Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride [72]
“Racist werewolves. Great.”
“They saw it as a weakening of the species,” she said.
“But, biologically speaking, the more varied a gene pool, the stronger the species. Hybrids are usually genetically superior.”
“I knew I’d like you.”
I quit my pacing and sat down across from her. “So, what happened?”
She hugged her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “Eventually the pack came around.” She grinned. “Babies tend to have that effect, and my mom had plenty of babies.”
“How many?”
“I have four older brothers.”
“Wow. And you’re next in line?”
“Turns out I’m the most qualified candidate,” she said. “Not that I mind, but it’s a lot, you know?” Brid sighed. “Anyway, once the pack saw that the children were healthy, more of the wolves married hounds. Especially when they saw the benefits as the children grew older.”
I raised an eyebrow at her and waited.
“When a werewolf changes, it takes some time. How much depends on the wolf. It also hurts. A lot. For fey hounds, however, the change is instantaneous; it’s also painless. There’s other stuff too. I have a partial immunity to silver, for example. But, of course, there are drawbacks.” She patted the floor with one hand. “I can’t change in here. A wolf would be able to, no problem. It was those kinds of things that the remaining hold-outs latched on to.” She tightened her grip on her knees. As I watched, her hazel eyes became dim and shadowed. “My grandfather’s brother, the one who wanted to be next in line, was one of them.”
I didn’t like to see that shadow. If I’d known her longer, I’d have put my arm around her or something. Brid continued to give me a brief sketch of what had happened, mostly involving her great-uncle’s failed coup.
“It cost us,” she said. “A few died, including my mother.”
“I’m sorry.”
Brid hid behind her bangs. “It’s okay.”
“What happened to the rebels?”
“Their leader was executed. The rest…” She pushed her bangs back, tired of hiding. “My father took pity. I think he’d decided enough wolves had died. He shipped them off to other packs if he thought they were able to be rehabilitated. Some of the children were allowed to stay if they chose.”
“You look like you don’t agree.”
When Brid looked at me, the shadow had passed from her eyes. A small fire burned there instead. “I understand his choice. Some of it I even agree with. But since one of them now has us in a cage, I can’t say I’d do it again.”
“What, you’d kill ’em all?” I phrased it like a joke, but Brid didn’t answer it as one.
“I would do what it took to keep my pack safe. If that meant killing, then yes, I would.”
Brid went quiet. I guessed she was all talked out. Which was okay. I’d already heard enough to know that, while I was probably safe right now, I didn’t want to endanger Brid’s people. She’d meant it when she said she’d kill them all. Duty wasn’t a word I heard much, but I could tell that was the way Brid looked at it. And with a bit of a shock, I realized that I understood how she felt. Douglas had come into my world, endangered my family and my friends, and taken someone close to me. Would I be able to kill him if it meant ensuring the safety of my people? The answer came a little too quickly. Yes. Absolutely. The fact that I didn’t have to even think about it scared me. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe something truly dark and scary lived inside me.
I glanced at Brid. I tried to imagine her turning into something large and bloodthirsty. Did she morph into the Hollywood wolfman or something else? I tried to picture her out of control, killing everyone in her way. If I didn’t look at her eyes, it was hard. She appeared so tiny, so gentle. But when she looked