Chapter 8 - Lone Wolf

The next morning, Julian swung by the Arcana Augurum before heading into work. After the disappointing lack of answers from the Petal and Thorn (even after interviewing Sarah the harpy), Julian had gone home. He was spending less and less time in his apartment these days, his days busy with police work and his nights busy with supernatural investigations. It had been something of a relief to actually go to sleep at a decent time. He'd gratefully passed out and slept soundly, but he'd woken up feeling that same irritation at the slow progress of this case.

He'd taken a shower, he'd eaten a quick breakfast, and then he'd gotten dressed and drove out here, hoping they might have some kind of answers. Romero was a wealth of supernatural knowledge, and he knew most of the big players in Los Angeles in ways that Julian just didn't. Julian knew about the supernatural world, of course, but he didn't interact with it all that much, unless he was investigating something. He was something of a recluse, a sort of self-imposed thing ever since he'd split with his old pack.

Julian pushed open the door of the magic shop, and was surprised to find a stranger behind the counter. It was a young girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen, with wavy blue hair and piercing steely gray eyes. She was gorgeously pale, and wore an oversized white T-shirt with some kind of artwork splashed across it at an angle. It obscured whatever she wore on her lower half, and she glanced at him when he walked in.

"Hi, welcome to Arcana Augurum!" she said brightly. "How can I help you today?"

"Oh, uh... I'm just here to talk with Romero Scott." Julian explained. "Who are you?"

"I'm Freya." she said, wiggling her fingers at him in a wave. She wore fingerless black gloves, Julian noted.

"You a witch?" Julian guessed, and Freya shrugged.

"Guilty." she smiled. "Mr. Scott's not in right now, I'm afraid, he's gone for breakfast with the missus."

"Oh, I see. Do you know when they'll be back?" Julian asked. Freya opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, a voice interrupted.

"Ugh, for fuck's sake, send the mutt in, Freya." a very familiar voice called from the workshop hidden behind the curtain.

"Oop. Um, Ms. Inara will see you now." Freya said with a gesture to the curtain.

"Ms. Inara, huh?" Julian asked as he walked past her into the workshop.

Inara was lounging on a dated Ottoman of some kind with some frilly gold tassels along the edge of it, but she sat up when he came in. The busty, cinnamon-toned djinn sat up when he entered, and her eyes flashed in that way they always did, like she was simultaneously amused and annoyed. She wore a mesh crop top that showed off the lacy black bra beneath it (and the mouthwatering cleavage it created), along with her toned bronze stomach. She also wore a pair of tiny red shorts that showed off her flawless legs, down until they reached her tall combat boots, an Inara outfit staple. She had some bangles on her wrist today, and they jangled whenever she moved that arm.

"Why do you always feel the need to bother me?" Inara complained, her head lolling back as she groaned dramatically. Her glossy black hair was flowing loose today, tumbling down her shoulders and back.

"If it helps, I'm really not here for you, I came looking for someone who might actually be useful, you know?" Julian retorted.

"Uh huh." Inara said with a glare. "And what can this illustrious djinn do for you today?"

"Fine. You know anything about Cassius Benning?" Julian asked.

"The warlock millionaire? What about him?" Inara wondered.

"Well, it seems like one of my murder victims was trying to get into his big Equinox Gala, possibly with another of the victims." Julian explained.

"Weird." Inara frowned her pouty lips. "I assume he rejected them? If someone rich enough to get access to the Equinox Gala died, it'd be headline news."

"Yup, he rejected her." Julian nodded. "She worked at the Petal and Thorn-"

Inara laughed, cutting him off. "Oh, the girl should've known better there. That's just sad. Hilariously sad."

"Benning not that kind of guy, huh?" Julian guessed.

Inara snorted. "Yeah, definitely not. He's a total asshole, walks all over people because he's not just rich, he's powerful. Bad combo for an asshole like him."

"Not surprising from the letter I read." Julian nodded. "You've never heard of a diamond, have you?"

"I know what a diamond is, yes." Inara said, looking at him like he was an idiot.

"Yeah, no shit. These two murder victims were apparently trying to collaborate about this diamond, one of them had a note saying to call the other about the diamond being in danger. Based on the timeline of everything, I'm guessing that the diamond has something to do with the Equinox Gala, but that could just be false correlation." Julian explained.

"Hmm. No specific diamond comes to mind, but I'm sure Benning has diamonds somewhere in that mansion of his." Inara shrugged, in a rather divertingly bouncy kind of way.

"Any chance Romero has an invite to the Equinox Gala?" Julian sighed.

Inara, to his surprise, took a moment to think. "I don't think he has one, but if anyone I know would be able to get access, it's Mero. He's old as sin, and knows absolutely everybody. He's not crazy rich, but a store like this is definitely below his means, you know? He chooses to run the shop."

Julian must have looked thoughtful, because Inara scowled at him. "You're not thinking of trying to go to this Gala are you, mutt?"

