Hunter's Blood Special Edition (Cursed by Blood Saga) (17 page)

“Come on, Phillips, you can’t be
serious? This is enough of a freak show without us intentionally adding to it,”
Fay interjected.

The Commissioner’s face was a mask. He
said nothing, yet his eyes narrowed. With his forearms on his desk, he drummed
his fingers as if weighing the options. Leaning forward, he pointed one of them
at Phillips, fixing him with an ice-cold stare. “Do you have someone specific
in mind, Mark? This better not be some hokey, spoon bender that comes complete
with a lunatic fringe entourage.”

The two men eyed each other in utter
gravity, as everyone else in the room slowly came to the realization this was
no joke.

Phillips nodded. “I know someone, sir,
we’ve worked with her before, and she’s the best. Very credible and extremely
discreet. Her name is Lily Saburi. I’ll have my office give her a call
immediately.”

Chapter Two

***

“Sit down, Lily! Your pacing is making
me as nervous as a cat.”

“I can’t,” she sighed, shoving her
hands into her pockets. “They’ve been at it for days now, Rissa. Aren’t you
even the slightest bit concerned about what’s going on behind those carved
doors across the lawn?” Lily exhaled sharply, itching for a cigarette.

The fire crackled alongside the soft
swishing of Lily’s leathers as she walked back and forth. She was dressed in
her armor of choice, black leather jeans and a matching, formfitting jacket,
zipped to just above her cleavage. With the political climate facing the
Compound of Weres these days, she was leaving nothing to chance. She may have
looked like a porcelain doll dressed in biker gear, but God help anyone who
assumed she was easily broken, or worse, easily manipulated. With her vigilante
past, the description didn’t fit the bill. If pushed, she would fight.

Rissa put down her knitting, the
half-done blanket and skein of baby blue yarn covering her burgeoning belly.
“Of course I am.” She winced, adjusting herself on the moss green couch,
wedging a matching chintz pillow behind her back for support. “What happens
behind those doors affects me just as much as it affects you. I have much more
to worry about than just my own health, but what I don’t see is why you’re so
agitated. Sean can hold his own, regardless of what Edward Parr throws at him.
Besides, Mitch is with him.”

Lily’s eyes softened. She wasn’t the
only one whose life had turned upside-down. Rissa’s husband had died horribly,
as a result of the mutant virus at the heart of the proceedings currently in
debate at the Compound’s Great Hall. The same virus threatening their entire
existence At least that’s what the council wanted everyone to think. However,
Lily knew there was more to it than that. Edward Parr had his own agenda, and
both Sean and Mitch knew it too. Parr was dangerous.

For months, the nightmare of disease
went hand-in-hand with the worry of who would be next. Fear
overwhelmed
the community of Weres. The pathogen spread quickly, for the most part only
affecting their males. However, once the virus spread to Rissa and her unborn
child, the news triggered widespread panic.

Sean and his hunters had no choice but
to eliminate anyone or anything infected with the virus, regardless of status
or relationship. While they battled pandemonium, doctors at Leighton Research
had raced to find a cure for the lethal contagion. A cure, they had ironically
found in Lily’s blood.

The room where she and Rissa waited
was full of warmth—its soft colors and comfortable furniture making it a place
to curl up and just unwind. Rissa’s idea to wait in here tonight was a nice
try, but right now, even a hot tub filled with rose scented water and a trained
masseuse rubbing her shoulders wouldn’t stifle Lily’s urge to pace.
Or punch
someone.

Lily walked over to the window, and
gently pushed the delicate curtains away from the paned glass to peer across
the frozen landscape. Smoke circled lazily out of the four chimneys edging the
corners of the manor where Sean was deep into discussion.

The house and the view were
picturesque, fitting into the wintertime landscape, despite the sheer size of
the imposing structure. The Were Compound sat majestically along the rocky
Maine coast, and was comprised of a few such core buildings, each one assigned
to a particular purpose.

