DARK ORIGINS (Scarlett of the wolves, Book 4)

19.

Nothing could have been worse than this.

The Bowels of the Earth was in the centre of enemy territory, at the heart of the Sutherland community. Where the supreme rulers of the Old World gathered in the land that gave birth to them. The county’s mountains were renowned for their raw and wild side, and I had heard that the central core of the community lived in caves, away from the light of day and civilization. It was with a growing ball of anguish that I saw the cells of Strigoi castle again, unable to help but imagine Elgin in a similar place, perhaps suffering the same ordeal.    

It took a while for me to pull myself together and think about what to do. I was going to have to talk to my people first, then to Elgin’s family, but not on the phone, I would go to Wick. Keith Forbes, in dropping me off, had implied that his intervention wouldn’t stop here. He would find Elgin with me, and after seeing him fight with so much determination, it reassured me. My dark angel friends would help me too, I was convinced of it, but venturing into enemy territory without going unnoticed would be very difficult for them, they could risk their lives much more than me or the pack. 

The clock struck two o’clock, just as it was starting to rain. Two minutes later there was a downpour. While carefully avoiding meeting the gaze of the students sheltered under umbrellas and wondering why I was getting so soaked, I lifted my head and closed my eyelids. Face offered, I let the tear that slid down my skin mingle with the raindrops. Then I recovered, drying myself angrily. I wedged my hands between my thighs and stared straight ahead, while my hair clung to my cheeks. I didn’t want to let go; I didn’t want to c***k now. It was in my stomach, in my guts, I would fight to the end and even without knowing what I would fight against.

“Scarlett...”

I closed my eyes and stopped breathing when I heard Grigore’s voice behind me. He had arrived so quickly that I didn’t even have time to smell him. He walked around the bench and stood in front of me, his palm outstretched.

“Come on… don’t stay here.”

I suppressed a cynical laugh.

“Are you afraid I’m going to get sick?” 

As I didn’t move, he went to find my hand himself, put his fingers in it to force me to stand up.

“Come on!” he suddenly decided. 

He took me by the hand and led me with him to the art history building. We took shelter in the central corridor, completely soaked.

“So? Your meeting with Forbes?”  

I ran my hands through my hair to rub it and stopped to sniff the air almost at the same time as Grigore.

Anneas and Dan came up behind me.

“Hey, Scarlett!” 

Grigore tensed and narrowed his eyes. I rolled mine. It was perfectly ridiculous, but also stronger than him. For my part, I had come to understand that each member of our two clans growled more than they bit. I didn’t care and shrugged my shoulders.

“I’ll leave you,” Grigore whispered between his teeth. “We’ll meet up with Rucker when you’re done with them.”

“No. We’ll meet at my place as soon as possible.”

He looked surprised but didn’t ask more questions. He nodded and walked away from Anneas and Dan.

“Where have you been?” Dan asked as he stood in front of me. “Did you go up to Wick this weekend? And Elgin? Did he come back with you earlier than expected?”    

I shook my head, looking serious.

“Where are the others?” I asked. 

“Etienne and Georgia didn’t have classes, they’re at home.”

“Let’s all meet at my place in thirty minutes, I have to talk to you.”

Anneas narrowed his eyes as if trying to understand.

“No. Not here.”

They nodded and watched me go out into the pouring rain.

I left the university grounds with a heavy step towards the city centre.

All the streetlights were already lit. The days in January were always very short and as soon as there was bad weather it was even worse. I picked up the pace and quickly found myself at the start of my street. I slowed down when I saw the silhouette of John taking shape in front of the driveway of my building. I walked forward without taking my eyes off him, a little on my guard. Then he waved to me as if to greet me. Instinctively, I understood that he had no intention of making me pay for what Detective Forbes had done to his father. Once in front of him, John smiled weakly at me.

“I’m very sorry, Scarlett.”

“I know,” I tell him.

“Can we talk?” 

“What?” I asked, reaching for my keys in my bag. 

“I want to help you.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked up at him.

“You might need someone whose name means something over there,” he explained to me without a hint of pretension in his voice.

I looked at him with all the attention I was capable of.

“And you would betray your father?” 

He ran his hand through his long blond curls and took a deep breath before he spat the air out of his lungs loudly.

“No. I want to fix what he did.”

I had to stop myself from laughing harshly.

“Because you think it’ll protect him from the wrath of the Sutherlands when they find out?” 

I hardly dared imagine the reaction of Jeremiah and Alistair.

He shook his head, dejected.

“No, but it will save Elgin.”

