Chapter 22 Flashes of Images #2
Brumous hesitated, but the promise of food was too enticing. He padded closer, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. Zane offered the steak, and the wolf took it gingerly, his teeth never touching Zane’s fingers.
“You’re such a little beggar,” Z chuckled, petting the pup’s thick ruff.
Brumous wolfed down the steak in two bites, then looked up at Zane with hopeful eyes, as if asking for more.
“Sorry, buddy. That’s all you get for now.”
“You’re such a sucker for those eyes,” Cas sighed, but there was a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
“Who wouldn’t be?” I murmured. “The only thing they beg for is love.”
“And gingersnaps,” Zane said with his trademark smirk. “All right, Brum-Brum. Wanna play a game with me? I’ll let you tickle my brain if you let me tickle yours.”
Brumous sniffed his palm, then licked it, a clear plea for more steak.
With a sigh, I stood, fetched the last of the meat, and served it to our little lord, who bumped the back of my hand with his nose before daintily sinking his canines in.
“Now ask him again.”
“Ask properly,” Cas chimed in. “Otherwise, his consent is worthless. That is, if he’s even capable of giving it.”
“Noted.” Zane’s throat bobbed. “Come here, Cereberus. We need to talk.”
At first, Brumous ignored him, too busy surgically dissecting the steak with fangs that could unzip a grizzly.
Then he licked the juices from the plate and surrounding silk Persian rug that probably cost more than our SUV.
Only once he was sure not a drop remained did he pad over and sit nose to nose with Zane.
Pup has priorities, I thought with a smirk.
“I am going to look into your mind. I need to see if you know how Arabesque hurt Seri.” The pup’s ears pulled back as Zane spoke to him in a serious tone. “I’m also going to look for what Arabesque is up to with the rogues.” Ear twitch. “Arabesque.” Ear twitch. “Arab—”
“Stop saying her name before you give him an anxiety attack!” Cas snapped.
Brumous tilted his head, his eyes fixed on Zane’s. It was like he didn’t quite understand, but he trusted him.
Despite everything, he trusted Zane.
I wondered if Zane and Cas realized how huge that was. It was as huge as Seri trusting Cas enough to lean on him, me enough to trust with her papa’s fishing reel, and Zane enough to let him half-drown her while channeling his inner Brad Mondo.
“If this is okay with you, Brumous, blink twice for yes,” I murmured.
He blinked. Once. Twice.
“Yep.” Zane blew out a breath. “That’s either consent or early-stage glaucoma.”
He flopped onto the rug, cross-legged, patting his thighs, and Brumous immediately shoved his muzzle under his arm and flooded his lap with fuzz. For a heartbeat, Zane’s mask slipped, and his fingers trembled against gray fur. Bullshit bravado melting faster than a snow cone in hell.
Then he grinned up at me.
“All right, baby brother. If I start howling, assume it’s the wolf talking.”
I crouched beside them, my eyes on Brumous’ messy fur. Definitely giving him a much-needed bath soon.
His first ever bath, I thought. We’ll take pictures.
“Ready?” I murmured.
“You know my slogan. Born ready, die anxious.”
“Your verbs aren’t even parallel,” Cas grumped.
“Maybe not, but my ass cheeks are.”
With that, Zane settled a hand under Brumous’ left ear, and the room stilled. Even Cas leaned forward as Z’s pupils dilated into black holes swallowing starlight.
“What’s he showing you?” Cas demanded.
Zane raised his free hand and flipped him off.
We waited for what seemed like hours until finally Brumous whimpered, a sound that carved my ribs open worse than any blade, and a line of blood trickled from Zane’s nose.
“Abort!” I lunged forward, but he was already recoiling, clutching his temples as he dropped backward onto his parallel ass. Brumous scrambled behind me, fur standing on end, pressing tight to my legs and shaking.
“Zane!” Casimir hauled him upright by his hoodie strings. “Status report!”
“All systems operating within acceptable parameters, sir.” His grin was shaky.
“Focus, jackass.”
Zane swiped at his nose, but left the tears to dry on his cheeks. For once, all his walls were down, and my heart pinched looking into his unguarded eyes.
And as he explained what Brumous showed him, we all looked at the wolf quivering under my palm, his jagged scars now a roadmap of devotion I hadn’t earned the right to understand yet.
#
Zane
Okay, so, using telepathy to talk to a stunted dire wolf? Not on my to-do list today.
But, hey, when your resident death dog might have the dirt on your beloved’s evil tormentors, you roll with it.
Cas ran a hand through his hair, obviously already regretting everything, as Brumous stared at me with those big, blue eyes.
Without further ado, I reached out with my mind.
Toto, you in there somewhere?
Nothing.
I touched my fingers to the side of his face, just under his ear.
