toward the trailer door. Aurelia jerked the door open wide, straining the hinges with her ferocity. “You don’t have time for this girlfriend drama, John. In the coming weeks you will be crowned the Domn Lup.” She stomped right up to them and glared into his eyes. “You are about to become the single most powerful wærewolf in the world. You don’t know the standard security protocols for your own transport, let alone the codes to the mainframe of our intelligence data and personnel files. How can you even hope to lead if you don’t know these things?” The angry accusations rose in volume until she was shouting, “How will you learn them if you keep running off to be with the damned witch?”
She’d been pushing him since she arrived, working to control him one way or another. The viciousness of her voice and the dominance conveyed in her low tone stoked a rage that threatened to consume him. He’d had enough; he gave in to the fury.
In one hyper-fast fluid motion, Johnny grabbed Aurelia by the shoulders. Fur sprouted on his hands as hebacked her across the room and rammed her into the wall beside the door. The trailer shook with the force of the impact. Something glass in the kitchen fell and shattered.
He growled, “Beverley is missing!”
Aurelia dug her fingers around his now furry and clawed hands, struggling to loosen his grip. “Is the girl more important than your own son?”
With a furious howl he threw her to the floor, revealing cracks in the paneling of the wall.
“How do you know about him?” Johnny shouted.
Aurelia must have been dazed and didn’t answer. But Celia whispered, “You have a son?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I pulled up short, throwing myself backward and down onto the leaves. I was breathless, panicked, my mind racing.
Menessos had Beverley.
She was out of the line.
“What are you doing?”
“You must stay back until I’m done!”
I had a terrible thought that maybe her body was out, but not her mind. “What are you doing?” I asked again, hating the sound of fear in my voice.
“Her gift isn’t complete!”
He turned back to his work and began chanting again.
Gift? Gift? Where have I heard this before?
Without taking my eyes off of them, I crab-walked backward, then Zhan was tugging at my
“At least you stopped pacing,” Celia said softly.
He tore his eyes from the glass to meet her gaze.
“What else is wrong?” she asked. “You’re wrapped in tension like a field of static.”
Not wanting to answer her, he drank.
Celia rose from her seat and drew close. “Erik misses you,” she said. A gentle smile claimed her lips. “He’d never admit it but I know. He feels guilty about taking the money.”
Under order of the old Rege, the Omori—the Zvonul’s version of the Secret Service—had bribed the two other members of Johnny’s band with twenty-five grand each. They had told Erik and Feral they were “no longer in Lycanthropia with Johnny.” The band was officially dead, and the cash was their severance pay. The former Rege meant to undermine Johnny in every way he could.
“He shouldn’t,” Johnny said. “When the Omori show up at your door, you comply.” He’d said those words before, but he hadn’t been the Domn Lup then. Now he wondered what else the old Rege might have had the Omori do. . . .
Celia started to put her hand on his forearm, then stopped. “Johnny, he’s not even playing his drums. He needs to. It . . . it gets the aggression out. He’s bottling it up and it’s feeding that guilt. You guys have to get together and play, if not for shows, then for the fun it was for all of you.”
He wondered if she’d felt that flare of energy as well, and if that was why she refrained from touching him.
“You don’t have to give up the music,” she said. “You can still play as a band.”
“The hell he can!”
They spun as one toward the trailer door. Aurelia jerked the door open wide, straining the hinges with her ferocity. “You don’t have time for this girlfriend drama, John. In the coming weeks you will be crowned the Domn Lup.” She stomped right up to them and glared into his eyes. “You are about to become the single most powerful wærewolf in the world. You don’t know the standard security protocols for your own transport, let alone the codes to the mainframe of our intelligence data and personnel files. How can you even hope to lead if you don’t know these things?” The angry accusations rose in volume until she was shouting, “How will you learn them if you keep running off to be with the damned witch?”
She’d been pushing him since she arrived, working to control him one way or another. The viciousness of her voice and the dominance conveyed in her low tone stoked a rage that threatened to consume him. He’d had enough; he gave in to the fury.
In one hyper-fast fluid motion, Johnny grabbed Aurelia by the shoulders. Fur sprouted on his hands as hebacked her across the room and rammed her into the wall beside the door. The trailer shook with the force of the impact. Something glass in the kitchen fell and shattered.
He growled, “Beverley is missing!”
Aurelia dug her fingers around his now furry and clawed hands, struggling to loosen his grip. “Is the girl more important than your own son?”
With a furious howl he threw her to the floor, revealing cracks in the paneling of the wall.
“How do you know about him?” Johnny shouted.
Aurelia must have been dazed and didn’t answer. But Celia whispered, “You have a son?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I pulled up short, throwing myself backward and down onto the leaves. I was breathless, panicked, my mind racing.
Menessos had Beverley.
She was out of the line.
“What are you doing?”
“You must stay back until I’m done!”
I had a terrible thought that maybe her body was out, but not her mind. “What are you doing?” I asked again, hating the sound of fear in my voice.
“Her gift isn’t complete!”
He turned back to his work and began chanting again.
Gift? Gift? Where have I heard this before?
Without taking my eyes off of them, I crab-walked backward, then Zhan was tugging at my
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