Free Wolf's Soul by Tierney O’Malley Page B

took Atos that long to find out about Dad.”
    92

    “Mark was careful. But spies and traitors are everywhere. Word finally reached Atos"s camp about him.”
    “And one night this Atos tracked dad. Because of his poultice.”
    Callum nodded. He watched Marisol"s face. Although she kept her features deceptively composed, he could see that she was getting angrier by the minute.
    “You said Atos belongs to the Blood Robbers clan?”
    “Atos, now leader of the Blood Robbers is Elam"s descendant. Grandson of Valdo.”
    “Blood Robbers are the new Crom.”
    Callum grinned. She was quick. “Yes.”
    “And the Howl clan you mentioned. Am I right to assume they represent the Arcus?
    “The Midnight Howl, yes.”
    “A pretty name.”
    “Pretty? The name is supposed to invoke fear.”
    “Nope. Sounds like a title of a love song to me.”
    Fuckin eh. His brothers would go nuts if he told them their clan"s name is pretty.
    93

    “So, even when the war gods punished the two leaders and the following generations by taking their mortality away, war still continued between two clans.” Marisol shook her head. “Why Midnight Howl?”
    “When a wolf is on a lookout they"d howl at midnight to warn the Blood Robbers that they are watching. That they are in a protective mode.”
    “Protecting the humans, the rejects?”
    “Yes. Baby, the Midnight Howl is your friend. The clan protects you from something that your military couldn"t see and stop.”
    “Okay, you know what? What you"re telling me is giving me hibbygibbies. I hate to think that the missing prostitutes or those who were found dead were victims of the Blood Robbers.”
    Callum took a deep breath. Marisol would feel worse if she learn about the Cancers. “Would you like to stop? We can continue later.”
    “No. Later won"t make any difference. Callum, shouldn"t we tell the police about the Midnight Howl and Blood Robbers? There are people sitting in jail because they were accused of murder or rape or something.”
    “We can"t.”
    “We have to.”
    94

    “Listen, baby. Think about what would happen if you go to the precinct and began telling the police about who killed your parents. Most likely they"ll pity you instead of believing your story.”
    “They need to know.”
    “There are things that must be kept secret to keep the earth"s balance, harmony, peace. Think of the White House. You don"t know most of what was going on in there or what they"re not telling the people. I bet if the president released all the confidential records, there"d be riots everywhere.” She"d feel worse than getting the hibbygibbies when he opens the topic about Cancers. He would be if he were a human finding out about soulless animals wandering around especially during sundown to hunt on their kind.
    “Alright, the Blood Robbers are preying on animals and human rejects. Do they kill them the way vampires do?”
    “If the vampires really drink blood, then yes. They kill their victims the way they did your parents.”
    Marisol nodded. “Drink the blood.”
    “Yes. Unlike the vampires—if they really exists—the Blood Robbers can survive without drinking blood.”
    “What? Then why couldn"t they just capture the bad people and turn them in to the authorities instead of killing them?”
    95

    “Good question. But you see, that"s not how the bastards operate. Like I said, the Blood Robbers hate humans. They think the humans were to blame why they"re not immortal anymore. Since they couldn"t just eliminate the entire race, they went on killing the rejects or the ones they think fall in that category.”
    “Those people don"t deserve to be killed without being tried.”
    “Exactly.”
    “I"d like to think everything you said is a crock of shit.”
    Callum just smiled at her comment. “Nothing about what I told you is bullshit. Especially about Atos. He is a full-blooded cunning shifter and still has five lives.”
    “Unless I chop his head off with a sword.”
    Callum swallowed