Page 28 of Aleko
“They turn into seals?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
He looked so pleased that she knew that. She supposed his breakdown on wolves versus werewolves made sense. She wondered why they couldn’t make werewolves anymore but didn’t think she ought to ask. Particularly since she had nointention of involving herself with them further. She did still have a few questions, though.
“What was Anuket?”
“No clue,” said Sebastian, shaking his head as he popped a chunk of meat into his mouth. “Scary as fuck?”
Eliandra laughed, relieved that the large wolf-man had also found Anuket terrifying.
“She called you the children of Anubis,” said Eliandra. “That didn’t make any sense at the time. I guess she meant Shifter wolves.” Lia tried out the terminology, and he nodded.
“Hudson came from an older pack in Pennsylvania. He said some of their historical documents indicated that the old wolves all thought we came out of Africa. So maybe we are the children of Anubis.”
“Hudson?”
“Packmate. He was American too. But his pack kicked him out—he was too modern, and there weren’t enough girls anyway. So, of course, he had to go. Still, a real kick in the teeth when even your parents won’t stand up for you.” Sebastian shook his head in disapproval, and Lia felt a sympathetic twisting in her gut. Hudson sounded like someone she understood.
“He’s all right, though?” she asked hesitantly.
“Well, he’s been with us for almost a decade, so yes. Well, at the moment, he’s in Germany doing some research, but broadly speaking, he’s with us. And he’s doing great. Not that you ever really get over being rejected by your family, do you? At least, I haven’t. Maybe Alex has. I don’t know. Killian is in Tibet. He never had a pack. And Pellos—he’s human, like you—was an orphan before Alex adopted him. I wish we could turn him. He deserves to be a wolf for all he’s done for our pack. I will miss him like a brother when he dies.”
“Dies? Is he sick?” She pictured the little boy from the photos in the hallway dying and winced.
“He’s nearly forty.” Lia adjusted her image of a little boy to an adult. “We’ll only have another few decades left with him.” Sebastian sighed heavily and spread mustard on their sandwiches.
Lia tried to come to some conclusion. Sebastian was being open about these tragedies as if they no longer had the power to burn and sting him. She craved that kind of security. Sebastian lined up the top slices of bread and patted them. Then he whisked hers onto a plate and presented it to her with a bow.
“Your sandwich, madam,” he said with a grin.
Lia smiled. He was obviously trying to be nice. It was strange to have someone making an effort over her, even if it was obvious what he wanted. She took several bites of her sandwich before tackling the subject. That way, if she had to run, she’d at least have had some food.
“I’m not staying. You understand that, right?”
“Where are you going to go?” he asked, not answering the question.
“I’m on my way to Athens for a start. I’d be on my way right now if it weren’t for all of you.”
“What do you mean?” he mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich.
“Well, Galatas owed me a hundred, and Sergio was going to pay me two-fifty. Except yourkoldunyand your mist-woman kind of ruined that.”
“I don’t know whatkoldunyare,” he said, standing up.
“I’m not sure either,” said Lia. “That’s just what the Russians called them. The ones in the rubber pants.”
“Ah,” said Sebastian pulling a metal tea tin off a shelf. “The warlocks.”
“Is that what they were? What are they?”
“Neo-nazi assholes who toss around some shit magic,” said Sebastian.
Lia chewed thoughtfully. She wondered if she was wrong to take everything he said seriously. Perhaps she ought to consider that they were as crazy as she was. Not that she was crazy. She just had dissociative disorders for which she refused to take medication. He withdrew a thick stack of cash from the tin, counted off a few, and shoved the majority back in. Lia froze. It was more money than she had in her purse right now. Sebastian came back to the kitchen bar and handed her the bills.
“Three-fifty.”
Her mouth full of sandwich, she stared at the money in his hand.
