“Really? They don’t seem convinced.”
“They’re hurting. Marilyn lost a grandson today. A life for a life doesn’t bring them back, but a fight is a distraction from the pain. That’s what they really want.”
“That makes sense,” I tell her, knowing that feeling all too well.
“I grew up in the area and went to med school in New York, but I have family in the mountains. I’ve heard the stories about dark entities in the woods that not even us werewolves dare to cross. How are you going to fight these demons?”
“Lower level demons like the ones possessing the bodies, are just the tip of the iceberg. They’re working for a much more powerful demon and they’re up to something. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”
“What do demons want?”
My eyes widen. “Chaos. Destruction. To bring hell to earth and rid humans of our souls.”
“Oh. I thought you might say like cocaine and hookers.”
I laugh. “Some demons might enjoy that before sucking the souls out of children.”
“So you find the Big Boss and then what?”
“Figure out how to kill it.”
Delphi bites her lip and exhales. “It’s definitely not going to be that easy.”
“No, not at all.” I shake my head. “And it will be even harder if I’m also dealing with a battle between werewolves and vampires.”
“I think we have enough to work with. At least to buy some time.”
“Good. Uh…so…now what?”
“The pack will talk and then cast a vote, but ultimately it’s up to our alpha.”
“Okay,” I say with a heavy sigh and notice Larkin looking at the bite mark on my neck. “It’s a long story,” I offer.
She raises her eyebrows. “I can prescribe you an antibiotic for that.”
“I’m fine.”
“It looks nasty and painful.”
I shrug. “It’s not fun, but I’ve had worse.”
Looking like she’s quite literally biting her tongue, she turns away but then trains her eyes right back. “I always assumed a vampire like Xavier wouldn’t, uh, tear your flesh.”
“It wasn’t him.” My words come out quickly and I shake my head.
“Oh damn. I’d hate to be the vampire who did that then.”
“Yeah.” I cross my arms and look back at the table. The wolves are speaking in low voices, but the energy in the room has changed and is slightly less threatening. Larkin looks up and meets Delphi’s eyes. An unspoken message is said between them and Delphi waves her hand in a gesture for me to follow her back in.
“Hey, y’all,” she starts. “Wren explained that the demons possessing people are basically lemmings who are working for a more powerful demon.”
“There have been monsters in the woods since the beginning of time,” the older male werewolf says. He has a very sensible energy coming off of him. “I’ve seen things when I was a pup and used to go camping with my gramps.”
“You’re right.” I don’t see a reason to dispute what he’s saying. “This area especially kept us busy as hunters.”
“And this demon, you’re sure you can fight it?”
“Yes,” I say, even though I don’t know what kind of demon I’m going to go up against. I don’t have a choice. “One way or another.”
