"Dude, he gave me something... hurry..." Russ murmured into the phone as he struggled to make his way down the hall.
"Shit, I figured he'd try something shady!" Ry growled. "Hang in there kid, we're on our way. Keep on the line until we reach you!" Ry said as he motioned to his father and ran from the room. He took the steps three at a time as he made it to the third floor. "You still with me, kid?" He asked into the phone. He didn't need to hear the reply. Just at the top of the steps, Russ was standing against the wall. He ran toward him, taking the bag with one hand and pulling Russ's arm around his thick neck with the other. "You need to shift before whatever he gave you takes full effect."
Russ nodded as he stumbled against Ry's tight grip. "Should I wait until we're in the room?"
Poseidon reached them just then and tossed Russ's other arm around his neck. "There's a guard on his way up the back stairs. I'm going to say he's been sent to see Russ out of the palace and probably out of life. We need to get him back to his room as quickly as possible."
Ry nodded his head. "You really think Fern would be as daring as to do something here tonight?"
Poseidon's eyes widened. "Fuck yes he would. It would be the perfect timing. He could swear the kid never made it to the palace. I'm sure his shady dinner guest would go along with it, and he'd probably kill off any of the servants tonight who wouldn't." He slapped Russ's face with his free hand. "Come on, kid, stay with us."
"Can't you shift him into something yourself?" Ry asked as Russ began falling in and out of consciousness.
Poseidon looked around the hall for anyone who could see them. Seeing no one, he quickly zapped them into Russ's room. Releasing Russ, both men stepped away. "Alright, kid, you have to shift. Bring on the wolf!" Poseidon urged.
Russ nodded drowsily up at them. He began to force his body to shift, but whatever his uncle had given him was making it harder. With one loud, beastly growl Russ forced the alpha form to contort his body. The sound of ripping filled the room, but he didn't care as the thick fog of his brain began to lift. The beast's eyes narrowed on the door as it began to stalk toward it. When a guard carefully and quietly opened the door, the beast caught him by the throat and forced the stout man backward. Once out into the hall, the massive beast forced the guard farther back toward the railing of the beautiful staircase. With a demonic growl, the beast brought its sharp teeth down sinking into the man's throat before ripping quickly away causing blood to spray all around. The beast spat the large chunk of the other man's throat out onto the ground as he lifted the man over the railing and tossed the body to the polished granite tile below.
Three other guards stepped out from the shadows below to gaze in horror upwards. The crimson-stained beast called out in another loud blood-curdling howl before turning away from the railings.
Poseidon crossed his hands over his chest as he leaned against the wall of the hallway. "Well, that just happened... Talk about making an impression..." He said as the sound of several doors opening and loud gasps sounded from several floors up. "I wonder if they signed up for dinner and a show?" Ry sent his dad a stunned laugh as he made his way toward Russ, but Poseidon shot an arm out to stop him. "Lead him back to the room, I'll force a reversal in the shift once we are inside."
Ry nodded as his gaze moved upward to the onlookers above them before moving to one set of glaring eyes coming from the third floor. Ry arched his brows as he lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers in a sarcastic wave to Fern. "Deal with this mess ya bastard." He mumbled under his breath as he turned his attention back to the beast. He nodded his head toward the bedrooms. "Come on kid, let's get ya cleaned up." He said in a low voice as the red eyes slowly began taking on a violet tint signifying Russ's cognitive return.
The beast shot a glare to the many eyes looking down from the open balconies above. He lifted his upper lips over his long canines and growled threateningly at them all before turning his focus back to Ry and following him to the bedroom.
Once inside the room, Poseidon pressed a hand to the beast's forehead. Russ cried out in pain as his body was forced back to normal. "Fuck that hurt!" He yelled out as Poseidon took a step back.
Poseidon shrugged with a smirk. "Probably not as bad as having your throat ripped out and thrown over the balcony of the second floor..."
Russ's face fell into a frown. "Shit..."
Ry walked past him toward the bottle of wine Poseidon had left on the dresser shaking his head as he went. "You can say that again, but at least everyone here tonight has no doubt as to who the real alpha and rightful king is now. Wasn't exactly the way I'd hoped to bring that knowledge to the people... shit happens, I guess..."
