“No, not at all,” I said.
“You really think he’s one of Nasser’s?” Rick asked.
“I don’t know that he belongs to him, servant or employee or whatever the hell that means,” I said. “But they’re working together. Probably a lot like we are.”
“I suppose it’s too much to hope that he just keeps running and we never see him again,” Ben said.
I didn’t know what Darren would do. He was here on a mission from Nasser—the mission had failed. Would he try again? Try to take us out and convince the pack to follow him after the fact? Or would he acknowledge that if we were strong enough to face him, we could stand against Roman? With or without Rick’s help? God, this was making me tired.
“We probably ought to track him,” I said. “Figure out where he’s going and make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble.”
“I’m on it,” Shaun said, pulling away from the group hug.
“Take Tom and Wes with you. You have your phone?” I asked. The wolves perked their ears at me.
“Yeah, I’ll call when I find out anything.” Waving, he stalked off into the woods. The two male wolves trotted along with him. Strength in numbers.
Otherwise, it was quite a nice night. The daytime heat wasn’t able to drive away a chill in the air once darkness fell. Pine trees creaked under their own weight, and a nocturnal critter shuffed through detritus on the forest floor. A first-quarter moon shone in the west.
“I suppose we ought to think about heading back,” Ben said.
Becky had curled up, half-sprawling on Ben’s lap after circling in place a couple of times. Looking for the right spot, the right position before committing, a familiar ritual.
“We should wait until she’s awake and human,” I said, nodding at her. “I think the stress of the last couple of days did her in.” I returned to them, settling on the ground beside her. Ben leaned up against me.
“Mind if I join you?” Rick said, indicating the ground a pace or two away.
Wolf wasn’t sure she liked him out here in our territory, where he hadn’t been invited. We had our meeting places, and we kept our dens separate. But I nodded. He settled himself gracefully onto the ground, crossing his legs, looking as at home and in control here as he did everywhere. As comfortable here as he was in the basement of Obsidian.
He said, “It looks like I need to write a sternly worded letter to Nasser. Something about how ‘allied’ does not mean ‘invited to interfere.’”
“If you think it would help,” I said. “Hey, does this mean you’re back? Still Master of Denver and not haring off on some crusade?”
He gazed at the sky, or the treetops, or at some far-off thought. No lines of anxiety creased his features—but when was he ever anything but calm? I couldn’t know what he was thinking.
He shook his head, and my heart sank.
“I wish I could make you understand how much Columban has helped me,” he said. “To be alone, doubting myself for hundreds of years—”
“You were never alone,” but as soon as I said it I knew I had no idea what I was talking about. Other vampires I’d met had known Rick, I’d picked up bits and pieces of his history and they usually involved other people. But that wasn’t the same as not being alone. I didn’t know anything about him.
His answering smile was wry. “And when could I ever say that I still believed in God, after everything that’s happened? A Catholic vampire—you had that response yourself. Now, to find that there are others, that I’m not alone—if only I have the courage to reach out to them. Maybe it’s time I go on a pilgrimage.”
It was all I could do not to panic. “Am I being selfish, wanting you to stay?”
“I’m grateful for your … faith in me. But you know I never wanted to be Master of Denver.”
“That’s why you’re such a good one.”
“You’re speaking in clichés, now.”
I slumped. Becky slept peacefully. Absently, I smoothed the fur along her flank; her ribs moved with steady breathing.
“Angelo can be Master of Denver,” Rick said.
“He doesn’t want it, either. Did you know that?”
He stood, brushing off his jeans. “I should be getting back. I’d only meant to talk to you about how your meeting went, and I didn’t tell Father Columban I was going.”