The Marradith Ryder Series: The Art of Shadows, Part 22
“Can I come in?” Marradith asked. She stood at the door of Daria’s hotel room with her hands in her pockets.
“Sure. I’m surprised you’re still awake at this time of the night. What’s wrong ?” Daria said.
Marradith sighed as she stepped into the room.
Daria closed the door behind her. “Seriously, you look pissed. What’s up?”
Marradith shook her head. “Nothing worth getting into. Look, I didn’t come to bother you in the middle of the night . I wanted to talk to you about Fi.”
Daria sat down. “What happened today after I left?”
Marradith briefly explained Fiona’s belief that the Graymoor was somehow involved in Rafael’s disappearance; and the brandings that they found on the back of the dead shapeshifter.
“ Listen, I think Fiona’s looking in the wrong place. What happened in the park today seems like something meant to send us in the wrong direction. You remember that I was supposed to go to RafaeI’s room, see if I could get any kind of vibe on what happened to him?”
“Yeah, we were supposed to do that this morning.”
“I went up to Rafael’s room on my own about thirty minutes ago. I didn’t get a sense of anything from it. Rafael was taken completely by surprise. He didn’t have a chance to be frightened. I’m thinking that he may have been drugged. A Wolf killed that man in the park. You and Rafael were here because you were on the track of Wolves. So maybe we go back to that, and hopefully we find the connection to Rafael.”
Daria smiled. “I may be a little ahead of you on that score.”
Marradith crossed her arms. “Where did you go this afternoon when you left the park?”
“I did some snooping of my own. We have got a few hours before morning yet. How do you feel about getting out to see what we can find?” Daria asked.
“It will piss Fiona off if she finds out,” Marradith replied. She smiled. “But I’m always up for a hunt.”
***
Alejandro sat outside in the dark, finishing the last of his cigarette.
He heard Miranda’s footsteps on the floor below. Soon enough she came out to join him on the fire escape.
“You going to sit out here all night, Mejo, or are you going to come in?”
He shrugged. Turning from her he let out a plume of smoke, and crushed the remainder of the cigarette against the brick.
“Things can’t keep going like this, you know,” he said softly.
“Why not?”
His eyes narrowed. “Someone’s going to come looking for this man. It’s only a matter of time.”
“He won’t be here much longer,” she said. “Our friend will get him out here soon enough.”
“I hope you don’t think it’s going to be that simple.”
Miranda turned from him. The moon was out. She shivered.
“It was easy for them to come and take my Pablo. And easy for him to turn you to a Wolf once he was infected. I don’t have any compunction about that man. Who knows how many mortal lifetimes he’s lived by now? It was bad enough that they took my husband, now you’re….”
“You’re going to have to get over that, eventually,” Alejandro snapped.
Her hands were at her sides, curled into fists. He could feel the heat coming off her body from where he stood.
“Do you feed, like the rest of them?’ she asked, her voice deadly low. “Do you hunt?”
“You don’t really want the answer, do you?” he said. He’d expected sooner or later, it would come down to that.
“You’re still my son. That comes before anything.”
“Suffice it to say, you don’t need any details.”
She sighed, an attempt to calm herself. “Maybe you should just go. If you don’t want to be involved in this…”
“You have gotten yourself into something bad here. I wish you could see that,” he turned to face her.
Miranda smiled, but it was a weary expression. “We have always disagreed about everything, haven’t we Son? I don’t guess that it should be any different now than it was before.”
“You can always call me, when you need me. But in the next few days or so, I think its going to be time enough for me to move on.”
Alejandro could not explain to her the feelings that came with being a new Wolf. It wasn’t just the need to feed. It was also the need to wander, and perhaps to find others of their kind. And to mate.
“Your friend hasn’t told you exactly what her plans are for Castillo, has she?”
Miranda’s face brightened.
“No. But I’m sure it’s painful.”
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©2010 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’ novella, Lazarus, is available on Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1453775722/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img
