Magestorm: The Awakening (12 page)

26

“This is
d
isappointing
, to say the least
.
 
I didn’t really want to believe anyone
from our council
was a traitor. 
I g
uess
Rachel
had the right idea, wanting someone up high to watch over things.  She does have a lot of experience dealing with the werewolves and vampires.
  Anyway, the werewolf was Deke Johnson, based
on the stripe you mentioned.  His hair
was already graying
when he was changed
, and it carries over to his werewolf form
.
”

Cassandra
started
pac
ing
around the room.  The other witches hadn’t returned yet
, leaving the three of them
time
to talk alone. 
Dhane
was grateful for small favors, as he still wasn’t feeling very well.
 
He didn’t have to try and act fine with only these two there
.

“I’m
really
sorry
it turned out this way
, but there’s no denying what we saw
, is there
Dhane
? 
Dhane
?”

“What?  Oh, sorry, right.  We saw her help the werewolf escape. 
It was p
lain as day.”

Cassandra looked at him curiously.  She could tell something wasn’t right.
  With only a short time until the others arrived, she wanted a chance to
find out what was wrong before-hand
.

“Lila, would you please give us a few moments to talk, in private.”

“Oh, sure.
  I’ll
go
hang out in the library.”

She departed and
Dhane
slumped down into a chair.  He was exhausted, and he still needed to eat.
  He didn’t really want to talk to Cassandra right now, or anyone for that matter.  Clearly he didn’t have a choice
,
though
,
as she stepped right in front of where he sat.

“First thing’s first…”

She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek softly but deliberately.  Her arms around his neck, she then hugged him.  He
silently
sat in his chair
, confused,
waiting for an explanation.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Taking care of Amber.
  I mean, explaining things
to her
.  I would also appreciate nobody else here being told about her.
  I’m not too sure how well that would go over with some of the more conservative members of the council.
”

He nodded.

“Not my place. 
Besides, to each their own, and all that.”

“
Well
,
thank you all the same.  Now, i
s everything okay?  You seem a bit off.”

“I don’t know.  Something just seemed odd with the Veronica and werewolf thing.  Nothing I could see, but
it just
didn’t feel right. 
I haven’t eaten in a while though, so maybe
I’m
just
hungry.”

“Don’t ever discount your instincts.  Yours are probably stronger than most people
’
s.  We’ll just have to play this out and see where it
goes.  Stay on your toes
, and let me know if anything else comes up as feeling wrong.”

“I will.”

She stood up and pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.  It took her a few moments to gather how she would approach the next subject.

“So, a werewolf is on the loose now.  Do you know the best way to hunt down a werewolf?”

“No, not really.
 
Raw meat?”

“No, not quite,” she laughed.  “The best way to hunt werewolves is actually using a vampire.  For some unknown reason, they can pick up the odor of a werewolf from a mile away.  The best guess is
,
their blood gives off a stronger scent
than typical humans
.  That, along with an increased size meaning increased blood flow, leads vampires to them like a trail of bread crumbs.”

“Wow, guess you do learn something new every day.”

“So, can you guess what my next question is going to be?”

He shook
his head.  Man
,
he needed to eat, and that was beginning to fill his mind.

“You have a recent acquaintance who’s a vampire.
  Even though we should be locking her up, I thought she could help since she’s already out.  In exchange, we’ll leave her alone, as long as she doesn’t start leaving a body count around town
or try to start anything with the werewolves
.”

His eyes drifted from Cassandra’s down to his feet.  He stared for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and adjusting in the chair as he started to speak.

“She left.  Sorry, you’ll have to find someone else.”

“Oh
, okay
. 
Can I ask w
hy?”

“I guess she was looking for something…more.”

Her heart sank.  She couldn’t help
feel horrible
for him, as it obviously hurt
. 
They had only known each other a short time, as far as Cassandra was aware.  How close did they get? 
Still, it was probably for the best.  The others would definitely look down on his involvement with a vampire.  Even more than they already did, she guessed.

“If she was looking for more, she didn’t
really
know what she had in you.”

He gave a half smile.

“After this is all over,
I think we
will go visit the werewolf greeters again, just
you and me
.  I think that will do us both some good.”

“Right now
,
all I can think about is food.  Mind if I go grab something
from your fridge
before meeting time?”

“Not at all.
I have some ham and cheese
, if you want to make yourself a sandwich
and relax until it’s time
.”

He nodded and headed off to her quarters. 
Cassandra sat quietly as she thought things over. 
If she came across that vampire, she would definitely lock the bloodsucker up with the others now.  In the meantime, she had to
prepare the next plan
.  She had to
intentionally
unleash a vampire on this town.

