Down the Endless Road

By T.S. Barnett

Chaos brews just under the surface of Europe after Adam Weiss’s surprise attack against the Wolfjäger. The organization is in turmoil, retreating into itself for fear of total destruction. It’s more than a little frustrating for Alicia, who has less patience for bureaucracy than ever. If the council’s unwillingness to fight back wasn’t enough, there’s also the mystery of the missing Wolfjäger--there are too many outposts gone and not enough bodies. Desperate for progress, Alicia joins up with a ragtag group of equally impatient special agents, who will show the werewolves what it really feels like to be hunted.

Adam has problems even without the vigilantes’ interference. He’s keeping too many secrets, and those closest to him are losing their faith. He’s promised the werewolves their freedom, but his definition of free doesn’t seem to match David’s. Lukas has been relegated to an errand boy, and the position doesn’t sit well with him. Adam’s schemes might earn him more enemies than he expected.

Despite it all, the wheels keep turning, and no war lasts forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.S. Barnett
• Release date: Feb 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311298447

T.S. Barnett

T.S. likes to write about what makes people tick, whether that’s deeply-rooted emotional issues, childhood trauma, or just plain hedonism. Throw in a heaping helping of action and violence, a sprinkling of steamy bits, and a whisper of wit (with alliteration optional but preferred), and you have her idea of a perfect novel. She believes in telling stories about real people who live in less-real worlds full of werewolves, witches, demons, vampires, and the occasional alien.Born and bred in the South, T.S. started writing young, but began writing real novels while working full time as a legal secretary. When she’s not skiving off work to write, she reads other people’s books, plays video games, watches movies, and spends time with her husband and daughter. She hopes her daughter grows into a woman who knows what she wants, grabs it, and gets into significantly less trouble than the women in her mother’s novels.

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The Beast of Birmingham

Down the Endless Road

T.S. Barnett

Copyright 2014 T.S. Barnett

Published by T.S. Barnett at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

OTHER TITLES BY T.S. BARNETT

A Soul’s Worth

The Beast of Birmingham:

Under the Devil’s Wing

Into the Bear’s Den

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1 ALICIA

2 DAVID

3 ALICIA

4 JAVIER

5 ALICIA

6 SAM

7 MAX

8 ALICIA

9 LUKAS

10 GUSTAV

11 MAX

12 DAVID

13 ALICIA

14 DAVID

15 SAM

16 JAVIER

17 ALICIA

18 LUKAS

19 ALICIA

20 DAVID

21 MAX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For Jesse, who never gives up on me, and for Randi, who’s been with the Beast since the beginning.

1 ALICIA

I am so sick of old white guys telling me what to do. In the weeks since the attack on Munich—and damn near everywhere else—all I’ve heard is stay put, help out, be patient. Patience is a virtue I’m pretty thin on these days. The only good thing to come out of not chasing down Sam and Weiss has been putting down every wolf that’s made himself known in Munich. All of us—me, Elias, Javier, the other Jäger stationed in Munich—we cleared out the city in less than a month. It was a drastic choice, but Strauss made an executive decision that I couldn’t be more happy with. After what happened here, we can’t afford to play games with these animals anymore. I just hope the other stations are doing the same.

I’ve been begging to go to Nuremberg and telling anyone who will listen that I know Weiss is there, but all Strauss will tell me is that it’s come down from higher up that it’s being handled. It’s total political bullshit, and I’m sure Javier is tired of hearing me talk about it by now. Even the other people who were on our team have been reassigned now. There’s only one solution left. Elias agreed to come along to Nuremberg, even though he was told to stay put, since his brother is his target and he believes that I saw him there. At least to check it out.

I’m going whether you come or not, Javier, I tell him while I stuff a spare set of clothes into my duffel bag. But I’d really rather you did. I’m not an idiot; I know what will be waiting for me in Nuremberg.

Oye, para, para, he says to me, and he pulls my hands away from my packing. You do know what waits for you. I know you want to do the right thing, and you want to help, yes? Dying is not the way to help. But, he adds when I start to object, I will go if you ask me to go.

I sigh. If we can at least prove that he’s there—a picture of him, or we could pick up one of his lackeys maybe—they’d have to do something, wouldn’t they? If they have more than my word to go on. We’ve done what we can in Munich, and I get that we had to stay. But we can’t just let Weiss keep carrying on and not do anything about it, right?

Sí. We can only look for now. If we find him, you will wait for others to help before running off, yes?

Yes, I agree. I’ll wait for help once we find him.

Then we go. I realize he’s been holding my hands this whole time when he releases them, and I quickly get back to closing up my duffel bag.

