“One more thing,” I said, glancing at the time. The encampment got more dangerous by the day, so I couldn’t be away longer than absolutely necessary. “I need an out for four wolves who aren’t rogues. I want them gone before Arabesque returns if possible. If not, before this all blows up.”
“Names?”
“Three just turned eighteen: Cosmo Page, Devi Mintz, and Elio Bozzelli. Then there’s Dominic Loving, twenty-two.”
“Pack affiliations?”
“None current. Dominic’s a lone wolf who Claudio Kane shanghaied. Cosmo’s father was Claudio’s beta. Doesn’t have anywhere to go. Hunters decimated Elio’s pack, Nightwind. I never even heard of it. He seems to be the only survivor.”
“Nightwind?” the king sounded surprised. “Not registered as a kingdom pack. I’ll look into it. And the fourth wolf?”
“Devi was kidnapped from the Algonquin pack outside Toronto. Her alpha wouldn’t pay to get her back.”
“Her? A barely legal she wolf?”
“I can’t keep her safe much longer,” I warned him. “Look, they’re not here by choice. They’re not loyal to Arabesque, and they don’t deserve what’s coming.”
“And you care because?”
“Because I can’t handle another Austin Cho!” The words escaped before I could stop them, harsher than intended.
Another silence, longer this time.
“Send me their information,” the king finally said. “I’ll arrange something.”
“Thank you.”
“Keep in touch, Foster.”
I pocketed the phone and pulled back onto the highway, the sun beating down through the windshield.
I thought about those four wolves back at the camp. They’d been easy to spot among the rabble Arabesque had gathered. Too young, too clean, too uncertain. Not hardened rogues or bloodthirsty mercenaries, just kids who had no options.
I’d kept them together as much as possible, assigning them to the same tasks, usually jobs that kept them away from the main encampment. Dominic had figured out what I was doing pretty quick, especially after an incident with Devi.
The girl had been cornered by one of the worst rogues, a scarred brute with a reputation for violence. I’d arrived in time to catch him pawing at her shirt as she tried to fight him off. He didn’t live three more seconds, and the rest of the camp got the message that she was off-limits.
Devi drew too much attention just by existing as the only female among them. It wasn’t her fault; she was a kid trapped in a camp full of males who saw her as prey, with only me and her three friends standing between her and a fate I didn’t want to contemplate.
The incident had earned me Dominic’s trust, at least. He’d approached me afterward to ask for help.
“Those kids didn’t sign up for whateverthisis,” he’d said, gesturing to the growing army. “And I never wanted a part of it.”
I didn’t have an answer then. I might have one now, if King Julian came through.
My thoughts drifted to Austin again. The guilt was enough to break a man. I should have acted sooner. Should have seen his innocence and got him out…
“Well, I ain’t making the same mistake with these wolves,” I promised myself. “They deserve better than to be cannon fodder in a Dark witch’s power play.”
The highway stretched ahead, leading me toward Evermere and the Cimmerian brothers. I’d deliver Arabesque’s package as ordered becausesomethinghad to occasionally reach Seri to maintain my cover, but I’d also deliver my report. Every detail about Arabesque’s plans, every scrap of intelligence that might help them prepare for whatever was coming.
My alliance with King Julian or the Cimmerians wasn’t about loyalty or some noble cause. I was a survivor first and foremost. Even survivors had lines they wouldn’t cross, though. Letting innocents suffer when I could prevent it? That was one of mine.
The bubble mailer on the passenger seat seemed to mock me. Part of me wanted to pull over, burn the damn thing on the roadside, and be done with it, but that would be short-sighted. My position asArabesque’s enforcer was too valuable to jeopardize, especially now with kids counting on me to get them out.
It wasn’t redemption. I’d given up on that a long time ago, but it wassomething. Something to counter all the things I couldn’t change, all the horrors I’d witnessed and sometimes facilitated in the name of survival. So I’d continue my dangerous dance until the music finally stopped. Or until everything went up in flames.
Either way, I’d make damn sure those four wolves weren’t around when it happened.
