38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

David's parents' house was a little like him: relatively nondescript but neat and tidy with no bells and whistles.

I rang the doorbell. Moments later, a woman in her early sixties with short grey hair answered the door. She gave a welcoming smile even as she registered that she didn't recognise any of us. As I'd expected, her forehead was clear of the Other realm symbol: she was a Common realmer.

‘Hi,' I said warmly. ‘I'm Lucy. We work with your son David?'

‘At the mansion?'

‘Yes.'

‘Gosh,' she said and eyed us all. ‘That's a lot of groundskeepers.'

‘There's a lot of ground,' Greg said evenly.

‘There must be. How can I help you?'

‘Is David here?' I asked casually. ‘He didn't show up for work today. '

Her brow creased with worry. ‘That's not like him. Have you checked his room?'

‘First thing we did, ma'am,' Greg told her. And it had been. We'd rifled through it in case he'd left any clues as to his whereabouts. His room had been surprisingly bare.

His mum pulled out a phone from her back pocket and rang him. The call went to voicemail and she left a terse message asking him to ring her. Tension had entered her body when he failed to answer, and I felt bad for that.

‘We'll keep on looking for him,' I assured her. ‘Is there anywhere you think he'd go?'

‘Instead of work?' she asked, scandalised. ‘It's not like David to play hooky. But he loves Cliveden and our local garden centre.'

I suppressed a grimace. She didn't know anything that Daniella hadn't already told us. ‘Is your husband in? Perhaps he's heard from David?'

‘Derrick!' she called into the house. ‘Have you heard from David?'

‘No!' a voice hollered back.

‘Have you checked his old flat?' his mother asked suddenly and the tension eased from her shoulders. ‘Perhaps he got his days muddled – I expect he's doing some jobs at his old flat.'

‘Where is that?' Debbie grunted .

She rattled off the address and Tarkers noted it down.

‘We'll check there,' I promised.

‘You'll let me know?' she asked, a hint of worry creeping in again.

‘Of course,' I promised and took her number.

I felt bad for David's parents; not only had they not seen their son but they were in the Common realm. They had no idea David was a werewolf, let alone a nefarious one.

We thanked his mum for her time and left to check out David's flat.

The flat was in a tower block and Debbie had to do some creative door opening to get us inside. Once we were in, though, it was clear that David hadn't been there for some time. There was nothing in the fridge, and though everything was neat and tidy the air smelled musky and stale.

There were only a few items in the drawers because most of his belongings were at the mansion. Disappointingly, there wasn't a Rolodex marked ‘villainous colleagues'. His bookshelves held a tonne of books but they were almost all about plants, planting times and harvesting. The four of us did a quick but thorough search and found precisely nothing.

It's a dead end, Esme complained.

She was right. We straightened things out so it wasn't immediately clear that there had been intruders and then we left, shutting the door carefully behind us.

‘Garden centre or Cliveden?' I asked the others.

‘Heads it's Cliveden, tails it's the garden centre.' Tarkers pulled a coin from his pocket, threw it in the air and caught it. He laid it on the back of his hand. ‘Heads,' he said.

Cliveden it was. I pulled on my crown and we set off to hunt our prey.

It was 8am and Cliveden House gardens weren't officially open to visitors so we had to sneak in. We parked unobtrusively and piled out of the car.

‘Who wants to wolf out? See if we can pick up a scent trail?' Tarkers asked.

Me! Esme volunteered eagerly. I could feel her yearning for a run.

‘Since I'm the only one that retains my clothes, I'll do it,' I volunteered.

Tarkers frowned. ‘As you're our Queen, are we allowed to let you do stuff?'

I gave him a flat look. ‘Do I look like the type of girl to just sit pretty?'

‘Well … yes.' He shrugged. ‘You're very beautiful.'

‘Hey!' Greg slugged him on the shoulder.

‘Ow! She is! It's a fact! I'm not hitting on her.'

‘You'd better not be. She's my fiancée.'

And mate-to-be , Esme added.

‘Yes, thank you everyone,' I said briskly. ‘Let's focus, shall we?' I checked no one was around then shifted onto four, trusting Terrance to do his thing.

Esme trotted around before giving an excited yip. She had a scent trail – and it was recent.

We called the others then led the way, holding our tail high, trotting this way and that past the huge Italianate house. We sniffed past the ornamental gardens and moved on. Before long we were in a Japanese-style water garden complete with a pagoda.

We slowed our approach. Sitting in the pagoda was David.

Let me? I suggested to Esme.

With a sigh, she let us shift into human. Truthfully, we both needed to look him in the eyes and ask him why he'd betrayed us.

Thank you, I said to Terrance as my clothes appeared.

You're welcome, as always, he answered cheerfully.

