The Puppets and the Strings (A Werewolf's Saga Book 7) Read online

  Jimmy watched his son, didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. He just gave him a smile.

  Casey returned it, took his father’s right arm firmly with in his hands, and led him back to the door. He helped him back outside. He held the metal, all window door open for him.

  Jimmy stepped to the sidewalk. The coolness on the air flushed him fast. His wolf’s hot heat smacked it hard back. It felt right.

  Casey felt him strengthen in his hands as he joined him. “Are you okay dad?”

  Jimmy took a cool breath in. It now flushed his entire core. He felt better already. In fact, it felt like nothing ever happened in the first place. He felt as right as rain.

  “I guess I’m fine.” He looked back to his son. He felt his worry, and admired his strength in coming to his side. He felt better about him too.

  “You scared the shit out of me.” Casey laughed some, realizing that his dad felt strong again. He too took a deep and refreshing breath with him.

  Jimmy nodded. “I’m sorry about that.” He suddenly remembered seeing the young lady with Casey, and grasping it—he wanted to get this off him anyway, he went to her. “So who was that?” he finally asked. He didn’t know what just happened to him, but now it didn’t matter. Feeling his son’s concerns for him was enough. He felt pride in it. He felt loved from him. He felt almost complete. However, he did see whom his son was with and it made him again feel concerned.

  Casey blushed instantly. “Her name is Angel.”

  He saw his face turn red. He also had a sparkle in his eyes. He knew the look. Oh, God did he ever.

  “Angel huh? How did you meet her?” This is good, we’re talking. I just wish it were about something else. He still had to get used to his son setting out some on his own, and this was never a thought that came up. Dating, well that was something else entirely. He didn’t like it. Seeing the look in his eyes, he realized that he wasn’t going to have a choice about that either. Rachel was right. He was going to have to make this all up, as he went along.

  “Just now…she came to me.” He stood with his father, and didn’t know what to say. He was still surprised about everything that happened. He just didn’t know. What he did feel was somewhat relieved. He’s talking to me. He’s asking me about something that he doesn’t know I did. Maybe he is trying. Thank you too.

  Jimmy felt a shudder roll through him, and it caught him off guard some. He obviously had a long way to go with this.

  “I see.” He looked to his right, up the street, and then turned to his left. They were the only ones there. He didn’t smell anyone either, and realizing both, he finally relaxed. As for what happened, with both himself and his son, he would have to wait. “We need to talk Casey.” He turned back to him.

  Casey heard the softness in his voice. He saw the dimness in his eyes. He felt good about both. “We do?” He loved everything he now felt. He relaxed too.

  Jimmy nodded. “Yes. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for not listening to you. I’m also willing to listen to you about you doing some things on your own.”

  “Really?” Casey swallowed hard with this. The clog finally went down.

  Jimmy suddenly felt very alone. He had so much to tell him, and he needed Rachel with him to do it. He needed her strength, and standing there, on the sidewalk with her nowhere near him wasn’t helping him at all. In other words, it was time to leave.

  “Let’s go home.” He turned and started walking.

  He let his son catch up to him and they both walked side by side as they headed back to the car.

  Casey couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t grasp all of it at once. What he did know was that the time was about to turn. He felt the freedom calling to him. He could almost hear its firm voice screaming his name. Angel’s face then came into his thoughts. He kept her there, as he climbed onto the passenger seat. She was with him all the way home.

  11

  After a few minutes, Angel left the diner and stopped at the front door. She looked to her left and saw Casey and his father walking with their backs towards her down the street. She wasn’t sure what just happened, but she did know that she couldn’t wait to see him again. He was beautiful. He was kind. He felt just right.

  Behind her, two men were also on the sidewalk and they watched.

  She didn’t see them. She only watched until Casey was gone. She then headed across the street and headed home.

  12

  They drove into Brooklyn, and headed south. They reached the Gorhan home rather quickly. They didn’t talk much. It felt casual. It felt formal. It was a normal trip.

  The car stopped just around the bend at the front of the house.

  Sharlia stood out of the car first.

  Robert stepped out with her.

  He had never seen the Gorhan home before. They originally came from the northern end of Europe, what is now north Germany, they still lived there as far as he knew it, so this place was new to him. From the outside, it all looked like a normal large house that belonged to a wealthy family. The main home had two floors. Windows covered both floors. The oval driveway at the front of the house wound up to the steps. A large three-stall garage sat at the left side of the house and away from it. The home looked neat. Every window looked perfectly curtained. The yard looked neatly trimmed. The hedges along both sides of the house also were neatly clipped. All of it was large. It looked rather new. It also looked deserted.

  The normal looking home of one of the twelve prime families of the Walker world should usually be surrounded by guards. They kept their homes safe and their leaders safer. It was their way, it always has been. This place looked empty. If it were not for the lights coming from both floors, he would have thought it was. He wouldn’t have known who even lived there either.

  Sharlia turned back to her driver, and felt this too. “Something must be wrong. It is awfully quiet.”

  “It does look like someone is home.” Robert pointed to the window just to the right of the front door. A small shadow had just crossed it.

