Silver Kiss (20 page)

God, if I was this edgy, what were the
actual smokers like? I tensed, expecting a brawl to break out any
second. When a clammy hand slammed down on my shoulder, I spun,
fist ready to swing. I pulled back just in time when I saw Oscar
behind me, looming out of the strobe lights like a zombie.

“
Hey, it’s Ayla, right?
Vince’s friend, right?” He grinned widely at me.

I nodded mutely, shocked at the change in
him. When I had last seen him, a handful of days ago? He’d been fit
and healthy-looking, a young wolf on the cusp of adulthood. Now he
looked…tired. Worn out. Not that physically different, not
malnourished the way Molly had been when we found her. But the same
aura of desperation clung to him. His hair was greasy and lank, his
skin sweaty and pale. His rumpled clothes stank, not just of Silver
Kiss, but also of piss and perspiration.

“
Are you okay?” I asked
needlessly.

“
Yeah, I’m good, I’m pretty
good.” He nodded, blood-shot eyes darting around the bar nervously.
“So, like, I’ve never seen you in here before. Hey, should we get a
drink?” He grabbed my elbow and my wolf recoiled at his
touch.

“
I don’t want a drink,” I
told him.

“
Cool, I’ll just have a
vodka and coke then.” He propelled me to the bar, ignoring my
protestations. “You’ll get this round, right? I’m short on
cash.”

Spending it all on Silver Kiss, I guessed. I
shoved a handful of coins towards the barmaid. Oscar downed his
drink like a man dying of thirst and slammed the empty glass on the
bar. “Shit, that’s bad,” he gasped. “Get me another?”

“
I don’t think so,” I said,
suddenly on edge again. Something had changed—something in his body
language had become more aggressive, less nervy, fuelled by the
blast of alcohol.

“
Oh come on, one more. I’ll
pay you back. Fuck, my dad’ll pay you back. Come on, Ayla, I need a
drink. I’m having a fucking shitty day.” Oscar glowered at me, his
wolf challenging me the way Moira’s had moments ago. And once again
my wolf rose to the challenge.

“
No,” I said firmly, the
slightest snarl in my voice. “I don’t think you need more
alcohol.”

“
What are you, my fucking
mother?” He shifted closer to me, getting right in my face. He was
so much taller than me, I couldn’t help feel a little intimidated
and that just pissed me off. I was not going to be pushed around by
a foul-mouthed child.

“
Back off, Oscar,” I
growled.

“
Or what?”

For a long, dark second we were deadlocked,
neither willing to back down or step up and make it a real fight.
Then Oscar threw his hands up with a high-pitched laugh that grated
at my ears. “Fucking hell, Ayla, I was joking! Relax, have some
fun. I bet you never have fun.” He stepped back, giving me
breathing room. I didn’t dare relax though. Every second I spent in
this dingy pit wound me tighter and tighter, the smell of Silver
Kiss racing through me, its aconite afterburn pushing at my
wolf.

“
I need some fresh air,” I
said and shoved past him to the fire exit at the side of the bar.
Stepping into the cold dark was paradise after the stuffy innards
of the bar. The air was clean, free of the wretched smells of Happy
Jack’s and my whole body shivered with gratitude. My head still
felt foggy, like I was hungover, but my wolf eased off a
little.

Oscar followed me out, hands jammed into his
pockets, that nervous aura back. “So why are you here, anyway?
Doesn’t seem like your place. I guessed you’d be at a gay bar or
something.”

“
Why are you here?” I
countered, ignoring his last comment as too stupid to
answer.

“
Looking for someone.” He
glanced over his shoulder as if expecting said someone to appear
out of the shadows. “I owe this guy some money and he was supposed
to be here tonight. Christ, I could do with some Silky.”

Silky.
Cute
. “Loads of people in there are smoking
it,” I pointed out. “Don’t tell me you can’t bum a fag off one of
them.”

“
Nobody shares the real
stuff.” He spun on the spot, kicked the fire exit door. “You ask
another wolf for a drag and you just get snapped at. Or punched.”
He rolled up his grubby shirtsleeve to reveal a lurid yellow-green
bruise on his arm. “That was last night. I tried to steal a pack
off someone.” He laughed wildly. “Man, he was so mad, Ayla! It was
crazy!”

