Kelly Meding - Requiem for the Dead

The sandwiches had, indeed, been delivered to Wyatt and Company. The pups were sleeping in their shared cubicle. Wyatt roused himself from a doze and came out into the hall so Kismet and I could fill him in on our night. He took everything with a surprising amount of calm, because Wyatt didn't generally do calm well, especially when left out of important discoveries and discussions. His primary concern, even while listening to us, was on the two boys sleeping in the next room and their missing brother.

It made me love him more than ever.

"We have two-ish hours until Vale calls again," I said. "I hate waiting."

"I know you do," Wyatt said. "Has Marcus chosen a third yet?"

"I don't know. Not that he's told us."

"It should be you," he said to Kismet.

"I don't have a stake in Clan politics," she replied.

"No, but you do have a stake in Tybalt's life."

"It's Marcus's choice."

"So put a bug in his ear. He's inside, probably sitting with Milo."

She shook her head. "I don't want Milo to know about Tybalt. And I doubt Marcus does, either."

"Sparing someone bad news often backfires, Gina."

"If Milo could do anything other than lay there suffering, in pain because of what Vale did, then I'd tell him. Milo has a long recovery ahead of him, Wyatt. If something happens to Tybalt tonight, he'll be grieving enough by morning."

Kismet pivoted and walked back toward Ops and the sleeping quarters. I watched her go, wishing I could do something for my friend.

Wyatt sighed heavily, then folded me into a warm, welcoming hug. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, grateful for his heat, his love—every single thing he gave me every day.

"You be careful at that duel," he whispered. "Don't give Vale the benefit of the doubt. Expect him to double-cross you."

"I do, trust me. How are the boys?"

"Comfortable now, but they're worried about John. They can't sense his fear and it's making them a little crazy."

"Vale says he's keeping John unconscious. Maybe that's why they can't feel him."

"Could be. Evy, when are you going to talk to the Frosts?"

I groaned and tugged away, putting him at arm's reach. "What the hell, Wyatt? Now isn't exactly the best time to have a heart-to-heart with my non-parents."

"We both know more than most that tomorrow isn't a promise. They deserve to hear from you, in case tomorrow never comes."

"I don't know what to say to them. The truth is insane."

"Alex believed you."

"Yeah, and then the truth bit him on the ass and killed him."

"What about Leo?"

"The truth tried to bite him, too, in Alex's apartment, if you recall." In the shape of a big damn were-cat. "And then he got the hell out of town."

"Do you blame him?"

"Not a bit." His significant look made something click. "So you think if I come clean with the Frosts, they'll freak, then accept, and then get out of town before one of them gets eaten by something ugly?"

"It's worth a shot. They've been kidnapped once for being in this city."

"Yeah, well, everyone close to me gets kidnapped at one point or another. It was just their turn."

"Don't condemn them for caring about you."

"They don't care about me, Wyatt. They care about their daughter, a damaged and frightened woman who killed herself in the bathtub. I'm not her."

"So tell them that. Tell them the truth and let them decide who they care about. Maybe they'll make tracks for the nearest bus station or maybe they'll surprise you."

"I don't want them to surprise me. I want them out of this fucking city before it devours them too." I wanted Stephen and Lori Frost out of harm's way, period. Even if it meant bullying them out.

We didn't have guest quarters in the Watchtower. Astrid had apparently seized an empty store, installed cots and a pile of books, and left it guarded. The store was on the same end of the compound as the regular sleeping quarters and the main bathroom facilities. Sandburg, a likeable guy whose true form was a ferret, was sitting in a chair outside the store, seemingly bored out of his skull.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," he said.

"Yeah, well, my schedule's been pretty full."

"Mine, too, of escorting people to the toilet. That woman has a bladder the size of a peanut."

I snickered. "Take a break, Sandburg. I'll watch them for a little while."

"You don't have to ask me twice."

He handed me the door key, then scurried off. As I slipped the key into the lock I took a deep, cleansing breath that did shit to settle my jumping nerves.

Here goes nothing.

I tapped my knuckles on the door. A polite warning before I opened it.

The room was lit by a pair of bare bulb floor lamps. The cots stood close together near a wall, and the Frosts were sitting side by side, resting but not asleep. They came to life the moment they realized I'd intruded. They blinked at me from a distance of about twenty feet, unsteady. The haircut and newfound emo goth look was probably throwing them for a loop.

"Chalice?" Lori asked. "Honey, is that you?"

"Kind of," I said, shutting the door and pocketing the key.

She looked like she wanted to rush me, to yank me into a bone-crushing hug, but refrained. She did seem a bit green around the edges. Shock, likely. Next to her, Stephen stared at me like I might attack, pissed off while Lori was simply baffled.

"What is going on here?" Stephen asked. "First we don't hear from you for months. Your records disappear from the face of the planet. You leave the apartment. You don't tell us Alex is dead. You barely spoke to us the other morning, and you were with that strange boy. And then we… we…."

"Got kidnapped by a were-tiger?" I said. "Is that the phrase you were grasping for?"

"No, because shapeshifters don't exist."

"You are so wrong about that. The guy who's been guarding you? He shifts into a ferret. The doctor you saw when you first got here? Grizzly bear."

Stephen frowned. "And I suppose you'll tell me the boy who came to the diner with you shifts into a bald eagle."

"No, Milo's totally human. I've never met an eagle-shifter, but one of my best friends is an osprey."

"Chalice—"

"My name isn't Chalice." I closed half the distance between them in slow, measured steps, stopping when Lori inched away. She was definitely freaked. "Look, I know this is going to sound incredibly insane, but I need you both to keep an open mind and hear me out."

Stephen wrapped his arms around his trembling wife, and I wished I had Wyatt here to back me up. I held my ground, and I held Stephen's distrustful gaze.

"On May 20th of this year, around four o'clock in the morning, your daughter, Chalice Frost, drew a hot bath in her apartment, got in, and sliced both her wrists open. She died before her roommate, Alex Forrester, came home and found her."

Lori choked, a hand covering her mouth. Stephen looked disgusted, like I was making up the whole thing.

"A few days earlier, a young woman was being tortured by goblins and left to die. She was a kind of paranormal bounty hunter, and her death was part of a bigger plan, something I'm not getting into right now. But a man loved her, this woman, and he refused to believe she was gone forever. So he went to an elf, who gave him a spell to bring her back to life. But since her body was gone, she came back in the body of someone else who had just died. She was resurrected in Chalice's body."

"You're on drugs, aren't you?" Stephen said. His voice betrayed grief, though, and less anger than before.

"I wish. I'm the woman who was tortured to death and brought back. My name is Evangeline Stone, and I have been this person ever since. Chalice's wasn't supposed to be my body, but that's how it turned out."

"No. No, Chalice, if you're angry with us, we can fix it. We can get you help."