The Wolf in His Arms (The Runes Trilogy) (27 page)

“I’ve
suspected for a long time. I was waiting—hoping, actually—someone would tell
me.”

“Dad—”

“I’m
not laying a guilt trip on anyone,” he insisted. “How were you to know how I’d
handle it?” He shifted his gaze to Alec and Lucy. “Do you remember when you
were kids and we went on that camping trip out west?” He smiled, deep in the
memory. “I told you to never stop believing that the universe was filled with
wonder.”

“I
remember the stars were so big, it was like you could hold them,” Alec said.

“I
believe the universe is unknowable. If I refused to believe what is right
before my eyes, I would be elevating my beliefs above the magic of the
unknown.” He sneered. “I can’t do that.”

“What
about the job?” Ilene asked.

“I
accepted.”

“What?”
The room filled with the question.

“I
didn’t know if access to their facilities might be helpful.”

“When
were you planning to tell me?” Ilene asked.

Jason
smiled smugly. “During
this
conversation.”

Ilene
sat back with her arms folded over her chest. Jason patted her knee.

“Do you
realize—” Alec began.

“That
you’re werewolves? Yes.” Jason reached across and hugged Alec and Lucy as if to
prove his understanding changed nothing about how he felt. He turned to Ilene.
“Why were you looking up Rathborne?”

“It was
a whim, really. I was taking photos in the graveyard, and his mausoleum
intrigued me.”

“It
feels like they’re all around us sometimes,” Jared said.

“And
closing in,” Ilene agreed.

As Nadia and Helena arrived in Detroit, they exited
Interstate 75 and drove into the downtown. The sun was just setting, and the
buildings cast steep shadows along the streets. The downtown restaurants were
filling with patrons. Nadia followed the road as it wound around a
European-style traffic circle. Skaters glided across an outdoor ice rink in the
park, and sat drinking coffees at a cafe. “This is not what I imagined,” Nadia
said.

“I’m starving,” Helena complained. “And this circle is
making me dizzy. Let’s park.”

Nadia parked the car, and they climbed onto the sidewalks,
looking for a restaurant. “Nothing too expensive,” Helena groused, looking at
the restaurants. She peered down the street, reading a sign. “What’s a coney
dog?”

“I don’t know.”

“Apparently they love them here. There are two coney dog
restaurants next to each other and they’re both packed.” They continued to
stare through the windows of the packed restaurants for a moment. “Which one?”
Nadia insisted.

“How should I know? The one with an open table.” They picked
a restaurant and entered, walking to the counter. “What’s a coney dog?” Helena
asked.

“It’s a hot dog with our world famous coney sauce.”

“What’s coney sauce?” Helena persisted.

“It’s like a beanless chili sauce.”

“So, it’s a chili dog.”

The man behind the counter seemed annoyed. “Is a hamburger
the same thing as a meatloaf? A coney dog is not a chili dog. It’s not the same
flavors. Coney dogs are Greek.”

After ordering and taking a bite, Helena decided that a
coney dog was, indeed, not the same thing as a chili dog.

“So, where to from here?” Nadia asked between bites.

“Let’s see what Providence delivers.”

*
         
*
         
*
         
*

Jared looked at the proffered flip-flop sandal and frowned.
“It’s bound to have scent at least,” he complained.

“We couldn’t exactly get in the apartment,” Maxwell reported.
“But, I did look through the window. The apartment had a lot of blood in it.
Like there was a struggle.”

“Well, I guess I better hurry and use this, then.” Jared
smiled. “I would prefer something that feels a little less—primal?”

“Just wait until Haley starts her canine humor.”

Haley shook her head. “That’s reserved for you, dear.”

Jared turned his back to everyone, his discomfort with
sniffing a well-worn shoe obvious. “I really did get stuck with the oddest
gift,” he griped. As soon as he sniffed, an image flashed across his mind. “I
see a restaurant. It’s here!”

“Detroit?” Lucy exclaimed. “What’re they doing in Detroit?”

“They’re downtown, I think.”

“Are they at a nice restaurant?” Lucy asked.

