"Tiger´s Tale - Chapter 2" by Leah Renegade Kresl

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A mischievous look crossed Iron’s face. “Have you ever flown?” She asked, a spark dancing in her eyes.

Kegan was stunned. “Uh… in a plane? Yes.” Her smile only grew.

“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and towed him towards a large window that led out onto a small porch. Pushing the window open, she let go of his hand. Then, she grinned at him. Suddenly, she ran to the railing and leaped over it.

“Izzy!” Kegan yelled, running to the railing after her. As he looked over, all he could see was darkness. There was a quiet whooshing behind him, and he felt something hook into his shirt, lifting him up.

“I told you, my name’s Iron! Call me by my real name, cause now you know what I really am!” Looking behind him, he saw a silver tiger with wings. He knew it was Iron, but now she was a full tiger instead of a half human tiger as he had so often seen her. Her front claws were hooked into the back of his shirt, around his arms, and as they flew higher into the sky, he could hear her laughing. He spread his arms out and a grin spread across his face. Soon, he was laughing, too. Iron suddenly went straight up into the sky with a great thundering beat of her huge wings.

“Hold on!” she cried in excitement, folding her wings back and pointing her nose down.

“To what?” Kegan cried, the sudden wind tearing the words from his mouth. She dove down until they were in the forest itself, then she snapped her wings open, angling them so she went curving back up. Then, she wove and dodged through the trees, the wild flight consuming her. Then, seemingly all too soon, she slowed down and hovered for a moment before drifting down and letting go of Kegan’s arms. Kegan tumbled into a pile of cold, thick, soft green moss. Iron backwinged to a graceful landing, settling herself into the moss a few feet away.

“Look. This is my world.” She beamed, and even though she was currently a tiger, Kegan understood her words perfectly. Looking around, Kegan saw they were on a mountaintop above the clouds. In front of them, spread out as far as they could see was a vast sea of wispy silver clouds with the tops of mountains barely visible. The moon, almost full, seemed to watch like a great silver eye. Kegan shivered, suddenly noticing how cold it was. Suddenly, with a gentle rustling, a great purple wing extended over him, wrapping him in a smooth blanket. Looking over, he saw Iron sitting on her haunches just a foot away. She turned her head, meeting his eyes. He also noticed exactly how big she was. She was at least a foot taller than any tiger he had ever seen at a zoo or on TV. Her bladed tail swished back and forth across the moss gently.

“Why does everyone keep calling you a panwere?” Kegan asked.

“A panwere is a lycan who is a cross, a mixture of different kinds of lycan. My mother was a tiger, and my father was a dragon.”

“Well, Dido told me he was turned by an ‘Old One’. What does that mean?” Kegan continued, his body heat filling the space inside the wing.

Iron continued to gaze out at the clouds before answering. “I am a hereditary lycan, meaning I was born with this. Dido was really a human to begin with. An Old One, or one of the Older Race, is a lycan too, except their bite is venomous. The venom, as it courses through the bloodstream, changes the body. It not only turns the human lycan, but it also heals the body. That is why Dido had an Old One turn him. He was dying, and the only way to save him was for him to turn lycan.”

“How does someone who is turned by an Old One become a panwere?” Iron turned to him. “Two or more Old Ones have to bite you before your first full moon. That way the venom combines, creating a mixture that changes the human in other ways. It makes the human stronger, faster, and have better reflexes, depending on what species have bitten them. Sometimes, the human gets other abilities, too. Why are you asking? Planning on joining the smelly beasts?”

Kegan challenged playfully, “You really think I want to get bitten by fleas?” Iron flipped her head towards him, a toothy smile growing. She opened her mouth and a torrent of fire roared out, engulfing the wing Kegan was wrapped in. Iron also moved her wing so it blocked the fire from reaching Kegan. He poked his head out in surprise, the ends of his hair where it had been sticking up smoking.

“What was that for?” He said in mock outrage. Iron pulled her wing off of him and swatted him with a huge paw. She was careful to keep her claws in, though. Still, the gentle blow was enough to send Kegan rolling for a few feet.

He came up sputtering, and saw Iron examining her paw in false modesty. Kegan ran up and pushed her over, or tried to anyway. She caught the movement and leaped up at him, knocking him down again. The two rolled a ways laughing before they stopped. Iron put one paw on Kegan’s chest and breathed into his face.

