by Cathy Clamp
Rachel leaned against a tree and let out a little laugh. “I was wondering when you men were going to stop bumping egos against each other and think about Paula. That’s who lives here, by the way. I would imagine that’s who’s dead inside.”
Anica let out a little cry of surprise and pain. “Paula? The waitress at the diner? Oh, no! She was so nice. Who would want to hurt her?”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Nice? Pfft. Well, maybe to paying customers.”
Tristan had seen that cold, calm look before, and knew what it meant. He raised his voice to reach to the tree. “I take it you’re not sorry she’s dead.”
Another snort from the woman covered in soot. “Nope. She was a flaming bitch. And I’m not the only one in town who thought so. I can think of a dozen people who would have been happy to pack her bags for a vacation in a hot place down south. Waaay down south.”
Dalvin turned to his girlfriend with an odd look on his face. “You been packing any suitcases lately, Chelle?”
She responded with a look that was a little surprised and a lot insulted. “No! What the hell, Dalvin? I’ve been with you today, if you remember. And if I’d wanted her dead, do you really think I’d have waited this long? Or done it with Wolven and Council people in town?” She turned her face to stare at Tristan, rubbing her arms and letting a tiny slip of fear show past her bravado. “Because, dude, if you aren’t Council, I’m betting you’re who keeps them awake at night.”
He didn’t respond. There was no need. Anything he could possibly say either would not be believed or would only confirm her statement. Anica followed Rachel’s steady stare and cocked her head as she looked at him, as though she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.
Before anyone could say anything further, he heard the high-pitched whine of an ATV motor coming up the narrow lane that served as a road to the house. He rose to his feet as the branches revealed the occupants as Bobby Mbutu, Amber, and the town Alpha. None of them looked particularly happy.
Amber snarled as she got out of the front seat. “Really? Less than a day since you arrived and there’s a dead body?”
Anica’s father pointed at Tristan as he brushed the dust from his faded blue jeans. “Take him with you, Agent, and be sure he pays dearly for the death of my resident.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of a death that wasn’t his kill. Actually, he couldn’t remember a time he’d been accused of a death he’d actually caused. He tended to be more careful than that. It seemed redundant to say, but he supposed it was necessary: “I didn’t kill her. She died sometime when I was with you, in your office, getting a lecture about avoiding contact with your residents.”
Bobby started walking slowly toward the door, licking his lips constantly. “I have to agree. The smell says an hour, maybe two.”
Anica padded up to the python shifter, her scent suddenly excited and curious. “Excuse me? You are police? How do you know? I mean … know that, just by smell? I try so hard to know, but there are so many smells. It…” She seemed to struggle for a word. “Muddies. You know? Dalvin changes me so I can smell better, and I can smell tiny things, all things. But I cannot…” She let out a harsh breath. “Pull apart. Is like big knot in my nose.”
Instead of dismissing her like Tristan had seen him do with a hundred other people, Bobby stopped and regarded her seriously. Instead of answering, he reached up and pulled a trio of leaves from a waist-high shrub next to the house. He flicked out his tongue and tasted one leaf and then pulled it off before putting the remaining two in front of her nose. “Tell me about this leaf. Everything you can.”
She blinked oversized eyes at him and snuffled around the leaves, smelling them front and back. “The shrub, it is healthy and makes fruit. Not sweet, but not hurt stomach.”
He shook his head. “What else?” Nobody else said a word while he stared at her, so intense was the look in his glowing eyes. “Don’t look at it. Close your eyes and let the scent tell you a story.”
She closed her eyes and flared her nostrils. She began to sway just the tiniest bit and Tristan nearly swayed with her. It was like some mysterious dance as her eyes began to glow around her eyelids and her head moved to music only she could hear. “The woman touched these leaves often when she walk by. A man’s scent is on top of hers, but lightly, like he only touched once but she many times. He was angry; his scent is bitter, burnt.”
“Do you recognize the man’s scent?”
She opened her eyes, as though surprised by the question. “No. But I do not know many people here yet and there are many new people in town because of the fire.”
“You didn’t mention the fire. Why not? Is there no smoke on the leaf?”
The whiskers above her eyes twitched. “Everything smells of smoke. It wasn’t a different smoke, if you understand. So to tell that was … not important.”
“What perfume was she wearing?”
A pause and then she nodded just a touch, her nostrils flared wide. “I have smell this perfume before. In city when we arrived. I see it on poster in airport, named for celebrity. Pretty blond singer. I cannot remember name. But if I saw poster again, I would know it.”
Bobby nodded sagely. “Would you remember the man’s scent if you smelled it again? His perfume, his sweat, his anger, if you smelled the person?”
She paused. “No anger. He was not angry. I know that scent very well. Like hot metal. I remember smells very good. But sometimes, I do not know what the smell is.”
“Close your eyes and turn in a circle. Use your paw to point to two other bushes like the leaves, without looking.”
She quickly did so. “There are many more than two. But these are first two.”
“Good,” he replied. Amber and Anica’s father opened their mouths, almost simultaneously, as though to ask what he was trying to accomplish. He’s teaching her to use her gift. Bobby held up a dark brown hand and shook his head, asking for continued silence from the onlookers. Rachel seemed very intrigued by what was happening. Dalvin looked a little bored.
