Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
T aking Thane home with me seemed the most prudent course of action: for one thing, he already knew where I lived and I’d proved I could take him in a fight if I needed to; for another, he was in dire need of a hot shower and clean clothes.
I reckoned that once he was clean and had some decent food inside him, I’d be able to winkle more information out of him. Anyway, I didn’t want to let him out of my sight for long; I wasn’t going to be swayed from my mission to find Nick and Thane was the only person I’d met who seemed to have any real information about him. He certainly seemed to know far more than Nick’s own blood uncle, Alexander MacTire.
Before we left the old Galbraith house I made Thane wrench up the bloodstained floorboards and dismantle his booby trap. He might be prepared to take reckless chances with his own body fluids but I wasn’t that stupid. ‘What would you have done if a nosy kid had set off the trap by accident?’ I enquired.
Thane looked considerably more relaxed and cheerful now that I wasn't trying to render him unconscious. ‘I’ve dealt with the local children. I told them not to come around for a few days. They promised to stay away.’
‘You’ve not spent much time around kids, have you?’ I asked drily.
He frowned and didn’t answer.
He Who Crunches Bird Bones was curled up asleep on the garden path when I pushed open the gate. Or at least he was pretending to be asleep; as soon as I set foot in the garden, his tail twitched and he opened one yellow eye to squint at me. She Who Loves Sunbeams also slunk into view from around the corner.
‘It’s okay,’ I told them softly. ‘You can stand down.’ Whoever had taken Nick had already got what they wanted and I doubted they’d be back. There was no need for the cats to stand guard.
Behind me, Thane grunted, ‘Huh?’
‘Not you,’ I said. ‘The cats.’ I looked over my shoulder at him. ‘I did tell you that I’m a cat lady.’
He snorted. ‘Yeah, yeah. You know, I tried to persuade Nick to stay away from Danksville by telling him that people here ate cats.’
‘That was you?’
He grinned suddenly and I shook my head in disgust. ‘You’re going to need to watch that mouth. You’re on my territory now.’ I gestured to the cats. ‘And theirs.’
His smirk didn’t diminish. ‘You mean you could kill me with your thumbs and then your cats will eat what remains of my body?’
‘Something like that.’ I gave him a long look because yes, if I wanted to I could definitely kill him with my thumbs.
Dave strolled out of his house with his hands in his pockets, whistling off-tune and making a show of staring in our direction. Some nosy neighbours watched from behind their lace curtains but others displayed their curiosity with unabashed glee. ‘Another damned wolf. Who the fuck is this one?’ he asked.
‘His name is Thane,’ I said.
‘What kind of name is Thane?’
It was my turn to smirk.
Thane moved to my side, presented Dave with a disarming smile and stuck out his hand. ‘It’s wonderful to meet you.’
Dave gazed at him as if he were mad – actually, so did I. This was not the same man who’d been trying to kick my arse to kingdom come less than an hour ago. Now he wouldn’t have looked out of place at a royal garden party; somehow even his clothes looked less grubby and crumpled. How had he done that?
Dave’s gaze started to morph into a glare but Thane didn’t appear to notice; he simply held out his hand and continued to smile.
A shaft of sunlight had emerged from the clouds overhead, illuminating him as if he were some sort of angel. It glinted off his coppery red hair and, as I watched him, I realised that he was better looking than I’d initially registered. Charisma was oozing out of him as if he’d turned it on with a tap. Then I noticed She Who Loves Sunbeams padding towards his feet, blinking slowly with pure feline adoration.
‘She’s not brought a man here before,’ grunted my curmudgeonly neighbour whose company I used to enjoy until about ten seconds ago. ‘Three years and no sex.’ He shook his head. ‘None. And now she’s plumped for a damned werewolf?’ He looked at me. ‘What will the cats say?’
I didn’t know whether to be astonished, affronted or amused.
Dave clicked his tongue, snapped his hand forward and gave Thane’s a perfunctory shake, then went back inside his house without another word.
‘Three years, huh?’ Thane murmured.
My eyes narrowed. A visibly active sex life didn’t suit my cat-lady persona but just because I didn’t bring anyone home didn’t mean I didn’t get my kicks when I needed to. I was about to say that in a sniffy tone of voice before I remembered it was none of his business. Or Dave’s.
