Born of Fire

Goblin Librarian

“Smith is pack?” Kenna asked as they drove toward Kolb Street.

“A Goblin.” Her eyes grew wide.

“He’s half human, he’s not like other goblins. He’s a Librarian and works downtown at the Public Library.” A goblin librarian? She pictured an ugly goblin in a blazer with a tie and elbow patches and suddenly chopping off goblin heads didn’t sound as much fun.

“How does he manage that?” The Slekt had no plans on revealing themselves to the humans. She had no clue how a goblin could blend in with the human populace. Those with enough self-control to be allowed to live were usually kept working manual labor for the Council.

“It’s difficult to explain. Hopefully he’s alright and you’ll get to meet him and see for yourself.” His face was tight with worry.

She hoped for Darren’s sake that it was someone else and not his friend, though she felt bad hoping for such a thing. Any life lost was a tragedy.

They pulled in front of an apartment complex. They got out of the car and she stood there in shock. In front of them was the strangest looking man that she had ever seen. She could smell the goblin in him, and for the most part he looked human, though his nose was long and bulbous for a human, and his eyes were red. That wasn’t the strange part. He was dressed in a black dress shirt and slacks, and his hair was dyed red with a Mohawk. His skin was completely covered in goblin tribal tattoos so that none of his original skin color was visible. He had piercings in places on his face that she wouldn’t have thought people could get pierced. She had no clue how he would be allowed near a quiet library, much less work for one.

“Body’s in my kitchen. Ben told me to send you back,” he said, gesturing with his thumb.

“Who’s the victim?” Darren asked.

“The guy who does my tattoos, a human. He was meeting me here to fix my butt. Ben thinks I was the target, but they found John instead. A real pity, nice guy, did good work.” He didn’t seem too shaken up about the tattooist’s death, more annoyed that he had to find someone else. She wasn’t certain why she was surprised. Anyone whose diet likely consisted entirely of raw meat wouldn’t likely be bothered by death.

Darren swore again and they followed the goblin up the cement stairs and into the apartment on the third floor.

She hadn’t seen an apartment layout like this, with the bedroom by the front door and the living and eating areas down the hall toward the back. The walls in the hallway were covered with books stacked floor to ceiling without shelves. The doors to the two bedrooms and the bathroom were left open and looked much the same as the hall, except there were multitudes of newspapers and magazines piled amidst the books. She noted the box of dvds that sat next to the toilet. That was an odd place for them.

She could see Ben standing in the little eating area, facing into the kitchen, which was blocked by a countertop bar that partitioned the kitchen from the living room.

Ben looked over at the two and motioned for them to join him in the kitchen.

The top part of it appeared untouched, dead eyes staring into nothing, but the bottom from the chest down was just gone. The part where it ended was singed and burned, but the rest lay in piles and lines of ashes. It was a horrific sight and Kenna felt a little light-headed.

“You’re just in time, we’re about to look at Smith’s surveillance tape.” Why would a goblin with this much clutter need a surveillance system?

“I have a collection of rare books that I hold onto for the Council, and a few rare editions of Black Beauty and an expensive Bible,” he said from right behind her, making her jump. She spun and growled at him and he threw up his hands in a sign of peace. She calmed herself and folded her arms over her breasts.

“I wasn’t aware Goblins could read minds.”

“We don’t, but sometimes people talk aloud when they don’t mean to,” he said and smirked. The way his tattoos twisted when he smiled was trippy. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Oh.”

“You do that more often than you think,” Darren told her and her cheeks grew warm. Great, no wonder people often give her funny looks.

Ben stepped over the dead body and laughed. He reached over a stack of papers on the table and put the disc into the dvd player on the tiny TV and pressed play.

The entrance was in the top left corner, with the kitchen and living room area on the right. Below was the bedroom and bathroom. She winced and folded her arms again in paranoia, though the cameras weren’t able to penetrate the clothing. Now she was going to have to look for cameras whenever she used the restroom.

He fast forwarded a bit until they saw the tattooist let himself into the apartment and walk into the next frame. He dropped a bag on the table and reached into the fridge and retrieved a beer. They fast forward for a minute or so and got to see the guy read a book, nuke some chicken nuggets and masturbate into the hand towel on the refrigerator door. Ben pushed pause when Smith picked up a pencil to carry the towel to the laundry basket. She hadn’t realized the smell was coming from the towel. That was disgusting.