"I'm not sure, maybe. It could have nothing to do with the killings, but some part of me just finds it a weird coincidence that two of the victims were involved and plotting something." Julian sighed. "I don't know, maybe I'm just trying to find answers where there are none. What about the Harvest Moon?"

"What about it?" Inara wondered. "It's coming up, if that's what you're asking, though I'm sure you know that."

"Here's the thing, I didn't." Julian answered. "I knew it was the full moon, but the specific kind of moon, that's magic shit. It's a once a year astronomical event, and it happens right around the time bodies start showing up with a rune for 'harvest' written on their left palms."

"Huh, that is interesting, actually." Inara admitted. "I hadn't made the connection, but you're right."

"Wow, did you just say I was right?" Julian asked, amazed.

"I'm not making a habit of it, mutt." Inara huffed.

"I'm no expert on magic, but could the Harvest Moon specifically be needed for a ritual?" Julian asked, and Inara tilted her head back and forth consideringly.

"I'd say yes, it could." she said finally. "It's a full moon, which in itself is a big thing in rituals, but it being a Harvest Moon probably does mean something."

"So we could be looking at ritual killings then, not just serial killings." Julian sighed. "I can't say the thought hadn't occurred to me, even without the Harvest Moon stuff. The victims all being killed in the same way, it felt too purposeful."

"But didn't Romero say the runes were in that made-up language?" Inara asked. "I don't know what pretend runes are going to do, fancy full moon or otherwise."

"Could Romero have been wrong? Or maybe the writing isn't part of the ritual?" Julian mulled it over.

"That could be it." Inara offered. "The writing could just be the guys' freaky little diary or something. Speaking of freaky little guys, you ever find those pervs who kidnapped Corinne?"

"Pervs?" Julian repeated, frowning.

"Yeah, what are the odds the vampire they take happens to be big-breasted and gorgeous?" Inara asked knowingly.

"Well, whether they're pervs or not, no, I haven't found anything on them." Julian sighed. "I've been busy with the serial killer, but I did try. They weren't picked up on any cameras, and all I have to go off of is my mental picture of them and the name Tom."

"Some detective you are, jeez." Inara scoffed, but she gave him a more genuine look immediately afterwards. "I'm sure you'll find them, though. You seem like the... dogged type."

Julian rolled his eyes while the djinn laughed to herself.

"Look, when you see Romero again, can you just ask him about the stuff I asked you?" Julian sighed. "I have to get to the precinct."

"Fine, fine." Inara rolled her eyes, making a shooing gesture with her hands, bangles clattering together. "Get out of my shop, I don't want it to smell like wet dog in here."

"Romero and Meg are both so nice, how do they tolerate you?" Julian asked, shaking his head.

"Hey, I'm nice!" Inara protested. "Just allergic to big dogs who always come to me with their problems."

"Ha-ha." Julian deadpanned, while Inara grinned.

"See ya, mutt." Inara called as Julian walked out of the curtained off workshop.

"All good?" Freya asked with a smile, holding up a thumbs up.

"As good as I'm gonna be." Julian shrugged, walking out of the space behind the counter. "Thanks for the help, Freya."

"Of course!" she said cheerfully.

Julian walked out of the Arcana Augurum with a groan, feeling like punching something. All of these questions, and nobody who seemed to have the answers. If only he could interview Amaya and Miguel like he had Jenna, but unfortunately, neither of them wore symbols of immortality. Julian sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets and turning right out of the shop doors, heading down the street.

As he was walking along the sidewalk back towards the Cutlass, a strange scent tugged at his nose, a surprising one. It was, unmistakably, the scent of a werewolf. He sniffed the air properly, and his eyes widened as he realized it wasn't just one werewolf. It was several.

Julian wheeled around in alarm, but not in time to prevent the burly werewolf who had come up behind him from grabbing him by the arms, tightly. Julian struggled fruitlessly against the stronger werewolf, and when he reared back to try and kick the werewolf away from him, arms wrapped tightly around him from behind, pinning him in place. A third werewolf, this one much leaner than the other two, walked up holding a syringe and a black sack.

"I'm afraid that the Alpha requests your presence, Detective." the lean werewolf smirked viciously. Julian tried over and over to wrest himself free from the werewolves holding him down, but it was pointless. Julian couldn't move, couldn't do much of anything beyond glare as the lean werewolf set the needle of the syringe to Julian's neck and pressed it into the skin.

"Who the fuck are you?" Julian snarled, but the lean werewolf did not respond, he merely pushed the plunger, and Julian howled as the contents of the syringe entered his bloodstream. It was... it was fucking silver. Julian's thoughts grew sluggish as the venomous material pumped through his veins. It was growing harder and harder to think, to remember to keep struggling against the werewolf holding him. This must have been a very pure dosage for it to be hitting him so hard that he forgot... oh, God, what did he forget? The edges of his vision started creeping inwards, like a black shroud settling over his vision. Julian snarled weakly, but he felt himself being dragged down. Silver wouldn't kill a werewolf, but it rendered them basically useless. And a dose this pure directly into his bloodstream?

