Torn From the Shadows (36 page)

I could feel his frustration lined with concern. The connection my grandmother had forged so long ago between this demon and me was starting to become palpable.

“You want to lock him up in a shed!” This was their plan—to put Papan back in the shed, shackle him, lock the door and wait to see what happened. Everyone seemed to think he would either miraculously heal on his own or become a hideous monster they’d be forced to put down.

“We need to make sure the Pack is safe,” Martha said, standing beside the demon.

I still didn’t know who she was, and didn’t care. “He won’t hurt anyone.”

“Silver wasn’t the only thing they injected him with,” Oren added.

It seemed like everyone was against me on this, but I wouldn’t budge.

“Sierra, you need to know something.” Oren stepped in front of me. He raised his right hand, extending it as if he intended to touch me but I stepped away. He sighed.

“He’s not going to die,” I said. “We’re going to get him help.”

“If you let us get near him, I’ve got a doctor waiting to assess him,” Martha called from behind Oren.

“Let them check on him,” he said. “You don’t understand something about this situation.”

It took everything I had to step aside, but I nodded. The doctor—a balding man with glasses and a leather bag in his hands—raced to Papan’s side and started assessing him. I’d been standing between Papan and everyone else for I didn’t even know how long.

This time when Oren made a grab for my elbow, I let him lead me away, closer to the tree line. Saul and Narelle joined us.

Oren’s face darkened and I noticed the other two looked just as grim.

“What?”

“When Narelle drained the female werewolf, she took her memories,” Oren said, avoiding my eyes. “It’s something vampires can do if they take enough blood.”

I nodded. I knew as much after what Cam did to Ebony.

“She found out who helped Jeff and Laura,” he said.

“Well?” How much longer was he going to draw this out? “Who helped them?”

“It was a man named Duff Moss.”

My breath hitched. This was the man Sally had told me was Eli Moss’s father. As my mind raced, I also remembered where I’d heard the name before—Maya and Jonathan had mentioned him during the ritual. “He’s part of the
Obscurus
.” The admission felt like acid on my tongue.

Oren’s frown darkened. “Are you sure?”

“I heard Maya and Jonathan talk about him.”

“That son of a bitch!” Oren said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Sierra, Duff is part of the Alliance.”

Saul’s face darkened. “He must be playing both sides. No matter what happens, he wins.”

“I don’t have time for this,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. “We’ll have to unravel this insanity some other time.”

“No, Sierra, you need to hear everything at once. If Duff is part of the Alliance
and
the
Obscurus
—”

“Oren, I just got the shit beat out of me and killed two people,” I said. “I’m exhausted, sore, and don’t know what’s going to happen to Papan. Besides, I’ve got some other shit to take care of later today, so why don’t you give me a fucking break?”

“But—”

“Let her go.” Saul grabbed a hold of the older man. “This can wait.”

I flashed the demon a quick nod and headed for the doctor. When he was done examining Papan, I still had no idea what was going on. The only thing I understood was the mention of silver poisoning and a blood transfusion.

“So, what’re you waiting for?” I asked. “Give Papan the transfusion.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” the doctor said with a shake of his head.

“Then make it easy.”

Martha looked at me. “I can appreciate how much you want to see Jason get the care he deserves, but you need to face that he’s at death’s door.” She paused for a moment, letting it sink in. “We can’t do anything until the other substance leaves his system.”

“The hound essence…”

“Yes, between that and the silver poisoning, he might not regain consciousness.” She paused, sighed. “I know how hard it is for you to accept the truth about your mate, but you must.”

I shook my head. “I can’t.
I won’t.
”

Saul snaked his left hand around mine. “As you’ve already seen with the pooka kids, the essence gets flushed out through their system and pores, but it takes time.”

“How long do you think?” I tried to ignore the itching between our hands.

“I have no idea. We’ll have to monitor him, but being an alpha means he’ll probably fight it quicker than the kids.” He squeezed my hand before dropping it.

“Okay, fine. We’ll do this your way and put him in the shed for now.” I couldn’t risk Papan losing it and hurting innocent people. He’d never forgive himself—or me—for putting him in such a situation.

“You’ve made the right choice.” Martha turned and walked away with the doctor by her side. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“You don’t need to do anything,” I called. “We’ll get him in there, and I’ll stay with him.”

“What?” Oren said, wide-eyed and shocked.

“I feel like I’m about to pass out from exhaustion and I’m not ready to leave him alone yet. If I can’t take Papan home, I’ll stay here with him for as long as I can.”

“You’re not serious, Sierra.”

“Oren, my mind’s made up. So help me get him in there, or get out of my way.”

“You’re being stubborn.”

“I don’t care,” I said, heading for the shed.

In the end, I had no idea where Oren went but Saul used his smoky magic and somehow transported Papan’s unconscious body into the shed. Martha arrived with a few guys carrying a thin double-sized mattress, pillows and some blankets. I thanked them when they set everything up, told them they didn’t need to tie Papan down, and we placed him on the mattress.

As I lay down and curved my body behind his, I watched Saul close the shed door until all of the light was taken with it. The moon was still up in the sky—I could feel its influence prickling against my skin—but dawn was only a handful of hours away.

Pressing my face against the back of Papan’s neck, I closed my eyes and burrowed under the blankets to keep warm. They were wrong. Papan was going to be okay, and he wouldn’t hurt me. I would stay with him for as long as I could. But I’d have to leave soon.

I still had to visit the shadow patch.

Chapter Sixteen

Take what you need from the shadows.

