“If somebody hadn’t set me on fire, I would’ve.”
“Yes. Fortunate. I should just shoot you now, but-” Nikolai suddenly grimaced, as if in terrible pain. Earl tensed, ready to go for his revolver, but Nikolai’s gun did not waver. The Russian’s face turned red as he rapidly blinked. “I have to know why. Why did you do it? After all these years, why did you break our truce?”
“I didn’t do any-”
Nikolai jerked, the muscles of his face twitching hard. “Shut up!” he shouted, spit flying from his lips. “Shut up!”
“I was trying to answer your question.”
“Not you, idiot,” Nikolai snarled, steadying himself against the railing. “ Him. I asked you a question, Harbinger. Answer me.”
Nikolai’s lost it. “Well, I will if you’d quit yelling,” Earl said, using the calmest voice he had. “Make up your mind.”
Nikolai moved the rifle slightly and blew a hole in the carpet a few inches in front of Earl’s boot. The gun was suppressed, but the sound still made a resounding THUMP in the enclosed space. “No more games. Why did you kill her? She’d done nothing to you.”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Earl said.
“You came all the way to Sklad to rip her apart.”
“Where the fuck is Sklad?”
“It was my home!” Nikolai roared. The next bullet winged Earl’s leg, just barely creasing armor and scratching flesh. Earl flinched. Heather cried out. His minotaur-hide jacket might stop a rifle bullet, but regular Hunter armor wouldn’t. Earl knew the next one was going through something vital. The scratch burned and let loose a thin trickle of blood.
“Never been there, never heard of the place, and I don’t recall going out of my way to kill anybody recently.”
A different sound came out of Nikolai, deep and guttural. “ He lies! ” Then his voice returned to normal. “I told you to shut up!” Then back to deep. “ He’s a trickster. Destroy him! ” Nikolai shook his head. “First, I must know the truth.”
Earl glanced toward Heather. She was more confused than he was. Aino mouthed the word crazy. Earl turned back to Nikolai. “I didn’t come into your territory. You came into mine. I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A scowl creased Nikolai’s face. “He’s telling the truth. But how…how did his scent-the patch. Wait…You wanted me to believe. You lied to me.”
“I’m not lying!”
“I’m not talking to you, Harbinger!” Nikolai was growing increasingly frustrated. “It was a simple trick. I should have seen right through it, but you let me believe. All this time, you clouded my mind, all so you could run free.”
The Russian was erratic, and the crazier he got, the odds of them getting shot grew. “You were lured here. I think we both were. Lower that gun, Nikolai. We’ve got a mutual enemy.”
The Russian’s face contorted. For a moment he appeared to be an entirely different person. Nikolai’s strange, deep voice intruded. “ Harbinger lies! I would never betray you. ”
“I’ve been framed. Can’t you see? We’re both being used. Me, you, and…you. Both of you have been set up.”
“Don’t patronize me. I should kill you where you stand…but you’re telling the truth. You do not have the amulet. I would be able to feel it. In fact…” Nikolai sniffed the air. “Impossible. The wolfsbane must be corrupting our senses. I can smell the female, but I can’t smell you. It’s as if you’re just one of them.”
He knows. Perhaps if he could get Nikolai off guard, he’d have a chance. “Your real enemy used that amulet to remove my curse. I’m only a man. I’m no longer any threat to you, but the other Alpha is. He’s powerful, too powerful, and he’s up to no good. He’s got dark magic and minor Old Ones helping him. Help me stop him, Nikolai. He’s the one that hurt your woman, not me.”
Nikolai went quiet, deep in thought. Standing perfectly still, they waited for nearly a minute. Despite the cold, Earl felt a single bead of sweat roll down his forehead. His arms were starting to quiver from holding them up. Nikolai seemed to breathe again. His next words dripped with weariness. “I know now what I must do.”
Then, with incredible speed, the Russian acted. The sudden movement surprised Earl, but rather than using the rifle, Nikolai tossed it aside as he leapt over the railing. He landed effortlessly, crouched in the living room. Earl’s hands flew downward to snatch a revolver from the ground. Nikolai charged as the Smith amp; Wesson filled his hand, but Earl knew he was too late. His human reaction speeds were too slow. Nikolai was just too fast.
One skeletal hand locked around Earl’s wrist like a vise. Nikolai’s gold-flecked eyes were staring into Earl’s, so close he could smell the Russian’s breath. Yet Nikolai stopped, only inches away. Slowly, Nikolai released Earl’s gun hand and took a step back. The two watched each other, Earl knowing that Nikolai could easily strike him down before he could raise his gun. What’s he doing? Nikolai gave the slightest hint of a nod, like a gunfighter at high noon, and Earl tensed, waiting for the killing blow.
No attack came. Instead, Nikolai bowed.
Earl speed rocked the revolver into position. They were so close he didn’t even need to aim. He drove the muzzle into the top of Nikolai’s skull.
Nikolai spoke, calm for the first time since his arrival in the Alpha’s home. “I yield.”
Finger on the trigger, Earl hesitated. “Huh?”
The tone was humble. “You are the superior werewolf. I submit to the will of your pack.”
“What?” A few more ounces of pressure and Earl would put a silver bullet through the top of his enemy’s head. “What…What are you doing, Nikolai?”
“Surrendering. I challenged and failed. Do with me as you will.”
Dumbfounded, Earl just stared at the man kneeling at his feet. “You miss the part where I’m not a werewolf anymore?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nikolai said, lowering his forehead until it touched the floor. “I need you. I’m not strong enough to hold him much longer. The Tvar, the beast inside me, believes in the old ways. He will follow. He has to. Instinct demands it. You won. We lost. I pledge myself to your pack. Do with me as you will…Kill me, but let me help you find the man that hurt Lila first.”
Clack. Earl thumbed back the hammer of the Smith. Cocking a double-action was a totally unnecessary movement, but it made him feel more confident for some reason. “You’re insane. You had me, and you do… whatever the hell this is?”
There was no response. Plea made, Nikolai waited patiently for his sentencing.
“What’re you waitin’ for?” Aino shouted. “Shoot him, already!”
But for the first time in his life, Earl Harbinger was actually too surprised to kill someone.
Chapter 20
There are many gaps in my memory here, and for once I think I might actually be thankful to Rocky for taking something from me. Some things are better forgotten.
I’d changed and gone out alone, hoping to find his scent, but Nikolai was too clever for that. I happened on some Viet kong setting booby traps. I killed them and then followed their trail back to their base. It wasn’t an armed camp. It was a village.
I can try to justify what happened next. These were the enemy. This was where they lived. There were families here, but it was my enemy’s fault for hiding behind them. This was war. Nikolai shouldn’t have pushed me…But the excuses are hollow. They’re human excuses, human justifications. I was a werewolf, operating on instinct, and I was doing what came naturally.
We found a new note several days later.
Mr. Wolf,
Playtime is over. Now we are getting down to serious business. I have been looking for a suitable challenge,