Julian barely registered the bag being pulled over his head as he succumbed to the darkness, losing consciousness as the silver dragged him under.

———

Blackness was the first thing Julian registered when he came back to consciousness. He felt groggy and weak, but his body must have fought off the silver by now, enough to wake back up at least. It was likely still in his bloodstream, keeping his more powerful abilities suppressed. There was definitely a bag over his head, and he could feel that his hands were bound behind his back. He was on his side, too, but he didn't think his legs were bound.

He didn't wanna move too much, in case there was someone watching, but Julian carefully tried to move his foot to test. It confirmed that his feet were not bound. His head was pounding, but he tried to think his way through this. He didn't expect his gun to still be tucked into its' holster in the back of his pants, but it might be. It was very possible that a group of werewolves wouldn't think to search another werewolf for a gun, supernaturals with guns were generally uncommon. As for what these werewolves might want with him... Julian was coming up empty.

He strained his ears to try and hear something, but he was pretty sure his supernatural senses were being dulled by the silver right now, so he didn't have too much information to work off of. Julian tried to flex his muscles and break the binding on his hands, but he was unable to. His strength was indeed dulled by the silver. Fucking fantastic. Julian decided to give up on playing possum, he started wriggling in earnest, trying to get to his feet. It was tricky to do without eyesight and with his hands bound, but Julian managed to roll over onto his front and get his legs up and under him. He stood up carefully, his vision still obscured by the bag.

Escape seemed to be a non-option with a bag over his head, but Julian had no idea how he'd get that bag off his head by himself, it felt cinched around his neck, not something he could wriggle out of with no hands. That really only left one option.

"Hello?" Julian called. "Where the fuck am I?"

A noise like a floorboard creaking sounded from behind him, and Julian whipped towards the noise, reflexively backing up.

"Settle down." a gruff voice said, and Julian felt someone draw near to him. He heard the telltale chink of a knife being drawn, but then the bag was cut away from his neck, and someone yanked it off his head. Julian winced as daylight poured into his eyes when the bag came off his head, and as he blinked rapidly to adjust to the light, he found a big, burly werewolf staring at him. The werewolf was Latino, in his early thirties or so, with a bald head. He wore a gray tank top and some brown cargo shorts.

"Why am I here?" Julian asked, but the bald werewolf said nothing, merely shook his head.

"What does your Alpha want from me?" Julian asked again, but the werewolf merely tucked his knife back into his belt, and walked off.

"Should I follow you?" Julian called after the retreating werewolf, and at that, the burly werewolf did stop and look back at him.

"No." the werewolf grunted. "Stay here."

"Great." Julian muttered, looking around to see where 'here' was. It seemed to be an empty office of some kind, there was a handful of desks in a row, some bare shelves against the wall, and a layer of dust on just about everything.

The bald werewolf exited out of the sole door, and Julian heard him lock it. With his hands still bound, Julian quickly searched the room. He was unable to open any of the drawers on the desks without hands, but he looked everywhere else he could, coming up with a grand total of absolutely nothing. He did manage to confirm that his gun had been taken, which was unfortunate, but not totally a surprise. He could have gotten lucky, but it didn't seem to be the case.

Julian quickly found himself with nothing to do. He didn't even have his phone in his pocket to try and awkwardly summon some rescuers. He was stuck, it seemed. No matter how much he tried to yank his wrists apart and snap the zip-tie, he was unable to. The silver's effect had rendered him basically useless, and now all he could do was sit and wait. There wasn't even anything sharp in the empty office that might be able to cut through it, so eventually Julian just sat down on one of the desks and waited. The office chairs that had presumably once been here weren't currently present, so Julian had no real spot to sit, other than the surface of a desk.

Julian had no sense of how much time was passing, but he felt like he waited a long while before there was a rustling at the door. It clicked unlocked, and then the door knob turned. Julian had leaped to his feet at the first sign of a noise, and now he stood there glaring as the door opened. Three werewolves entered the room, one of whom was the lean werewolf who had shot Julian full of silver. The other two were strangers, though he could guess that the one in the middle was the Alpha. He was a tall Asian man maybe in his forties, with neatly combed black hair and a trimmed beard. As for the third werewolf, it was an angry-looking man with thick eyebrows and brown hair styled like a douchebag.

"What the fuck is this about?" Julian demanded.

"Have some fucking respect, cur." snapped Douchebag Werewolf.

The Alpha held a hand out towards the Douchebag in a staying gesture.

"Peace, Zeke." the Alpha said, and Douchebag Werewolf, Zeke, glared at Julian, but said nothing further.

"Julian Anderson, correct?" the Alpha asked, fixing his sharp gaze on Julian. He didn't seem particularly angry, but he was intently focused on Julian, and Julian really wished he knew why.

