THIRTEEN

It was late, and Faith was considering going home. She was sitting with Hope by her computer, her feet on the edge of her seat, arms curled around her legs as Hope played a sitcom on Webflicks. Hope seemed fully engrossed in the comedy as she giggled along with the laugh-track, as Faith pouted miserably beside her.

It had been several hours now that they’d had Damon in their custody, and they had yet to learn anything about Allie’s whereabouts.

“These things take time,” Hope had said reassuringly, as they two had remained upstairs while Justice and Liberty had gone down to the basement to question him.

Later that afternoon, Justice had returned and immediately lain down for a nap. At dinner time, she and Hope had made a simple meal: pasta with meat sauce, garlic bread and a Caesar salad, and Liberty had come upstairs to join them.

Faith had immediately started to interrogate her on the ongoing interrogation, but Liberty had waved her silent. “I’m making headway,” she said as she munched on a piece of garlic toast.

“After dinner, I’ll join you,” Justice had said, to which Liberty simply shook her head as she hastily swallowed.

“That would be counter-productive,” she’d said with a shrug. “I’ve finally got him talking—there’s no sense in changing tactics now. It’d be better if you rested and took over for the nightshift.”

After dinner, she and Hope had cleared the table and washed the dishes, while Justice had put away the leftovers. Liberty had immediately disappeared back down to the basement to continue her questioning.

Faith was ready to call it a night, when a loud ruckus erupted from beneath them. They had glanced at one another before jumping to their feet and running towards the stairs, falling in line behind Justice, who was already scampering down.

The door near the bottom of the stairs was standing open. Justice went sprinting through as Faith entered behind her.

“Good Goddess,” Justice yelled as she spotted Liberty and raced to her sister’s side. She pulled her up and began to immediately untie her as Liberty flailed and tossed her head madly in Faith’s direction.

Faith heard a sudden shocked gasp and turned to see that they weren’t alone. A large man had grabbed Hope from behind, his left arm was across her chest, his right hand was at her throat.

“Uh, Justice,” Hope had called out timidly.

Hope’s voice wavered as she spoke, causing Justice to abandon her mad attempts at freeing Liberty and glance in her direction instead.

“Step away,” He warned as he strode forward, forcing Faith to move back. “No one needs to get hurt.”

Justice glowered as she took in the scene. Spotting Damon, she glanced towards the empty wall where’d he previously been held and then back at Liberty, before focusing once more on Hope and her captor. She looked to be considering her options, when the man tightened his hand on Hope’s throat, and she squeaked.

“Okay.” Justice immediately threw up her arms, as she slowly rose to her feet, and stepped away from Liberty. “Just please, don’t hurt her.”

Faith silently watched the exchange. She could see Justice from the corner of her eye, and Damon who was a bloodied mess on the floor; but most of her attention was focused on the man who held Hope captive. Something was bothering her about the man, and the little voice in the back of her mind was nagging at her to remember. She thought he looked vaguely familiar. Had she met him somewhere before? Realization came rushing up on her, and she felt her mouth drop open as it finally hit her. She had most definitely seen him before—had spent at least an hour drinking and socializing with him—she hadn’t recognized him perhaps because that night, his face had worn an almost perpetual grin. The dangerous expression he wore now resembled nothing she’d seen that evening.

“Nick?” She watched his eyes turn and focus on her, perhaps for the first time.

“Faith?”

“You know this fucker?” Justice hissed as she stepped up beside her. Nick’s eyes had immediately shifted back to Justice as he must have deemed her the imminent threat.

“Yeah. I guess I do.” She heard surprise in her own voice.

“We can take him,” Justice whispered in a voice so low that Faith struggled to hear her.

“Not before I break her neck.” Nick shifted his grip as he glared at Justice. The hand that was across Hope’s chest now gripped her chin, and his other was on the upper side of her head. He actually looked like he might follow through with his threat. How he had actually heard Justice’s remark in the first place, well, that was a mystery of its own, because she who was standing shoulder to shoulder with her had barely grasped what she’d said.

There was a quiet hic, which caused Nick to drop his eyes to Hope, who’s chest was hitching as she sobbed. His face immediately lost its angry glare to be replaced by a look of helplessness. His distress was such, that Faith actually felt a little bad for him as he relaxed his grip and dropped his head so that he could speak in Hope’s ear.

