Caged, page 13
Blake and Sonar stood on either end of the hall, making sure no one got too curious and wandered toward the therapy rooms. I hadn’t even noticed they’d left the office. Blake took one look at the dark cloud over Liam’s face and pivoted to let the alpha pass. Sonar barked, then bolted after us.
“I thought Ruth told St. John to hide,” Peasblossom hissed.
I didn’t bother to shush her. It didn’t matter. “Well, apparently he’s going to sniff him out.”
“If he attacks St. John, are you going to stop him?” Peasblossom whispered.
Blake tensed and shot me a warning look. I ignored him.
“I can’t,” I answered, keeping my voice low. “This is pack business. What’s more, it’s family business. If a member of the pack believes I can be of help, they’ll ask.”
Ruth threw a glare over her shoulder. I guessed she’d have to be near death before she asked for my help. Probably not even then, if Liam was around. Sonar didn’t acknowledge what I’d said at all, but Blake gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Interesting.
Liam unlocked the door to St. John’s quarters and flung it open. I stayed in the hallway and let the wolves go inside, not wanting to be in the way.
“I’m going in!”
I had no time to stop Peasblossom. There was no click of the grappling gun to warn me. One second she was on my shoulder, and the next she was falling through the air to land smack dab in the middle of Sonar’s back.
The shifter in German Shepard glamour gave a lupine yelp of surprise and bolted forward. She crossed the threshold before Liam, drawing a startled grunt from the alpha.
The sizzle of magic made the hairs on my arms stand up. “Stop!”
Liam froze. Blake jerked to attention, scanning up and down the hallway before angling his body to protect his alpha.
“What is it?” Liam demanded.
“Yvette!” Blake shouted.
I blinked at him, my brain struggling to process everything that was going on. Who was he talking to?
He moved forward then, and I held out a hand. “Don’t go inside yet!”
Frustration tightened Blake’s features, and he didn’t take his eyes off the room. I followed his stare, and my heart skipped a beat.
Sonar lay on the floor, unconscious. Her body trembled, and some part of my brain realized she must have shifted back to human form. The dog glamour held, though, so she looked the same. Peasblossom lay on the floor a foot in front of Sonar’s head where she’d apparently tumbled over after Sonar came to an abrupt stop.
“Peasblossom, are you all right?” I called out, hoping I didn’t sound as panicked as I felt.
The pixie stumbled to her feet, shaking her head. Then she scowled. “What was that?”
My shoulders fell in sharp relief. “St. John had some sort of spell attached to the threshold.”
“What?” Ruth asked. “He’s not a magic user.”
“He could have had someone else do it. Or, if he took the time to learn, his ex could have taught him something. You said she was a witch, yes?”
“Is she all right?” Blake snapped. “Can I go inside?”
“Just give me a second.” I looked around the doorframe, but there were no obvious symbols carved into the wood. I looked down. “There it is.”
All eyes focused on me as I knelt to inspect a line of greenish yellow powder that traced the threshold on the inside of the doorway. I called my magic and sent a silver tendril to poke at the line. Gold glittered back at me.
“It’s a home invasion defense spell. Basically, it zaps the first person to cross the threshold.” I looked up at Liam. “It should have been you.”
“Will she be all right?” Blake shifted from one foot to the other, obviously fighting the urge to throw caution to the wind and rush in to save his partner.
“Sorry. Yes, she’ll be fine. The spell isn’t particularly strong, it’s just a shock. Sonar’s heartbeat was already racing because Peasblossom startled her, that’s probably what pushed her over the edge, but she should wake up—”
A low growl from inside the room tickled my ears. I cleared my throat. “See? She’s fine.” I held a finger close to the trail of dust, then sent a pulse of warm, golden energy outward. There was a short buzzing tingle against the tip of my finger, then the spell broke. I darted to Peasblossom and snatched her up before Sonar could recall what had put her in her current predicament.
“Get her to her room, make sure she’s okay,” Liam told Blake.
