DARK ORIGINS (Scarlett of the wolves, Book 4)

16.

The detective was waiting for me in a pub in the city centre where I had never been before. It was he who had chosen the place, a little off the main streets, and which, according to him, was frequented only by humans. It was barely two-thirty and as the weather had gotten better, there weren’t many people here, they were outside. I looked around the room quickly and found him, sitting at a table at the back. I walked over to him slowly, going over every detail of his face.

In his forties, Keith Forbes had a physique that couldn’t be overlooked. His features were rough and particularly manly. He had the raw charm of the men of the north. Tall, strong, and solidly built, his skin was weathered and speckled with deep wrinkles which a light tan pressed against. His broad forehead, set against very short blond hair, made his blue eyes surrounded by long lashes and darker eyebrows even more expressive. But above all, he had a scar that crossed his nose, half of his left cheek and part of his neck.

He followed my steps with a sharp gaze. He still had no idea what I had made an appointment with him for, but he suspected that the reason was important. He uncrossed his hands in front of his mug of beer and invited me to take a seat in front of him.

“Please, Miss Rittel, sit down.”

I pulled up a chair and complied.

“I didn’t expect to see you again anytime soon,” he said without a hint of a smile.

“Me neither, Mr Forbes.”

“Let’s get to the point if you don’t mind.”

I dropped my satchel on the floor and rested my elbows on the table.

“You were right, I was involved in the St Andrews murder case.”

He leaned against the back of his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Okay... I’m listening carefully, miss.”

Forbes had to be the kind of man who could do without diplomatic formalities and coated explanations, I got right to the point.

“Do you know of the existence of the Strigoi?”

He shook his head briefly.

“This is the oldest species of vampire. They are said to be at the origin of the birth of the dark angels.”

He frowned and twitched his jaw slightly.

“Carry on.”

“I was a dark angel, Mr Forbes.”

He was so surprised that he promptly opened his eyes wide.

“What are you telling me?” 

“I was bitten against my will a year and a half ago.”

In his eyes, a glimmer of total incomprehension was animated. He unfolded his arms and put them abruptly on the table, fists closed.

“What you say doesn’t make sense, you’re lupus!” 

“I have become lupus,” I corrected him. “I remained in the skin of a dark angel for six months.”

As I insisted, he shook his head to let me know the joke wasn’t working. I couldn’t blame him. At first glance, such a revelation couldn’t convince anyone.

“You’re rambling!” 

“No, sir, my boyfriend’s father transformed me.

“Jeremiah?” he asked immediately. 

“Do you know him?” 

He clicked his tongue, annoyed.

“Regardless, I don’t believe a word of what you say!” 

I let out a long sigh and replaced a lock of hair behind my ear.

“Do you remember Julia Giordano, the lupus girl who was...”

“I remember her perfectly!” he grew impatient. “She had just passed away when I was reassigned to St Andrews. What is the connection with you?”  

“She was killed in a clash between lupus and dark angels. This is even how it all started for me.”

He wrinkled his brow further, puzzled.

“A clash? That’s not what the police report says. She was in a car accident.” 

I couldn’t help but squeeze the irony out of his explanation with a dry laugh.

“A car accident? A werewolf?”  

“I know what I’m talking about!” he growled, very irritated to see that I was questioning his knowledge of the Garou species. “We aren’t invincible!”  

“If that’s what the report says, it’s entirely false, Mr Forbes. It was dark angel talons that killed her. I was there, and I was still human.”

I must have seemed particularly certain of my point because he sighed and folded his arms again to study me intently.

“Very well. Tell me about it.”

“I lived for a few months with a young crinos without being aware of her true nature. She hid her identity with the help of a Garou amulet, no one noticed anything. There was friction between her and one of the Circle members. It’s a kind of brotherhood of...”

“I know who they are!” he interrupted me. “Keep going.” 

“Good. Minah, a dark angel she didn’t get along with, was found dead on a beach. It was my roommate, Tarja, who had killed her. Several dark angels banded together to make the pack they considered guilty pay. Guilty of concealing Tarja, when no one knew about it. No one could know. They attacked us during a barbecue we had organized to celebrate the end of the exams. Julia died that day, along with many dark angels, but those who survived fled, determined to take revenge for those who had perished. I was the main target, bitten right after Julia’s funeral. We were taken by surprise while we were still at the cemetery. A few months later, I learned that I could become human again. I had to kill my creator within nine months of my transfer. I did it. I did it with the help of my werewolf friends and dark angels.”

On this last revelation, he blinked. Like everyone else, he considered an alliance between the two species unthinkable.

