Relentless (17 page)

“And you think they attacked us and possibly killed your girlfriend because you met with your mother?” Jared frowned. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“He told her no,” I said quietly.

“No to what?”

Myles studied Jared before answering his question.

“No to joining the Fenryrians.”

“That’s what she wanted?” Brynna gasped. “I can’t believe she’d ask you that.”

“She wanted me to leave this pack and join the Fenryrians. She said they had a special place for me and that I would be a leader there, serve on the council. I’d be promised a position of power. She was insistent. That’s why I think this might have had something to do with me.”

“But how would she be able to offer you all that, and why would she?” Brynna asked.

“I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. I told her no immediately. I don’t want to be one of them, to infect and kill humans. And I wouldn’t leave my father behind. He’s the one who’s taken care of me all this time after she walked out. I didn’t bother to get an explanation.”

Beside me, Jared tapped his fork on his plate until finally I grabbed it from him and set it on the tray.

“What if you’re looking at this the wrong way?” he suggested.

I pushed my tray back and shifted in my chair to see him better. “Wrong how?”

“Maybe this wasn’t a retaliation for you being with Eric or Myles saying no. What if it was a way to get Myles to come to the Fenryrians, to get him on their turf and also get information about what’s going on with the antiviral medication?”

“But why hurt Lana and Daryl?” Brynna asked.

“Think about it. Lana and Daryl are constantly developing new medications. Once, when I ate lunch with Daryl, he told me they were trying to come up with a vaccine they could inject into the Fenryrians that would kill the virus in them and make them immune to it so they’d never be able to spread it to humans. It was a kind of genetic research and a big secret.”

“Lana never told me that,” Myles said.

“I doubt Daryl was supposed to, either. But we talked a lot because we were both new here. He tried to help me understand some of the werewolf stuff since I hadn’t grown up in a werewolf family.”

Brynna shook her head. “But why attack everywhere on the island? Why not just attack those two?”

“Maybe they wanted to distract everyone so they could get to them. Maybe they didn’t want to hurt them. What if they just kidnapped them?”

Now I slid completely around in my chair until I was facing Jared. “What are you saying?”

“That maybe they’re okay somewhere.”

A strand of hair had fallen across my cheek, and I shoved it behind my ear. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, we haven’t found any bodies.” He glanced across the table. “Sorry, Myles. It’s just, if it was because of the two of you, why not just kill or abduct you guys? You were both together the night of the attack, easy targets. Why would Lana and Daryl be the only two missing?”

I rubbed my hand over my face. Sliding my tray back to me, I picked up my fork only to play absently with the food.

“What is it, Alexis?” Myles reached across to tap my tray.

I shook my head. Did I really want to share this weirdness? They were all staring at me, and I knew I couldn’t come up with a plausible lie. Besides, we were werewolves. A crazy dream couldn’t compete with that.

“Earlier today, I had this really strange dream, but it was so real.”

“What kind of dream?” Brynna leaned across the table.

I took a deep breath. “I dreamed I flew out of my room and went over to Key West. I was drawn to this really beautiful yacht, and somehow I was inside of it. It was like I could travel through walls. Deep inside the boat, there were these cells, and Lana and Daryl were there. They were banged up, but they were definitely alive.”

I stopped and took a breath, waiting for the smiles, the looks of derision, the head shaking. But no one moved or spoke.

“Who else did you see in the dream?”

I wrinkled my brow at Myles. “A man I’d seen here once with Mr. O’Rourke and some other guy I’ve never met—”

“Have you ever had a dream like that before?” Brynna interrupted.

My throat felt dry, and I grabbed my glass of lemonade. It was slick with condensation and nearly slipped from my hand. Gripping it more tightly, I took a drink. Waited. Took another.

Slowly, I set the glass on the table. “Actually, I did. Not long ago I dreamed I left my room and went over to the school. I’d seen Mr. O’Rourke there earlier, and he was meeting with a man. In my dream, I saw them again, and I followed the other man off the island. I actually dreamed I sat in the back of his boat and he never saw me. We went to a marina in Key West. At the dock, he met up with a red-haired boy and…” I paused. “Eric was there.”

Across the table, Myles and Brynna were quiet.

