Page 19 of Kin of the Wolf (Magnetic Magic #3)

19

After I finished cleaning the vacated apartment, returned inquiries by phone and email, and helped a couple of tenants with problems, I called it a day and headed to the parking lot. The Roadtrek had recently appeared there, back from wherever Duncan had gone during the day. Magnet fishing, probably.

Since he’d been gone, I hadn’t yet had a chance to run my plan by him, but I’d called Jasmine and given her the details. I’d also asked her, in the event of my death, to warn my mother that Augustus was after her medallion and that she shouldn’t trust her driveway alarms.

If Mom had a phone, like a civilized person, I could have shared that warning myself, but there wasn’t time to drive up to her cabin. Sammamish was in a different direction, and I planned to show up at Augustus’s lake house early. Ideally before those he’d invited to his shindig arrived. I had a feeling his guests would be his loyal lackeys, happy to jump in and clobber me.

While I’d been working, I’d had second and third thoughts about agreeing to go to Augustus’s house. I wished I’d come up with something else. But if I’d negotiated too much, when Duncan’s life supposedly hung by a thread, my cousin would have been suspicious. He’d believed he’d had all the leverage. I wasn’t sure that belief was wrong.

I knocked on Duncan’s sliding door.

“Do you have any grenades I can borrow?” I asked when he opened it.

His eyebrows rose. “One doesn’t typically borrow grenades. They’re difficult to return once they’ve been used.”

“It’s possible I won’t need to use them.”

“Where are you taking them?”

“To my cousin’s house.” I showed him the map I’d pulled up of the address. It was a long lakeside lot with a dock extending into the water. An ivy-covered stone wall and gate blocked Street View from seeing the house, but it appeared large on the satellite imagery. Maybe it was a castle.

“You’ll need them then.”

“Yeah, probably so. I’ll rephrase. Do you have any grenades that I can have ? I can pay.” Not sure how much grenades cost, I delved into my purse and sifted through my budgeting envelopes. After hesitating, I held up the one labeled ENTERTAINMENT.

“Is that what blowing up your cousin would fall under?” Duncan asked.

“It might. It’s either that or MISCELLANEOUS, but I never put much money in that one. I prefer to categorize carefully and accurately. That envelope has always seemed like an excuse to be undisciplined.”

“What a terrible thing to be.” Duncan's eyes twinkled as he waved for me to put the envelopes away. “Unfortunately, I can’t be your grenade dealer. I haven’t had a chance to replenish my supply.”

“You only had two?” I peered into his van. “I guess space is at a premium in a house on wheels.”

“Quite true. Are you breaking into a home on a lake?” He pointed at the map on the phone. “As I mentioned to you before, I do have underwater demolitions.”

“Do those have a pin you can pull as you hurl them over a gate?”

“No. You set them, then swim away and detonate them remotely. They’re much more sophisticated than grenades.”

“I don’t need sophisticated for Augustus.”

“A bear trap and a club ought to be sufficient for him. But are you certain you wouldn’t want to blow up his dock? And is that a boat house attached? Goodness, such a palatial home for a werewolf.”

“Yeah, our kind aren’t supposed to care that much about money and mansions and luxury lifestyles. We’re furry Spartans, if not troglodytes. We howl at the moon and pee to mark our territory.”

“I may resemble that remark,” Duncan murmured, eyeing the satellite imagery as we spoke.

“I know you do. I have a nose.” I tapped it and nodded significantly toward the greenbelt, well aware that he’d marked territory back there.

“I was attempting to ward off your odious cousins.”

“And let other males know there’s a female here that you’re interested in?”

“Of course. Are you flattered?”

“More than I should be,” I said.

His smile was smug. “May I assume that when you visit Augustus in his oversized abode, you would like some company?”

I hesitated. I did want his company, but…

“He said not to bring you.” I summed up the phone conversation, then added, “I’m asking Jasmine to come. I don’t think Augustus will object to her, and I need someone to hold the camera while I throttle the truth out of him.”

Duncan blinked slowly, looking stunned. “What you need is someone to walk at your side and fight with you when he breaks his word and launches a legion of werewolves at you.”

“I probably do need that, but he won’t let me in if I show up with you, and he said he can detect you. Throwing you in the back of my truck under a blanket won’t work.”

“What if I wear SCUBA gear and come in via the dock? I could blow up the boathouse as a distraction on my way in.”

“I…” That actually sounded fantastic. “That would irk him.”

“ Good .”

“I would love to have you with me, Duncan, but I’m concerned about you, not just about my plan working. He’s gunning for you, and…”

“I can avoid licking any candy he hands me when I show up.”

“That’s not it. Or not all of it.” I looked frankly into his eyes. “The last couple of times we’ve fought together, you’ve turned into the bipedfuris and, shortly after, you’ve fallen under the spell of Lord Abrams.”

