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“You need to go to bed," Maddox determined.
Will didn’t have a chance to retort. He was picked up and carried off to bed, settled into his sheets, and left to indulge in what he felt like must be a shameful and useless expression of emotion. He didn't even have the option to leap out the window anymore thanks to the heavy bars. He had no option but to lie in bed and cry himself to a miserable, punished sleep.
Maddox locked Will in his room and leaned against the door, listening to the sobs and having absolutely no idea how to stop them. The emotional effort of dealing with Will was more intense than it had ever been. He knew he was equal to the task, but the drain was real. As soon as they reached a good place, they seemed to be thrown back into emotional turmoil almost immediately.
“You should beat him again.” Lorien appeared with some unsolicited advice and a stick of lit incense, for some reason best known to himself. His appearance was as ill-timed as his advice.
“Quiet, Lorien.”
“It’s that or tell him the truth. And you rarely, if ever, choose to do that.”
Maddox rounded on Lorien. “Do not tempt me now. I have not forgotten that you are the reason I find myself in this nearly impossible situation.”
“I am not the reason an angry werewolf is prowling the city looking for his daddy,” Lorien said, accurately. “Will’s not going to give this up. He’s a literal dog with a metaphorical bone.”
“Actually, that is a good idea,” Maddox said. “What William needs is a distraction.”
Lorien flung his hands in the air, trailing a thin cloud of scented smoke behind them. “Or the truth? No! Not the truth. Why truth when you can fuck about with the mind of the most dangerous creature in the city?”
“I am the most dangerous creature in this city,” Maddox reminded him.
“Yeah? Was it you who saved us from an army of violent fledglings? Because I’m pretty sure that was Will.”
“I did not need saving.”
“Well, I did.” Lorien slipped one of his hands into his pocket and emphasized his words with the other. “I would never advocate for a human, but Will’s not human. He’s bled for me and for you too, Maddox. Tell him the truth about his father.”
“He wouldn’t believe me even if I did. Will wants to hear what he wants to hear, and what he doesn’t want to hear could very well destroy him.”
“It’s his news to be destroyed by.”
“No.”
“Alright, then. Don’t come crying to me when this all goes horribly wrong.”
“I have never come to you, Lorien. Crying or otherwise.”
“Ouch. Ego much?” Lorien tipped the glowing end of the stick toward him. “You should be careful, Maddox. Pride comes before a fall.”
5 THE FIGHT
A yellow envelope with his name on it had come in the mail. Will never got mail, but this was one thing he had sent for after learning how to do it. Maddox had not helped. He'd done it all by himself on a computer at the local library. An actual library, not the building where Maddox was forced to pretend he liked being king.
Will tore open the envelope and looked eagerly at the folded piece of paper. For a brief second, he held on to the hope that every mystery of his life would be resolved when he unfolded it. He felt young again. Innocent again. He felt as though he was on the verge of something…
JOHN DOE, the certificate read.
MOTHER: Unknown.
FATHER: Unknown.
And that was it besides the dates he already knew and the county information and the stupid seal and… his eyes fogged as he crumpled the paper and threw it away. That piece of paper knew less about him than the reflective surface of the mirrored cabinetry Will saw himself staring angrily into.
He’d been given his name by his first adoptive family, but was it even legal? Was he Will? Or was he nothing more than little John Doe, the unwanted freak child of a monster and a victim? He felt such a strong pulse of self loathing it took all his self-control not to hit something and hurt himself again.
Will slammed out the front door and stepped into the night. The city felt like an escape, busy and dangerous and strange enough to distract him from his internal turmoil. It was still early enough that the streets were busy.
He was a predator, roaming those streets. In a city this size, he knew he would not be the only one. The later the night became, the greater the percentage of dangerous beings there were. And single women. Always single women roaming about. They had every right to be about, of course, but there could be no denying the danger they were in.
