Ch. 20: Sunny's Loophole
September 2 | Night
"You're the thing that goes bump in the night, the creature in the shadows, the stuff of nightmares," Mal informed him. "However, you also heal faster and live longer than humanly possible. You're stronger, more agile, equipped with animal instincts combined with a homo sapien brain for the betterment of both the man and the beast within you. I'd say you hit the genetic jackpot."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Jack warily contemplated her, stunned into silence. In his worldview, vampires and werewolves were simply edgy symbols of the out-of-control feeling of shifting from childhood to adulthood. Yet, he was in our world now, and the beings his human ancestors had woven into stories for aeons had always existed here.
I repositioned closer and placed a hand on his skin. Divine touch imparted soothing vibrations to counteract the anxiety coursing at breakneck speeds throughout his system. Mal crossed a twill-clad thigh over the other and studied him with a self-satisfied smile.
"The hub of your pioneer into the paranormal is Overlay City, a haven for Supernaturals," she explained. "As the moniker implies, the municipal overlaps New Orleans, blending with the character of the host location. There are other Supernatural city like it clustered around every major metropolis, places where our kind gravitate to the pull of what's called ley lines."
"I've heard of ley lines," Jack grunted a cynical laugh.
"Have you?" She rested a finger against her cheek.
Jack ran a hand over his tired face. "Yeah, conspiracy nuts in prison used to talk about a mystical energy grid that criss-crossed the globe. Bonkers. Show me the science."
"The science is you just changed shape and howled at the moon," Mal snorted a laugh. "Alright, what are you gonna believe? Your own lived experience or something you half-remember from your high school biology class?" She sat forward with her elbows on her knees and her hands hanging loosely between her legs.
I saw Jack struggling to reconcile his shapeshifting experience with a consensus reality that no longer applied. Furthermore, his complexion was sallow, and when I laid a hand across his forehead, his skin burned hot with fever. How long would it take him to fully recover from the body-altering effects of his first shift? He jerked his face from beneath my palm.
Even though his restlessness severed the cord of divine touch, I was determined to protect him. The guest bedroom of the Ashivant house had been converted into a makeshift recovery room. I refused to leave his side. He had survived his harrowing ordeal–vitals checked out, all systems go–but he hadn't returned to normal, and I didn't know if he ever would. The problem was inexperience. I had never witnessed anything like what I had seen in the night garden. I just wanted to get him away from this place.
Jack stared at Mal from beneath lowered eyelids. "You act like I should be thanking you."
"I won't apologize." She tossed her hair, sensuality in her every movement. He wasn't immune. His hooded gaze traced her figure. "What you're forgetting, Jack, is that you signed up for this experiment. You've been paid–and are still being paid–staggering amounts of money for your services.
"Now, I understand your formerly human sensibilities may be finding this all a bit overwhelming," she said as she crossed willowy arms, "but the genes we injected into you were lycanthropic. In other words, you're swimming in werewolf DNA. Ravani genes, to be exact, and we both know why you believed you needed the serum."
"To trick the courts into thinking I was the Ravani heir and steal Detective Ravani's inheritance," Jack whispered, chagrined. He did a headshake and muttered an expletive.
"Oh, Jack," I groaned. His desire for revenge had pitted him against his values. I didn't know how to get him out of this.
Mal bobbed her head slowly. "So, you see, the bitter draught of betrayal you're nursing in your imagination drains right back to you, Jack. Darcy informed you he wanted to test his investment. You're it."
"You never told me I was signing up for a Battle Royale!" he exclaimed.
My eyes pingponged to her. The bits and pieces of what had brought them together were beginning to unfold. Thus, I gathered Mal had shepharded Jack to what he thought he wanted, but he hadn't known the ins and outs of what he was getting into. The regret shouted in his body language. It was loud and clear.
"But I told you that we had to sue the estate." Mal broke eye contact with him and busied herself unfurling an extra throw. "Which in this case means something different than in your world, I admit."
"What does it mean in this case?" I asked.
"Since werewolves run in packs, when they lose a leader, it causes in-fighting. Instead of letting them melee each other into extinction, the law mandates that they wait until election years for one gargantuan brawl to see who will inherit the title of alpha."
Mal accepted a tray of food from a servant and put it by Jack's bedside. He disregarded it.
"To your good fortune, Jack, your tormentor abdicated his position," she told him. "Zyr Ravani's pack is without an alpha. You'll take his place and inherit land and holdings that have been in the Ravani family for generations, essentially beggaring him. See? Darcy and I are giving you every single thing you asked for."
