Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  In other words, it was time to fuck shit up.

  “Disrespectfully, they belong to my pack.” I spoke with a heavy tone of authority.

  The Alpha froze, cocking his wolf head at me, intelligence brimming behind cruel eyes.

  “You are about to be eaten, slowly, by my entire pack.” He looked amused. “I’ll grant you this last farce.”

  I obliged him. “I have a pack of spirit wolves. They belong to the many wolves I have killed over the years. Having tasted my victory, they bowed down to my power and chose to follow me from the spirit realm. They are my constant companions.” Without moving, I simultaneously cast several spells at once, all relatively small in power, but frighteningly effective nonetheless. No one noticed, which was the point. The spells drifted around the clearing like knives on velvet, patiently awaiting my next command. The snow continued, masking our confrontation from any nearby spectators, which was good. Things might get dicey.

  The Alpha waited for a count of two, then he began to laugh. For a long time. His pack slowly began to mimic him with anticipatory growls, but only after a few seconds of silent wariness. They were leery. Of my words or their Alpha? “You expect me to believe that you have a pack of spirit wolves protecting you? I’ve never heard of such a thing. You are trying to scare my six bravest warriors, but it won’t work.” He held up a hand for silence. His pack complied.

  But a sudden yip split the night and I slowly smiled.

  “Five.” I said softly.

  The Alpha turned to see who had caused the noise, then back to me. “What?”

  “There seems to be only five of your warriors left.”

  The Alpha’s shoulders tensed as he counted his remaining wolves through the now rapidly falling snow. One was indeed missing. “What is the meaning of this? Did he run away?” He asked his pack. One of the wolves whined, as if fearful of telling his Alpha the truth, but also suddenly terrified of the white night surrounding us like a snow globe.

  The Alpha pointed at Othello. “Take her!”

  I activated another of the sentinel spells, allowing the whining wolf to scream in agony before my next spell camouflaged his now unconscious body. A gunshot filled the night and another wolf dropped, wounded in the rear leg, yowling pityingly in the falling snow. Everyone froze. Othello was a good shot. She smiled at the Alpha, licking her lips. “Three warriors.”

  He growled, taking a threatening step towards her. “Easy.” I spoke soothingly. “You don’t want a repeat of the bar last night. I didn’t kill your wife. Look me in the eyes and see for yourself. We only just arrived.”

  The Alpha glared back with hatred, his mindless rage threatening to take control. I knew this wasn’t about rationality anymore. His mate had been killed.

  This was absolution.

  For a loved one.

  I get it. I had resided in that endless, eternal swamp for the past few months now.

  “I swear on my power as a wizard that I didn’t kill her. I came here to help. Having known it was your pack I might not have made the trip. If I’m being perfectly honest.”

  The lieutenant cautiously came trotting back towards us from the fence where he had been lying since the Alpha had backhanded him. “Sir. It’s true. The wizard only just arrived. I was on lookout at the street. Although having taken three of your wolves, I’d say it’s fair that we kill them anyway.” He added with a growl, counting the rest of the pack.

  The Alpha was panting heavily. Other than that sound, we stood in a vacuum of silence. I could even hear the snow hitting the ground. “Get out. Before I change my mind.” He rasped.

  I nodded politely at him, urging Othello to stick close. No sudden movements around bloodthirsty werewolves. “Thank you.” Once safely out of the perimeter of wolves I hesitated near the Alpha, watching cautiously as his muscles quivered with impotent fury. Out of respect, I didn’t meet his eyes, but I kept my spells handy just in case. “I don’t work with Demons. I will find the monster responsible for this and make him pay. It seems no one else is willing to protect this city. Even my own kind.” I spat into the snow, and reached out a hand. The Alpha appraised me silently before finally reaching out a clawed hand. His grip was in no way friendly, but at least it was there.

  “This doesn’t make us friends, but I’ll owe you one if you make him suffer.”

  I smiled darkly at him. “That’s my specialty. Your packmates are alive and well. You’ll find them after sunrise.” I had set the camouflage and sleeping spells to dissipate at dawn. He nodded at me with unexpected relief and… respect, like a fencer acknowledging a worthy opponent.