“Humans smell bad enough.” Then, letting him up, she padded off a ways and plunked down on her side. Her eyes were playful and more alive than Kegan had seen them in a long time. She rolled onto her back and spread her wings over the grass, her silver paws laying on her light creamy white belly.

After a few minutes, she sighed. She pulled in one wing and flipped onto her feet again before pulling in the other wing and standing up.

“We’d better get home soon. The others will worry.”

“Hey, I don’t think my shirt needs any more holes in it, thank you.” Kegan grinned.

“Fine. I’ll carry you by your pants!” Iron grinned back, running towards him. He jumped on her broad shoulders as she ran past, catching hold of the soft fur around her neck.

“This works!” She laughed, and leaped back into the sky, her impressive wingspan stretched to its full extent as she gilded home.

A few minutes later, they set down on the balcony again. She shifted back into a human and they went inside.

That night was the first time in too long Iron had been able to sleep in her own bed. Ren was on the floor in a sleeping bag. Charac and Fang were spread out on the couches in the living room, and Kegan was in the spare room. Dido was in the second room, which was actually supposed to be Sandu and Adelina’s room, but, as vampires, they weren’t actually able to sleep. Sandu had so often told Iron that one of the things he missed most about being human was dreaming.

“Dreams are a place you can escape into; sleep is like a place you can go where nothing can trouble you. It’s a way to block things out or seal things in.” he had once said to Iron. However, tonight was a time when Iron wished she couldn’t dream.

As Iron twitched and moaned uneasily in her sleep, her mind was a whirl of shadows and night.

 She could see Dido slashing at an invisible foe. Ducking and leaping, he looked as if he were dancing. Suddenly, he fell forward, blood streaming from under a hand he held close to his leg. He pulled his hand away, the white fur red with blood, and rose shakily. He stumbled back and ducked, getting in another slash. Thick blue blood spurted under his merciless claws, spattering his muzzle and chest. Suddenly, a long gash sliced across his chest from the talons or blade of his unknown assailant. Seconds later, his eyes grew wide and he folded in the middle as though he had been struck by something large and heavy, right in the gut. He flew back, crumpling against a wall and sliding limply to the floor. Suddenly, a raging flow of red-blue flames lanced toward the invisible thing. Something shuddered and fell, breath coming heavily before stopping altogether with a quiet gurgle. However, she could see Ren grappling with something and Charac snapping, his eyes sharp with fear and anger. Soon, Iron’s view of the dream was next to Dido. He was dying, she could smell it. Opening one eye, for now he had only one, he whispered, ‘Iron.’ Then, he reached up and touched Iron’s cheek. ‘My light is dying,’ he whispered, ‘but the flame still lives. Now may it walk with you as it has walked with me. You are the light now.’ A blue crackle of flame flowed silently from Dido’s fingers into Iron. Dido’s eye closed, his hand falling silently to the ground. A single tear leaked out of Iron’s eye, landing on Dido’s still body. She laid his head down gently, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, the air was rent with a scream of pain. Whirling around, Iron saw a row of holes open up on Ren’s wrist, pouring blood. Ren seemed to be trying to pull her arm out of something’s mouth, but not succeeding. With a roar, Iron crouched, her claws sinking effortlessly into the stone she was perched upon. Warmth spread through her body. She sprang, her paws covered in a licking blue flame. Suddenly, she could see what was killing her friends. Huge and hairy, with leathery wings and snarling faces. As she landed on one, she felt it jerk as her flaming claws dug deep into its flesh, burning and slicing simultaneously. As she released the quivering carcass, she rose, holding her flaming hands in front of her, tipping her head back, and mantling her wings. ‘You are the light now.’ Dido’s last words echoed across the dreamscape, and she roared, full and fierce, and the fire spread to envelop Iron completely. It blazed and raged, but it didn’t burn her. instead, it cast light over all the creatures, and as the light touched them they began to burn, their bodies instantly reduced to charred skeletons, and the bones smoldering into ash and dust, blowing away as she flapped her wings. Rising into the sky, she went with barely a wing beat, barely a whisper, as she ascended. The moon was gone from the night, somehow never to return.  Iron spread her wings, the flame licking all along their great length, light shining down on the world, burning all the creatures to dust. Iron closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were glowing bright green. Then, she felt her strength fade. She fell, the fire dying slowly, and she plummeted back down.

