Trifecta: Ice [Complete]

Ch9: A Spark of Good

We walked outside. I noticed Sean was looking at the bandage on the back of my neck. I caught his gaze with my own.

"How's he treating you?" he asked.

I tried to think of words to appease both my brother and the magic. "H-he's giving me space. I barely see h-him."

He frowned. "I have one more thing for you," he said.

I tried to keep myself steady in spite of the trembling that wracked me at the idea that I was going to have even more things than the ridiculous pile of trespass already sitting in my room.

If Sean noticed he did not say anything, but instead he walked toward the pickup truck. Dave was sitting in the front seat and Terrence was already in the backseat of the extended cab.

As Sean made his way around the vehicle, I felt a less concentrated prickling, like the one that informed me that my false leader or Karen or Dan was nearby, but it felt a little bit different.

Sean opened the door and leaned into the truck.

Someone I had not yet met came up beside me and I felt familiar terror at the presence of a member of my new false pack. I could tell she was female from the lightness of her steps and I could tell she was another werewolf by the faint scent of magic just barely detectable with my human nose.

As usual, I could not look at her face, but I could see from my peripheral vision that she was shorter than me, which was quite a feat since I was not particularly tall myself. I managed to get my eyes up from her heeled boots to the bottom of her black skirt before my eyes skittered away.

She either did not notice or politely ignored my discomfort. "Hi, you must be Elise."

I managed a nod.

"I heard what happened," she told me with that note of sympathy everyone seemed to have when they spoke to me now.

I did not know what to say.

"I just happened to spot you when I came by to see Serge," she explained.

At the sound of his name I felt the magic flare up. I made myself nod again as if I did not feel like dissolving to the ground in terror.

She seemed about to say something else, when Sean started walking back towards the spot where I stood rooted like a tree with this unknown pack member next to me.

"Hey, who's your friend?" Sean asked as he walked towards me.

"U-um," I began hesitantly.

"Jodi," the girl beside me supplied. Of course, I could not see her face, but I did see a revoltingly appreciative expression cross Sean's. I supposed my stupid brother liked what he saw. Gross.

I wondered if she was one of the people in my unknown pile of photos. Perhaps I would ask Karen later. The curse's shivers disagreed anxiously, warning me my thoughts were getting out of line.

"I'm Sean, Elise's brother. Nice to meet you," my brother said.

"You, too," she said. "Are you leaving so soon?"

"Well, my friends and I brought my sister's stuff for her, but we've got to head back soon. Dave's on patrol tonight and Terrence and I have training."

"I'll bet you train a lot," she commented.

"As much as anyone. We've got to be ready for the next attack. What about you?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. Sean never cared about details like that normally.

"I do mandatory training, of course, but mostly I work in pack management," she explained. "I just dropped some documents off for Serge and I was on my way back when I noticed your sister and decided to introduce myself."