Malevolence - Legacy Series Book Two (The Legacy Series) (5 page)

           
As we approached, her right black tipped ear rotated from the front to the side like her own personal radar.
 
She had her winter coat, reddish orange with a white chin and neck.
 
Her bushy tail twitched the closer we got.

           
“You should see the two of you walking in slow motion.
 
I wish I had a camera with me, I’d totally take your
pic
and post it on
Facebook
.”
 
A voice directly to our right said.

           
Oakley spun around on his heel to catch the owner of the voice. “
Issie
, I see you’ve left your sister out here as a decoy.
 
Well played,” Oakley said to the raven haired beauty.

           
I watched her movement as she came closer to us, she walked with caution yet it was graceful and fluid.
 
Her straight black hair hid most of her face until she was directly in front of us.
 
As she tucked her hair behind her ear I noticed two slash marks across her face.
 
The scars did little to distract from her obvious beauty.
 
She had on neon pink and green striped tights, with combat boot that looked like someone went crazy with a
bedazzler
.
 
Her white leather trench coat, cinched tightly across her tiny waist, hid the presumably colorful outfit she wore.

           
“The Great Wolf, I presume.”
 
She spun around doing an over dramatic curtsey.

           
I laughed nervously as I notice
Mili
leap from the stump and inch in closer to her sister.
 
“I’m Abel, nice to meet you,
Issie
.”
 

           
“What happened out here
Issie
? I don’t want to hear any of your
flim
flam either,” Oakley snapped at her.

           
She twirled around in a circle with her arms out wide doing some little jig at the end.
 
“Oakley, you’re so mean.”
 
She stuck her bottom lip out so far it made her round face look like a cartoon character.

           
“A girl was left out here in a tent.
 
Who did it?”
 
Oakley asked again.

           
“Oh
herrrrr
?
 
She cries a lot.
 
I don’t like girls that cry,” she said as she admired her fingernails.

           
Oakley leaped over her, grabbed her from behind, and held a hunting knife to her throat.
 
“I’m going to ask one more time, if you don’t answer me I will slit your throat, you little pain in the ass.
 
What.
 
Happened.
 
Out.
 
Here?”
 
The little fox stood next to her sister barking at Oakley.

           
“Let me go.
 
Come on Oakley, let me go.”
 
She whined.

           
It looked like he tightened his squeeze on her, looking up to give me a reassurance nod.
 
“Answer me.”

           
“You’re an ass.
 
I didn’t see anything.
 
I heard some human girl crying in the tent so I snuck up on her and peeked in on her.
 
I’ve been looking around for her abductor and haven’t seen anything.
 
I didn’t smell another wolf though if that is what you want to know.”
 
Issie
said as one never ending sentence, rambling so fast I almost didn’t understand her.
 
Oakley let her go and she flipped her hands on her coat like she was dusting it off.

           
“Do you have any idea how expensive it is to clean leather?
 
I’ll never get your stench off,” she said haughtily.

           
“Whatever.
 
I expect you’ll call me if you see anything.
 
No games,
Issie
.”
 
He folded his knife, sliding it back into its holder on his belt.
 
“Abe, let’s go.”
 
He turned and started back towards the road.

           
“
Toodles
Mr. Greatness.
 
Nice ass; come back and play any time.
 
Don’t bring that bossy Oakley next time!”
 
Issie
cried out to us.

           
When we got to the road we noticed the truck was gone, damn.
 
One thing I still couldn’t get used to was leaving my clothes in random places.
 
I always had the intention of returning to pick them up, not always doing it.

           
“Looks like we’ll be running.
 
Before we do, what was that about?”
 
I asked Oakley.

           
He unzipped his leather jacket, getting ready for the shift.
 
“You can’t trust them.
 
Issie
used to be a really sweet girl and both of them were accepted to Juilliard School.
 
Issie
is a ballerina and her sister was a violinist, until their father was killed.
 
A supernatural poacher was hunting fox shifters; their fur is the most sought after for coats among elite supers.
 
That is how she got that scar on her face.
 
I don’t know why she didn’t heal but she didn’t and the whole thing changed her.
 
I actually went on a couple of dates with her before it happened.
 
She doesn’t trust supers anymore and she will lie to protect her family.
 
Unlike us, she is only out for her skulk.
 
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that big log cabin off Jasmine Drive; that is where they all live.”
 
He tilted his head to the side thinking for a second.
 
“I think there are eleven of them, thirteen if you count her brothers that moved somewhere in Europe.
 
Her family is the only skulk in the United States.”
 
