Gatsby Wolves, Vol. 4

Wes and Euna had been baffled to find Celine at their doorstep, and even more so when she asked several questions about Euna’s family. Like what her maiden name had been and what her sister’s married name was, and if they had any children. She’d felt bad taking a quick snoop in Clara’s head later that afternoon, but hadn’t wanted to pepper the poor girl with questions about her awful uncle. She had now confirmed that one Elliot Kelley was indeed still alive, and must be the one behind the shifter attacks. Her next order of business had been trying to figure out what she could about the whistle.

Kade was right; there was nothing in the shifter books about such a thing. Frustrated, Celine had set the books aside and paced for a while to help her think. Illaria had come flying past the room; her wing was better and she and Jinxie liked to play a game of flying tag. As she looked at the odd little fairy creature, a realization had struck her like a slap in the face.

“We’ve heard the whistle on full moon nights. Elliot can’t possibly blow it while he’s in wolf form, which means it must be an enchanted whistle.”

She had abandoned the wolf books and begun poring over her fairy ones instead. She had discovered that there was an enchantment that could be placed on objects like instruments; or whistles; that could be used to lure or control a specific type of being, as long as it was less powerful than the wielder. It was nicknamed the Pied Piper Effect; and the more the instrument was used the more powerful it became and in turn, the stronger it made its user until the connection was severed. Which could be achieved either by physically destroying the object or killing its user. Celine had decided she needed to find Elliot and where he was keeping his pack of feral shifters. She had snooped the location of his house from Clara’s mind as well.

And that was how she came to be here, at an abandoned farm, with her nose bleeding and ears ringing. Obviously Elliot couldn’t be keeping the shifters at his actual house; it was too small and Clara would’ve noticed such a thing. Celine had had to strain her psychic vampire senses virtually to their limit trying to pick up a trail to the shifters; she was pretty sure she’d only been able to detect anything because of the sheer panic and confusion they seemed to be feeling. She had followed that weak psychic tether here, to this farm in the middle of nowhere. It was on the city’s outermost limits, if she hadn’t crossed out of the Stark boundary entirely.

And to her immense horror, the farm was being used to contain shifters. So many of them. A handful patrolled freely, in their human forms. She supposed they must be the enforcers; she recognized the big man who’d talked to Clyde. She was on the roof of the barn, which appeared to have been significantly expanded and housed cages. There had to be about a hundred shifters trapped inside them. Occasionally the patrolling shifters would bang on the cages or even jab weapons inside, injuring the caged shifters. A man who Celine knew must be Elliot entered the barn; he was a big man, with cold eyes and russet hair. He stalked along the rows of cages and the shifters shrunk back from him. As Celine watched through the tiny skylight on the roof, he released the whistle in his hand and it floated beside him, emitting a faint pulse of light.

Celine felt sick. She needed to get back and tell Kade and the others that she had found Elliot. He wasn’t forming a pack; he was raising an army. His plan must have been to eventually unleash them all, overwhelming the MacIntosh pack with sheer numbers. And the following night would be the full moon. Celine raced back to town with every bit of speed she could muster. She burst through the door of the pawn shop, startling poor Gibbet.

“Kade ran out for some lunch,” he said. “He’ll be back soon.”

Celine leaned on the counter, tapping her fingers nervously against it while she waited and tried to sort out her thoughts so that she could properly explain what she’d found.

“Celine?” Kade stepped through the door, surprised to see her. She turned to face him.

“Kade, I have so much to tell you. It is Elliot behind the attacks. I saw him, and he-“ She broke off, eyes going wide with alarm when Kade flinched. He doubled over, nearly collapsing. She could hear the faint shrill of the whistle; she imagined it sounded much louder to a shifter. She moved forward to steady Kade as he looked ready to pass out again, but she froze as he fell and then started to shift. It didn’t seem to be of his own will, either. Celine was gripped with panic; the whistle must have been growing stronger and since it was almost the full moon it must have been able to force the wolf out. Celine started to reach for Kade, but stopped as he lifted his head and growled.

Celine took a step back but was afraid to run; that would likely only provoke him to chase her. She wasn’t sure what to do. Shifters were still physically stronger than her, by a significant amount. And she would never hurt Kade. He growled again, his ears lying flat as he stalked toward her.

“Kade,” she said calmly, even though her heart was pounding. “I know you’re in there.”

He leaped at her, pinning her to the ground. He still growled though he didn’t actually attack her yet. Celine stared up at him, trying to grab onto their link to each other. It was hard when he was so taken over by the wolf; he didn’t appear to recognize her.

“Kade,” she said again. “Kade, wake up. This isn’t you.”

Abruptly the animal look in his eye faded. The growling turned into a whimper and he backed slowly away from her. He shook himself, as if trying to clear his head. He started to growl again, and then he wrenched himself away from Celine, literally throwing himself through the pawn shop window. Celine scrambled to her feet, alarmed. Kade lay still for a moment, and then she realized the whistle had stopped. He shifted back to his human form and Celine ran to him. He was unconscious, with cuts all over his face and arms. There was a particularly large shard of glass in his hand. Celine gently pulled it free so it could start to heal, and she cradled his head as she waited for him to wake up.

“Come on, Kade. I need to know you're okay.”

After several minutes his eyes opened, though he seemed a little groggy and still in pain.

“Kade,” she said, relieved. “Can you sit up?”

He looked dazed as he looked around at the glass. Then he looked at her and he flinched.

“Celine, I’m so sorry. I attacked you, I could’ve hurt you-“

Celine shook her head, gently catching his face in her hands. “You didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. You fought it.”

