Kelley Armstrong - Broken

Antonio veered to Jeremy’s left. I stood on his right, and Clay moved up to flank me. Behind us, Nick turned around to watch the exit.

Shanahan began to speak even before we stopped moving. “Randy told me-”

Tolliver cut his friend short with a squeeze on his forearm and a look that said they’d discussed earlier how they’d proceed.

“I’ve updated Patrick on the situation,” Tolliver said. “Both with the zombies, the disappearances and yesterday’s killing.”

“The first of two killings,” Jeremy said. “We were at the second crime scene when you called. A woman, killed in the same way, in a nearby neighborhood. A young, blond, pregnant woman.”

Shanahan’s brow furrowed, then his gaze shot to me. He paled.

“Christ, no-I’d never. A pregnant-? You can’t think-”

Tolliver squeezed his arm again, but this time, Shanahan shook him off. “No, I know you want to stay calm and present our facts, but this is ridiculous. I can set this whole thing straight myself, starting with this Jack the Ripper nonsense. That letter-”

The lights went out, plunging us into darkness. I swung around to cover Jeremy, but his hand closed on my arm first. Clay caught my other arm, and they hustled me to the exit.

Nick pushed open the heavy gym doors. Jeremy propelled us all the way to the main entrance. Then he propped the doors open and waved for Nick and Clay to take a look outside.

A banging erupted from inside the gym. Antonio strode to the gym doors and swung them open.

Shanahan’s voice was shrill. “I told you it was a trap.”

“You!” Tolliver’s voice boomed. “Tell your boss to open this door immediately, because if he doesn’t, I have two Cabals on speed dial-”

“Jer? They’re at the rear exit,” Antonio called. “They can’t get the door open.”

Motioning for me to follow, Jeremy returned to the gym entrance. In the dim light, I could see Tolliver and Shanahan whaling on the exit door.

“It must be jammed-” Jeremy began.

“It wasn’t jammed when we got here,” Tolliver shouted back. “I checked it.”

“Tonio?” Jeremy murmured. “Go help Clay get that door open. Send Nick back in.” He caught his friend’s arm before he left, and lowered his voice. “Be careful.”

“I suspect we’re going to find it’s been spell-locked, not jammed,” Jeremy called to Tolliver.

“Spell-?”

“The same thing I believe responsible for the blackout,” Jeremy said. “Either that or we have a zombie in the basement who tripped the breaker. Not quite so dramatic as a spell, but equally effective.”

As Nick came up behind me, I could hear someone yanking on the outside door.

“You think I turned off the lights?” Tolliver said with a tight laugh. “On werewolves? Who can see in the dark? And I locked myself in with them?”

“We can’t see in complete darkness,” Jeremy said. “No more than you can. As a doctor, I’m sure you figured that out.”

Clay’s footsteps thundered down the hall. His face was red, as if he’d run six miles instead of feet.

“It’s not jammed,” he said, breathing hard. “Doesn’t seem locked either. Antonio can snap the hinges…”

“Not yet,” Jeremy murmured. “Tell him to stand by.”

“It’s spell-locked,” Jeremy called to Tolliver and Shanahan. “A backup plan to distract us when the power outage didn’t do the trick, I suspect. You have two choices. Either we relocate this meeting-quickly-or I will make that Cabal call for you, to Benicio Cortez, whom I suspect will handle this in a much less diplomatic way.”

Tolliver was silent.

“Quickly was the key word in that offer,” Jeremy said, voice still calm. “In sixty seconds, I’m going to declare this a potential ambush and instruct-”

“There’s a room down the hall. A meeting room. Smaller than this, but it has windows. It’ll be light enough to talk.”

WHILE I WASN’T DISCOUNTING TOLLIVER AS THE SOURCE of the power outage, my money was on Shanahan. His “horrified innocent” act didn’t work with me. I’d seen too many mutts pull the same routine. We’d show up at their doorstep and they’d stand there, stammering and wide-eyed at the very notion that they would be hunting people, denials pouring out on breath that reeked of human flesh.

Tolliver paused at the meeting room door as if expecting a wolf to lunge out from behind it. When Antonio closed the door behind them, Shanahan jumped, fingers flying up in a spell.

“If you finish that cast, this meeting is over,” Jeremy said.

As we moved to the center of the room, Clay whispered weakly, “Nicky?”

Nick started-surprised by Clay’s tone, the childhood nickname or both, so out of place here. Clay’s face was still as flushed as when he’d come running in from outside, and now neither heat nor exertion could be blamed.

“You’re-” I began.

Clay silenced me with a meaningful nod at Jeremy. Frowning, Nick moved up beside Clay.

“Watch Elena, ’kay?” Clay whispered, voice hoarse as if speaking cost more effort than he could afford.

“Are you-?”

“No, I’m not. So watch her. Please.”

Jeremy caught my eye, but Clay had turned away, as if still talking to Nick. Jeremy waved me up beside him. I glanced at Clay again, but his eyes warned me to stay quiet.

Jeremy began, “I’ll presume Dr. Tolliver has told you what’s happened this week, and your suspected role in it.”

“I-” Shanahan said.

“Then you know the charges are serious. These negotiations are equally serious. If you claim to have played no role in these events, and I discover otherwise, I will claim justice as our jurisdiction, to be decided by me-”

“But-”

“A member of my Pack is under direct threat, and neither the interracial council nor the Cabals will deny me justice if I demand it.”

Shanahan swallowed. His gaze shot to Tolliver, who said nothing.

“If you admit to your role in this,” Jeremy continued, “and help us close this portal, you will be turned over to the Cortez Cabal or the interracial council-your choice, but you have my word that I will attend any proceedings, and ensure that your cooperation here is noted and considered.”

“And if I played no role in any of this?”

“Then you’d be well advised to tell us anything that will help exonerate you, and anything that will help us close this portal…and to pray that we don’t find out you’ve lied.”

Shanahan pulled himself straight and met Jeremy’s gaze. “I played only one role in all of this.” He enunciated each word as if such gravity would prove his sincerity. “And that is as the original owner of that letter. If I failed to properly safeguard it, then my only defense is that I had no reason-absolutely no reason-to believe it wasn’t what my grandfather claimed.”

“A fake?” Jeremy said.

“Not a fake. A dud. A failed experiment. A supernatural curiosity with an interesting story attached. That’s what my grandfather collected: stories.”

Jeremy’s gaze veered toward the windows, and his nostrils flared. The windows were closed, and he gave a slight head shake, as if the sniff had been instinctive. All I could see was the empty basketball courts.

“And the story behind this particular artifact?” Jeremy said. “You called it a dud.”

Shanahan nodded, emphatically, as if seeing a sign that his story was being believed. “It is supposed to be a portal. A holding cell.”

“For the man known as Jack the Ripper.”

“No, there’s no-”

“We’ll get to that,” Tolliver said. “Back to the letter and its intended purpose.”

They told us a story very similar to the one Anita Barrington knew, with the sorcerer creating a portal to hide from those wanting to take or stop his immortality experiment.