No one checks my bag at the train station, which is lucky for me since there’s an ax in it. It’s not the easiest thing to carry around discreetly, but it’s saved my ass quite a few times while Javier and I helped clear the wolves out of Munich. I remember the way to the ruined Wolfjäger station, kind of, so we make our way there first. It’s been cleaned up and locked up tight, just like it used to be. I can still see the rook I drew on the wall near the door. Why would they fix it? Are there wolves in there? Maybe they’re using it as a safe house. I wish I could just knock on the door, but they’d know me as a human the second they opened the door.

We sit in the coffee shop across the street for a while and try to work out what to do. Elias sits silently at the small table, his eyes on the station door. I wonder if he feels as strange about the idea of seeing his brother as I do? Probably not. Before too long, a black van pulls up across the street, and two men climb out of the front and open up the back doors. Neither of them has tattoos—so the wolves are using the resources they stole. For what?

One of them bangs on the metal door to the station, and when it opens, four men file out onto the sidewalk, their hands bound with zip ties. These men do have tattoos. I almost get up to go, but Javier puts a firm hand on my shoulder and pushes me back into my seat.

We’re only watching, he reminds me, glancing between me and the wolves flanking their captives. If we move now, they may all be killed.

The Wolfjäger are piled into the back of the van, and one of the wolves slams the doors shut behind them. They talk amongst themselves for a minute. One of them seems irritated. They disappear back into the station, and the three of us bolt out of the coffee shop and run across the street, dodging a passing car on my way. The van’s doors are locked, but one of the tinted windows in the back is propped open a little at the bottom. A man peers through the window at us with a frown.

Elias clicks his tongue and pulls up his sleeve to show his tattoo through the crack. Where are they taking you? he asks in a low voice.

Not sure, the man says quickly. I heard Leipzig. I heard them talking. I think they have more survivors.

Why? What are they going to do?

I don’t know, he says. A man was here, a Wolfjäger who’d been turned, and told us we would be transported, but I haven’t seen him in weeks. Just the wolves. The station door clangs open beyond the van. Go, he whispers at us. Don’t let them catch you.

I want to stay, but Javier pulls at my arm, and we move away from the van just in time to look like passers-by to the wolves who climb into the front seats. The vehicle starts behind us as we cross the street, and I swear as we watch it drive away.

What the hell would Weiss want with them alive? I ask.

I don’t know, Elias says, watching the van disappear around a corner. But my brother isn’t here. If he’s gone, then Weiss is gone. You shouldn’t have come alone. No doubt he told Weiss that we knew where he was, and now he’s moved.

But he must be in Leipzig, I protest.

He may be in Leipzig, Elias corrects me. Either way, there isn’t anything we can do for the captured Wolfjäger by staying here. We need to tell Strauss.

Yeah, because that’s gotten us so far already, I grumble, and Javier nudges me with his elbow.

On the train to Cologne, some kid behind me won’t stop kicking my seat. I almost turn around and let him have all the nasty German words Max taught me, but Javier puts a hand on my knee and offers me a lemon-flavored candy, which helps a little.

We got chewed out when we got back to Munich, of course. Well, Javier and I did—Strauss doesn’t have any authority over Elias. We told her what we saw, and she actually seemed concerned, but she only told us to get back to our assignments and not stir up any more trouble.

A few days later, Strauss said the Ältestenrat had agreed to a meeting with her, but even that’s probably only because Elias asked and this whole organization reeks of nepotism.

I lean forward instead to put my face between the seats ahead of us, where Elias and Strauss sit in polite silence. So what are we doing, really? If we talk to them real nicely, they’ll let us do our damn job and go after Weiss directly?

Elias chuckles, and the fakeness of it goes right up my spine. I don’t know how the others don’t see it. What will likely happen is that they’ll tell you what a good job you’ve been doing, congratulate themselves on forming the task force to begin with, and then tell us you’re all being reassigned.

Us? Not you?

My assignment is not the same as yours. I still have to find my brother.

I groan in frustration and thump the back of his seat. But he’s with Weiss! They’re in Leipzig!

They may be, he says.

These fucking guys—sorry, Elias, I know that’s your dad and all, but God damn.

Eloquently put, he answers dryly, and I slump back in my seat with a huff.

I can see the spires of an old cathedral as we pull into the station, and I lean across Javier’s lap to get a better look. At least Cologne is nice. If I’m on a vacation, I may as well be somewhere pretty, right?

We file out of the train once it stops, and I sling my duffel bag over my shoulder when we’re on the platform. So, where to now? Will they see us right away, or do they want us to see the sights first, just for maximum time wasting?

