Rage Against the Devil (Wild Beasts Series Book 2) Page 5

  “Shit!” The ice queen’s face softened and fear replaced the stone. She walked slowly toward the puddle and froze. Her face screwed up in indecision, and he saw such vulnerability there. She was young for an Other if her tough façade was so easily replaced by fear. That, or like Nicky had shared, Roman Zolanski was right, and what they were facing was super fucking scary.

  “Don’t get too close, but shut it down, Ice,” Kieran yelled as he ran to her.

  “I don’t have anyone who can help. I don’t think I can close it alone.” Her voice was barely audible, terrified, as she stood over the goddamned puddle of water.

  “I knew we should have stopped at your brother’s first. Fucking last time I let you sway me. I’ll get Damon. Hold tight, Ice,” Kieran said as he stepped away from the rising steam.

  Damon? Damon Trappe? What did he have to do with any of this? Was that fucker involved in every fucking thing?

  “Get out of here, Gimp,” she whispered, and she too moved away from the puddle. Except, she’d knelt on the leaves and the strewn about pieces of Other that littered the forest floor, and was crawling away, moving towards Danny. “Please. I don’t want to go back—”

  She stopped speaking, her face frozen and staring at the fog as it wisped into the air, as though at once mesmerized and frightened of that fog. Kieran turned to Danny calmly, “Watch over her. I’ll get Damon. He can get here quickly. He can help. But if she can’t shut it down, just don’t let her near it, and don’t let anyone else near it, either.”

  “What the hell, Kieran? It’s a fucking puddle of water!” Danny yelled, but Kieran was already moving away. “And what the fuck does Damon have to do with any of this?”

  He looked down at the ice queen who had been brought to her knees, and he wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t even know what hell he was dealing with.

  Not to mention, he’d met many women like her – supernatural or otherwise – and she wouldn’t welcome someone pointing out her weakness. Her green eyes met his and he heard a growl from the edge of the woods. Her fear and her presence had brought the animal out in Nicky, and that was a rare feat. His partner was almost as stone cold as the woman in question had been just moments earlier, even if he had lightened up since moving to Montville.

  Tears escaped her eyes and he blocked her from the crowd with his body. He ignored the growling at his back and didn’t turn toward his people. This woman needed him more. He knelt at her side, but didn’t touch her, making sure she was shielded by his larger form.

  “Eire, right?” he asked, quietly. She looked up at him, her eyes and the softening of her jaw showing just how affected she was by the pull of the puddle. Jesus, this world was fucking strange. She fought it, though, and he gave her a smile, showing her she’d done good, that she was as strong as she thought.

  “Yes,” she whispered, and her tears came more steadily now. She didn’t look like a woman who cried. She looked like a woman who was frozen to her core, but every core had a soft spot. And for some reason, this case was bringing her vulnerabilities to the fore. “It hurts,” she said through chattering teeth as goosebumps rose across her arms, but by her distant look, her mind was in another place, another time. He’d seen this with some of his veteran buddies. PTSD was no fucking joke, and something about this puddle had triggered something for her. “Make it stop. Please, please, please make it stop. Make it go away,” she said to no one in particular.

  The growl from behind him, that he’d steadily heard as background noise, turned to a howl, and a wolf burst forward, just as the outer shields of the circle fell and the sun rose in the background. The breaking of the barrier knocked the wind out of Danny, and he landed flat on his ass, graceful as fuck. Danny had as good as told Kieran, even without words, that he would protect Eire, and he wouldn’t let Kieran down. He lifted himself off the ground as the animal barreled toward the ice queen who’d turned into a melted ice cube of hurt and pain.

  The wolf in question had beat him to Eire and stood in front of her in a protective stance that said Danny himself was the enemy. Fuck it all. What the hell was Nicky doing?

  “Nick, she can’t get near the water,” Danny said, putting his hand out palm down, not revealing his own soft core because shit, the Vuković were scary ass motherfuckers. Almost twice as large as a typical canine with teeth razor sharp and not at all like a traditional wolf. Nicky’s beast was one of the scariest, besides Alexia’s, that he’d ever seen.

