Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CLEM.
My memory of the last few hours is a blur.
I don’t know how we survived the ordeal, but I do know that Otis and Jax put themselves in grave danger to rescue me. I do know that my brother shifted into his wolf and threatened to kill every single one of those soldiers and stupid jerk guy who abducted me.
And that my warrior orc helped get all three of us out of there.
Now we’re sitting with comatose Jax, who is lying limp and barely breathing on a huge, fur-covered couch in the Trojan pack’s lair on level three.
I stroke Jax’s brow. His skin has a strange sickly glow to it, and his breathing is erratic.
“Traggar is on his way,” a wolfman wearing thick grey furs informs us.
When the wolf leaves, Otis crouches down and looks at Jax, then at me, his eyes soft and full of concern.
“I-is he going to die?” I ask hoarsely. It’s a question I’ve asked countless times since we escaped the Periphery.
“No babe, he’s not going to die.”
I try to trust his words, but I can see worry in the deep red of his eyes.
A moment later, in strides a tall and striking wolfman.
There’s no mistaking his heritage, even in his human form.
He is bearded, his salt and pepper hair looped into a long ponytail that trails down his back.
His cheekbones are sharply angled, and his eyes are a vivid ice blue.
His gaze takes in the scene swiftly and then homes in on Jax.
“Otis, Clem,” he greets us, and I blink at the sound of my own name falling so easily off his tongue.
“Traggar,” Otis replies in grim greeting.
The wolfman strides over to the couch, pulls back the blanket and examines Jax, his lean fingers pressing lightly on my brother’s solar plexus, then feels for the pulse in his neck.
Next, he recites a strange guttural incantation, and from a bag at his waist he takes out a purple crystal and places it on Jax’s forehead.
Next, he unsheathes what looks like a small dagger from his belt.
Instantly the dagger lights up from within, its point glowing bright, the same purple as the crystal.
Traggar passes it over Jax’s body, indenting his solar plexus with the point, as if he is going to run the knife into my brother’s heart.
I gasp.
Arcs of light spark between the crystal on Jax’s forehead and the dagger. After another moment, the sparks join, forming a circle around Jax.
Jax’s body arches, as though he’s having a fit.
Now an anguished cry does escape my lips. I try to run to Jax, but Otis restrains me with gentle, strong arms. He whispers in my ear, “It’s going to be okay, babe. Trust Traggar.”
I bite my lip to stop from whimpering, and suddenly, thankfully, Jax’s body relaxes. His head falls to one side. Color flushes his cheeks, and he lets out a sound.
It’s a snore. Followed by another.
I almost laugh with relief.
Traggar turns and nods, smiles. “All good. He’ll come round with a terrible headache, and likely think he’s drunk too much grappa. Until he remembers what really happened.”
“Thank the gods,” Otis murmurs, and hugs me. I feel my lower lip wobbling and bite it to stop myself crying.
“He’s going to be fine, I promise,” Traggar’s deep voice reassures.
Now that I’m a little more relaxed, I take in the finer details of his appearance. He is rugged and handsome, older than I first thought, and his muscular neck and arms are covered in tattoos. The one on his left bicep holds my gaze. It’s a ring of fire. “Jax has that tattoo,” I whisper hoarsely.
“It’s our pack’s coat of arms,” The wolfman says.
“Jax told me he wanted to cover the scar. I thought he got it done in the Periphery.”
Traggar shakes his head. “After Jax returned from hospital, we initiated him into the Trojan pack. He received the tattoo at the ceremony.”
“I wish he’d told me.” I sigh.
Traggar’s smile is kind. “If he’d told you before, it could have endangered you more.”
“It’s just… I always worried about who could have done him so much harm.”
“Jax messed with the wrong pack. The Bradens. They have a history of crime and are known to be aggressive. When I rescued him, he’d already lost a lot of blood—he was close to death.
My remit was to remove the chip from his neck and turn him, but it went wrong because of the mauling he suffered.
