Wolf Ties (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 2) (8 page)

“Don’t worry about Francis,” Silvano said, chuckling. “He’s overprotective. I told him you’re one of us, but he’s distrusting. I don’t blame him, and as long as he never tries to harm you, there’s no reason to take it personally.”

I begged to differ as I couldn’t shake the suspicion Francis plotted on me. Maybe I was being too cautious as well. After all, I had hoped the werewolves would embrace me, and they did not, but I held the vampires at a distance. In what world did that make sense?

“Today, we’re going somewhere different,” Silvano said.

“Where?”

He grinned. “You’ll see. Try to follow me.”

Try? He must be joking. We flitted in and out of shadows, up onto rooftops, and descended to the earth on a current of wind. Cars, people, everything zipped by at blinding speed. Rather
we
did, and at last we arrived at our destination. I frowned at the line of glass doors and the lights beyond them.

“Here?”

“Yes, here. It’s the perfect place for your request.”

He started forward at an ordinary pace, but I hung back. “I’m not sure about this, Silvano. A mall. There are walls of humans.”

“You live among them. Is there a problem?”

“Yes, there’s a problem!” I gestured. “I asked you to help me learn to read minds.”

He nodded. “And there are hundreds there.”

“And heartbeats. I’ll be too focused on hearing their blood pumping to hear their thoughts.”

“I assure you, you won’t.”

“I will. Maybe you’re too old to remember how it calls to you and all you can think about is hunting them.” In fact, Ian had told me to avoid going to places such as malls for at least a couple years. Silvano didn’t seem to feel as cautious, or perhaps he didn’t care about the danger.

He walked back to me and ran his hands along my arms. “Rue, the blood calls for eternity. My age doesn’t lower its voice.”

“Then…” I peered past him at the entrance. A woman stood before a rack of men’s clothing and held up a pair of slacks, displaying them to a man who I assumed was her husband or boyfriend. All of it looked so normal, but it wouldn’t remain so if I injected myself into the formula. “I just can’t.”

“All right. We won’t go there.”

I thanked him, and we moved on, searching for a good place. The most logical might have been a restaurant, but I had wanted a change of scenery and to avoid pretenses. To my relief, Silvano agreed because he said we might need quite a while for me to practice, and one could only drink so much wine and not order food at the restaurants without looking odd. I supposed we could have gone to a bar, but listening to minds over music was another problem.

At last, Silvano stopped outside a fenced field where a game of co-ed adult soccer was going on. “This is a good place. Quite a few humans but not too many. Does it meet with your satisfaction?”

I smiled. “Yes, I’ve never watched a soccer game in real life before. I’ve seen it on TV once or twice.”

“We’re here to learn, Rue. You must concentrate.”

“I know and I will.”

We found a spot on the bleachers away from any humans, which was easy because there were far fewer spectators than room to sit. I surveyed the crowd of eager onlookers, some leaning forward, concentrating on the game, others chatting among themselves. A few cupped their hands around their mouths, calling encouragement—or insults—to the players.

I watched the players for a little while, and Silvano said nothing. I supposed he gave me time to adjust to the atmosphere of the game, or to work out my excitement over the new experience.

My gaze settled one team’s area where a couple players sat on the grass and others jumped around and stretched, obviously to keep their muscles warm. One man bent over a supersize thermos and handed out small cups of water to the others. I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn’t wearing shin guards, and his feet were bare, but he wore the jersey. I sniffed and frowned.

“He’s a cat shifter,” Silvano supplied, following my line of vision.

“That’s not fair. He could far outrun everybody.”

“Which is probably why he’s just an assistant to the coach or something.”

I grunted. “And now I feel like it’s not fair in the other direction. He doesn’t get to play a game he loves because he’s not human.”

“Is that what he feels, Rue?”

I glanced at Silvano. “Huh?”

“Focus on him and relax. I want you to open your mind to that young man. Imagine you can hear his inner voice and let it come to you, gently and without fear.”

Easy for him to say. The moment I knew we were beginning, I tensed, couldn’t help looking at everyone around us. This had been my request, that Silvano teach me how to read other people’s thoughts. I figured it might help me to get into the cat shifter’s head and learn the identity of the murderer.

“Can I even get into his head?” I asked.

Silvano studied the man, whose wiry frame was hunched at the shoulders as he apparently took the barbs the player in front him tossed at him. “Nonhumans who are strong enough can block you to some extent or lead you down a merry trail of lies. You won’t know the truth until it’s too late or you learn to do better.”

“Great.” I moaned.

“Almost all humans are easy pluckings.”