Jared’s eyes left me as he glanced at the other two. “So she had some weird dreams. It doesn’t mean anything unless you think she’s some kind of psychic.”

Brynna turned to Myles. “Do you think she traveled?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

She examined my face, frowning, then refocused on Myles. “What are the odds she can? How many werewolves do you know who can travel? I mean, it’s probably only a handful in the entire pack.” She flattened her hands on to the table, tapping her fingers. Tilting her head, she studied me. “Why would she be…”

Suddenly she stopped, her eyes widening. The room went quiet, and Myles started to stand. I’d barely turned in my chair when I was slammed to the floor, my head ricocheting off the hard tile. For a second, I was dazed, then I met Robert’s angry eyes.

“You selfish, stupid bitch.”

Robert’s breath was hot against my face as he pressed down on me. I could see in his pupils the glistening light, feel the pulsing under the skin of his forearms as I tried to fight him off. He was going to change, right here in the middle of the dining room. His rage was too much, and it was all focused on me. His grip on my arms loosened, his body convulsed. Buttons on his shirt popped off until it was rags covering skin with writhing muscles beneath. Somewhere in the room, I heard a low voice say, “Oh shit.”  A growl rose up from within Robert that was a mixture of anger, pain, and anguish. He threw back his head, exhaling the sound until it seemed to bounce off the walls and pound back against my ears. I caught a glimpse of his muscular body, then it was done. Saliva dripped from bared teeth only inches from my face.

Hands appeared around Robert’s neck, dragging him off me. Rolling to my knees, I stared at him. My own body trembled with the effort not to transform and face his attack in my wolf form. His gray eyes darted from me to Myles, who held him, and with another growl, he turned and ran from the room. Even from here, I could hear the banging of the lobby door. Jared knelt at my side.

“Are you hurt?”

“I…no, I’m fine.” He caught my arm as I got to my feet. “Guess he feels like most people do, that this is all my fault.”

“Then we need to go talk to him and tell him different. Right, Myles?” Jared looked to Myles who was still watching the door Robert had run through.

“What?” he asked without turning to look at us.

“I said we should go and let him know that Alexis isn’t solely responsible for Lana going missing.”

At last, he moved, his hands fisting at his sides as he faced us. “Do you really think she’s alive?”

“I hope so,” Jared said.

“Me, too.” Myles voice was tired and strained. “I guess we do need to go after him.”

He headed toward the door, and the three of us grabbed the trays from the table and dumped them before following.

Outside the dormitory, Myles waited for us. “I’m sure he went to the lab.”

We took the path to the lab, Myles and Brynna leading while Jared and I followed side by side. The night birds cried out, and I was nervous even though there were four of us. What if they came back? What if there was another fight? I hadn’t seen Beowulf with Myles and figured he must have left him at his father’s cottage. A nightlight glowed outside the lab door, which had been half ripped from its hinges and was resting at an odd angle against the building.

When we entered the foyer, the lights were on, and the thick inner door was open but intact, which meant somehow the attackers had been let in by someone in the main lab area. Inside, equipment was scattered and broken. Halfway down one table, Robert sat, in human form and dressed in his typical khaki shorts and oxford cloth shirt. He lifted his head from his hands when he heard us. The stool he was on clattered to the floor when he stood. With quick movements, he reached us in several steps. Jared moved a half step in front of me.

Myles held up a hand. “It’s not her fault.”

“Then whose fault is it? Who else would give the Fenryrians cause to come here to retaliate?”

“It’s my fault and maybe even yours.”

Robert raked a hand through his hair. “My fault how?”

“What’s the most sensitive thing you’re working on here?” Brynna asked.

“The same things we always work on, antiviral medication.” A lock of blond hair fell across his forehead as he looked anxiously around the lab.

“Was there nothing more important, more sensitive than the usual antivirals?”

He stilled, staring at Brynna. “I can’t talk about it.”

“Daryl already talked about it. So you might as well go ahead and tell us.”

“Damn!” Robert’s face blanched. “I knew he was too young, too inexperienced.”

“It’s important, isn’t it?” Myles said.

