The Burning Claw
Page 18
“Yes, she is.” He heard Jen’s voice again. “She’s cruel and she will chop you up and serve you for dinner if you hurt one hair on any of my wolves.”
Choosing once again to ignore his mate, Decebel said into the phone, “I’ll be in touch soon. You and your mate get ready for a change of scenery.”
The call ended and Drake tossed the phone back through the bars where it landed on a pile of sweatpants.
“We’re leaving?” Bethany asked him sounding hopeful. Drake felt like crap that she’d had to endure being confined in a room on the concrete floor because he couldn’t stand to be away from her.
“Yes,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Decebel is going to give us a suite on the west side of the mansion. It’s a little more secluded than the rest.”
“West side?” Her eyebrows rose. “How big is this place?”
His lips twitched. “Big enough for a pack of werewolves.”
She snorted out a laugh.
Drake’s smiled slipped away as he watched her. “Beth, are you alright?”
She looked up at him through the bars that kept him from holding her. “I don’t know, Drake. But I think I will be.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “That will have to be good enough for now.”
Jen sat at one of the intricately carved tables in the archive room as Wadim tapped away on a keyboard while staring at his fifty computer screens. Okay so maybe there weren’t fifty, but crap, how many computer screens does one werewolf historian really need?
“Finding anything of use, history boy?” Jen asked absently as she flipped through one of the large old books he’d stacked on the table for her.
“Honestly, Alpha chick, I don’t even know where to start.”
Jen tapped her lips with her forefinger as she considered his answer. “Okay, how about enemies? Who are the enemies of the werewolves, or yet” —she held up a hand— “even more specific, who are the enemies of our packs, the Serbia and Romania packs?”
“Vampires,” Wadim said dryly.
“Do we really think the vampires could have taken her right out from under all of our noses without anyone noticing?”
“Wasn’t there a battle going on?” Wadim asked.
“Yes, but a vampire would have had to weave his way through all that fighting and Sally wouldn’t have gone quietly. She would have fought like a hellcat. Someone would have noticed. We do tend to watch each other’s backs during battles.”
“Well.” Wadim let out a heavy sigh. “I know this sounds crazy, but there is only one supernatural race that I know of that can make people disappear without a sound, and that’s the fae.” Wadim stared at her with his eyebrows raised. “I mean pixies can move undetected when they want, that’s for sure, and they have some dead useful magic, but kidnapping a powerful healer without anyone else being the wiser, I don’t see it. Which leads me to believe that it has to have been a fae. I mean…maybe Volcan has gotten involved.”
“Hmm, no, I think he’s got his hands full with the healers he’s already nabbed and the werewolves hunting him. He doesn’t need Sally,” Jen answered.
“She’s a gypsy healer,” Wadim said more to himself.
“Way to state the obvious, Sherlock,” Jen muttered.
“I’m not done making my point, Barbie,” he said curtly.
Jen chuckled. “Oooo, look at history fur ball being all snarky and stuff. It’s hot.”
“Why do you always end up calling some male hot when I’m not around,” Decebel growled as he stepped out of the dark stairwell.
Jen glanced up at him. “Why were you lurking in the stairwell like a creeper? Where’ve you been anyway? One minute you were next to me as we tromped through Vasile’s castle, and the next you’d disappeared.”
“I wasn’t lurking, female. I was texting my girlfriend so she’d know not to call me right now. Did you miss me?” Decebel’s eyes danced with mischief as he stared her down.
Jen noticed Wadim trying to look especially busy.
“Tell her I said hi,” Jen said in a much too perky voice. “And that I will rip her face off and eat it in front of her if I ever figure out who she is. And” —she paused licking her finger to turn the page of the book she wasn’t even reading— “no, I didn’t miss you. The librarian is plenty hairy and stinky enough to remind me of you.”
“Damn,” Wadim gasped under his breath.
Decebel rumbled with laughter. “You didn’t realize how bloodthirsty my Alpha female is, did you?”
“Only when I have to remind you that you are mine, and bitches better back off.” Jen flipped through the book, humming happily as if she hadn’t just threatened to eat a woman’s face—not that she believed for even a second that her mate had a girlfriend. Decebel had discovered how to get under her skin and was using it ruthlessly anytime she irritated him. Boy didn’t realize that he was poking an already pissed off wolf.
“Oh, I realize, mate. I just happen to find you irresistible when you get jealous even over my fake girlfriends.” His warm voice filled her mind and melted over her like warm butter.
Jen decided it wasn’t time to deal with their sexual build up, considering she had a friend missing and one not exactly alive. “Back to what history hottie was saying.” She shot Decebel a challenging glare. He simply shrugged and blew her a kiss.
Wadim cleared his throat. “Okay…um…right. So, Sally is a healer, of course. Healers have always been targeted in the past for their magic. Decebel, you know this. Healers are sought after by many, not just Volcan, because their magic is…” He paused seeming to consider his words. “It’s different. Pure in a way that other supernatural magic isn’t.
“You think someone wanted her specifically because she’s a gypsy healer?” Decebel asked as he walked further into the room.
“I’m certain of it,” the historian answered. “The question is, who?”
Jen slammed the book closed and dropped it on the desk, growling. “We aren’t any closer to finding her than we were three hours ago. What am I supposed to tell Costin?”
