Saul the Wolf

8. Pull A Trigger

Zaika shook her head as we walked back to the car. "Kind of wish you'd mentioned a dullahan before now, Emalie. Those things are no joke."

"You can stay here," I said. "You've helped plenty."

"Eh... I'll think about it," she said indifferently, squinting at the car. "Did those two stay there this entire time? A little sad, don't you think?"

I looked around the neighborhood, a little disturbed we were the only ones outside. "Where is everyone?"

"The faeries bought out these buildings and houses because too many people nearby ruins our searches, too many different energies and whatnot." Zaika shrugged. "Since we give good results, people gave us the space."

Raj sat in the front seat, and only stuck his head out. "So how did it go?"

"Looks like you'll get to go home soon enough, boy," she said loudly as we got into the car. "A Protector's in White River."

He turned around to look at me. "She's not kidding around, is she?"

I shook my head. "She's telling the truth. And that dullahan is still there." Saul was sulking out the window. He sat behind Raj now.

"Still?" Raj turned back and got the car moving again. "I'd forgotten about that. So now what? We head back?"

"Yep." Zaika put her feet up on the dashboard. "We need to pick up our two bloodsuckers, then hit the road once more." She put her seat back a bit. "So what'd you boys do, sit here and wait?"

"We walked around a bit." Raj sounded a little annoyed. "A terrible location for that place, really. There's no one around and nothing to do."

Zaika chuckled. "I thought you two would go for a nice run... feel the wind beneath your fur... dirt on your paws—"

"Will everybody just shut up?" Saul said, not as loudly as last time. He never looked away from the window.

Zaika let out a small giggle before quieting down.

I honestly didn't see what she could find funny this time. We were going to have a lot of things to worry about soon, and Saul couldn't be one of them anymore. I'd sort of expected Raj to coax Saul into changing while we were here, at least so that he gained some experience or self-control. When we got to White River, Saul couldn't be a concern or trouble.

He also couldn't go on expecting us to worry about keeping him calm all the time. I couldn't worry about him all the time. If everyone expected me to make the decisions, then I had to act now.

"So, Raj," I said, "do you plan on staying in White River when everything's... settled?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well... if things go like we want and we have the other Protector, are you going with us to find the third?"

"Uh... I'm going to play it by ear."

"I bet you've got great hearing," Zaika snickered.

When Raj let out a brief smile, I let out a small laugh. "I wonder how long you can keep up those jokes, faerie," he said.

"We'll still have the pup when you're gone. I can probably think of more by then."

I tapped on Zaika's shoulder. "Do you have any faerie friends in White River? They might be able to help, wouldn't they?"