 Since nothing could lead him to reason differently, I forbade myself to point out to him that he was wrong, that Elgin and Rucker had learned to be friends. So, I was going to continue my story.

“Why did he change you?” he asked, more intrigued, alluding to Jeremiah. 

“I was about to die. My body had suffered too many shocks, too much violence. When I became human again, it just gave up. Jeremiah tried as a last hope and voila...”

Then he observed me for a long moment.

“Conclude, Miss Rittel. Let us come to these famous Strigoi. Because everything has a connection, right?”  

I nodded.

“My creator wasn’t alone when I killed him. He had asked for help.”

“The founding vampires...”

“That’s it. There were two of them. One of them died at the hand of a dark angel, the other managed to escape. That was just over a year ago.”

“And the Strigoi are resentful?” he deduced.  

“Yes. Earlier this week, the friend who killed one of theirs was kidn*pped. With council members, we went to Romania and brought him back.”

He raised a dubious eyebrow.

“When was that?” 

“We came back yesterday.”

He gave a shrill whistle that made the few customers present turn around.

“What a hectic life you have, Miss Rittel. So young and already so busy...”

“Believe that I had no choice and that I didn’t ask anything of anyone!” I replied, stung. “He’s my best friend, he’s like a brother to me, maybe even more, but I’m not sure you can get it.” 

I felt him stiffen in front of me. His face grew harder and colder than a block of ice.

“A dark angel?” 

“Exactly. But whatever, Mr Forbes, that’s not the point.”

“What is it, then? I would like to understand.” 

I looked at him. I knew I would hit the mark.

“The Strigoi sent one of their most powerful allies to neutralize my friend and take him alive. It’s been in St Andrews ever since and… it’s hungry,” I finished clearly and distinctly.

He turns pale.

“What kind of creature is it?” 

“Invisible.”

He threw his head back in surprise.

“I beg your pardon?” 

“Moroi are invisible, formidable and destructive.”

I then told him what I had seen. Their appearance straight out of the worst horror movies, the smell they gave off when they were on the hunt, the way they moved to reach their target faster, the orders they only received from the vampire leader, the amulet that would have allowed me to see them, their inability to come out during the day. I neglected nothing. Nothing, except one thing: I didn’t tell him about the disappearance of Elgin which had caused me to wander in the underground dungeons of the castle. I would when the Moroi was dead and I could ask him to return the favour for me. 

“So, there’ll be several to come?” he repeated, stunned after I had revealed their plan to him. “In two nights?”  

“Three, hopefully.”

He rubbed his forehead in a moment of thought, then looked up at me.

“Can I take your word for this, Miss Rittel?” 

“On my word, sir,” I assured him. “I have two amulets; we can stop them.”

He looked at me, increasingly bewildered.

“We?” 

I narrowed my eyelids slowly. I knew what he was implying: that this battle wasn’t for me. But I was no longer a child and I had been treated like that enough. There was no longer any question of watching others take risks, of suffering violence and doing nothing. Yes, I would participate and we would get through it. Of that, I didn’t want to doubt. 

“You and I,” I replied.

“You don’t mean that!” 

“I’m very serious. You need me.”

A hoarse growl came from his throat. He was unsettled. But I assumed Keith Forbes sounded like a smart man. He had no backup plan; he would have to swallow his pride as a dominant male. Which he did without delay.

“Very good. So, we’ll… cooperate. If we are successful, how many more will come next?”  

I thought about what the vampire leader had said about this, that he would give up if we got the better of the Moroi, but I didn’t mention it. The only certainty we had in this story was that we had to fight. Everything else was just speculation.

“I couldn’t tell you, sir.”

“Do you know how to defend yourself, at least?” 

“Yes, sir.”

“Call me Keith, Forbes, or detective, if you like,” he said suddenly, “but stop calling me sir!”   

I nodded, almost amused.

“So, call me Scarlett. How do we do this?” 

He grabbed his mug of beer and drank everything it contained. That is to say a good half. Then he wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“We’re going to set a trap for it.”

I frowned.

“With all due respect, the hardest part will be to attract it to us. We have no idea where it’s hiding and it only gives off this infamous smell when hunting.”

A gleam of keen intelligence shone in his bluish irises.

“The hardest thing would be to keep it away, on the contrary...”

I waited for him to explain.

“These creatures only receive orders from their leader. Rest assured that your early departure and the k********g of his prisoner will have plunged this great lord into a mad rage. The Moroi will have only one goal: to look for you. I think if you don’t move from your friend’s place, he’ll know exactly where to find you.” 

