Kelly Meding - Requiem for the Dead

No, no, no, no. After our conversation about Phineas, after finding out Joseph was dying, this would tear Aurora's delicate heart to pieces. I squeezed my eyes shut against bitter tears. I'd been too focused on saving the Frosts to see all of the collateral damage this plan would cause.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Evy," Tybalt said, "but her grief is what will convince everyone, now that there's no body."

I didn't reply. I didn't trust my voice.

"Gina told me to keep my ears open, so I was with Astrid when she got the call about the Elder's murder. I volunteered to drive her to the compound. You both really looked dead, you know." Something in his eyes told me that the sight had affected him on some level. I wasn't as close to Tybalt as I was to Milo, but he was still a good friend.

"I'm sorry," I said. I had a feeling I'd be saying that a lot, and to a crap-ton of people, in the near future.

Tybalt shrugged. "Part of the plan, right? Astrid was beyond pissed, thinking you'd gone nuts and murdered Elder Dane, so convincing her to have your body brought here was pretty easy. I told her I'd accompany Demetrius with the bodies, and then take your ashes back to the Watchtower."

"How long ago?"

"A few hours. I have to go soon, or someone's going to wonder."

"And you actually have ashes to present?"

"Yep. " He pointed at the urn he'd placed on the floor. "Demetrius called in a favor with the Therian who owns this place."

"That is really fucking creepy."

"How is your wound?" Marcellus asked, thankfully changing the subject.

"Hurts, but it'll heal," I said. The itch-ache all along my abdomen was starting to make me crazy. "How's yours?"

"The same. My worry now is for Riley."

"The Assembly knows the whole story," Tybalt said. "Kismet showed them the video Vale sent. They know that Evy killed Marcellus on Vale's orders, because of his two human hostages. Once that got out, the Clans got pissed."

"Because I tried to kill Marcellus?" I asked.

"No—well, yes, but more pissed because Vale involved humans in Pride politics and ordered a sitting Elder assassinated." He shrugged. "It's complicated."

"No shit."

Tybalt's phone rang. He held it up so I saw Kismet's name on the display, then answered. "Yeah?" After a brief pause, he smiled. "I'll tell her. Thanks."

"Tell me what?" I said before he could properly hang up.

"About thirty minutes ago the Watchtower received an anonymous call about the Frosts, supposedly their location. Nevada took a team to check it out."

My heart jumped. "And?"

"They're alive and well and on their way to the Watchtower."

Relief nearly knocked me over backward. Vale, that son of a bitch, had actually kept up his end of the bargain. He wasn't much of a criminal mastermind, but at least he kept his word—not that he had much of a choice, since the entire Assembly (and Watchtower, too, I imagined) knew he had them. "The Frosts aren't hurt? I heard Lori screaming on the phone."

"Bumps and bruises, as far as I know."

"So your gambit has paid off," Marcellus said.

"In more ways than one," I said. "The Frosts are safe, the Clans are turning against Vale for hiding behind humans and ordering your death, and neither of us is actually dead."

"For now."

I almost asked the Elder what he meant, but fortunately my brain caught up before my mouth went off. I'd forgotten he had the Shadow. He was dying, and he would likely die within the month. The Shadow was incredibly fast-acting once it took hold. We'd only delayed the inevitable for him.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help, Elder," I said.

"You've given a dying old man some small measure of peace, Ms. Stone. From the moment I learned of my illness, I feared for Riley. I knew some weak coward would make an attempt on his life before the challenge was met, and I feared he would be assassinated. Now I can rest easy in my final days."

"How's that?"

"Because the position of Elder to the Felia Clan is in the hands of the Assembly. Riley's interest is known, and he's likely to be named, but we have removed the target from his back. With everything that has surfaced about Vale and the Bengals, if Riley receives so much as a wood splinter, the Clans will roar in protest. An attempt on his life would be suicide for anyone associated with the Tuck family."

Good news for Riley, but—"But you're not really dead, Elder. Won't the Assembly simply reinstate you so you can name your successor?"

"A house divided cannot stand."

"Huh?"

"I have never been silent in my disapproval of the choices made by Astrid and Marcus. They have both eschewed tradition and chosen their own desires above duty to their family." Before I could get riled up and defend Astrid and Marcus, Marcellus kept talking. "However, the steps they have taken with the Watchtower Initiative shows a strong desire to protect our Clan, as well as the interests of the Assembly. If they had listened to me and done as I asked, perhaps the Watchtower would not exist."

So fucking true. Up until a few months ago, Marcus and Astrid had both been Assembly enforcers (think CIA but for shapeshifters), their only connection to the human world a tenuous friendship with Tybalt. A lot of factors had to be considered, but it had been the Dane siblings who brought the Clans to the table when the Watchtower formed.

They had also saved Wyatt from himself once, while I was held captive and tortured for nearly three weeks. They gave him an enemy to fight while he mourned my second death. It was a debt I could never repay.

Wyatt.

Oh crap.

"If the Assembly votes for Riley, then so be it," Marcellus said. "If not, then there will be a change. The Danes have held sole power for too long, as both Alpha and Elder. It's time we relinquish some of that control."

His explanation made sense. I just wasn't used to hearing a man in power willing to give some of it up. "A house divided cannot stand" made more sense. The Felia was divided. The Bengals versus the Jaguars. Tuck versus Dane. Enemies and allies within the same community. If a change in Elder helped bring the Felia back together, Marcellus thought it was worth it.

"How long do you plan on staying dead?" I asked.

"Until after the vote."

"And how long does that usually take?"

"A maximum of three days."

Fantastic. Three days. I hated that number. Almost as much as I hated dying on my friends—again—and what it was doing to them. Hated that I would once again be proved alive and hurt them with my lie. But more than hurting Milo and Marcus and Rufus and Kyle, I was hurting Wyatt.

God, Wyatt, I'm so sorry.

"Where's Wyatt?" I asked Tybalt.

The only person I'd wanted involved in this cover-up was the one person whose help I couldn't have. More than anyone, Wyatt's reaction to my death would convince everyone else of the validity of it. His grief would be proof that I was dead. My second death had almost killed him.

I didn't know if he'd be able to forgive me a third death.

Tears stung my eyes, choking me, and Tybalt hadn't even answered yet.

"Gina said he was freaking out," Tybalt said. "Demanding to see your body for himself, that the photos weren't good enough. Aurora's words weren't enough. He's been threatening to kill Demetrius for touching you, snarling at every Watchtower Felia who gets near him."

"Fuck." I wanted to hit something really, really hard, and Tybalt wasn't saying something. "Spit it out, Leftie."

"He was losing control of his Lupa side, so Dr. Vansis sedated him."

Shitshitshitshitshit.

He needed me and I couldn't go to him. Some fucking mate I was, allowing him to believe I was dead and lose control, when he was still coming to understand his dual nature. I was a failure as a girlfriend and a failure as a mate—suddenly all of the positive things my fake death had reaped seemed small and insignificant next to Wyatt's pain.