  Then Othello and I left.

  Chapter 20

  I thought you were bonkers when you had me add those boots to our gear. They’re supposed to be for hiking, in order to deter lurking beasts or hunters from a campsite.” Othello shook her head in disbelief as she carefully exited the snow-covered highway.

  “It wasn’t just the boots. The boots in combination with an unexplainable disappearance of their comrade is what did it. You’ll find that the best way to survive is to cause doubt or fear in your enemy. If you can instill that emotion, it stays with them in the back of their minds, always ready to be the first answer to the next unexplainable event that goes wrong. People will believe anything if they are afraid that it might be true.” Thank you for that, Terry Goodkind, I thought to myself with a tip of my mental hat. “You just have to cause the doubt.”

  “Yeah, but they were only rubber paw prints on the soles of our boots. You would think a werewolf would know the difference. Or that they could smell the difference.”

  “That’s why I told them they were from spirit wolves. It compounded their fear even more. They didn’t know how to disprove it. Would a spirit wolf have a smell? Would spirit wolves steal a body entirely? Who knows? That’s why I had us click off the paw print extensions before we stopped. It would have been pretty obvious if the prints ended exactly where we were standing, and then if we moved during the fight they would immediately realize it was a bluff.”

  She stared at me for a moment. We were at a red light. “You think that far in advance?”

  I shrugged. “I guess so. Being a wizard means that you have to think on the fly a lot and deal with the cards you’ve got. I didn’t know the boots would be helpful at all. I heard your guys talking about their unique feature, and unique features can always be exploited.” I waved her on as the light turned green. “Also, it’s cold as balls outside and my sneakers wouldn’t have kept me that warm in the snow, so I opted for us to change boots.”

  She chuckled, mumbling to herself as she accelerated again. The car grew silent, the cheer slowly fading. We hadn’t actually accomplished anything worth celebration. We had in fact failed to stop the Demon, and had in turn been framed by the Angel or whatever that thing had been. Had it been one of the Nephilim? My thoughts drifted as I tried to come up with a new game plan. “So. What happened to the wolves? Did you really kill them?”

  I shook my head. “I disappeared them… after injuring them significantly and knocking them unconscious. When they wake up and reappear at dawn it will make me look even more mysterious. Which is a good thing in my world. Mystery keeps enemies on their toes.”

  “Okay. That makes me feel better. I didn’t want to kill mine either. I mean, I would have, but it didn’t feel right. They thought we were murderers. Why would the Angel do that to us? Aren’t they supposed to be the good guys?” She asked nervously.

  I shrugged helplessly. “I’m beginning to find that there aren’t really any good guys in this race. The Angels think I’m consorting with the Demons, so they figured they could get the wolves to take me out and keep their wings clean. The Demons just want the Key, as do my own people. No matter who I look at, everyone is making this harder than it needs to be.”

  “Well… you’re a good guy, Nate.” I didn’t answer. The silence grew. “Right?”

  “As good as I can be, I guess.” I muttered, wonde
ring exactly what I was. Was the Academy truly deserving of control over the Armory? Was I being petty? Greedy? Were my actions causing the equivalent of a nuclear arms race? Was I more worthy of being in charge of such power? I didn’t know. “I’m trying to be anyway. I won’t let anything happen to my people, or the people of my city.”

  That seemed to satisfy her, but she looked way too thoughtful for my comfort, as if gaining moral fortitude from my words. Whatever helped her cope, I guess.