  She looked at the window. A massively strong wolf’s scent hung over the home. She could smell its musty aroma as true as a field of violets grazed over the air. It was as strong as ever.

  “You may be right.” She looked back to her driver. “Wait for us here. Keep the vehicle running.” She turned back to Rochie. “Let us find out.” She looked back to the home. The place looked very well kept, but it still didn’t feel right. Her people were so much better than this.

  “You’re a little jumpy.” He smiled. He then noticed movement behind her, and saw an older looking woman open the front door, just at the top of the steps. “See.” He pointed to her for Sharlia. “Someone is home after all.”

  She turned.

  “May I help you lady Sharlia?” The older woman spoke with a soft and smooth voice. It even sounded as if it shook some too. She had to be well into her eighties. Her white hair sparkled in the air. Her face showed age beyond her years.

  Robert noticed that she sounded human. This surprised him. Humans rarely worked for the families this close to them. They worked for them, but not intimately. They preferred not to for their own sake.

  “Yes.” Sharlia did all of the talking. This was there custom, as everyone knew it. “We are here to speak with your mistress, Lady Sasha.”

  Robert just watched.

  The old lady didn’t blink once. “Of course you shall. I will take you to the study.”

  She turned and Sharlia followed her.

  Robert went inside last.

  The foyer looked rather small. The floors were tiled with what looked like marble. The large round oval staircase swung up gracefully to the left of the door. In the end, all of these houses looked the same, only the names of the families that owned them ever mattered.

  They walked through the foyer, turned right and went to the first door. It was open, but the old lady still knocked. She used the doorjamb to do it.

  Sasha was sitting behind her desk. A pi
le of papers littered all over it.

  Seeing her for the first time in years, she was not what Robert expected. Back then, she was a fiery red head with a youthful flare. She acted as young as she looked, wearing leather jackets and jeans. Now she wore what looked like a suit. Her bright red hair was cut short and neat, and looked very well done up. She aged, even though she looked as young as she ever had. She just felt like she did.

  She looked up to the knock. Her face instantly lit up. “Sharlia? My goodness, has it been a long time.” She stood up, and made it around her desk to the door.

  Sharlia quickly bowed her head to her. “My lady Sasha, it has been very long, too long to be sure.” She paid her with the utmost respect. This was her home. She deserved it, as each of them did.

  Sasha bowed her head too. “What brings you here?” She looked to Sharlia’s right and saw Robert with her. Now she felt completely floored over. “Robert?” she screeched.

  It actually hurt his ears. “Sasha, how are you?”

  She reached out to him and took her in to her arms.

  She hugged him so tightly that he literally felt his body crack with it. She was obviously still a black wolf. He felt thankful that she let him go just as fast.

  “My God is it good to see you again.” She stepped back. “How is Jimmy?” She missed her father. This much was obvious.

  He wished he had more to give her than this, “He is fine.”

  She saw it in his eyes. “Of course, he is hiding.” She nodded. She hadn’t seen Jimmy for years now, not since her wedding. How could he do it? How could he leave her like that? She didn’t know, but she hated him for it. At least, she thought she did. She would forgive him instantly if he would just see her one more time. She always would. He was more than her maker. He was her father. He was the only one she ever truly had. As for the two of them being there, they must have a very good reason for coming to see her. It was never good when the two of them would. Not that she knew about this either. They never had come to see her before now. “So what can I do for the two of you?” She turned serious again. She had to do it.

  He heard bitterness in her voice. She obviously missed Jimmy a lot. For a Walker there was no more of a stronger connection than there was for the one that made you and the one you became. It was the sharing of what you are. For wolves, this was even more so. It was the pack mentality. It made that connection stronger than any other Walker would ever have. It was more than a parent to children. It was more than just being a family. It was the bite. It was the strength.

  Sharlia always liked Sasha. She was a very good leader—being a black wolf and a daughter of Kalima never hurt her either. All Walkers were afraid of them. They were seen as the true offspring of the Blood Walker line. They were the only ones who could claim it. It meant they were special. They were the strongest of their kind, and strength always led to fear. They all feared their strength, even her.

  “We have come to speak with you about something that is of grave importance.”

  Sasha folded her arms across her chest. “If I can help, I always will.” She looked to Adel. “Thank you. Please leave us now.”

  The old lady bowed slightly, and then left the room. She closed the door behind her.

  Both Robert and Sharlia stepped to the center of the room.

  “You have humans working for you?” He had to find out how that could happen. He knew Sasha wouldn’t care for the old ways of doing things, but it still intrigued him.

  Sasha laughed politely. “She is a very sweet lady who needed a job, so I gave her one.” She motioned with her right arm towards the desk, and to the two single wooden chairs, which sat in front of it. “Please come in and have a seat.” She turned and walked back to the desk herself. She went behind it and retook her seat.

  He let Sharlia sit first, before he sat down on the chair on his right. “I thought it was forbidden to have humans working that closely to one of the Elders?” At least it was once. It may have changed. He didn’t know. “Does she know what you are?”

