“Was that…? Was he…?” The nun was ghostly pale, gaping in wonder. The name Sue rose up from the myriad of voices. Her name was Sue.
“A demon? Yes. Well, no. But he might as well be.” I did a double-take when I saw her hands go together in prayer. “Hey, lady, please do not ever mistake him or anyone like him for a true angel. He is the enemy.”
“I never thought they would look so human,” she mumbled, blinking rapidly.
“Yeah well, it’s a lie.”
I concentrated on the lock that stood between me and a shot at freedom. The power went out from me, leaping erratically. It took great strength to focus it on only the lock. This was no time for accidental casualties. There was a spark of gold light and a loud metallic clang. The lock gave way. I bit back a cry of victory.
Carefully, I eased the door open. I kept expecting Linden’s lackeys to burst in and catch me. The Dragon Claw felt good in my hand, ready. Unfortunately, it caused some unease in my fellow captives.
“We’re getting out of here,” I said, looking at them all in turn. “We have to work together.”
“How the hell did you do that?” One man with a scruffy beard and a black eye asked as he watched me walk free of the tiny prison cell. “What are you?”
I sighed. It seemed that I could never escape that question. It passed the lips of many when I was around. “I’m a werewolf.” A simple answer was the best answer. “I just have a few extra bonus add ons. Upgrades, you could say.”
“Like in a video game?” This from the cutest little boy with a Batman t-shirt and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen on a human. “Are you the good guy?”
I stared, frozen, into his innocence. If he knew the many horrific things I’d done, he would definitely categorize me as a villain. In a world of black and white, there was no place for one like me. I walked in both worlds. Everything in me felt inclined to protect him. To protect all of them. Willow was right. I knew it then.
“You got it, kid. I’m one of the good guys.”
I knelt beside Shaz, setting the dagger aside. His breath came too fast and shallow. His eyes rolled back in his head. I couldn’t get him to look at me.
Healing had proved difficult for me. It came from a place of life and nature, taking precise concentration and intent. I had done it before, with Arys’s guidance. Sloane’s revelation encouraged me. It meant that the ability to heal had been meant for Arys and me, somehow. It was a gift.
I can do this.
I placed my hands on Shaz, clenching his bloodstained fur between my fingers. Taking several deep breaths, I counted backwards from ten and prayed nobody would come through that door.
It was easy to feel and touch his broken energy. Aligning it to mine, I pushed a gentle, warm flow of light into his battered body. The constant chatter of voices in my head beat at my focus. I fought to shut it out. The wolf within demanded my attention. She heard nothing, saw nothing, only Shaz. The connection between us grew stronger. Power flowed out from me, seeking and finding its target, breathing health and vitality into this wolf that I loved with every part of me left that was wolf and human. The sound of other people’s thoughts faded. Shaz was all I knew. My being was devoted to keeping him alive. Nothing else proved stronger than that devotion. I steadied the flow between us, giving all I had until his energy hummed happily once again.
I collapsed beside him, my head in my hands, and blood running steadily from my nose. My ragged breaths became gasps, and I coughed.
Thanks to the angel blood crashing through my veins, the exhaustion was short lived. I recovered quickly. The burn out that followed the inevitable crash from so much power was going to be brutal. So I’d better make it worth it.
Chapter Fifteen
“Trust Shaz,” I said. “He’ll get you out of here. And take care of each other. Nobody gets left behind.”
I stood near the door, speaking to the group of frightened captives. The Dragon Claw was ready in my hand for when the door opened again. At my side was Shaz, as wolf, strong and alert.
I didn’t have much of a plan. I would take on Linden and his guys, keep them busy while Shaz led the humans out of the warehouse. It was growing harder to restrain the force within me. If I never took blood from an angel again, it would be too soon.
For the better part of an hour, I’d listened to stories. The men and women told tales of being kidnapped and abused at the hands of Linden and his crew. They’d been lined up against the wall while vampires ogled them. Harsh punishments were handed out to those that dared to fight back.
Linden was a crime lord in his own right. He took human trafficking to another level. Taking him out wouldn’t be enough to abolish an organization like this. Still, I couldn’t go home and pretend it didn’t exist while they treated innocents like cattle.