Wolfen (47 page)

“She became suspicious, and one day decided to look through
his notes. What she discovered was that her beloved husband, the light of her
life, had implanted her with something that could’ve turned into the very thing
she thought he was protecting her from!

“She confronted him, of course, and he assured her all was
safe and well. But the closer she got to giving birth, the more he focused on
the baby, and less on her, or his other child. And the moment the newborn’s
first scream split the desert air, Klaus abandoned his family completely. He
had what he’d always wanted: a perfect progeny, a little angel of a daughter,
the best of the best. Nothing else mattered anymore; not his wife, or the
infection she suffered after birth, not even his firstborn and the pain she
bore every day. Not the months of agony his wife went through, locked away in
the attic like a lunatic—like she didn’t exist!”

Matron looked Bryce straight in the eye, spoke only to him.
“People push us as far as they can,” she said, “as far as we let them. But when
our backs hit the wall and there ain’t nowhere else for us to turn, well then
we don’t got another choice, do we? We got to bite.”

Her stare demanded he agree with her.

Bryce didn’t say a word.

Matron straightened and smoothed her features into a
nostalgic smile. “I had one ally in all of this: my firstborn. My damaged
little girl. She came to let me out, my sweet little angel. I knew when Klaus
found out, he’d kill us both; I knew I had to leave, but God didn’t put me on
this Earth to be nobody’s punching bag. Klaus took away from me the only thing
I’d lived for: his love. So I took it right back from him, and ran like hell.”

Helena gave an artificial smile. “She’s talking about me.”

“That’s right,” Matron agreed, stroking Helena’s pale blonde
hair with pride. “Klaus’ final achievement, the last Wolfen embryo to survive
the den’s downfall, implanted into a human host and born without any flaws or
weaknesses. The absolute perfect specimen. He’d poured every last resource into
her, because he knew he’d never make another. Not like that. That’s why he
wants her back. Not because he loves her. Not because she can save the world.
Because she’s his
property
.”

Finished with her tale, she sat back like she expected them
to rally to her side. As if Bryce gave a shit about some moron human and her
marital problems. He was more than ready to tell her off, but bit his tongue
instead.
Diplomacy,
he reminded himself.
We come in peace, until we
don’t.

Sinna had no problem speaking her mind, though. “What
happened to your other daughter?” she asked.

Matron’s face went blank. “Pardon?”

“Your damaged little angel,” Sinna clarified. “You took
Helena, so where’s your other daughter now?”

Flustered, Matron waved her hand dismissively. “Well, I
couldn’t take her with me, obviously. This world is a harsh place for people
like her. The best thing I could do was to leave her behind.”

“With her father, who didn’t care about anything except
Helena? Who would have
killed you both
if he found out she let you out?”

Matron’s lips compressed into a tight line. “It was the best
place for her. She was safe there.”

“For how long?” Bryce asked.

Matron fidgeted. She didn’t have an answer, and it was obvious
it had never occurred to her anyone would ever ask. She disgusted him.

“So what do you want from us?” Sinna asked, more hostile
than Bryce had ever heard her before.

Helena picked her teeth with a claw. “It’s not what she
wants. It’s what I want.”

“And what’s that?”

Helena smiled—a predator’s grin, soulless as a viper. “To
settle old debts.”

Here comes the train…

~

Sinna paced the length of the cottage, twirling an arrow in
her hand. It was a nice cottage with a window that overlooked the lake, a solid
roof, and two beds set out. All of their belongings had been neatly stacked in
one corner—supplies, guns, everything. Sarge really was as good as his word.

They had the place to themselves, but Sinna’s skin tingled
with the suspicion they were being watched, which made her restless and jumpy.
From the moment she’d left that church rectory in San Francisco, all she’d
wanted was to get to a safe place with sturdy walls and plenty of defenses.
Since then, every time she found herself in a place exactly like that, all she
wanted was to get the hell out.