As Lily gazed out at the manor’s
gabled peaks and large, paned windows, it wasn’t hard to imagine the House of
the Seven Gables from the infamous Salem witch trials, or parallel the themes
of guilt, revenge, and punishment present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book by the
same name. The same themes Edward Parr now wove like threads into a
supernatural web—a trap for Sean—with Parr sitting dead center like a spider in
wait.

Was it just a month ago she had waited
with Sean, her hopes high and her heart full as he’d led her into the great
hall and the blood rites ritual that would have sealed her acceptance into
their pack, into their world?

She had stood with him at the base of
the staircase,
one hand on the
balustrade and the other around Sean’s waist, as both waited for the ceremony
to begin.

She remembered the sumptuous rooms,
each with soaring ceilings and intricate woodwork. But, it was the thick set of
wooden double doors at the entrance to the Great Hall she recalled most.
Elaborately carved, they stood sentinel-like, each side depicting scenes from
the Were’s long and complicated history.
On the
other side of those doors, banners and tapestries lined the walls adding to the
majesty of the place, and the sheer history they manifested inspired awe,
filling Lily with an otherworldly sense.

The manor was as much a fortress as
the CIA headquarters at Langley, and just as outfitted with every technological
advance—yet the feel of it belonging to another place and time hadn’t suffered
from it. The upper level housed the war room, but Sean had told her there had
been no real need for a gathering in over a century.

Until now.

From her place at the window in the
main house, she watched the smoke curl, silently wishing there was a message
from Sean hidden in the wispy swirls.
Black smoke…no. White smoke…yes.
Like when the Vatican elects a new Pope.

With a sigh, she tucked the curtain
back in its place. “It’s been too long, Rissa. Something’s not right, I can
feel it.”

With a raised eyebrow, the extremely
pregnant woman looked up from her knitting. “What do you mean, you
feel it
?”

Lily’s lips curled into half a smile
as she glanced over her shoulder at her friend’s suspicious face. “Don’t worry
it’s not as if I’ve been listening in or anything.” She turned back to watch
the smoke wind its way into a starless sky, disappearing behind heavy clouds
obscuring any light. “Besides, Sean made me promise I wouldn’t snoop.”

Chuckling, Rissa folded the blanket,
rolling the yarn and knitting needles carefully before stowing them in her
sewing bag. “Well, can you blame him? With your temper and that nasty habit you
have of trespassing in people’s heads, he probably figured it was safer this
way. These days, between our psychics and our psychotics, it’s sometimes hard
to tell the difference.”

“Hmmph.”

“Lily, listen to me. Sean is the Alpha
Council of the Brethren. The Weres on the Council may be politicians, but they
aren’t stupid. They know which side their bread is buttered on, or at least I
hope they do. What’s more, Sean’s hunters are with him. That’s not to say he
couldn’t take care of things himself if it came down to it. Edward Parr may be
a consummate manipulator, but he’s not foolish enough to start something he
knows he can’t win. It’s not his style. He’s far too smooth to put himself in a
position where he’d have to fight, especially if it means a fair fight.”

Lily turned away from the window and
folded her arms against an invisible chill. “I guess, but what if that’s not
his game, Ris? Parr is smooth, but to me that just means slick—and not in a
good way. He’s already forced one stalemate during this debate, so I can’t help
but wonder what else he’s managed to twist his way.”

With an aggravated sigh, she walked
back toward the fire, hoping its warmth would chase her apprehension away along
with the waves of hostility buffeting her mind from across the lawn. From the
way her stomach churned, it was more likely hot-tempered arguing rather than
civilized debate going on behind those closed doors.

Rissa was right. Edward Parr was a
consummate manipulator. The man had effortlessly exploited hundreds of years of
rivalry between clans, throwing doubt on Sean’s commitment to the Compound of
Weres and his ability to lead. But why? What was his purpose? Sean was the
Alpha. He had more than proven his loyalty to his kind, especially over the
last few months.

Sean’s brother, Jerard, had been one
of the worst infected with the virus. Deteriorating quickly, until there was
nothing of the once swaggering hunter left to save. In his place was a rabid
beast, incapable of human cognizance.