I had no choice but to send him back to Sparkle.
Which is how you found him lying on the road in the Periphery three years ago. ”
“Yes, I remember some soldier in the Periphery contacted me.” I shudder, remembering getting the call to urgently collect my broken, bleeding brother. From the very same road we’ve just escaped. How ironic.
“It wasn’t a soldier. It was I who phoned you that night.”
“You!”
Traggar nods. “Your brother needed to live, and I had to make sure he did.”
I rub my forehead. “So you mean, even werewolves can die?”
“We have superhuman strength and longevity, but we are not gods. If mortally injured, yes, we can die, particularly if other traumas are sustained while being turned from human to wolf.”
“Oh, I see.” I wipe a hand over my brows, frowning as I try to take it all in. “Just for the record, I’d rather remain human, if that’s okay with you.”
Traggar laughs. “Rest assured, little human, you are safe. Jax needed to escape the dark magic imposed on him by humans, and as a werewolf he is free to answer his true calling. But there is no reason to fear we will turn you.”
“Phew. That’s a relief,” I say.
“Now, you must eat before you head back to level one.”
Suddenly Otis’s stomach growls, and mine follows suit.
“Thank you.” Otis grins sheepishly. “Now Jax is out of danger, I’m fucking starving.”
I realize I am weak from hunger too. I lean against Otis and feel his steadying presence as he holds me close.
At least we’ve all survived the ordeal.
And we are safe.
For now.
“How long before he wakes up?” I ask, glancing at my happily snoring brother.
“He will sleep deeply for twenty-four hours, and then he’ll be back to normal.”
I smirk. “Even before you turned him, Jax wasn’t normal.”
Traggar’s lips twitch. “We are fully aware of that.”
Another worry strikes me. “Will he pass out every time he shifts?”
“No, next time will be much easier. He’ll have more control over the process.
This first shift took place in such stressful circumstances it was a huge shock to his nervous system.
With you being in such grave danger, his wolf broke out too quickly, and the shock made him pass out.
Now, please excuse me, I must go and replenish my own energy.
I will make sure food is brought to you both,” he says, and strides out.
I turn to Otis, my eyes full of love and gratitude.
“You risked so much coming up to the Periphery, Otis, for yourself, for the monsters here.”
“There was no choice, Clem. I wasn’t going to let them take you,” he says gently. “We got away, you and Jax are safe. We’ll just have to work out what we do from here, step by step.”
We sit on the big comfy couch opposite Jax, clasping hands. Despite the terrible events, I feel a sudden surge of hope—for us, for the future, for the monsters of the Labyrinth.
I look up into Otis’s eyes. I sense he feels it too. “It sounds crazy, but I think there might be something bigger than us, something that is on our side,” I say. “Didn’t you think Traggar was hinting at that?”
Otis nods. “Yeah. I got that feeling too. The fact that we are together, that Arlo and Sammy are expecting a youngling, and that Jax is a werewolf. I sense there’s a bigger picture than we know right now.
” He gazes down at our joined hands. “But what I do know for certain, is that I love you with all my heart and soul, Clem Summers.”
I gaze deep into his red eyes. “And I love you, Otis Cane. Whatever happens to any of us, I feel so blessed that we found each other.”
And then we kiss, long and deep. So deeply in fact, we don’t notice someone enter the room until we’re interrupted by a little cough. We pull apart as a familiar voice says, “Well, just look at you two lovebirds.”
There is Sammy in the doorway, holding a tray of food.
I disentangle myself from Otis and run to her, and we hug and squeal. Quite loudly, in fact, several times. And jump up and down. It’s a habit we have. Not so easy with her baby belly now getting in the way, I realize.
“You look so well,” I say when we finally draw breath.
And she does, her skin glows and her eyes shine.
“I am. We are. The Trojan pack are treating us like royalty. But, shit, I just heard what happened, it sounds awful! Traggar says Jax is okay.” Her eyes twinkle.
