Black Spring

I’d been a terrible student in school. I was lucky that I remembered how to add and subtract. Yet a fragment of a Tennyson poem I’d heard in some long-ago English class came back to me as I stared into the storm in Alerian’s eyes. Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep . . . Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise . . .

Alerian was rising. That was why Nathaniel and I could feel his presence at all times. His power was drawing up, building in a way that it had not since the ancient days. What did he intend to do once he reached his apex?

If Alerian truly was related to Lucifer and Puck, then he would have some complex machinery in place, a knotted web that I’d spend a great deal of time cutting through before I finally figured out the plot.

These thoughts passed lightning-quick behind my eyes in the moments we all stared at one another. Then Alerian smoothly moved to one side and gestured for us to enter.

4

Nathaniel and I silently passed through the door. The room was pristine, not a personal object in sight save the jacket that matched Alerian’s pants slung over the chair.

He closed the door, and I felt an uncomfortable prickling on my skin. With the door closed, his presence seemed to fill up all the empty space in the room. The energy coming from the river intensified the feeling that I was surrounded on all sides by Alerian.

My uncle did not sit. Neither did we.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company—finally?” Alerian said. “I have been in your city for close to four months and neither of you have sought me out to pay respects as you should.”

“You haven’t stopped by my place for a barbecue, either, pal,” I said.

Beside me, I felt rather than heard Nathaniel’s nearly inaudible sigh. I was scared out of my wits and staring down a very old and very powerful being, but my mouth shot off without any consideration for the possibility of harm at the hands of that being. I blame Beezle.

Alerian stiffened at my tone. “I did not receive an invitation.”

“You didn’t send us one, either,” I said.

His gaze grew icier.

“See, that’s your problem right there,” I said. “No sense of humor. Lucifer or Puck would have been right there with me, snappy rejoinders at the ready.”

“I do not play at life as my brothers do,” Alerian said.

“No, but you’re happy to play with life,” I said, taking the opening. “Tell me about these shapeshifters of yours.”

Alerian grew more still, if that was possible. I’d never seen anyone with such fine muscle control. He seemed not to even breathe.

“I can only assume that Daharan has betrayed my confidence,” Alerian said. He said it in a way that implied, And my brother will pay for his treachery.

I had no doubt that Daharan could defend himself, and he’d surely had plenty of practice dealing with his own sibling. But I couldn’t let the possibility of a threat against him stand.

“Leave Daharan out of it,” I said. “He didn’t betray you. I saw one of your shifters myself.”

A flicker of surprise moved over his face before he was able to disguise it again. “That is impossible.”

“Obviously it is possible,” I said. “Based on your response, I’m going to assume you didn’t know one of them was out running around, terrorizing innocent wolf packs.”

Despite what I said, I was careful not to make any assumptions about Alerian’s potential involvement. Just because he was surprised that I had encountered the shifter didn’t mean that he wasn’t aware of its existence. He might have thought the creature safely locked up somewhere.

I expected Alerian to think, to weigh his words before speaking, but he surprised me by responding quickly.

“If you know of the shifters, then you also know that Daharan forced me to destroy them,” he said. “Whatever you saw, it was no creature of mine.”

I glanced at Nathaniel, who gave a tiny shake of his head. No.

He didn’t think I should push it. The line of inquiry hadn’t revealed any new information anyway, so I was willing to let it go. For now.

“What about this plan for a supernatural ghetto?” I asked. “Did you come up with that all on your own, or did the mayor help you out?”

Alerian smiled then, a crafty, malicious smile that chilled me to the bone. “I am merely a consultant offering my services and assistance to the city. I have no power to dictate policy to the current administration.”

“What a load of bullshit,” I said. “The mayor doesn’t have enough imagination to come up with a plan like this on his own.”

Alerian moved forward suddenly, quick as a striking cobra, and before I could blink he stood less than an inch from me. Nathaniel stepped toward us, presumably to help, but I shook my head at him. Whatever happened was between Alerian and me.