"That's me." Julian said.

"You're an interesting man, Julian." the Alpha said with a rueful smile. "A lone wolf, living in my territory without my knowledge."

"That's kind of the point of being a lone wolf." Julian retorted. "No allegiance to any pack. Or any Alpha."

Zeke snarled, but he said nothing. He just stalked back and forth behind the Alpha like a muzzled attack dog.

"True enough. But you could have at least reached out to me, out of courtesy." the Alpha shrugged.

"That's why you fucking kidnapped me? Because I didn't come say hi?" Julian asked incredulously. "I've lived here for years and never had any problems."

"Yes, well, you've also never garnered the attention of a vampire Highsire before." the Alpha replied, his tone hard. "Much less one of the ancient ones like Alexandra Blackwood."

"This is because of her?" Julian demanded.

"Indeed." the Alpha nodded. "She came to my pack last night. Nobody saw her coming, she was just suddenly there. Some of my wolves thought we were under attack, and they tried to attack first."

"Idiots." Julian said without thinking, and for the first time, the Alpha looked pissed.

"They did not know who she was. What she was. Tell me, Julian Anderson, do you think the deaths of the four werewolves she tore apart are your fault?" the Alpha snapped.

"Of course they're not." Julian scowled. "I'm not part of your pack, and I didn't do anything to Alexandra Blackwood."

"She came here asking questions about you." the Alpha replied. "She was very curious in Julian Anderson, the werewolf who had come seemingly out of nowhere. Rescuing one of her vampires while damning another to death."

"How the hell did her asking questions about me lead to me being dragged here and shot up with silver?" Julian seethed.

"Because she tasked me with making sure you were present at a meeting tonight." the Alpha scowled. "A task that I must complete. Or more of my wolves will die."

"She could have sent Corinne or Colin to ask me nicely." Julian grumbled.

"Alexandra Blackwood is an ancient vampire." the Alpha cautioned. "She does things her own way, and she is very accustomed to getting her way. No matter what."

"And she wants me at some meeting tonight?" Julian demanded. "Why?"

"She didn't specify." the Alpha shrugged. "I'm not too broken up about it if she does want something unpleasant from you, which, between you and me, sure seems like the case."

"You can't do this!" Julian exclaimed. "I'm not part of your pack, and I sure as hell don't want to meet with some psychotic vampire!"

"You don't have a fucking choice." Douchebag Werewolf, Zeke, cut in angrily. "Highsire Blackwood killed my brother last night, and I'm going to make damn sure she doesn't kill any more of us."

The Alpha nodded curtly. "Four of my pack are already dead, I'm not tempting fate in regards to the others. I simply couldn't take the chance of you saying no, you see?"

"You're insane." Julian scowled, looking between Zeke and the Alpha and the lean werewolf who had put silver in his veins.

"Ezra, please administer some more silver. Not enough to render him unconscious, but we don't want Mr. Anderson to escape his bindings." the Alpha said, nodding to the lean werewolf, who stepped forwards with a thin syringe of a silvery liquid.

Julian tried backing up, but Zeke came forwards with a look of glee. He grabbed a near defenseless Julian by the collar and slammed him hard down onto the desk, face first. Julian swore as his face smashed into the wood of the desk, but Zeke kept him pinned there as Ezra stepped forwards and administered another dose of silver. Julian howled in pain as more of the venomous silver was inserted into his bloodstream, and Zeke let him go, chuckling. Julian's legs couldn't hold him, and he slipped off the desk to hit the floor, groaning. He didn't feel his vision fading this time, but he felt like he was burning up from the inside, and his face smarted hard from where he'd been slammed into the desk.

The Alpha came forwards and squatted in front of Julian, who lay on the ground like a broken puppet, only his head and shoulders resting against the side of the desk. "Get comfortable, Mr. Anderson. We'll be holding you here until nightfall, when the Highsire will come for you."

"Fuck you." Julian groaned, too pained to think of anything wittier. Julian heard a snarl from up and to his right, and a heavy booted foot slammed into his ribs in a savage kick. Julian grunted as pain flared in his ribs, and he tried to roll away from a second kick, but no kick came.

The Alpha had probably stopped Zeke, but Julian was in too much pain to care. His face smarted, yes, his ribs were now flared with pain, yes, but nothing hurt worse than the silver that was being pumped through his veins right now by his own body. It was hot, biting agony that lit him up from the inside, and it was all Julian could do to lay there and keep it together. He wanted to thrash and scream and sob from the pain, but he was forcing himself not to. Not in front of these bastards.

The Alpha said something, but Julian had no idea if it was directed at him or not. There was a roaring in his ears, he could barely hear a thing. He was dimly aware of the three werewolves leaving him alone in the room, but Julian didn't move. He didn't think he could bear the pain of it. He felt hooks tugging on his consciousness, and he just gave up. He let the pain carry him away, and his head lolled as he passed out.

———

Julian woke up with a groan.