Jack squirmed uncomfortably. "What if I want to give it back? What if I want Ravani to have the money?"
With a shrug, she smoothed the throw on his legs. "It'll be yours to do with what you will. Give it back to Ravani, light it on fire, what do I care?"
"Then take him out of the battle if the reward matters so little," I retorted. Two pairs of eyes swiveled in my direction. Jack looked as if he didn't know whether he could trust me, but my urge to defend him was bigger than his skepticism. He leaned toward me as Mal tried to edit the placement of a lock of his hair.
"I can't," she said quietly. "Darcy selected Jack and groomed him long before he offered him the deal. He knows your history in mixed martial arts, Jack. He knows you're not above fighting dirty if you have to because he's studied your prison records. But if you're afraid of the competition, the vampire is too smart to put you into the ring without adequate preparation."
"Vampire?" Jack hitched a breath. "Then what I saw was real. Are you saying that's how he clawed his way to billionaire status?"
"More or less. Darcy and Delilah are both centuries old. They've had lifetimes to accumulate wealth and grow bored with counting their coins, but Darcy, in particular, is a master strategist who enjoys powerplays. His excitement about his latest ploy is fueling his recklessness. However, don't let that fool you. The seeming chaos is deliberate and controlled."
I reached in my pocket and gripped my phone, lost in thought. I had Wallace on speed-dial. My mentor needed to be made abreast of the rapid change of parameters to my probationary case. Without his help, I had no idea how to challenge the trifecta of vampires, djinn, and Jack's own misguided indenture into servitude. I wanted to call the higher ranking angel as soon as possible. On the other hand, I had to stay in the room and glean more information.
"So, Mr. Cyprian thinks he can control me," Jack scoffed. He nodded, bemused. Mal's soft laughter in agreement riled him further. He clenched his teeth.
"You'll spend a duration of time sequestered here with my sisters and I while we get you accustomed to your new state of being." She raised her eyebrows, brooking no argument. "I'll train you in shapeshifting, and we'll enlist the help of various experts to maximize your other skills. Since the Battle Royale is fought in man-shape and wolf-shape, you'll be trained in both styles."
Jack struggled from the bed. "Fuck this. If you think for one second I'm gonna let you kidnap my ass, you're out of your fucking mind. I've been in literal lockdown. Escaping this mausoleum of a hellhole will be a piece of cake. Try to stop me." He clutched the headboard as his legs failed him, but I wrapped his arm behind my neck and helped him toward the door.
Mal yawned her amusement. "Safe travels. You'll be back when you start experiencing uncontrollable shifts–man, wolf, wolf-man. Not understanding your new body can really harsh the mellow. Of course, you don't have to come back at all. Who needs training? Consign yourself to death by combat."
Jack hobbled to a stop.
"Let's go, Jack," I beseeched him.
"No, I think you're catching my drift," she purred. "You can run, you can hide, Jack, but you can't get out of what you signed up for. The bond is in your blood. On the night of the Battle Royale, you'll follow an unwavering instinct to the premises where the fight will be held. Other Ravani wolves will heed the same call of the wild. You can choose not to defend yourself, but you'll be ripped to shreds."
"You've done me worse than Ravani," he spat, keeping his back to her. I tugged his sleeve with my eyes on the djinn. She left her seat and glided up behind him. Her ruby lips brushed his tender earlobe. I shuddered.
"Darling, you only say that because you haven't won yet," she whispered. "You're frightened. You're confused. Those emotions are only human, but you're not... You're not human, Jack. Your werewolf opponents are middle class yuppies who haven't faced a rough day in their lives. You've been through the fire, and you came out hardened. Your success is all but guaranteed. It's a state of mind. Do you really want to walk out that door?"
"Jack, I think we should leave. Your parents must be sick with worry by now." I nudged him.
He held up a hand. "What will happen to my family if I disappear?"
"Do you have to ask?" Mal smirked. His shoulders slumped. I said his name as he disengaged from me and shuffled back to the bed.
"Jack! Don't let her get in your head," I warned. I knew he didn't want to do what Mal was requesting, but I also knew he didn't feel like he had a choice.
"I have to take care of my parents, Sunny. Do you think a madman like Cyprian will be content to withhold money from them? He'll kill them. I should've listened to my dad. Bad luck runs after people. I got them into this mess, and I have to get them out."
***
I followed Mal from the room but she fled straight into her sister's arms and came up short. "You had no right to put yourself in danger like that! Darcy could have destroyed you!" Ava assailed her. "You are in over your head, Mal! Cherie was worried to death."
