Chapter 27 Zemirah

Chapter 27 Zemirah


Zemirah

Portis was a fishing town, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and strangers got stared at until they left. We drove in at dusk, Julian behind the wheel, me in the passenger seat watching white with blue shutter houses go by, Rina said we were on the main road already.

We found it at the end of the street, set back from the others, a fence around the yard and a gate that was closed, no lights in the windows, no car in the driveway.

Julian put the engine off. "I have a feeling this place could be empty."

"Or he could be inside armed, we have to be careful."

I got out of the car.
The gate creaked when I pushed it open. The yard was overgrown, grass up to my knees, weeds climbing the porch steps.

Julian came up behind me. "Let me go first."

"No."

I walked to the front door and knocked. No response, then i knocked again.

The door swung open.

A woman stood there, mid-fifties, gray hair pulled back, an apron over her dress. She looked at me, then at Julian, then back at me.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for someone who goes by Reynolds."

Her face didn't change. "There's no one here by that name."

"The man who owns this house. What's his name?"

She paused, just for a second. "Thomas. Thomas Grey."

Grey? Same as Detlef and Xavier.

"Where can I find Thomas?"

"He's not here, he travels a lot for business."

"What kind of business?"

She didn't answer.

I stepped closer. "Ma'am, I'm not here to cause trouble. 
I just need to talk to him."

"I don't know where he is."

"You're lying."

Her jaw tightened. "You need to leave."

"Not until you tell me where he is."

She tried to close the door. Julian put his foot in the way.

"Please," she said. "He's my son and he's all I have."

I went still. "Your son?"

"Xavier, thomas is his middle name. He's been hiding for months In the basement. I've been bringing him food, changing his bandages, trying to keep him alive." Her voice cracked. "He's sick, mentally In his head. He's been sick since he was a child and no one helped him."

"Where is he now?"

"He left three days ago, he said he had something to finish and wouldn't tell me what it is."

"Did he say where he was going?"

She shook her head. "Just that he was sorry for everything."

I looked at Julian. His face was tight.

"Ma'am, if he contacts you again, you need to call me." I handed her a card with my number on it. "Not for me. For him. He's going to get himself killed."

She took the card and stared at it.

"He was such a sweet boy," she said. "When he was little. He used to pick flowers for me and put them in a cup by my bed."

I didn't know what to say to that.

We walked back to the car.

\---

Julian drove us to a diner on the edge of town. We sat in a booth near the window, coffee in front of us, neither of us drinking.

"His mother," Julian said. "She's been the one hiding him this whole time."

"Looks like it."

"Rina said he had forty or fifty men."

"Either Rina lied or Xavier lied to her."

I stirred my coffee, the spoon clinked against the mug.

"He's going to try again," I said. "Whatever he was planning before, he's going to try again. He's not going to stop just because Detlef is alive and his army fell apart."

"Then we find him before he does."

"His own mother doesn't know where he is. How are we supposed to find him?"

Julian didn't answer.

My phone buzzed. Fernandez.

Any luck?

He was here but I heard he's Gone now.

Where to?

No one knows.

A pause. Then: Come home, We'll both figure it out.

I put the phone down.

"Fernandez wants us to go back."

"Then go back."

"And do what? Sit in my father's study and wait for Xavier to show up?"

"No. Train. Prepare. Get the pack ready for whatever he's planning." Julian leaned forward. "You can't chase him forever, Zemirah, he's good at hiding, and you're not skilled enough to find him, that's not an insult and I mean no disrespect, It's just the truth."

I wanted to argue but he was right.

"Fine, let's go back."

\---

The drive home took four hours. Julian drove most of it. I stared out the window and thought about Xavier's mother, the way she'd said he was sweet when he was little. Everyone was sweet when they were little. Before life got its hands on them.

We reached the castle after midnight. Fernandez was waiting in the courtyard, a jacket over his shoulders, his breath fogging in the cold.

"His mother," he said. "She was hiding him."

"For months. In the basement."

"How is that possible? No one knew?"

"She said he was sick. In his head. Has been since he was a child."

Fernandez shook his head. "That doesn't excuse what he did."

"No. But it explains some of it."

We walked inside. The castle was quiet, the guards at their posts, the halls empty. I was tired in a way that went past my bones, into something deeper.

"You should sleep," Fernandez said.

He didn't push. Just walked with me to my room and stopped at the door.

"Tomorrow," he said. "We'll make a plan I promise."