“It was too close,” he said angrily. “You have to go stay with Silas. You said you would if it got bad.”

“It’s not-“ Celine paused, an idea taking hold in her mind. “I’ll take Emelie to my father’s, she can stay with him for a couple days,” she said diplomatically. “But I’m staying with you.”

“It’s not safe.” He tried to move away from her but Celine wasn’t having it. She gripped his uninjured hand and refused to let go.

“I am not going to leave you,” she said sternly. “I will not run away to my father’s and hide while you’re in trouble. I’m taking you home, so you can rest and heal. I’ll drop Emelie off at my father’s right after sundown, and then I want you to get the pack and MacIntosh to the Rose and Raven, so we can form a plan.”

“Celine-“

“It’s not a suggestion, Kade. I am not abandoning you.”

She went back inside the pawn shop, where a wide eyed Gibbet was figuring out how to repair the window. Celine pulled him aside to ask a favor, which he agreed to, looking baffled. Then she took Kade home and made him lie down. He looked miserable and could barely look her in the eye.

“Remember, get everyone together at the club after sundown,” she told him. She brushed his hair back from his face and he gave her a look that reminded her of a wounded puppy. She leaned down to kiss him. “Everything will be okay,” she promised. Celine had already formed a plan, and she would make sure of it. She picked Emelie up from school and told her she’d be staying with Grandpa for a night or two.

“Your daddy isn’t feeling very well right now,” Celine explained. “Go give him a quick goodbye kiss, but be quiet if he’s asleep.”

While Emelie packed her bag, Celine found that Kade was in fact asleep, though he was tossing and turning a lot. Celine quietly took the keys for the pawn shop before softly kissing his forehead. When she dropped Emelie off with her father, she made a request that sent his eyebrows flying up.

“I need a few drops of your blood,” Celine said, holding up a small vial. “Undiluted.”

“What on earth for? What are you doing, my girl?”

“What I have to,” Celine said firmly. “Kade and the pack are in trouble, and I have to help them.”

“Does Kade know that you’re planning…whatever it is you're planning?”

“He will,” Celine replied. “Please, Daddy. I know what I’m doing.”

Silas sighed, cutting into his wrist with his fang and filling the little glass vial. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

“Please be careful,” he said. Celine then returned to the pawn shop. It was closed for the night and Gibbet had fixed the window. Celine used Kade’s key to let herself in, then moved to a small case on the far wall. There wasn’t a lot of silver in Stark, with all the vampires and werewolves. But occasionally something silver still got pawned here. Gibbet always handled those items, and they were kept in a thick glass case so Kade wouldn’t accidentally touch them. One of the items currently inside was a long, wicked looking silver dagger. Celine found the spare key for the case on Kade’s ring and removed the dagger. She didn’t like handling it, since it could cause harm to almost everyone she loved. But it would also work against her enemy, so she needed it. Celine held the dagger at her side, relocking the case. She had the vial of Silas’s blood tucked in the pocket of the long coat she wore over a black blouse and pants.

She held up the small mirror that she’d asked Gibbet to enchant for her with goblin magic, to allow her to record a message that Jinxie was then going to fly to the Rose and Raven. She took a breath and then raised the mirror.

“I’ve confirmed that Elliot Kelley is the one making shifters,” she began. “He faked his death. And now he’s creating an army of shifters, I think he wants to destroy the MacIntosh pack; not take it over. He’s keeping most of the shifters caged up, tormenting them. The whistle he’s using is enchanted to specifically control shifters and it’s getting more powerful. Tomorrow night is the full moon, and I feel confident that that’s when he’ll unleash all the shifters. Including our pack, because you’ll all be extra vulnerable in wolf form. Our best bet is to take Elliot down. The unwilling shifters will stop fighting, and any of the ones who will attack without provocation we can handle. We can help the others. But we can’t do it while the whistle is still in play.

Thankfully, our side has one thing Elliot doesn’t. A dhampir, who isn’t affected by the moon or the whistle, and who can wield silver. Which as we all know, is the most effective way to kill a werewolf.” She gave a wry smile. “Normally I’m not the one with many advantages in a fight; you’re all stronger than me. But this time, I’m the best shot we have. And I’m tired of letting bad guys bring their fights literally to my doorstep. I’m not giving this one the chance.

Elliot is keeping the shifters at an old farm out past the westernmost edge of the city. I know you’ll be able to find it, when the time comes. By the time you get this, I’ll already be there. Kade, I know you’re going to be really mad that I didn’t tell you this plan in person. But you just would’ve tried to talk me out of it and we don’t have time. This is probably the only chance we have to end this. You’ve saved me so many times, it only seems fair that I save you this time. I love you, so much. And I swore to you this afternoon that I’d never leave you, and I meant it. So you're just going to have to trust me.”

Celine lowered the mirror, handing it off to Jinxie.

“I don’t like this plan,” he said.

“Yeah,” Celine sighed. “No one is going to. But I have to do it. Get this to Kade at the club, make sure everyone hears it so they know what we’re up against. But give me some time.”

“Be careful, Celine.”

She nodded, shedding her coat and leaving it inside the pawn shop. She clutched the vial of blood in one hand and the dagger in the other. She steeled herself and swallowed the blood. It would temporarily enhance her vampire abilities and help her heal faster in the event she got hurt. She felt dizzy for a moment as it took effect; everything looked brighter and sharper and she felt adrenaline course through her. She dropped the vial beside the coat, locked the shop door, and then vanished into the night.