I took a step back, assessing Oscar more
carefully. “How long since you last had any of the real stuff?”

“
Couple of days. Not long.
Feels like forever. You don’t have any, do you?” he asked eagerly.
When I shook my head, he growled impatiently. “Well why the fuck
are you here? Nobody comes here unless they’re buying or
selling!”

“
Who do you buy from?” I
asked, heart skipping a little at his words. I guessed it was the
same person he owed money—and the mysterious Sly seemed like a safe
bet. If I could get Oscar to point me towards the dealer, Shannon
wouldn’t have to trawl this shit hole looking for him
herself.

“
Guy called Sly,” he said,
making my heart leap now. “He’s supposed to be here for his money.
I’m telling you, Ayla, nobody else has the good shit. I’d crawl
over broken glass for a proper hit right now.”

I sniffed in disgust. “That’s pretty
pathetic, Oscar.”

“
I don’t care. It’s so
good.” His eyes misted over. “Hey, if you come back in with me, we
can get someone to give us some, right? Two wolves are better than
one, right? We can just fucking make them give us a
hit.”

I had no intention of going back inside.
Just the thought made me want to puke. I couldn’t imagine what sort
of buzz Oscar was getting from Silver Kiss that he craved it so
much. I just felt angry and nauseous. “I’m not staying,” I told
him. “I’m just getting my girlfriend and we’re going home.”

He snarled at me, that wild aggression
returning to his posture. Then he dropped it again, plastering a
big, fake smile on his face. “Well then how about a small loan,
just until next week? Just so I can buy some Silky after I’ve paid
Sly off. I’ll share with you.”

“
I’m not interested,” I
told him. “Go home, Oscar.” I turned away, planning to brave the
bar once more and drag Shannon out. If Sly wasn’t here, we weren’t
staying. Anyway, maybe it would be enough for Eddie to know that
Happy Jack’s was Sly’s usual hunting ground. I’d meant what I’d
said earlier; drug dealing was a police issue, not a Pack one.
Shannon didn’t need to get involved anymore than she already
was.

Strong hands grabbed my jacket collar and
Oscar hauled me round again, eyes wild and wide. “Just a small
loan,” he growled, dragging me in so he could shove one hand into
my jeans pocket. “You’ve got to have something. I need it, Ayla, I
need it.”

His touch revolted me and I reacted without
thinking, yanking free and slamming my fist into his nose. Blood
spurted over my hand and Oscar reeled back, shock on his face. “You
cow!”

“
Don’t you dare touch me
again,” I snapped, hot anger flaming in me, calling the wolf once
more. Maybe it was the Silver Kiss smoke in my lungs, but I
suddenly felt dizzy and punchy again. If Oscar so much as breathed
at me, I might just rip his throat out.

He jabbed me in the shoulder. “There,
touched you. What are you going to do about it?”

I slapped his hand away, hovering on a
knife’s edge between walking away and turning violent. My wolf
soared up in me, howling for violence, driven to breaking point. I
bunched my hands into fists, feeling my nails prick at my skin as
they elongated and sharpened, changing. “I mean it, you
little—”

“
Oscar!”

We both whirled at the voice. A thick,
gravelly voice, like the owner wasn’t used to talking. He leaned
against the wall at the end of the small alley, masked by shadows.
It didn’t matter. I didn’t need to see him to know it was the
feral. His musk was unmistakable and it pushed me right over that
edge.

I rushed him.

THIRTEEN

The feral straightened up, bracing
himself for my attack, but I never reached him. Oscar tackled
me from behind and we went crashing to the concrete. I hit the
ground face first with a short howl, scraping my cheek and chin. My
skin burned and I struggled to roll over. But Oscar had my arms
pinned to my side and all I could really do was thrash my legs and
snap at the empty air.

The feral crouched in front of me, giving me
my first clear look at him. Even in human form he looked wild,
rough. Dark stubble lined his narrow face and his hair was
disheveled and lank. His amber eyes shone and I noticed with a
start that they were wolf eyes, alien in his human face. He grinned
at me, baring sharp canines. He’d spent too much time in wolf
shape.

“
Hello again,” he growled
at me, then jerked his head at Oscar, a silent signal from a
dominant wolf to a submissive.

Oscar let me up and I jumped to my feet with
a snarl, shoving him away from me.

