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  She decided not to tell Dameon over the phone about everything, and asked him to meet her at Frenchy’s in an hour. He agreed, sounding kind of worried. Throwing her phone on the messy table she lay down on the couch and groaned. They should have been getting ready for the nest raid tonight, instead she was having to deal with a pissed off mother figure and possibly a pissed off Protector. On top of it all she was keeping some of the truth from them both, not that she had anyone to blame but herself.

  She sat up and rubbed her head. No point agonizing over it now, she needed to shower and get ready to meet Dameon. Hopefully, he would understand. But she knew where hoping got her most of the time.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Consider your options and act…”

  Lupa grabbed her bag and headed out. When she got out the front of her building Grey was waiting for her. Fuck. “What do you want?” she snapped, not bothering to stop, forcing Grey to follow her brisk pace.

  “I… I just wanted to apologise. For yesterday. I’m sorry. I… I haven’t been sleeping properly with this whole Brianna mess, it’s really fucking with my head… I just… don’t know what to fucking do… But that’s no excuse for my behaviour. I aint wanna be that kind of fuckhead. I’m sorry, Little Red, please say that you will forgive me.”

  Damn right it was no fucking excuse. She glared over at him, he had his hands stuffed in his pockets and he looked like shit. She sighed. “Yeah ok. You’re forgiven, but don’t you ever touch me like that again. And Slasher knows. You’ll probably be reprimanded.”

  Grey nodded and stopped. She paused too and faced him. “Thanks. For listening. You didn’t have to… you seen anymore of Bree?”

  “No. You?”

  “No, nothing. Which… I dunno if it is a good thing or not,” he ran a hand through his black curls, “Least if I saw her I could let the Commander know and she could be picked up or something… but not knowing where she is… if she’s watching me… it’s fucked.”

  Lupa found herself feeling kind of sorry for him. Kind of. Maybe she’d been wrong to suspect he might have been lying to her. He was pale with dark circles under his eyes, his shirt looked dirty, his hair looking unwashed… he really did look like shit.

  “Yeah, I can get that. Put any wards on your house?”

  “Nah… hadn’t thought about it… hey, you wanna go get a drink?”

  “I can’t, Grey, I’m going to meet Dameon right now, I didn’t come outside for a fucking stroll, you know.”

  Grey nodded and looked down the street. “Ok… maybe later?”

  She resisted the urge to sigh again, just barely, “Maybe. Call me later. We’ll see. But I gotta move. Go get some sleep Grey, you look like you need it. Go to HQ and see if you can sleep there.”

  Grey nodded and put his head down. She wasn’t sure if she should say anything more… fuck it. Lupa shrugged and walked off, she couldn’t babysit him, she had shit to do. Like possibly getting yelled at for taking a drug with a drug lord’s associate without telling Dameon, and for not informing him straight away about a wolfblood attacking her in her own damn apartment.

  She got to Frenchy’s, but couldn’t see Dameon, so grabbed herself a coffee and sat down. The coffee was shit, but she couldn’t really give a fuck right now.

  “Hey,” Dameon sat down across from her, “What’s wrong?”

  “Who said anything was wrong?” Lupa asked, lighting a smoke.

  “My Gran. And you sounded funny on the phone.”

  “What did your Gran say?” Lupa felt nervous now. Shit. What had she said? Surely she wouldn’t have…

  “Not much, just that she was worried about you. Now, what’s wrong?”

  Lupa sighed and started telling him about the agreement to try the pills with Sledge, she noticed Dameon’s eyes weren’t quite looking at hers while she talked, and that he was visibly resisting the urge to say anything. She went on to tell him about Grey, and about the wolfblood, then about her actual experience with the drug. When she finished, Dameon was red in the face.

  “Grey grabbed you? A wolfblood attacked you in your fucking house? Shit, why didn’t you fucking call me?” He didn’t sound angry at her, just… angry. At least she hoped…

  “I don’t know. Sledge was there, I guess I figured I’d tell you today, not like you could do anything then and there anyway…”

  “Could have gone and beaten the shit outa Grey! Could have come round and… well… helped you. Been there for you. Aint I supposed to do that?”