I tilted my chin. ‘Actually,’ I said, ‘I’m a virgin.’ Thane blinked. Ha.
‘I’m waiting for Mr Right to come along. I won’t accept anything beyond marriage before my precious hymen is broken. I want thunderbolts, fluttering heartbeats, kisses that make me weak at the knees and,’ I smacked my lips for emphasis, ‘a binding contract and a joint bank account. Only then will I bestow the gift of my virginity on a very, very lucky man.’
‘What about the cats?’ he asked. ‘Where do they fit in?’
‘They don’t want my virginity,’ I told him. ‘Trust me.’
He sighed. ‘Finally.’ I watched in astonishment as he raised his right hand and placed it over his chest. ‘I’ve been waiting for someone like you all my life. Somebody pure, untouched. Somebody who knows not only what it means to be a life partner but also how to stab me in the heart. Literally. And I’ve finally found you. I knew from the moment you tried to kill me that you were the one for me. I’m also a virgin and I’m the knight in shining armour you’ve been waiting for.’
I met his eyes. ‘Great,’ I said flatly.
He grinned again.
While Thane took a quick shower, I checked on She Who Hisses. She screeched from behind one of the cardboard boxes, indicating her continued displeasure at both her confinement and my presence. I tried to get closer but she refused to let me so much as glance at her wound to check it was healing so I left her in peace and headed into the kitchen to heat some stew.
I had a lot of information to sift through and a lot of potential leads. I was going to have to prioritise my next moves very carefully if I was going to help Nick.
‘We’re going to have to prioritise what we do next,’ Thane said, wandering into the kitchen with damp hair and cleaner clothes. The cloud of vetiver that seemed to continually envelop him was stronger than ever.
My eyes narrowed. ‘We?’
He gave an easy shrug. ‘You came looking for me for a reason, right? You want to save Nick. So do I. It makes sense that we work together.’ He eyed me. ‘Two heads are better than one. We should team up and both search for him and the fucker who took him.’
I let out a frustrated hiss of breath. ‘I don’t play well with others.’
‘I’m a lone wolf,’ he reminded me. ‘Neither do I.’ He continued to watch me calmly. ‘But Nick is worth the effort.’
I couldn’t argue with that.
‘I didn’t kidnap him,’ Thane said. ‘And neither did you. We’re on the same side, Kit.’
I hadn’t told him my name so he’d clearly been researching me. My thoughts must have shown on my face. ‘So what are you really?’ he asked. ‘You’re obviously not just a cat lady.’
As if on cue, He Who Crunches Bird Bones padded into the kitchen and gave me a questioning look. ‘I am just a cat lady,’ I said. My insistence sounded pathetic even to my ears.
‘A cat lady and what?’ Thane enquired. ‘You’re not a witch or a druid, but you have some magic. I can smell it. And you possess skills beyond that magic.’ He rubbed the back of his head ruefully. ‘You kicked my arse.’
I snorted. ‘That wasn’t hard.’
‘It wasn’t easy, either.’ He stepped closer and stared at my face. He Who Crunches Bird Bones growled a faint warning but didn’t move towards him. ‘You’re a loner like me,’ he said softly. ‘You’re not a gang member or a team player. You like to go solo but you…’ He paused.
I ought to have shut him down while I had the chance but I was too fascinated by his thought process. ‘But I what?’
Thane stepped back. ‘You’re a killer.’ He said it quietly, with no fear or awe in his voice. ‘You don’t kill for fun – you don’t have that gleeful, psychotic edge – but you do have the skills. You’re trained.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘EEL. Betcha.’
I did my best to maintain a blank expression but I couldn’t deny my shock. Nobody had ever guessed what I used to do for a living; even Trilby, with all their street smarts and insider knowledge, hadn’t come close. And yet within an hour this solitary werewolf had worked it out.
I didn’t bother trying to deny it; I was a great assassin but I wasn’t a good liar. ‘If you breathe a word to another living soul—’ I began.
‘You’ll kill me?’