“Now, you know what the woman’s blood smells like, yes?”
“Of course,” she said, and started to open her eyes. He put his hand over her eyes.
“No, keep them closed. Now, find her blood outside the house. Let it find you. Ignore the overpowering. Concentrate on the lost bits that match.”
Her whole body stilled when she realized what he was asking her to do. He was asking her to track the killer’s path away from the house. “He was careful.” She said it out loud, but not really to them. “He slink away, sneaky, low to ground.” Her nose went to the ground also, and she started to make little snuffling sounds, like a pig after truffles. “He steps on beetle here, but picks up and takes. Why would he want bug?”
Bobby followed her as she stepped into the brush, her nose moving back and forth across the ground. “Careful indeed.”
Without warning, Tristan felt a sensation of panic press against his skin just as Anica let out a cry. “No! Not bad smell again! What is this?” Then she was gasping for breath again, like in the hospital. Bobby moved forward and pulled her bodily away from the patch of forest. Tristan found himself moving to her side to help lay her down. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. But her scent wasn’t so much scared as frustrated. He heard her voice in his head once more.
I was doing it, Tristan. The policeman was helping me untie the knot.
“I know.” He said it out loud, since she couldn’t hear him last time. “We’ll get you fixed up again. Just rest and try to breathe.”
Amber swore. “I didn’t think to bring another EpiPen with me. Damn it! We have to get her back to the hospital, and I hope to God that the EMT from the National Guard has another one in his bag.”
“I’ve got her.” Tristan lifted her easily and carried her to the ATV. For a bear, she was light as a feather, and molded into his arms as though made to fit. The others gathered around, hands reaching to offer comfort as she struggled
for air.
“What the hell is that?” Bobby’s voice cut through the murmurs of sympathy and the ATV’s engine as Zarko turned the key and Amber crawled in beside him and Anica. “Wait. I know what this is! Stop! Stop. Don’t leave. I can fix her.”
Amber turned to him and blinked. “I know what it is too. It’s an allergy and we have to get the swelling down.”
Bobby reached his arm between them to a bag that was on the floorboards of the ATV. “Oh, it’s an allergy, all right. One every Sazi shares. She’s just extrasensitive to it.” He pulled a clear plastic bottle from the bag and started to unscrew the wide lid. He put the opening to Anica’s nose. “Inhale this.”
Even Tristan could see that her nose was completely swollen shut. “She can’t breathe it in, Bobby. That’s sort of the point.”
“Well, shit. You’re right. I need a straw of some sort.” He started digging in the bag, obviously looking for tubing, and Tristan suddenly understood what he meant.
“You need to blow in the powder. Got it.” He slid out from underneath Anica’s head and pushed aside the paw that reached for him. “No, just stay still. I know what he’s trying to do.”
Tristan looked around the thick undergrowth until he saw what he needed. A tree that had some new growth, close to the house where it got shade and water. He ripped off a slender branch and used his fingernail to score the bark. Then he peeled it away from the center, creating a flexible tube from the outer bark that was relatively dry. He walked back and handed it to Bobby. “Not the most sterile, but it should do in a pinch.”
“I have got to start carrying more stuff in my pack. But this should work.” He motioned to Amber. “Lift her head and keep her still.”
Amber lifted Anica’s head and used her magic to hold it steady. But she motioned to the plastic container. “What’s the powder?”
“Remember back in Chicago a few years back, when you poured a witches brew down my throat to save my life? Same stuff, but with less rotting meat.”
She blinked and then her jaw dropped. “Are you serious? Here? In the forest?” She started to look up, into the treetops, her movements sharp and nervous. Tristan smelled a scent he didn’t think the powerful bobcat was capable of.
Fear.
CHAPTER 7
The dark-skinned policeman began to tap the side of the plastic container, and the white powder fell into the bark. He blew it out onto the ground and then started the process again, opening the tube to look inside. She suddenly realized what he was doing—drying it out so the powder didn’t clump.
“Stop playing with tube and save her!” Papa was worried. She hated to see him like that, but the policeman was not worried, so she was not. The reaction to the smell wasn’t nearly as bad as before. But the scent wasn’t so strong as it had been. She could still get a little air into her lungs by opening her mouth, so it was closer to when she’d had a bad cold as a little girl. Her nose and sinuses were like a solid mass, but she could breathe through her mouth if she concentrated.
Tristan was petting her head. She didn’t think he knew he was doing it because he was busy watching Bobby, but it felt nice. His hand played with her fur like it was hair, and that relaxed her. There was something about him that she trusted, even though a part of her knew he was a very dangerous person.
He held her nose in the air as the policeman finally was ready to do whatever he planned. He gently opened one nostril and inserted the tube inside. He looked into her eyes with his dark brown ones. He blinked then and her heart skipped a beat. He blinked up, from the bottom. She couldn’t struggle but wanted to. Needed to. He was a snake! No longer calm, her breathing became labored and she fought against the magic that held her. Snakes brought death and pain.
