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I grimaced. ‘Thanks for the heads up.’
‘Rain has been known to use poison. I will stay local, very local. In the meantime…’ She turned to my bedside table and painted on a handful of runes, nodding with satisfaction when she’d finished. ‘Lay any food or drink on this table and it will glow green if it has magic in it. If it does, don’t eat or drink it. Call me if you need me sooner.’
I reached out and touched her arm lightly. ‘Thank you so much, Amber. I really am very grateful.’
She graced me with another rare smile. ‘What are friends for?’ She whirled out of the room before I could acknowledge her comment. The woman had issues with emotional intimacy but I could hardly throw stones: I was aware that I had a pathological need to be liked. Even now, knowing I was in danger, I still wanted Elliott to like me. If he could respect me as Queen, life would be a helluva lot easier.
I might even survive the week.
Chapter 26
When I joined the others in the dining room, Greg’s face was grim. ‘What’s up?’ I asked.
‘Rain is here.’
‘So Amber tells me.’
‘He’s not alone. Stephen Isaacs has arrived as well.’
Isaacs was the alpha of the Merseyside pack; being near the heart of the Other realm – Liverpool – his was one of the biggest and most prestigious packs. It was also the one that Ramsay had belonged to before he’d killed himself. The dossier from Greg had portrayed Isaacs as downright evil, like Rain. If I was going to hamstring the patriarchy, I was going to start with those two.
‘There’s more bad news,’ Greg said darkly.
Of course there was. I blew out a breath. ‘Hit me.’
‘The wolf that attacked your brother has been ID’d as Fred Dilner. He was a loner.’
‘What pack was he from originally?’
‘Merseyside.’
‘Fantastic,’ I said flatly.
‘While Fritz was in the system, I had him access the details about the other lone wolves. There are more than thirty. Most of them don’t have a current address, but the Council – Larsden – had hired PIs to find them.’
‘Can we cancel that contract?’
‘I’ve already done so,’ Greg confirmed.
I squeeze his arm in gratitude. The man was nothing if not proactive.
The loners were a real issue – and thirty of them? Ye gods. There used to be one or two wandering around at any one time, but Finley and Daniella had admitted there were many more now. Even so, I hadn’t expected that many. The lone wolves were vulnerable and I couldn’t help thinking that someone was using them as cannon fodder. The question was: were they willing or not? Had my brother’s attacker been blackmailed, bribed or forced into the assault?
We must end this, Esme said grimly. It is not right for so many wolves to be lone.
It must be their choice.
They would not make such a choice if their packs were healthy, if the pack was family as it should be. All this wrongness has grown because of the schism with the Great Pack. It must be undone. The witches’ curse was more evil than we knew, and its effects still ripple through the packs.
I hear you and I agree. But there isn’t a quick solution.
Esme disagreed. There is. Summon them to our pack then they will be safe and secure. They will not be used against us.
We could be inviting in a Trojan horse.
We won’t be inviting in horses, only lone wolves. She sounded exasperated. Honestly, Lucy, sometimes you just don’t listen to me.
I left it alone. I listen to you. How do we summon them?
