“You want to know what’s going on?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Then you’re going to tell me everything you know about Jacques. Where is he? How many others are with him?”
My eyes traveled to the door. My regret deepened. I mentally begged Isaac to come back. To act as a buffer between me and his brother.
There was something different about Saul. The air around him charged. The kitchen seemed too small for him.
“He goes by Jay now. Jay Baron. I met him in Victoria. That’s where he lives.”
Saul passed me a piece of paper. “Write the address down.”
While I wrote, he asked, “What about the mutts with him?”
“Mutts?”
“The other werewolves. Did you know the two you saw today?”
I searched my memory, trying to recall the faces of Jay’s employees. I did my best to avoid them. They always stared too openly, standing silently in the shadows of the garage.
I couldn’t say what I didn’t like about them. At the time, I thought it was because Jay was doing something illegal. They were his accomplices. Criminals.
Maybe they were something much worse.
“I didn’t know them. Not the two from today. But there were others. I don’t know if they—"
“How many?” Saul interrupted, his agitation increasing by the second.
“Maybe a dozen?”
He cursed.
“Here’s what you need to know: Jacques believes in the old ways. Our blood is stronger. Better than the mutts like the two who came after you. He thinks that means they owe us something. That we should control them.”
He ran a rough hand over his face, fingers tangling in his beard. He tugged it once, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.
“He’s wrong. There’s nothing we can do for them. There’s nothing they can do for us. We’re not like wolves. We’re not natural. You get too many of us in one place—it only ends one way.”
“So, how did they become werewolves? How did you become one?”
“You don’tbecomeone. We were born this way. All of us. A curse passed from father to son.”
“Why are you stronger?”
“Because we’re the first.” The words sounded like a death sentence. “The Barbeaux line is where it all started.”
Quieter, he said, “And if my cousin gets his way, the Barbeaux line will be where it all ends.”
My head was swimming. I couldn’t decide which question was most important. “What does this have to do with me?”
“I don’t know what my cousin wants with you.”
“What about Isaac?”
Saul studied me for a beat too long. “Isaac gave up everything he wanted to protect our family secret.”
I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What did he want?”