Strauss snaps her fingers at me and scowls. May, you would be much more effective when speaking to the Ältestenrat if you would learn to have respect. Or shut your mouth entirely—this is your choice.

I frown and almost talk back, but I decide against it and just shift my bag on my shoulder. If Strauss thinks she can get through to them by doing it by the book, then we’ll do it by the book—for now, at least.

We’re expected at Bärenheim, Elias says, and we get on a streetcar and walk until we reach the massive iron gates separating the courtyard of Bärenheim from the outside world. A man steps out of the small guard station just inside the gate and asks Elias to put his thumbprint on a portable reader, and then we’re all allowed through the creaking gates and into the castle. I actually always liked it here. It’s huge, and it’s all sharp lines and scary statues of saints peering down at you. It seems like what it is, somehow. You expect that a place like this does something ridiculous like training werewolf hunters. Reiniger told me that they say it’s some super exclusive private school, invitation-only type of thing, so they don’t get too many people asking questions.

We’re greeted in the courtyard by a very official-looking man in a suit who leads us to a room in the barracks where we’re allowed to drop our things.

The Ältestenrat will see you shortly, if you wish to accompany me to the council chamber, he says in what even I can tell is stuffy German. Javier gives his beard a cursory run-through with his fingers and shrugs at me, which actually makes me smile a little, and we follow the suit out.

There are apparently endless corridors between the barracks and the council, which seems like it could be a metaphor for their bullshit if I took the time to think one up. We wait outside a pair of weathered-looking wooden doors for so long that Javier and I start playing rock-paper-scissors, but they do open eventually. The council chamber is exactly as foreboding as they probably meant for it to be—all stone and wood with a tall ceiling, podiums set a few feet off the floor so that you have to look up at them, and no seats for the people lucky enough to be granted an audience.

The five men sitting at the raised podium look like they might be a thousand years old altogether. There is a lot of white hair and wrinkled skin up there. I try to pick out the one that’s the elder Reiniger, and I spot him easily sitting near the center. I know his look. He’s definitely not a pretender like Elias.

Why have you requested an audience with us? one of the old men at the end speaks up in croaky German once we’ve had a suitable amount of time to stand in awe. Botschafter Nadja Strauss, you have been given an assignment.

Munich has been purged, Strauss answers immediately, standing up straight with her hands held behind her back. As you requested. I have come to ask permission for my team to resume its duties hunting Adam Weiss and his associates.

An agent has already been dispatched for this task, another one says. The Jäger formerly on your ineffective task force will be assigned roles aiding in the rebuilding and defense of our remaining outposts. We have limited resources; we cannot afford to send men after shadows. This is the purpose of the Krallen. It will be over with soon.

You sent one guy? I say, but Strauss holds up a hand to quiet me.

Gentlemen, I believe Adam Weiss is a greater threat now than he was before all of this began. He has allies, including at least two of our own deserters and innumerable wolves.

My German is too crappy to try to convey the depths of my frustration, and I have no idea if any of these old men speak English, but when I see one of them scoff and mutter something to the one beside him, I can’t hold it in. Do you guys even know who you’re dealing with? Sam is a monster. I don’t mean in an ‘oh, they’re all such monsters’ way. You get that, right? Do you have any idea how many innocent women he’s probably killed since he got here? Strauss is shushing me, but I don’t care. And David Harris? Do you even have a file on him? He’s no big deal, just the six and a half foot tall pile of authority issues that almost wrecked a car I was driving while he was drugged and tied up in the trunk. Are you getting this? The ones we’re hunting now aren’t just guys who broke the rules by turning in the city or not reporting someone they bit. How can you just let them go when they’re responsible for so much death already? And now they’re keeping Wolfjäger captive; she told you that, right? This is only just getting started. They’re going to kill all of us if we let them.

That is more than enough, the oldest Reiniger speaks up from his seat at the podium, his English accented but polished. I see Elias straighten a little out of the corner of my eye. You do not understand the ramifications of such drastic action, and it is not your place to speak before this council.

You should have thought of that before you let me in the door, I grunt, brushing aside Strauss’s warning hand as she reaches for my shoulder. How is it drastic to kill wolves who make trouble? I thought that’s what we were here for. If we take out the leaders, the problem will solve itself.

It is not wise to create martyrs, he answers, his voice cold and clear. Already the wolves rally; if we kill the ones they see as heroes, more will only emerge out of a misguided sense of vengeance. In addition, we cannot risk any movement that would be visible to the public so soon after the disruption of weeks past.

So your answer is to only send one guy? You’re sending him to die!

We have sent one agent per threat, as is always done. They will wait for the appropriate time before taking action. As they have always done, he adds with finality, and his gaze moves over to Elias for a moment.