I nodded silently. He was probably right. Traian would do anything to get Rucker back as quickly as possible and it was better if this monster came directly at us rather than roaming the city killing anything in its path.

“Give me his address.”

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper to write it down.

He grabbed it and buried it in the back pocket of his jeans.

“I’ll meet you there a little before dark.”

The sun would be setting in just two hours.

“So late? You don’t want to develop a plan of attack?”  

He laughed so suddenly that I jumped.

“You watch too much television, young wolf! All the plans in the world would be perfectly useless in the face of a creature that acts more than it thinks.”  

“Very good. We’ll be ready.”

‘That would be wise, Scarlett.”

He got up and unhooked a jacket from the back of his chair, I followed suit.

Without another word, he invited me to follow him out.

When we found ourselves on the sidewalk, I tilted my head to observe him.

His gaze was dark and cold, he was already in battle.

“You are, Scarlett Rittel, a young wolf with all the arrogance and courage due to your age.”  

I lowered my eyes to look at the tips of my shoes, a small sign of satisfaction on the corner of my lips.

“I take that as a compliment.”

“You can, it was.”

I thanked him with a blink of my eyes.

“I also have a question,” he said.

I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes.

“Why didn’t your boyfriend come to help you?” 

I felt the blood rush through my veins. Pretending to be disturbed by the wind, I pulled up my coat collar and replied casually.

“He’s in the North Highlands working on his dissertation. He’s unreachable.”

I answered his question a little too quickly, but relieved, I saw him nod his head as if to make me understand that he wouldn’t insist.”

“See you tonight, Scarlett.”

I suppressed a smile.

“See you tonight, detective.”

I followed him with my eyes as he walked along the sidewalk.

Keith Forbes intrigued me. I would have liked to learn the content of his relationship with the Sutherlands. When he used their name twice since we had met it came out with sour, almost painful tones. He knew them well, that was certain.

When Forbes had disappeared around the corner, I pulled myself together and hastened to the parking lot to get my car. There wasn’t much time left, the sun would be setting soon. A few minutes later, I turned on the ignition and drove back to Rucker’s place.

When I told everyone about my conversation with Detective Forbes and how I thought I would go about taking down the Moroi by being faster and more precise than it, Grigore was in a rage.

“Your idea is completely stupid, Scarlett!” 

I stood in front of him, my hands on my hips and my eyes dark.

“I’m not asking your opinion, Grigore!”

“Leave it to us.”

“You males?” I quipped. “You macho!”  

He jumped as if shocked that I could speak to him in that tone.

“You, Gwen and Rucker, will go and let us take care of this.”

We all knew Rucker would never have the mental strength to face him, but as far as I was concerned, he could always dream!

“There’s no way I’ll leave, get that well into your head!” 

He stared at me furiously, then turned to the others.

“But tell her something!” 

“He’s not wrong, Scarlett,” Gwen pleaded. “Give your amulets to Rufus or Pitt, they’ll take care of it with Grigore.”

“Let’s stop this nonsense, please, and let’s face it. You have only one certainty: I see them. What will happen if the amulets have no effect on you? You’ll be dead before you know it!”     

A deep silence crystallized around us. What I was saying was true and they knew it.

“In that case, let me do it, you would have the opportunity to get rid of me more easily,” Pitt said playfully.

“No, I won’t give them to you!”   

Grigore stepped in again, crackling with anger.

“It’s going to bite you!” 

“For your information, there were three of them chasing me and I’m still here! It’s precisely because I know what the Moroi are capable of that I can fight! Stop brooding over me.”  

I paused, my tongue as heavy as a lead bar, as a savage gleam passed through his eyes. Grigore was fearful with determination. The movement of his shoulders was punctuated by his heavy breathing. He couldn’t calm down and I was no better off than him.

For a moment, we stared at each other as if we were completely alone. I was Elgin’s soul mate, not his. However, I was also something important to him, but what, I didn’t know yet.

I felt the atmosphere thicken as the silence deepened around us. Everyone had stopped moving, breathing, considering our faces in turn, totally amazed at what they thought they understood.

“What’s going on between you?” Rucker asked in a loud voice, although until then he had remained perfectly silent. 

I took my eyes off Grigore’s and tilted my head towards my friend, biting my lip. He probed me with an inquisitive, fatherly, and severe air, which ended up making the enormous lump that had crept up in my throat swell.

“Nothing. Nothing at all! I will do what I said and if you don’t agree, too bad!”  

Completely liquefied by Rucker’s gaze on me, I turned on my heel and left the room to prepare. Detective Forbes would be arriving anytime.

Out of rage against the events that kept growing, I climbed the stairs and returned to my room to get ready. 