  “I’m telling you now.”

  Dameon took a deep breath and looked at her. He rubbed his thumb along his chin and finally nodded. “So… taking the pill was not a good idea then?”

  “I don’t really know. I didn’t think it would… you know, make power come out of me. In a fighting situation I’m sure it’d be useful… but I don’t know whether it’s worth the risk really… did you wanna try it?”

  “Fuck no!” he startled like she’d asked him to… oh. Right.

  “Sorry.” She reached out and touched his hand. “Look… I know I probably should have called you and talked to you about the pills and the wolfblood and Grey and everything but… I dunno, I was caught up in the moment and shit…”

  “Yeah… I get it. Just… shit. I dunno.” He shook his head, “When Gran said she was worried about you, I felt sick. She said it in as such a way that I knew she knew something, that maybe the Sight had told her something. I was freaking out. And so much happened yesterday… and you didn’t even think of me… y’know? We are supposed to be in this together.”

  “Of course we are, we’re bonded, we’re always in this together.” She smiled at him, feeling shitty for lying to him. But what the fuck else was she supposed to do?

  “Know any more about when we’ll be raiding the nest?” Dameon asked, lighting a smoke and leaning back.

  Good. He seemed relaxed now. That hadn’t been too bad. She was sure he had more that he wanted to say, but he hadn’t blasted her. Good enough. “Not yet. Slasher wants to see me this afternoon. No doubt to tell me off for not telling her about shit yesterday. Then maybe I’ll find something out? I don’t know. She might have heard from Hammer too.”

  Dameon nodded, “If the wolfbloods are still there after tonight, do you think we will attack tomorrow?”

  “I honestly don’t know… I mean… if more come over from Serum then we would need a lot more witches involved. Depending on how many come over… we could be putting people at risk tonight even. I just don’t know hey…”

  Dameon leaned forward and thumbed his chin for a moment, she felt like smacking his hand away but didn’t. “What if we still went tonight? Couldn’t the Commander in Serum put up a blockade or something up on their side? We could get more people involved too…”

  Lupa thought about it. It could work. Unless the wolfbloods were already in Black City. But if they weren’t… the wolfbloods in Blackwater wouldn’t be expecting it. They would think they’d have reinforcements coming…

  “That’s a good idea. We should go ask Slasher about it.”

  “Now?”

  “May as well. You drive?”

  Dameon nodded and they got up, his van was parked on the street. Lupa realised she hadn’t been in his vehicle before. He had dragon seat covers and a disco ball. She giggled and hopped in, Dameon giving her an odd look as he started the engine. She looked away deciding not to say anything. Hey, his car, his rules…

  ⃝

  Slasher had seen them straight away, and Lupa was grateful she didn’t seem to be pissed at her. Or if she was, she wasn’t saying anything in front of Dameon. Slasher sat with a finger pressed to her lip while she considered Dameon’s idea.

  “It could work. But I just don’t think it’s worth the risk. I spoke to Hammer this morning, it doesn’t seem that the wolfbloods have left the nest, which makes me nervous. If they know we are coming, why have they stayed? For all we know they have more wolfblood groups around ready to ambush us. I
t’s a good idea, Hawk, but I think it’s just too risky at this stage. Too many factors we are unsure about.”

  Dameon and Lupa nodded. Lupa was a little bit disappointed, but Slasher had a good point. At least they had tried.

  “But, I am hoping to attack Sunday evening. I thought about doing it tomorrow night, but I would like some more information from Hammer’s surveillance first. If we have tonight’s and tomorrow night’s footage we should be fully prepared. As long as we don’t have any more wolfbloods show up, or the existing nest split, the plan should go ahead.”

  “Have you seen the footage from last night?” Lupa asked.

  “Not yet, he’s given me a pretty detailed account though, but he’ll be dropping a copy to me tomorrow along with tonight’s footage. Then again Sunday morning with tomorrow night’s footage.”

  Slasher tapped her finger on the desk, staring out of her office window. The clouds were crowding the sky again. More fucking rain was heading for them. “Hawk.” Slasher said finally, “I wonder if you wouldn’t mind giving me a moment alone with Little Red?”