I glance between them, two empty faces with a family history that’s probably best left un-thought-about, and I turn back to the podium. You’ve already lost two sons to this war, Herr Reiniger. Why are you so determined to prolong it?

Strauss snaps my name and tugs me back by the arm. Mein Herren, she says quickly, probably before they can order me off to be flogged, we have lost many friends to this conflict. We only wish to see it done, in whatever way you believe to be best.

The old men mumble amongst themselves for a bit while I pull my arm out of Strauss’s grip, ignoring her glare.

Botschafter Strauss will return to Munich, the man in the center says at last. Kralle Reiniger will resume his assignment—with discretion first on his mind, he adds with a small frown, and Jäger May and Ruiz will be reassigned to the station we deem most in need of them. The two of you will remain in Bärenheim until you receive further orders.

Thank you, gentlemen, Strauss says loudly before I can open my mouth, and she turns and marches me straight out the large doors where we entered. As soon as they shut behind us, she’s in my face. You’re lucky they didn’t punish you for insubordination, she hisses. What good does it do to shout at them like a child? We could have been negotiating, and instead we only wasted our time!

It was a waste of time anyway! I snap back. You really think they were going to listen to a damn thing we said? Everything was decided before we even went in there. It was just like Elias said!

Strauss sighs and takes a step back from me. This organization has been protecting the people of Europe for almost six hundred years. She looks among the three of us with a tired frown. I believe it can protect them for many years more. If you do not, then perhaps you have chosen the wrong profession. You have a personal stake in this, May—I understand. I have seen your file. I know why you’re here. Perhaps we can talk to them again and work something out. Until then, we must follow orders. She shakes her head and lifts her hands in resignation, then stalks off down the empty corridor.

This is such bullshit, I say in the silence that follows.

What can we do? Javier asks. We have orders.

And you? I look up at Elias. Just going to go to Leipzig and sit around hoping you find a moment to kill Reiniger when it won’t inconvenience Adam Weiss too much? I’m a little proud of myself for saying the words kill Reiniger without a lump forming in my throat. I still think about him, of course—when I’m alone, or late at night, even if Javier is snoring beside me. Even if it really does come down to just the two of us someday, I can’t think of him as the man who convinced me I wasn’t crazy or useless. I have to think of him as an enemy because he’ll damn sure think of me as one. He made that very clear.

That’s my assignment, Elias says simply. I’ll likely be in contact with the others who’ve been assigned to Weiss and his associates, once I find out who they are.

I lift my hands and let them drop, letting out a frustrated sigh. What is the point of being part of a secret society of werewolf hunters if we never get to hunt any damn werewolves? Sam is still out there. Why can’t we just go after them anyway, and to hell with what the council says?

Because then we would be completely without resources or a chain of command, Elias answers. Wolfjäger are not the hunters you have in America, Alicia. Without the organization, we would only be vigilantes.

What, instead of vigilantes who have to get everything approved by eighteen different people before we act on anything? Don’t pretend the Wolfjäger have any actual authority to do what we do. If your Krallen friends are already tracking these people, why won’t we just meet up with them and get it done?

Do you hear yourself? Javier interrupts before Elias can answer. You’re talking about deserting. You really think that’s better than going slowly?

Are we going slowly or not at all? I don’t know what the council is thinking, but if they’re just waiting around and hoping that Weiss is going to be satisfied and go home, they’re going to be very disappointed. You see that, right?

Sí, he agrees with reluctance, scratching at his beard as he waggles his head indecisively. What would you do instead? We cannot just disappear and take them on alone, can we?

Exactly what I said. I look back at Elias. You don’t think any other Krallen are getting pissed off with the way things are run? Some of them must have the target in their sights already, and they’re being told to hold back? If there are a few of us—a small team, tactical and focused, like the task force should have been—we can do this without the bureaucrats.

Elias frowns at me, but I stare him in the face. He’s clearly trying to figure out how serious I am and how much he would be risking by disobeying his orders—disobeying his father.

It isn’t the worst idea, he says finally, and I laugh and turn to Javier, thumping his arm.

What about you? Coming along?

Javier sighs. Partners, yes? I go where you go.

Elias takes his cell phone from his jacket pocket. I’ll make some calls.

2 DAVID

It’s finally time to have my bandages taken off for good instead of just replaced. I’ve had two moons to help me heal, and my face doesn’t ache all day like it used to. I’m definitely ready to stop having this itchy gauze all over my head all the time. Max wouldn’t shut up this morning about how stupid it is that I nearly had my whole face taken off a few weeks ago, and now we’re sitting in the living room of Adam’s suite while the doctor unravels