Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kicks came back earlier than expected, walking into the bedroom only minutes after me. Things were still off between us and maybe always would be. But he was still my only ally, and I needed to tell someone about Charon.

“Remember how I thought I saw that robed man in the forest on the way to Georgia?” I said.

He stopped going through his bag, giving me his full attention. “Of course I do.”

I sat down on the bed. “I don’t think I was imagining him.”

“You saw him again?” He walked closer to the bed.

“Not only saw. I spoke to him. Have you ever heard of Charon? He’s also known as the ferryman who crosses souls across the River Styx?” Unlike Charon, I wasn’t going to assume everyone knew who he was. He might be some sort of god, but that didn’t mean he had to be so arrogant about it.

“What did he want?” Kicks scowled.

“I’m not exactly sure, but it seems he’s unsettled by me.” I gave him the broad strokes, leaving out my assumption he’d want to kill me. No need to plant that seed.

“Does Death know?”

I shrugged. “I still don’t know what she sees and what she doesn’t.”

“And you think he was real?”

Some people might find that question insulting, but I did have a strange track record.

“He seemed to be, but then, most of the people who come to me do. It’s hard to say.”

“What if this is a setup from Death?” he asked.

“I did think about that. Either way, nothing to do but wait until he comes back. Or doesn’t.”

He nodded and then looked at me in that way that told me I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say. “We’ll have to discuss this more later. Right now we need to get ready to go down for dinner.”

“Dinner? Downstairs? We have to eat with them ?” The only perk of being a pariah around here was not having to be with the pack. Now that was gone? It felt like I’d just gotten another punishment.

“Varic suggested it, and I’m not letting him believe for a second we’re afraid to dine with them.”

And now I knew why Kicks seemed on edge. It wasn’t just the run-of-the-mill reason that we were stuck here. He didn’t want to eat with them either.

“Is sitting in the cell again an option?” I said, laughing.

He stiffened.

“It was just a joke,” I said.

“It wasn’t funny. They will pay for that.”

As I looked at him, it was clear he was deadly serious.

I walked out of the bathroom in a clingy silver-gray dress and strappy heels. Hard to believe I’d gone from sitting in the cell a few days ago for killing the alpha to being welcome at dinner. Well, welcome might be pushing it.

Kicks was buttoning a white shirt, looking beyond good, when he turned to stare at me. His eyes lit with heat and I looked away.

“Can’t someone else take over as alpha? Why is it between you and Varic?” I asked, trying to put my attention somewhere other than him. His stare alone could undo me. At least since he was worried he could get me pregnant, he was trying to not touch me, too.

“It goes mostly by strength in packs,” he said, his voice rough in a way I recognized. “Strength tends to run in bloodlines. My brother is a horrible person, but he’s the strongest here. No other shifter will challenge him.”

“Other than you.”

“Exactly.” He walked over, holding out his arm to me. “Let’s get this over with.”

We walked down to dinner together, and I didn’t realize I’d been squeezing his arm until he laid his hand over mine right as we entered.

The room turned to stare at us as we walked in. Our entrance went over like nails on a chalkboard. After an ambiguous stare from Varic, he nodded briefly before he went back to eating, and everyone else seemed to take their cue from him.

I was determined to make this dinner useful for something, even if it was just information.

Were there any possible allies in this place? My initial hunch had been none, but Aunt Elara certainly seemed ready to forgive and forget.

We made our way to the side table, where there were two seats sitting open for us next to Aunt Elara. It was eerily similar to our first dinner.

The reception, even toward Kicks, had chilled considerably, with only a nod here and there. It appeared as if a lot of the shifters here wanted to ride the fence until they saw which way this situation would settle. I might’ve resented it if I cared enough. The way I saw it, we were getting out of here and never seeing any of these people again.

Some of the younger girls were carrying around trays of food, Didi included. I took some venison and vegetables and also a glass of wine. I didn’t touch anything until I watched other people eating food from the same tray or decanter. Kicks obviously didn’t think Varic would poison either of us, because he dug in.

If anyone was willing to take the risk, it should’ve been me. I’d probably survive only because Death wasn’t done with me, but I wasn’t so sure she’d keep Kicks alive anymore. Our bargain had gone off the rails. I wasn’t sure there had been a warranty in the deal we’d struck? If I hadn’t been so desperate, sitting in that pit watching Kicks die, I might’ve worked out the details a little better.

Aunt Elara was sitting on my other side. She gave me a pat on the leg, showing me her support, even if not openly. Kicks had smiled warmly at her, but I was beyond believing in anyone I hadn’t gone to war with. If you hadn’t bled with me, had my back when things got ugly, then you were still in the undecided column.

I scanned the room. Athena, Varic’s wife, didn’t seem to speak much at all, but she had her resting bitch face down pat. I memorized the faces of those who seemed to be actively engaging Varic and those who seemed warier. His guard all seemed loyal to a fault. Would it hold up? I’d have to be prepared for that.

Dicon, who was settled in at a table almost directly across from us, was one of the most eager. If the thought of poison hadn’t thrown off my appetite, seeing his face would’ve done it. He was staring at Varic, interjecting comments at every lull in the conversation, trying to grab on to any breadcrumb of attention.

Kicks was leaning behind me, speaking to his aunt, when I caught Dicon staring at me, and then sneering. I glared back, refusing to be cowed by him. Let him try to screw with me. Even if Death didn’t kill him, I would, one way or another. If I couldn’t get it done, Kicks would. Point was, he’d be dead.

