Sorcerer: Trouble with Werewolves: Power of Air Book 2 (8 page)

Friday, May 20
^th
, 2016, 12:32 PM

We were eating our food and I was learning about all the
different pack businesses, and what she did for them.  She did a lot of
the paperwork and some sales, although at twenty-two she was just getting
introduced to the latter.  Right now some others in the pack were covering
her duties while she spent her time with me. 

She was just telling me about Suzy, their pack omega who was
doing most of her work.  A pack’s omega was the wolf with the least
dominant nature, about as submissive as a wolf gets, but on the other side of
it they usually had the most nurturing personality in the group and was a
cherished and protected part of the pack.  I vaguely recalled what she
looked like, she had a more petite frame although still very much in shape, and
was barely above five feet tall.

I was surprised to find out Sierra fell third in the pack in
dominance right behind Clint, in front of the enforcers and even the alpha’s
mate Selene.  Apparently whatever she’d went through alone as a werewolf
growing up in human foster homes had made her extremely dominant, she’d had to
take care of herself.  One thing I was sure of after the last couple of
days, and with this new information, was if I managed to form a relationship
with her I’d be constantly on my toes around her.  That sounded like fun
to me.

We were interrupted by my cell going off, it was Mike and I
answered it.

Mike asked, “You busy tonight?  Jenna and I want to
talk to you about something, no setup tonight.”

I looked up at Sierra in question and she simply nodded in
willingness to come along.

“I think so, and I’ll be bringing my own date tonight if
that’s okay.  I’ll know for sure in a few hours, what time?”

He said, “Seven, and that sounds fine.  We got Burns by
the way, I’ll tell you about it tonight.”

I suppressed a smile at that, told him I’d call if we couldn’t
make it, and got off the phone.

Sierra looked at me a moment and asked in a sickly sweet
tone that set off alarm bells in my mind, “Bringing your own date?”

I nodded slowly and thought through my answer and tried to
figure out what button I’d inadvertently pushed, “Jenna is determined to see me
paired off as soon as possible, she’s set me up on more bad blind dates than I
can tell you about.  It will be nice not to have to worry about that with
you there.”

Her eyes narrowed and her tone darkened, “I see, so… I’m
what, simply your shield for the night?”

I shook my head and tried not to smile at her reaction, “No,
I was actually hoping you’d be my date for real, not as some… dodge.”

Her face relaxed as she thought that through, and then
started eating her soup.  I had to admit I was a little nervous but did my
best not to show it as I continued to eat.  Finally, she looked up at me
with a small smile and her voice was soft, melodic, and just short of shy.

“I’d like that, but we may be busy tonight depending on what
happens with Tara.”

I realized, confident werewolf or not, maybe she hadn’t been
on all that many dates either.

“I know, that’s why I told him we might have to cancel.”

She continued telling me more about the pack, it was
apparent age didn’t count for much when it came to authority.  At
twenty-two she was younger than six of them, the five we had sat with at the
table yesterday.  Suzy was a few years older as well, and the three men
who left, Sam, Carl, and Peter, were still teenagers and too young to really
know where they fit as far as dominance in the pack.

Her family was something she could seemingly talk about
endlessly, and it was apparent with a man like Derik as the Alpha and setting
the tone for the pack, it was a good life. 

For Karl’s pack… it was a nightmare.

I asked in a moment of comfortable silence, “So what happens
to Karl’s pack, I mean, Karl is the one that needs to die, perhaps slowly and
torturously, but what about the others?  His second, Billy, is kind of a
sick bastard too, but the others are virtual slaves and being forced to do what
they normally wouldn’t.”

Sierra shrugged and said in a matter of fact voice, “Once
this is over, Derik will judge them all separately and decide what’s to become
of them, I think you know him well enough to know he’ll show mercy if it’s
warranted.  But at the same time, until Karl is dead, we can’t hold back
against the rest of his pack, our first duty is to protect our own, which
includes you.  I won’t feel any guilt about it either.  It’ll be Karl
who is to blame for their deaths if they happen, not us.”

That sounded pretty brutal, but I understood it.  It
was the downside to living in a world where a werewolf’s self-determination
wasn’t always their own.  To not fight would be insane.