"Relax, I'll tend to Cherie before bedtime. I didn't mean to scare you two, but I told you I had everything under control, and I do."
"No, you don't! You don't have anything under control. You think you're the tougher cookie of the three of us, but your martyrdom won't fix anything. Don't you get it, Mal? Cherie and I don't need you to sacrifice yourself for us. If you're taken down, we fall, too." Ava huffed and shoved fingers into her disheveled blond hair. "Look, you have to keep us in the loop so we can protect you from your worst instincts.."
"Damn it, Ava. What makes you think I'm martyring myself? I'm cleverer than that. Sunny is leaving." She clasped Ava's shoulders, beaming at her before adjusting her gaze to me. "For good. I just got you released from your contract."
"What–? How? You don't have the jurisdiction for that," I sputtered.
Mal narrowed her eyes in victory. "There's always a loophole. Guardians-in-training only protect humans, except under special circumstances where the trainee is made aware their ward is a Supernatural and chooses to be their Guardian anyway. Sunny, you didn't sign a contract to protect a Super. You didn't get a choice. Headquarters will have to reassign you to someone else. So, it looks like you'll be keeping your wings after all."
Despite her smug assumption she was doing me a favor, ice trickled through my veins. Jack would think I was abandoning him when he needed me most. "Mal, why are you doing this? Jack will be defenseless, and after everything you've already put him through, I have no doubt his life is in mortal danger! I–I didn't think you were this evil." I backed away from her in utter and complete shock.
"Why are you this upset? And lower your voice before you alert him." She glared, surprised by my reaction. "Didn't you realize this game was rigged against you, Sunny? No matter what you would've done to protect Jack, he made a deal with Mr. Cyprian. By the time the vampire is finished using him, he won't have a heart pure enough to save. Don't you see I'm helping you?"
Her words slammed me like a ton of bricks, but she wasn't done. "If you want to commit to Jack and miss your one shot at escaping a death sentence of your own, then be my guest," she said. "Your superiors will give you the option to stay on or bow out. But I'm warning you. Jack will never fall for your influence with Darcy yanking his chain. What he'll be asked to do will get worse and worse until he can't tell which one of them is the monster. Trust me... I know."
Her chest heaved from her vehemence. She was right. Yet, I squinted, sensing there was something I was missing. Something to account for what I felt when I touched her. She didn't feel evil, even though there was no other word to describe her tacit admission Jack was bound for death. On the other hand, I was disturbingly aware her victims always died body and soul.
Ava crept to Mal's side and wrapped an arm around her waist. She laid her head on Mal's shoulder. "I think you should take the favor and get out, sir. That's the kindest offer my sister has ever made a man."
A muscle ticked at my temple as I stared them down. I shook my head and jabbed a finger at the floor. "This isn't over." I stormed from the house.
Rather than lingering on the accursed Ashivant property, I called for my car and took off walking. The breeze yanked at my clothes. I marched along the lengthy gravel road to the main street to wait. When an Angelguard driver pulled up beside me, I hopped into the vehicle and immediately called my mentor.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Wallace asked after I had explained the situation. There was that choice Mal had promised me. I could back away from Jack as a ward, or I could choose to remain his Guardian-in-training.
I sat back and reconsidered everything Mal had said. Jack would get worse and worse. I didn't want to see the man I loved become a monster I didn't recognize. A part of me wanted to remain with him on the off-chance I could make a difference, but I knew that would be martyrdom. It was a suicide mission. I shook my head in defeat. Darcy Cyprian was too powerful. As noble as I wanted to be, the situation left me no choice.
"I need a new ward," I muttered.
"I think that's wise. Jack is trying to balance the scales, but he's a man of extremes. He must be made to see that there is a middle ground, that hurting Zyr won't lead to his redemption. I don't think you can do that for him, and Mal is a complicated case all her own," intoned my mentor. "The way I see it, she's fighting for her very soul, but she seems to believe that someone else must die for her to live."
"I can't change her mind," I complained.
"Of course, you can't. Why would you? You're beginning to grapple with what it means to be human, but you're crippled by never having tasted failure, and therefore never having learned from your mistakes. To keep your wings, you'll need to work on accepting defeat and disappointment and know what it actually means to save someone, but I'll work on getting you a new probationary case," he replied.
"What do I do in the meantime?" I asked. The town of Ponchatoula went by in a blur en route to New Orleans. I didn't know if I was making the proper decision or not. It felt like decisions were being taken out of my hands by other people's choices.
"In the meantime, try to keep him comfortable," said Wallace. "Listen to me. You're doing the right thing, Sunny. Save yourself, you save the world."