  Dameon glanced over at Lupa quickly, then stood up and bowed. Leaving the room and closing the door gently behind him. Fuck. Lupa braced herself for the motherly ‘talk’ about her behaviour or whatever else.

  “Lupa… I’m worried about you,” Slasher looked at her with serious eyes, “I know that you feel like you owe Hammer something for him helping us. But I worry you are becoming… too involved with him and his people. They aren’t to be trusted. You know that, right?”

  Shit. “Course I do. But while we are-”

  “I’m not finished. I’ve done a bit of looking into Sledge. I can’t find much, there is nothing official on record for him, but from what I did find, it’s not good. He’s a very brutal man, Lupa, he’s killed people for Hammer. He’s killed people, and wolfbloods. And you know that’s saying something. He’s not a kind or a compassionate man. He’s an enforcer for a drug dealer. I don’t think you should be having him in your home. Especially with so much uncertainty going on about… everything really.”

  Lupa tried to keep her face as blank as possible. She knew Slasher was just looking out for her. That she was doing the mother thing. But it wasn’t her life. Fuck. Slasher didn’t know him, didn’t know his ability; didn’t know he was just like herself. Fucked up by both parents. Lupa couldn’t tell her that, but shouldn’t she just fucking trust her? Slasher probably didn’t even care he’d saved her life, she just cared about what she could find on him. So what if he worked for Hammer, he hadn’t hurt her, he hadn’t… fuck it.

  “I know.” Was all she decided to say.

  “Be careful, Little Red,” Slasher gave her a small smile, which Lupa returned. But it was a lie. Another fucking lie.

  “I will. I am. He’s just been in the right place at the right time. But I will be careful. Don’t worry about me. I am an adult now, you know.”

  “I know, hun, just with everything going on around you at the moment… you’re vulnerable. And I don’t want anyone taking advantage of that. Whether that’s to do with Hammer, or Brianna, or Grey…”

  Lupa nodded. She had a point, from the outside it looked like the people around her were all pretty dangerous to her well-being right now. “What has happened with Grey?” Lupa asked, hoping to shift the focus.

  “Dungeon duty for the week. Have you seen him?”

  “Yeah, he came and apologised to me this morning… he looks like shit.”

  “You’re absolutely right there. I’ve told him to stay at HQ until Brianna is dealt with. I’ve given him one of the apartments that need a security code as well as a security key to get into. Brianna shouldn’t be able to get to him there. And if she does, we can capture her. Her father is pretty anxious to have this dealt with, although from the way he was speaking, it has more to do with his image than her mental stability… anyway, that’s my problem. You better go before Dameon thinks I’ve killed you. I’ll call later?”

  “Ok. Bye, Slasher.”

  Slasher stood and kissed her forehead, giving her that look that made Lupa feel like a right shit for not telling her adopted mother everything. But she just gave her a quick hug and left. Dameon stood as she came out, opening the door back to the hallway for her.

  “How was it?” he asked once they were a fair way down the deep purple halls.

  “Not as bad as I thought. She told me off, but… it wasn’t too bad.”

  Lupa couldn’t tell him Slasher was worried about Sledge being in her home. Dameon would agree, and then she might have to start keeping even more shit from him. Fuck. She didn’t like this shit one bit… but she couldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t understand. Not really.

  Dameon opened the door leading outside. It was fucking raining again, and damned heavy as well, just their luck. They stood in the doorway watching and hoping it might ease soon.

  “Hey, Hawk… I might stay here a bit,” Lupa said.

  Dameon gave her a strange look, “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I think I might go down to the library and look up some… stuff.”

  Dameon nodded, “Ok, I will talk to you later?”

  “Yeah. See ya.” She opened the door back up and went inside and stood against the cool wall, waiting for him to leave.

  ⃝

  She hoped Dameon hadn’t seen Sledge’s-or was it Hammer’s?- car waiting out the front when he left. She was in the car now with Sledge heading to the drug building. Apparently he wanted to hear firsthand about her experience with the pill she had taken, and now. She played with the edge of her shirt as they were pulling into the warehouse behind Hammer’s. She wanted to say something, Sledge was still being... odd.