“I’m certain it was a coincidence last time. He and Radomir couldn’t have known I was changing at that moment.”

“But they’ve been trying to call you for days, right?”

“They have.”

“Even I’ve felt the magic. You’re more susceptible to it when you’re in that form, aren’t you?”

Duncan hesitated and looked away.

I waited, my gaze locked on his face. I had a hunch I was right about this.

“I am more susceptible to control in that form. When Abrams was raising me, he had plenty of time to study me, to figure out my strengths and weaknesses. In that form, I’m strongest and most dangerous but also the least… in control. Even without a magical compulsion, I’m savage when I’m the two-legs. As you saw.” He grimaced and only glanced at me before staring at the pavement.

“I saw you protect me last time.” I didn’t mention that he’d attacked me the first time. Abrams had been standing scant feet away then, that device pointed right at Duncan. “And hurl one of my cousins into a tree. That was nice.”

“It was savage.”

“Savagely nice from my point of view. And they deserved it.”

“That I’ll agree with.” Duncan met my gaze. “Look, I don’t have to take that form tonight. I can be myself as a human or turn into a wolf. Don’t go into your cousin’s lair with only a girl for help.”

“Jasmine is more than a girl; she’s one of us.”

“Not one who fights a lot. I can tell. You need a strong ally. And a plan.”

“I have a plan.”

A hesitant knock sounded on the other side of the van, and I sensed Bolin.

“And that’s it,” I added, then stepped around the front of the van, startling him. His leather messenger bag was slung over one shoulder and slipped down to his elbow when he jumped.

“Is he going with you too?” Duncan had followed me around the hood and gave me an aggrieved look.

“Going where?” Bolin asked warily, pushing the strap back onto his shoulder.

“Into the lair of deadly wolves,” Duncan said.

“He’s not,” I said at the same time as Bolin issued an emphatic, “No.”

“I brought something for Luna,” Bolin added, glancing at Duncan before looking at me. “Do you want it, uhm, with witnesses?”

Duncan folded his arms over his chest.

“It’s fine,” I said. “He’s my ally. He’s going to provide a distraction out back while I enter the lair through the gate.” I smiled at Duncan, hoping that would make him happy. Even if I had doubts about relying on him when he could be called off by those who wanted to be his masters at any time, I thought he could be useful for creating a distraction. “He has SCUBA gear and underwater demolitions,” I added.

“Yes.” Duncan lifted his chin.

“Underwater demolitions?” Bolin asked dubiously.

“Explosives,” Duncan said.

Bolin rolled his eyes. “I know what demolitions are. The word is originally from the Latin verb moliri, which means to build, and the prefix de- which means to undo. I was just surprised because wolf lairs presumably aren’t underwater and, when you first spoke of the home as such, I didn’t think it was a metaphor. Due to, well…” He waved vaguely at us.

Figured out the werewolf thing, had he? I’d assumed he had.

“Well, it is a literal wolf’s lair, I suppose,” I said, “but it’s also a big lakefront mansion.”

“I intend to undo the dock and boathouse,” Duncan said. “And ideally the owner.”

“That sounds violent,” Bolin murmured.

“It’s in our blood,” I said.

“I believe that.” Bolin lifted the flap of his bag. “I’m not sure you need my formulas if you’ve got explosives, but, per your request, I acquired these for you.”

He held out four vials of green glowing liquid and two swirling blue-green spheres of compressed powder. If I’d seen them on a store shelf, I would have thought them bath bombs.

“Those make a sticky mess on the floor when they dissolve.” Bolin pointed to the spheres. “Sticky enough to ensnare people, like Entangling Vines in Destiny Wields a Sword .”

“I haven’t played that yet.” I wasn’t sure why I said yet . I’d blown up some bad guys in my sons’ video games when they’d been growing up, but my special talent had been running my avatar off cliffs and dying before the enemies showed up.

Bolin stared at me as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I’m saving the delight for retirement,” I said .

“Are you sure you’re not a Boomer?”

“Positive. Are the vials the same thing that we saw you use in the parking lot the day we met? That threw up vapors and stung the eyes of the motorcycle thugs?”

“Yes.”

“Those tricks don’t sound like they’ll be that effective against werewolves,” Duncan said. “Wouldn’t you prefer to blow up the house and your cousins with it?”

“I know you’re a nomadic treasure-hunter who’s new to this country,” I said, “but both of those things are crimes here.”

“But blowing up the boathouse is okay?”

No, but since he’d offered… “I think that’s a petty crime. The penalties would be less… penal.”

Bolin’s eyebrows rose. “I shouldn’t, as a law-abiding citizen, be listening to this conversation.”

“Probably not. Thank you for bringing these.” After taking the vials and bath bombs, I shooed him away.

When Bolin was out of earshot, Duncan said, “Your cousins are going to keep coming after you unless you get rid of them permanently.”