“I think they’re eating coney dogs.”

“Sounds like it could be near Campus Martius,” Alec guessed.

“I think you’re right,” Jared turned to face Maxwell and
Haley. “Hope you two aren’t too tired. We got a good lead, and we can be down
there in less than 10 minutes.”

“At least with you guys driving we won’t get lost this
time,” Haley replied. “Seriously, who designed the roads here, Rube Goldberg?”

“It’s very European,” Lucy dismissed as they exited the
apartment.

Within minutes, Alec was driving the loop around Campus
Martius, trying to focus on not hitting pedestrians as the others searched out
the windows. “Is that them?” Lucy asked, based on Jared’s description.

“No,” Jared said.

“I don’t know if I’ll recognize them out of their makeup and
costumes,” Haley admitted, referring to the poster she had seen of them.

“There!” Maxwell squealed, pressing his face to the glass.
Helena and Nadia were walking out of the restaurant and heading for their car.
Jared dropped the sandal he had in his hand and jumped from the car as Alec
slowed. Maxwell followed him, and Lucy barked, “Stay here,” to Haley as she
jumped out. Haley pulled the car door shut petulantly.

“Nadia! Helena!” Jared called to them as he ran toward them.
It was only as the fright on their faces registered that he realized how three
strangers rushing them must appear. He stopped a safe distance from them. “I’m
Jared.” He struck out his arm to stop Maxwell and Lucy. “We’ve been looking for
you, and I think you’re looking for us.”

“They have your eyes.” Helena clutched Nadia’s arm.

“What do you want with us?”

Jared softened his face. “Each of us,” he said pointing from
himself to Maxwell to Lucy, “has been through what you’ve been through.” He
paused. “How much do you know?” He glanced uncomfortably at people passing by
on the street.

“I know enough,” Nadia said.

“We can help you,” Maxwell offered. “They helped me.”
Maxwell looked around at passersby and lowered his voice. “After it attacked
me.” The words registered cold familiarity on their faces.

“How can you help?” Helena pleaded. “Can you undo what was
done?”

“I can’t undo what was done to any of us. But, together, we
might be able to stop them.”

Nadia studied Jared’s face intently, and then her eyes
seemed to shift far away, down the sidewalk. Her eyes squinted in
concentration. “Mom, they’re telling the truth. We can trust them.”

Jared sighed. “We can talk more at our place, if you want to
follow us.”

Nadia nodded.

“Now we got to find Alec and Haley,” he said.

“They’re coming around the corner,” Nadia said. She smiled
at Jared’s stunned expression as they appeared.

“How’d you do that?” He asked.

“It’s a gift,” she chuckled.

*
         
*
         
*
         
*

The
room was dark, though the dim glow of light in the hallway squeezed under the
door and light radiated in through the window from the exterior building
lights. Collin wondered how long it had been since lights out had been
called—15 minutes? He finally said, “Tony? You awake?”

“Yep.”

“Did
you notice Mark today?”

“He’s
big as a dump truck. Can’t miss him.” His voice bordered on annoyance.

“No.
Did you notice his
eyes
?”

“What
the hell are talking about his eyes for?”

“His
eyes are green.”

“So?”

“You
didn’t notice.”

Collin
could hear Tony turning over in his bed in the dark. Collin could see Tony’s
silhouette, that he had turned to face him. “Notice what?”

Collin
propped himself up on one elbow. “His eyes used to be blue, dude. Now they’re
fucking green like everyone else’s.”

“Are
you on something?”

“What?”

“Are
you taking something?” Tony’s accusation bit through the darkness.

“No.
Fuck.” Collin slammed his head down on the pillow. “You haven’t noticed that
everyone has green fucking eyes?”

“Who?”

“Ms.
Ruhl. Proctor Roth. All the teachers, all the students who have been here for a
while. All the guards. And now, Mark.”

The
timbre of Tony’s voice changed. “Okay, that’s fucked. But so what?”

Collin
snatched at the nugget of fear he could hear behind Tony’s bravado. “If Mark
didn’t start with green eyes, maybe the other students didn’t either.”

