Sali's all over her, now."
"Is that what this is about?" Adele stared at her son. "I guess it had to happen sometime. Get in the car. Your father is waiting, I'm sure."
* * *
Broad-shouldered and dark-haired, the Grand Master stared at one of the captives from Tanner's wildlife preserve. Matthew Michaels, Director of the Joint NSA and Homeland Security Department, had asked the Grand Master to come while they questioned this particular captive.
"He says his name is Wildrif, no last name," Matt told the Grand Master quietly. Weldon Harper, Grand Master of Werewolves, looked Wildrif over. He didn't seem like much. Certainly not a werewolf; he could tell immediately by the scent. Wildrif sat in a steel chair set against a steel desk, his head bowed beneath a spotlight, the bright light shining on hair that could have been blond or brown. It hung long and unkempt about his face. Nothing was remarkable about his features, except the eyes.
"The Grand Master," Wildrif said, lifting his head and staring at Weldon Harper.
"How do you know that?" Weldon growled low.
"I'm a Foreseer," Wildrif's eyes were strange as he turned them to the werewolf. Weldon would have described them as crazy eyes. One was brown, the other pale blue. "I might have been useful, but my kind threw me out anyway. They don't keep the quarter bloods, you know."
Weldon had to work to keep from drawing an audible breath. "They threw you out," he nodded instead. He'd heard this before. Once.
"Yeah. No use for us quarters," Wildrif's giggle was tinged with insanity. "We're not immortal. The halves are, but it doesn't pass to the stinking quarters. But they'd better watch out," he giggled again.
"Why should they watch out?" Weldon asked, puzzled.
" Ir'Indicti . He's here." Wildrif laughed wildly and at length. Even a tranquilizer failed to calm him down.
* * *
"That's all he said? Ear-in-dik-tee?" Winkler pronounced the word phonetically back to the Grand Master. He'd phoned Weldon while pacing inside his private study.
"He spilled all kinds of information before that," Weldon grumped. "Told Matt that he could see the future for Tanner. That's one of the reasons Tanner was always ready for inspections and raids; Wildrif informed him. He didn't see us this time, though. I think it's tied up in that word he used. What do you make of it?"
"I'm not about to track the Bright Ones down a second time," Winkler said. "It'll just force them to follow me and hope it leads to the boy. Aedan placed compulsion on those two who came to Cloud Chief before, and they were blank-eyed when we set them outside the boundary and told them to get lost. Someone's leaking information again; I'd bet money on it. As to what Wildrif said, I'm not sure about that. It may or may not be tied up with Ashe. I'm not going to trouble him with this—he's upset with us at the moment, and understandably so. That poor girl would be dead if we hadn't taken him along, and Tanner would have skated, I think."
"Matt's working on what to do with Jack Howard and his two bodyguards," Weldon touched on a different subject.
"What do you think he'll do?"
"No idea, but I saw two of his vampire operatives walk in when I walked out of their office in Santa Fe."
"I can't wait to hear the story," Winkler chuckled dryly.
"We can't have a congressman just up and disappear," Weldon agreed.
"What about Tanner and his bunch?"
"Matt turned them over to me. They'll be taken care of tonight. The official story is they were caught smuggling illegal animals, which is true—we found all sorts of creatures on that preserve. They're also going to have footage of the piles of drugs found on the preserve that were imported from Mexico and South America. The story Matt will release is that Tanner and his bunch have escaped to Mexico and points south. There'll be a halfhearted search and that's it. No need to waste time or money on it. Matt's putting Wildrif in a mental hospital for treatment. I think he's as crazy
"Is that what this is about?" Adele stared at her son. "I guess it had to happen sometime. Get in the car. Your father is waiting, I'm sure."
* * *
Broad-shouldered and dark-haired, the Grand Master stared at one of the captives from Tanner's wildlife preserve. Matthew Michaels, Director of the Joint NSA and Homeland Security Department, had asked the Grand Master to come while they questioned this particular captive.
"He says his name is Wildrif, no last name," Matt told the Grand Master quietly. Weldon Harper, Grand Master of Werewolves, looked Wildrif over. He didn't seem like much. Certainly not a werewolf; he could tell immediately by the scent. Wildrif sat in a steel chair set against a steel desk, his head bowed beneath a spotlight, the bright light shining on hair that could have been blond or brown. It hung long and unkempt about his face. Nothing was remarkable about his features, except the eyes.
"The Grand Master," Wildrif said, lifting his head and staring at Weldon Harper.
"How do you know that?" Weldon growled low.
"I'm a Foreseer," Wildrif's eyes were strange as he turned them to the werewolf. Weldon would have described them as crazy eyes. One was brown, the other pale blue. "I might have been useful, but my kind threw me out anyway. They don't keep the quarter bloods, you know."
Weldon had to work to keep from drawing an audible breath. "They threw you out," he nodded instead. He'd heard this before. Once.
"Yeah. No use for us quarters," Wildrif's giggle was tinged with insanity. "We're not immortal. The halves are, but it doesn't pass to the stinking quarters. But they'd better watch out," he giggled again.
"Why should they watch out?" Weldon asked, puzzled.
" Ir'Indicti . He's here." Wildrif laughed wildly and at length. Even a tranquilizer failed to calm him down.
* * *
"That's all he said? Ear-in-dik-tee?" Winkler pronounced the word phonetically back to the Grand Master. He'd phoned Weldon while pacing inside his private study.
"He spilled all kinds of information before that," Weldon grumped. "Told Matt that he could see the future for Tanner. That's one of the reasons Tanner was always ready for inspections and raids; Wildrif informed him. He didn't see us this time, though. I think it's tied up in that word he used. What do you make of it?"
"I'm not about to track the Bright Ones down a second time," Winkler said. "It'll just force them to follow me and hope it leads to the boy. Aedan placed compulsion on those two who came to Cloud Chief before, and they were blank-eyed when we set them outside the boundary and told them to get lost. Someone's leaking information again; I'd bet money on it. As to what Wildrif said, I'm not sure about that. It may or may not be tied up with Ashe. I'm not going to trouble him with this—he's upset with us at the moment, and understandably so. That poor girl would be dead if we hadn't taken him along, and Tanner would have skated, I think."
"Matt's working on what to do with Jack Howard and his two bodyguards," Weldon touched on a different subject.
"What do you think he'll do?"
"No idea, but I saw two of his vampire operatives walk in when I walked out of their office in Santa Fe."
"I can't wait to hear the story," Winkler chuckled dryly.
"We can't have a congressman just up and disappear," Weldon agreed.
"What about Tanner and his bunch?"
"Matt turned them over to me. They'll be taken care of tonight. The official story is they were caught smuggling illegal animals, which is true—we found all sorts of creatures on that preserve. They're also going to have footage of the piles of drugs found on the preserve that were imported from Mexico and South America. The story Matt will release is that Tanner and his bunch have escaped to Mexico and points south. There'll be a halfhearted search and that's it. No need to waste time or money on it. Matt's putting Wildrif in a mental hospital for treatment. I think he's as crazy
Similar Books