His whole body still hurt, but it wasn't all-consuming agony anymore. It was more like the sore aches that followed injury than like raw nerves in pain. His ribs still hurt like hell, though, and with silver in his veins, his usual healing prowess was basically gone. His eyes went to the window, and he groaned again when he saw it was still daytime out. He had hoped he might have slept the day away, but judging by the light, sunset hadn't even started to begin yet. His most hopeful estimate was mid-afternoon, but he would be surprised if it was even past noon yet.

Julian tilted his head, looking around the room, but he seemed to be alone still. That didn't give him any advantages that he could think of, but it was better than having a babysitter, Julian thought. He struggled up into a sitting position, but even in that, he was still slumped back against the desk like he was nursing a wound. He wasn't exactly sitting up straight.

What the hell could Alexandra Blackwood want with him? He had thought their one encounter had gone about as good as it was going to, but then she'd apparently made straight for the nearest werewolf pack the night after and killed four werewolves, presumably without even breaking a sweat. Vampires were stronger the older they were, and from the sounds of it, Alexandra was one of the oldest in Los Angeles. So if she wanted to do something to him, there really wasn't anything stopping her. He didn't know if she expected something like this to have happened to him, but he also doubted she'd care. A lot of vampires, particularly the old ones or ones in positions of power, looked down on werewolves. A lot. Alexandra surely would not care about a little rough treatment as long as Julian made it to that meeting at the scheduled time.

And to be honest, Julian didn't see much of a chance of him getting away from here and dodging that meeting. As much as he might like to, he seemed like he was gonna be stuck here a while. Julian's thoughts turned to Ellen, surprisingly, and he wondered idly what she was up to right now. She seemed like the best chance he might have of getting rescued, but she also would have no idea where he was at. He knew who Ellen's Alpha was, and that wasn't the man who had just been in here talking to him. Ellen's pack operated a bit out of the city boundaries, out towards San Gabriel, and Ellen was far from the only werewolf in that pack who lived in Los Angeles proper. Julian didn't know her exact schedule, but he did know that Ellen split her time pretty well between the pack and the city.

As for this pack... Julian didn't really know where the hell he was, but he did know there was a big Los Angeles pack. The Valley had its' own pack as well, but Julian knew basically nothing about them. He didn't know much about whatever pack this was either, though, perks of being a lone wolf. He hadn't ran with a pack in a long, long time, and being with this pack now felt like a stark reminder of why he avoided werewolf society. Many of them operated independently of human laws, and to Julian, that wasn't something he was alright with. He was perfectly alright being without a pack, as it gave him total freedom to do what was important: protecting and avenging people.

Though, laying crumpled against a desk, pumped full of silver, deeply in pain... Julian did wish he had someone who was there to look out for him. Abigail was the world's best partner, but she had no idea what kind of shit he was involved with. He had purposely kept her away from the dangers of supernatural Los Angeles, but it meant that even if she noticed he was missing and didn't just assume he was chasing some lead he was hiding from her, she had no idea of where to find him. These werewolves had taken his phone and his gun, so he had no means of calling for help or fighting his way out. With silver in his veins, he didn't think he could muster any kind of turning, so he was stuck in a weakened human state. Without a gun or something similar, the first werewolf he encountered would pin him effortlessly.

He was useless, he was stuck, and that infuriated him. He tried to climb to his feet, but his body betrayed him. He sagged weakly down, groaning. The silver in his body burned whenever he tried to move. Well, burned more than it already did when he was stationary, anyway. Julian looked wistfully up at the frosted glass window, wishing he could actually see out of it. It'd be nice to have something to look at, even if it was just the sky. The light of day still shone brightly through it, just signaling how many more hours Julian had stuck here with his veins on fire.

A shadow passed across the glass all of a sudden, and Julian's head whipped towards it. The shadow held there, and though the shape was blurry through the frosted glass, it looked unmistakably humanoid. He had no idea what was out there, it could be a balcony that werewolves were patrolling on or something like that, but something about the shape...

"Hello?" Julian croaked, and the shadow startled. Feeling distinctly like he was in the opening of Peter Pan (Meg's fault there, always playing damn Disney music), Julian put new fervor into his attempt to stand up. He leaned heavily against the desk as he used his legs to push himself up onto unsteady feet. Julian staggered towards the window, and as he draw nearer, he could hear rustling of some kind on the other end. Then, to his amazement, the locked window gave a click, swinging outwards slightly. The shadow slid out of the way of the window, then ducked back into sight as it opened, and Julian thought he might cry in relief.

"Someone got a leash on you, huh?" Inara's familiar snark came, but she looked him over with worried eyes as she ducked through the window, dropping down lightly onto the floor of the office. She'd put a leather jacket over her outfit from earlier this morning, and she had a bracelet of some kind with a charm that was pointing straight at Julian. She also wore the sword she'd brought to rescue Corinne a little over a week ago.

