Framed (12 page)

I didn't like being vulnerable to his mental assaults, having no clue how to defend myself against them, and I was pretty sure they did nothing for my reputation with the PC. It was undeniable that the Rev and I had a connection of some sort, but
why
we did had me completely baffled. I'd never even seen him before that first night when he came to me after viciously attacking that woman in the alleyway. In reflection, it was like he was performing for me, announcing his presence. Was it a challenge?

I knew nothing about pack dynamics, rogues, and other little wolfy nuances that I probably should have by that point, so I made a point to ask Cooper about it in the morning. He'd been involved with one of the most notorious packs in the world, and I knew he learned a lot by blending in and keeping his senses heightened to the goings-on around him. I didn't really want him to know every sordid detail of my visions; I was trying to keep him in the dark on the off chance that knowing would bite him in the ass later on. I decided that I'd present him with the dilemma and let him choose for himself. I would not do to him what was being done to me. A hypocrite I was not.

Sighing out loud, I hugged my knees to my chest and forced my eyes to focus beyond the raindrops that were taunting me—a reminder of what my life had become. It did little to improve my situation.

I watched a man stride slowly along the far side of the street, casually looking around him. His hood was pulled up over his head creating a black hole where his face should have been. He pulled an object from his pocket as he approached the street light directly across from my building.

While he stood under the light, I watched intently, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. The more uneasy I got, the longer he seemed to linger. I pushed up onto my knees, pressing my forearms and hands to the window, leaning my forehead against the glass.

“Show yourself,” I whispered, creating the tiniest pocket of fog that clung to window momentarily. Like a puppet obeying a tug from the string above, his head turned up to face me, the eerie, faceless void staring me down from the street below. I startled backward, coming to sit on my heels, peeling myself away from the glass. My heart was racing, and blood whooshed loudly through my ears.

I glanced over to see if Cooper was awakened by my sudden movements, but he was exactly how I'd left him. I turned my attention back to the shadowy figure outside, who remained unmoving in the lamplight below.

“Take off your hood,” I ordered silently. My words barely escaped with my exhale.

He again obeyed, pushing the hood down off his head, leaving it lowered. “Look at me,” I thought with my eyes closed, my intention focused on the action requested.

Every muscle in my body tensed when I opened my eyes in time to see him tilt his chin up to the light. The Rev stood equally still, though visibly less tense. I didn't have time to panic before his vision struck me down.

I watched him stare up at the brick exterior before him, so pleased with himself. He was getting braver. I could feel the confidence rolling off of him as his presence taunted the onlooker above.

“Have you pondered my question?” he asked enigmatically. “Be sure you don't wait too long, Ruby. They are coming. There isn't much time.”

“Time for what? Who's coming?” I thought, unsure that he would hear me.

“Tell Scarlet that birds of a feather should stick together,” he replied. “I won't wait long for her response. I will have my revenge with or without her.”

He flashed an excessively toothy grin as he withdrew from the light just in time to Change. In a flash, he was no longer a man, but a wolf larger than any I'd seen before. His oily black fur kept him well camouflaged as he escaped down a nearby alley, disappearing into the night.

My head hurt less than it had with previous visions. It was as though it was more of a telepathic conversation that allowed for him to not only screw with me further, but also deliver his vague and mysterious message. It was a kind reprieve from the usual cranial hacking he specialized in.

I gingerly pushed myself up off the padded window seat. Looking over at the immobile lump on the bed, I realized that somehow I hadn't woken Cooper. I crawled in next to him and snuggled in close. All I wanted was to close my eyes and think of anything that would keep the illusion of normalcy that I so desperately needed. For the rest of the night, I wanted to avoid anything that reminded me of the paranormal clusterfuck my life was becoming—had become. A warm body next to me seemed to help immensely, if I ignored the fact that he was a werewolf.

11

My sweet dreams were soured by the morning's events. I tried to casually bring up the whole Rev situation and was met with mild hysterics from the slightly tanned blond sitting across from me at the kitchen island.

“Is there a neon sign on the roof that says
'Crazies Welcome
'?” Cooper asked after he dropped his spoonful of cereal on the counter. The Rev was obviously not mealtime conversation material. “You're a living, breathing, walking calamity. You know he's infamous in the werewolf community, right? The PC hasn't been able to catch him for something like twenty years, which is almost as unheard of as the PC's assassin being in love with his target.”

He delivered a sting with his last statement and the sentiment was plastered all over his face; he did not approve of Sean.

“Point made, Cooper. Can we try to move along to more important and pressing issues now, like what the Rev might be after. He's been far more talkative in his little psychotic motion pictures lately,” I said, trying with great annoyance to get back on topic. “But I'm worried about this, Coop. The PC knows that the Rev and I have this weird little connection, and I wouldn't doubt that it's only adding fuel to the kill-Ruby fire. I don't want to drag you into the flames with me by telling you something you shouldn't know.”

“If
you
go down,
I
go down. It's as simple as that,” he said, pinning his hazel eyes on mine. “I'd rather go down knowing why.”

I truly hated the idea of jeopardizing him, but he was right. He was likely to be guilty by association anyway. It was best to let him in on what I knew.

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “Here's what I know. He's out for revenge, but I have no idea why or with whom. He wants me to choose sides, but says I'm running out of time to make that choice.”

“Sides? Are you playing Red Rover?” he asked, a smirk flashing across his face before seriousness overtook it. "Did he tell you how much time you had?”

“Not really, just that I didn't have long.”

“Helpful.”

“Not especially. Why are the whackjobs always so cryptic?”