Stalking back and forth in front of us, Robert mumbled to himself for a moment before stopping in front of Myles. “Yes, it could be. It’s far from finished, far from useable, but we’d gotten some genetic material from a Fenryrian werewolf during an attack. We found it was immune to the virus.”

“How could that be?” Brynna took a step toward him. “They’re all born with the virus, and even our antiviral medicines don’t work on them.”

“It seems occasionally there’s an anomaly and one is born who doesn’t carry it. Of course we may have incinerated the only one there was, and there’s only a small amount of sample left. We don’t even have any left here. Daryl and Lana are working on it the most.” His voice constricted, and he wiped a hand over his face.

“We think it’s possible they’re alive,” Brynna said.

His head jerked up. “What?”

“Alexis saw them in her dream,” Jared said.

Robert frowned. “In a dream. How does that mean anything?”

“We think she traveled,” Brynna answered, half-turning to me.

He took a step toward me then stopped, his eyes finding mine. “Is it true?”

His voice had dropped to a whisper, and I looked from him to Brynna, my eyes widening. “Uh, maybe. I don’t know. I don’t even know what traveling is, what it means.”

Everyone around me was quiet, watching me. What was I supposed to do? Disappear? Fall asleep and instantly have some kind of vision? I’d found out enough weird and strange stuff about myself the past few months. I didn’t need to add to the list. Then I felt a hand pressed against my back.

“What do you mean, ‘travel’?”

It was Jared, voicing the question I couldn’t seem to get out. I glanced up at him and smiled. Hi
s hand moved almost imperceptibly against the small of my back.

Brynna turned to him. “Some werewolves have a special gift. They can go into kind of a hypnotic state—”

“Or while they’re asleep,” Myles added.

“Right, or while they’re asleep, anyway, their mind and spirit can leave their body, and they travel to other places and see what’s happening.”

I snorted. “Uh, yeah, right, that’s a good one.”

“It’s true, Alexis.” Myles said. “We already know you can hear the thoughts of werewolves while they’re in their wolf form.”

“Wait, she can hear thoughts?” Brynna looked at Myles then back to me. “When did you find that out?”

“I’ve been able to hear Louise from the beginning, but last night I could hear Myles.”

“And she could project her thoughts to me.” Myles added. “She hasn’t perfected it yet. But some people who can do that can travel, too.”

I arched a brow. “Really? Who? Name one.”

“I can’t. I told you I don’t know anyone. There’s basically a handful of Lycernians who have that capability.” Myles threw up his hand in exasperation. “But just because I can’t name one doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“How many Fenryrians can do it?” Jared asked.

“No,” Brynna shook her head. “I don’t think Fenryrians can travel. It’s something about their makeup over the years and the way the virus has developed in their body. They can’t do it.”

“There’s one guy, he seems to sense my presence.”

“What guy?” Brynna crossed her arms in front of her.

“I don’t know, just a guy about our age. He’s big and has reddish hair, lighter than yours, though. He’s about Jared’s size. When I’m in the dream around him, the other guy keeps asking him what’s wrong, and he says he’s not sure. It’s like he knows I’m there.”

“We have to tell Louise and my dad,” Myles said.

“Wait! What if it’s nothing, just a stupid dream?” Panic began to swell inside of me. I’d already been the focus of too much attention. I didn’t need any more people eyeing me, wondering what was wrong with me.

“I don’t think it’s a dream.” Brynna straightened, giving me a firm look.  “I think you might have found Lana and Daryl. Let’s go and see if we can use your traveling to help us.”

***

Several people had gathered around the meeting table where only yesterday the school officials had sat discussing me. And now, here they were with me as the topic of conversation again. Only this time, it was different. Louise sat on my left and Jared on my right. Gathered around the table were Myles, Brynna, Robert, Myles’ dad, Vincent Unger, and two school officials. They all listened as I related the events of my first dream.

“Who was the instructor you saw with the man?”

“It was Mr. O’Rourke.”

Louise turned to me. “Are you sure, Alexis? This is a very serious charge.”

“I’m sure. I saw them together first when I took Beowulf out and he ran off.  Mr. O’Rourke came and talked to me. That’s why I didn’t think it was strange to see the man in my dream because I’d actually seen him right before I went to bed. It was the young guy I thought was weird because I’d never seen him before in my life.”