I put on some loose pants, a tank top, my pair of boots, then I tied my hair to keep the creature from pulling it. I opened the inside pocket of my coat and grabbed one of the amulets that I put around my neck.

I was ready.

I closed my eyelids and rubbed my face.

To be between faith and reality. There’s nothing worse.

A few knocks on the door suddenly brought me out of this infernal numbness. It was Rufus.

I hurried to open the door to find out what he wanted. Keith Forbes wasn’t here yet.

“Can I talk to you?” 

“Yes, of course.”

He walked into the bedroom and stood, staring at me darkly.

“Simon was my best friend.”

“I know…”

“I sincerely believe that your amulet allows you to see them. I want to avenge Simon. Personally.”

I looked down, holding my breath. I understood him, but I wouldn’t change my mind.

“Rufus, the amulet might work on me, but not necessarily on you. You can’t take a chance like that. The stake is too heavy.”

“It’s up to us to decide to run the risk.”

“Rufus...”

“Sorry, Scarlett…”

I didn’t immediately understand what he was apologizing for, but when I saw his irises take on the appearance of water and his canines rushing out from under his lips, it was too late.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying in Rucker’s SUV in the back seat. Pitt was driving and Gwen was in the passenger seat. It was dark, the moon was full and the sky clear.

“But what…” I muttered; my head caught in a vice.

I straightened up suddenly. I no longer had my amulet around my neck, and I was pretty sure the one in my coat was gone too.

“You didn’t… You didn’t dare!” 

“Calm down, Scarlett. They know what they are doing.”

“No!” I yelled. “Where’s Rucker?”  

Gwen looked down at her shoes.

“Please! Don’t tell me he’s there too?”  

“He wants to face it.”

“And you let him?” 

“I couldn’t stop him,” she whispered.

“He can’t, Gwen! Take me to them or stop this car!” I ordered Pitt.  

He pretended not to have heard.

“Stop this damn car!” 

I was ready to smash the door if he didn’t obey.

I began to shake the back of his seat so violently that he had no choice but to comply. He brought the SUV to a halt with a sudden screeching of tires.

The next second, I was outside.

I sniffed the air just as quickly and realized that we weren’t far from the coast. One or two miles, at most. Faster than the wind, I set off in the night towards the north.

But as I was running, Gwen and Pitt quickly caught me. Pitt’s hand fell on me, he turned me around and pinned me to the ground, resting his full weight on my body.

“Let go of me! Let go of me!” I screamed!   

Not only did he not answer, but he crushed me a little more.

I was strong, alas, he was much more than me.

“You don’t understand anything! Let go of me!”  

“It’s you who doesn’t understand anything, wolf! He doesn’t want you there!”  

I stopped struggling to stare at him.

“Grigore?” 

He nodded.

“They are all going to die! If the amulets don’t work, they will die! Do you understand?”     

“And you too if you fight against this creature!” 

“Damn it! Let go of me!”    

“No!” he growled. 

Desperate, I turned my head to the side and saw Gwen’s haunted face.

“If you die, you’ll never find Elgin,” she tried to convince me.

“I don’t even know where he is, do you hear? I don’t know where he is! He can help me, I’m sure. Forbes can help me.”  

“You’ll get there,” Gwen assured me. “You don’t need anyone for that. Let the Spirit do it.”

“No!” 

As Pitt had released his guard, I gave a violent thrust to his pelvis that forced him to release me. I got up immediately and kicked him tremendously in the stomach to prevent him from following me.

“Scarlett!” cried Gwen. 

I went ten more yards and Pitt stopped me again, flattening me face down on the ground.

“I told you to be quiet!” he said. 

I no longer tried to struggle, he was concentrating all his strength and energy on holding me.

“Why don’t you leave me alone? What about the two of us?” I asked, breathing hard. 

Then nervously, I let a small chuckle out of my throat.

“You don’t want me to die anymore, do you? Did you get attached to me too?”  

I stiffened when I felt him bury his face in my neck to sniff me. Slowly, the tips of his canines rubbed against my skin.

“I have limitless hatred for you,” he whispered in my ear. “Much more since my brother bonded with you because killing you would be like doing to him what I suffered myself. And that I’m not capable of.”

When he straightened up, I didn’t try to run away again.

“I’m sick of this, enough play. I’m not your babysitter. Get back in the car. I’ll take you to them since you care so much. And if you do die, it won’t be my fault.”

He turned on his heels without another word, taking with him the annihilation of all his hopes for revenge. Pitt would never try to kill me again. But tonight, I couldn’t be happy about it.