He didn’t have to tell him twice. Blake grabbed a blanket from the couch against the right hand wall, then walked to Sonar and wrapped her up before lifting her in his arms. The dog glamour shivered and fell away as he walked out the door, and I just barely caught a glimpse of long brown hair the color of sunlight on tree bark.
Liam’s phone rang, breaking the silence. He answered it absently, his gaze already roving over the apartment for signs of any more traps. “Osbourne.” He stiffened. “Where are you?” He listened, then lowered the phone, pressing a button as he did so. “You’re on speaker phone. Now tell me where you are.”
“I’m somewhere beyond your reach,” St. John’s voice said. “For the moment.”
“Get back here, we need to talk.” Liam’s voice was less than comforting.
“I think perhaps it would be better for me to have some space between us,” St. John said dryly. “Especially considering you’ve let yourself into my room without my permission. I assume to look for clues to where I went? You won’t find any.”
“You can’t hide forever,” Liam said, his voice sounding almost normal. “You’ll never get out of the building, and alum or not, you can’t hide from all of us. You might as well come back now. We need to talk. You’re only making it worse for yourself by hiding like this.”
“It would seem Ruth doesn’t agree. She’s the one who told me to run.”
Liam glared at Ruth. If he’d looked at me like that, I might have suddenly remembered I’d left the stove on at home. Ruth didn’t flinch.
“Get back here,” Liam said, visibly trying not to crush his phone. “Now.”
“I’m not a member of your pack,” St. John said, the first hint of anger in his voice. “Don’t order me around.”
“You’re part of my pack until you choose another,” Liam growled. “Until then, you’ll do what I tell you to.”
“Maybe I have chosen another pack,” St. John said, his voice taking on a hint of smug satisfaction.
Liam’s free hand closed into a fist. “So you knew about Brenna’s plan. Was it her idea or yours?”
“Neither. Stephen wanted to start a new pack. A pack where he wouldn’t be your slave, where he and Emma could be together without worrying that you would step in and tear them apart again. Brenna understood his need for a safe place to start a family, so she helped him.”
“Whose idea was it to turn Paul?” Liam asked quietly. “Who else has she turned?”
“Paul?” Genuine confusion clouded St. John’s voice. “You think she turned Paul?”
“Shifters have done worse things after a loss,” Liam said.
“If you think Brenna would have turned someone just because she wanted to create a new pack for Stephen, then you don’t know your sister half as well as you think you do. Brenna would never do that.” He made a low hissing sound, and when he spoke again, his fury was palpable. “You think she poisoned Paul to keep him from talking about what she’d done?”
“How am I supposed to know what she was thinking when she was hiding so much from me?”
“She didn’t tell you about me because she knew how you would react,” St. John snapped. “You’ve made no secret that you don’t like me. I’m a thief, and a fox. And I know that you thought you’d never be rid of me, despite your assurances about finding me a pack. Well, Stephen doesn’t see me as a liability. He sees value in the skills I have to offer.”
“Starting a new pack is expensive,” Liam shot back. “Of course he wants a thief on his side.”
“I left that life behind me,” St. John insisted. “I’m not a thief. Not anymore. Having Brenna in my life has changed everything.”
“Says the man who stole poison that killed his supposed friend,” Liam countered. “Have you considered that Brenna’s not changing you, but in fact it’s the other way around? Brenna was happy, she was working her dream job helping people. Then you came along and suddenly she’s wanted for murder.”
Silence followed. It dragged on, so long Ruth and I shared a look, wondering if St. John had ended the call.
“You said Brenna didn’t kill that accountant,” St. John said, his voice absent of all emotion.
“If she turned Paul without permission, then she’s responsible for what he did,” Liam said, frustration thick in his tone. “If you paid any attention to anything at all besides yourself, you’d know that. There’s a reason you had to stay here even if you didn’t want to join this pack, or any other pack. You have to learn what responsibilities shifters have. Trust me, it’s better you learn it from me than hear it from the Vanguard.” He paused, gathering himself. “If you care at all for Brenna, you’ll help me find her. Either she’s in over her head, or she’s in danger. The longer it takes to find her, the worse it’s going to be.”