He finished folding up his clothes and set them by a tree.

           
“That’s crazy.
 
I still don’t get why you’re so mean to her though.
 
I’ve never seen you mean with a woman before.”
 
I tucked my wallet in the travelers pouch I wore around my neck for instances like this.

           
“Let’s just say, that is the only way you can get the truth out of her,” Oakley said as he got on the ground and shifted.

           
Looking around, I memorized the exact place we left our stuff.
 
As I ran next to him the rest of the way home, I tried to see him with a girl like
Issie
.
 
I thought she was cute but way over the edge in the attitude department.
          

           
“Took you long enough.”
 
Chrissy said as she stood on the front porch, arms crossed and foot tapping.
 
“I was about to go tell the IT guys to track you.”
 
I looked up at her as she fussed at me, going over to nuzzle her until she put her hand in my pelt and petted me.
 
Her arms went around my neck, I breathed in deeply taking in her fear, her scent and her pheromones until my senses were completely bathed in her essence. She walked over and held the door open for us.
  
I stood on the front door mat doing my best not to track in dirt, my best still left paw prints on the floor.
 
I was apparently the messiest wolf they have to deal with.
 
Luckily I had status, or they would have had me in a dog house for sure.

Chapter 5.
 
Paris

“And now there was no one left who dared to place himself in such danger.” The Owl - Grimm’s Household Tales

PRU

           
“I don’t know how you do it.
 
You seem so together, and I feel like I’m falling apart.”
 
I sat down on the settee looking out the window and its moving backdrop.
 
The tourists bustled through the streets not letting the recent cold snap hinder their visit.

           
Mom was in the little kitchenette of our vacation rental with a French pastry chef she hired to teach her the fine art of French cuisine.
  
She nibbled on a fresh croissant they recently brought out of the oven.
 
“Prudence, I’m not falling apart because your father wouldn’t accept that type of behavior.
 
You’re going to be okay, I promise you.
 
Do you want me to assign more of the guys to watch over Abel and have Oak meet us out here.
 
You two need some alone time.
 
You know he loved your dad.”
 
She walked over sitting down on the edge of the small seat, rubbing her hand up and down my arm.
 
“Pru, you know I’m right.”

           
“I know.
 
Dad would be so mad at me for being such a pain.”
 
I put my forehead against the arm of the chair.
 
“Mom, it would be nice to have nothing more than alone time with Oak, but rest escapes me until I find out who did this to dad.”
 
I shook my head back and forth feeling the sting of tears threatening to fill my eyes.
 
“I didn’t come all the way to Paris to be a downer.
 
When you’re finished with your cooking lesson, meet me in the park.
 
I am for sure getting another espresso on my way out.
 
Who needs sleep?”
 
I stood up, stretching from side to side to loosen up the kinks in my back.
 

           
“You might want to slow down on that espresso; you’re going to crash and burn.
 
I’ll be finished in about an hour.”
 
She leaned in to whisper in my ear.
 
“You need to be careful, you’re in vampire territory.
 
No one should do anything, but you never know.
 
You want one of my guards to go with you?” She asked.

           
I smiled at her, pulling her in for a hug.
 
“I’ll take Gus with me; he has been super fun and given me tons of breathing room.
 
He’s not too bad to look at either.”
 

           
I hadn’t even thought about the vampires.
 
I’d even dream walked with
Quinny
and he warned me the other day.
 
How stupid of me to traipse around like a vigilante and not think about the one enemy I loathe.

           
The beautiful
Jardin
du Luxembourg garden was exactly what I needed.
 
It was almost too warm for my winter
parka
, a welcomed change from the below freezing temperatures of the last few days.
 
The wolf in me was dying to run; it had been exactly a week since my last run causing more jitters than the espresso.
 
I slipped off my raspberry colored mittens shoving them in my pockets.
 
“Gus, tell me, am I boring you to tears?”
 
I asked as we walked down the main pathway passing other tourists enjoying the above freezing temps.
 
A few people were sitting on lawn chairs holding up their Kindles with their gloved hands, obviously enjoying a good book.

           
“I’ve never been to Paris before, so I’m actually enjoying it, Pru.
 
It would be better if
 
you weren’t so sad all of the time.”
 
Gus said in his deep manly voice.
 
He recently came to us from a pack in Utah.
 
We beefed up our security when my dad died adding ten more people to our pack.
 
We probably had a stricter regiment to join our pack than the CIA.
 
No joke.
 
Gus won gold medals in the 2010 werewolf Olympics in all strongman events.
 
Dad had put him on our shortlist the week before he passed away.