A squall mingled with the rain, bringing a wave of cold that made me shiver. I put the key in the lock and opened the door.

“We’ll talk about it inside.”

We climbed the three flights of stairs and entered the apartment. I had had a hard time coming here for a few days. The scent of Elgin was no longer here... And then, an appalling number of memories came back in waves preventing me from thinking properly.

“They took him last Tuesday,” John informed me, “very close to Sinclair Castle.”

“What are they going to do to him?” I asked coldly. 

John took off his wet parka and hung it on the coat rack in the hallway.

“They won’t kill him, Scarlett.”

“So what? They keep him prisoner for an example?”

“Listen to me... My father doesn’t have enough influence to be heard by the Sutherland leader.”

“You mean the big boss?”     

“Exactly. The peace treaty is fiercely respected, as both communities have suffered from repression. And even if the members of the Sutherland community are furiously attached to the rules, they couldn’t impose them on anyone other than one of their own. Simply because they no longer concern the free community. They won’t kill him. They won’t take that risk.”

“I don’t understand. Elgin was kidn*pped for that reason, right? The violation of the rules is the pretext your father found to come and get him!”

“Scarlett… As everywhere, there are Weres in the Sutherland community who don’t care about the decisions made by their superiors. They probably did this behind their leader’s back. My father is far from knowing only good people.”

My blood concentrated on my cheeks, as cold spread through my spine.

“He might not be there? Is that what this means? But your father said he was in the Bowels of the Earth!”   

John nodded, pursing his lips.

“He probably is, but... the underground caverns are vast, they might not have noticed his presence.”

“So, what do we do?”  

“We’ll meet the leader and talk to him.”

“Just that!” 

“I repeat, he surely doesn’t know what’s going on under his nose. Scarlett, damn it! Elgin is a Sutherland! The leader, despite the history of the Garou, the hatred that Angus had for Filan Sutherland, would never kidnap someone so important to both communities!”    

“I remind you that Elgin’s family has been forgotten for a long time!”   

He shook his head vigorously.

“Think again… You’ll eventually understand why.”

I examined him for a moment, my forehead wrinkling.

“Have you ever been there yourself, John?” 

“Several times, yes, when I was little. But don’t ask me if I would know how to go back, we were still blindfolded. The Sutherland community is very protected. When my father wants to contact one of the members, he always goes through an intermediary infiltrated in the Free community.”

“Don’t worry, I know exactly how to find their territory.”

He raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“In what way?” 

“Bonnie, Elgin’s aunt, grew up there.”

He watched me for a long moment before running his hand through his hair.

“Look, Scarlett, I always knew he was in a relationship with them, but I never could have thought that… I have no idea why he’s like this. I feel like it’s getting worse and worse since my mom died and...”

I interrupted him with a wave of my hand.

“Don’t apologize for him, John. It’s not your fault.”

“About the pack,” he continued, “I realize that my apologies will be useless, but... I acted like an i***t. I never really intended to take his place.”

“But you did!” I hissed more sharply than I wanted to. 

Then I pulled myself together and bit my lip.

“Do you want to accompany us?” 

He narrowed his eyes.

“Without hesitation. This is the minimum I can do.”

“Very good. Know in advance that Grigore, Rucker and my friend Gwen will be there too, as well as Detective Forbes.”

“No members of the pack?” he wondered. 

“They’ll be coming any minute. We’ll talk about it.”

He nodded silently as we began to smell the musk. Almost simultaneously, mingled that of a dark angel. Grigore hadn’t listened to anything, he was already in the lobby. I opened the door, convinced the others wouldn’t welcome him. I hurried down the stairs and joined them.

“What’s he doing here?” barked Georgia who, in many ways, was surlier than anyone towards dark angels when she saw one. 

“I guess he didn’t know how to wait his turn,” I replied, casting a reproachful look at him. “Come on up, I have to talk to you.”

We found ourselves in the apartment a few moments later.

“What about him?” Georgia grew more irritated when she noticed John. 

I silenced her with a wave of my hand and invited them all into the living room.

Grigore stood aside, near the window, while Dan, Anneas, Georgia and Etienne acted like regulars by settling on the sofa. As for John, he remained standing in the doorway, tighter than a bow. I invited him to sit down too, he slowly shook his head. Resigned, I nodded and dropped into the leather chair in front of Grigore, who had his eyes on the back of my neck, so I had to suppress a reflex to rub my skin. Tense, I put my hands on my thighs. I took a deep, quiet breath, then stared at them all.

“Elgin is currently being held prisoner in the Sutherland community territory,” I announced in a trembling voice.

