Page 48 of Wolf Bane (Marked #3)

Mal huffed a laugh at that. “Yeah. It was all me doing the talking. You didn’t open your mouth once.”

The color on Waltrip’s cheeks deepened. “Oh?” I asked, wiggling my brows at them. “There were open mouths involved?”

“Shut up,” Waltrip muttered, reaching for the empty cup before realizing the coffee was still in the pot. “I’ll just…”

I barely managed not to laugh. Mal, his own cheeks a paler pink, shrugged when I gave him a questioning look. “I don’t know,” he murmured. “Maybe? It’s just nice to feel wanted.”

Ethan and Waltrip’s voices were joined by Cullen’s, all of them talking over one another and rising in volume by the second. “I guess nap time is over.” I sighed. Mal nodded, looking a little relieved I wasn’t going to pursue a line of questioning about him and Waltrip.

I’d let him think that for now… there’d be plenty of time later.

Hopefully.

* * *

We ended up in the kitchen. The first pot of coffee had been a debrief. Ethan hadn’t let go of my free hand once during the entire time. The second pot of coffee—decaf, but I wasn’t going to tell them that—was well under way when Cullen started asking questions.

He’d been sitting quietly, making notes on paper, while I relayed everything that happened over the past week. “Jesus, a week to the day,” I muttered, leaning my head on Ethan’s shoulder.

Waltrip sighed, closing his eyes. “Who knows how long before that while they were just testing things out.”

“When the clinic opened, Robards was one of my first patients,” I said after a moment. “He was so kind. He… he didn’t deserve what happened. No one deserves that. It was a horror show.”

“He has a son. Estranged, apparently. He’s coming from Gulf Shores to see to arrangements for Mr. Robards but not Eliza,” Cullen said. “I’m sure there’s some fascinating soap opera dynamics at play, but I wasn’t interested enough to dig into those.”

Which was Cullen-speak for it was determined the rift had nothing to do with our current situation .

I was learning to understand his snark and gave myself a small mental pat on the back for that. “What will happen to her?”

“She will live out her life on a property owned by the council. She will work under the council if we have need for her abilities—likely in one of the labs or perhaps in the capacity of an office clerk, something that requires little or no retraining. She won’t be returned to, ah, general population.

She’s a danger not just to Garrow’s survivors but the rest of the community as well.

Her life will be little different than if she hadn’t gone rogue like this save for the fact she will be under the watchful eye of the council until the day she dies.

And when that happens, the council has a few burial plots on private land,” he said.

“She’ll be interred at one of them. She will have a marker, should anyone choose to visit her. ”

Ethan shifted a shade uncomfortably next to me. “Tell him the rest.”

Cullen raised a brow. “It’s not necessary.”

“If you want me to keep playing along, it’s very necessary.”

Waltrip hid his grin behind his coffee cup as Cullen glared at Ethan. Hm. Wasn’t expecting my man to push back. I gave Ethan’s thigh a squeeze before turning an expectant look to Cullen.

“She will be autopsied. She is from a were clan, one with a long history, even though she never manifested her abilities she is one of us.”

“So, you’re going to take her apart like a broken toy to find out why she never manifested?” Mal demanded, sickened.

“No. We’re going to perform an autopsy to determine cause of death, you strange little man. And she has rights within the were community. She is one of us and will be treated as one of us in death, though she was never allowed such things in life.”

“We keep us safe,” Cullen said flatly. “That includes protecting our dead. The older ways were more… convoluted. But we hold the spirit of those laws still. We won’t allow her body to be accessible to anyone who might have ideas about desecration for research purposes.”

“But Mr. Robards?”

“His son is having him cremated. There will be nothing viable for Garrow or anyone else to desecrate, once he is ash.”

The way Cullen said that made me pretty sure he’d go to Gulf Shores and run the retort himself just to make sure the cremation happened.

“And Lugaru?”

Waltrip cleared his throat uncomfortably. “There’s no cure for the Wolf Bane, so right now it’s running its course.”

“Are… are Zero and the others?” Dead . Are they dead. But the words stuck in my throat.

Waltrip gave me a tight smile. “Zero is maintaining. They seem to be having Justin’s luck with the thing. Others are not doing as well.”

Silence fell over us in a heavy blanket for almost too long. Finally, I asked, “And who’s going to be looking for a treatment, then?”

Cullen had the nerve to look annoyed. “I suppose that would be us, unless you’re hiding an entire research department in your back pocket.”

I held my breath for a second, worried he’d ask me to help, present some proposition from the council, but instead, he turned to Mal. “Mariska is improving?”

“She’s doing so much better,” Mal agreed, his relief and happiness showing in his face.

“She’s champing at the bit to go play with her friends.

But…” He glanced around the table, deflating just a little.

“But I’m worried about letting her out of my sight again.

Between the Wolf Bane situation, and Garrow being on the loose…

I can’t keep her with me all the time. I still need to work.

But even the idea of her going to school where she’s surrounded by other kids, by teachers and staff…

It terrifies me. I know what Garrow can do.

I know what he wants to do. And the fact he has his own team willing to help?

” He shook his head. “I’m starting to feel like going off grid and living in a cave somewhere out west is the safest option. ”

I was pretty sure he wasn’t being entirely hyperbolic. “We can figure something out,” I offered. “We’ll come up with something to make sure she’s got eyes on her even when you can’t.”