I said grimly, “I understand, I can do my best to try and
disable, but I won’t hesitate if I have to.”

We talked quite a bit longer about pack and our personal
lives, so lunch wound up going about two hours.  I learned a lot, and the
more I found out about her, and their lives, the more confident I was in my
decision to ally.  I was looking forward to the ritual tomorrow evening,
though I wasn’t quite sure what was involved in that yet. 

I wasn’t sure if Tara would be read for us yet, it was only
two-thirty, but it was worth a shot…

Tara was finished, and we made our way over to the
shop.  I’d hardly even noticed this time when Sierra grabbed my hand and
held it for the walk over.  Her hand still felt good in mind, I was just
used to it being there now.  Tara however, most definitely noticed when we
walked into her store.  I won’t even pretend to understand, but Tara and
Sierra seemed to take some measure of each other before we even exchanged
greetings.

Tara waved and said invitingly, “Come in the back.”

Sierra let my hand go, and we followed Tara to the
back.  Tara walked over to her counter and held up a bone, it had very
intricate symbols carved into it, and was about eight inches long and maybe a
half inch thick.  It was immediately apparent why she’d needed so much
time.

Tara put it in a box and held it out to Sierra, who took it
carefully.

“Give this to Selene, and then you’ll want one of the
victim’s bodies.  She can then use the same ritual spell that she used
earlier,” she turned her head to me, “Once that’s done, you should be able to
figure out where they are.”

I nodded, “Why does it have to be done through a victim?”

Tara replied, “The connection.  They have a connection
with their victims, the one you followed back to read their past, even if you
couldn’t see their present.  The spell on the bone is precariously
balanced but it should work.  There is air magic to find that connection,
fire magic to trace the air connection, and earth magic to follow the fire,
since it can’t interact with air.  It will follow the same connection your
magic did, and more importantly, carry Selene’s magic with it, which will break
the spell.”

Tara shook her head and smiled, her voice was a mix of
dubiousness and pride, “I had to be creative, since we don’t have anything with
a connection to the pack except the victims’ bodies… but it
should
work,” she stressed the word should, “but it would be much more sure if we had
hair, or some personal item to focus on.  Still, murder leaves a lot of
energy behind, so… it will work.”

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to talk us into it, or
herself, but it was a better chance than no chance at all.

“Thanks Tara, anything else we need to know?”

She shook her head, “Your welcome.  Nothing else to
explain, it will just work, she just needs to hold it while casting her own
spell and it will do all the effort to move her spell to the target
automatically.  Good luck.”

She cleared her throat, “There is one more thing, if it does
work go after them right away, don’t wait.  Their mystic could have them
blocked again in a matter of an hour, or two at most.”

“Alright, we should go, thanks again.”

She just nodded and gave me a parting smile as Sierra and I
turned to go.  We walked over to my apartment where I was pleased to find
the door closed and locked, though I had no idea how my magic had managed that
when we travelled this morning, except I’d been thinking it.  It seemed
like a good place to leave from.

“We should get Selene and go back to the morgue.”

My phone dinged before Sierra could reply and I pulled it
out, and my stomach sank.  I’d flagged news stories on my phone using a
news app, and there was a new one with the headline, coincidence or psychic
intervention?

There was a video of me walking out of the CTA station and
making a phone call, luckily they were zoomed in all the way and Sierra was not
in it.  Then the video jumped ahead and showed the police walking out
Daniel Burns, and there was a little article with a timeline about how the
police got a tip at the exact time I’d made the call after coming out of the
underground station, and then the fugitive was caught and brought out of the
same entry a short time later.

It was purely speculative and most definitely not proof,
especially with the question mark on the article name, but that wouldn’t
matter.  Of course, the report was done by Kira Downs.  Was she
following me, or did they just have a camera at the entrance to the CTA so
they’d break the story fast when Burns was found?  I reached out for the
information and felt relieved that it was the latter, but I still wasn’t happy
about it.  The whole point of sneaking out of there was to avoid this very
situation.

Sierra looked concerned, “We should go, but what’s wrong?”

I handed her the phone in answer.

She snorted when she finished and handed it back, “I
wouldn’t worry about it too much.  The press is too fickle to spend too
much time on a human interest story, something will happen and it will be
yesterday’s news soon enough.”