Georgia let out such a shrill cry that managed to startle me. As for the other members of the pack, not one moved, not one breathed.

I then told them everything that had happened during the last three days. The Strigoi, Romania, the Moroi, everything. John took it upon himself to explain to them what his father had done and what he was planning to do: go get him with me.  

Everyone was looking at John as if he had just landed from another planet.

“All this for you to take his place?” finally asks Anneas. 

“He’s my father,” John replied fatally.

“When are we leaving?” Georgia said, who didn’t seem to want to elaborate on the psychotic desires of John’s father. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” Anneas said in a cold tone that left no room for a reply.

But this was Georgia, and Georgia didn’t care if she was given the right to do something or not. She was a strong woman. She listened to her instincts rather than reason. She stared him straight in the eye and spoke with a strangely calm and controlled tone.

“I won’t argue with you, Anneas, here or anywhere else, but understand right away that no one, no one will stop me from going and pleading Elgin’s case. You’re happy, that’s good, you’re not, it’s the same outcome.”

“It’s dangerous,” he insisted.

“So what? Being a Were forces me to live dangerously, nothing new in the tropics, honey!”  

“Anneas is right, Georgia,” Etienne agreed, a hoarse voice made particularly persuasive.

She kissed each member with her eyes, pursed lips, then stared at Dan who was right in front of her.

“Oh my! I see you all coming with your macho testosterone good in every way! So, listen to me carefully because I’m not going to repeat myself! Do you want to leave without me? Alright, do it! But I’ll follow you. You have no choice; you have to take me! Not to mention that if you push me aside, after death, I’ll follow you to hell to spoil your existence! And take my word for it, anyone who tries to take on the challenge will immediately be on my blacklist. Volunteers?”         

“Georgia…,” Anneas sighed.

“You won’t stop me from saving Elgin Sutherland’s life, Anneas. Neither you nor anyone. If I have to, I’ll kill every intermediary in this damn community with my own hands to be captured and find him. I will, don’t doubt it for a second.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Anneas capitulated. She was far from having uttered empty words. What she had said she would carry out to the best of her ability.

“So, I repeat, when are we leaving?” she concludes. 

And this time she was addressing me.

“Know first that you’ll not be the only ones to undertake this rescue.”

“Which means?” hissed Etienne, who was beginning to understand. 

“Gwen and Rucker will be there.”

He frowned, wondering how this could all be about two dark angels, neglecting that Gwen had known Elgin from childhood and that he and Rucker had built a true friendship.

“Don’t forget me, kid,” blurted out Grigore, who had acted like a spectator until then.

I slowly turned my head towards him and considered him carefully.

Had I ever doubted it? No. Deep down, I already knew.

The soft warmth that spread through me nailed me to the spot. It overwhelmed me with such a feeling of security, satisfaction, and comfort, that I wanted to let myself go to cry all the tears in my body. This body betrayed me a little more every day, which made me mad and destitute. What was Grigore to me? What had he done to me? Since when was he no longer the arrogant dark angel who avoided me like the plague because of my smell that weakened him? I had to face it: it happened because he had decided to fight his demons, his most painful memories, that he had seen in me something other than a threat that had to be avoided at all costs. Because he had looked beyond my lupus nature and he had gone beyond appearances. Grigore had turned everything upside down. I could have hated him for that. But I didn’t.    

“Thank you,” I said in the most detached way possible. “Detective Forbes will also be with us. For my part, I’m going to Wick tonight.”

“We’re all coming with you,” Dan decided.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “I think Jeremiah can accommodate you all, but you’ll have to let me talk to him first.”

“Of course,” Anneas agreed.

Not five minutes passed before they hatched pseudo-plans of attack. They didn’t seem to realize the danger that this mission would represent. They couldn’t see anything, because they were wolves, predators, and nothing turned them on more than daring them to get back something that was theirs: their pack leader. 

“The Moroi will follow us,” Grigore reminded them in a loud voice. “If you’re not aware of what they are, I advise you to imagine the most frightful creatures you have ever faced. You might smell them, but you won’t see them. However, they’ll study you and watch for the moment when they will drop their claws like a cleaver on your neck.”

I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyelids.

“They’re the worst thing you’ve ever thought of,” I whispered. “They are death and hell united.”

“Why do you see them?” Georgia asked me. 

I shook my head, unable to give her any response other than I don’t know. Then I added:   

“They’re looking for Rucker to bring him back and finish what they started. This is the order they received. They’ll not hesitate to destroy everything in their path. People, animals, everything. Rucker intends to change his face and wear a Garou Amulet, but that won’t be enough. They know the smell of Grigore, Rufus, Gwen, Pitt… They’ll follow the first ones they spot. At night, we must never leave each other. Alone, not one of us will be safe.”