  “I’m fine, wolf.” The ice queen had returned, and Danny watched as Eire stood to her full height. Her presence alone suggested she was much taller, but in her vulnerability, he’d realized how small she really was. She stood behind Nicky at probably no more than 5’5”, and her hand came to rest on the wolf in question. He knew that Clan didn’t interact with Others. The reaction was rarely pleasant, but his partner didn’t flinch at the woman’s touch. In fact, the needy beast rolled his head toward her palm, and he saw Eire’s façade slip a second time, this time in an almost smile that he was sure, if she had followed through on it, would have melted even the coldest heart.

  She quickly took her hand back, and Danny watched as Nicky transformed back to his human skin and Alexia, Devon, Ben, and Carrie moved into the clearing. Nicky’s transformation was much slower than any of the other shifts he’d watched, and when he’d once asked Nicky why, his partner had only told him it was genetic. Whatever the fuck that meant.

  “Dude, your junk is hanging all over the fucking place!” Danny said, laughing a little, but glancing towards Eire, and adding, “there’s a lady present.”

  “She is Other,” Nicky said matter-of-factly, and he heard Devon’s guffaw. “She’s used to nudity. I told you that we don’t like clothes.”

  But Danny didn’t miss the long perusal Eire gave Nicky. That look wasn’t ‘used to nudity.’ That look was one seemingly subtle second of pure fucking lust.

  Well, he’d be damned. It seemed the ice queen might have a bit of a thing for the Navajo Newb. Danny gave her a wink, and she gave him a frosty glare. His partner ignored the exchange and tilted his head like the canine he was, turning a hard look to Eire.

  “You smell strange…”

  ‘No Tact Nicholas Arviso’ should have been his newbie name. The wolf didn’t seem to gather that some of the shit he said was downright offensive, even to an Other. Danny cursed. His partner was going to fuck this up as usual. Danny might not want a fling with the ice queen, but that fact didn’t mean Nicky shouldn’t have a go if the woman was into him.

  Devon walked forward with a pair of sweats, also half naked himself, and handed them to Nicky. Ironically, Clan members had spare clothes all over the place even though most of them hated wearing the shit.

  “That was a temporal break,” Eire said pointing towards the water and separating herself from the growing crowd around Danny. “It’s a portal to the Veil.” She paused and looked over her shoulder at them. “And the Other you’re catching a whiff of, wolf, is a Fae,” she added, with disgust.

  “Like fairies?” Alexia asked, and there was a tinge of excitement in her voice.

  “Yeah, sure,” the ice queen said, disdainfully. “Like fucking fairies.”

  Danny watched as Alexia’s eyes narrowed and flared red, but Devon laid a large hand on her shoulder, and her eyes dimmed a bit.

  Eire didn’t see the moment. She just paused and took a deep breath, apparently agitated that she’d have to give any sort of lesson. “Does this look like the fairy stories you’ve read? No,” she said, giving Alexia a look that would have caused a lesser man to shrink and cower, but Alexia wasn’t a lesser man. She was the fucking future Clan leader for two badass clans.

  Alexia took on her own hard look that clearly stated she did not like, nor did she trust, the bitch in front of her. Catfight, or you know canine/vampire on ice queen/unknown Other fight, but shit, this is hot, Danny thought and smiled like the playboy he was. He felt heat radiate up his arm from the well-d
eserved punch Devon had swung from his right. It really sucked that Danny had one of those open, honest faces. Every emotion, every thought was written on his tanned, charming mug. His Ma had always said he was the worst liar. Being in the military and then becoming a detective hadn’t changed that open honesty.

  “No, the Fae are killers.” Eire stepped past them, her black combat boots hitting the ground lightly, no longer fighting an unknown pull and he realized suddenly that the fog was gone. “Why the fuck do I always get stuck with idiots?” she asked as she walked to the far edge of the opening in the wood.

  “Maybe because you’re a bitch who doesn’t appreciate humor or nuance in any situation,” a voice called from the edge of the woods.