"That bastard was coming to kill me. I could hear him talking to some of the other guards as he was coming down the hall right after I shifted." Russ spat out.
Poseidon nodded, an impressed arch to his brows. "So, the form comes with supercharged hearing, nice to know. Does your uncle know about the many abilities of the beast?"
Russ shrugged as he made his way over to the ensuite bathroom. He left the door open as he began running water in the sink. "I'm sure he does if he was really the first in line to rule. He probably knows better than anyone all the things that he should have been able to do... though, I wouldn't think without actually shifting yourself, you'd know exactly what it was capable of... hell, I'm still not one hundred percent sure."
"True that." Ry said as he carried Russ's bag into the bathroom. He arched a brow as he took Russ's blood-soaked hair and clothes in. "Man, you may be better off taking a full shower." He lifted a chunk of flesh from his shoulder. "You still have werewolf guard all over you." He tossed the chunk into the open toilet with an exaggerated shudder of disgust.
Russ nodded as he frowned into the mirror over the sink. "You're not wrong there." He turned a concerned gaze to Ry. "Will you still be here when I'm done?"
Ry nodded as he rested a palm against the doorframe. "Yeah, kid, we'll both still be here. Take it easy and get cleaned up. In the meantime, dad and I will go through the papers and books we took from the office earlier." He waited until Russ nodded, worry still evident on his youthful face, before closing the door behind him.
Russ emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. His body washed and clothes changed, but his face was much paler than when he'd gone inside. Ry arched a brow up at him from over the book he was flipping through. "You alright kid?"
Russ nodded as he ran his hand through his wet hair. "Just tired... and a little freaked out..."
Ry nodded his head knowingly. "First kill? Don't worry it gets easier."
Russ shook his head as he flopped down on the bed, staring up at the canopy overhead. "I don't want it to get easier, Ry. I'd prefer not to have to do that again."
"Yes, but unfortunately part of ruling is getting your hands bloody sometimes." Poseidon said as he lowered the papers he'd been reading over.
Russ sat up on the edge of the bed. He let out a heavy sigh. "The two of you probably think I'm lame, don't you."
Poseidon shook his head as he held Russ's gaze. "No, kid, there's no shame in not wanting to kill others... Unfortunately, it comes with the territory though."
Russ frowned but nodded in understanding. He shifted his gaze to Ry. "What are you reading with so much interest."
Ry didn't look up from the book as he flipped pages. "Your mother's diary."
Russ's brows knitted together. "What?!"
Ry nodded, "Yeah, listen to this." He began reading a passage. "27th of May 1821: Dear Diary, the best night of my life has ended all too abruptly and painfully as the king's body has been found dead. Some are speculating murder and worse yet that it was someone from my family's clan who did it. Momma and Da have been working tirelessly alongside Reighley to soothe the concerned people, but I can tell the loss has already begun taking a toll on the queen. I only pray that Ales doesn't hold the same feelings as the people and blame me for his father's death... Worse more I hope that this tragedy doesn't put a wedge between us... or that my beloved doesn't blame himself. I've tried going to his room several times over the past days, but he's either not been there... or has been ignoring me..." Ry looked up from the book. "The ink here is smudged. She was probably crying when she was writing this." He flipped a few pages over and began reading again. "8th of June 1821: Dear Diary, by urging of my parents, Reighley has pushed the council to allow Ales to be crowned as early as next month as her health rapidly declines. Between all that has happened and all that is to come in the next several months, I've begged Ales to take a break from his tireless study... but he insists that he must catch up on all the things his father had tried teaching him before his death. If the queen's illness and barely seeing my dear Ales isn't bad enough Fern is back. I've seen him more in the past few months than the entire time I've lived at the palace. I find it suspicious that he's being the doting son, caring for his mother, and helping his younger brother so willingly... but Jos assures me that it's normal and probably just his way of dealing with his grief... I'm not convinced, however." Ry flipped a few more pages. "There's more." He said sending a concerned glance up to Russ. "17th of July: Dear Diary, the coronation was yesterday, and it was magnificent. I'm not sure how the Queen managed to throw together such a spectacular event in such a little time, but it was simply breathtaking! I'm proud and overjoyed to see Ales take his rightful place among his people. It only pains me that the Queen couldn't enjoy the entire event. She was escorted from the coronation shortly after Ales was crowned by Fern, nonetheless. I swear if I didn't know better, I'd say he was poisoning her himself... But that would be crazy right? I fear that with everything that has happened, I may be going a bit crazy myself." Ry looked up from the book. "Your mother's suspicions go on through several different pages, until this one. Listen to this." Ry flipped to the page he'd marked with his pinky. "10th of September. Dear Diary, As the queen has been bedridden for over a month now, I thought it wise to go in and check on her myself. I fear my suspicions were right about the poisoning. There was a large amount of broth left in her bowl and just as I began to take a drink, she woke up only briefly enough to stop me with a frail shake of her head and trembling hand. I have to prove who has done this! And my suspicions still lie within the palace... within her own flesh and blood. I've tried to talk to Ales about it, but he refuses to hear it." Ry lifted the book and let the remaining pages slowly fall. "It goes on over nearly six months before the queen finally dies. Unfortunately, the pages run out shortly afterward. There's bound to be more somewhere. I'd even go as far as to say this one wasn't the first." He flipped it back to the first page. "It starts a week or so before her birthday in the same year."
