Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
Jack
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The door to Amber’s house rattled so hard, it looked like it was going to break down. Jack ran to the door, already lifting the wand from the holster at his side. It glowed a dull green at the tip.
The lupine snarls on the other side of the door told Jack he didn’t have anything to worry about, but he had to be sure. Jack cracked the door open. Marcus was on all fours. Blood dripped off his white coat, too much of it to be his own and still be standing.
“You’re going to let that monster in?” Amber looked up from Aareth’s body, past Jack, toward Marcus’ massive frame.
“He’s a puppy when you get to know him.” Aareth smiled with a wince. “Ugh … I need a drink.”
Marcus shifted in front of Jack. His impressive height shrank, his shoulders narrowed, and his canines disappeared. Blood now dripped off his skin instead of off his fur.
Jack took off his brown coat and wrapped it around his father’s shoulders.
“The city is clear,” Marcus reported. “The last of the vampires holding Term ran. I let them go. I lost two wolves and have another six injured. Enough blood has been spilled for one day.”
“Did he just turn from a monster to a man?” Amber looked over Jack’s shoulder to Marcus. “What the hell is going on? Why is he naked? Better yet, why did you cover him up?”
Kimberly came from the back of the room, carrying the medical bag Jack had been on his way to retrieve when the knock had come at the door.
Amber accepted her bag from Kimberly. Her eyes never left Marcus.
“I’m going to tend to the pack.” Marcus ignored Amber’s words, but couldn’t help letting a smile play at his lips. “They need to rest and prepare for what comes next.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jack offered. More than anything, he wanted to spend time with the father he had lost and found, then lost and found again. “If you want, I mean.”
A loud crash reverberated from inside the house. Everyone looked to where Kimberly lay on the ground. The gargoyle had been strong and hidden the true extent of her wounds for as long as she could.
“Kimberly!” Jack raced to her side and knelt down next to the gargoyle, cradling her giant frame as best he could. “Are you all right?”
“What the heck is going on here?” Amber was elbows-deep in Aareth’s wound as she looked over to Kimberly. “Why are all of you people so injured?”
“What do you mean ‘you people’?” Kimberly coughed from her position on the floor.
“Oh, you know what I meant.” Amber pressed a white gauze pad to Aareth’s side. “I didn’t mean to be racist. Stop giving me a hard time. I’m saving your friend over here.”
“She needs to take the stone sleep.” Marcus lifted one of Kimberly’s arms and motioned for Jack to take the other. “We need to get her outside.”
“If my ancestors could see me now.…” Kimberly winced in pain as the werewolf and the wizard helped her to her feet and led her outside into the sun. “Aided by a beast creature and a wizard child. They’re rolling in their graves right now.”
Jack and Marcus led Kimberly outside. The morning sun was just up. As soon as they exited the house, Kimberly looked over to Jack. “I’ll be powerless while I sleep.”
Jack understood this was the best the gargoyle could do when faced with asking a favor.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Jack smiled with a wink. “I mean, I can’t help if a bird or two lands on you, but I’ll make sure you’re not too bothered.”
Kimberly’s skin was already changing, her body transitioning from dark grey to a lighter stone color. Her body went from toned muscle to rock in a matter of seconds.
“I swear, if you let even one bird poop on me, just one bird…” Kimberly glared at Jack even as her eyes turned to stone. “I’m going to?—”
“Aaaaaand she’s out.” Marcus smiled at the stone gargoyle and patted her on the shoulder. “Rest well.”
“I guess I’d better stay here, then.” Jack looked at his father for consensus. “Just in case anything could happen to her while she sleeps.”
“I won’t take long,” Marcus encouraged his son. “I’ll be back just as soon as I can with the pack.”
“I know.” Then Jack remembered something his father had said earlier about losing his ability over magic. “Is it really gone? I mean, your magic. You can’t feel it at all?”
“It’s gone, but in its place is the beast.” Marcus pushed back his long, greyish white hair as he thought. “I do miss it, but it’s been replaced in a different way. It’s like being emptied and refilled. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“Do you miss it?”
“It was a part of me that I’ll always miss.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll make Leah pay. She’s coming with an army against New Hope now. They might even be there already. As soon as Aareth is able to travel, when Kimberly wakes up, we’ll have to go back.”
Marcus nodded along with his son’s words.
“We’ll go with you. Most of the members in the pack—in fact, all of the members in the pack, minus the brown female you saw—have no love for the queen.
She wasn’t honest with them. Instead, she gave them an ability that turned them into monsters and chained them with magic. ”
“Good.” Jack thought about what it would mean for an entire pack of werewolves to join Azra’s side. “We’ll have to find a way to heal them along with Aareth. If we can bring them all back to fighting condition, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.”
“Werewolves heal fast, but not that fast.” Marcus pursed his lips. “See what you can find out from Amber. Perhaps she has a way to accelerate their healing.”
“I will, and Dad? … The brown female who challenged you for power over the pack … she saved us while we were carrying Aareth. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have made it.”
“I understand.” Marcus reached out and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “I’ll bring the wolves here. Find out what you can from Amber.”
With that, Marcus walked away, barefoot in Jack’s long, brown coat. His feet made indentions in the dirt roads of Term. Now that the fighting was over, the few residents of the town were peeking out of their doors or windows with fearful intrigue.
Jack spotted an elderly woman who saw him looking at her. He waved, but she shut her window the next instant and drew the blinds.
Really, what could Jack expect? Term was a town that had been attacked by New Hope soldiers when Sloan arrived. Since then, the bulk of the citizens had migrated to Azra while the city was occupied by vampire soldiers, only to be the site of another battle between werewolves and vampires.
Sadness for those forced to leave their homes mixed with the need to take action and find a cure for Aareth and the wounded werewolves in his father’s pack.
“Amber,” Jack called into the house. “What do you know about accelerated healing techniques?”