43. Dirge

FORTY-THREE

Dirge

K ane's loaner office was barely bigger than a broom closet, and with four of us squished in there—Brielle had also opted to help Leigh pack, rather than deal with politics and investigations—it was about one degree of separation from a sardine can.

Kane seemed a bit peeved as he dug through a pile of papers on his temporary desk, but I was enjoying our time in Texas. Not the heat; that could fuck right off. But getting a glimpse into Shay's normal life, learning about my girl? That was something I would happily spend all my time doing.

I was the last one in, so I shut the door carefully behind me, then stood in front of it. It was that or Gael's lap, and we weren't that close. Yet. He was growing on me, slowly, especially knowing that he cared about Leigh.

Reed sighed, smacked Kane's hand back, and efficiently flicked through the papers. He paused on one, then pulled it from the stack and handed it to Kane without a word.

"Thank you," he murmured, scanning the page with a furrowed brow. "What is Midazolam?" He questioned the four of us, but I had no idea. "The lab results on the knife are in with the DNA, but they also found a coating of Midazolam along the blade, mixed with Shay's blood, and a codeine pain reliever. Why the fuck would an assassin put a pain reliever on his blade before stabbing someone?"

"I'm more curious what the fuck kind of lab will only fax paper results these days?" I asked.

Gael sighed, scrubbing a tired hand over his face. "I think it's a sedative? We could look it up to be sure."

"A secure lab that uses government-level secure lines to send and receive transmissions," Reed said with a droll tone. "Email can be hacked." His thumbs were already flying over his cell phone, presumably looking up the two medications.

"If they have secure phone lines, they could use them to call us," Gael muttered.

"Do you really want some scientist to dial you up and rattle off that string of numbers?" Kane held up the page, the diagnostic results enough to make me go cross-eyed.

"Midazolam is a sedative—points to you, Gael—and a preliminary search says that it can have negative interactions when mixed with certain painkillers, such as codeine. The combination can repress breathing or stop it altogether in sufficient doses. This is obviously based on human anatomy, but Brielle would probably know a lot more about interactions with shifter biology."

Kane's mouth pressed into a grim line. "So, not poison. But a potentially deadly combination of ordinary medications."

"Sounds about right," Reed agreed, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

"Did they test your mother for normal drugs?" I asked, thinking of the mysterious deaths of Kane's parents. From what they'd filled me in on so far, his father's blood tests were completely clean, neither of them had any physical wounds, and poison was suspected, though none was detected. The only other option was some sort of magical attack, but even those were hard to execute without a trace or signs of struggle.

"I think… I don't know. Frankly, that period leading up to their funerals was hazy, a blur of grief and worry. I know there were no actual poisons, though." Kane cast a quick glance at his top two, who both nodded agreement with his statement. "I'll ask Brielle tonight what she thinks of the effect that combination could have on wolves."

"Perhaps they should run both of their labs again, check for a combination similar to this." I pointed at the paper. "The Drakenia assassins use a lot of tricks that average killers don't. They're the best of the best when it comes to hunting magical beings, an elite force you can only hire with a private bank deposit that is more than what most people's homes cost. With that price tag comes efficiency, a guarantee of discretion, and fancy tracking magic that could locate us in the middle of nowhere on an unscheduled stop."

Kane nodded solemnly. "We can send the lab in Romania the details and ask for another round of tests. But right now, it's time to touch base with my contact, Lucien, who met with Alpha Varga yesterday. Can you all stay?"

"Of course," was echoed around the room as he dialed the number and placed his cell on speaker at the edge of his desk.

I leaned closer to Reed, asking in a whisper, "Why is he meeting with Varga?"

"We got intel right before you showed up that Varga is the one who tipped off the ODL at the great pack gathering, also before you showed up. But, he's been conveniently unavailable each time Kane's man called, until yesterday, when there was an opening in his schedule."

Conveniently, indeed . He might as well have gotten a skywriter to announce that he was scheming. Besides, working with the ODL—even if you thought it would come to nothing but a headache—was low. Verboten among wolves. They killed our children, for Goddess's sake. It was a major red flag.

We fell silent as the phone rang once, twice, before the man picked up.

"Lucien," he stated.

Kane leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk as he spoke. "Lucien, it's Kane. I've got my top men here as well."

"High Alpha, I hope you're well."

"Thank you. What's the word from Varga?"

There was a pregnant pause. "He refused to see me."

"What?" Reed leaned forward indignantly. "You've got the royal seal. Turning away the high alpha's emissary is the equivalent of spitting on Kane's boots."

"Well, he hocked a big old loogie, then, because I wasn't even allowed on the grounds, despite the fact that he gave me the appointment."

"Holy shit," Gael muttered under his breath, too quietly for the phone to pick up.