‘Fan out,' I ordered the others. ‘Be ready.' I couldn't see anyone around, nor had I scented anyone else, but unease was creeping along my spine. I felt like I was being watched – and not just by Esme.

‘David,' I called as I approached the pagoda.

‘Alpha,' he responded, his tone as respectful as ever.

‘You've made quite a mess.'

‘You can say that again.' He sighed. ‘I was very put out when you rejected the invitation to join the Domini. Do you know how long I'd worked on V to get her to agree to extend it?'

‘Geneve,' I said.

‘Yes,' he agreed. ‘That bitch of a dragon.'

‘You told her we were coming to steal the orb.' It wasn't a question.

David's lips pressed into a thin line. ‘She had Danielle. Geneve wasn't happy that my reports had slowed and become very short, so she took Dani as a little object lesson to show that she could . She'd threatened her before.'

‘That's why you pushed Dani away.'

‘I tried,' he agreed, ‘but I liked her too much. We could have had something special were it not for all of this shit. It was my fault she was kidnapped.' He shook his head. When he met my eyes, his gaze was sorrowful. ‘I have so many regrets. I wish I'd met you first, Alpha. The Domini got to me in hospital and whispered about revenge on that prick Bernard Greenhough.'

‘Who?'

‘The werewolf that hit me with a car and turned me because he didn't want to go to prison.'

‘Ah.'

‘Yeah. The Domini told me that the Connection wouldn't punish him and in weeks he'd be free because his alpha would bribe the right people. And they were right – he was walking about freely, like he hadn't ruined my life.'

I made a note of the name. I'd track down the alpha, too, and maybe I'd give the story to Elena to write up for the Mystical Informer . ‘Don't take this the wrong way,' I started, ‘but I thought the Domini was full of powerful people.'

He grimaced. ‘The movers and shakers, yes, but every organisation needs loyal foot soldiers.'

‘And that was you?'

‘That was me. It wasn't so hard when Lord Samuel was in charge because he didn't see me, not the way you do. To him, I was just a misfit. Helping the Domini gave me a purpose and an identity. Even if the rest of the pack didn't know it, I was someone , not just a random stranger turned into a werewolf that they'd had to take in . '

‘You love being a werewolf now,' I pointed out. Not that it made his illegal turning any better.

‘I do, but it took the longest time to get to that stage – too long. I was an outsider, a gardener turned werewolf. What an absurdity.' His tone was biting. ‘Nobody thought I had it in me but the Domini said they saw power in my future, and I listened because all I saw in my future were weeds.'

He met my eyes. ‘You changed pack life for me, not just in the others' eyes but in how I saw myself. The problem was, I'd already signed on the dotted line.' He sighed and fiddled with the hem of his T-shirt. ‘I wish I'd met you sooner, Alpha, before I'd become part of The Order, but once you're in there's no getting out. They hold your loved ones to ransom. They know where my parents live.'

‘We could have relocated them. If you'd just come to me…'

His smile was bitter. ‘By then I'd done plenty of things that the Domini could hold over me.'

‘David, I'm so sorry.'

He sighed. ‘It would be easier for me if you'd just be horrible, Lucy.'

‘I can do that,' I said, forcing myself to be businesslike. ‘What can you tell me about The Order? What letter are you?'

He laughed sardonically. ‘Oh, I wasn't big enough to have a letter. Isaacs had one – he was C. He was a brutal prick, content to let Rain spearhead things so he could pull strings in the darkness. The crown changed things, though. He wanted it. He thought it would give him validity because he believed he had a God-given right to rule. He wanted to get rid of you and take over. The crown would give him an advantage so he could make a play for V's empty seat.'

‘You helped him.'

David shifted in his seat. ‘I did. I regret it, but I had no choice.'

‘We always have a choice,' I snapped. Then I repeated, ‘You should have come to me.' A thought occurred and I stilled. ‘You cleared my dad's memory, tried to take him from me.'

He winced. ‘I did. I'm sorry, but I was under orders. It's not an excuse, just an explanation.'

‘One of the brethren guards went with you. Who?'

‘She wasn't one of Greg's. She gave one of the guards food poisoning and offered to cover for him. He said yes.'

‘Who?' I pressed .

‘Her name is Mindy Hunter.'

I froze. Fucking Mindy! ‘Is she Domini?'

He shook his head. ‘Not as far as I know. She's just brethren, mindlessly serving her family dragon, Geneve. V didn't believe in bringing too many people into the fold. She said it wouldn't remain a secret society for long if we opened our gates to all and sundry.'

‘What will happen to Mindy now that Geneve is dead?'

‘Geneve's brethren will be passed to her nearest surviving relative, a niece, I believe.'

I sighed. ‘And is she Domini?'