“Hey, now. Don’t do that. Everything’s going to be okay.” He glanced back at Justice then. “Your sister won’t let it come to that, will she?”

Justice’s shoulders slumped. “Of course not.” And Faith wasn’t surprised to see that she had teared up as well.

“I just came for my friend,” Nick nodded towards Damon who looked wholly unable to move on the floor beside him. “This doesn’t have to end badly.”

Damon looked as if he was doing everything in his power just to remain conscious, and Faith found herself considering his substantial injuries for the first time. His face was swollen and busted and there were gash marks across his chest, deep enough that she thought she spotted bone – a bit of his sternum. It took her mind another second to recognize that the slashes were letters.

She turned an angry gaze towards Liberty. “You tortured him?”

Liberty who was still bound and gagged, but at least upright as she leaned back against the trunk shrugged dispassionately.

Faith’s stomach churned. The situation had gotten entirely out of hand, and worst still, she had been the cause of it all. She turned to Justice. “We have to let them go.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Justice crossed her arms and regarded her incredulously. “What about your friend?”

“What friend?” Nick was staring at them, perhaps trying to make sense of it all.

“Allie. She’s missing.”

She saw recognition and perhaps even sympathy in his eyes, before he glanced confused towards Damon and then again to her. He seemed to choose his words carefully as he addressed her. “That’s unfortunate, but… what does it have to do with Damon?”

“Uh, Well...” Faith glanced nervously at Justice who flashed her a rather supercilious look. There would be no help there, she realized. “He’s…you know,” Faith brought her hands up to her chin and made little claw gestures with her hands. “Grrr…”

Nick frowned. “So, you think that he, what exactly? That he ate her?”

Justice was now smirking at her. Her earlier dissention had left her completely on her own. “Well…” she squeaked. “If the monster fits…”

Nick dropped his head to Damon. “Did you eat Allie?”

Damon shook his head. He no longer looked annoyed by the accusation as he had last night. Just exhausted.

“He says he didn’t eat her.”

Justice who’d been regarding the exchange rather humorously finally spoke up. “And we’re just supposed to take you at your word—”

“Hey!” Nick bellowed at her. “He may be a pretentious overbearing jackass with a penchant for blood drinking, but he isn’t—a liar.”

Faith stared at him incredulously and then realized that everyone held similar bemused expressions; including Damon who looked rather chagrined by it all.

“Well, I’m sold.” It was Hope who broke the stunned silence. She was still standing with Nicks arm around her, but it had since dropped to her waist, as he now appeared to be embracing her, rather than holding her prisoner. She looked up at him pleadingly. “Can I go now?”

“Uh, sure. If your sister promises us safe passage.”

Justice nodded her agreement, and Nick immediately released Hope. She went to her sister where they hugged briefly, before they went to free Liberty. Nick too, had helped up Damon, who now leaned heavily against him.

The sisters said nothing as they passed by her, although Hope did glance back with a doleful look before she exited the room. It was Liberty who paused a moment as she regarded Nick. She looked as if she’d taken a bit of a beating herself. There was a cut across the bridge of her nose, blood on her face and bruising in the corners of her eyes.

“His things are over there,” she pointed vaguely towards an overturned crate, before following her sisters upstairs. “If you want them.”

Nick nodded, and leaned Damon up against the workbench, as he went to retrieve his belongings.

Faith sighed. She supposed the invitation to join their little coven was revoked and realized that while the offer had initially been flattering, that she was okay with the decision. Although Hope was sweet, the other two sisters were much too blood thirsty for her liking. Besides, she already had a coven who accepted her for exactly who she was.

Nick returned momentarily to pass Damon his belongings: a cellphone, wallet and set of keys, and as Damon tucked the items away, Nick stooped to pick up an old green soda bottle. Faith watched as he tossed it gingerly between his hands, testing its weight.

“So, I guess we should we go?” She glanced between the two men. Damon looked like he’d rather kill her than kiss her, and Nick standing a couple feet behind Damon, was strangely preoccupied with his bottle.

“You abducted me.” Damon jabbed an angry finger in her direction.

It was the most he’d said all evening, and she thought that either he had finally got his strength back or had otherwise been feigning his apparent weakness. She decided to believe it was the latter as he continued with hostility.

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“Tortured me. You can’t possibly think—”

There was a hollow thunk as Damon’s eyes rolled back into his head, his body went limp, and he crumpled heavily to the floor. Nick was standing behind him, looking down, and holding the bottle by its neck, arm outstretched from his side.

