The Black Wolves of Boston, page 50
Decker gave her a sly smile. “You liked making dioramas.”
He meant the plastic cowboys and Indians tying a vampire to a stake to be burned.
She smacked him out of sheer habit. “I’m sorry. It was cruel. I hope Joshua threw it away.”
“You were a child and bored. I should have made my house a welcoming place for the living instead of one massive trash bin. I could have had an entire room full of toys.”
“It would have made me more suspicious of you as I got older.”
“Perhaps, but it would have made your childhood more bearable.”
It might have, but she doubted it. She’d been happy when she was very young. Much of her unhappiness had come from her own growing surety that she knew how the world worked. It was time to question everything instead of accepting things at face value.
“We can’t change the past but we can make any future that we want.” I can be someone I like instead of this hard, angry woman. “I want to find out what I like to do for fun. We can even start with dioramas.”
60: SETH
Seth braced himself for a fight. The immediate danger to his family was over but his brother wasn’t safe. Seth needed to somehow face down the king to make sure Joshua stayed in Boston. The idea of fighting the king was frightening, not for his own well-being, but for the fact that he didn’t think he’d win. Still, he’d trained for this fight his entire life.
Step one was to get the king alone where none of the Thane could hear the argument. The king would never allow himself to seem weak in front of them. Luckily the rooms in Dr. Huff’s offices were small and the Thanes were exhausted from their long flight from Belgrade.
Seth chased the king’s lawyer, Bishop, from the room with a hard look and then shut the door. “You need to make a choice. Isaiah and Joshua can’t exist in the same house. You’ve been too lenient on Isaiah; he will not leave Joshua alone. Either you must move Isaiah elsewhere—his grandfather’s in Russia—or leave Joshua in Boston.”
“I must?” Alexander gave no hint to his mindset in the dry quiet words.
The king was never swayed by emotional outburst. During the last three years as he trailed behind the king, Seth had watched passionate pleas fail every time. Only cold logic would move him.
“I do not dictate this; the facts stand by themselves.” Seth forced himself to speak calmly. “My only part in this is that I will not stand by and allow Isaiah harm my brother. I will assume that the first offense is a pattern of intent and I will kill Isaiah.”
“That sounds like you are dictating.”
“Isaiah has made it clear over the last three years that he will not respect me or leave what is mine in peace. If you had supported me, then perhaps I would have options, but as it stands, I have only one means to control Isaiah.”
There were times that Alexander was more like a granite statue than a man. He looked at Seth with his long unending, unblinking stare. It always made Seth’s eyes hurt trying to match the king’s gaze. In the end, Seth always had to look down, blinking furiously.
It didn’t occur to him to glance up. He wondered how many times that Isaiah had made that mistake.
“Sire, the leash is destroyed.” That was Seth’s strongest point. “There is no reason anymore for anyone to try and harm my brother with the exception of Isaiah. Joshua has a safe place with Decker, who has proven for half a century that he can be trusted. My brother can remain with Decker until I return to Boston.”
Seth wanted to push—include himself in the deal—but he knew that now wasn’t the time. Alexander would only give him one thing and it had to be that Joshua stayed out of Isaiah’s reach.
“You believe the only solution is to leave Joshua here or to move Isaiah elsewhere?”
Seth couldn’t think of any other solution. “Joshua is too dominant to send to another territory for the interim. If the alpha died while he was part of the pack, he would inherit the alpha over any blood relative. He doesn’t know the first thing about being a werewolf. He’d be completely lost as the pack tore itself apart.”
“He can be taught.” The king’s tone gave no clue to his intent.
“He’s happy here. If he’s unhappy, he’ll run. He’s very good at running. I had trouble catching him in my own territory. He might go back home to his parents and the newborn marquis won’t know how to deal with that.”
“If he runs, I can find him.”
Alexander could find Joshua anywhere. Historically, Alexander had a short fuse for wolves that caused him grief.