Sean had hunted Jerard for the good of
the Compound, regardless of personal emotion. Lily hunted him for revenge,
blaming him for the death of her best friend, Terry. It was her bullet that
finally killed Jerard, but only after he had mortally wounded her and was about
to kill Sean.

She ran her fingers absently along the
scarred grooves hollowed deep into the skin beneath her jugular. The wounds had
long since healed, but the memory of the claws that gave them to her remained
fresh in her mind. Sean wasn’t the only one that had proven loyalty to the
Compound.

Lily turned her back to the fire and
raked a hand through her long, honey colored hair. She liked her new color,
despite Sean’s grumblings. He preferred her natural dark chestnut, but with all
the waiting around, she needed something to occupy herself. Rissa had suggested
a salon day, and Lily jumped at the chance to do something just for kicks.
Blondes have more fun, or so they say. Lately, fun was in short supply despite
the past month of Were Holiday merrymaking. Christmas had come and gone, and so
had the January Wolf Moon, and along with it went the last vestiges of harmony
and peace. Parr had forced the issue once more about her place within the pack,
goading Sean into ending his hard won adjournment over the holidays. The past
month of celebrations went by so quickly, and with such hope. Unfortunately all
the postponement did was give Parr the chance to wheedle his way through the
Council and the community—something he did like an oiled snake.

Lily exhaled sharply. “The council is
only debating because Parr threw doubt into the ring. He wants to force Sean
into making me a full Were. What if he convinces them to turn me against my
will? Against medical advice? What then? I meant it when I said I’d rather die
than allow myself to turn into some kind of crazed beast. I know Jerard was
your husband and Sean’s brother, but Rissa, I saw what this virus did to him. I
was in his head. He had no memory of the man he was or the people he’d killed
in his crazed state.”

Not even Terry.
Lily swallowed
hard, before continuing. “When he attacked, his brain was like mush,
rudimentary at best and ruled by nothing more than base bloodlust. I won’t
allow it. I won’t allow the virus I contracted from his bite, to become active
through a forced transformation.”

Lily caught a shadow of unguarded
grief pass across Rissa’s face, disappearing just as quickly before she could
say anything else. She knew she had hurt her friend, but it was what it was.
Rissa had Mitch now. She had faced what she had to and moved on. Perhaps it was
time for Lily to do the same.

Rissa didn’t say a word. She sat with
her eyes trained on her hands, folded over her belly. “Rissa…” Lily began,
immediately sorry. But the other woman held up her hand.

Looking up, she offered Lily weary
smile, but its warmth didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think I’m going to turn
in. I’m a little tired.”

Lily exhaled, inwardly cursing herself
and her big mouth. “Don’t leave simply because my brain to mouth filter is
malfunctioning. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s this waiting. It’s making
me crazy.”

Lily took Rissa’s hand and helped her
off the couch. At the simple touch, the woman’s emotions flooded her mind. Her
sorrow at losing Jerard, her guilt at finding happiness again with Mitch, worry
over the future for her four year-old daughter, Stephanie, and for the new baby
she now carried.

Lily’s hand tightened and her heart
clenched.

“What I think you mean, is that this
is making you crazier than usual,” Rissa shot back, rubbing the dull ache
lodged in the small of her back. Her gaze softened. “It’s not you, Lil, trust
me. I’m truly tired. It’s a wonder I don’t fall asleep where I stand, enormous
as I am, and who could blame me?” she said, glancing down at her swollen belly.

She gave Lily a hug, and picked up her
sewing bag. “As for all the rest, well, it is what it is. I need to accept that
there was nothing I could do to save Jerard. We weren’t exactly the happiest of
couples, but we did love each other in our own way, and I know I have to let
what happened go, but sometimes…” Her voice trailed off. “I’m okay, or at least
I will be. One day at a time, right?” Looking around the room, she gestured
with her hand. “Don’t stay cooped up in here too much longer tonight, huh? You
could use some rest yourself.”