  It did. “A lot is not the way it was back then.” Sasha folded her hands in front of her on top of the desk. She looked like she was going to make them a deal. “I’m not above doing things for people, human or otherwise. And yes, she does know.”

  “She is not afraid of you?” Sharlia was also intrigued. Very few humans would do that, work for one of their kind, unless they wanted to be a part of it. The fact that she was old, it made the intrigue feel a lot more unique.

  “She is not. She wants to die to see her husband again. He died a long time ago.”

  He heard true sadness in her voice. He knew why. “If you don’t mind me asking, but what happened?”

  She cut him off before he could finish, “You mean what happened with me and Brandon?” She looked at her hands.

  He did too. She still wore her wedding band. He could see it clearly. The massive red colored diamond, the Gorhan Blood Diamond, the one passed down to the spouses of the head of the house who always wore it, sparkled. He remembered it well.

  She sighed before she began, “Everything was going really well. We settled in. He settled in as the head of the family.” She looked back up.

  He saw a set of moist eyes. He also heard something else in her voice. She carried a longing on her words. It was a desire. She wanted someone to say this to. She wanted someone, anyone to hear it, to hear what happened to her. He felt how lonely she truly must be.

  “It didn’t take. He changed and not for the better.”

  Again, he heard her voice continue cracking. “How do you mean?”

  She shook her head. “He became aloof and distant. He was always distracted, but this was different. He became very different than the man I first met.”

  He didn’t expect her answer. “How did he change? That sounds just like him.” As far as he knew Brandon, she described him perfectly. He remembered a boyish man, who always seemed to do the wrong things. He tried, but it just wasn’t in his nature. He wasn’t mature. He just couldn’t help himself.

  She smiled, hearing the sarcasm in his voice, so she clarified, “He wasn’t that way when he took over the family. He became very focused and very driven. He did everything he could for the benefit of it and himself. He nearly became ruthless. He became cold and unforgiving. I didn’t recognize him. He didn’t recognize me.”

  He nodded with this. “No, that doesn’t sound like him.”

  She shrugged. “It wasn’t him.” She sat back in the leather chair. It crinkled under her as only the sound of leather ever could. “He became something I couldn’t stand anymore, so I left. I moved on.” She sat her hands on her lap.

  He nodded, felt sorry for her, and thought he understood. “I’m sorry. Power can do that to some people.” He looked down at his own hands, trying to think about what to say next. He didn’t want to leave this where it was. He came up with something quickly. “I’m also sorry for hearing that he has the thirst.” He swallowed.

  Sharlia looked at him softly.

  He swallowed again. I probably shouldn’t have gone there. He was right. Sharlia’s eyes told him in so many other ways.

  Sasha truly laughed.

  Both he and Sharlia jumped with it. They didn’t expect it at all.

  “If you can call sucking on his cats a thirst, then so be it.” She dropped her eyes to her desk. She felt disgusted.

  He saw this easily. “Sorry.” He dropped his eyes too.

  “Do you know he has hundreds of them at his place? They live with him like some kind of harem. He doesn’t even kill them. He just sucks on them. It’s truly disgusting.”

  He blinked fast several times. “Well, at least he’s not killing them, or…” He swallowed again too. He suddenly felt like he was digging a hole that it was getting harder to get out of, but like all good diggers, he just kept going. He couldn’t stop himself. He just threw another shovel full of dirt with each passing word. “…turning them into some kind of…” He looked at Sharlia an
d saw her eyes now flaring red. He turned back to Sasha. “…vampire-kitties or…something like it…” Sasha’s eyes now looked amused. “…I should probably…stop…now…” He just crumbled in the chair. He just didn’t know what else to say, and he just proved it.

  Sasha just shook her head. “It’s all right Robert. I know how strange it sounds.”

  He blushed.

  Sharlia felt it was time to get back to the matter at hand. “We have come here to speak to you about something that happened many years ago that the Gorhan family was involved in.”

  “Sure, what do you need to know?” Sasha felt thankful that she did. She didn’t want to think about Brandon ever again. At least that was what she has told herself over and over again. Deep down inside her, she just didn’t know what she would really do.

  “It is about a drug that the Gorhans had in their possession back then. The drug can make Walkers lose their gifts. Are you aware of it?” She stayed serious hoping that it would get them to be again too.

  It did. “I remember the drug that was produced at a place called Ravenswood Laboratory Upstate. Is that the one?” Sasha now folded her hands in front of her again. She didn’t expect the question, but she did have an answer for it. She just had to make sure first.

  “It is.” Sharlia admired the young Walker. She was worthy of the position she now had. It suited her so well.

  “How did you know of this?” She looked at Robert; saw her answer sitting there, so she nodded. “What would you like to know about it?”

  Sharlia crossed her left leg over her right. “What happened to it?”

  Sasha thought some about this. She wanted to make sure she remembered everything enough. When she thought she had, she began, “I believe it was destroyed and all evidence of it was collected.” She again dropped her hands back to her lap. “Jimmy didn’t want it to fall in to the wrong hands so he had Brandon destroy all of it.”