Then, she gasped, sitting bolt upright, her breathing rapid and erratic. Her eyes snapped open. Bright light poured in, and she was surrounded by shadows. As the fuzz faded, she could make out the shadows. From somewhere, a ghostly voice called softly.

“Iron… Iron… it’s okay, Iron…” Her breathing slowed and she recognized the faces now peering at her. She could clearly see her friends, and Sandu and Adelina. Shaking her head to clear it of the fuzz completely, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

“You scared us, dear.” It was Adelina, her long white hand resting gently on Iron’s furry silver shoulder.

“What… What happened?” Iron mumbled, wondering why she was downstairs on the couch.

“You shifted in your sleep, then wouldn’t stop moaning, and you wouldn’t wake up.” Fang replied, his face a careful mask of calm, but under that she could see a cold, hard fear.

“You kept saying something about the monsters, the blood, and the light. And, you kept saying, ‘He’s dead.’” Ren said, her eyes full of real concern.

Dido merely hovered by the doorway, his stormy expression unreadable, but, even in the shadows, his eyes burned with a rage that tinted the silver with a metallic blue. Iron blinked in surprise.

After breakfast, the mood was lighter, but Dido was still quiet and reclusive. Iron was walking through the hall, when Dido was suddenly next to her.

“Let’s go for a walk outside.” Dido said, the strange metallic light still lingering in his eyes. Iron, stunned, followed wordlessly out the door.

Once they were far enough away for the enormous house to appear small, Dido began to talk.

“Iron, I never told you this. Your parents knew, though. Do you know how I became a lycan?”

“Yes. You got bitten by an Old One.” Iron had known this since Sandu had told her a few years ago.

“What you don’t know is that I was in love. With a cheetah. But, I didn’t know she was a lycan, or even what a lycan was, at the time. One day, the Hybrus started chasing her, trying to kill her. That was the day I learned about her. When she changed, I was afraid. I started to run, but I was shot. I was dying. She carried me to the Old One who changed me. She saved my life by letting me into her world.

“A few months later, we were attacked by the Hybrus again. This time, they shot her, and as she died in my arms, she gave me something that would change my life again. She gave me the light.” The way Dido said light, with reverence and awe, made Iron wonder what it was.

“She had been its keeper, and she passed it to me. Once the Hybrus men caught up with me, I was furious. I felt a hot rage consume me. The light takes the form of a blue fire. It was licking at my hands and down my back. My eyes were on fire, too. That’s what made my eyes look like this. I incinerated the Hybrus in anger. Then, I wandered alone for days, carrying my love’s body. That was when Sandu and Adelina found me in the woods. they took me back here, to their mansion. I rested and healed, but never found the strength to go on. Until I met your parents. They were refugees, just escaped, and they were seeking shelter. I learned that they were going to a secret organization of lycans that fought the Hybrus. I decided that I would never let what had happened to my love happen to any others of our kind. I went with them, and was quickly accepted into the ranks.

“But, the light inside me never went out, and I still have it. When I get too mad or panicked it comes forth. But, it burns me horribly.”

“I had a dream last night that scared me.” Iron said when Dido had apparently finished.

“We were fighting some sort of giant monsters, but they hurt you badly. You were dying in my arms. But, you said, ‘My light is dying, but the flame still lives. Now may it walk with you as it has walked with me. You are the light now.’ Then you died. I was so mad; I felt a fire in my belly.” Iron sat down on a rock and stared up at the clouds.

 “But, then it was all over me. It did not burn me and it did not hurt. What hurt was seeing my friends all dying and injured, crying in pain. I roared, and a wave of fire flowed over everything, burning the creatures to dust. Then, I rose up into the sky, and light was everywhere. Then, everything went black and I fell. Then I woke up.” Iron said, surprised when Dido looked scared… and resigned. Almost like what she had seen was the unavoidable future.

“There’s something else.” Dido suddenly said. “This… light, fire, whatever, it makes you immortal. It will only be able to leave you when you die from a sickness or from getting too badly injured.”

Iron raised one eyebrow, wondering if that was believable or not. “Lycans can’t get sick at all.”

“I know. When I met your parents, they were teenagers. Just escaped from captivity. I was with the vamps for sixty years before that.”