"For the first time, I think I'm actually happy to see you." Julian said, attempting sarcasm, but it just came out as absolute relief. Inara gave him an actual smile, and drew her sword.

"Let's get that off your hands." she said, and Julian turned around eagerly, holding his arms steady for Inara to cut away the zip-tie binding his wrists.

"How did you find me?" Julian asked, and Inara made a dismissive sort of noise.

"Well, someone pointed out that your dumbass car was still parked outside the store, a couple of hours after you said you were going to work." Inara explained.

"And was that someone you?" Julian wondered, glancing over his shoulder.

"Do not tease the djinn with a sword in her hand." Inara glared, and Julian nodded hastily in agreement. Inara cut his bindings, and he rubbed his wrists as he pulled free of them.

"So even if you- sorry, 'someone' noticed the Cutlass, how did you find me?"

"Well, that someone went to Romero, who used your car to make a charm that could find you." Inara explained.

"He used my car?" Julian frowned.

"Yes, because for some reason, you have a huge emotional attachment to it. Makes it very easy to use as an anchor for a tracking charm." Inara explained. "And then I drove it over here to find you."

"You drove my baby?" Julian groaned, and Inara glared at him.

"Doing an awful lot of whining for someone who should be thanking me and kissing my boots, I think." Inara sniffed.

"You're right." Julian admitted. "Thank you. Seriously."

"It was nothing." Inara shrugged, though she was smirking a bit at the corners of her mouth. "Now, what are you doing here?"

She looked over his face with a bit of a worried look, then looked critically over the rest of him.

"Apparently the Highsire Alexandra Blackwood wants a meeting with me. Maybe she thought I was part of this pack or something, but she went to the pack to set up a meeting and killed four werewolves during her visit. Now she's got the whole pack spooked. And pissed, very pissed. They kidnapped me to make sure I'm at this meeting, because apparently she threatened to kill more of them if I'm not there." Julian explained, rubbing his aching side absentmindedly.

"Well, we definitely need to get you out of there before then." Inara said decisively. "Any chance you're up for scaling down a building?"

Julian laughed weakly. "Yeah, definitely not."

"Great." Inara scowled, looking over towards the door. "I've got Mero's unlocking charm, so I can get us out of this room, but who knows how many mutts are out there."

"Yeah, it's gonna be basically just you against them." Julian added. "They pumped me full of silver, I'm weaker than a normal human right now."

"Great." Inara scowled again. "I'll poke my head out and see what we're dealing with then."

"No way I'm letting you go alone." Julian shook his head. "I may not be able to help much, but you're not going out there without me."

Inara looked at him then sighed. "You're an idiot. But fine."

Inara drew the familiar key-shaped charm from her jacket pocket and with her sword in her other hand, she crossed the room to reach the door. Julian followed her, trying to ignore the pain that flared as he walked. He tried to move slowly, but it didn't help much. By time Julian drew up behind Inara, she'd already finished muttering the words to accompany the charm. The door clicked open quietly, and Inara stuffed the key charm back into her pocket before opening the door slowly. She poked her head out, and Julian looked over the top of her head. They seemed to be in an old office building, and out of this room was a big open office space with a lot more desks and a lot of wide open space.

All in all, not a good place to try and sneak out of. Inara seemed intent on trying anyway, and Julian had to agree. Inara moved forward in a quick flurry of movement, rushing over to crouch behind a cubicle, glancing furtively up and down the corridor. Hunched slightly, Julian stuck his head out the door, looking back and forth. This open office space was huge, likely encompassing most of this floor of the building. Julian tried to copy Inara's movement, but his ribs protested violently, and he clutched at his side as he reached the slight cover of the cubicle.

"Why do you keep grabbing at your side?" the djinn huffed, reaching out to touch it, but Julian waved her away.

"I think this asshole Zeke broke my ribs. He definitely kicked the shit out of them if nothing else." Julian grunted.

"Are you good?" Inara asked, grabbing at his shoulder, and Julian winced, but he nodded.

"I'm so full of silver that everything hurts. The ribs aren't anything special." Julian said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Inara didn't seem reassured, alas.

"We're up on the third floor." Inara told him quietly. "The staircase should be that way, on the west side of the building. If we encounter any trouble, I want you to just make a break for it, OK? You have your keys, get the hell out of here."

Julian's eyes widened as he patted his jacket pocket. "I don't have my keys, actually. These guys took all my stuff."

"Fuck." Inara scowled.

"Wait, if they have my keys... how the hell did you drive my car, Inara?" Julian demanded. "Did you hotwire my Cutlass?"

"No, you big baby." Inara huffed. "Unlocking charm works on cars, too."

"You got lucky." Julian muttered, and Inara looked at him wryly. She knew as well as him he couldn't do anything to her in this state.

"Alright, we need to find your stuff then." Inara sighed.

"Yeah, they've got my phone and my gun, too." Julian nodded.

"This floor seems pretty empty, so I'll do a quick search. You stay low and head to the west side of the building. I'll meet you over there and we can go down the stairs together." Inara decided.