“And it seems I’ve just found out something else of import. ”
I grin and I glance at Otis who’s smile stretches from ear to ear, and I know it’s okay to fess up to my bestie.
Because she’ll totally get why I’ve fallen for a monster.
I go over and take Otis’s hand. I press it to my heart, take a deep breath and say, “Otis and I are… in love.”
OTIS.
When Sammy leads Clem off to her and Arlo’s den, I head off toward Traggar’s den in the complex.
His den is near the central hall where the pack all congregate to eat and commune. I remember this from last time I was here, to investigate Dad’s death. The memory is not pleasant.
I knock on the door and Traggar calls, “Enter.”
I walk in and plonk my butt down on the chair he waves me to.
Traggar leans forward, his eyes appraising. “I need to know exactly what happened up there, Otis.”
I explain the events of the day.
“The guy who abducted Clem was not a peripheral, then,” Traggar says when I get to Clem’s abduction.
I shake my head. “No, it’s the same guy who was shadowing her up in Sparkle weeks ago. Clearly he has powers to infiltrate level one without us detecting him.”
Traggar grunts. “A malefic, you think?”
“More likely a human trained by one and utilizing dark magic,” I agree.
“This is the first time they have have sent a spy into our territories. Up until now, only programmed humans have worked here, but that guy had evil intent, and agency to carry it out.” I shudder.
“I doubt if he is a true malefic, because we managed to truss him up with the rest of the soldiers and he was crapping himself.” I rub at a tusk, frowning.
“The mystery is how he evaded the volunteer sheriffs we’d posted at the portals.
He was able to get hold of a motorbike, disguise himself into a Jax look-alike and avoid detection. There has to be dark magic involved.”
Traggar nods. “That is a problem. But monsters terrorizing and trussing up human soldiers is a graver problem.”
“There was no other choice,” I say grimly.
“We couldn’t leave Clem there. Jax tore down their surveillance monitors as soon as we got into their office, hopefully before we could be identified by the Sparkle authorities,” I say.
“And of course, Jax’s virtual chip will be recording him in some other location, so that will confuse the picture. ”
“A green orc and a werewolf will hardly go unnoticed and unreported. We’ll need to work faster than originally intended.”
“The system is ready to go.”
Traggar nods. “You will need to bring forward phase two.”
“I trust my team, but Jax passing out cold has put a dent in our plan. You reckon he’s up for phase two immediately?”
“Jax has far more powers than even he is aware of. Magical forces are ready to act like wings on his heels.”
“You’re talking in riddles,” I mutter.
“It’s the prophecy. Those are the exact words.”
I manage to contain my frustration. Sometimes wolves get ahead of themselves. Being a solutions kind of guy, it frays my rational nerves at times, but I guess Traggar being a wolf sage, has access to a well of ancient wisdom that I don’t understand.
I sigh. “I hope you know more about this than I do, because so far, our magic is limited to the cape and a few spells that are hit and miss. And the computer system I’ve set up, I guess, if you can call that magic.”
“Like I intimated, there are powerful forces for good yet to be unleashed .”
I raise a brow. “Yeah?”
“Yes. It is unsafe to say more, even here in my den, but trust me, the time is nigh.”
“Shit, you hold your cards close to your chest, Traggar,” I grumble.
“Believe me, even these old rock walls may have ears. Unlikely, yes, but we did not expect malediction down here so soon. You will have to trust my silence.”
I narrow my eyes, but say nothing.
I do trust Traggar. He was of immense help and comfort after our own personal tragedy.
The place where Dad died is still a ruin not far from here.
The Trojan pack are solid, I remind myself.
They chased the Braden pack into the dark corners of level three, and still keep them at bay.
They fought side by side with monster troops during the rebellion, and saved many with their quick actions.
They have chosen to keep their distance, stay within their pack on level three, but we monsters know they can be counted on in times of danger.
Now, it seems, that time is almost upon us.