N. Walters: Howl of the Wolf

“How do you feel?” Arand had been asking her the same question every two minutes since she’d woke about an hour ago.

She gave him the same answer she’d given him each time. “I’m fine. Really.” Well, fine for a woman who’d apparently died, not just once, but twice. There was an echo of an ache in her chest, but even that was beginning to fade the longer she was awake.

She glanced at the clock as it struck midnight. The others stopped talking, all of them waiting until the last chime was struck. The curse was truly over. They were all free.

As if that was the signal she’d been waiting for, the front door opened and the Lady of the Beasts stepped into the room. Sabrina blinked at the lovely young woman standing before them. The Lady looked no older than she or Tilly or Jessica, but she was truly ancient. The proof was in her blue-eyed gaze. Her eyes reflected the mysteries and heartaches of the entire history of time.

She was wearing a dark-green dress that fell to her ankles. Her unbound hair skimmed the floor as she walked. There were colorful flowers twined in her locks that were every shade of brown from almost blonde to mahogany. The corners of her mouth were turned up slightly, not quite a smile, but almost.

But it was the light that radiated from her, the sheer energy surrounding her that let everyone around her know she was something special, a woman of great power, a goddess.

As one, all the men rose, thumped their right hands over their hearts and went down on their left knees before her. The Lady smiled, and Sabrina knew she’d never seen a more beautiful woman in her life.

“Rise, my loyal warriors.” They all stood and she walked toward them. One by one, she touched their faces and patted their arms, her actions almost motherly.

And she was their mother, wasn’t she? Their creator. Sabrina watched as Arand lowered his head so the Lady could touch him. The warriors all crowded around her, but Mordecai hung back.

The Lady paused and made some kind of sign with her hand. The warriors parted, leaving her a clear path to the serpent. “Won’t you come forward and greet me?”

Mordecai shook his head. “I am tainted.”

The Lady walked toward him and Sabrina tensed, wondering what the goddess would do to the betraying warrior.

“Why did you join Hades?”

The entire room seemed to hold its breath. It was the question all of them wanted answered.

“Why?” Mordecai squared his shoulders and glared at the other warriors. “Because I knew we needed someone on the inside if we were going to defeat Hades, and I knew none of the others would do it.”

The other warriors erupted, outrage pouring from them. “What did you do to help?” Roric roared. “You tried to kill Aimee.”

Aimee, a slender woman with short black hair, placed her arm on Roric’s arm to retrain him. Sabrina had been introduced to all of them earlier, but her head had still been spinning at the time. If Sabrina was remembering correctly, Aimee was an artist of some kind.

Mordecai sneered. “If I’d wanted to kill her I could have done so several times.”

“You stabbed Araminta.” Leander took a threatening step forward. “And you stabbed me.” Leander wrapped his arm protectively around a woman with long tawny-brown hair and steady gray eyes. Sabrina remembered being told that Araminta was a writer.

“She attacked me and I reacted automatically. I knew you wouldn’t die from your wounds. All you had to do was let the clock run out and you would have both been fine.”

Marko grunted and started to speak, but the Lady raised her hand and all the warriors fell silent. “What happened to you, Mordecai?”

He glared at his fellow warriors and raked a hand through his hair. It amazed Sabrina how good all the warriors looked. They were all dressed in leather leggings, boots and tunics, except for Mordecai, who looked more like a mercenary for hire in his jeans, a new black T-shirt and combat boots.

“Like all of you, I was set free by a woman. We disappeared, but I knew it was only a matter of time until Hades came after us.” He paused, his expression sad. “I was lucky. She was a very smart woman, and a woman of some skill. She took my soul.” He rubbed his chest as though it still pained him.

Took his soul. “How is that even possible?” Sabrina asked.

Mordecai looked at her and shrugged. “As I said, she was very clever and learned, and I was more than willing. She held my animal form, the very essence of my soul, keeping it safe from Hades.”

“But you killed her,” Marko stated.

“Did I?” Mordecai sighed, looking very tired, his shoulders slumping.

“No, he didn’t kill her.” Sabrina was shocked when Jessica stepped forward. Jessica glanced toward the Lady and received her nod of approval before continuing to speak. “That woman who set Mordecai free was my grandmother, and she wrote about the episode in her journal. She was a witch of great power and took Mordecai’s animal essence to protect it.”

“It was in the amulet you wore.” Mordecai went down on one knee before Jessica and lowered his head. “I am in your debt and your grandmother’s debt for returning my other half to me. How does she fare?” Mordecai raised his head to look up at Jessica.

“She’s gone from this world, but after a long, happy life, thanks to you.” Jessica put her hand on Mordecai’s shoulder and urged him to stand. “I owe you my life. Without you saving my grandmother, I would never have been born.”

Sabrina’s head was spinning at this revelation. Jessica had known about the warriors all this time and hadn’t said anything at all.

Jessica turned away from Mordecai to address them all. “Mordecai went to a local cemetery and dug up the body of a recently deceased woman and took that to Hades. The god didn’t bother to check to see if it was the right woman, just as he never checked to see if Mordecai still had his soul. Hades had one of the warriors at his side and that was all he cared about.” Jessica looked at Sabrina as if pleading with her to understand. “I had to repay this debt my family owed. I had to. I promised my grandmother on her deathbed that I would. It was she who told me to come to New Orleans. She told me I’d find my destiny here.”

Sabrina slowly nodded and Jessica immediately looked relieved. Her friend had done everything in her power to help. Sabrina understood she had to keep her word to her grandmother. She’d have done the same if she’d made a promise to her granny.

“Amazing.” It was Kellsie who spoke. “What happened then?”

Mordecai shrugged. “I did what I could.” He turned to Stavros. “When Stavros was released, I pretended to kill him. Instead, I killed a very large jaguar and took that body to Hades. I told him I’d killed the woman who’d freed him too.”

“And he never checked to see if the jaguar really was Stavros.” The Lady’s soft voice calmed some of the rising tension in the room.

“I never knew.” Stavros stared at Mordecai, his dark gaze filled with unspoken thanks. “I wondered why Hades wasn’t searching for me. When the curse was broken, I watched over Melinda until the day she died.” He turned his sad gaze onto the Lady. “I’ve spent almost all the years since I was released in my animal form. I am sorry for that, sorry for not trying to find and help my fellow warriors.”

Sabrina could feel the sense of shame coming from Stavros and wanted to give the tall, dark-haired warrior a hug. The Lady did it for her, walking over to her warrior and wrapping her arms around him. “There is no shame, my brave warrior.”

The Lady stepped back and turned her sharp gaze back to Mordecai. “What about Phoenix?”

One corner of Mordecai’s mouth tipped upward, not quite a grin, but almost. “That bastard went up in flame and smoke and we never saw him again.”