They resumed and until he looked up suddenly, stood and walked towards the door. He opened it and chatted with someone just out of frame. Then he raised his hands and backed up, shaking his head emphatically and mouthing the word no.

Kenna gasped as the redheaded serving woman from the gala came into view, followed by the dark-haired girl with scars. The woman was holding a butcher's knife and walked toward the tattoo guy threateningly.

The scent of unadulterated terror filled her senses and she thought it was the tattooist until she looked over at Darren. He was deathly pale and barely breathing. He looked as though he were looking at the devil herself.

. “Her,” he whispered. “It’s her.” He began trembling from head to toe and she thought he was about to pass out.

“Darren, what’s wrong?” Ben asked as he led the shaking wolf to the living room and sat him on the couch.

“She’s here. She’s found me.” His hands covered his face and he dragged them down, smearing the tears on his cheeks.

“Who found you?” Kenna sat down beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“The thing that killed Sofia and Mat. She’s here,” he said, then glanced up at them in panic. “I have to find Rochelle. She’s not safe!” He tried to rise but his Alpha sat him back down.

“The Council sent a few Guard to help out with this, finally. They've just arrived at the airport. The school isn’t too far from there, right? I’ll ask them to swing by on their way here,” Ben assured him. Darren didn’t look assured when Ben stepped outside to make the call. He just kept glancing toward the kitchen as if the person he was afraid of were going to step out of one of the cupboards at any moment.

She grew concerned at the wolf’s agitated behavior and sent him to lay down on the goblin’s bed while they waited for Rochelle and the Guard. Kenna sat on the bed by his feet as he lay there staring at the ceiling and trembling so hard the bed shook. He didn’t seem to want to talk, so she laid a hand on his ankle, which calmed him a little.

Chances were that Kenna knew the Guard members, she met most of them. She was wracking her brain trying to figure out who Master Abram would send, but gave up, figuring she would find out shortly anyway.

She looked over at her friend and noticed a tear fall from his eye and he began trembling again. She lifted the throw blanket from the foot of the bed and tucked it around him as if he were a child. He grabbed her hand and patted it. He tried to offer a small smile to reassure her, but couldn’t quite manage it. She knew that it was in his nature to care for others' well-being, but today he needed to let his friends care for him.

She stood as the front door opened and Ben walked in and was treated to a double surprise. Her mouth dropped open in shock when she saw Jacob walk in after him, followed by Khal and Rochelle.

“Dad!” She ignored Rochelle, who pushed past her to embrace her father and glared at the two men.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

“We’ve been assigned to this case,” Jacob told her.

“But you’re retired,” she said to Jacob then turned to Khal. “And you’re a weapons instructor!”

“I don’t question the Council,” Jacob said. “I just do what they tell me to do.”

“Since when?”

“Since my adopted daughter found herself in the middle of a murder investigation.”

She groaned in exasperation.

“And why are you here?” She asked Khal.

“I obey my orders.” His face betrayed no emotion. He was always smiling and joking with the other Guard or his students, but with her it was this exact same expression.

“Of course you do.” She gave him a dirty look. She didn’t even know what she meant by that. Only that anything he could possibly say would irk her. Between the events of the day and their sudden appearance she felt practically hostile.

Rochelle and Darren finally broke apart their hug, both had tears in their eyes. Rochelle’s had yet to fall but Darren wiped his away on his t-shirt sleeve.

“Jacob filled me in on what Ben told him,” Rochelle said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find this monster and kill it. It won’t hurt anyone else.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Ro,” he said. “I did kill it, with my own bare teeth. Then it came back and…” he began shaking again until Ben put a hand on his shoulder.

“Tell us what happened,” Ben told him.

“I found her messing with the insides of one of my dad’s wolves in Omaha down by the Missouri. I changed and ripped her throat out.” He paused for a moment and stared unseeing at the pile of books before he continued. “I saw her burst into flames and she turned into a pile of ashes.”

“How was she able to kill your wife if she was dead?” Jacob asked.