‘In a heartbeat.’ I meant it; my continued existence depended on as few people as possible knowing who I used to be. Nick MacTire’s safety depended on our mutual silence. Thane, however, remained an unknown quantity.
‘If people know what you are, they’ll come after you. They’ll want revenge, even if you weren’t the assassin responsible for their loved ones’ deaths. Or,’ he added, ‘they’ll see you as a challenge. They’ll want to prove they could take out an EEL assassin.’
‘Ex-assassin. I’m retired. ’
For the first time, I’d surprised him. ‘By choice?’
‘All EEL employees have to retire after twenty years’ service. The organisation don’t want us to become too used to killing, and their research has indicated that older killers’ abilities grow less sharp. You have to be top of your game to be EEL.’
‘So I’ve heard.’ Something shifted in Thane’s bright-green eyes and I waited for whatever was coming next. Finally he said, ‘I’d love some of that stew.’ He grinned easily. ‘If that’s alright.’
He Who Crunches Bird Bones chirruped then flopped by Thane’s feet with a light thump. The moment had passed. If the white cat had decided there was no threat then I had to trust Thane. At least for now.
We ate. I needed to fuel my body as much as Thane did, and we both shovelled down the stew without speaking. He only paused for one moment to carefully pick out a cat hair that had somehow found its way onto his plate. I didn’t apologise; cat hair was an occupational hazard as far as I was concerned. It was fortunate that I had to swallow a large tuft of it to start my shapeshifting process rather than a single hair or I’d have been transforming into a feline in a far more regular and uncontrolled manner. No magic spell or cleaning method could rid a five-cat home of loose fur.
Once we’d finished, Thane scooped up the plates and started washing up. ‘So,’ he said, ‘talk to me about the blood.’
I told him what I knew. It didn’t take long.
His expression darkened, returning to the same snarling fury I’d encountered when we’d fought in Galbraith House, so I gave him a moment or two to absorb the information and calm down. I was surprised at his level of emotion because a lone wolf wasn’t supposed to care what happened to anyone else. It wasn’t as if he had any allegiance to Nick; they weren’t in a pack together.
During the last couple of days I’d learned a lot of new information about werewolves that had made me revise much of what I’d already known. I hoped some of that learning could be put to good use.
‘I’m going to want to see that blood for myself,’ Thane said eventually.
I’d expected as much. ‘I’ll take you upstairs – but I’m going to want to talk to this other lone werewolf you mentioned. Lorna? The most likely culprit is another wolf who wants to piss off the MacTires or gain control of a vulnerable werewolf who’s fresh for the taking. I can’t think of any packs that would risk invoking war, but a lone werewolf is a different prospect.’
‘She didn’t take Nick,’ he snapped. ‘A lone wolf did not do this.’
I didn’t waste my time arguing. Another beat passed before he gave an unwilling nod. He spoke more calmly. ‘I’ll take you to her, but Lorna definitely didn’t do this.’
His shoulders dropped as he relaxed slightly. ‘It has to be Alexander MacTire – that’s why Nick wasn’t killed at the scene. His uncle wants him alive. He’s a fucking idiot because this isn’t the way to gain the boy’s trust. I thought he’d know better but at least MacTire won’t hurt him so maybe this isn’t as bad as I thought initially.’
I shook my head. No, it was exactly that bad. ‘Alexander MacTire doesn’t know that Nick has been abducted.’
Thane scoffed. ‘You’re right that no other werewolves would kidnap the boy and risk war with the MacTires, so that means Alexander took Nick or ordered one of his pack members to do it. No MacTire wolf would act without their alpha’s knowledge. ’
I licked my lips but said nothing.
‘What?’ Thane asked.
‘That’s not necessarily true. If it’s not Lorna?—’
‘It’s not.’
I inclined my head. ‘Then there is another MacTire suspect.’ I told him about Quack and her attempted poisoning without explaining how I’d got into the MacTire stronghold.
‘Bullshit. You can’t begin to fathom how hard it is to murder your own alpha.’
I flicked him a glance. There was an odd note in his voice although his expression remained blank. I thought about Alexander MacTire and his father as Thane stared at me.
Finally he exhaled heavily. ‘Well, damn,’ he whispered.