‘I don't think so, but as I said Geneve believed in keeping things tight. Each of us only know of a handful of the others.'

‘And who did you know about?'

‘Larsden, Ramsay, Kearns, Isaacs, Geneve.' He licked his lips. ‘I believe that I know all the werewolves that are part of The Order, but I'm not certain.'

Another heavy sigh slipped from my lips. ‘And how are we to know who is Domini or not?'

‘I tried to point you to me,' he mumbled. ‘Idiotic, isn't it? On some level, I wanted you to stop me – that's why I suggested putting roses on the mantelpiece. Surely you associated me with roses? And then I drugged the dark seraph and made sure they saw me bring their food.' He looked at me caustically. ‘I'm under a vow, you see, not to reveal I'm Domini.'

Even as he said that, I saw a cloud of black smoke start swirling around him. The Other realm had recognised him as an oath breaker and was exacting its price. He would be remembered as an oath breaker forever, but even after all he'd done I didn't want that for him.

‘Stop talking!' I said sharply. ‘Maybe we can undo this. Amber will know a way!'

He smiled sadly. ‘Even now you're trying to save me. I'm sorry, Lucy. And please, ask Nina to forgive me, too. I tried to get Isaacs to stop the destruction but I thought I had more influence than I really did.'

He shook his head at his own folly. ‘Ask Daniella to forgive me. I never meant for her to get embroiled in this or for her to get hurt.'

David took off his tortoiseshell glasses and set them down next to him on the bench. ‘I didn't want an oath-breaker's death, nor do I want to kill myself like The Order says that I must, so I've arranged other means. I want my death to be on my own terms – though now it's upon me, it's hard to know that death is coming for you and in what form. Death is surely our last great mystery.'

He smiled at me and nodded as he squared his shoulders. ‘But I have courage enough for this.' He raised his voice. ‘Do it now.'

Voltaire stepped out of the shadow of the pagoda. I'd no sooner registered his presence than he sped towards David. His fangs were bared and in David's throat before I could even take a step forward.

A low moan escaped me as the vampyr bit into David's carotid artery. It wasn't a delicate nip but a savage bite, then he went back for more and ripped out David's jugular.

‘No!' I screamed but it was too late, far too late. Hot tears welled up in my eyes.

‘He was Domini,' Voltaire explained, blood staining his chin.

Tears streaming down my face, I stared at him. ‘He was my friend.'

‘You're a Queen,' he said harshly. ‘You don't have friends, you have subjects.'

I shook my head wordlessly and pawed at my cheeks, smearing salty tears across them. ‘I could have turned him, made him a spy.'

Voltaire shook his head. ‘No, you couldn't. Once he'd told you what he was, he was destined for an oath-breaker's death.'

I looked at the vampyr. ‘Why did you kill him then? Why save him from having his name recorded in the book of oath breakers?'

Voltaire sighed softly and suddenly he looked old and tired. ‘He wasn't born of the Other and he wasn't raised knowing our ways. He wasn't warned of the Domini at his mother's knee. He couldn't have known what he was in for when he joined them.'

‘So it was a mercy killing? You were being kind.'

‘Let's not go that far,' he said abruptly. ‘He was Domini and I ended him, which is my job.'

‘I killed V – Geneve,' I offered.

His jaw dropped. ‘V is dead?' He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. ‘Shit, we're going to have a power vacuum.'

‘And C,' I admitted. ‘Isaacs is dead as well.'

Voltaire looked at me with genuine admiration. ‘It appears that you're actually quite good at hunting the Domini.' A ghost of a smile crossed his face. ‘I look forward to crossing off the rest of the alphabet.'

I sighed. ‘But when we kill them, more of them will be named to replace them.'

He flashed me a grin that had more than a little fang to it. ‘Why do you think that the job of hunting the Domini was given to the vampyrs? We have all the time in the world to cross off the letters one by one, and then do it all over again. Rinse and repeat.'

‘But that must be soul-destroying!'

He shrugged. ‘Someone must try and keep the balance.' He gave me another smile. ‘Good job on restoring the orb. Now make sure you teach all the wolves how to use it. The last thing we need is a repeat of the 1600s.'

‘How old are you?' I demanded.

‘Old enough to know better.' He winked.

I sighed. ‘What happened in the 1600s?' I asked, even though I knew I wasn't going to like the answer.

‘A bunch of werewolves jumped off a cliff and tried to use their air powers to survive.'

‘And did they?'

He guffawed. ‘Did they fuck. They went splat. It's hard to use the powers in a high-stress situation unless you're trained for it.' He fixed me with a look. ‘So train for it.'

Voltaire gave me the tiniest sweep of a bow and melted back into the shadows, leaving me sitting next to the corpse of a man I'd once called my friend.