“We tell him we are doing everything we can to find her. That’s all we can do, Jennifer,” Decebel said calmly. “They will make a mistake, whoever did this, and when they do, we will find them.”
Choosing once again to ignore his mate, Decebel said into the phone, “I’ll be in touch soon. You and your mate get ready for a change of scenery.”
The call ended and Drake tossed the phone back through the bars where it landed on a pile of sweatpants.
“We’re leaving?” Bethany asked him sounding hopeful. Drake felt like crap that she’d had to endure being confined in a room on the concrete floor because he couldn’t stand to be away from her.
“Yes,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Decebel is going to give us a suite on the west side of the mansion. It’s a little more secluded than the rest.”
“West side?” Her eyebrows rose. “How big is this place?”
His lips twitched. “Big enough for a pack of werewolves.”
She snorted out a laugh.
Drake’s smiled slipped away as he watched her. “Beth, are you alright?”
She looked up at him through the bars that kept him from holding her. “I don’t know, Drake. But I think I will be.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “That will have to be good enough for now.”
Jen sat at one of the intricately carved tables in the archive room as Wadim tapped away on a keyboard while staring at his fifty computer screens. Okay so maybe there weren’t fifty, but crap, how many computer screens does one werewolf historian really need?
“Finding anything of use, history boy?” Jen asked absently as she flipped through one of the large old books he’d stacked on the table for her.
“Honestly, Alpha chick, I don’t even know where to start.”
Jen tapped her lips with her forefinger as she considered his answer. “Okay, how about enemies? Who are the enemies of the werewolves, or yet” —she held up a hand— “even more specific, who are the enemies of our packs, the Serbia and Romania packs?”
“Vampires,” Wadim said dryly.
“Do we really think the vampires could have taken her right out from under all of our noses without anyone noticing?”
“Wasn’t there a battle going on?” Wadim asked.
“Yes, but a vampire would have had to weave his way through all that fighting and Sally wouldn’t have gone quietly. She would have fought like a hellcat. Someone would have noticed. We do tend to watch each other’s backs during battles.”
“Well.” Wadim let out a heavy sigh. “I know this sounds crazy, but there is only one supernatural race that I know of that can make people disappear without a sound, and that’s the fae.” Wadim stared at her with his eyebrows raised. “I mean pixies can move undetected when they want, that’s for sure, and they have some dead useful magic, but kidnapping a powerful healer without anyone else being the wiser, I don’t see it. Which leads me to believe that it has to have been a fae. I mean…maybe Volcan has gotten involved.”
“Hmm, no, I think he’s got his hands full with the healers he’s already nabbed and the werewolves hunting him. He doesn’t need Sally,” Jen answered.
“She’s a gypsy healer,” Wadim said more to himself.
“Way to state the obvious, Sherlock,” Jen muttered.
“I’m not done making my point, Barbie,” he said curtly.
Jen chuckled. “Oooo, look at history fur ball being all snarky and stuff. It’s hot.”
“Why do you always end up calling some male hot when I’m not around,” Decebel growled as he stepped out of the dark stairwell.
Jen glanced up at him. “Why were you lurking in the stairwell like a creeper? Where’ve you been anyway? One minute you were next to me as we tromped through Vasile’s castle, and the next you’d disappeared.”
“I wasn’t lurking, female. I was texting my girlfriend so she’d know not to call me right now. Did you miss me?” Decebel’s eyes danced with mischief as he stared her down.
Jen noticed Wadim trying to look especially busy.
“Tell her I said hi,” Jen said in a much too perky voice. “And that I will rip her face off and eat it in front of her if I ever figure out who she is. And” —she paused licking her finger to turn the page of the book she wasn’t even reading— “no, I didn’t miss you. The librarian is plenty hairy and stinky enough to remind me of you.”
“Damn,” Wadim gasped under his breath.
Decebel rumbled with laughter. “You didn’t realize how bloodthirsty my Alpha female is, did you?”
“Only when I have to remind you that you are mine, and bitches better back off.” Jen flipped through the book, humming happily as if she hadn’t just threatened to eat a woman’s face—not that she believed for even a second that her mate had a girlfriend. Decebel had discovered how to get under her skin and was using it ruthlessly anytime she irritated him. Boy didn’t realize that he was poking an already pissed off wolf.
“Oh, I realize, mate. I just happen to find you irresistible when you get jealous even over my fake girlfriends.” His warm voice filled her mind and melted over her like warm butter.
Jen decided it wasn’t time to deal with their sexual build up, considering she had a friend missing and one not exactly alive. “Back to what history hottie was saying.” She shot Decebel a challenging glare. He simply shrugged and blew her a kiss.
Wadim cleared his throat. “Okay…um…right. So, Sally is a healer, of course. Healers have always been targeted in the past for their magic. Decebel, you know this. Healers are sought after by many, not just Volcan, because their magic is…” He paused seeming to consider his words. “It’s different. Pure in a way that other supernatural magic isn’t.
“You think someone wanted her specifically because she’s a gypsy healer?” Decebel asked as he walked further into the room.
“I’m certain of it,” the historian answered. “The question is, who?”
Jen slammed the book closed and dropped it on the desk, growling. “We aren’t any closer to finding her than we were three hours ago. What am I supposed to tell Costin?”
“We tell him we are doing everything we can to find her. That’s all we can do, Jennifer,” Decebel said calmly. “They will make a mistake, whoever did this, and when they do, we will find them.”