“Part of the job description, I imagine,” he replied unhelpfully. “Anything else?”

“Yeah...sorta. He said something about 'birds of a feather'. He told me to pass the message on to Scarlet.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“What did she say about it?”

“Nothing. It's not as if she can't hear him...or at least I
think
she can.”

Jesus, Ruby. I live here too, of course I can hear him.

“Well then if you can hear him, why didn't you respond to him?”

I can't seem to make my way to the forefront when he has you enthralled like that. Believe me, I'm trying. But mainly it's because I haven't got a fucking clue what he's talking about.

“So no ideas then?”

Nothing other than further speculation. I do think he's trying me, though.

“
Trying you?”

“What's she saying?” Cooper asked impatiently.

Taunting me. And I must say it's working. I'd like two minutes alone with him to correct that behavior.

“She said he's taunting her, or at least she thinks that's what he's doing.”

“It's possible,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Rogues are unpredictable, but one of their consistent behaviors is tormenting those around them. Some do like to challenge those that they see as worthy adversaries too. Perhaps your boy has some weird cocktail of both.”

“Challenge them how?”

“Draw them into a fight. Rogues love killing, the greater the challenge the better. Some will invade a pack's territory for the ultimate game. We had one try that once. Gregory disposed of him quickly.”

“I bet he did,” I shuddered, knowing all too well what Gregory was capable of. My stomach ached psychosomatically at the thought of him. “So what's he doing, creating a turf battle or something?”

“Could be,” he replied while shoving a heaping spoon of granola into his mouth. “Or could be that he's just trying to feel her out.”

“OK, that's all well and good, but
how
is he doing it? He's got some crazy psychic network connections?”

“I still don't know what to make of that one. I'd hoped you or Scarlet would have ideas.”

None.

“Looks like we're plum out of them over here,” I sighed, leaning back against the kitchen cabinets. “So where does that leave us then?”

“Right back where you started, I imagine,” he replied, looking grim.

“And that is?”

“Screwed.”

Finally.

“Ah yes, my favorite destination. I'm so lucky to get the opportunity to visit there often,” I mocked. “And he didn't mean screwed
literally
, Scarlet. Try to focus on the issue at hand, please.”

“I could have meant it literally,” Cooper added with a grin.

I like where he's going with this.

“You would.”

“Would what?” he asked confused.

“Ugh, I wish I wasn't having two separate conversations right now. It's exhausting,” I lamented. “I was talking to Scarlet. She seems to like your ideas about being 'screwed' more than mine.”

“That's because mine are more fun," he said playfully, but there was nothing playful about the eyes he pinned on me. I needed to get away quickly.

“And with that I'm off to the shower,” I announced, pushing off of the kitchen cabinets.

“Alone?” he asked as I walked away.

“Am I ever
really
alone, Cooper? I have an ever-present, internal traveling companion,” I groaned, making my way down the hall. “Then you throw in the roommate, the employee, and the morally confused mercenary—pain in my ass or not, it's all for one and one for all.”

“So was that a 'yes', then?”

“Yes, Cooper. I'm showering alone,” I called to him as I closed the bathroom door. He was persistent, if nothing else. Even in his seriousness, he found a way to make me giggle. Intentional or not, I didn't care. My life needed as many of those laughs as I could scrounge up. Cooper was a keeper for sure.

* * *

I hadn't talked to Sean since I left Boston right after Thomas died. I knew that trend wasn't going to last for long. The conversation that Sophie and I had the evening before was still running through my mind. I worked over every angle I could, trying to figure out her motives. Sophie had proven herself resourceful when an opportunity presented itself, and I would have been a fool to think that she was only thinking of Sean's well-being. Offing me was a wet dream for her, and I knew she was salivating at the thought—she could practically taste her victory.

Putting that aside, I still needed to acknowledge that no matter how self-serving her motives may have been, if Sean was in danger because of me, I owed it to him to figure a way out of it. I had no idea how to get him to absolve himself of his oath, or if I even wanted to do that at all. Selfish though it may have been, I wasn't feeling quick to hang myself out to dry. Part of what nagged at me was the discrepancy between Sean's belief that he was invincible and Sophie's claim that he wasn't.

When I originally found out about his alleged invincibility, his actions made so much more sense. Swearing on his life if he knew he couldn't lose it was a win/win for him. His chivalrous move was tarnished slightly with that knowledge. What I couldn't quite figure out was if he really thought or knew that he was, or if it was just a well built up reputation earned over millennia of fighting. If he'd bought into his own hype over those years, that arrogance was likely to bite him in the ass hard.

I didn't want to side with Sophie, but on that issue, she seemed to be the most sensible side. She may have had everything to gain from me not being personally protected by him, but she also stood to lose everything she had if he died. She was desperate, and her actions reflected that; coming to ask for my help was a last ditch effort for sure. She knew something about his mortality, and, though she seemed loathe to admit it, she exposed that weakness to me because it was her trump.

She also had a point about my death being somewhat inevitable,
if
she was right about the Elders coming. Did I want to bring Sean down with me out of cowardice? I wouldn't have allowed that either, so it left me in a pickle: to cleave or not to cleave.

Cooper had gone out to the library for the day to study for some class that sounded horrible and made me glad that I wasn't in school anymore. I never mentioned the Sophie events of the night before because I knew exactly what he'd have to say about it and none of it would have been especially helpful. I was hoping to have more time to digest the facts and weigh my options, but, as Murphy's Law would have it, Sean showed up before I was prepared to have our talk.