I nodded, hoping she was right, and put the phone in my
pocket, “You ready?”

In answer she stepped up against me and I wrapped my arms
around her.  Her body felt really good against mine and seemed to fit
there perfectly.

She said softly, “No point in taking any chances,” with a notes
of both teasing amusement and contentment in her musical voice.

I used my ability and aimed for the backyard, near the
fence, keeping in mind to take care of all doors and anything else in the way,
and willed the magic to move us there.  I closed my eyes after a couple of
seconds, it took longer than crossing just a small part of the city, but not
that much longer.  Maybe ten seconds later the sense of movement
stopped.  Not bad for thirty plus miles.

I heard a banging behind me and long run of curse words.

Derik growled, “Next time call ahead.”

Sierra buried her face in my shoulder and started to laugh,
which set me off too…

Friday, May 20
^th
, 2016, 03:21 PM

Sierra, Selene, and I once again found ourselves at the
morgue where Debbie’s body was.  It seemed like I was hitting all the same
places I did yesterday for a second time today, hopefully that wouldn’t include
a visit from Kira Downs.  The article was still bothering me, but even my
power seemed to side with Sierra on this one.  It would pass, the question
was how much damage would be done in the meantime though.

We walked into the building and the same guard was
there.  Selene requested to see her daughter again, but when he brought up
the file he frowned, “I’m sorry, the remains are no longer here.”

Selene glowered, “What do you mean they aren’t here?”

The guard sat back in his chair, intimidated by the slight
woman with no idea why.  I supposed humans could pick up a werewolf’s
predatory nature, he looked confused as if not quite sure why his hind brain
was sending him fight or flight signals.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Williams, but the FBI took over the
case.  They had all the victim’s bodies moved to their own morgue in the
city.  There’s nothing I can do about it ma’am.  The agent in charge
has classified the remains not to be released and under lock and key, so even
if you go there…” he trailed off.

I frowned, I should have checked with my abilities I
suppose, but I never thought…

The phone rang, and the guard picked it up.  After a
moment he looked right at me.

“Are you Ben Edwards?”

I nodded, confused as he handed me the phone and put it up
to my ear, “Hello?”

Agent Kilmer growled, “Edwards, you stay away from my case, or
I’ll take you in for obstruction and bury you in a hole so deep you’ll never
see the sun again, am I clear?”

It really wasn’t clear at all, I was confused, “How did
you…”

Agent Kilmer said, “I knew you were in there yesterday from
the logs, I set up a flag if anyone came back to view the body I’d be
notified.  Don’t screw with me Ben, you’ll regret it,” and he hung up the
phone quite firmly.

Well that was just great, what were we going to do
now?  When we left and got on the road I started explaining.

“Agent Kilmer and I have history, he… really hates me. 
I proved one of his agents were dirty, he seemed okay with it first, but
apparently it ruined his chances for a promotion.  He’ll need to add a lot
of pluses to the column before he has a chance at advancement again. 
Anyway, I’m not sure what we can do now, even with mesmerizing ability I don’t
think it’d be smart to invade the FBI building.”

Selene shook her head angrily, “There has to be something we
can do, we can’t wait until another one of us gets killed because agent Kilmer
is a,” she dropped a few words not polite for company.

I sighed, “I agree, but I don’t know what.  I don’t
suppose Derik kept anything of Karl’s?  Something with a personal
connection?  Tara thought the spell would work even better if we had
something like that.”

She blew out a breath and tried to calm down, “I doubt it,
but my mate doesn’t tell me everything, so we’ll ask when we get back.”

At least I understood why my power didn’t object to making
plans to go to Mike’s tonight.  I wondered if I needed to use my power
more, but did I want to live like that?  Planning every move and
questioning every decision?  I could see myself quickly becoming paranoid,
setbacks happen, it’s not the end of the world.

We got back to the house and went into the backyard. 
Clint and his mate Katie were sitting out with Derik.  I didn’t know where
the rest were, and didn’t go looking either.  I didn’t want to turn into a
total control freak, if there was danger I’d feel it, the rest could come as it
would.  We took a few minutes to update the three of them, and ask about
any personal objects.