Dicon’s attention shifted to Didi, who was carrying out more platters of food. He waved her over, but she moved past him as if she hadn’t seen him. I doubted it was an oversight. She didn’t like him either. It didn’t make us friends, but I felt for the girl.

I stared at him and smirked, making sure he knew I’d seen the snub. His face went red.

I refocused my attention on my food, knowing if I kept looking at him, I’d lose my appetite for good.

A few seconds later, a crashing sound drew my attention back up. Didi was sprawled on the ground, her platter’s contents splattered around her. Several people rushed over to help.

Dicon smirked in my direction, slumped back in his chair, his legs stretched out. Sick, mean bastard.

I shouldn’t have goaded him. Now she’d paid the price.

Kicks whispered, “Why do you look so angry? What just happened?” He nodded toward Didi.

She was okay. I wasn’t going to upset him, too. Worse than upsetting him—I couldn’t risk Kicks standing up for her. It would get him killed because he wasn’t the type of person to let something like that go. If Didi was being actively threatened, it would be a different situation. I’d feel compelled to get involved too. But it wasn’t worth starting a brawl for a bruise on her knee, which any shifter wouldn’t even have in an hour.

“Looks like she tripped.”

Kicks met my stare and then turned to look across the room, as if trying to narrow down the suspects.

“Kicks, let it go? I didn’t see anything. I was just making assumptions.”

Kicks gave a nod but was stiff enough to show he was suspicious of my thoughts.

Dicon watched Didi clean as he picked up a rib from his plate, his hands as greasy as his soul. I wished he’d choke on it. If I did get out of this place, I was killing him on the way out. He deserved it.

The rage brewing in me was beginning to feel like a tangible thing. A fury with a life of its own. The wolf from my dreams suddenly appeared beside me, its fur brushing my arm. No one even blinked an eye as it sat there and began to growl at the subject of my anger. Was I hallucinating? What the hell was wrong with me?

Kicks laid a hand on my leg, meeting my gaze.

I shook my head, trying to appear normal. No way I was telling him that my imaginary wolf was sitting in the main hall, growling at the man who’d just pissed me off. I’d already told him about Charon, who I now thought might have been imaginary. Although at least Captain Rod had seen him, or said he had. Maybe it had been a mistake, though.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed my wolf had moved until it lunged for Dicon’s throat, clamping down on it and then staying there.

Dicon suddenly jerked, his hands going to this throat as he appeared to stop breathing. He stood, and the wolf got on its hind legs, its muzzle still locked on Dicon’s throat.

People circled around Dicon, trying to slap him on the back, do the Heimlich maneuver. Nothing worked. It couldn’t, because he wasn’t choking. My wolf was killing him.

Dicon dropped to the ground, the wolf following him down and then finally letting go. It walked over, sniffed my hand, and rubbed its head against me, feeling so real that it was hard to distinguish it from reality. I was beginning to wonder what was real.

Dicon was dead, not a single mark upon his throat. Yet it was my wolf that had done it. It had killed him and no one knew. I sat there, my mind reeling as people gathered around Dicon, trying to understand what he’d choked on.

“Let’s head up,” Kicks said.

I shot to my feet, ready to go.

The second Kicks shut the bedroom door, he turned to me. “Was there something odd about Dicon choking that I should know?”

Had my face given me away? I was going to have to watch my expressions, but this was just so… So what? Creepy? Insane? In a sick and twisted way, hopeful? Was I finding a workaround to my powers that wouldn’t leave me so powerless?

“I’m not exactly sure what happened, so it’s hard to answer.” I paced the room.

“Just tell me what you think happened,” he said, tracking me, as I couldn’t stand still.

“Fine. But it’s strange.” I’d killed his father and he was still here. How much worse would an imaginary wolf be? Had to be better than that, right?

“Stranger than everyone dying at the same moment? Death talking to you? The dead river guy?”

“Charon,” I whispered, and shot him a look. “I think he’s sensitive about his name.” The last thing we needed was to piss off another godlike creature. I already had enough disgruntled entities ready to screw me.

“Yeah. Him. Whatever. My point is, I think I’m broken in when it comes to weird. Now what happened?” He walked closer, trying to pin me down to one corner of the room.

“Remember the wolf I saw in my dream?”

“Yes.”

“Well, when Dicon was choking, my wolf had its jaws clamped on his neck.”

Kicks froze. “Did you tell him to do it?”

“No. I did see Didi tripping, and I did think it was Dicon. And that it would maybe be a good thing if he died choking on his greasy rib. But I didn’t tell the wolf to do anything.”

“This is good. This is very good,” Kicks said, scratching his jaw as if he were working on some nefarious plans.

“I had no conscious control of what the wolf did,” I said before he could start plotting.

“But you did have some control. Your powers are trying to work out a way around the stranglehold she put on them,” he said. “Tomorrow, try something else.”

“But I wasn’t trying to do anything. Yes, I was furious with him, I might’ve fleetingly thought I’d like to see him choke, but that wasn’t what I was trying to accomplish.”

“You might not have wanted to, but you did it anyway.” He grabbed my shoulders, as if trying to infuse his confidence into me. “You can do it again. I’m not saying you have to kill anyone. Just try to get the wolf to materialize and do something.”

Someone would have to really get me angry again, but that shouldn’t be a problem in this place. I couldn’t make it a day without getting aggravated.

“I’ll try.”