"I arrived at the appointed time, pulled up, provided the seal, and was promptly asked to leave the premises. His butler sends his regards from the gate intercom."

"Butler, really?" I resisted the urge to laugh. Some of the European packs had the whole Old World-money, stiff-upper-lip thing on lock, and Varga was definitely one.

"That's a problem," Reed said with an indignant huff.

"You're telling me. Old bastard didn't even like Brigitte."

Brigitte? I mouthed the question to Reed.

"His motorcycle," he answered with an eye roll.

"Motorcycle, girlfriend—regardless, she was insulted," Lucien said, picking up on our sidebar conversation.

"More to the point—" Kane cut us off from the rabbit trail with rage in his eyes. "He refused to see an emissary of the high alpha, appointed with the royal seal."

"Something isn't right, and it may be more than your parents' murder," Gael said. "You know those old windbags don't like the thought of bowing to a younger alpha. They respected your father, but there have been arguments for years that the high alphaship should have passed to one of them, not you, until you were ‘of age,' whatever the hell that means."

"I remember, but they're too damn late. More than forty Alphas have already pledged their packs to me."

"But not all of them," I said. "What about the European packs?"

Kane leveled a questioning gaze on me. "Some were present, and they pledged along with the rest."

I nodded slowly, thinking. "I've got some contacts back in the old country from when I was still an enforcer for Pack Caelestis. I could reach out, ask them to sniff around and see what the rumblings are. Discreetly, of course. But whatever they find, we should probably make time to go over there and get the remaining pledges. Once you control all the pack bonds, they won't be able to pull this sort of shit."

Kane nodded gravely. "I'd appreciate any help you can offer. Reed can get you a phone." I expected anger or more bluster from someone as young as Kane with this much on his plate, but his father had trained him well. He was calm, if visibly troubled by the update.

"Anything else for me, Alpha?" Lucien asked, the sound of an engine revving coming over the line.

"No, Lucien. Keep your head down and your ears open. Call me immediately if anything changes."

"Will do." The sound of tires squealing came through the line before the click of him hanging up, which left us in heavy silence.

Gael was the first to speak. "So, we're heading to Europe. Can't say I'm thrilled about going to the ODL's home turf, frankly."

"Neither am I," Kane admitted. "But an interpack war can't happen. Our populations aren't so great anymore that our species can handle sustained conflict."

"Brielle might be able to change that, not that I'm condoning war," Reed added hastily. "But if Jada is right, if she's going to affect packs around her, save the mothers like she did Gracelyn… in ten years, we might be looking at a significantly different supernatural landscape."

I froze momentarily as my own terror of fathering a child and having the Fetya snatch it away reared its ugly head. Brielle was certain she'd prevented the possibility, but until we knew the Fetya's stance for sure … it would remain the stuff of my nightmares.

"We have to survive for that to happen," Gael interjected. "And right now, we're reacting, dodging, just trying to stay on our feet. We need a center of power, with defenses and weapons. Backup beyond the seven of us would be great too."

"What did you have in mind?" Kane asked.

"Your ancestral seat."

Kane blanched. "In Romania? You want to move Pack Blackwater out of Alaska?"

Gael leaned forward, both forearms resting on his thighs. "Not necessarily, but Kane, you're also the Alpha of your father's pack. They can't be left alone, without leadership. Surely you've thought about what would happen if…" He waved his hand uneasily, not wanting to remind Kane of his father's untimely passing.

"I thought I would have more time."

"Well, you don't, unfortunately. You?—"

Kane held up a hand, stopping Gael midsentence. "I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying I don't have all the answers yet. For now, I think Dirge is right. We should schedule a visit. We can set up shop at the castle, of course. But… I'm not making any permanent decisions while we're under the gun. "

I couldn't agree more. "Smart. Moving too fast is a great way to make mistakes."

Kane nodded his acknowledgment. "Shall we go fill in the women? We could join them for lunch. I need my mate's touch right about now." He rubbed his chest as if he could feel an ache there in her absence, even though she wasn't far.

"Sounds good to me. I'm starved." Reed was on his feet in a flash as I carefully turned to open the door to our clown car of an office.

But before I could step out, Kane stopped me. "Dirge, stay a moment?"

"Of course, Alpha." I stepped to the side, letting Reed and a reluctant Gael exit first. "What can I help you with?" My hands dropped to link behind my back as I assumed the military rest stance out of old habit.

"Have you considered coming back as an enforcer? I know Julius and Gael would welcome the help, and you're experienced."

I rocked back on my heels, considering. It shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. Part of me wanted to say no, that I needed to focus on Shay. But I knew her, and I knew how deep her love for her friends ran. She would want to help and want me to do anything and everything I could to keep them safe.

"I'll need some time to think it over, but I'll get back to you."

"Thank you." He nodded again and rose, clapping me on the back as we strode out the door, the two of us both eager to see our mates.