Russ held out his hand. "Let me see."
Ry tilted his head as he squeezed one eye closed. "You may not want to read ALL the passages. Your mom and dad... were... a little handsy. I mean they were typical teenagers... but still your parents..."
Poseidon chuckled, "Come on, give the kid the book. All children want to read about the night they were conceived, right?"
"NO!" Ry and Russ answered at the same time. Russ held his hand out to Ry though. "But it is as close as I'll ever get to talking to them or really getting to know them."
Ry nodded as he stood and walked the book over to Russ. "Fair point, kid." He ran a hand over his short hair as he turned to his father. "I'm going to go hit the shower if you'll keep an eye on the kid til I'm done."
Poseidon nodded still going through the stack of papers on his lap as he sipped from the bottle in hand. "Take your time, I'll be here."
When Ry emerged thirty minutes later, Russ was asleep sitting up against the headboard with the book against his chest. "Well, that didn't take long..." Ry chuckled quietly.
Poseidon smiled up at him. "The kid has had a hard day. He's really shown his true colors tonight. I'm proud of him. I only hope his drive to help his people continues once he's offered this level of corruption." He indicated the documents in his hands. "It's not enough to take to the council yet, but it shows a substantial amount more coming into the palace than the public records do. I'd say if we trace these accounts, it will lead us to several black-market dealers... the question is what are they dealing?"
Ry frowned, his gaze still on Russ. "If I had to guess; drugs, poisons, a bit of high dollar alcohol, with a side of human trafficking."
Poseidon rubbed his chin. "That could explain some of these figures. They're quite impressive." He lifted the paper to Ry. "Dear Ol Fern has a king's fortune coming in... but where is it going out if not to the people? He couldn't be keeping it all. Surely he would see stopping the oozing of money from the town would be more profitable than keeping a fortune stashed away."
Ry leaned over the chair, studying the figures on the sheet. "Unless he's storing it all for when Russ returns and takes back the palace. He gets all that while leaving Russ to deal with this mess."
Poseidon nodded in agreement. "Then why send your guards to kill the boy? Why not close up shop and bounce?"
Ry narrowed his eyes at the document. "The woman in the kitchen tonight said Fern throws parties like this often. What if the parties line up with the deposits? He was looking to score one last, massive deposit tonight before bouncing... but we crashed the party."
Poseidon nodded. "If the guests all refused to continue on with business as scheduled, then that could explain his irrational response."
Ry straightened, his gaze moving back to Russ. "We need to speak with some of those workers again... and soon. If he's willing to call a hit on his own nephew with so many witnesses, it's no stretch to think he'd eliminate them as well."
Poseidon frowned as he moved his gaze up to Russ as well. "Tomorrow then?" His eyes moved back down to the papers. "Take pictures of all these then I'll see that they are returned to where we found them. We can't have Fern knowing we're onto him just yet. Desperate men are too unpredictable... men who think they have the upper hand on the other hand..."
Ry arched a brow. "And how are we supposed to make him think he has the upper hand? He tried poisoning Russ and having him killed tonight..."
Poseidon smiled. "We play it off as a night of debauchery. We were all drunk and don't remember shit."