Bryce stood in the doorway, back against one side, feet
propped against the other, cool as a cucumber while he watched her wear a hole
in the floor.

“I don’t like this,” she said.

He didn’t say anything.

“She wants to go with us. Alone. How does that make any
sense?”

Not a half-hour ago, Helena had laid out her daring plan:
Sinna and Bryce were to lead her back to Haven so she could kill Klaus. All on
her own. No backup from her people here, or from Sinna and Bryce—and she wanted
to leave tomorrow!

The worst thing? She’d looked Bryce dead in the eye the
whole time she’d talked about it. As if Sinna and Matron weren’t even there.

“And did you hear the way she talked? Ugh!” Helena hadn’t
talked; she’d purred. All low and sweet, like she was whispering secrets into
her lover’s ear. Sinna would have that to look forward to—three days driving
around in a beat-up mule with Bryce and a bombshell blonde who couldn’t keep
her clothes on. And all because Helena felt she needed to spend more time with
her own kind. “We’re not gonna do it, right? I mean, we can’t. She’s a loose
cannon. She’ll slit our throats in our sleep or something. We can’t trust her.”

Silence.

Sinna stopped pacing and turned to Bryce. “Am I right?”

He shrugged. “This was your idea.”

“Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!”

“Still is,” he said.

Sinna gaped.

“She’ll come willingly, she can fight, she’s good backup. And
if she screws up, we can use the distraction to get Aiden and haul ass to
Montana.”

“What if she screws us over, huh?”

“Unlikely.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’ll be keeping an eye on her.”

Yeah, of that, she had no doubt. Sinna shook her head. “I
don’t like this.”

Bryce’s mouth twitched. “You already said that.”

“Well, it still applies! And stop smiling, damn it! This
isn’t funny.”

He straightened from his slouch, and moments later, one of
Sarge’s men came to the door, carrying a bundle. He cleared his throat,
signaling he wanted to come in, but Bryce didn’t budge from his spot. Rolling
his eyes, the soldier held the bundle out to them instead. “Matron said to tell
you the feast is formal. She wants you to wear these, and don’t be late.”

Since Bryce wouldn’t take it from him, Sinna accepted the
bundle. “Thanks.” Then, because she was in a foul mood, she wriggled her
fingers to shoo him away. “That’ll be all.” When he left in a huff, Sinna set
it down onto the table and untied the protective wrap. “And for today’s choice
of humiliation, we have…a Village Person, and…whatever this is.” She held up
what looked like a very long blue night shirt with white laces on the back to
bunch the extra fabric together. “I’m not wearing this.”

“Well, my shoulders won’t fit into it.”

“These are costumes.”

“Of course they are. You heard your friend. This place is a
‘round-the-clock Renaissance Faire.”

Sinna made a sound of disgust and tossed the dress back onto
the pile. “This is like one of those killer clown nightmares you can’t wake up
from.”

“Cheer up, little bit,” Bryce said in his most accurate
impression of Aiden yet. “At least there aren’t monsters chasing you.”

Sinna winced. “I don’t think I like that nickname anymore.”
It was cute when Aiden said it; he joked about everything. But coming from
Bryce, it made her feel about two inches tall.

Here she was, this genetically engineered supercreature, and
until she’d met Helena, Sinna had actually believed that meant something. But
it didn’t. Maybe the change hadn’t taken like it should have. Or maybe she was
already too old. Compared to the real Wolfen female around here, Sinna was a
dud. She didn’t have Helena’s speed or muscle definition, and she’d never be a
fighter, because she didn’t like to fight. She’d never be able to sniff out
converts and such; her nose just wasn’t that good. And even though she might
hear a little better than before, it was nothing compared to Aiden, who could
locate a rabbit underground and spear it through the roof of its burrow before
the animal even knew he was there.

Little bit. What did that even mean? A little bit Wolfen?
Not enough to get the official club member badge? Or were there hierarchies
among them, and the weaker ones ended up like pets to the stronger?

“I like it,” Bryce said.