Yo, Brummy. Can you hear me? Can you tell me about Seri? What did Arabesque do to her?
And bam! The world tilted.
One second, I was sitting on our floor. The next, I was somewhere else. A barn, most likely, from the scents and textures. Seri braided straw into a crown. Set it on Brumous’ head. He thought her laughter tasted like strawberries.
“What’s he showing you?” Cas demanded, and I held up a finger.
Not a nice finger, either.
Not all of Brum-Brum’s words weren’t words, per se. They were shapes, sounds, instincts. His communication was built on emotions and sensations rather than language, like flashes of images accompanied by sights and smells and textures, and I needed to concentrate to catch it all.
Seri love me. See, Alpha Fun?
Alpha Fun? I snickered at that, wondering what Brummy called Ko and Cas, but decided to save it for another time.
Next the wolf took me somewhere hard, sharp, and reeking of despair. Showed me Seri lying on a hardwood floor. Too limp, too still, too pale. Arabesque standing over her. Brumous thought the Dark witch’s smirk smelled like burnt hair.
Bad Hurt Witch, he whispered, and his fear slammed into me.
It was the helpless kind of scared. The desperate kind. The kind that curled up tight in your chest and made you feel too small no matter how strong you were.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight.
Damn, buddy.
Black vines wrapped around Seri, their thorns digging into her like fangs. Arabesque whispered something, but the words were wrong. Heavy. Like they didn’t want to be understood.
From the thorns’ puncture holes came long silver worms? Brumous wanted to eat them to help Seri, but was too scared of Arabesque to move from his hiding spot. Then the worms flew to
‘Bad Hurt Witch,’ who caught them, the silver tarnishing at her touch like shadows mottling moonlight.
Brumous’ ears flattened. He whimpered, not out loud, but inside my skull. The sound ached.
Shit. That— Yeah, that sucked to hear.
And then the scene twisted.
Now Seri was shivering in deep snow. Brummy curled his small body around her. Trying to block the wind. Keep her warm. Her fingers locked in his fur. Both of them shaking, but there. Holding on to each other.
Make Seri safe, Alpha Fun.
The feeling hit hard. Fierce. Protective. That bone-deep kind of love that doesn’t need words.
His eyes locked onto mine. There was something huge behind those blue depths. Something raw and deep and aching.
I tried, Alpha Fun. I TRIED!
I swallowed as my eyes stung.
Yeah, you did good, pup. Real good. Proud of you.
Then, blinking twice, he dropped me into a memory that left scars on my soul.
#
Casimir
After Zane’s nose stopped bleeding and his eyes were back to normal, Koa demanded to know what Brumous had shown him.
“Three memories related to Arabesque. First one might’ve been Seri being siphoned.” Zane scrunched up his forehead. “Then, in the second one, Seri might’ve been lost in a blizzard? Brumous doesn’t know what happened. Only that he found her outside in the white cold that tastes like metal.”
“Arabesque left her own stepdaughter to freeze in the snow?” Koa looked aghast.
“Not just freeze.” I tasted bile. “Hypothermia. Exposure—”
“Cas.” Koa’s hand closed over my wrist. “Don’t.”
But the numbers kept coming: 98.6 degrees normal body temp, 82 degrees for moderate hypothermia, 24 hours maximum survival time in wet conditions. I calculated snowfall rates for Michigan in winter, the onset of frostbite per centimeter of exposed skin…
“What’s with all the mights in this narrative, anyway?” Koa squeezed my wrist and narrowed his eyes at Zane. “Did you read the memories or not?”
“Hey, it’s Squish for Brains, not me! Like I thought, his mental landscape’s a nuclear blast site. He understands a lot, but can only speak a few words. He tried to keep her safe. And the love he has for her? ” He blinked three times and sniffed once, and then his face crumpled. “Noctem Maledicta!”
His fist connected with the glass coffee table. Glass exploded like frozen rain hitting pavement. Brumous darted behind the opposite couch with a whimper, tail disappearing in a flash.
“Zane!” I barked, staring at the glittering shards in his knuckles, my brain already cataloging damage metrics. Radial artery intact, metacarpals likely fractured, four sutures minimum.
“You don’t get it! Some of him is still in there! And it’s fucking heartbreaking! You didn’t feel it! The pure loyalty he’s got wired into what’s left inside his skull! Like she hung the moon in a sky that he can’t even see anymore!”
“Med kit.” I stood as Koa moved to coax Brumous out from behind the couch with soft words and a soothing tone. “Don’t move your hand.”
At the top of the stairs, I paused outside Seri’s door. Listened. One breath in. One breath out. Still alive. Still secure.
The med kit was where I left it by the closet door, a footlocker-sized metal case on wheels that moonlighted as a mobile ER. I grabbed the handle and started back downstairs, its well-oiled wheels quieter than my soundless tread.