“I told you, I don’t know where she is. She… She didn’t want to talk to me. The difference between you and me is, I knew when to give her space. And I don’t believe for a second she had anything to do with a murder, directly or indirectly, and I don’t think she turned Paul.”
“Her saliva was all over the bite, there’s no question she turned him.” There was pain in Liam’s voice now, and just a hint of longing. Some part of him wanted St. John to convince him Brenna really hadn’t bit Paul. That somehow this was all just a mistake. A nightmare that would be over soon.
“I have to go,” St. John said. “I’ll be in touch.”
“We’re not done,” Liam said sharply.
“Is Shade there?”
Liam looked at me. I raised my voice. “I’m here.”
“Ask our fearless leader about his temper tantrums lately,” St. John suggested. “Make him tell you what’s wrong. He’s been losing control, and he won’t admit it.”
I frowned, and Liam bared his teeth in a quiet snarl.
“I am not losing control.”
“Bullshit. I’m sure Shade’s already wondering why Ruth—Ruth who would do anything to be Mrs. Osbourne—had the nerve to send me away when she knew you wanted to get your hands on me.”
I stared at the phone, very careful not to look at Liam or Ruth. I had wondered that.
“You’re the one that’s always telling us how dangerous it is not to ask for help if we need it,” St. John reminded Liam. “Anyone can lose control. Well, ask anyone brave enough to be honest with you about your temper. You’re scaring a lot of people. And Stephen is looking more and more attractive as an alternative.”
“If my sister dies because you were too much of a coward to help me, then I’ll have your bones for toothpicks,” Liam said, his voice so distorted it hurt to hear it.
“Shade can call this number when you’ve calmed down. I’ll want her word that you’re calm before we speak again.”
He hung up before Liam could say anything else. His arm tensed, and I flinched, waiting for him to throw the phone. It rang before he could do it, and he answered with a hello that was more a snarl than a word.
Liam took a deep breath. “Yeah. What did you find?” He thumbed the speakerphone button again, holding the phone out so we all could hear.
Kylie’s tone was professional when she continued, ignoring the fluctuation in his voice.
“I have the initial results of Paul’s autopsy.”
Chapter 13
“What kind of poison?” Liam’s grip tightened on his phone and the plastic case creaked in warning.
I walked farther into St. John’s suite, listening to Kylie as I looked around. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. Something that would give me a clue to who St. John really was. Something that would tell me if he was really the callous thief Liam believed he was, or the misjudged man who deserved a second chance that Brenna had wanted him to be.
“We were right, it was aconite. But it wasn’t pure aconite, there were other herbs mixed in with it. Specifically licorice, ginseng, and ginger.”
I studied the walls, noting the lack of photographs, or anything personal, then turned to the phone. “That would be consistent with someone following a traditional Chinese medicine regimen.”
“It would,” Kylie confirmed. “And that’s not all. I found the remains of a time-release capsule in his stomach. It looks like someone filled a capsule with the aconite mixture and gave it to him at some point in the last twenty-four hours.”
Ruth took a quick step forward, green eyes sharpening. She stared at the phone as if she could see Kylie on the other end of the call. “Can you tell how much he was given?”
“Not enough to kill him. The time-release was giving him a small but steady dose. Too much for a human, but right on the borderline for a werewolf.”
Liam met Ruth’s gaze. “Then he drank Ruth’s tea.”
“It is likely that the tea is what raised the level of poison in his system to a lethal dose,” Kylie admitted, her voice still professional, but not completely unsympathetic. “But there was no way she could have known.”
Ruth looked like she was going to be sick. “You’re sure?”
“I am.”
Liam’s mouth tightened into a grim line. “Send me the full report. And have Vincent send me what he has so far too.”