"And... which way is west?" Julian asked with a wince.

"Idiot." Inara rolled her eyes. "It's that way."

She pointed off to the right, and Julian nodded.

"If you get caught, yell for me." Inara said with a serious look, and Julian nodded.

She nodded back, and then took off to the left in a crouch. Julian rose up onto his feet and started the arduous journey across the open office. He ducked low behind cubicles as he went, doing his best to stay out of sight. He didn't hear or see anyone, but these werewolves had much better senses than him right now, and they could be on him in an instant. Julian had the distinct advantage of being a werewolf in a building full of werewolves, so at least picking out his scent would be tricky for them. Inara definitely did not have that advantage, she was going around smelling like an Arabian princess to anyone with an enhanced nose like werewolves had.

Julian made it about three quarters of the way to the west wall before he heard voices, and quickly approaching ones too. With a mouthed 'fuck!', Julian slipped into a cubicle, ducking down beneath the desk and holding as still as possible.

"Can't believe we got stuck babysitting this detective prick." a familiar voice grunted. Zeke... Douchebag Werewolf.

"It's not like it's a hard job." replied a second familiar voice. Ezra.

"Yeah, yeah." Zeke scowled. "I just wish we could go out there and crack some vampire heads instead. It's daytime, they couldn't do shit if we attacked now."

"Yeah, until we take a step into their purposely pitch black nests." Ezra replied in an exasperated tone.

"Let's get a fucking bulldozer and tear apart their nests." Zeke insisted. "Even that ancient bitch would burn right alongside her freaky fanged pals."

"You trying to start a war?" Ezra demanded.

"She killed four of us, Ezra! She killed my brother!" Zeke retorted angrily. "Fuck a war, I want a massacre."

"You'd get a massacre alright. As soon as the sun goes down, it'd be open season on werewolves." Ezra told his hotheaded friend.

"That's why we take them down when it's daytime. Nobody left to fight back in the morning." Zeke huffed.

"Killing Alexandra Blackwood would put every vampire ever on a warpath. She's older than this country, Zeke. She's got lots of powerful allies all over the world." Ezra shut Zeke down. Zeke grunted.

At this point, they were moving right past the desk Julian was hidden under, but they seemed too engaged in their discussion to be really sniffing around. That was about to change soon when they reached Julian's door. Had he closed it behind him? He couldn't remember all of a sudden. Not that it mattered if they tried to walk right in and-

"The fucking door's open!" Zeke exclaimed, and Julian heard the two werewolves start rushing forwards. Julian seized the opportunity and started scrambling for the west wall, the stairwell the two of them had just come from. They'd be busy searching the previously locked office for at least a few moments, and the more distance Julian could put between him and that room, the better.

"Anderson!" Zeke bellowed, and Julian froze, looking over his shoulder. The muscled, asshole werewolf was standing right outside the door to the office Julian had escaped from, and he was glaring daggers at Julian.

"I'm so fucked." Julian muttered under his breath, but he started running, heading straight for the stairwell. He didn't shout out to Inara, he figured that Zeke had done a perfectly fine job of that. Julian burst through the door to the stairwell, his everything hurting as he started running down the steps. Adrenaline was coursing through his body now, and he hoped that his heart rate picking up would help him pump the silver out of his bloodstream faster. Was that how it worked? Julian didn't know, but he did know that he needed to be fucking running. This was no time to stop and think.

Julian reached the first landing when the door to the stairwell burst open hard enough to tear it off the hinges. Julian kept running, or maybe limping might be the better word, but Zeke leaped from the third floor landing to the one Julian had just departed. Julian tensed up, but the tackle down onto the next landing still knocked the air from his lungs. Julian rolled out of Zeke's grasp, lifting up and slamming his feet square into the younger werewolf's chest. Zeke grunted, but it barely stunned him as Zeke grabbed Julian by the shirt and threw him down the steps. Julian landed hard on the second floor landing, coughing hard as he staggered to his feet.

"I'm going to beat you to a fucking pulp, Anderson." Zeke seethed. "You'll live, don't worry, but you'll wish you hadn't."

"Zeke, hang on." Ezra said, and Julian looked up glumly as the second werewolf came down the steps, pausing on the landing above Julian, so him and Zeke were both standing there looking down on Julian.

"Ezra, come on, this guy's the reason-"

Zeke was cut off by a wolf whistle, and all three werewolves in the stairwell looked up to see Inara standing there on the landing above Zeke and Ezra, her sword held in one hand, and something bulky clutched in her other hand.

"Who the fuck is this whore?" Zeke grunted, shamelessly eyeing up Inara. It pumped anger through Julian's blood, but Inara just smiled. She leaped down the stairs, and Zeke lunged out of the way, but Ezra didn't. Inara landed smoothly and stabbed her sword through Ezra's chest all in one fluid motion. The werewolf hadn't even had time to react.