  We finally parked in back of the safe house. We opened our car doors and stepped out. The snow had ceased during our drive, but was still at least a few inches deep. We shambled upstairs and into the shabbier of the two bedrooms — mine — peeling out of our wet clothes before hanging them to dry. We got ready for bed and Othello sat beside me on the dirty old mattress that lay on the floor. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

  I had a vague idea, but I was too tired to discuss the Armory with her right now, anticipating the horde of obvious questions that would follow. “Maybe I’ll come up with one after some rest. One thing I do know, we’re going to need to use that artifact to hunt down another Demon. Then use him to find the summoner. He’s the one calling the shots. Shut him down, and we can shut the rest of the Demons down. Hopefully that will even get rid of this mark on my dome. Then I kill the Greater Demon who killed my parents. That’s all I ever wanted to do in the first place, to find my parents’ murderer. The Greater Demon we met might have done the deed, but the summoner put him up to it. It had nothing to do with Peter’s robbery. I have to take the summoner out. Then I can confront the Academy and try to talk my way out of this curse. And if I can shut the summoner down, perhaps the Angels will realize I’m not a bad guy.”

  Othello frowned. “Explain that part for me. You’ve been cursed? By your own people? And that’s supposed to encourage you to comply with their demands to give up a gift your parents left you? A gift that cost them their lives? Why would the Academy do that to you?”

  I nodded with a shrug. “Yes. They’re scared. I’ve got…” I thought about it briefly, “Two more days before my magic is gone entirely. If not sooner. They want the Armory that my parents discovered. They think I’m reckless and a danger to society. So they cursed me and told me that if I managed to wipe out the Demons and give them my parents’ secret they would remove the curse. I’m not sure if I trust them with it though. I’m not even sure exactly what my parents’ discovered, but the Demons want it too, or at least the summoner does. It’s why they were killed. What started this whole mess. Then the Angels want me to stay out of it entirely.”

  “Kill them.” She hissed defiantly.

  I blinked heavily lidded eyes. “Excuse me?”

  “The Academy. Kill them. They deserve it. Taking the power you need to win away from you, and then promising to give it back if you can perform a miracle and take out Angels and Demons on both sides. Only to be rewarded by getting back the magic that is rightfully yours in exchange for giving up something else that is rightfully yours. That’s insanity. That Gavin guy seemed all right, but he’s blindly following their orders. I don’t think men like that can be trusted with what your parents discovered. Especially if it’s dangerous. You should just kill them. All.”

  I blinked at her. “That would only increase my problems. Then I would be a fugitive from the regular police as well as every wizard in the world. You don’t murder the police. That’s what these guys are. That’s why Gavin is keeping tabs on me, making sure I don’t make a deal with the devil. I have to somehow prove that I’m not a bad guy.”

  “With your hands tied.” She spat.

  I sighed in agreement, nodding. “It’s the only way now. I wish it were different too, but it’s the cards I’ve been dealt. There’s no use whining about it. It’s either sink or swim. When you find yourself knee-deep in shit, don’t sit there complaining about it. Start walking.”

  She chuckled softly before bending over to kiss my temple, careful of my scar. “We’ll figure it out, Nate. Don’t worry. I’m not leaving you.” She looked torn, but perhaps that was simply because she still cared for me and I hadn’t reciprocated her romance. I kept my face stoic, hating the pain it was causing her. I couldn’t bring up Indie right now. Othello stood and walked away from the mattress, shutting the door quietly behind her.

  “Good night,” I said softly, before closing my eyes.

  Chapter 21

  W e entered the vast, office complex of Temple Industries; the heat blasting over us like a warm blanket as we walked through the front door. It felt pleasant after the weather outside. The snow hadn’t picked back up, but it hadn’t melted either, and the mass of humanity swarming St. Louis for Mardi Gras had put the snow plows in a bit of a pickle. We had slept the day away, utterly exhausted after fighting almost until dawn. It was afternoon, and I could almost feel the daylight slipping away.

  I had wanted to make sure that our visit would be discreet in the event that the police or FBI was keeping tabs on the building. So, I had very sneakily dressed up like an accountant, wearing heavy framed glasses, khakis, and a short-sleeved dress shirt. With a pocket. The coat I wore was too small and only added to the ridiculous nerdy vibe I was putting off. I hated it, plucking at the threads as if they were a straightjacket.

  “Stop fidgeting. You look nice.” Othello nudged my shoulder with a grin.

  “Yeah. As if I had never seen a girl before.”

  “Innocent. Just the way I like them.” She winked suggestively.