27

The meeting
was
winding down
, and
Dhane
was feeling much better.
  After telling Cassandra about his concerns and getting some food in his stomach, he was starting to feel like himself. 
That is, as long as he didn’t think about the werewolf’s escape from earlier. 
Amelia had
popped up in
his thoughts again.  He needed to push her out
of his head
for now.
  There were still
other
tasks
he needed to concentrate on
.

Nicole had
officially
stepped down as liaison for the werewolves, due to growing
romantic
feeling
s
towards one of the members. 
It only confirmed what he already
knew
: Nicole was sleeping with
Xander
and had been caught doing so. 
Cassandra had
taken
pity on her apparently,
leaving her dignity intact and
allowing her to step aside on her own terms as far as anyone knew
.
  He had to question that
Cassandra
put herself as temporary liaison, however.

Veronica was identified as the traitor with the caveat that something seemed to be amiss.  That was no doubt from
Dhane’s
concerns
earlier.  Something wasn’t right to him, and Cassandra took that to heart, though wisely keeping his name out of it.

The last bit of business was the worst
,
though.  They agreed that a vampire would be chosen
, released from prison
, and basically put on a leash.  They would use him like a bloodhound to find the missing werewolf.
  Afterwards
,
the vampire would be put back, regardless of whatever
deal was made when he was released.

“At this point we will adjourn.  Isabelle will take Stephanie with her to discuss assistance from the vampires. 
Demian
would be ideal
based on the loyalty
he’s shown us, but he’s too unstable.
  I’m s
ure they will agree, and make a request
in exchange.”

“We will do what is necessary to get this task completed.  Should we check back in here before the hunt?”

“No, Isabelle.  Go straight to the hunt and check in just before dawn.  With any luck, we’ll resolve this in the next few hours if we hurry.  If not, we’ll have to secure the vampire someplace safe and pick thing
s
up again after nightfall.”

Isabelle and Stephanie excused themselves and hurried off to meet with the vampires.  Three in the morning, they had maybe three hours to
find him. 
Good thing it was winter, otherwise they wouldn’t even have that window. 
Werewolves can walk in the day, just in human form.  That would put the
witches
at a disadvantage
if they failed to find him before sunrise,
as the creature c
ould put a lot of distance between them.

The meeting ended
shortly after
and
the witches filed out. 
Dhane
waited behind as usual, just to make sure Cassandra didn’t need anything else from him
tonight
.
  She waved for him to follow and they walked into her chambers.

“
Dhane
, you will let me
know if I step out of line,
right?
”

“You mean like removing Nicole from liaison to the werewolves due to conflict of interest, then appointing yourself in her place?”

She smiled.

“Yes,
that’s
exactly
what I mean
. 
I want you to help keep me honest, especially if I contradict myself or am being hypocritical
. 
On this particular subject,
I will say in my defense that I will only be the temp liaison for a couple of days.  We will resolve this escaped werewolf issue, then I will appoint someone else. 
Is that f
air?”

“It will do.”

She shot a look at him
and
saw he was grinning.  He was just messing with her, in the way only he could get away with. 
She smiled, but it faded away
quickly
.

“Things are changing,
Dhane
.”

“I know.”

“
I’m not sure if it’s f
or better or worse
. 
I wish I knew.”

“Change is just change, I suppose.  Can’t stop it, can’t fight it,
just
have to deal
with it
.”

“I suppose so.  Go get some
rest;
we will be busy tomorrow night
, one way or another
.”

After a quick goodbye, he
headed out.  Lila was waiting just outside on the street.  She wanted to go to breakfast.  He really just wanted to sleep.  So they went to breakfast.

After eating and talking for some time, the sun was beginning to rise. 
Dhane
wondered if they had succeeded
in catching the werewolf or not.  If not, it was going t
o be another busy night
.
  If so, he would be making a trip with Cassandra to see Amelia and Amber.

He said his goodbye t
o Lila and returned home
.  A good sleep should clarify where he was headed, he hoped anyway.
  At least maybe things would be settled down again.  Then again, maybe they would be worse.

Inside his apartment, the first thing he saw was the piece of paper sitting on the counter. 
It was t
hat stupid page from the spell book which he had forgotten all about.

“
Damn it!
”

He meant to let Cassandra know about it, so at least it wouldn’t seem as though he was hiding a page.  It was too late, at least for one more day. 
At t
onight’s meeting he would
turn it over
for sure
. 

The sun was beginning to shine in, and he closed the curtains as much as possible.  Shoes kicked off, he threw himself onto the bed and
stared at the ceiling.  Everything was changing, just as Cassandra said.  The most significant changes were yet to come, he was sure.  Where that would leave him?  It was anyone’s guess.  E
ventually
he
drifted into a restless sleep.