"Dha'iyfah." Inara snarled, and she blew in Ezra's face, sending whirling green dust into his eyes and mouth. She ripped the sword out of his chest and swung it at Zeke, but Zeke leaped down at Julian. Julian, who had seen this coming, shoved open the door to the second floor and ran as hard as he could. His body burned with protest, but it didn't matter. He only made it a few paces before Zeke was on him. Zeke slammed into him from behind like a freight train, knocking Julian to the floor. Julian rolled hard, growling up at Zeke, but Zeke ignored him, turning to face Inara. Inara held her sword up at Zeke, and as he ran at her, she threw whatever she had in her other hand past Zeke, letting it slide across the ground.

Zeke ignored it, and he smashed into Inara, sending her flying. She sailed easily ten feet before crashing down onto a huge wooden conference room table which groaned under the weight. Her sword went flying from her hand, and the djinn looked up as Zeke came towards her. Inara rolled off the table, running for her sword, but Zeke was faster. He grabbed her by her long, glossy black ponytail and yanked her backwards, sinking a haymaker into her gut.

Julian spat blood down onto the ground, and as he rose to his feet, he finally looked at what Inara had thrown. It was his gun, his phone, and his keys, all tied together by a rubber band. She must not have had time to undo it. Julian glanced up at the brawling djinn and werewolf, muttering profanities as he saw Zeke slam Inara into the wall. Julian's fingers fumbled over the rubber band, but he managed to yank it all free after a whole lot of struggle.

Inara was in a rough spot, she was being choked out by Zeke, who had her lifted aloft with one hand. Bloody nail marks scored Zeke's face, dripping down into one of his eyes, but he clearly didn't care. He was snarling and choking the life out of Inara nice and slow.

"You stabbed my fucking friend, I'm going to make this hurt, you genie bitch." Zeke seethed.

"Hey, asshole." Julian called, and Zeke turned to his right, where Julian now stood. Julian pulled the trigger, and a loud bang went off as Zeke's head rocked backwards. He slumped to the ground, releasing Inara, who started coughing loudly. Zeke's body hit the floor hard, with a big dark stain quickly forming beneath his head, which was sporting a new hole in it.

"What happened... to minimum force?" Inara panted. "No more Mr. Nice Detective?"

"I'm not a cop here." Julian exhaled. "He didn't leave me much choice anyway."

"No, he didn't." Inara said, glaring down at the lifeless werewolf. She spat down on him, then looked quickly to Julian.

"Are you alright? I saw him-" she asked, but Julian waved her off.

"I'm fine. Let's just get the fuck out of here." Julian sighed. "This might just be where they were holding me, but I don't wanna risk running into a pack of angry werewolves."

"Agreed." Inara said with another cough, rubbing at her throat as she went to recover her sword. Julian tucked his gun back into its' place in the holster in the back of his pants, and he checked to make sure his phone and keys were in their pockets before nodding at Inara. Julian was limping pretty badly, and Inara had to help him down the steps.

To both of their great relief, there was a door that led straight outside rather than having to fight through the first floor, if there were any werewolves in it. They likely would have come to check on Zeke and Ezra if they heard a gunshot, so maybe it had just been the two of them here. There was no way this old office building was the pack headquarters anyway.

Julian hated having to lean on Inara to walk across the parking lot over to where the familiar shape of the Cutlass was parked in a secluded corner, but he did admit, it made it a lot easier to walk. He was beaten and bruised from Zeke, and the silver was still burning every time he moved. Despite that, he tried to climb into the driver's seat. Inara helped him do so, then sat down right on the edge of the seat and scooted inwards, sliding him along the bench seat into the passenger seat while the buxom djinn claimed the driver's seat.

"Oh, hell no." Julian protested, but Inara just gave him a look.

"Keys?" she demanded, holding out her hand. Julian groaned, but he fished them out of his pocket and handed them over.

"Why, thank you." she smirked. "Oh, and buckle up, snookums. Maybe if you're good, I'll roll down the window and let you stick your head out the window."

"I hate you." Julian groaned, but he was grinning slightly, he realized.

"I'm serious though, just relax. You're good now." Inara said in a rare moment of seriousness as she turned the car on. Julian nodded, and leaned back against the seat, exhaling.

"Thank you, Inara." Julian sighed, and she gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, too. I would have been choked to death by that ham-fisted mutt if not for you." Inara nodded.

"What about Ezra? What was that you said to him?" Julian wondered.

Inara fidgeted slightly in her seat, but she shrugged. "I knew that he'd be able to heal from the stab wound, so I... I made sure he'd have a rough time for the foreseeable future. It's an old Arabic curse, you don't need to worry about it."

"Remind me not to make you angry." Julian muttered, making Inara smirk.

"That is definitely the right lesson to learn from today. That, and we need to get you a tracking charm of your own." Inara said, and Julian nodded.

Maybe he did like having people around him who could help. He couldn't be a lone wolf forever.