"A pawn." Ian stood and fumbled around in his sporran. "That reminds me. Tino wanted you to have this. I doona ken why, but he insisted I give it to you." He handed a wad of napkins to Howard.
Howard unwrapped the napkins and found a chess piece inside. The white knight. Harry.
"An odd gift," Phil murmured.
Howard swallowed hard. Tino must have taken the piece from his chess set in the office. The marble was smooth and cool against his fingers. Harry, what have I done? How could I lose you like this?
He curled his fist around the piece. "Tino asked me once if it was possible to win the game without losing any pieces."
"Ye said nay?" Dougal asked.
Howard nodded slowly. Like a fool, he'd boasted that a player had to take his losses like a man and press on. His eyes grew moist, and he blinked. Tino was reminding him of his own advice. I'll press on, Harry. I will avenge you.
Every tear that was silently shed by Harry's mother felt like a knife thrust into his heart. Howard sat stiffly in a wooden church pew, his clenched hands resting on his knees, while the editor-in-chief of Northern Lights Sound Bites stood at the podium, talking about Harry's bravery and persistence when it came to chasing down a story.
Several of Harry's journalist friends had taken turns speaking at the memorial service, and they were all fighting back tears. Howard didn't want to show any weakness, so he tried not to mourn but to focus more on his anger and need for vengeance.
The fact that he'd never met Harry's friends before this service was a painful reminder of the long banishment he'd endured. Twenty years away from home, and it had all been based on a lie, for Rhett had been alive. Even so, the banishment had been easy to endure compared to the guilt he'd felt over Carly's death.
Now he had more guilt. Harry. Howard pushed that thought aside. The guilt would cripple him, make him weak, and he needed to stay strong to avenge Harry.
He turned his thoughts back to the enemy, Rhett. Apparently, old man Bleddyn had punished his son, too, for Rhett had been forced to live in secret, his existence known only to other high-ranking werewolves. It wasn't until the old Pack Master had died a year ago that Rhett had emerged into the public eye, making sure the media knew he was powerful and rich. Rhett's history of embezzling from his father's companies had probably been his way to repay his father's cruelty. Like father, like son, Howard thought. The twisted Bleddyn family needed to end.
The pastor said a closing prayer, then mourners lined up to pass by the small wooden box that rested on a table, wreathed with flowers. Howard stood behind his grandfather, his cousins, Jesse and Jimmy, and Phil.
The editor-in-chief, Mr. West, stopped by Harry's mother to convey his condolences, and lights flashed as several journalists snapped photos.
"Bastards," Howard muttered.
Phil turned to look at him. "We could arrange for their cameras to accidentally - " He suddenly stiffened, his eyes wide.
Howard glanced back. "Holy crap!"
The woman in line behind him fussed at him, but he didn't hear. His ears buzzed as red-hot rage engulfed him.
Rhett Bleddyn and two of his minions had just entered the small church.
Phil grabbed Howard's arm, but Howard shook him off and stalked toward Rhett. The werewolf stiffened with surprise, then masked it with a sneer.
"Howard," Phil hissed as he followed him. "Not here. There are too many cameras."
"What's up?" Jimmy asked as he and Jesse joined them.
"Why are those stinky wolves here?" Jesse whispered, then added, "no offense, bro."
"That's Rhett Bleddyn," Phil muttered.
"Whoa," Jimmy breathed.
Howard stopped in front of Rhett and his minions. "Get out. Before I toss you out limb by limb."
Rhett gave him a bland look. "I thought you were permanently banished from Alaska."
"I could only stay banished as long as you stayed dead," Howard said. "It's been a great disappointment all around."
Rhett snorted. "And look who's standing by your side. Phil Jones, the traitor to his own kind. Why am I not surprised?"
"You bastard," Phil growled. "You were going to kill my entire family."
Rhett cast an amused glance toward the journalists who were inching toward them with video cameras. "Go ahead, attack me. I'd love to get that on film."
