Deacon - Nicholas Bella Page 0,28

his companions.

I held my hand up to the leader, palm exposed. “Cut me, I bleed. My wounds will not heal like those of the wolfman,” I said. I needed for him to use the blade and not the silver to prove me an innocent human trapped by a vicious, murderous beast.

He grabbed my hand and sliced my palm with a shallow wound, just enough to see if I bled and if my wound would immediately heal. I winced from the pain, but didn’t pull my hand away. I wanted him to see that I was human. They all looked and when I didn’t heal, he released my hand and I covered my wound with the hem of my tunic.

“Where is this creature?” the leader asked.

I shook my head. “He will kill you. If you attack him, he will kill you. You are not the first to attack him,” I lied. I had never seen Winston take on hunters, but that wasn’t to say it had never happened. Still, I was painting a narrative, one to my benefit. I needed to survive this encounter and I didn’t care if they did or didn’t.

“He isn’t our first monster. We have killed over a dozen of his kind,” the leader said.

Well, that was impressive. I wondered how. “How?” I asked.

“We have silver weapons. Our arrows are silver and dipped in wolfsbane, aikinite, which is a poison to his kind. It will weaken him until we take his head. Our knives are also coated in wolfsbane,” he said.

I could sense that much. It wasn’t lethal to me, but the wolfsbane on the blade he’d cut me with left my wound feeling numb after the slight burning sensation faded. I was glad that they didn’t see any reaction to the wolfsbane when he’d cut me. And thank goodness his blade wasn’t made of silver.

“We also have a net,” the leader said, then gestured toward one of his men, who patted a sack that was slung over his shoulder. “Pure silver, it will render the beast helpless.”

I was learning a lot about just how dangerous humans could be to our kind and for us to not underestimate them. “I… I can take you to him, but he may know you are coming. He may hear you or smell you,” I said.

“Our clothes and skin are soaked in wolfsbane, he will not be able to scent us. It is how we are able to approach these creatures close enough to kill them. If you want your freedom, young man, you will take us to this beast and then get out of our way,” the leader stated.

Fascinating, I was not aware that wolfsbane could mask scent. I supposed that was a lesson I would learn after I’d become a full wolf. I had to make sure I lived long enough to learn more about my kind. These humans were a danger to me, but more importantly, they were an opportunity. If they could, in fact, kill Winston, I would be free of him. I had to play this without error.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and rose to my feet. “I… I will take you. But he is powerful… it will be dangerous.”

“We are dangerous,” the leader said. “How old are you?”

“I am nineteen, Sir.”

“Old enough to fight for your freedom,” he said, then he reached into his belt satchel and removed a blade. “If by chance we are overtaken by this beast and you have the opportunity, save yourself.” He thrust the blade into my hand.

“Marcel, can we trust the boy?” one of his men asked as he objected to me being armed.

So, that was the leader’s name, Marcel. Matched his Italian accent. “I want to be free of him,” I said.

“No human should be the slave of these beasts. You are not the first human we have come across that needed to be set free. These beasts like to hunt humans, feed on them, rape them. If we survive this, you should join us. Fight for our cause,” Marcel said.

“To kill other beasts like him?” I asked.

He nodded. “There are so many like him in this world. Some live in packs while others are lone wolves. They are the easiest to kill.”

I tightened my grip around the blade he’d given me. This would surely be a weapon I’d like to keep. “Is this blade pure silver?” I asked.

He nodded. “It’s not as strong as steel, breaks easily, but if you have the opportunity to finish