  Danny knew that voice. Knew it too well for his own good recently. Goddamn—

  “Fucking Damon,” Eire cursed, continuing her walk to the edge of the woods.

  Alexia and Devon didn’t flinch at the man’s presence, and Danny ran his hand across his face. Damon just couldn’t help getting involved, could he? Danny saw Damon’s face harden at Eire’s reaction before the man smiled mischievously and walked toward them. Asswipe didn’t deserve to smile like that. He was hindering a case that Danny had been working on for over two years now, and too many innocents were involved. But would the goddamned bar owner give anything up? Fuck no. Asshole thought he could play both sides. Probably trying to catch the fuckface himself and take all the credit. Danny didn’t care about the glory. He just wanted the bastard caught.

  “Hey, little sister,” Damon said casually, in greeting. “Being a pain in the ass already? Thought you’d save that for Loch, Zeke and me.”

  Sister? Well, fuck me, Danny thought. That explained the recognition from earlier. She looked like a feminine version of Damon and Zeke. Danny hadn’t met Loch yet, but he wondered if they all had those high, strong cheekbones, dark hair, and pale skin.

  “Nah, I’m being sugar and spice to this whole band of fucking misfits,” she said, flicking some invisible lint from her shoulder and giving her brother a look that promised evil. “I save my ire and ore for you dickfaces.”

  “Never heard a more loving family,” Danny said to Devon at his side, and the bear chuffed out a laugh.

  “Danny,” Damon said, as though he wasn’t causing Danny mountains of grief on a daily basis.

  “Fuck you, Trappe.” Danny stepped aside while Damon continued walking toward his sister. He turned to leave, but not before he caught his partner examining the pictograms he’d meant to trace before their entourage had grown. “Hey, Nick,” he yelled across the clearing. “Gonna head out. I’ve got to get to the station. Grab this paper and shade the wolf images for me, will you?”

  Nicky grabbed the paper from Danny as he walked forward and met Danny at one of the trees in the clearing.

  “I know this image from somewhere,” Nicky said, his expression showing puzzlement and frustration.

  “Is it a wolf? Maybe it’s got something to do with the Vuković,” Danny said, kneeling down next to him and squinting at the carved image.

  “Could be…” Nicky said, but his voice trailed off.

  Danny stood. He’d let Nicky mull it over.

  “You good, Newb?”

  “Yeah,” Nicky said waving him off, still staring at the image carved into the trunk. There was the same pictogram on three other trees, and Danny noticed that the trees were evenly spaced in a square pattern. He made more notes. He’d share his findings with Alexia and Nicky later. They’d work it all out. They always did, right?

  He felt that prickle along his skin again, and he looked over to see Damon talking with Alexia and Devon, while Eire stood to the side like a statue, unmoving and unbreakable. No Ben. And no Carrie. Damn it. She was always disappearing. Always running. Always trying to escape when things got difficult.

  Danny said his goodbyes and started walking back down the mountainside. Fuck, but he hated this world sometimes. And every time he thought he knew all he needed to know, something new popped up.

  Exploding bodies. Eerie puddles. Ice Queens. Yeah, it was only just light outside, and he already needed a drink. Too bad he had to walk five miles before he’d even reach civilization, if he could call a mountain lodge surrounded by cabins and trailers fucking civilization.

  His partner had been right. This case was goddamned strange. This case was FUBAR. This case was going to be a shitstorm before it was solved, and Damon Trappe was right fucking in the middle of all his problems at the moment.

  He breathed out a sigh when he finally made it back. Carrie’s light was off, and he knew she’d either be sleeping the day away or up a tree – literally. Everyone needed a place of peace. Carrie liked the trees and the Clan clubs where she could hide her face. Other than that, she could cook up a storm and hated the color pink.

  Tink kept much of her life hidden, but he could admit that he admired and sort of loved her wariness. She was the good kind of puzzle, the kind that once solved you’d want to take out again and again.

