“No,” T. Laine said at the same time. “Not exactly.” She swung her leg off the chair arm, to the floor, and sat up in the rocker, her motion mimicking Occam’s and making her darkbob swing. “Okay, it’s like this. And though none of this is a secret, it stays in this room until further notice. Verbal discussion only.”
We all nodded.
“You know how Rick has music he plays during the full moon. He got it to help keep him sane back when he couldn’t shift into his cat. And you know how it eases all the shifters who’ve tried it.”
The music was a big part of the full moon protocol in HQ. Occam nodded slowly, his fingers sliding down the cat body. The cat started purring.
“When Rick was turned, things happened fast. He was bitten by a black leopard and the taint got into his system, starting the change. Immediately he was kidnapped by werewolves and they chewed on his tattoos. Think about it. There was werewolf taint in his flesh while he was going through the change into a black wereleopard. That had to cause problems on a first moon-calling, and we all know he couldn’t shift into his cat for two or three years.” She leaned in. “Rick was still with Jane Yellowrock at that time and Jane is the one who got the music for him. Jane is friends with Molly Everhart Trueblood, of the Everhart witches, but Molly is not an air witch. I’m guessing that Molly found an air witch somewhere and got her to make the music spells that disrupted the magic in Rick’s unfinished black-magic tats.”
The magical music also kept the were-taint from consuming his sanity, helping to interrupt the attraction of the moon keeping him from going crazy. The music also had a side effect on all were-creatures, keeping them calmer, more stable, and better able to resist the change, which was why we still played the music in the office on the full moon. Something about that tugged at my brain, but before I could take it apart and inspect it, T. Laine went on.
“You have more control over your cat than Rick does, but even you are more peaceful when the music is playing, right?”
Occam nodded, his eyes narrow as he thought back over the past year of his life. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I am.”
T. Laine said, “What I figured out a few months back, while you were putting down roots,” she added to me, “is that the music also has the ability to plug the hole in Rick’s magic.Plugisn’t a good word, but it’ll do. When the music is playing, it keeps out other workings and dark magics. It also has a cumulative effect, making him more resistant to outside influence. I thought the plug had made Rick totally safe, unresponsive to other workings. I was wrong, and I have to figure out how this curse got through his defenses.”
“So how did Paka get in?” I asked, finishing off my toast and licking the jelly off my fingers. Occam’s eyes darted to my mouth as a finger popped out, too interested. I stopped. Wiped my fingers on a cloth napkin instead.
“If Paka had come along six months later than she did, her magic might not have gotten in so deep,” T. Laine said. “He might have resisted her. Unfortunately she showed up in the first few months he was a werecat.”
“You told Rick all this?” Occam said, more a statement than a question.
“Long time ago, yes. Rick and Soul. I assume the new guy knows it too.”
“I read what I could in the report about the werewolf attack and Rick’s rescue, but big parts were redacted,” I said. “The parts that tell who actually rescued him have been removed. If I didn’t work at PsyLED, I’d have no idea that Jane Yellowrock and Leo Pellissier’s people helped to get him free.”
“Security clearances are so entertainin’,” Occam drawled.
“The most important part wasn’t in there at all,” I said, “which was: did any of the wolves escape? Are there any still floating around who might hire a witch to target Rick? Or is there any other were-creature in Rick’s past who might hire a witch to target him? Anyone considered the possibility that Paka hired a witch, who is trying to get Rick to turn someone, so the grindy’ll kill him?”
“Ohhh,” T. Laine said. “Never thought about that one.” She and JoJo exchanged glances I couldn’t interpret before bending over their tablets. Tandy and Occam were equally involved in file searches, fingers tapping.
Brainstorming was fun.
Sounding as if she was speaking while the primary part of her brain was otherwise engaged, Jo said, “Brute, the unit’s white werewolf, disappeared before you joined us and is currenly staying with Jane Yellowrock. So not him.”
My head swiveled to her. I’d heard about the werewolf, but never seen him. I had thought for a while that the unit was pulling my leg about having a werewolf as part of the team. “Rick hates werewolves.”
“Yeah. We know. He didn’t stay long once we landed in Knoxville, and it was weird having him around.” JoJo yanked on her earrings. “Brute has his own dedicated grindy and is unable to shift to human, so he isn’t after Rick. We have records that other werewolves appeared in the mountains and bit humans but so far as we know, they were all tracked down and dealt with. There’s no indication that any of the werewolves who bit Rick or participated in his kidnapping or torture are still alive.”
“A lot is redacted about his rescue and, unless Rick tells us, we may never know specifics,” Tandy said. “However, two werewolves were in jail at the time of the raid that rescued Rick.”
Occam said, “I got names and socials for those. Sending them to you. I don’t see where they are. Not in the system. Not confirmed kills by grindylows.”
“You guys have the weres covered. I’ll compile a list of witches who have interacted with Rick in the past,” T. Laine said.
“What about Jane Yellowrock?” JoJo asked.
“Jane is direct and impatient,” Tandy said, thoughtfully. “If she wanted Rick dead, he’d have been dead a long time ago. A headless corpse. She isn’t the kind for machinations.”
Occam said, “If it makes you feel better, Rick doesn’t talk to me about his past either. He’s pretty closemouthed about it all, even to the only other werecat around. I’ll have to drag anything new out of him, which might involve a major catfight and not a little blood for very little info.”
And that was the crux of the matter. Rick was closemouthed about everything. His family, his relationships with women prior to being bitten, his undercover life, which went on for far too many years. Rick protected people he felt deserved protecting, even against law enforcement agencies. Maybe even against us. If the witch circle had really targeted him, then his entire life would have to be inspected to track down the potential bad. Everything. Every detail of everycase. No more secrets. Rick wouldhatethat. And all of us were too chicken to address the issue.
“Tandy? What’s Rick feeling about the witch circle?” JoJo asked.
“Worried,” the unit empath said. The Lichtenberg lines that were part of the legacy of three lightning strikes went darker red against his pale skin. “Depressed. Angry. Tied up in knots. And now that you mention the possibility of his life being turned upside down, it makes sense.” Rick was in a lot of emotional pain lately. It was clear as day on his face. Tandy was having trouble working through Rick’s emotions. “I tried to speak to him. But he...”