"Leave," Howard growled.
"I will," Rhett smirked. "I just came to see who showed up. I knew Harry couldn't be the mastermind behind his little smear campaign. He was never all that bright, you know."
Howard seized Rhett by his tie and jerked him forward. Lights flashed as pictures were taken. Rhett's minions jumped on Howard, but Phil dragged one off while Jimmy and Jesse held the second one back.
"You're wrong," Howard hissed in Rhett's face. "We're not smearing you. We're going to destroy you."
"Yeah," Jimmy added. "We already got two of your houses, a-hole."
"And we've got proof you were embezzling - " Jesse started.
"He's a killer!" Rhett yelled to the journalists. "Howard Barr was arrested twenty years ago for killing his girlfriend, and now he's threatening me!"
Howard twisted Rhett's tie till he turned red in the face. More lights flashed. "You will die for killing Harry."
Gasps echoed around the church.
Howard released Rhett with a push that sent him stumbling back into the doorway. His cousins and Phil shoved the two minions back.
Rhett straightened his tie. "You have no proof. I could sue you for libel."
"Try it," Howard said. "We have proof of your embezzle - "
"You saw how he attacked me!" Rhett shouted at the journalists. He glanced at Jimmy and Jesse, then whispered to Howard, "How many friends are you willing to lose?"
With a growl, Howard stepped forward.
Phil grabbed his arm. "Not now."
Rhett and his minions hurried to his car.
"Wow," Jimmy whispered. "That was cool, man, like really intense."
"Yeah," Jesse added. "It was like a scene out of a movie."
Howard groaned. His cousins didn't realize they'd become Rhett's new targets.
"They're in danger?" Aunt Judy's voice grew louder. "My boys are in danger?"
"Calm down," Uncle James murmured.
"I won't calm down!" Aunt Judy glared at Howard. "You come back from Harry's funeral to tell me my boys could be next?"
"I'll take full responsibility for their safety," Howard assured her.
Six hours had passed since the memorial service, and during that time he'd taken the ferry from Anchorage to Port Mishenka, along with his cousins and grandfather, Phil, and Harry's mother. Then they'd all taken the smaller ferry to Paw Island.
For the entire trip, Harry's mother hadn't said a word. He'd offered to walk her back to her house, but she'd refused.
With the box containing Harry's ashes clutched against her chest, she'd glared at Howard. "He should have never gotten involved with you and your foolish quest for revenge. I told him you were trouble. You're no better than your father! Because of him, I lost my husband. Now I have no husband and no son!"
"Mrs. Yutu, I never meant - "
"Your line is cursed!" she interrupted him. "I regret Harry ever knew you." She marched off, leaving Howard behind.
Regret. The dreaded word echoed in his mind.
"It's the grief talking," Phil whispered. "Don't let it get you down."
Howard snorted. Harry's mother was definitely in pain, but she was correct. Her son would still be alive if he hadn't gotten involved with Howard's plan.
"Walter." He turned to his grandfather. "Will you take Phil home with you? I'll be there in a little while."
"Sure." Walter motioned for Phil to follow him. "You want a beer?"
"Oh." Howard called out to his grandfather. "There'll be two vampires in your basement."
Walter snorted. "Now you tell me. Does your mother know?"
"Yeah, I called her." Howard hadn't wanted his mother to freak out when she went downstairs to do the laundry and found two Vamps in their death-sleep.
Now he was in his cousins' house down the street, trying to break the news to Aunt Judy and Uncle James.
"I thought you were supposed to be some kind of security expert," James said. "How could you let this happen to our boys?"
"No one expected Rhett Bleddyn to come to the memorial service," Howard explained.
"Yeah," Jesse agreed. "I mean, the dude killed Harry. He had some balls showing up there."
"Language," Aunt Judy growled at her son, then turned to Howard. "We should have never let our boys get involved with you."
"We wanted to do it," Jimmy insisted.