Faith gasped. “What the— Did you just hit him?”

‘Huh? Oh.” Nick looked at her sheepishly, like a naughty child who’d just got caught in a lie before he dropped his eyes and shrugged. “There was no way he was going through that portal willingly.” He tossed the bottle upon the workbench before he picked up Damon and slung him over his shoulder. He held his arm out towards the door. “After you.”

Faith nodded and led the way. They crossed through the portal. By now she knew it’s placement in the wall by heart. Stepping through into the pitch-black of the church however was still a bit disorienting. Not only was it the lack of light, but the drop in temperature immediately brought gooseflesh as a chill washed over her.

She could sense that Nick was behind her, although he made no sound, and his form was entirely lost in the darkness. There was a prickling at the back of her neck, an eerie awareness that she was not alone, and she thought that it might be some primordial survival sense kicking in. Would she have still felt that strange sensation if she hadn’t known he was there? She rushed to bring out her cell phone, as it occurred to her that if Nick decided to harm her in any way, there’d be little she could do about it. She pulled it out of her pocket, flipped on the flash, and shone it in the direction she thought he was in.

He was a few feet behind her. He raised his hand to block the light from his eyes. “Hey. Think you could lower that?”

“Uh, sure.” She felt suddenly silly as she found him standing there. He was probably waiting for her to lead the way again. She moved towards the wall and followed its length to the stairs. It wasn’t until she stepped into the stairwell, that she could see a dim light above.

“So, what was that thing about Damon and the portal?” She asked as he followed her up.

“Oh, right. Ah, well… Damon has a thing about magic.”

“A thing?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t trust it.” They had reached the top of the stairs and were now heading down the aisle between the wall and pews as they headed towards the front door. Moonlight was streaming through the lancet windows leaving narrow rectangles of light in the nave of the church. “Or magic users for that matter. No offence.”

“Oh.” She thought about that. “I guess being abducted by witches isn’t going to change his mind about that anytime soon.”

“Probably not.”

She couldn’t see if he was smiling, but the tone of his voice made it sound like he was. She stopped as she reached the door and turned to look at him. “How about you? What do you think about magic?” She opened the door and stepped out of the stuffy church. The fresh air was immediately refreshing.

“Well…I guess I don’t feel it’s either good or bad.” He joined her at the top of the church steps. “I think it all depends on the user, and the ones I’ve met have been pretty decent people.”

He jogged down the stairs ahead of her.

She thought he was being awfully diplomatic, especially considering everything they had just gone through, but was happy to hear it. She needed to properly apologize for her own involvement. She hadn’t been raised to fear other creatures. Their shop sold to witches and demons and werewolves alike and she’d dealt with them on the daily. So why should she believe vampires were any different? If she hadn’t met the sisters, she probably wouldn’t have gone to such extremes.

Nick had halted at the bottom of the stair, and she quickly joined him. “Nick, about tonight. I mean, about what happened, I just want—”

“Shh.” Nick raised a finger in her direction. “We’re not alone.”

Faith froze and immediately began glancing around, feeling exposed. The fact that they were standing outside of an abandoned church in the middle of a cemetery didn’t help matters. The moon above cast shadows everywhere, the wind too, took its turn blowing the grass and whispering through the leaves in the trees. She looked to Nick who had his eyes closed and his chin raised into the wind. He opened his eyes momentarily and turned to her.

“Watch this for me?” He asked as he set Damon at her feet. Without waiting for her to answer, he dashed off.

*

Nick had smelt him on the wind. He’d been wondering when one of them might make an appearance. He rounded the side of the church and started making his way through the headstones at a steady pace. Deep pockets of shadow cast down by the moon gave ample places in which to hide. He paused again to try to pick up the scent. He turned his head and spied movement. He was there, picking his way silently through the tombstones. In a moment he came further into view and Nick could see the milky glow of his eyes. He thought it might be Adam—in wolf form he would have had no trouble identifying him—and wherever there was Adam, Marcus was sure to be close by as well. He wondered if there were any more out hunting him tonight.

He scanned the area, looking for a second wolf, and caught movement along the side of a mausoleum. Something was lurking there in shadow. When it stepped out, he immediately saw that it wasn’t a wolf but a man. When the man raised something to his shoulders, Nick swore. Not again. He looked in the direction the man was aiming and spotted a second wolf. Marcus—at least he assumed it was Marcus—had stopped to smell something and was unaware that he was being targeted.

