Page 71 of Secrets and Ruin

Niko was pulling on his gloves as we walked out the door. His claws, I had heard them called before. I had seen the missing pair in the armory and knew he had them, but seeing him wear them made me realize just how deadly they could be. They didn’t impact his ability to do much, the mechanical, articulated silver knives coming off the back of his hands. He seemed right at home wearing them, as if he did so every day.

“Zuri mentioned those,” I said, nodding down at them. “When she met Fenris, he gave her some lip. She said she would finish what your claws had clearly started.”

“I haven’t used them in a long time,” Niko said, adjusting a small strap on one. “They’ve always been my weapon of choice in human form. Davor designed them, and I took to them quickly. No one else in the family wanted to try them.” He looked at me as I studied them. “Would you ever want to give them a try?”

“I…don’t know,” I answered, unable to take my eyes off them. “I’m not like the rest of you. I don’t know how to use a bunch of different weapons. I can shoot, but….” I gave him a half-shrug, admitting I was self-aware of this weakness. “Heath wants me doing more hand-to-hand training, but I’m busy and would rather live my life than train to fight in a way I don’t want.”

“Pa also doesn’t push you too hard because he doesn’t want to hurt you,” Landon said while he and Dirk were getting their final preparations done. “But hey, I only know how to stick things with the pointy end when it comes to swords, so don’t beat yourself up over there.”

Turning to him, Landon winked at Dirk. Dirk snorted and started to chuckle, covering his face, waving his free hand, and slashing the air.

I looked at Niko, smiling broadly, only to see him watching the werewolves with a distant look as though he didn’t know if he was allowed to take any joy from it. Or maybe he didn’t feel included. This was complicated, and I was the sister who got to watch it flourish while he’d missed it for years.

He shook it off, and acting like he didn’t see it, he pulled out a stick and held it to me.

“Light that, please. Dirk, this one is yours. You and Landon will take the lead once we’re on the path. Jacky and I will take up the rear, listening for Rainer. He’ll probably come up behind us. We’re not going to take this at more than a walk.”

“Are you sure? I can jog—”

“You took a bit of a beating. I could only make sure you weren’t going to die. I don’t know if you have a brain bleed or anything. Dirk still has silver poisoning because I can’t remove that from him. He’ll need days for it to pass out of his system naturally. Strenuous activity is a bad idea for both of you.”

“You remind me of Jabari,” I decided, lighting the stick with a lighter. It was like a thick piece of incense, with a cloth wrapped around the bottom, probably to keep from burning someone’s hand. Once lit, I wanted to cough and sneeze at the same time, the scents too much for my nose and the smoke too thick for my lungs. Dirk wafted a hand before he took it, making a face. It smelled like the Black Forest, matching its uneven fae magic over the natural scents, just amplified beyond imagining.

“That’s awful,” Landon complained, also trying to beat back the smoke. “Thank God you didn’t do this coming into the forest.”

“I thought this would be resolved quickly when I came out here to get Rainer,” Niko said, taking a deep breath, the smell not bothering him at all. “I didn’t even know it was Rainer until I was near the edge of my territory and reached where I first noticed his entry into my territory. Just thought it was one of the new werewolves sniffing around the forest.”

“Well, it worked in our favor,” I said.

“And we’re all thankful for that.” Niko mumbled. Leading us away from his tiny cabin, the forest grew around it, making it seem as if it was a reclaimed ruin once I was a good twenty feet from it.

“Youreallyremind me of Jabari right now,” I said again, following him with Dirk and Landon right behind us.

“I’ve never felt closer to him than I do right now,” Niko said as he pressed onward, following little markers, he must have put down. When we reached the path, he waved for Dirk and Landon to go ahead of us and let them set the pace. It wasn’t a leisurely stroll, but it wasn’t fast either. It was the same pace Landon and I had tried to set. There was urgency, but not enough to really get our heart rates up.

Mine didn’t need physical activity to race. Now that we were away from Niko’s safehouse, we were back in immediate danger.

“You can’t be that disappointed that Landon and I came to help you and Dirk,” I finally said, breaking the silence with my brother.

“I’m trying to think about how things will go back to normal after this,” he said, staring into the forest away from me. “I know you mean well. You wanted to help Dirk, and he was missing. Some of the werewolves of your fiancé’s pack were cursed, and one of them was gone. But now, you know too much, and I’ve only trusted Davor to know even a little about this. Now the rest of the family might find out. I’ve enjoyed my private life being private for a long time, enjoyed that my secrets were mine, and no one else had to get involved with them.”

“Why? Someone in the family would have understood and tried to help you. Maybe not all of them but some of them.” I spread my arms, meaning myself, but I was certain about Zuri as well, even Jabari. The twins were reliable. And he trusted Davor. If he had let Davor a little closer, maybe things wouldn’t have played out the way they had.

“This belonged to my biological family, and even though it’s mentioned, it’s not a favorite family topic. You don’t care. Zuri and Jabari might not. Subira’s not the type of magic user to deal with this.”

“Hasan,” I finally realized, wondering how I could be so stupid as to not figure it out. “He doesn’t like you talking about your biological family.”

“He knows I stay here because I was born here. He knows something is different about the place, but he’s never dug deeper. It wasn’t his problem or his business, and once the War was over, he lost interest. He got his island and pretty much stayed there, not caring much for the world’s mysteries anymore. If he knew I was risking my life here all the time for the hopes and dreams of my dead werewolf family, he would tell me to find a new territory. Then I’m caught in between wanting to honor one father’s mission and respecting another father’s orders. Keeping just enough held back so they never really understood was always the easiest way. I only let them visit my territory when the magic wasn't strong enough to feel at the estate. Oftentimes, I would only see them in Berlin while doing business there. I got very good at keeping one world from meeting the other.”

“You think Landon and me being here will lead to the family finding out,” I said, sighing. “Sorry about that. Dirk’s life, and yours, means too much to me to keep them out of it, not permanently.”

“Why did you even try to buy time for us if you don’t care about them finding out about any of this? The entire family could rip Rainer to shreds, but you ran in here with a young werewolf. Well, not young to you, but young to the rest of us.”

“I…” I took a deep breath. “I do care, but not about the same things. I knew if Hasan heard that one of Heath’s pack was here and a threat to you, it would be another blow-up fight and could lead to someone getting seriously hurt. He could blame Heath, and there would be no way to convince him otherwise. I wanted to resolve this without needing to have those discussions.Again. Davor thinks Hasan will kill me if you get hurt, so he agreed to play defense and keep anyone from looking too closely. We have time to make sure not all your secrets are exposed. We’re running out, but there’s time.”

“Fair,” Niko conceded.

“I’m here to save my mate and maybe kill a werewolf who betrayed my father,” Landon said from the front. “Your family can shove it. I have my own priorities.”

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