Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,52
were written but I had never sat down and really considered the nuances of them. I knew for a fact that I was about to break the Law, but the wolves had first and I was still, in my opinion, under the oath of Duty. If there was ever a dangerous grey area, I had found it.
“You are required to protect the human from all harm until the conditions are met. I take it, you promised Carey to take her back to her family or another keeper when things settled down, so that’s two conditions.”
“Exactly. That I knew, but…what does it mean for me?”
“In what case? Jacky, what happened?”
“Wolves took her from me and left me full of silver. I’ll be fine, though. I’m still under oath, right? The problems in Dallas-Fort Worth haven’t been resolved and I didn’t give her into the care of someone I knew she was safe with. She was taken.”
“Yes, but if you go to there…if you go after them, you’re going to have to choose a side. That’s…you can't do that!” Lani must have figured out what I planned. I knew it wouldn’t take too long.
“What’s more important to the werecats? Our Duty, the thing that keeps us useful and safe in the world since the war with the werewolves, or the Law that binds our hands and leaves us lonely?” I demanded. “What’s more important? Do I abandon Carey and walk away? That would be breaking my oath, Lani. I can’t do that. Or do I break the Law and go get her and do what I’m supposed to, do what’s right? There’s a loophole, a conflict here. I need to know that something, anything, is going to back me up in my case on this.” Because if I lived through it, I would be going before the Tribunal for a crime the likes of which I had never heard of. They would probably decide to kill me then and there.
“You can argue that you were only fulfilling the terms of your Duty. It’s stupid and risky.”
“I promised to treat her as one of my own, as if she were my child. Now, I don’t have kids. I…wanted to, though, a long time ago. I would never let someone carry any child of mine away and give up on them.”
“So you’re going to Dallas,” Lani said softly. “I can’t promise it will help, but when they ever get around to putting you in front of the Tribunal, I’ll be there to defend your choice. And they will. Jacky, if you live through this, they will come after you. Probably immediately. You might not leave Dallas.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I’m driving. I’m going to let you go.”
“I’ve got your back, cub. You young ones always know how to keep things interesting.” She hung up first, and I focused on the road, staring down the long highway.
Eventually, I passed through Jacksonville again, and then my bar. As I passed, I was able to see that the dirt bike was no longer in my parking lot, a good sign that the cleanup was either under way or finished. Not like I had the chance to really worry about it, but it was interesting to note.
An hour out of Dallas, I considered my game plan. I had to find a werewolf and hopefully use him or her to help me find Carey. They could be anywhere, but I figured it wouldn’t be hard to look up some basic information once I was in the city. It wouldn’t be hard to look up Heath Everson, Alpha of the cities, and find out where he worked or maybe even lived. For once, I was kicking myself for not having any connections to begin with. I should have been more active in the supernatural world. I should have known Carey might run to me if there was trouble.
Even Lani, who was reclusive as well, at least met the werewolf Alphas near her, even if it was to shake hands and show respect both ways. Me? I just dropped into East Texas and proceeded to ignore the world until Lani showed up and started to build up a tentative, if distant, friendship.
Which brought other questions to mind. How did the werewolves track me? Where did they get their information from? Was it my phone or Carey’s? Was it my credit cards, even though I was using ones under a fake name? Did they know all the aliases I used? If so,