Black Howl

“Well, helllllo,” she said, giving him the up-and-down.

Samiel looked slightly panicked.

“Quit messing around, Chloe,” J.B. said. “Show them.”

Chloe lifted one of the machines from the pile on the table. “So, it’s been pretty well established that what’s being stored in these machines are memories. What I couldn’t figure out was how the memories were being extracted and then manipulated. It was clear after a while that the solution was part mechanical and part magical.”

“There is a spell embedded in the machine?” Gabriel asked.

“Exactly,” Chloe said, and winked at him. I got the feeling that she enjoyed flirting and that she wasn’t particularly discriminatory.

“The spell uses the eye scanner on each machine to extract the memories. Once they are removed the memories are embedded in this chip,” she said, pointing to a tiny computer chip. “It seems, from what Wade told us, that the chips are then taken out of the machines and put in some kind of virtual reality headset that is probably also enspelled. It would actually help us to have one of those headsets so I can see how the spell operates, which is why you’re here.”

I looked at J.B. “How are we supposed to track down one of the headsets?”

“We’ve got a line on the location of a vampire nest,” J.B. said.

“Didn’t we do something incredibly stupid yesterday?” Beezle complained.

“I think I may have broken down the components of the spell enough that we can rebuild it to work in reverse if I can get this final piece. But it’s going to take time—a lot of it. First we have to match the correct camera to the correct person. We’ll have to remove the magic embedded in each machine, carefully rebuild the spell, and then…”

“The only way to test if it will work is to try a machine on a person,” J.B. said, and looked at me. “At least you had the unbelievable foresight to collect all the cameras. With those we can actually restore the right memories to the right person.”

I did not like the sound of trying out this sketchy process on a person without some other kind of testing first.

“What if we kill the victims when we’re trying to restore their memories?” I asked.

“Could it really be worse than they are now?” J.B. asked. “They don’t know where they are. They don’t know anything except that they’ve been taken from the machine. Most of them have screamed themselves hoarse. We had to pad the walls so that they don’t kill themselves walking into solid objects.”

“Madeline was able to make the cubs obey her commands,” Gabriel said. “Why not have her attempt the same with the other victims? At the very least we could prevent them from harming themselves further.”

Wade cleared his throat. “I am not certain that will work. When we were taken, I instructed the cubs to follow Madeline Black if she arrived to rescue them. I told them to listen to her and do exactly as she says.”

“So…even though the cubs were completely damaged, they still followed Maddy and listened to her because you said so?” Beezle asked.

“The power of an alpha over his pack is absolute,” Wade said.

I’d never realized before how strong the magic bond was in a wolf pack. There was something so earthy about the wolves that it was easy to forget they were supernatural at all. Even their shift from human to wolf form seemed natural.

“So that’s out,” I said. “I can’t help the victims here because they weren’t instructed by Wade to do what I said.”

“We have to try the machines on them, Maddy,” J.B. said. “The life they have now is worse than death.”

“Tell that to the cubs’ mothers,” I said fiercely. “I don’t think one of them would risk their child’s life, even if it is a half life.”

“We won’t try it on the kids first,” J.B. said.

“So you’ll risk some other mother’s son?” I said. “It’s okay if they’re past puberty? I found them. I’m responsible for them. I won’t let you risk their lives needlessly.”

“What do you want me to do?” J.B. said angrily. “We have no way to test the efficacy of the method. We can either try to return the memories or leave these people as they are. That’s not an acceptable option to me.”

Wade put his hand on my shoulder when I would have retorted further. “Madeline Black, you have an admirable respect for life.”

“I see enough death,” I said dully.

“But J.B. is correct. These people have had their lives and minds torn from them. We must at least try to restore them.”

“Will you risk the cubs?” I said, looking up at him.

His eyes were full of sorrow. “Yes. If it will lift the darkness that has fallen over my pack, if it will restore even one child to her mother. Madeline Black, my daughter is one of the cubs that you found.”

Saying “I’m sorry” didn’t seem to be enough. If Wade was really willing to take the chance with his own child’s life, then I couldn’t stand in the way.

“Okay,” I said to Chloe. “Do what you need to do. I’ll find the missing piece that you need.”

I was the last one to leave as we filed out. I passed Beezle to Gabriel and let the door swing shut so that it was only the two of us in the room. Chloe had already returned to her worktable, a headlamp with a magnifying glass attached to it over her eye.