“So why can’t we go with one of them? And why do you say almost all?”

“Witches and those with other psychic abilities could throw up blocks to keep you out. A vampire such as myself could get through eventually, but not without damage to the human and possible destruction of the information that is sought.”

I nodded.

He scanned the area nearer to us. “Okay, forget the shifter. Here is a human that should be easy. Let’s go with him.”

I checked and discovered an ordinary man sitting alongside a pretty woman. From his bearing the man appeared anxious. I wasn’t sure if that would contribute to a block or to him being an open book. Neither he nor the woman was speaking to the other, which had been one of my concerns, that all I would pick up was what I heard with my physical ears.

Silvano coached me. I strained. Chatter rose around me, but it was the same as what I was already hearing. My mind filled with sentiments of self-doubt and speculation of what the man could be thinking.

“Stop assuming, Rue. Let it come to you.”

“I’m not assuming,” I lied.

He quirked an eyebrow toward his hairline. I ignored him and focused on the man. Silvano touched my lower back. I resisted moving out of reach.

“I’m going to give you a little boost. Don’t be alarmed.”

“What do you—”

He was in my head, pushing what felt like walls. I resisted. He spoke soothing words. My mind expanded, and the chatter rose. I knew within the voices were those both from the people’s mouths and their heads. Nerves knotted in my stomach.

“Wait,” I whispered.

Silvano pushed a bit more, and the noise increased. I believed in that moment he had the power to damage my mind as much as he had said a vampire could do so to a human.

“Get out!”

I didn’t touch him, but an unseen force sent him backward. He would have rolled, maybe flown across the empty space between us and the humans. To stop himself, he grew out his nails and stabbed all five on one hand into the bench under us. I looked on in shock and horror as his nails cut through the surface and dragged a good foot. These were
metal
bleachers, and he had cut straight through. Not to mention the fact that I had created such energy to require him to hold on in this manner.

The entire incident began and ended within a couple seconds. No one around us seemed to notice, not even the grating sound, not above noise of cheers. From the moment I demanded Silvano to stop, he let go of my mind, and all the noise inside it ceased. I regretted my hasty actions and pulled his hand up from the gashes he had created to cradle in my palms.

“I’m so sorry. I overreacted, Silvano. Forgive me.” I examined his fingers to see that there were a few cuts that closed as I watched.

“No permanent damage done. I think I’ll stay out of your head.” He chuckled, but I saw an assessing look in his gaze. “You’re a powerful vampire, Rue, and you should acknowledge it while being very careful.”

“Careful? Why?”

He gazed at the players running about the field. “Because there are those who would like to control someone like you, someone strong but vulnerable at the same time.”

“Not you though.” I smirked.

He didn’t find it amusing. “You must make alliances. It’s the only way to survive in the world we live in.”

“Not that again, Silvano. You agreed to let me take all the time I needed to know if I want to join your coven.”

He offered a tight smile, and I figured his patience was at an end. “I did, and I stand by it. I’m just reminding you.”

In truth, I understood what he was saying. Ever since my conversation with Orin about Almonester, I had been on edge. Orin led me to believe Almonester had developed some way to ensnare people and make them his slaves. While my rational mind wanted to dismiss this notion, I knew there was an infinite amount knowledge and ability in the world that I had never heard of nor could imagine.

Orin had said I would willingly give up my freedom to Almonester. I refused to believe that, but he seemed so certain no matter how I had argued. Also, regardless of what I said, he wouldn’t elaborate.

If I wasn’t careful, I could be enslaved, Orin had said. I dared not to think of it, but with Silvano’s warnings in my ears, I couldn’t help myself. Despite my fear, conclusions formed against my will. The one that struck the strongest and surest was in dealing with Orin and Pammie. As the seconds ticked by, I became more and more certain. Orin and Pammie, although beautiful magical fae, were enslaved to Almonester.

“Are you ready to go again, Rue?” Silvano asked, interrupting my train of thought. I wanted to tell him I had had enough for the day and to let’s call it quits. However, if I was going to defend myself against Almonester and those like him, ignorance couldn’t be allowed. I needed to know all I could to defeat every enemy.

“I’m ready,” I said.

Silvano studied my face a second, but I knew he wasn’t in my head and didn’t know what I had been thinking. “I’m not going to give you a boost this time.”

I apologized again.

“You’ll have to feel your way, but I’ll guide you with my words. Trust in your ability, Rue. You can do this because it’s natural, as ordinary as breathing is to a human.”

So he said, but humans did it from the moment the doctor swatted their little bums at birth. Maybe if someone swatted my bum. I blushed and was grateful it neither showed nor was anyone sharing my thoughts.