The last thing Seth wanted was Alexander’s anger coming down on Joshua. “He wasn’t given a choice about being a werewolf. He’s been resisting integrating the wolf. He managed during the fight to work with the wolf. If he is unhappy…”
“You should know by now that I do not care about anyone’s happiness.”
He plowed on with his reasoning. “If Joshua is unhappy he’ll start fighting his wolf again. He still can go feral.”
“He is stronger than you give him credit for.”
Yes, he knew that, but he was hoping to rattle Alexander’s determination. One thing he’d learned in the last three years, Alexander ultimately cared only about their people as a whole. He did not allow fondness of any one individual to sway him.
Perhaps that was the key.
“I need an heir. We need to rebuild the Boston pack. You lost all the bloodstock with the exception of me and Jack.”
Alexander was silent for a moment. “I have lost entire packs before,” he stated quietly. “Before the treaty with the Grigori, it was common. With you and Jack, I have more than I have had in the past to rebuild. When the time is right, we’ll start to rebuild your pack.”
When the time was right. In other words, not now.
Seth locked down on a wave of sorrow that went through him. The king wasn’t going to listen to reason. Joshua had lost everything. Friends. Home. Foster parents. It seemed as if the king was willing to drop him into the hell of being Isaiah’s whipping boy. “Give him to me, then. Make him part of Boston’s pack so I can protect him fully. Please.”
“If I give him to you, do you pledge to keep him safe? To put him before even Jack?”
Was Alexander balking because Seth had left Joshua with Decker? Or because Seth allowed Joshua be taken and nearly killed in the first place? A few days ago he would have blithely promised anything, but the last few hours had been grim reminder that all his power could be rendered moot. What had the old Marquis of Albany said? Good intentions meant nothing in the face of reality?
Seth knelt in full subservience to his king. “I don’t want Joshua hurt. He’s a good person. He’s nearly died to protect me. He’s my brother. The only one I have left. Please. Let me do all that I can to protect him.”
Alexander put a hand on Seth’s bowed head. “I put him in your care.”
Without any more of a warning, Seth felt Joshua’s presence within the Boston Pack. Decker had tucked himself into a deep windowless closet rather than go home for the oncoming day. Joshua slept as a small black puppy across Decker’s chest. For the first time Seth could sense that Joshua was still weak from his near-death experience. Despite that, his brother was calm and content. He obviously felt safe with Decker.
Seth pressed hands to his face as relief made tears burn in his eyes. “Thank you, Sire.”
“Protect him from all things, even himself. If you truly think its best that he stay with the Grigori’s pet monster, then take whatever steps are needed to make it a proper place for him.”
“What?” Seth was sure he misheard the king.
“Your brother may stay in Boston. He should have a proper wardrobe, cash in hand, whatever they use as bank notes now, and a vehicle. See that he’s educated in a manner befitting a prince.”
“I—I—I will. Thank you, Sire.” Surprise and dismay kept Seth rooted in place as the Wolf King walked out of the small examination room.
He’d won? Joshua could stay in Boston? Seth cocked his head, replaying the conversation. Yes, somehow he’d managed to convince the king to do what he asked. Three years and he’d never been able to sway the man. It made Seth uneasy to have finally succeeded. What was he missing?
Albany had warned him that the king acted on what he saw written on the wall too big for any normal person to see. Had the king kept Boston off-limits because he knew that the Wickers that had killed Anastasia would strike again? Did the Wakefields create the breach that killed Seth’s family three years ago? Now that the coven was dead, did Alexander believe that Boston was safe enough for wolves?
Or was it something else? The king operated solely for the whole, not the individual. His brother had an unprecedented alliance with Decker and a Virtue. Was the king setting Joshua up?
Albany had said that time gave a person the ability to see such things. Time was something that Seth had very little of, both in the way of experience, and wiggle room. He had to act now. He had to trust his instincts that Joshua needed to be kept as far as possible from Isaiah for all the reasons he gave the king. Until he could see the writing on the wall, he’ll take his cues from the one person that could.