“
Bloody runt,” I muttered,
rubbing my face. Oscar bared his teeth at me and I thought he might
go for me until the feral stepped in, yanking Oscar
aside.

“
Got my money?” he asked.
Oscar paled visibly.

So this was Sly. It sort of made sense and
sort of confused me at the same time. Why the hell would a feral
get into drug dealing? What did he need the money for? Ferals lived
wild—no need for the material trappings that urban wolves had. I
pushed down my burning desire to slam his head into the wall as
payback for the other night and watched Oscar instead.

“
Yeah, I got it. Got most
of it.” Oscar dug in his pockets and handed Sly a worn brown
envelope. “I’m a bit short.”

“
How short?” Sly opened the
envelope and inhaled, like he could count the money by the smell of
the notes.

“
Not much,” Oscar said
quickly. “Couple of hundred, but that’s okay right?”

Sly backhanded him with a snarl. Oscar’s
head snapped back and he staggered into the wall, whimpering. I
growled, forgetting that I’d wanted to do the same thing a few
seconds ago. Oscar was Pack, Sly wasn’t. It was that simple to my
wolf. I caught Sly’s wrist when he went to smack Oscar again.

“
Don’t,” I
warned.

Sly turned those inhuman eyes on me and
bared his teeth again. I had a sudden flashback to our fight, the
frigid cold of the river. I didn’t want to fight him again—I
doubted my chances were any better in human form than they had been
in wolf. But I didn’t want to see him bully Oscar either.

“
Got a problem, bitch?” he
asked me.

I squeezed his wrist. “Yeah, you, you
bastard. What the hell are you doing, anyway?”

He pulled free with little effort. “Kid owes
me money. Not your business.”

“
It’s Pack business when
you start beating up Pack kids,” I said.

Oscar crept around behind me, clinging to my
coat. Funny how we were suddenly united.

“
I’ll get the rest,” he
whispered. “I can it get from my dad, I just need another day,
that’s all. Come on, Sly, there’s five hundred quid there. That
buys me something, right?” he pleaded. “Just a couple of
smokes.”

Or maybe we weren’t united. The idiot child
was still only interested in getting his drugs. I shook him off and
faced Sly. “The Pack knows what you’re up to,” I told him. “You’re
not going to be able to set foot in this city again after
tonight.”

Sly spat at my feet. “I don’t answer to
Pack.” He moved towards us and I snarled, flexing my shifted hands
so the streetlights gleamed off my claws. Sly stared at me, eyes
narrow and wary. “I’m not scared of you, bitch.”

“
Your mistake,” I
replied.

We sized each other up as we had before. I
still didn’t fancy my chances against him, but at least in human
form I could kick him in the groin. That wasn’t an option for
wolves, really. For a few nasty seconds, I thought he would lunge
at me. A low bass growl rumbled through him and he arched his body
as if about to pounce.

I tensed, ready for his attack and trying
not to think about our last fight.

Then an ambulance shot past Happy Jack’s,
siren blasting, and Sly leapt away from me as if burned. Oscar took
advantage of his distraction to dart back through the fire exit
into the club, leaving me staring at Sly’s back.

I wet my lips, hesitated a second, then
charged him.

Attacking him from behind was cowardly. I
couldn’t stop myself though. Here was a chance to work off all the
anger and aggression I’d been carrying around since our last
encounter. I hit him hard, knocking him to the ground as Oscar had
me. Sly roared and flipped us over so I was pinned beneath him and
bit into my collarbone, tearing flesh from bone.

I howled and slammed my hand into his neck,
shoving his head away from my shoulder. He snapped at my fingers
and I head-butted him as hard as I could. The impact made my skull
crunch with pain and Sly reared back with a shout. For a second we
both reeled, then he leaned in to snap at my face.

His sharpened teeth snagged on my lip ring
and he yanked hard. Agony shot through me, racing through my head
and down my spine so I could feel it in my toes as he tore the ring
out and my lip ripped.

I shrieked, pulled back and head-butted him
again, then snapped at him, catching hair. Sly twisted his head,
trying to avoid my teeth and by pure, dumb luck, I clamped onto on
his ear and bit down until my teeth clashed together. Pain rocked
through me in a second wave as I bit into my split lip.