  “Slasher doesn’t want me to let you come round anymore,” she blurted. Fuck. Not what she wanted to say. “She thinks it’s unsafe. She’s been looking into you…” Couldn’t keep her fat mouth shut, could she?

  “Yeah?” Sledge stopped the car and glanced over to her, then quickly looked away again. “Thinkin’ you gonna do that?”

  “No… I just… maybe don’t come to headquarters and wait for me. She’ll recognise this car.”

  Sledge nodded and got out, opening her door for her. Shit. She really wasn’t doing this right. She got out and stood staring at her feet. “I don’t want to stop you coming around. I wanna know more about… you… and like… how you’re like me.” She looked up at him, catching him watching her before he glanced away.

  “Thinkin’ I like that idea. Come on. Hammer wantin’ to see you.”

  He strode off to the door and opened it for her, she felt like a damn idiot. Whatever. This time he came in with her, stepping into the room with the jukebox. Lupa sat down on the couch while Sledge went and grabbed them both a beer. Handing her one he looked at the couch, and how much room there wasn’t, and decided to lean up against the wall.

  “My dear Little Red wolf witch,” Hammer entered the room, kissing her hand and sitting next to her, “How wonderful to see you. How are you feeling after your adventure with Gift?”

  “Gift?” She looked at Hammer with her eyebrow raised.

  “It is what we are calling our marvellous little magick pill. Although, from what I have now heard, I doubt I shall be sharing it with anyone at this stage… and you are feeling?”

  “I feel ok. Slept a while though. Haven’t slept like that in… a while.” She took a long drink from her beer and lit a smoke. She felt uncomfortable with both Hammer and Sledge staring at her.

  “And Sledge tells me you saw through my veil over his… abilities. Can you disclose how that appeared to you? Are you aware of how it lifted?”

  “Well…” Lupa tried to think, but it hadn’t been like anything lifting, it had just been… there, “I don’t recall there being anything like that. It was like… one moment Sledge was just a regular human sitting next to me, and the next I could feel his magick and… and his wolfblood. Like… like I should have sensed it all along. There was no defining moment that I
noticed.”

  She glanced over to Sledge, who quickly looked away when she caught his eye. What she wasn’t saying, was she could still see him. As he really was. As a fucking wolfblood-witch like her. She let her eyes wander back to Hammer who was smiling at her.

  “Well, it is certainly an intriguing development. I was unaware that it had the ability to see through magick. I certainly shall not be sharing Gift with anyone at this stage. Although, I do wonder… I did test this on several of my people holding magick. Not one of them noticed Sledge, nor did they notice my own true powers… how did you find the rest of the experience?”

  Hammer gracefully stood up and fetched himself a drink. Leaning against the bar instead of sitting back down next to her. Now she really felt uncomfortable, two men standing while she felt small and scrutinised on the couch alone.

  “It was… interesting. I had too much power to contain though. It felt like it could fucking leap out of me at any moment. Shit, it would have had Sledge not been there to help… I could feel everything. The way the air moved around my body, the way it touched my hair and my skin… I tried to let my power seep down the wall and into the earth but… it didn’t really work for long…”

  “Would you try it again, little wolf witch? Would you come and experience it with me so that we may see if you can accomplish seeing my own power? And if we could find a way for you to perhaps… channel the power more efficiently?”

  Lupa opened her mouth to respond, then shut it quickly. Did she really want to try Gift again? And what the fuck was she going to do with all that power this time? Or… was that what he was hoping? Fuck.

  “Maybe… can I think about it?”

  “Ah, little wolf witch, you may think as long as your tormented mind wishes, do not feel obligated to engage in this little idea of mine, for I would not wish to subject you to such an ordeal should you choose not to.”

  Yeah right. Except she fucking owed him. And if he decided that her being his little lab rat would be payment then she couldn’t fucking say a thing, she had agreed to owe him something she could do. And that was something she could; if he so wanted. Shit. She just gave him a smile and took another sip of her beer.