  “Not how I recall it.” I answered instinctively, falling into our old flirtatious habits way too easily. I adjusted my dress shirt and then the glasses to cover up my knee-jerk reaction. Othello noticed with a content grin. I ignored her. It felt odd walking into the impressive castle that was Temple Industries, knowing that all my assets were frozen and that I was more cash poor than anyone that currently worked for me. It was…

  Humbling.

  I had only the small assortment of bills buried in the back of my wallet, the pile of plastic cards utterly useless to me now. Was this what life was like for everyone else?

  We encountered a guard who briefly touched his service piece before I took off the glasses and he recognized me. He did a double take, eyes widening in confusion, and then a scowl. I tapped my finger to my lips for silence, hoping he understood my meaning to keep my presence a secret from any outside curiosity — like the police. But his confusion only seemed to increase, as did his scowl. He muttered into his earpiece, no doubt to give a heads up to the other guards in a hopefully discreet way. I couldn’t afford to have the guards on alert. Othello looked highly uncomfortable. The guard nodded curtly and continued on his rounds. That was weird. Had I pissed him off at some point in the past? After a few minutes, we reached Greta’s desk outside my office. She scowled at me with a no-nonsense look designed to deter outsiders.

  “It’s me, Greta.” I spoke, watching her face morph into recognition. “We’ll just be a few minutes.”

  Her eyes grew judgmental, no doubt assuming that I was cheating on Indie with the svelte woman beside me. “You were kidnapped.” She said bluntly. “It’s all over the news.”

  “Yeah. About that…” I began.

  “Is this your kidnapper? Are you under duress?”

  “Not yet.” Othello quipped, to Greta’s shock.

  I held up a hand. “Everything is fine, Greta. I’m just showing an old friend around the company. She’s an avid technology student. I was going to show her our drone program.” I belted off the first thing I could think of. Greta appraised me, her arthritic hand on the telephone as if to call for backup. “I promise.”

  “The FBI froze the corporate accounts. Payroll was halted. You need to fix it. I was supposed to buy groceries tonight. What sinful acts have you committed to attract such attention?”

  I blinked at her, ignoring the last question. The guard’s scowl suddenly made more sense. No one had been paid thanks to me. Then I arrive at with a smoki
ng hot girl beside me as if nothing was wrong. And then I silently asked him to do me a favor. I hadn’t truly considered the long-term consequences of them freezing my accounts. After all, my home, Chateau Falco, was held in trust, and the earned interest on the investments in that trust paid for any and all maintenance expenses she incurred — like taxes, utilities, food, etc. You know, the things that make a house a home. I’d never thought about what it might mean to my employees. “Um. I don’t think the FBI is going to allow me to circumvent their freeze. Especially since I am being ransomed.”

  “You don’t look like you are being ransomed. You look perfectly fine, although dressed more respectfully than normal. You look like a nice young boy for once. A nice young boy who shouldn’t be entertaining pretty women while you are considered missing, and while your girlfriend is out of town.” Othello stiffened. “Should I be concerned? Is the company going to be shut down? Even if you don’t need the money, we do. We consider this company a second home. It’s how we pay for our bills. You know, those pesky things that regular people have to concern themselves with. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

  I stared at her. Really? Right now. “Greta. Everything is fine. Just a big misunderstanding. I’m trying to get it resolved as we speak. But I can’t remove the freeze on the accounts. I’m supposed to be missing.”

  “Like I said, you look perfectly fine to me. Is your entertaining a pretty young woman more important than the welfare of your employees? Ashley wouldn’t allow it if she was here.”

  I stammered. “I know. I’m trying to get it fixed. Some bad people are after me and are attacking the company to get to me.”

  “Yet here you stand, completely healthy, with a pretty young girl, walking into your own company, dressed respectfully for once, to show her our… drone program.” Greta hissed, doubt obvious in her tone.

  I groaned. “Greta…”

  “I almost ripped our poor intern to shreds when I saw what he had done with our Savior’s Cross. Move it back into your office or I’ll call the police right now. Also, I think I’ll make today a half day since the owner refuses to take care of his employees. Double pay.”