The others looked at each other, then one of the school officials picked up a cell phone and left the table.

When he returned, he nodded. “They’ll get him and take him to holding.”

The school official, whose name I couldn’t seem to remember, leaned toward me. “Were you trying to have a traveling dream when you lay down to sleep?”

“I’d never even heard of this traveling thing until a few hours ago. I went to sleep. I had a dream. I was worried about Lana and Daryl, and I felt like it was my fault, like I owed it to them to do something, anything, if there was a chance they might be out there alive.”

“Did you think they were alive?” he pressed.

“I hoped it, but I didn’t really believe it.”

The man looked around the table and finally settled his gaze on Vincent Unger. “We’re sending a team to Key West as soon as we can gather them. Hopefully, they’ll still be there. What do we do until then?”

Vincent shrugged. “We wait.”

We left the meeting room, everyone heading back to their rooms. I watched as Myles started toward the dorm with Brynna and Jared. I hurried down the path behind Louise, the nightlights casting random circles of grayish white.

“What if you guys are wrong, and it was all just a dream?” I asked when we were alone.

“We’ll know soon enough when the team finds the boat.”

“But someone could get hurt.”

“We still have to know.”

“Does the whole traveling thing make me even weirder than I already am?”

Louise spun around in mid-stride. “The traveling thing is more than just a thing. It is not weird. It makes you one of a very select group of werewolves. It’s a talent that is so special only a few are so gifted.”

“I keep finding these things that you say are gifts, but somehow they don’t feel like that. Can you do it? Travel, I mean. They said werewolves who can telecommunicate like you do can often travel, too.”

“No, I can’t.  It’s very rare.”

Louise started along the path without saying anything more. I found myself exhausted as we climbed the steps and went inside. Louise picked up one of the boxes I’d dropped in the living room the night of the attack. Last night. It seemed like ages ago.

She carried the box to a bedroom and set it on a small bench at the end of the bed.

Finally she said, “If you didn’t have this gift, then we wouldn’t know where to look for Lana and Daryl. We wouldn’t know that they are still alive.”

I put the box I was carrying on the floor and sat on one end of the bench, resting an arm on the other box. “We still don’t know that any of what I saw in the dream is real. It might not mean anything.”

“We’ll know within the hour.” She left the room, shutting the door behind her.

We actually knew within thirty minutes. Louise’s phone rang, and I could tell by the look on her face it was Vincent on the other end. I waited, constantly shifting from one foot to the other until she clicked off her cell phone and stuck it in her pocket.

“Well?”

Louise crossed her arms in front of her. “The boat was exactly as you described it, but Daryl and Lana had been moved.”

“Maybe they weren’t really there.”

“No, their scent was strong, and they hadn’t been gone long.”

Slumping into the kitchen chair, I bent over, resting my head in my hands. “We’ll never find them now.”

Louise didn’t speak immediately. She opened the refrigerator and poured two glasses of iced tea. She placed one in front of me then sat in the chair closest to me. “You know, Alexis, you found them before. Maybe you could do it again.”

I twisted the glass around and around on the table. “But I don’t know what I did. The dreams just happened. I didn’t make them happen. What if I can’t do it again?”

“It’s worth trying.”

I watched her take a drink of the tea. “I don’t know how.”

There, I’d said it. It was as simple as that. I had no idea what brought on the dreams or the traveling, as they called it. Now they wanted me to sit down and just do it. I couldn’t. Louise’s hand closed over my forearm and squeezed.

“We’ll try to help you. But no one will be mad if it doesn’t work.”

Two hours later, I lay in the bed of the cottage with the hurricane shutters tightly secured and the ceiling fan turning above me, creating a light breeze in the room. I wriggled under the sheets, trying to get comfortable while Louise and Vincent Unger sat in chairs against the wall. I’d seen the man who sat on the edge of my bed at school, but I didn’t have any of his classes. They said he taught upper-level courses like philosophy. Apparently I didn’t have any of those. Dr. Grendel pressed his hand against my forearm. Then he ran slim fingers over his short brown beard, a smattering of gray hairs catching the light.