He ended the call without saying goodbye. “We need to find out who was with Paul in the twenty-four hours before he ended up here.”
Liam marched down the hall, out of the men’s dormitory wing, and down the hallway that led toward Ruth’s office. Instead of going all the way to the scene of Paul’s sudden death, he turned at the corner and entered a large conference room. I trailed behind him in time to see him head straight for the laptop next to the printer on a table at the far end of the room.
Ruth followed me inside, but Liam barked at her before she could approach him. “Find St. John. Now.”
Ruth hesitated, but only for a second. She didn’t look at me as she turned and left, but her posture said it all. She wasn’t happy.
Liam stared at the pages as the printer spit out Kylie’s report. “Why would someone give Paul wolfsbane in a time-release capsule? If they wanted him dead, they could have broken open the pill and given it to him directly. Mixed it in his food or a drink.”
He muttered the question, almost as if he were asking himself. I answered anyway. “In traditional Chinese medicine, aconite is used in smaller doses, not enough to be lethal, and combined with other herbs that further mitigate its poisonous attributes. What if someone was using the same principle to cure Paul?”
Liam frowned. “You think Paul took it himself?”
I nodded, trying to hold on to my train of thought. “What if Paul wasn’t turned today like you thought? What if he was turned days ago—or weeks ago. He’d have easy access to May’s medication, he could have stolen the tablets thinking he could use them to cure himself.”
The last of Kylie’s report finished printing and Liam shuffled the pages and set them aside. The printer continued spitting out papers. “Vincent’s report,” Liam muttered. He snatched a few pages out of the tray. “Incomplete though it is.” He froze for a second, then his gaze locked onto mine. “Wait a minute. Vincent said he didn’t find any DNA in the Paw Patroller vehicles beyond female werewolf and male human.”
“So?” I asked.
He grinned, an expression with more ferocity than joy. “If Paul had been a werewolf before he arrived at Varca’s, then there would have been male werewolf DNA in his vehicle.”
“Which means he couldn’t have been taking the pills to cure himself,” I finished.
Liam’s grin widened. “It also means your theory that Brenna turned him earlier—on purpose—not realizing he’d be around Varca is wrong. She couldn’t have turned him before today. And if she were recruiting him for Stephen’s pack, if she were making her own pack like you feared, then she would never have bitten him in such a public way.”
I sighed and tucked my hair behind my ear, trying to get it out of my face. “Then we’re back to the question of why someone gave him aconite in a time-release capsule.”
Liam frowned and tapped the papers in his grip. “Kylie said it wasn’t a lethal dose for a werewolf, but she also said it would have been a lethal dose for a human.”
“Ruth said she got the impression that May and Paul’s business was in trouble,” I added. “Do we know if May has a life insurance policy on Paul?”
The papers rustled as Liam’s grip on them tightened. “Andy said he was going to look into Paw Patrollers. We’ll ask him when he gets back.”
I leaned against one of the tables. It wasn’t as sturdy as I’d hoped and it jerked back a few inches, sending my heart into my throat as I almost fell over. Liam either didn’t notice or chose not to comment. “Are all new wolves given that tea when they get here?” I asked, my voice louder than I’d meant it to be.
“No, only Ruth and Brenna use it. Kristine isn’t comfortable giving someone poison even though she knows it doesn’t affect us like it does humans. She’ll use a sedative sometimes, but she starts with a normal human dose and gradually increases it as necessary.” He stared at one of the papers in his hand, his eyes following the lines of text. “According to Kylie, if the pills were given to him before he was bitten, he’d have been vomiting within the hour, but there was no vomit at the scene. So either it was given to him when he was human, and he was turned soon after, or it was given to him after he was bitten.”
His nostrils flared and his gaze darted to the open doorway. His spine stiffened.
I turned to find a familiar face staring at us. “Emma.”
She didn’t react, didn’t even spare me a glance. Her stare was all for her alpha. “So now someone’s poisoning us?” she asked.