“How old are you?” Iron gasped out. Good thing she was already sitting down.

“Well, I was thirty seven when Fiora turned me. And I was thirty nine when she died and gave me this fire. So that’s… seventy… um… I’m ninety three years old.” Dido looked thoughtful.

“Math never was my strong point.” He grinned.

Iron just sat there for a minute, dumbfounded.

“But, Iron,” He continued after a few seconds. “You’ve got a fire all your own. Ever since I met you, I’ve felt that. Surprisingly, it reminds me of a legend I once read about. It’s been found all over the world. Wherever lycans have lived, you can find it somewhere around there.”

“Really?” Iron was intrigued. She had loved legends all her life.

“Well, it’s usually cave paintings. It shows a feline with wings. Its hands are out on either side of its body. One hand has a blue flame in it, the other has a swirling ball of shadow. The paintings go on to depict a face, a tiger face. Half of it is always white, and the other half is black. It has green eyes.

“The legend always reads, ‘Being of shadows given the light, torn between the two, battle within rages while the world balance is in danger. Day becomes night and dark becomes light in this dance of deadly might. Only a being, pure of heart, but mixed of blood and cause, can tame the flames and take to the wind, on shadow wings. The warrior posses the claws of the cat, the stripes of the strongest hunter. The warrior that is of the night with the breath of the storm as she breathes out the thunder. What will come is both life and death, dark and light together.’ Really, quite mysterious. Especially the part where it says ‘she’.” Dido’s expression was guarded, straining to see any noticeable reaction in Iron’s eyes and face.

Iron sat there and wondered. Dido then stood back up and went back to the house. Iron sat there for another minute before leaping up and taking flight. She flew over his head and beat him to the house. As she passed over him, Dido looked up and gasped. For just an instant, the sun was perfectly behind her head. One half of her body was deep black, the other startling white, and her wings were bright red. Then, it was gone and she landed in front of the door. She slipped inside, leaving it open for Dido to come in behind her.

After lunch, the group decided to move on. They would have to leave soon, anyway. The two vampires gathered their things and packed them into a pair of radically overdue rental trucks. Iron, Dido, Charac, Ren, Fang, and Kegan were given the keys of several of the other cars. Iron packed her things and put them into the shiny black suburban. Dido decided to take Charac and Kegan in it.

Iron emerged from the huge garage wheeling a red and silver Harley. Fang whistled and Ren glowered. Kegan asked about it, and discovered that Sandu and Adelina had given it to her for her seventeenth birthday after she had gotten her license.

Ren took Sandu’s midnight blue Mustang, and Fang went with Ren. Sandu and Adelina gave them each a silver cell phone. After waving goodbye to her foster parents, Iron realized she might never see or hear from them again. She put out the kickstand and pulled her red leather jacket on, as well as her helmet. Lycans healed quickly, but they could still bleed to death or be injured so badly that they would die.

She also put on her headset so she could listen to music while she drove. She had set her music player up so she could hook it to her cell and the music would pause if someone called. Then, after they hung up, the music would start again. Her phone itself was on voice commands, so she could call anyone while driving. Before leaving, they each took the chance to get the number of each other’s phone and put it to the person’s name.

As they cruised down the road, the trees began to thin and were soon gone entirely except for the occasional watering hole. Iron felt her pocket vibrate.

“Phone.” She commanded, and the music she was listening to turned off. It was one of her favorite songs, 'Over and Over' by Three Days Grace.

“Where are we going?” it was Ren. Iron could hear Fang’s voice in the background, apparently trying to get Ren to listen.

“Look out the right side of your car. Those are the Sutter Buttes. We’re going to try to reach Sacramento before too long.”

“Hush! I know! Yes, I know! Will… Will you just be quiet?” Ren argued with the gentle hum of Fang’s voice in the background. The only words Iron could make out were, “I told you so.” One side of her mouth lifted momentarily in a half smile.

The two vampires had told them about the Watchers, the organization of lycans who tried to counter the HYBRUS. They, like the HYBRUS, were spread all over the globe, in every country and major city in the world. There was a group based out ofSacramento, and that was why they were going there. But, Iron had a bad feeling about this.

Soon, they pulled into Sacramento. Dido took the lead in the Suburban, down several streets until they came to an old drycleaner. The paint was faded and the words were broken, some missing.