We worked half the night, Silvano calm and encouraging, me frustrated and edgy. At some point, I managed to open myself, and once I realized what I feared was pain from all the voices, I tested the theory. Thoughts of a hundred or less humans didn’t hurt, but it was confusing. As fast as my head spun, my innate ability to right myself kicked in. I buzzed mentally and fought to make sense of it all.

“I can’t tell who is who,” I whispered to Silvano while staring at the man who was my target.

“Imagine you’re listening through a tube, and the other end is pressed to his head.”

An empty paper towel roll came to mind, and I made use of it. The voices grew thinner, and soon I heard him above the others. At least half a dozen people kept flooding my head, but I knew which one was the man’s.

Then I jerked away and shook my head. “Of all the depraved…”

Silvano grinned. “Something dirty?”

“Yes, he’s thinking about her. I have half a mind to go down there and tell her what the pervert is imagining.”

“And how will you explain it?”

I grumbled. “You’re right.”

“When you read others’ minds, you run the risk of being offended or in this case disgusted. Comes with the territory. Also, the more you do it, the more natural it will be, and you will have to exercise effort not to let their thoughts flow into you. Too much input from others waters down your strength and lessens your effectiveness.”

“You mean I’ll find it harder to make my own decisions.”

“In part.”

“But you’re asking me to join your coven, and as such we’ll all be connected. I’ll have access to other vampires, and they will have access to me.”

“Not by force, Rue. No one will ever force you. Besides, you saw what you can do to protect yourself. You’re also able to tell when someone is in your head. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, that part came easy. Thank you for helping me despite how I treated you.”

He smiled. “I’ve done worse to my sire, sometimes on purpose.”

“Oh, really, you have to tell me about it.”

“Some time I will. Now, more practice. Let’s go for the cat shifter.”

“He’s so far away.”

“Distance is an illusion, Rue. Focus.”

Chapter Eight

I had a date with a cat…and a human. A woman shouldn’t be so lucky. Really, she shouldn’t. Now that I had semi-mastered the use of mind reading, I thought I should try it on one of the cats, and with this idea, I revisited the garage where I first encountered the shifters. What a surprise to me when Hyatt responded to my lure. I was growing by leaps and bounds.

“Are you sure about this?” Violet asked, doubt written all over her face. She had stopped by my apartment when I told her my plans, surprising me with her concern. Or perhaps she considered it a stupid idea, and she wanted to see it fall apart for herself. “I don’t think he’s going to be fooled by your tricks, Rue. Hyatt’s been around a while, and he has a reputation for being cold-hearted and cruel even toward his own people, if it serves his purpose.”

I twitched this way and that in my mirror. My skirt was short enough to show off most of my legs, and my blouse accentuated my bust. Daring to undo just one more button took all my willpower, and yet it was still nothing as crazy as Pammie displayed on a daily basis. Back home in Summit’s Edge, I would never have ventured out of the house with clothing this skimpy. There was also no guarantee my appearance wouldn’t provoke disgusting thoughts in Hyatt’s head to the point that the killer wouldn’t enter his mind.

“I’m not trying to win his heart, Violet. Merely to distract him into letting his guard down. I doubt I’ll be able to read his thoughts otherwise.”

She wasn’t convinced. For a moment, I considered trying my new talent with her, but thought better of it. Violet was liable to shoot me.

“Well where are you meeting him? Maybe I’ll find a excuse to be in the area.”

“You’d protect me? How sweet of you, Violet. We’re going to be friends after all.” My tone rang too cheery and false to my own ears, but I maintained the wide eyes and smile. She snarled at me.

“For all I care he can have you as an after midnight snack! I want you around to help me get Nathan out. That’s all.”

I dropped the act. “Have you heard if he’s still calm?”

“Yeah.” Grudging respect came into her expression. “He stays in a corner most of the time like he’s waiting. They give him food. He eats it, and then it’s back to the corner. Not a sound out of him.”

“That doctor has left him alone?”

Violet snorted. “She says it’s her professional opinion that she should give him some space. He needs it to come to terms with what he’s done. You told her to leave him alone, and she is. That glamouring comes in handy and not just for fooling humans into forgetting you fed off them.”

“So I see.” I refused to take offense. I knew Violet would never see past what I was. Maybe we weren’t enemies, but that was because of Nathan. If I failed to save him—no I wouldn’t think that way. After all, I had made Nathan a promise, and I would keep it.

