Johnny said, “Explain how murder and kidnapping became a good idea.”
The Rege put one foot on the ground, preparing to stand.
“Down!” Johnny commanded.
“I am the Rege! If you are to be crowned, you’ll need my endorsement.”
“But you don’t share, remember?”
The Rege shook with rage. “You need me!”
Johnny shrugged. “And if you’re dead? Do you think your replacement might understandably be more accommodating to my needs?”
The Rege put his knee back on the ground.
Bully the bullies; it’s all they understand.
“Now explain,” Johnny commanded.
“Ask Gregor,” the Rege replied.
“Kirk,” Johnny said, as he stepped away. Kirk positioned himself so passing motorists could not see he held a gun on the Rege. Johnny stopped before Gregor. “Answer.”
“I intended to question her. I wanted to kill her, too, but first I wanted to know if there were others who could do what she could do. When the Rege arrived I told him what I had done and what my intentions were and why—”
“Tell me why.”
“The humans, if not the witches, will eventually seek to destroy us.”
Johnny shook his head in irritation.
Gregor continued. “He wanted to question her personally. I didn’t think that was safe. I suggested we set her up so that WEC would have no choice but to have her Bindspoken. Then we could recapture her and question her when she’d been magically spayed.”
Now I understood why I’d heard these wærewolves use the word “Bindspoken” in their conversation. Gregor was taking high rank on my Least Favorite People list.
“But I, as always, obeyed the will of my superior.” Gregor bowed his head submissively in the direction of Rege.
I suspected that was a hint, a suggestion, or a call to action of some kind and kept my attention on the Omori behind them.
“And what was your purpose for questioning her personally?” Johnny asked the Rege.
“I agree with the Omori’s assessment of our enemies. I add only a reminder that as the Rege my vantage point of the situation is better, the scope of my sight broader. When the day of our challenge comes—and it will—it is my intention that we are prepared.”
“Are the grimasa-azils not enough?” Johnny asked.
“It is the best we have, but I would be a fool to ignore the opportunity to surmount our one weakness when it stands before me. If she can truly bestow us all with permanence in our man-minds, then we eliminate our only moment of weakness: when the animal takes over and we cannot work as a united front. What she can give us better equips us for the inevitable.”
It was basically the same argument Johnny used to convince the pack wæres that the spell was worthwhile, but when the Rege said the words, the idea lost its charm.
“And what if I don’t agree that the Fate you see is ‘inevitable’?”
“Then you are naïve.”
I’d thought Johnny must know what answer he’d get to that question and had been mistaken in asking it, but when he bristled in response, I understood he knew exactly what he was doing.
“You need to stop insulting the Domn Lup,” Kirk said.
Subordinates telling the Rege what to do evidently pissed him off. His reaction was unsympathetic. “I rule the court. That won’t change even if he proves himself the Wolf King.”
Kirk had jumped in, so I took my shot. “You don’t believe he’s the Domn Lup?” I asked. “Gregor witnessed a full change for himself. Did he not tell you?”
The Rege’s compassionless gaze shifted to me. “If he is to be crowned, he’ll need my endorsement. Or, as he has already suggested, he can kill me and hope my successor is more pliable. But he’ll want something, too.”
Of course. Being the Domn Lup wasn’t enough; the bigwigs expect their political favor to be bought.
“What do you want?” Johnny asked coolly.
The Rege stood. This time Johnny didn’t argue.
“I want her,” the Rege said, pointing at me. “The witch becomes mine, my tool. You”—he arched a brow and frowned distastefully at Johnny—“tone down your image, learn the talking points, and make the rounds of your American media.” He smoothed his suit jacket, tugged on his cuffs to straighten the sleeves. “Draw their attention while the witch gifts us all.”
“All?” Todd questioned.
The Rege glared at him. Todd shifted back a half-step.
“How many wæres are there now?” Johnny asked.
“I don’t have an exact count,” the Rege said casually.
I was sure he was lying.
“Over a quarter of a million worldwide,” Chris LaCroix offered helpfully.
The Rege’s rigid glare found Chris. To his credit, Chris held his ground.
“If she transformed fifty a day,” Kirk said, “every day, aside from the scheduling nightmare that would be, it would take over fourteen years.”
I was not signing on for that. Though stunned at being the bargaining chip on the proverbial table, I found my voice. “No way.”
“You see?” Gregor’s voice cracked like a whip. “She is not on the side of the wæres!”
“I’ll give you the spell,” I countered. “You can find another witch who can perform it for you.” It wasn’t like the Lustrata was the only witch who could do this spell. It was in the Trivium Codex after all, the book of sorcery spells from the fairies. Not that finding another witch to do it would be easy. Sorcery required a lot of energy and the moonlight enhancing spell was no different. Most witches simply wouldn’t have the power within themselves to perform it. That meant it had to be powered by the ley lines, and not many witches were willing to tap a ley because of the initial pain and the addictive ramifications. Of those who did perform sorcery, few would hazard such repeated exposures, and fewer still would be willing to take such a risk to aid the wæres. “All you need is a witch willing to perform sorcery. She can use a ley line to power the spell.”
Gregor flung his arm out, pointing at me, but addressed his superior. He marched closer to the Rege. “Agreeable, logical aid being placed at our feet, and all spoken softly from a pretty mouth. We are being soothed into a sense of security, so that we may be struck down!”
I wondered if all the Romanian wæres hated women.
Walking forward and making a conciliating gesture, I said, “Look, I’m not against wæres keeping their man-minds. I’m all for it, actually. The need for kenneling would be nearly eliminated. Rogue attacks would be a thing of the past. That’s good for everyone.”
Gregor spun on me. “I’ll never trust any witch that much.”
“Why?” I pointed at the pack members here with Johnny. “They trusted me, and rightly so. If you hadn’t intervened, it would have been to their benefit. It was to the benefit of the three who’ve already experienced it.”
“They did not trust you.” The Rege inched forward. “They trusted the Domn Lup. What exists between you and that pack exists because of him. Your worth is based only on the value he places upon you. That is not something that will carry over to your allies in WEC, because witches and wæres weren’t meant to mingle.”
Oh, Goddess. Not the tenet of the good ol’ days.
The Rege caught my eye-rolling. “You mock me?”
My arms crossed. “I mock the irrationality of that old idea.”
“Irrational?” His shout resonated inside my head, reminding me of my goose egg. “Witches have the power to misshape us, destroy us!”
Despite the flecks of spittle on my arms from his raging, I remained calm. “I saw what I could do to you. And yet I haven’t.”
He squinted suspiciously. It made him look all the more evil, which until then I hadn’t thought was possible.