“I don’t know, somehow she didn’t stay dead.” He kept staring at the pile of books for a moment, then shook his head and turned to Ben. “The next evening she showed up at the house. She…” he choked back a sob and put his hand over his mouth before he could continue. “She killed Matt. He just burst into flames right in front of Sof and I. Then we lost control of our bodies somehow. We had to do as she commanded.” He paused again for a long moment. “She made me kill Sof. With my own teeth.” Silent sobs wracked his body and Rochelle pulled him into a hug. Kenna could feel tears on her own face and made no effort to clean them off.

Kenna had her own problems, but she couldn’t abandon her friend right now. She hoped she could help him somehow.

“You’re not alone,” she told him. “You have an entire pack that cares about you, and an annoying but competent Alpha who will fight for you.” Ben smiled briefly and shook his head.

“She’s right, except for the annoying part.” He pulled his two wolves into a hug, then reached over and dragged her into it. Her eyes opened wide at the awkwardness of the hug, but she hugged back. Then she realized that she still smelled like Ben, as did Rochelle. She loved to cuddle, as was a werewolf’s nature, and grew up with frequent hugs from Jacob. She could feel the blush rising and it didn’t go unnoticed by Rochelle who merely rolled her eyes and patted her on the shoulder.

“If you guys are done with your orgy, could you get the dead body out of my kitchen please?” Smith scratched at his Mohawk and went into the bathroom and shut the door.

They broke the hug and Kenna walked over to Jacob.

“We need to talk,” she said

Jacob followed her out of the apartment.

“You’re right, Kenna-pup. I have an apology to make,” he said, but she held a hand up to quiet him.

“Actually, I’m the one who owes you an apology.” He raised an eyebrow and she continued on. “I had to do things my own way and find my own answers. I love that you want to be there and help me, but I’m glad I followed my own leads. You only wanted to help and I shouldn’t have blown up at you about it. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t speak for a moment and she knew he was just waiting to see if she was really done speaking before he replied. He learned the hard way that sometimes she wasn’t done speaking when he thought she was and she would often start speaking over him. He was right this time too.

“Oh, and I slept with Ben.” She blurted out, and he looked somewhat taken aback. His cheeks turned red from embarrassment. She had no clue why she told him that. Weren’t people supposed to tell their parents when they finally started having s*x? Granted, it had first happened a year ago, but she hadn’t wanted to face those miserable experiences then.

Seeing the awkward way he was scratching his head and looking at the ground, she thought maybe it was a bad idea to tell him.

“Were you uh… safe?” he finally asked and it took her a minute to figure out what he meant.

“Oh, yes.” Then she thought about it a minute. “Well, uh, not really, but there’s nothing to worry about. It’s, um, complicated.” Okay, now she was the one feeling embarrassed. She couldn’t even tell him why she wasn’t worried, it wasn’t her secret to tell. Great. Another awkward Kenna moment.

He looked back up again after a moment.

“I should have given you more space, but you’re right that I am supposed to worry over my daughter. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. I won’t butt in if you don’t want me to, but if you change your mind, you know I’m here. I hope you find the answers you’re looking for, and soon.”

“She believed him. He was a smart and capable man, but she had been determined to do this all by herself. She sighed and kissed him on the cheek.

“Right now I’m more concerned about Darren and the killer’s future victims.”

“This is a pretty big mess, but I can’t help feeling relieved. We don’t know how many people this thing has killed over the years but this is our chance to avenge one of our own.”

“Did you see the effect this had on Darren? I’m not happy it’s back and killing. Not even Darren knows what we’re dealing with, and he’s been face to face with the thing. Besides, you’re the one who’s always telling me to ‘know your enemy’.” she pointed out.

“I stand by those words too, but unfortunately we don’t always have that luxury. The important thing is to prepare what we can and do our best and try to keep it from killing again.” He patted her on the shoulder and reached up to kiss her forehead. “Try not to worry about your friend. Khal, Ben, and I will take care of this thing. Right now it’s best you get him back to Ben’s place.”

Why had she believed that he would let her help hunt this thing? There was no way she was going to sit on the sidelines while her father and friends put themselves in danger. A small voice whispered inside her head: Didn’t you just ask your own father to butt out?

This was different. She might actually be able to help. She would have to convince Ben that he needed her for it.