Cute heels on my feet and bright red hair in perfect order, I did a twirl before the mirror and then waited for Violet’s reaction. She shrugged. The funny thing is my old friend used to bug me about dressing better so that I could go on dates and snag myself a boyfriend. I had resisted because I never had the budget for it and raising Jake meant everything to me. Now, with no one in my tiny apartment but me, and few needs, I could spring for something nice.

“I guess I’m off,” I told Violet as I grabbed my purse. “Don’t wait up, Mom.”

She grumbled something rude under her breath and stomped after me toward the door. A short while later, I arrived at the address where Hyatt had asked me to meet him. I peered up at the building with its weather-worn sign, supposing I shouldn’t have been surprised. A corner spaghetti restaurant, and peering through the window, I spotted maybe five or six tables, none covered, all scratched and worn. Why were their classes so different? Was it by choice or temperament?

I walked into the restaurant and was blasted with the scent of tomato sauce and cheese. I liked both and feasted, if only on the smell. Once I had selected a table to sit down and wait. I speculated over whether this place served wine or just beer and soda, and how I would approach Hyatt. What would I say to convince him to betray one of his own?

A waitress about my age but more beaten down by life slapped a menu on the table and set a hand on her hip. “We only have spaghetti and meatballs today, but we ran out of meatballs because my last customer wanted extra.”

I blinked at her. “So you have spaghetti today, and I don’t need the menu if that’s all you have.”

Her mouth tightened, and she licked the end of her pencil for some reason and poised it over her notepad. “So that’s one spaghetti?”

Such a terrible desire came over me to antagonize this poor working woman and ask whether she needed to write down my order if she had one item to offer. I had mouthed off enough to her, and I swear it was the darkness in my lost soul that was the cause of it all. Somehow I managed to keep my comments to myself.

“Do you have wine? Preferably red?”

She glared at me. “So that’s no to the spaghetti?”

I gave in. “Yes, one spaghetti dinner and one glass of red wine, please. Thank you.”

The pencil scratched over the paper, and she tucked it behind her ear and wandered off. Not ten minutes later, my order arrived, and she plunked it down. I checked the time on my cell phone. Hyatt was late.

While I stared at the steam rising off the spaghetti, I took a sip of the wine the waitress had brought along with it. I winced. This must be the cheapest wine in existence, and I dared not swallow just in case it upset my stomach in public. No thank you.

Debating between dribbling what I had drank back into the glass and letting it soak instead on a bundle of napkins, I smelled Hyatt coming. He moved at a leisurely pace, from what I could judge, and I frowned. While I never called them dates, the times I spent with Silvano, at least the man always had the courtesy to be on time.

The bell over the door jingled, and Hyatt stepped into the tiny restaurant. His presence, although significant because he was a shifter, seemed small by comparison to Ian, Nathan, and Silvano. Nathan being the biggest of all of them would have made the eatery feel impossible to stay in. I confess I missed him.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed one leg over the other—not to look sexier but because Hyatt’s attitude annoyed me. “You’re late.”

He smirked at me and nodded to the waitress. She didn’t ask what he wanted but brought over a giant plate of spaghetti just as he sat across from me. The portion was twice that of my own untouched food. The words “where do you put it all” trembled on my lips before I realized that would insult him.

Flattery, Rue.

I forced a smile, recalled the disastrous effect in the past and then let my expression return to something more natural. Mentally, I attempted to exude vampire pheromones, if such a thing existed. Hyatt lowered his head and tucked into his food. I gritted my teeth.

“So, you just get off work?” I asked. Hyatt’s hair was wet as if he had just stepped out of the shower, and the subtle scent of soap lingered on his skin. He had changed out of the greasy clothes and wore jeans and a clean T-shirt.

His suspicious gaze met mine. “No, I’ve been taking care of some business. Why did you ask me out? You playing around on your boyfriend while his back is turned?”

My mouth fell open. “What?”

Hyatt broke off a piece of thick bread and ran it around his plate, gathering up sauce. The chunk disappeared into his mouth, but he didn’t let that stop him from talking. “He’s locked up.”

“You mean Nathan. He’s just a friend.”

“Not what I heard.”

“It doesn’t matter what you heard, does it?”

He shrugged and rubbed his hands together. When his gaze slid to my plate, I pushed it toward him. Hyatt snatched the plate to him and started in. Seriously, where
did
he put it all?

“You’re beautiful, vampire. I’ll give you that. I wouldn’t mind having a little horizontal fun with you, but I’m not going to have the werewolves after me.”

I widened my eyes and leaned toward him. “You’re scared of them?”