“She’ll be our eyes,” Grigore added.

“Well. If I understand correctly,” said Etienne in a deep voice, facing them, “are you our only chance of survival?” 

I hated giving myself so much importance, but yeah, that was who I was.

As I looked up at Grigore, I saw that he was looking at them all very carefully. He realized how much their near silence was proof of their concern. They were young. None of them had ever faced such a situation. They weren’t lacking in courage, but courage wouldn’t be enough. They should not scatter, not go it alone, never. Grigore knew this, and for the first time since I had known him, I saw compassion in his eyes for my wolves. I was shocked despite myself because it meant that everything was changing.

“You’ll leave St Andrews a few hours before us so that the Moroi don’t make the connection between us. We’ll be bait,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “The dark angels will be the last to go. Scarlett is coming with you.”

My hair stood on end behind my neck.

“What? What are you talking about?”  

He looked determinedly into my eyes.

“Grigore! There was never any question of you sacrificing yourself! This isn’t the plan!”   

“There has always been only one, Scarlett: find your soul mate. True or false?”  

I frowned.

“I… Elgin wouldn’t like to know that you were taking such risks for him and…”

Suddenly, in front of the bewildered faces of the pack, he grabbed me by the arm to pull me from the chair and led me into the first room he found: the guest room. He closed the door sharply behind us and took a step towards me. Without taking my eyes off him, I stepped back. He walked further. I stepped back. So, he stopped. 

“Scarlett, you...”

He took a deep breath as if he was restraining himself from exploding.

“You want a scoop? I don’t care whether you find him or not! I don’t care what has become of him, my good grace towards your fellows doesn’t go that far!”   

I tilted my head to the side, stunned.

“On the other hand,” he continued, “for some reason that I don’t yet know, you’re here!” 

He slapped violently on his chest.

“And for that, I have to follow you.”

“You don’t have to do anything; I didn’t ask you anything!” I cried, raising my index finger.

His breathing was long and measured, he never took his eyes off me.

“I’ll follow you to hell,” he whispered. “Even in chains, I will follow you.”

My heart stopped beating. A tidal wave had just overwhelmed me. It was as if I was drowning, unable to rise to the surface.

He wasn’t allowed to tell me that! I was nothing to him and he was nothing to me!  

A sob rushed down my throat and crashed against the edge of my parted lips.

Too much pressure, too much emotion, too much of everything… I clenched my teeth, my fists and, unable to hold myself back any longer, I let myself cry in front of him. My tears, these traitors, seemed not to want to stop flowing. I was more shaken than I should have been by this statement. Even unspoken, it was clear, intolerable. He loved me. 

Grigore finally smiled at the unexpected collapse of my barriers and shook his head. It was the second time that I cried in front of him.

“There’s a guy ready to face the Legions of Hell for you, and you’re crying?” 

I let out an anguished little laugh, lowered my eyelids, and tried to smile at him too.

“You’re completely nuts, Grigore.”

“Yes, I’m crazy,” he confirmed, widening his lips a little more. “But, I haven’t finished,” he whispered, regaining his seriousness. “So, I said that I would go to the abyss, to the end, for you, and I don’t intend to apologize.”

Trying to find in his eyes the explanation of what was happening, when exactly this had all started, I had the feeling that my mind was moving at top speed.

“Why? Why, Grigore?”  

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Because my heart tells me.”

“You’re crazy…”

“Let’s not go back to that.”

“I’m sorry, that… that’s not what I wanted. I love Elgin. With all my heart, with all my soul. Grigore, I’m nothing without him...”

“I know that,” he whispered. “I know it…”

I shook my head, totally unsettled. Jaws clenched, I stared at his dilated pupils.

“If this is all real, Grigore, how do you explain it?” 

He furtively closed his eyelids.

“You were a dark angel, Scarlett. You have something left...”

Obviously… What other explanation, if not? 

“Listen to me carefully. Even if you had to be right, this link isn’t that of… of… it’s not that of…

of love… Because there is only Elgin. No one other than him.”

I fell silent, at a loss for words.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, Scarlett. It exists and you cannot deny it.”

I knew then that I could never ignore it again. Whether we traded blood or not, we were linked. Forever.

Horrified by my thoughts because they condemned me to the worst torments, I walked out of the room without looking back and slammed the door behind me.

As for the pack… they had no interest in asking me a single question.