"Yeah," Jesse agreed. "We're tired of our people cowering on these little islands, afraid of a few stinky wolves. We need to stand up for ourselves."
"Rhett needs to pay for his crimes," Howard said. "He killed Carly and Harry, and his father killed my father. Uncle James, don't you want the Bleddyns punished for killing your brother?"
"Of course." James gave his sons a worried look. "I was proud to let my boys help you out, but now - "
"It was a mistake from the beginning," Judy grumbled. "Now my boys have to go into hiding? We can't afford to send them away."
"I have it all covered," Howard assured her. "They can go to the private school where I work."
"School?" Jesse grimaced. "Dude, we graduated last spring."
"Yeah, and it's summer," Jimmy added.
"You won't have to take classes," Howard said. "Academic classes, that is. I will expect you to take martial arts and fencing so you can defend yourselves."
"You mean, like swords and karate stuff?" Jesse's eyes lit up.
"Cool," Jimmy said.
"You'll like the school," Howard continued. "There's a swimming pool and bowling alley in the basement, a horse stable close by, and plenty of mountains for hiking. Think of it as a free summer vacation."
"Cool," Jimmy repeated.
"Awesome," Jesse added.
Judy sniffed. "I feel like they're being banished! How long will they have to stay away? Twenty years, like you?"
Howard winced. "No."
"Where is this school?" James asked. "Can we visit?"
"Only if you let one of my vampire friends teleport you," Howard replied. "We have to keep the school's location secret, and booking plane fare could leave a trail." He groaned inwardly. He shouldn't have flown to Anchorage from Albany. But he hadn't been thinking clearly at the time. And he hadn't expected this development.
"Boys, go ahead and pack," James told them, and they hurried off to their bedroom.
Judy watched them go with tears in her eyes. "We should have never let them get involved." She turned to Howard. "What will Rhett do? Will he try to kill them? Will he have his minions attack our island? Are we all in danger because of you?"
"Judy, calm down," James said wearily.
Her eyes flashed with anger. "You should never get between a mama bear and her cubs. I wish they'd never met Howard!" She stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door.
James sighed. "I'll send the boys over to Walter's house when they're done packing."
"Thanks." Howard shook hands with his uncle, then wandered down the street to his grandfather's house. Regret. Harry's mother wished her son had never met him. Aunt Judy wished her sons had never met him.
Were all his relationships doomed to end with regret? He knew Elsa was falling for him, but still she kept trying to reject him. Did she regret being attracted to a berserker? Did she regret lying to her aunts, her only family? Did she regret falling in love with a man she couldn't trust? Was it wrong for him to keep pulling her back?
After a few beers with his grandfather and Phil, he felt even worse. Walter was being strangely quiet. He probably regretted that all three of his grandsons were going into hiding.
"If Rhett attacks the island - " Howard began.
"Don't worry about it," Walter grumbled. "If he wants a war with us, he can have one."
Howard sighed. How many people was he endangering? Regret.
Jimmy and Jesse arrived with packed duffel bags. After the sun set, Ian and Dougal came upstairs, sipping on bottles of Bleer. Howard explained the situation to them, and they teleported Jimmy and Jesse to Dragon Nest. They would return in a few minutes to take Howard and Phil.
"You have to go again?" Howard's mother watched him sadly.
Regret. "I'll bring the boys back as soon as it's safe."
His mother sighed. "I know you don't mean for others to suffer." She hugged him, then wandered into the kitchen.
"It's not your fault, Howard," Walter grumbled. "It's the damned curse." He sat in his recliner and opened a new can of beer.
What a miserable family, Howard thought. His mother had never recovered from his twenty-year banishment. His grandfather was suffering, too.
And so many more had suffered. Carly had been terrorized and murdered, leaving behind a grieving family. Harry had been killed, and now his mother was in mourning. Jimmy and Jesse would be forced into hiding, leaving behind distraught parents.