I went inside and closed the door.

\---

I didn't sleep.

I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling and listened to the castle settle around me. Somewhere below, Julian was filing reports.above, the guards were walking the walls. Somewhere south, Xavier was planning his next move.

I got up around three in the morning. Pulled on clothes. Walked to the study.

The map was still on the desk. The same map I'd looked at a hundred times. I traced the roads, the rivers, the borders. Tried to think like Xavier. Where would I go? What would I do?

He'd tried to take Detlef's pack, but he Failed. He also trried to build an army. Failed. Tried to kill me and Fernandez in the clearing. Failed.

But he was still alive. Still moving. Still planning.

That meant he had something left. Something he hadn't used yet.

I heard footsteps in the hallway. Fernandez appeared in the doorway.

"Couldn't sleep either," he said.

"No."

He walked to the desk, looked at the map. "Anything?"

"Nothing, for now tho"

"He's going to come for you. Not Detlef. Not the pack. You."

"Why?"

"Because you're the one who took everything from him. His brother's pack. His brother's woman. His brother's chance at redemption." Fernandez looked at me. "In his mind, you're the reason he lost."

"I didn't take anything from him. He lost it himself."

"That's not how he sees it."

I sat in my father's chair. The leather was cold.

"Then we wait for him to come."

"No. We find him before he does."

"How? His own mother doesn't know where he is."

Fernandez pulled out his phone. "I have people. Trackers. Wolves who can find anyone, anywhere. Give me a week."

"A week might be too long."

"It might. But it's all we have."

I nodded.

He left to make calls. I sat in the dark and waited for morning.

\---

The next few days were a blur.

Meetings in the morning. Patrols in the afternoon. Training in the evening. Fernandez's trackers spread out across the region, looking for signs of Xavier, looking for anyone who might have seen him.

Nothing.

On the third day, I got a call from Elara.

"One of my wolves found something," she said. "A camp. North of the river. About thirty miles from my border."

"How many?"

"Hard to say. Maybe a dozen. Maybe more. They cleared out before we got close."

"Xavier?"

"Could be. Could be someone else."

"Send me the location. I'll have my people check it out."

She sent it. I gave it to Julian. He left with a patrol before noon.

They came back at sunset with nothing. The camp was empty. Cold fires. Abandoned tents. No tracks leading away, like the people there had just disappeared.

"He's using witches," Julian said. "Or someone with witch skills. Covering his tracks."

"Witches are expensive. Where would he get that kind of money?"

"His mother said he'd been hiding in her basement for months. No job. No income. Someone is funding him."

"Detlef?"

"Detlef is in no shape to fund anyone. He's barely holding his own pack together."

I looked at the map. At the camp location. At the roads leading north and south and east.

"Someone is helping him," I said. "Someone with resources. Someone who wants to see me fail."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet. But I'm going to find out."

\---

That night, I called Detlef.

He answered on the fifth ring. His voice was rough, like he'd been sleeping.

"Zemirah."

"Detlef."

"Long time."

"I need to ask you something."

"Ask."

"Who would want to help Xavier? Who has the money and the power to fund an army?"

A pause. Then: "Half the packs in the region. Xavier has been making deals for years. Promising territory, resources, alliances. Some of them probably believed him."

"Do you have names?"

"I have guesses. That's all."

"Give me your guesses."

He was quiet for a moment. I could hear him breathing.

"The Stone Crest pack. Alpha Marcus. He's been looking to expand for years. Xavier promised him land along the eastern border."

"Anyone else?"

"The Silver Moon pack. Alpha Vera. She hates me. Hated my father. She'd help anyone who wanted to take me down."

"That's two."

"Two is enough to start."

I wrote the names down. Stone Crest. Silver Moon.

"Thank you, Detlef."

"Zemirah."

"Yes?"

"Be careful. Xavier is desperate. Desperate people do desperate things."

"I know."

I hung up.

\---

I called Elara the next morning.

"Stone Crest and Silver Moon," I said. "What do you know about them?"

"Stone Crest is small. Maybe two hundred wolves. Alpha Marcus is greedy but cautious. He won't make a move unless he's sure he'll win."

"And Silver Moon?"

"Alpha Vera is dangerous. Not because she's strong. Because she's patient. She's been building alliances for years, waiting for the right moment to strike."

"Do you think she's funding Xavier?"

"Maybe. Or maybe she's just letting him think she is. Vera plays a long game."