Derik shook his head, “No, nothing like that at all. 
When he was banished he took a few things with him, and what he left behind
went in the trash.  As for what we do now, what we’re already doing. 
We stick together, don’t go anywhere alone, and hopefully next time they attack
we’ll get one of them instead.”

I didn’t really like that idea, but I also didn’t have
anything better, so I kept my mouth shut.  We talked for at least an hour,
but mostly went in circles with it, not sure what to do next. 

When it got close to five thirty Sierra squeezed my hand and
headed into the house while the four of us continued to talked ourselves in
circles.  Katie eventually turned the conversation to a new direction.

Katie said, “We could set a trap?”

Derik frowned, “How?”

Katie shrugged, “I’m sure I’d make good bait, I was part of
the original pack and I’m sure he hates me.  Just let me go through my day
alone, with Clint and one or two others following from a distance, maybe a half
mile or so.  I could carry a panic button and tracker.”

Clint growled, “Not a chance.”

Katie shook her head stubbornly, “It makes sense, I’ll be
safe enough, and if they attack with overwhelming numbers I’ll run, I have
enough control over my wolf to do that now.”

Clint rebutted, “If it’s so safe, why not me?”

Katie laughed, “Because Karl respected and feared you and
Derik, he always looked down on me and thought a female enforcer was a bad
joke.  Women have no standing in his eyes or his pack, and he’ll want to
put me down just to put me in my proper place from his point of view.”

Derik shook his head, “I’ll think about it, but I want a
full plan drawn up of the steps we’ll take and contingency planning for every
step.  I don’t like it, but at least that gives us some control, as
opposed to waiting around for him to attack who knows who next.”

Katie nodded and looked very determined.

I’d wondered where Sierra had gone off to, and found out
when she walked back outside.  It was to get that shower she’d wanted
before dinner tonight, but she’d also changed into a black strapless sundress
with red starburst flower designs on it that hugged the curves of her upper
body, and then flared out below her hips.  The hem barely made it past her
mid-thigh and it showed off her shapely firm legs.  She was also wearing
open toe sandals with three inch heels.  She looked stunningly beautiful,
and I was struck speechless.  Luckily no one seemed to notice.

Katie teased, “Hot date tonight?”

Sierra winked playfully, sat down next to me, and claimed my
hand.

“You look amazing,” I said after finally finding my voice.

She smiled at me mysteriously and said thank you.

Katie gave us both a considering look, but didn’t say anything
else about it, and after a moment we all moved on.

We dove back into the conversation, trying to think of
anything that might make using Katie as bait safer.  I pulled in some
magic and tried to pull knowledge of a way to keep an eye on Katie, and protect
her.  Knowledge rushed into me.  I could of course, put a shield of
air around her, but I’d have to be close by to maintain it, there was really no
way to protect her from a distance.

I could however create a ward of sorts.  More like an
alarm than actual protection.  It would make me aware of her health and
state of mind in a general way.  It wouldn’t protect her directly, but I
could get to her location quickly if she was attacked. 

Clint seemed happy with the idea when I suggested it, so we
added it to the list.

It was around six-thirty when we broke up the planning
session, and I set the ward on Katie before Sierra and I left to go back to my
apartment. 

Sierra had an overnight bag with her, I assumed so she’d
have a change of clothes tomorrow. 

I figured out quickly the connection to Katie was more
variable than I had expected, and the strength was dependent on my
thoughts.  I could ignore it, so it was barely a presence in the back of
my mind, and I would only notice if she got angry or upset.  I could also
concentrate on the connection, and not only catch her feelings, but her surface
thoughts as well.

I backed off of that immediately since I wouldn’t violate
Katie, or anyone else in that way, but it gave me other ideas.  I was sure
I could use it to communicate mind to mind, although it wouldn’t be like
Aitheria and I, all the communication would occur in the mind I was connected
to.  I’d have to be careful how I used it, I knew air sorcerers could
invade the mind of another, but I’d never tried to do so before.  I
honestly didn’t want to, but this new connection I’d figured out could be a
boon in certain circumstances.

It could also be used to do horrible things.  I needed
to keep that firmly in mind and not betray my own morality.

I only had a half an hour to get my own shower and shave and
for the two of us to get over to Mike and Jenna’s place, so I moved as quickly
as I could without using magic...