And There Were Wolves

(d) sixteen

I had two options right now. Either I could remain like this, seeing and hearing things through Ryker, or I could take over Ryker's mind and actually have a conversation with Blair. 

"What do you mean by Fleur Delvaux?" asked Ryker, his voice rising. He obviously recognized that it was my birth name from our last visit together when Adelina had informed us. "Leave her alone or I swear I'll rip you apart. I've no problem drinking from a witch." 

His threat made me shudder. This wasn't the first time I heard Ryker five out threats and yet once I had seen the evidence of what he'd done on the ground a few feet away from him scared the hell out of me. I wasn't scared of what he would do to me, given my power and my capability of wielding said power after nurturing it for the past two years, I knew with my heart that I could handle him. He wouldn't be the first werewolf I would be fighting against, I'd fought the Night Walkers and even the Erebus before and lived to tell the story. What scared me was how different of a person he was now because of the Mad Wolf disease. 

Blair Balfour laughed menacingly. "It's cute how you don't even know that she's infiltrating your mind right this very moment. And judging from what I could sense from glimpsing at your mind just now, this isn't the first either. 

I gasped but luckily didn't lose my footing thus the connection prevailed. What Blair had just done to Ryker — sensing other magic and picking up what was going on without having to use her magic was something that I'd been trying to achieve. Even Deidre couldn't sense things the way Blair did. Furthermore, Deidre still had to use a bit of her power. 

'This witch could be lying.'

I heard a voice inside Ryker's mind and could easily guess that it was his wolf Khrysaor. 

"I don't believe you," said Ryker. "You either help me or you don't. And if you do, leave Fleur out of this. This is between you and me." 

Blair ignored what Ryker had just said as she continued speaking to me. "Meet me at the address I am about to give you tomorrow night. If true power is what you seek, then perhaps we have more things in common than I thought." A small smirk formed on her lips then she waved her hand. "Goodbye for now." 

As soon as she'd said that, I was pushed out of Ryker's mind and when I blinked, I was once again back in my bedroom at Tiffany's family townhouse with his sister looking at me with a worried look on her oval face. "What did you see?" she asked softly. 

"Ryker didn't end up killing that man," I replied, knowing that it was all she wanted to know most. Whether her brother was a killer or not. 

Tiffany let out a sigh of relief. Color gradually returned to her once pale complexion. "He still needs help." 

"He does. It seems that he also knows that Blair Balfour had once cured a wolf who had the Mad Wolf disease. She found him." 

A frown nestled between her eyebrows. "Found him?" 

I carried on and told her what I'd witnessed. Once I'd finished telling her, she looked both confused and worried. I opened my palm that had been holding the keychain during the process and noticed that there was a piece of paper there. Written in cursive penmanship was an address here in London. 

'Meet me at the address I am about to give you tomorrow night.' 

Blair's words rang in my mind. She'd somehow sent this piece of paper to me. 

Tiffany stared at the piece of paper for a while before looking up to meet my eyes. "Will you meet her tomorrow night?" 

It wasn't even a question to me. "Yes." 

"Still, be careful." Tiffany nodded. "Oh, right, I haven't told you what I saw!"

"Tiff, actually," I took a small pause and cleared my throat while trying to find the right words, "do you mind if I see it for myself?" 

She blinked. "Can you do that?" 

"Yes. I can take a peek at your mind." When she didn't say anything I added, "of course only if you let me. I won't pry any other things. I just want to see what you saw." 

Her hand found mine. "Of course, I'd let you." 

Using the little energy that I had left, I summoned a small ball of red smoke and touched her temple. I'd seen the inside of the motel room he'd been in, the streets he'd walked in to get to that dark alley. I couldn't hear his conversation with Khrysaor but I could tell that he was agitated, and sweating bullets. 

Once I'd done, I pulled my power out of her and dropped my hand. "Thank you, Tiff." 

*********

It was during breakfast the next morning when Draven received a phone call from his sister, Clarabelle, informing him that his twin brother Declan's wife was admitted to the hospital last night and would soon go in for labor. I could see in the way Tiffany nearly knocked her cup of tea off the table that she was conflicted. 

I touched her trembling hand and it took almost a minute before she realized that and turned to face me. "Hey, it's alright, Tiff. You should go and be with your family. They need you." 

She shook her head. "Ryker's my family too." 

"I know. But right now, your son needs you." I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about your brother. I'll meet Blair tonight and find out what she wants." When she still looked like she wasn't sure, I speedily added, "We will find a way to cure Ryker, Tiff. I'll find a way. Trust me." 

At that last note, she finally nodded. "Okay." She gave a small smile before turning to her son. "Draven. We can leave this morning. Can you tell Jarvis to pick us up at the Dulles airport?" 

Draven, who had his eyes glued on his phone screen the entire time, looked up to meet his mother's eyes. Unlike Tiffany, Draven's eyes were light blue, like topaz. "Consider it done, Mum. I've asked Ros to send your usual jet here. Maverick is downstairs and ready to get us to the airport whenever you want to." 

"Thank you, Dearest." Tiffany turned to me again. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" 

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I may not be as powerful as she is but I'm pretty strong too," I tried to reassure her. 

It seemed that it worked. "Yes, you're a strong sorceress, Xyrra. Thank you so much for helping me out. For making it possible for me to see Ryker, to know that he's still alive." She patted my hand with her free hand. 

"You're most welcome." 

"And feel free to stay here," said Tiffany. Her silver eyes shone with affection that it was damn nearly impossible for me to refuse. "You're practically family. Stay here as long as you like. Plus my parents will probably be joining me and my kids in D. C. My son Draven here managed to bring our two families together." She gave a loving glance at her son before turning her gaze back at me. "Stay here and if you happen to find Ryker, you can ask him to stay here." There was a wistful tone on her last note as if she couldn't bear knowing that her little brother was staying at a lousy motel downtown. 

I didn't answer her because I wasn't entirely sure that staying here would be a good idea so I simply smiled at her. 

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Dear Readers, sincere apologies. This author experienced (still is experiencing but hopefully soon will not) the worst food poisoning ever, not to exaggerate. It did play hopscotch in this author's bowels. Long story short, it was simply horrid. Thank you for sticking around, and this author genuinely hope you are enjoying the update!