At the same time his temper erupted, I opened myself to receive his thoughts. A storm of them bombarded my mind. Hyatt owing taxes, late on the garage’s mortgage, Mew staying out late, images of me naked—how dare he!—and best of all,
“Where is she?”

She. Who was she? The shifter I was looking for? If so, then even the leader of the cats didn’t know where to find her. I might have believed Hyatt sent her into hiding to keep her safe until Nathan was convicted. However, with him not knowing, it made me suspect the clowder hadn’t sanctioned her actions. I needed to know more.

“Why would I be scared of the werewolves?” Hyatt snapped, and his fork clattered to his plate. He slammed a fist on the table. “I’m sick of hearing how everybody thinks the wolves are stronger and better than us. They’re nothing!”

I winced and glanced at the waitress, who sat at another table flipping through a magazine. There were no other customers. “Keep your voice down. She’ll hear.”

Hyatt waved a hand in dismissal. “Her cousin’s a witch. She’s got it in her blood but can’t practice. She knows about us.”

I peered at the woman.
She
was a witch? There was no difference that I could tell in her, and her blood smelled like any other human’s. I hadn’t met a witch since I turned, but magic was so distinct and obvious. This woman had a practicing witch in her family, yet she could do nothing but run this restaurant? How sad.

I forced my thoughts away from the waitress and back onto Hyatt. His anger simmered, and he returned to the food that must be cold by now. I reached across the table to touch his hand. “Like I said, I’m not involved with Nathan, but maybe you and I could get to know each other better.”

Once again he dropped the fork, and this time I knew I had him. He looked into my eyes, and I did my best not to cringe at the look of desire reflected in his. “I’ve got a place,” he said. “It’s not much, but there’s a bed. We could go now.”

I swallowed. “Slow down. A woman’s got to feel she knows a man before… Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“Talk is cheap.”

“
I’m
not.”

He ground his teeth. I waited. He began to speak, but I ignored his words and listened to his head, throwing my senses wide.
Too wide.
I picked up the waitress’s thoughts too.

“She thinks she’s so special because she owns a shop. So what?”

“Why hasn’t she called me? What she told me that last time…”

“I’m going to get more customers. You watch and see!”

Wait, go back. I struggled to focus and block out the waitress. Hyatt had thought something significant. What was the rest? I tried harder, but he fell silent, looking at me. A mental wall slammed down between the two of us. Hyatt jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair and making the waitress yelp.

“I know what you’re doing,” he ground out. “You’re trying to read my mind. You filthy vampire, I should have known better than to let a pretty face and a pair of boobs distract me.”

“Hyatt, calm down,” the waitress said, coming over to us.

He reached out and grabbed both my arms to drag me to him. The strength in his hold took me by surprise for such a wiry man. Definitely not human. “You’re going to pay for trying to trick me.”

He raised me up, and my feet swung in the air above the floor. The grip tightened until I felt like my arms would pop beneath the pressure.

“I think not.” I head-butted him, sending reverberations of pain through my skull. When that did nothing, I kicked as hard as I could between his legs. His feet slipped out from under him, and he slammed to the floor, howling and grabbing his crotch. I landed on my feet. Good to know even shifter men were sensitive down there.

Unfortunately, Hyatt didn’t stay down long. He healed fast and leaped up to grasp me around the throat. I found myself slung across the tabletops and landed on the other side of one, wood splintering around me.

“Stop, stop,” the waitresses shrieked. “You’re destroying my home.”

Home?
I thought.
Oh crap.

“You’re uninvited,” the waitress shouted, and I was thrown again, this time by an unseen force that propelled me out the door and onto the sidewalk.

Moaning, I rolled from my stomach to my back and peered up at the building I had just been tossed out of. A small face appeared in one of the lighted windows then disappeared. I heard the little girl’s voice inside the restaurant. “Mom, what was that noise?”

“Nothing, go back and watch TV, baby. It’s over now.”

She lived there, above the restaurant, and at some point she had opened her establishment to all, a very dangerous thing to do. I climbed to my feet and looked through the window of the restaurant. Hyatt hadn’t followed me out. He wasn’t cursed to be repelled on the word of a human. Instead, he righted tables and talked to the waitress about getting one of his men to come over with tools to fix what was broken.

I slunk away.

* * * *

I didn’t call Violet right away with what I had learned. After all, I didn’t have a name or anything to take action. “She” could be anybody, and if Violet had a list of all the cat shifters in Hyatt’s group, I suspect she would have shown it to me so we could compare notes on who was present when I visited the garage and who wasn’t. Besides that, if she knew names, she would no doubt have cataloged scents. We were still flying blind.