The sign above it may have once read, ‘PETE’S DRYCLEANING’, but now all that could be clearly seen was ‘ETE S  RY E N NG’. As they turned into the front, Iron noticed that in the back corner of the parking lot, light gray with age and use, was a freshly paved looking section. It was off; it had caught her attention quickly, as did the shiny and far too well concealed cameras hidden all over the lot. Parking close to the fresh black patch of asphalt, Dido and the others straggled into the building. Iron followed warily, she could feel the hair on the back of her neck prickle up as invisible eyes watched her.

Inside the building looked just as shabby, the whitewashed walls cracked and flaking. A single large picture of a bowl of fruit had been hung over the epicenter of the cracks. The short, trim man behind the front counter looked perfectly average. He was entirely human, Iron could smell it. Dido quietly conferred with him. Iron picked up a few words and snatches of speech.

“Five lycans, one human…” Dido said quietly.

“Car storage?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll tell Amun to open the door.”

“Thank you.”

Dido turned and went back out the door, the small silent group crowding out behind him. Iron stood right next to Kegan. Suddenly, an odd scent tugged at her nose. She inhaled deeply. It smelled of human… and sickness. Glancing over, she saw that Kegan was actually paler than he had been when they had first arrived at the vamp’s mansion. She was distracted, however, by a sudden humming noise. As she watched, the black patch lifted up to reveal an open passageway. Iron turned on her Harley and revved the engine, sending it cruising into the darkness. Pulling it into a parking space a few moments later, she put down the kickstand and waited as the others pulled into the spaces on either side of her. They all moved towards a glass door that swung open inwards.

Iron halted in surprise, as there must have been three lycans in human form waiting to meet them in the front room. The foremost one was a tall woman with cold, calculating eyes that carried herself with a distinct air of leadership. Iron figured she was the leader of the pack. Iron unconsciously drew herself up to her full six foot four inches and looked the woman in the eye. The other four lycans took up positions behind Iron, displaying that she was the leader here. Kegan just stood slightly off to the side, not sure what was going on, but the change in the others put him on edge. The air was so thick with tension he could almost taste it.

“Welcome to the Watchers’ Sacramento outpost. I’m Selena.” Selena extended her hand.

“Thank you for allowing us to come here. I’m Iron.” She reached out and shook the hand. Everyone visibly relaxed. Kegan caught Ren throw a speculative glance at Fang, who grinned. Suddenly, a radio crackled to life.

“Selena, you’ve got to come see this. Now. Bring the newcomers, too.”

“On my way.” Selena said into the radio. “Come on. Sy doesn’t sound that worried very often.”

They followed her down the hallway and up two flights of stairs to a room where a thin, wiry man with dark, almost black, eyes and tousled tan hair was busy tinkering with machines and moving cords.

“Oh God, what is that smell?” Selena said, covering her nose in disgust. Kegan couldn’t smell anything, but all the lycans were acting as if something smelled terrible.

Iron thought it was a musty smell, dark and oily. The man, Sy, apparently, pointed to a large black shape draped with chains. Evil brown eyes glared out with a cold ferocity that sent chills down the spines of all that saw them.

Iron looked closer, then gasped, “It’s a lycan. But it’s a… dog. It’s a big black dog!”

With a glower, Selena said, “This has Hybrus written all over it.”

“Look.” Sy pointed to a screen. It had spirals of DNA across it. He pointed to one part of the double helix shape, where there were several small patches of a bright green color. “This is its DNA. This bright green patches are the lycan venom. The human DNA should be blue.”

“But it’s the same color as the animal DNA.” Iron said in puzzlement. Then, a look of surprise crossed her face. “It has no human DNA! This is a dog all the way!”

Dido looked stunned. “Then how’s it a lycan?”

Sy pointed to an angry grey patch on the helix. “This is an unknown chemical. It was grafted with the Doberman’s DNA to force it into a permanent state of lycanthropy.”

A yelp sounded in the corner, growing into a low wail of pain. As they turned to see what was going on, the dog curled up on the floor, shaking. Fang knelt and touched it on the head as if he was petting it. The moment his fingers touched its fur, Fang could see everything it remembered. He closed his eyes.