Tony
said nothing.

“Remember
Mark said they gave him a shot, and it made him sick, and now he sits with the
others, and he has green eyes.”

“Man,
you’re talking
Invasion of the Body
Snatchers
bullshit.”

“But,
he’s still Mark. He’s in there. Just different.”

“So
what do we do?” Tony asked, sounding for the first time that he believed
Collin.

“We
have to get out of here.”

“The
doors and windows have alarms. And it’s winter and we have no coats and it’s
the middle of fucking nowhere. I’ve never even been in the country before.”
Collin saw him jerk his finger toward the window. “Creepy ass people live in
the countryside.”

“Creepy
ass people are all over this school.”

“So,
are we gonna build a raft and Huck Finn it out of here on the frozen river?”

“Do you
know how to hotwire a car?”

Tony
sat up, his voice in a tight, harsh whisper. “I’ve never stolen anything, dude.
I’ll make a break for it, but I ain’t all about grand theft. I don’t need more
trouble.” Tony lay back in his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking,
maybe Collin’s just a bit crazy. Maybe he
just wants me to help him breakout.
“Let’s just take some time to think
about it.”

Collin
could hear Tony’s voice deflate, so he said, “Sure. Just look around for
yourself, okay?”

“For
sure.”

*
         
*
         
*
         
*

Back in the apartment, they gathered around the dining room
table. Helena marveled at the grand, old architecture and woodwork before
settling into a chair, distrust still etched on her face. Nadia seemed more
convinced of their honesty. Jared asked, “Nadia, how did you know to trust us?
And that Alec and Haley were coming?”

“It’s a gift?”

Jared nodded. “Another gift better than mine.”

Alec patted Jared lovingly. “What exactly is your gift?”

“Back up,” Nadia said. “So you each have a gift?”

“Yep,” Alec said. “Seems like Maxwell and I have the same
gift. Kind of a premonition-ish ability.”

“Mine’s often more -ish,” Maxwell disparaged himself.

“And you?” Nadia asked of Lucy.

“I’m gift free,” Lucy said.

“But your eyes.”

“I got my eyes another way.”

Nadia turned to Haley. “And you?”

“I’m a—what d’ya call it?—honorary member. I have no gift,
but I have plenty of skills.” Maxwell rolled his eyes histrionically behind
her, making Nadia look down with a giggle.

“So, can you read minds or something?” Jared asked.

“No,” Nadia said. “I have incredibly keen hearing. I heard
Alec say my name from two blocks away. They didn’t know I could hear them, but
everything they said sounded like what you were telling me, that you wanted to
help.”

“That’s how you were the Dazzling Demeters!” Haley blurted
out.

Nadia smiled. “Any whisper in the audience, and I could nail
them.”

“We should make a chart or something,” Alec said.

“Brilliant,” Jared and Lucy said simultaneously.

Alec leaned toward Maxwell and Nadia. “They think they’re
the brains, but nah.”

“Can you fill me in, please?” Nadia asked, her voice
strained with impatience.

“I’m sure you guessed we’re all part of the same
experiment,” Jared said. “We’ve been trying to unravel this together for the
last year, almost. I’ve been at it a bit longer, but I was on my own at first.
One thing we do know is they like to get rid of the family.” He leveled his
eyes on Helena.

“They tried. They failed,” she said with a shrug.

“A guy—Vincent—showed up at our apartment. He, ah—”

“Changed into a snarling bitch of a werewolf?” Maxwell
asked.

“Yes, that,” Nadia replied with a chuckle.

“What do you know about Vincent?” Jared asked.

“Not much. He said he was there to collect me. That I was
part of something.”

“The something is this. Us.” Jared gestured to the group. “We’re
not much, but I guess we’re a big deal. Unfortunately, Vincent and Griffin are
part of it to.”

“We’re the good kids and they’re the bad kids,” Maxwell
clarified.

“But what’s the point?” Helena asked sharply.

“We’re still working on that,” Lucy said. “Like Jared was
telling you, we’ve been working on it a while. We’ve been sidetracked.”