“Well, I don’t.” She hated it, and Bryce for using it, and
Helena for making her feel completely irrational about it. Sinna huffed in
frustration. “I need to get out of here.”

Bryce barred her way, looking at her hard until she raised
her gaze up to his. “Nothing’s changed, you know. It’s still us against
everyone else.”

“No, it isn’t.” She gave him a bitter little smile. “Now the
‘us’ is supposed to include
her
. And I’m kind of wondering how long
before it no longer includes
me
.”

She’d known all along that trusting the brothers and letting
herself fall for the good guy act would cost her in the end. And here it was.
Bryce would need help to get Aiden back, and with Helena on the scene to
provide it, Sinna had become obsolete.

Bryce frowned.

Sinna raised an eyebrow. “You said it yourself: she’s
strong, and she can fight. She’d make a much more capable ally than me.”
Nothing like being confronted with her complete and utter uselessness to put a
girl back in her place. She tried not to show how much it hurt to acknowledge.
“I mean, we are in a freaking fairy tale,” she said. “You could park me right
here, safe and sound, and your conscience would be clear. I’m just slowing you
down, anyway. And she seems to like you quite a bit. You two could be very
happy together.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She shrugged. “All the more reason to leave me behind,
right?” Sinna shoved past him, but it felt more like he let her. Didn’t exactly
bolster her confidence. “It’s okay. Really. You guys saved my life, gave me a
fighting chance. Can’t ask for more than that.”

“Sinna—”

She turned on her heel and walked away before she did
something stupid, like burst into tears.

In terms of people, Hopetown wasn’t all that big, but it sprawled
over so much land, it felt huge. Sinna didn’t watch where she was going as she
let her feet carry her past the stables to the arena, where young guards
trained with Sarge. She slowed to watch them, envious of the way they moved.
Weighed down in armor, sweating beneath the sun, they never complained, each
and every face pinched with determined concentration, each move sharp, precise
and coordinated with the unit. When Sarge barked an order, the group executed
as one, wielding massive swords with relative ease.

For a half-second, Sinna considered asking to join them.

Then Sarge turned to look at her, his face expressionless,
and Sinna flushed, and moved on, feeling like an intruder.

Kids played in the square, dogs corralled a flock of ducks
that had waddled out of their pen. A heavenly smell wafted on the breeze, and
she tracked it to the baker and a fresh batch of buns. Her mouth watered.

The baker stopped kneading to watch her warily. “Got
something to trade?” he demanded.

Sinna shook her head.

“Then move along.”

She did, and somehow her wandering brought her to Nate’s
shed. All at once, she remembered Tam’s pale, lifeless face, the way her cloudy
eyes had stared right through her. She couldn’t shake it, feeling the same stab
of betrayal she had back then, knowing the man they’d all trusted to keep them
safe had murdered one of them. The wound of Tam’s death might have scabbed
over, but it was still there, along with the fear, resentment, and disgust; the
helplessness from hating Nate and what he’d done, but needing him to get them
somewhere better.

There was also guilt. Sinna had suspected something was off
that night—Nate had given in to taking Tam along too easily for a man obsessed
with surviving at any cost—but she’d done nothing. And a horrible little voice
at the back of her mind accused her of having done it on purpose. It wasn’t
true. She hadn’t wanted any of them to die. Still, the sickening guilt remained
and she hated it, didn’t want to carry the weight of it anymore.

Sinna pulled the door open just enough to slip inside. Flies
buzzed around the back corner, and for a moment, she thought Nate was dead. But
his feet twitched, and she heard the catch in his breath.

“Nate?”

A low whimper.

Sinna approached slowly, taking him in by degrees. He looked
worse than before; his skin now had a grayish tinge with red splotches of fever
glowing on his cheeks and his forehead, lips cracked and bleeding. She didn’t
need a medical degree to know he wasn’t long for this world.