  His mustang sat in the driveway next to Nicky’s motorcycle, and he jumped inside, turning the ignition and sitting for a minute in the silence. He saw the group making their way down the last stretch of the mountainside and he shook his head, half in humor and half in exasperation.

  He was a human amongst monsters, in love with a woman who was so damaged, she could barely look him in the eye, and there were times when he wondered what the hell good he did for them.

  But then his stomach growled, and his attention was diverted once more. He turned on the radio to a local hard rock station, smiled his charming smile, and drove off toward the precinct.

  Being human was the least of his problems, though. Dealing with a monster that had the other monsters scared…well, that was something he could dig his heels into.

  “None of daddy’s other bitches wanted to join the party tonight?” Eire asked as she lugged the bags in her hands out of the woods, walking as far back from the group as she could. She didn’t particularly want to see her brothers, Lochlan Jr. or Ezekiel, but it would have been nice if they at least pretended to care. Fuck, she thought, taking a breath. I do not need validation from absentee family. Except sometimes she did, and she really hated that weakness in herself. Especially since Kieran had been right earlier. She’d been the one to keep her distance, to push them away.

  “Damn it, Eire. You’re the one who drives a wedge between yourself and us, who blames us for your life, but if we could have done anything, don’t you think we would have? I know you pride yourself on being detached,” Damon said, grabbing one of her bags despite her resistance, “but your hang ups with our father…that’s not on us. That’s on him. We are not Lochlan Trappe.” Damon’s voice pleaded with her, and she wanted to give in to the tone, give up her pride and her protection and have big brothers again. She really did. She wanted to trust Damon. She wanted him to accept her. But she wouldn’t risk getting attached again.

  “Look, Gimp got your call to come down from Syracuse and check out the carnage. Said you might need a hand with the investigation. We’re here to enforce the laws of the Others. We’re not here to cause trouble. We just need a place to crash until we solve this. Fucking Fae,” she muttered, and she saw the raised eyebrow from her brother. Whatever. She didn’t need any of this shit.

  She’d used a lot of energy to get down here to Montville. She and Gimp could have driven, but she’d been stubborn. She could admit it. She’d wanted to get a jump on the crime scene, and instead of taking the couple hours to drive down, she’d instead traversed down. Fucking traversing. Quickest way to travel for an Other or a Clan member, but getting somewhere in a couple minutes instead of two and a half hours was hell on the body. Then, the temporal break had sapped nearly whatever she had left in strength.

  How sad was it that a puddle had reduced a woman whose only friend had nicknamed her Ice to well, a puddle? But her memories of the Veil—

  She shuddered and cut off that line of emotio
nal weakness, instead focusing on how she could regain her strength.

  She needed to seriously get in some stretching. And sleep. In a warm bed. Like the awesome bed she had at home that felt like a cloud. She missed her cloud bed. Ice she may be, but there was nothing that helped her maintain her frigid façade better than getting a good fucking night’s sleep.

  She and Damon walked in silence, but what wasn’t said was deafening. She saw the couple from earlier huddled together. She’d treated the redhead like she was incompetent, and she just knew the Skröm would find some way to get back at her for it. That’s what Skröm did. But this particular Skröm scared the shit out of her if she was being honest. She’d heard the stories.

  Ashes and dust.

  She knew from the rumors that was all that had been left before even the dragon had taken over.

  A fucking dragon, and there had been more destruction from the small, legendary Skröm/Vuković Hybrid standing in front of her. Heady combination. Unnatural combination. Then again, Eire knew all about unnatural. Eire was pure fucking Stone and Sword covered in ice, but shit. She couldn’t turn anything to dust. She could slice them up and poison them to death, though, so she took comfort in that thought. The two stopped their silent conversation.

  “Alexia, you’re better than this,” Devon whispered.

  The low tone was useless. Everyone there heard his comment as though it were spoken aloud. The two had stopped the group by halting their own movements. Devon and Alexia were the apparent leaders, and everyone else fell into line. A burden. Not a privilege. Except Eire was used to being the leader of her own destiny. She didn’t need someone else guiding her by the hand like a child.