Secret of the Wolf by Cynthia Garner Read Free Book Online Page B

was called again, this time with impatience, and she shoved her phone back into her pocket as she went into the cavernous room to report her initial findings. She gave a slight bow to signify her deference to them. “ Ati me peta babka? ” she asked in the common language from the other dimension. How may I serve?
    The bright center light, recessed in the ceiling, clearly lit the front of the auditorium-sized room. She looked at the three men sitting in ornate, high-backed chairs on the other side of the long mahogany table. Deoul Arias, president of the council, was a high elf who’d come through the rift over five thousand years ago. There were only two other preternaturals in the region who were older than him, one a vampire and one a demon. But not just any demon. The demon. Lucifer. He was the oldest of them all, as far as anyone knew, and he had tremendous power and influence because of it.
    And Deoul couldn’t stand it, which meant it rather pleased Tori. She’d use any excuse she could to stick it to the snooty elf.
    Sitting next to the president was Caladh MacLoch, a seal shapeshifter and frankly her favorite council member. She and Caladh had met in 1903 and soon thereafter developed a friendship that started as an apprenticeship of sorts, leaving her with a deep affection for the man who had helped make this world a little less lonely.
    Next to him was the newest member of the council, vampire Tobias Caine. He had been appointed to his seat as a replacement for the former vampire councilor who’d been killed. His murder was still officially unsolved, though Tori suspected it had something to do with the rift device she had secreted away at her house. Tobias hadn’t told her where he’d gotten it or how he’d come by it, but she didn’t believe in coincidence, especially where murder was concerned.
    She gave him a smile of greeting. His gray eyes held welcome and a hint of suppressed humor. He probably could tell from the look on her face that she thought this greeting ritual was a bunch of crap. It was a stupid formality put in place to make the council members feel important. Not that she would ever say that out loud. She knew when to hold her tongue and toe the party line. If a little kowtowing was called for, she could bow and scrape with the best of them.
    “Tori,” Caladh said, his dark eyes shining with pleasure. “It is agreeable to see you.”
    “And you.” Tori bit the inside of her cheek against a grin. Caladh had such a formal way of speaking, he always sounded like a Vulcan to her. “My lord Arias,” she greeted the president. She met Tobias’s gaze and inclined her head. “Tobias.”
    “What news do you bring us?” Deoul asked.
    “I’ve just received confirmation from the hospital that our human victim this morning was bitten by a werewolf, not a vamp.” She stood next to one of the folding wooden chairs that were there allegedly for liaisons to sit on while they made their reports, but she had never sat in the presence of the council, nor had any liaison she knew. She tried to put a positive spin on things by saying, “The great news is that Barry didn’t release any preternatural essence into the wound, so the vic won’t turn.”
    “That is your wolf’s only saving grace.” Deoul glanced at the other two council members and then turned his pale gaze upon Tori once more. “Our laws are clear on this. The werewolf will be chained in silver, restricting his ability to shift, for one full cycle of the moon.”
    Tori swallowed. To change into their animal form was as natural a thing to a shapeshifter as breathing. To be unable to shift at the full moon would be a torture she wasn’t sure Barry’s mind would be able to endure. “May I plead mercy?” She looked at all three councilors. “Barry didn’t attack the human on purpose. He was provoked—”
    “Only with words, as I understand it from Aldis Knox. We expect better control from the members of our community.”