Sinna sat down, crossed her legs, and braced her elbows on
her knees. “I know you can hear me,” she said. “Maybe not like we’re having a
conversation, but deep down, I know you understand. So I’m going to talk, and
say my piece.” An uneasy shiver ran up her spine, and she glanced around to
make sure she was alone. Nothing moved, outside or in.

Nate’s eyes opened a crack. Flies buzzed around them, and
with just enough self-awareness left to feel it, he twitched his head in a weak
attempt to scare them off. They landed anyway.

“I hate you for what you did to Tam. I hate that you always
had Connor’s back, no matter what he did, and that you just stood there while
he shot me down. You let Isaac die, and you left Amy and Matt behind. You were
one heartless son of a bitch. If you hadn’t needed Dave, you probably would
have left him, too.” Sinna sighed. “But you kept us alive for as long as you
could. And maybe the rest of us could have done more, or maybe you wouldn’t
have let us. Maybe you liked bossing us around a little too much. It doesn’t matter,
anyway.”

Nate jerked as if someone had goosed him, mumbling
incoherently.

“Because of you,” she went on, “a lot of people are dead.
But if you hadn’t done what you did, the rest of us would be, too, and I want
to thank you for that. You saved Dave’s life, and in a way you saved mine. So I
guess what I’m trying to say is…I’m letting it go, and I think you should, too.
We do what we can, and that’s all we can do. Sometimes it’s a shitty place to
be. Well, most of the time, actually. But you can’t let it eat you up.”

Her words didn’t magically lift the weight from her
shoulders, but they did ease it a little bit. She smiled. “It’s not exactly a
benediction, is it?” Pushing to her feet, Sinna dusted herself off and sighed
again. “You wouldn’t have believed one, anyway. Goodbye, Nathan Jeremiah
Sloan.” People didn’t get funerals or grave markers anymore. But Sinna believed
in speaking the full names of the fallen in a final tribute to their life. It
was a tradition they’d honored back in San Francisco, and she wanted him to
hear it.

She walked away, listening to his breaths come faster and
harder, until she reached the door and he gasped, making her flinch. Seconds
passed, and then he slowly exhaled, breathing his last.

“Rest in peace.”

Sinna closed the door with quiet respect. She’d need to tell
someone. The body couldn’t be left there to rot—

“That was some speech.”

Sinna jumped, and whirled around. Helena leaned against the
shack wall, face turned up to the sun.

“No, really. I almost shed a tear. Was he your widdle wuv
bug back in ‘Frisco? Will you miss him tewibly?”

Sinna raised an eyebrow. “So, you listened to the speech,
you just didn’t hear it, is that it?”

The blonde turned to frown at her. “What do you mean?”

“Never mind.”

Helena left the sunny spot to follow her. “So what’s the
deal with you and Scarface?”

“Why are you talking to me?”

The blonde got in front of her, and walked backwards,
keeping face-to-face. “What, is it like a big secret? I smell him all over you.
It’s not like you can hide it. But the way you’re acting it’s like you’re in
high school or something.”

Sinna stopped. “Do you even know what that is?”

Helena made her face grave and serious. “Do you?”

Sinna edged around her. “There’s something really wrong with
you.”

Helena laughed, and fell into step. Couldn’t take a hint,
that one. “Yeah, I hear that a lot. But you know what? Fuck ‘em. Who cares,
right? What the hell do they know? It’s not like we’re even the same species.”
With a sweep of her arm, she encompassed everything within sight. “I could take
any one of these bitches. Or all of them. I am God.”

Wow.

“And Scarface should be all over me,” Helena said,
disgruntled. “I haven’t seen a male like him in all my life. We’d make the
perfect power couple, don’t you think?”

“
Should be
…that means he isn’t.”

“
Yet,
sister. He isn’t—
yet
. He will be. No one
can resist my charms.”

Sinna rolled her eyes.

Helena caught her arm, pulled her to a stop, and gave her a
heated once-over. “But he is a male, which means it could take a while. I
wouldn’t mind a little tussle with you in the meantime.”