The king.
“See that he’s educated in a manner befitting a prince.”
Seth knew that being a prince meant more than just getting a high school diploma. It was being taught how to see the world as a political arena. It was not something learned out of a book but from someone who been trained to think and act like a prince. If the king wanted his brother to learn, then there was only one person able to teach him. Seth.
He stood up. He’d been equating being the prince simply to being in Boston. It was so much more than just that. He hadn’t been staying in contact with his neighbors. He hadn’t been making decisions on rebuilding his family’s home. He hadn’t been seeking out alliances with people like Elise and Wise Woman Sioux Zee and her granddaughter Winnie. He hadn’t even contacted his wife in California to make plans about their future together.
He had much to do. It was time for him to do it.
61: DECKER
“The Four in Hand is the simplest tie knot.” Decker paused to remember the process. The fact that Joshua was wearing the tie changed the motions his hands needed to make. He hadn’t worn a necktie for decades. They had, however, been a standard for men’s fashion for over a century. His ability to tie one had become ingrained. “Wider end over the narrower one, under, around, under again, down through.”
Joshua blushed while the wolf wagged his currently nonexistent tail. It was the cutest little hip wiggle that betrayed the wolf’s delight in the process.
Decker understood for the first time the phrase “beam with happiness.” He felt as if the joy had to be turning into pure light and pouring out of him. His puppy was going to the werewolves’ private school in Cambridge. His puppy was staying in Boston. Most importantly, his puppy was happy.
And confused.
“Under, around, what?” Joshua peered down at the knot that Decker just tied. “Do I really need to wear one of these?”
“Yes, the school has a strict uniform policy set by your father, Gerald Tatterskein.” Decker had used it as an excuse to drag Joshua to upscale clothing stores. (The month of cleaning and painting had left the boy looking like a ragamuffin.) Elise had attended Blackridge as a child. She knew what they needed to buy and where to find it. She volunteered to help and seemed to enjoy the trip nearly as much as Decker. Joshua liked the amazing collection of stores called “Cambridge Side Galleria” but hated the clothes. He seemed to think shirts should come without buttons and regarded neckties as some kind of cruel trick on men. Decker had to agree that most of the ties were truly ugly. What had happened to humans’ color sense?
“Gerald was very old-fashioned for his time,” Decker said. “Tradition was important to him. I believe it was because he lost his father so young. Your grandfather wouldn’t have been heir if not for the fact that all the other possible heirs had been killed by a feral. It burned him out. He died before he was fifty.”
“Oh, that’s sad. Wait? What about Seth?” The tail wag stopped cold. “Is he going to be okay? He’s not in trouble because I was kidnapped as a baby? That was the whole point of the Wickers’ plan. I would have been heir instead of him.”
“Seth is fine.” Decker patted his puppy on the head. “I’ve lived long enough to be able to tell. Your brother is a much stronger wolf than your grandfather was. Being prince is not burning Seth out, which means he’ll probably live to a very old age.”
“Oh good.” The tail wag started again. Joshua undid the knot. “So, wide end twelve inches lower than the narrow end. Cross over. Under?” His hands faltered and stopped.
“Around.” Decker took hold of the tie just below Joshua’s hands to illustrate. His grin widened as Joshua’s blush deepened in shade. The activity was requiring them to be oddly intimate. Decker was having a devil of a time controlling his tongue. He mustn’t tease his puppy. The fight with the Wickers had been a horrific experience for Joshua. The boy had been captured, witnessed multiple blood sacrifices, watched helplessly as his family was nearly killed, forced to attack his friend, and had been shot six times. The feeding had been least disturbing thing to happen to Joshua but Decker had promised Joshua that he’d never feed on him again. Technically, Joshua had force fed him, but who initiated it didn’t count, not with the wolf added into the equation. Joshua needed time and distance from the fight. Decker wanted to make sure that he got it.