Nick charged. There was no time to shift. No time to plan. No time to move stealthily. His footfalls thundered as he raced across the lawn towards the hunter. He reached him just as the man became aware and tackled him. The crossbow went off—the arrow fired harmlessly skyward—as they tumbled and rolled, until they finally came to rest a few feet apart in the grass.

Nick looked to his left, to determine the state of the hunter, and immediately recognized him. He was wearing green cargo pants with a camouflage print and a black t-shirt. His hair was slicked back, and he had black face paint streaked across his face. He was rising to his knees and had just pulled out a knife.

“Jasper? What the hell are you doing here?” He asked as he rolled to a sitting position.

Jasper looked startled and it took a moment for him to respond. “Nick?” The hand with the knife lowered. “What the hell? Why did you tackle me?”

Nick thought it was rather obvious, but he pointed anyways. “Crossbow. I’m gonna go out on a limb here, but I doubt you’re out ghostbusting.”

Jasper struggled to his feet and began wildly looking around. “Dammit, Nick. You made me miss my shot.” He spotted his crossbow and moved to fetch it.

Nick got to his feet. “Yeah, buddy. That was kinda the point. You didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?” He heard the impatience in his voice and wasn’t surprised when Jasper turned to him with narrowed eyes.

“This is where my potion brought me.” He pulled a brass compass out from his pocket. It was sparkling with a familiar purple light.

Uh-oh. A very bad feeling was creeping along his back. He decided to play dumb. “Your potion brought you to a mausoleum?”

“What? No. It brought me to—” Jasper sighed as his shoulders dropped. “Listen, I know this is going to sound strange… but then again, if anyone were to understand, it would probably be you.” He took a deep breath and blurted, “My brother was killed by a werewolf. There. I’ve said it.”

Oh hell. “And you thought that wolf was—”

“It can’t be a coincidence, can it? I follow the potion here, to this cemetery and a wolf shows up with glowing eyes.” He tucked the compass away.

Nick pinched the flesh between his eyes and exhaled. This was not good. Jasper thought that Marcus was the wolf who had slaughtered his brother. And it would be easy enough to let him go on believing that—in fact, it might even work out for him, if it meant that Jasper would go after the coward who’d—

“It was me.” He heard himself blurt. “I killed your brother. I’m sorry, but it was me.”

Jasper stared at him blankly. After an eternity he spoke. “That’s not funny.”

“No. It’s not.”

Jasper shook his head and began to pace. “No. You didn’t—my brother was killed by a werewolf.”

“I’m a werewolf, Jasper.” He began pacing alongside him as he tried to catch his eye, to make him look at him. Dammit. If he would only stand still. He grabbed Jasper by the shoulder and forced him to face him. “I’m so sorry. I killed your brother, but you have to believe me, he gave me no choice.”

Jasper flung his arm off him. “Prove it. If you’re a werewolf Nick, then prove it. Show me!”

“I’m not gonna do that, Jasper.”

His brow furrowed. “Why not? I mean, if it’s true, then why not show me.”

Why not? Because you are seriously worked up at the moment; there’s a crossbow lying only a few feet away; and I have already done my impersonation of a shish kabob …

“Because then we can’t speak. I can’t explain the situation and ask for your forgiveness.” Nick exhaled. He’d confessed, but Jasper wouldn’t accept it. He didn’t know how to get through to him—and then it dawned on him. “I can give you your proof.”

Jasper’s eyes softened and he raised a brow instead. “How?”

“Pull out your compass. Open it. It’ll point to me.”

Jasper stared at him for a moment before he dug into his pocket and pulled it out. He gazed silently at the compass in his hand but made no move to open it.

“Go ahead, if you want your proof.”

Instead of opening it, he let his arm drop to his side. “I loved my brother, but he could be a real jerk sometimes, y’know.”

He did know. “Yeah. It comes with the territory.”

Jasper sank to the ground, crossing his legs as he sat. “You got a brother?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. I have a couple, actually.” While he couldn’t remember his birth brothers, he did have Damon and Nathan who he supposed were just as good, if not better. He glanced around and spotted two wolves lurking between the tombstones a good twenty feet away. He doubted that they would try anything until he was alone, so he dropped down to sit by Jasper, assuming a similar position.