“I’m going to force Augustus to confess to his bad behavior, not kill him. You can’t murder family.”

“They’re trying to murder you.”

“Because they don’t consider me family anymore due to the choice I made to leave.”

“Don’t make it sound like this is your fault when they’re the arseholes.”

I shrugged. “I’m not, but… I used to babysit Augustus and several of the others. I can’t kill them. I’ve seen them in their Underoos.”

Duncan blinked. “Their what?”

“Superhero underwear. Didn’t Lord Abrams give you any when you were growing up? ”

“He did not.”

“What an insufficient parental figure he was.”

“I won’t argue that.”

“Capes were even involved,” I said. “I know you’re a fan of capes.”

“Of all the people in the world who don’t deserve to wear superhero undergarments, your brutish cousins are at the top of the list.”

“I agree, but I can’t plot to kill them. It’s bad enough…” I waved a hand at the parking lot where we’d battled Radomir’s thugs. Where I’d lost my humanity and killed some of them. I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t yet be discovered and brought up on charges for that. My karma had been twisted in knots, dropped on the ground, and stomped on.

“When people try to kill you, Luna, you have to kill them back. You can’t wait idly around until they poison your chocolate.”

I blew out a slow breath, admitting he wasn’t entirely wrong, but… “Like Bolin, I’m a law-abiding citizen with ties to this place and the human world. I have to live by their laws. Our laws. Even if I didn’t have a moral issue with killing family… I don’t want to end up in jail. I’m going to gather evidence—a confession—and let the pack elders handle my cousins.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed. He’d stood up for me a number of times, jumping into fights that weren’t his, and his mulish expression worried me. He wasn’t contemplating doing the deed and taking the fall for me, was he? I didn’t want that.

“I’ll allow that human laws and law enforcement haven’t been sufficient to help me with my family werewolf problems,” I said, “but let me go through the proper channels with the pack before we consider anything drastic. Like I said, I’ll get a confession and show it to the arbiter. Lorenzo is in charge, and, if they’re motivated, the elders are strong enough to band together and get Augustus and whoever stands with him to leave. ”

“ Usually , you can get bullies to back down by punching them in the nose and showing them you’re not afraid, but those blokes…” Duncan shook his head. “I don’t understand their animosity.”

“I think it’s that we’ve so successfully punched them in the noses. Augustus might have scorned me before, but now he hates me. And you.”

Duncan waved toward my phone, though the screen had gone dark, the map disappearing. “Send me the address, okay? And tell me what time you want me to be there. I’ll find a nearby public dock and swim over.”

“Okay. And you don’t really have to blow up anything. An explosion out in the water would be a fine distraction.”

“He sent me poisoned chocolates. I’m annihilating his dock and his boathouse, then peeing on every square inch of his smoldering waterfront.”

I hadn’t realized Duncan had a vindictive streak, but Augustus had, in sending the poison, made it personal for Duncan.

“I trust you’ll turn into a wolf first for the latter,” was all I said.

“We’ll see how irked I get.”

“Make sure to give yourself time to remove your SCUBA gear before changing. I assume your wetsuit and tanks are expensive. You wouldn’t want them to disappear into the ether.”

“That’s the truth.” Duncan took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and shook his arms, as if to loosen tense muscles. “What time?”

“Eight p.m. I need to grab a few things and pick up Jasmine on the way.” I stepped forward and clasped his hands. “Thanks for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We’ll go hunting together somewhere exotic after all this is resolved.”

“Exotic? Like South America? Africa?”

“I was thinking Leavenworth,” I said, naming the tourist town on the east side of the mountains. I was fairly certain they had snow over there now and envisioned chasing game through a wintry landscape.

“I don’t know where that is.”

“A couple hours that way.” I pointed east. “It’s a cute Bavarian-themed town on a river surrounded by woods.”

“When you said exotic, I envisioned us stalking giraffes and elephants in the Serengeti.”

“Leavenworth is more in my budget. And it has a fudge shop.”

“ Almost as enticing as a giraffe.”

“Yes. And it involves less fur getting in your mouth.”

He snorted. “You’re a quirky werewolf.”

“I think we’ve established that we both are.”

“Yes.” Duncan squeezed my hands, then kissed me on the cheek, letting his lips linger before drawing back. He gave me a long look, like he wanted to do more than deliver a parting kiss, but he released me with determination in his eyes and headed for the driver’s seat of his van.

Something about that determination made me uneasy. Again, I worried he might be willing to take out Augustus—if not every belligerent cousin I had—and accept the ramifications on my behalf.

Shaking my head, I went to my apartment to grab the rest of my potions and the wolf case before heading to my truck. For Duncan’s sake, I would pick up Jasmine early and be at Augustus’s house by 7:30. The moon willing, we could resolve everything before Duncan arrived.