Joshua worried at the tight knot around his neck. The wolf growled softly in annoyance. “I wish I didn’t have to wear this. It makes me self-conscious. Maybe it will be better when I see everyone else wearing the uniform but right now I feel like I’m doing cosplay. Badly.”
“You look fine,” Decker said. Cosplay? What was cosplay?
“These things always look so cool in anime,” Joshua said mysteriously. “Am I too short for this outfit? I can’t tell. The only mirror is in the bathroom and I’d have to stand on the toilet to actually see what I’m wearing.”
They’d shortened and hemmed the pants but altering the jacket was beyond them. There hadn’t been time to have the store tailor fit it. Joshua had the shoulders and chest of a man who did heavy work, but the waist and arms of a boy still growing. While the jacket fit his shoulders, its sleeves were too long and the waist hit too low.
“It’s fine,” Decker lied. “It’s only for a few days. The other jacket will be ready for pickup next week. I’m sorry about the lack of mirrors. Since I don’t have a reflection, I never thought to buy one.”
Joshua continued to look stressed. Decker debated for a minute before cautiously wrapping arms about the boy. Yes, it embarrassed Joshua to be close, but it soothed the wolf. Joshua was stiff and still for a moment before relaxing against him. Good, it had been the right thing to do.
“It sucks that I’m not going to be able to stay up all night with you after I start classes,” Joshua said into Decker’s chest.
“We’ll have five or six hours a day.” In the winter. Once spring started in earnest, they’d have far less, but no need to mention that now. Decker suspected that wasn’t the real problem since Joshua rarely lasted beyond three in the morning.
“Do you think it’s really safe for me to go to school?” Joshua whispered.
Ah, the true source of Joshua’s unease.
“What the Thanes found at the Frog Pond after our fight suggests we did manage to eliminate the Wakefield Coven completely.”
“I mean—am I safe for other people to be around? I’m a bully magnet but now I have this whole other self with a short temper and sharp teeth.”
“Which you can take out and show any bully.”
“What?” Joshua cried in surprise.
“I’m sure that if anyone tries to bully you, all you need to do is to show them that you’re a giant-sized wolf and they won’t ever bother you again.”
“I think you’re missing the point.”
“Hiding what you are is a slow painful death. It locks you in darkness with the one bully you can’t silence—your own self-hate.” Decker knew from experience. He didn’t want Joshua to drink that poison. “There will always be people that hate. They will latch onto any flimsy excuse they can to justify their rage. If you let them cut yourself off by hiding away, they’ve won. The trick is to surround yourself with people who will love you for yourself.”
“How do you find them?”
“By looking for them.” Decker had gone out looking in the night for something to save his life. If it wasn’t for his magical talent, he would have overlooked the scruffy puppy he’d found lost in the park. “You won’t be able to know them on sight. Learn the temper of their heart. You’ll find the ones that beat in time with yours.”
Joshua leaned back to give him a suspicious look. “You’re not just saying that—are you?”
Must not tease the puppy even though he makes it all so easy. “No. Leave yourself open to friendship and you’ll find one.”
62: JOSHUA
Nowhere in the official documents for Blackridge High School was the name Tatterskein mentioned. Its mascot, however, was a black wolf wearing a gold crown. The building reflected that it been founded in the early 1800s with massive amounts of money poured into it; everything was made out of polished stone, carved wood and leaded glass. The students wore a school uniform that was white dress shirt, slacks, jacket and sweater vest. The latter obviously because the heating system was still based in an earlier century.
It’d taken Cabot and Seth three days to assemble the paperwork and enroll Joshua under the name of Tatterskein. He had no idea how they’d gotten his transcript from his old school without his parents’ knowledge, but there it was, sealed and stamped. The principal was a stuttering mess at their sudden arrival. Cabot and Seth wore expensive tailored suits. Joshua felt underdressed despite his new school uniform.
Seth did silent commanding presence while Cabot laid down the law. Joshua pulled at the tie that Decker had patiently taught him how to tie.