As soon as I got home I’d been compelled to check my pocket, and those were the words scrawled on the piece of paper I’d pulled from my ruined jeans. I didn’t know what they meant, but knew the cryptic message was from Saul the friendly demon.

Since I was headed into the shadow patch, I wasn’t sure if it was a warning or an instruction. Either way, he was starting to grow on me. He might be a little condescending and always had a knowing smile on his lips, but he’d helped when I needed him the most and supported my decisions when it mattered.

After sleeping beside Papan all day, I felt refreshed. His condition hadn’t changed, which was disheartening. But with Saul’s help I convinced the doctor to move Papan to the clinic on their grounds, instead of leaving him in the shed like a dying animal.

I can’t think about Papan. Not when I’ve got so much to do.

After slipping into a clean pair of fitting jeans, I put a tank top on and added a snug, woolen turtleneck over it to conceal the bandage on my shoulder. I winced with every movement. I’d decided the best way to face the unknown was to be as covered as possible. I also didn’t want to ruin another pair of boots, so I stuck my feet into the same pair of knee-highs, and double-checked my dagger was secure.

I decided to leave my revolver and crossbow at home but made sure my boline was secured to my thigh.

When the Ghostbusters ringtone pierced the silence, I jumped. “Hello?”

I was about to hang up before a familiar voice said, “Sierra, hello.”

“Gareth, what’s up? I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“I thought you might want to know Hugo Papan’s killers have been found. They were in pretty bad shape—shot, stabbed, mauled—and then dumped in the same spot where we found him,” he said. “They also happened to be responsible for kidnapping those kids we rescued. You don’t happen to know anything about this couple, do you?”

I knew plenty, because some of it had been my idea. No point in leaving unsolved crimes for the human police to be led back to the werewolves. “Even if I did, it’s not my business to tell.” I was starting to understand the importance of keeping pack business private.

He sighed, before saying, “I get it.”

“Good, thanks for calling but I gotta go.”

“Wait a sec. Sierra, I wanted to say—”

“You’ve already apologized, just let it go.” I rubbed my jaw, wincing at the tenderness. “This world you’ve stumbled into is filled with one bad thing after another. You’ll get used to it.”

“I just wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“I thought saving my life deserved a word of thanks, but what I really want to thank you for is making me realize something I’ve been ignoring most of my life.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“The magic passed down to me from my Aboriginal side.” He paused, taking a breath so deep it echoed in my ear when he exhaled. “I thought my grandparents were just telling stories about our family being dreamwalkers. Guess I was stupid not to listen.”

“I’d love to hear more about your talent, someday. But not while I’m sleeping.”

“Wow, our sexy dream must’ve been pretty bad.”

“Actually, it wasn’t. That’s the problem.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but it was too late to take it back. “Anyway, I’ll speak to you later.” I disconnected before he could respond.

Talking to Gareth reminded me of the bloody letter opener with Mauricio’s dried blood and my fingerprints. I yanked the plastic evidence bag from my dresser drawer.

The letter opener was slim enough to make a useful weapon. Back then I’d randomly stabbed the dog to get him off, but now I could use something like this to my advantage. So I tipped it out and added it to the collection of weapons in my hip utility belt. I scrunched the bag in my fist ready to dump it in one of my neighbors’ bins.

I glanced into the ornate mirror across the room and ambled closer, staring into my dark eyes. I could see the anger, sadness and determination burning inside them. The bruises on my face gave me an edge I didn’t have before.

Running my fingertips over the brass frame I thought about the times I’d made love to Papan while staring at his reflection. Those memories aren’t good right now.

I braided my hair, never removing my gaze from the demonic Hand of Glory, before stepping away from the mirror and all its nostalgia.

“Sierra, it’s so good to see you’re okay.” Lavie hugged me so tightly I found it hard to breathe. “Saul told me what happened. I’m so sorry.”

I stepped out of her hug and forced a smile. “Thanks Lavie.”

Her hazel eyes sparkled under the moonlight and her red hair looked neater than I’d seen it in a while. She was wearing a baggy sweater over a pair of jeans I was pretty sure were one size bigger than they needed to be. At least she’d protected her feet with sturdy boots, and had the familiar bundle of necklaces dangling from her neck.

“Is Willow okay?”

I nodded. She was safe and staying in Roe’s house with Ebony, Jana and Claire. Oren volunteered to take her under his wing, but I’d gotten Conrad to drop her off. I’d called her before leaving the werewolf estate and although she was a little shaken, she was fine.

If only my werewolf had made it out unscathed. Papan, please be okay, I wished on the glistening stars. It was a clear night, without a single cloud in the sky. In the abandoned part of Serene Hills where only the distant lights from the motorway shed any illumination, the full moon shone brightly.

It was a chilly night but I didn’t feel the cold.

“He’ll be okay,” Lavie whispered. “Your hunky boyfriend will survive this.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her comment, but it also brought tears to my eyes. I refused to cry, or be distracted from what we were here to do. So I sucked it up, wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and said, “Is that them?” I pointed at the young couple huddled together near the boarded-up storefronts. The stocky man held a small child in one arm and had the other draped over his wife’s shoulders.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” She stared at my face, frowning.

“They’re just bruises,” I said. “You should see the other guy.”

“Sierra, don’t joke about it—”

“I’m serious, the other guy is dead. So I got off easy.” I could live with bruises, soreness, and more blood on my hands. I couldn’t live without Papan, though.

Lavie stared at me for a few silent seconds before taking my hand and leading me towards the family. “Brian, Amy, this is my friend Sierra. She’s the one who’s going to help you get your daughter back.”