“It was a normal Doberman. It was taken by men in white coats to a clean white room. There were markings on their white chests. Hybrus signs. They injected it with a red liquid. Then, they locked it in a cell of glass and stone. It changed. It felt pain as its body twisted and grew. Then the men came back. They taught it to track by smell, to kill lycans. They sent it after a lycan. The scent led it to a certain place where it was captured. Then it woke up here in chains.”

Fang pulled away his hand and opened his eyes. “Hybrus.” He said angrily.

Iron grinned inwardly. Now she knew what Fang’s ‘ability’ was.

Selena, however, looked stunned, and then a devious smile crept over her face. “My,” she said, her treacherous voice dripping with false sweetness. “What an interesting ability.” She reached out and touched Fang’s arm. The effect was instantaneous. Fang staggered as though punched, his eyes growing unfocused. He fell to the floor, his eyes rolling, as Iron lunged towards Selena, shifting in mid-leap. She blew Selena back into some machinery, which crashed to the floor. Iron grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall with one hand. Iron’s eyes took on a dark glow and writhing shadows formed around her free hand, twisting and curling like pitch-black smoke. Her teeth seemed to lengthen and spines grew out of the fur down Iron’s back and tail. Her growling jaws were seven inches away from Selena’s face, her glowing, black eyes glaring at her. Selena choked, her eyes widening in fear, her hands rapidly growing claws and fur as she shifted, her fingers wrapped around Iron’s wrist.

Iron snarled, low and deep.

“Iron! Let go!” Dido was at her side, trying to shake Iron’s steel grip. The light slowly faded from Iron’s eyes and she dropped the gold jackal to the floor, where she stayed, holding her throat and gasping. The spines grew back into Iron’s fur.

Ren cradled Fang’s head as his eyes fluttered closed. Inside, Fang was fighting the control Selena had tried to put over him. He tried desperately to keep from drowning in her control. He struggled for seemingly an eternity. He was sucked slowly down into a sea of dark, all-consuming slime.

Selena watched as Iron shifted back into human form, then she rose to her feet, her grin reforming as she saw Ren and Fang. She called out gently, “Fang, come here.” Fang’s eyes opened dazedly and he stumbled to his feet, staggering toward Selena. Dido, Iron, Ren, Charac and Kegan looked on in appalled silence.

“Now wake up.” She whispered. Fang’s eyes snapped back into a clear understanding. He glared at Selena. “No.” He whispered. She grinned again, shifting back to human form.

“Sypher, call security and have these others put in confinement.” Sypher broke out of his dazed state and fumbled for the phone. “Y-Yes, Selena.”

Iron growled out, “That’s why she’s Alpha here. She takes over your mind.”

Seven burly men hustled into the room and grabbed them roughly. They shoved them down the hall, past dozens of others, who looked like they wanted to help but were frozen solid. Their eyes were haunted. Even the ones escorting them looked regretful.

After being shoved inside a cell, Iron turned to the guard and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t want to, but she forces us all to do things we don’t want to. She’s no better than the Hybrus.” He locked the door. “I’m sorry.”

“Locked in a cell again. Marvelous.” Iron grumbled, pacing back and forth.

“What about Fang? He’s all alone now!” Iron tuned to stare at Ren in surprise.

“What, no ‘Hey Iron, you’re wearing a hole in the floor’? What happened to the old Renegade?”

“Oh, so Ren’s short for Renegade?” Kegan, perched on the top left bunk, asked.

Ren gasped, and, looking defeated, flopped into the lower right hand bunk.

“I’m… just worried, that’s all.” She said, her voice muffled by the pillow she had put over her face.

“About Fang?” Kegan asked.

Ren pushed the pillow aside and rolled over so she was facing the wall, her white hair contrasting sharply with the black streak that was always present. “No, of course not.” She didn’t sound very convincing.

“We all are, but we need to try to find a way out of this.” Dido leaned against the wall.

“I have an idea.” A quiet, timid voice interrupted. Everyone turned to look at Charac. He blushed, and continued, “Iron can melt a hole in the vent, just like before! Then we can get out of here!”

Iron pointed out, “But here, all the baddies are lycans. They’d smell us.”

“Not if you were with me. I can make myself smell like anything that I’ve smelled before. If two of us go, me and Iron, we can try to find a way to get Selena to let Fang go.”

“Not a bad idea.” Dido was thoughtful. “Not bad at all.”