"Either way, I need to know for sure."

"How?"

"I'm going to visit her and talk to her to e how she reacts."

Elara laughed. "You're going to walk into her territory and ask if she's funding your enemy?"

"Yes."

"You're either very brave or very stupid."

"I get that a lot."

I hung up.

\---

Fernandez found me in the courtyard an hour later.

"Stone Crest and Silver Moon," he said. "You're going to visit them."

"Word travels fast."

"Elara told me."

"Of course she did."

He walked with me to the fountain. Sat on the edge. I sat beside him.

"Vera is dangerous," he said.

"So am I."

"This isn't a joke, Zemirah. She's been Alpha for thirty years. She's survived challenges, wars, betrayals. She didn't get to where she is by being weak."

"I'm not going to fight her. I'm going to talk to her."

"And if she admits she's helping Xavier?"

"Then I ask her to stop."

"And if she refuses?"

I looked at the fountain. The water sprayed into the air, caught the light, fell back down.

"Then I figure out the next step."

Fernandez shook his head. "You're impossible."

"I've been told."

He stood. Held out his hand.

"Come on. If you're going to visit Alpha Vera, you need to look like an Alpha. Not a girl who just rolled out of bed."

I took his hand. He pulled me up.

\---

We left the next morning.

Me, Fernandez, Julian, and four guards. Two cars. Enough weapons to start a small war.

Silver Moon territory was a day's drive north, through the mountains, past the river, into a valley that was greener than anything I'd ever seen. The pack house was old, stone walls covered in ivy, a garden out front that went on for acres.

Alpha Vera met us at the gate.

She was small, shorter than me, with white hair and a face full of wrinkles. She walked with a cane, her knuckles white around the handle. But her eyes were sharp, her gaze steady.

"Alpha Zemirah," she said.

"Alpha Vera."

"You're younger than I expected."

"You're older than I expected."

She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. "Come inside. We have much to discuss."

\---

The inside of the pack house was warm, filled with old furniture and old paintings and the smell of something cooking. Vera led us to a sitting room, offered us tea, waited until we were seated before she spoke.

"You think I'm helping Xavier Gray."

"I think you might be."

"And if I am?"

"Then I'd suggest you stop."

She set her teacup down. "Xavier came to me two years ago, he told me he was going to take his brother's pack. Wanted my support in exchange for territory along the eastern border."

"Did you give it to him?"

"I gave him money, resources, a place for his people to train. In return, he promised me land that wasn't his to give."

"But you took the deal anyway."

"I took a gamble. It didn't pay off." She leaned back in her chair. "Xavier is a dreamer. He sees things that aren't there. He promised me an empire. All he had was a brother who didn't love him and a mother who couldn't help him."

"Is he still getting money from you?"

"No. I cut him off after the clearing. He's on his own now."

"Then why is he still active? Why are his people still moving through my territory?"

Vera shrugged. "Maybe he found another backer. Maybe he's using the last of what I gave him. Maybe he's desperate."

"Where would he go? If he needed help, where would he go?"

She thought about it. Her fingers tapped the arm of her chair.

"There's a place. In the mountains. An old pack house that's been abandoned for years. Xavier used to talk about it. Said it would make a good base if he ever needed to disappear."

"Where?"

"I'll draw you a map."

She did. A rough sketch, roads and rivers and mountains, an X where the pack house was supposed to be.

I folded the map and put it in my pocket.

"Thank you, Alpha Vera."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because Xavier is a liability. The sooner he's gone, the better for everyone."

We left.

\---

The drive back was quiet. Fernandez drove while julian sat in the back, his arms crossed, his eyes closed.

"Are you going to check it out?" Fernandez asked.

"The pack house? Yes."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Alone?"

"No. I'm taking you and Julian and ten guards. If Xavier is there, I want to make sure he doesn't get away again."

Fernandez nodded, he didn't argue.

I watched the trees pass outside the window and thought about Vera, about the way she'd talked about Xavier. A dreamer. Someone who saw things that weren't there. That was probably true. But dreamers could be dangerous. They could make other people believe in things that didn't exist. They could start wars over promises they couldn't keep.

Xavier was a dreamer. And I was going to make sure he stopped dreaming.

\---

We reached the castle after dark.

I went straight to my room, didn't eat or talk to anyone, I Just lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, I'd go to the mountains and find Xavier. This had to end.

I closed my eyes and waited for morning.