“We shouldn’t have been in the woods that night.” Jasper had his hands folded in his lap and was staring at them as he spoke. “But he was trying to prove himself to father. There was an attack at our village. Two boys were mauled. They survived, but when the moon came up…” He let his voice trail off.

Yeah. He knew that story. “The same thing happened to a group of boys here.”

Jasper looked up and carefully searched his face. “It did?”

He nodded and pointed over Jasper’s shoulder. “That’s two of them there. It’s why I stopped you. They’re just a couple of kids.”

Jasper had looked as he pointed, before turning back to Nick. “There was this man. A stranger that was hanging around the village. When the boys ran away, he disappeared too. We tracked him, my brother and me. We were stupid. So unprepared.” He slammed his fist into the ground.

“I know the man you’re looking for and I’ve seen your runaways. I ran into them the night your brother shot me, the night I… Your brother, I thought he was after the boys.” He dropped his head not knowing what else to say. It was a shitty situation all around, and he didn’t know how to make it right.

“I still want my vengeance.”

Nick looked up. “I’m not about to let you kill me.”

Jasper shook his head. “No. Not you. Him—the one who started it all. He has to pay for what he’s done. And I need to bring the boys back to the village. It’s their home, and their families are missing them.” Jasper reached out and took him by the arm. “Can you help me, Nick? Can you help me find this bastard.”

He nodded. He wanted this bastard gone as much as Jasper did. “I can. I doubt they’re still where I last saw them, but I can track them down. It might take me a few days, but we both want the same thing, so I don’t see why we can’t work together.”

Jasper agreed and they exchanged numbers. They parted ways and he walked out towards the wolves, who both turned tail and scampered off as he drew close. He watched them retreat, before he turned and headed back to the church. When he reached the gravel drive, Faith came running out to meet him.

“What happened? Is everything okay? You scared me running off like that.” She looked like she wanted to deck him.

“I’m sorry.” He stooped to pick up Damon. “Everything’s fine now.”

She frowned at him and said in a huff, “Well, you shouldn’t have left me alone.”

Nick smiled and had to choke back a laugh. Just who did she think she was kidding? She had just abducted Damon. If she could do that, then she could clearly take care of herself. But he minded his manners and apologized instead. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I apologize.”

He started down the laneway with Faith at his side. She was wearing a dress and a small denim jacket. She had her arms crossed and he wondered if she might be cold. “So, how are we going to find Allie?”

She stopped and looked at him suspiciously. “We?”

“Why not? I just tracked down Damon, didn’t I?’ He continued walking, which forced Faith to jog to catch up.

“How did you do that, anyway?” She asked when she was once again at his side. She still sounded suspicious.

“Ah, Well, I used a blend of technology and the mystical arts.” He said in what he thought was a mysterious tone of voice. When she glared at him, he clarified. “I used a hacker and a tracking spell.”

“A tracking spell?” There was a note of disbelief in her voice.

“Yeah, there’s a little shop downtown—”

“Not the White Willow?”

“You know it.”

“Yeah, it’s my family’s store.”

“Then why do you sound so surprised?” They had reached the gate and he stopped as she seemed hesitant about her answer.

“Because I already tried that, and it didn’t work.” She stared at the ground as she spoke and shook her head. “I’ve made such a mess of things. I should have asked my family for help from the beginning instead of turning to outsiders. My uncle, he’s like, the king of potions. If he had made it, I know it would have worked.” She looked up at him with crinkled brows. “And for what happened to Damon… I’m truly sorry. Will you tell him that for me?”

He smiled. “Sure thing, but don’t lose any sleep over it. It’s not like it’s the first time someone’s tried to kill us. Happened just last week, in fact.”

She smiled. “You’re funny. Thanks for trying to make me feel better.” She marched through the gate and down to the street.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to share a cab?” He called out to her.

“No thanks,”

“An uber?”

“Uh-uh.” She held up a set of keys. The lights of a sedan a few yards away flashed brightly against the dark. “Got my own ride.”

“Can we get a lift?” he asked hopefully as she climbed into the vehicle.

“Nope.”

He watched her pull out and pass him on her way up the street. Then the sedan stopped, the reverse lights came on, and the car backed up the street towards him. She rolled the window down and called out to him.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, ya know.”

He grinned. “It’s my superpower.”

She shook her head at him. “Get in, before I change my mind.”

He did.