“Dude, I can’t?—”

“Hey, we’re kind of like brothers, right? I mean. Maybe distant cousins or something. Since we went through the same shit with Garrow, were in the same cohort. Got dosed with the same mess…” My face and neck heated under Mal’s surprised, open gaze. “I mean. Maybe?”

“I’m sorry, who are you and what’ve you done with Landry Babin?” He laughed, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Really?”

“I’m an asshole, not heartless,” I said, feigning a scowl that only made him laugh harder. Waltrip chuckled, reaching out to give Mal’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “Where is she now?”

“Ah. Well. When I got summoned this morning, I was kind of desperate for a babysitter so?—”

“Reba,” Ethan supplied. “Reba’s been fretting around for the past two days. We told her you had a car accident but were doing okay and would be home today.”

“I asked if she could mind Mariska at my house for me while we came over here. I told her it was a work thing.”

“We don’t work together…”

Another shrug. “I don’t think she cared. She showed up with peanut brittle, a bag of coloring books, a box full of dress-ups, and one of those fancy water guns that can take out a parent at a hundred paces.”

“That woman is wasted on adults. If she doesn’t specialize in pediatric nursing, I’m gonna spit,” I announced.

Conversation ebbed and flowed for a bit. Cullen politely sipped his coffee, only remarking once how he could taste the burned beans despite my heavy hand with the sugar. Waltrip remained mostly mum until Cullen announced he had to leave in order to catch a flight back to Chicago at nine.

“Ethan,” he said as he rose, “you have the next two weeks off. Use them well.”

Waltrip got to his feet too. “Let me walk you out. I need to speak with you.”

Cullen inclined his chin. “I thought you might.”

Alone with Mal and Ethan finally, I leaned back in my chair. “What the hell?”

Ethan sighed. “There’s dissension in the ranks at the council. I… may have made some very loud statements about their hands-off approach to certain things. Which apparently led to Suzanne Murphy being involved.”

“So, are we on our own here? Looking for Garrow and the others? Are we just sitting ducks while the council dicks around and tries to decide what they’re doing or what?

” Mal demanded, shooting to his feet to pace angrily.

“I can’t do this again. Put Mariska at risk.

Put us at risk. Just because they think they’re bigger and meaner than Garrow doesn’t mean shit when it comes to us. ”

“Mal,” Ethan said, rising to intercept his frantic steps.

“We’re not going to wait and see. Tyler’s already working on tracking the others.

It’ll take some time, but he’s on it. He’s bringing in some friends he’s worked with before.

” He shot me a glance. “Landry’s met them.

They’re good at what they do and don’t limit themselves to things that are actually legally allowed for private eyes. ”

I nodded. I remembered them from last year, a small group of tech-savvy weres who were slick as grease on a brass doorknob when it came to being shady and brilliant with what they did. “They work with Waltrip a lot, from what I recall.”

Mal paused mid-panic. “Oh! Dizzy and them? They’re sweethearts. Mariska loves her.”

“You’ve met Waltrip’s office staff?” Ethan asked, surprised.

Mal shrugged. “We had lunch with him in Dallas last week,” he muttered. “Mariska wanted to see where he worked.”

Yeah, we’d definitely be talking about this later…

* * *

Mal and Waltrip left at the same time, and we pretended not to notice how they lingered by Waltrip’s car for nearly half an hour before Mal had to go back into his own house.

Waltrip had been quiet about whatever he’d discussed with Cullen, only telling us he’d be out of pocket for the next week because he had a lead on the Monk and Hood group.

He’d hesitated before leaving, finally telling us “If Justin is serious about getting back to work in his cytopath stuff, let me know. I may have something for him.”

“What? You’ve got a lab lying around?” I asked, incredulous. “Or you suddenly need a doctor on staff?”

“Not me,” Waltrip said with a small smile. “Just tell him to call me.”

Ethan helped me clean up the coffee cups and wash out the pot while we argued gently about dinner, whether it was too late or we were too tired. Finally, he just made us two bowls of oatmeal.

I had mine with too much brown sugar, just the way I liked it. Ethan was the responsible one and had his plain. “You lack whimsy,” I muttered around a mouthful, surprisingly hungry after all.

“For someone who knows better, you sure do eat like you’re immortal.”

“Well, we don’t know the extent of what Garrow did to me, do we? For all we know, I might be.”

Ethan’s expression froze mid-bite.

“Sorry,” I said. “Sometimes if you don’t laugh you have to scream, and I really don’t want to scare the neighbors.”

Ethan just nodded. We finished our oatmeal in silence.

When I got up to wash the bowls, he stopped me with a hand to my wrist. “I’m tired of worrying you’re gonna be taken from me, Landry.

And I don’t just mean by Garrow, or someone who has a beef with you being what you are.

When you were missing, all I could think was if he’s dead… ”

“But I’m not,” I whispered, letting him pull me closer, down into his lap so he could press his face against my shoulder. “I’m not dead. And I won’t be any time soon.” Which, I knew, could very likely be a huge lie.

“I still want to marry you,” he said against my neck, the prickle of his beard.

“I know it’s not going to magically protect you.

Or me. But, Landry, I don’t want either of us to die without being husbands.

Without… without that tie between us. Because I love you and I have since we were sixteen and seventeen years old.

And the years we were apart were godawful, and I don’t want to go one more week without rings on our fingers.

” He huffed, pulling back to look at me with surprisingly red, shiny eyes. “Sorry I’m not more romantic, but?—”

His startled grunt when I kissed him was the only answer we needed.