Even as she thought it, he said, “This is going to hurt. Sorry.”
He put his lips to the bark in her nose and puffed his cheeks. The powder entered her nose like flame and stung like salt in a wound. She tried to pull away, began to panic as pain shot up her nose. He quickly did the same with her other nostril and all she could feel was fire burning the sensitive skin in her nose and then bleeding down the back of her throat. She let out a bawl of pain and Tristan tightened his grip in her fur, keeping her steady. “Shhh. Trust Bobby. Let the medicine work.”
“What are you doing to her? What is that?” Papa snatched the bottle of powder away from the snake policeman and sniffed it. “Salt? You blow salt into her nose?”
The snake named Bobby shook his head. “Not salt. Sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda. It neutralizes the poison.”
“Poison?” Rachel exclaimed. “Someone poisoned Anica? What the hell!? Is that what happened to Paula too? Or did she find out someone was putting out poison and they got rid of her?”
“That’s actually not a bad guess,” Tristan said. “I could see that scenario happening.”
“Why would someone poison my little one? She would not hurt a fly.” Papa smelled both outraged and confused. Wait. Smell. She could smell again! And she suddenly realized she could start to feel air through her nose.
“I can smell again.” She coughed, not hard, and then pulled in more air. Already the swelling was going down as the doctor’s magic released her. But no. Not the doctor. It had been Tristan’s magic holding her. She could feel the difference now. She looked at the policeman with anger rising. “You are snake. You are not policeman.”
The dark man sighed. “I am a snake. And I am a policeman. I’ve been a Wolven agent for many years, since before the attacks on you. I never supported Sargon or his goals, or the sort of camps you were taken to.”
She could smell he wasn’t lying, but she couldn’t help but laugh, a harsh sound, even to her. She backed away from him, across the laps of both Tristan and Amber, who didn’t try to stop her, until she was on ground again with the cart between them. “You say ‘camps.’ I say ‘prison.’ Snakes make prisons and steal children to attack. Snakes are evil. I do not trust any snake.”
Amber let out a sigh. “It didn’t used to be this way, Anica. The snakes used to be integrated among the Sazi. They are no more evil than any other animal. Some people are evil. Animals aren’t evil by nature, and the type of animal we happen to shift into doesn’t make a person evil or not evil. Bobby is not evil. He is well respected as an investigator and a chemist. You can trust him. I promise.”
Tristan was looking at her very intently but didn’t say anything. She could feel the weight of his eyes, as he thought about what she said. It gave her a funny feeling in her stomach, both comforted and nervous. So she asked him instead. “You are bear, but you know this snake. You trust him?”
He glanced at the other man, casually, like there was no real decision to be made. “Like I would my own brother. I have known him his whole life. I’ve never questioned his honor or loyalty. You could learn much from him.”
She had backed up even more and found herself next to Rachel and Dalvin. Rachel would understand why she feared and hated snakes. “What kind of snake are you? You don’t smell like a cobra.” It was Rachel asking, but Dalvin answered.
“Python. There are lots more kinds of snakes than just vipers, Chelle. Bobby’s sort of a legend in Wolven. Top of the Academy and a fairly famous chemist, even in the human world.”
Amber waved her hands in the air, trying to break the tension and finally throwing out a burst of magic to get everyone’s attention. “We need to get back to the problem at hand, people. Bobby’s not the problem here. We have a dead body, and a spider to deal with.”
“A spider?!” Dalvin and Tristan both said the words, nearly simultaneously, and with equal amounts of alarm. She wasn’t sure why a spider would make such powerful men feel afraid. She thought spiders were pretty. Most she had found would not bite if not provoked.
“Yes, and no,” Bobby replied. “Yes, a spider. But not actually here.”
Now Amber stared at him, her brow furrowing a little in confusion that matched her scent. “Wait. You said it was spider venom
. You said it was the same as Chicago.”
He nodded, once. “I did. It is venom and it’s why the little bear had the reaction. She has a very sensitive nose. With training, it could be the equal of my tongue. But the spider isn’t here. The venom is either powdered, used to throw off our noses—like a skunk can be used to blind a bloodhound—or diluted and used for some other purpose. Possibly it’s intentional poison, to try to kill. But I’m thinking it’s a smoke screen to hide a trail.”
“Then the man plays the fool, yes?” The more Anica thought about it, the more foolish it seemed.
They turned to look at her and the snake policeman raised one brow, like her uncle Petar could do, and then licked his lips. His scent turned sweet and syrupy, but like he was not something that should be eaten. “Interesting. Go on.”
Anica took a deep breath and sat down. It was difficult to describe. “The man wishes to kill Paula. I do not smell angry smells or romance in air. No emotion at all. Even she has no emotion. So surprised, I think, by a man who intended to kill.” Tristan nodded his head and suddenly smelled of the palačinke Mama used to make, filled with raspberry jam, cheese and cloves sprinkled on top. So many emotion smells she still didn’t recognize, even this many years later. “He wishes to have nobody know he was here, so he sneaks away on his belly, but then leaves behind something that is sure to have notice? It is foolish.”
“Hey, yeah,” Rachel agreed, and moved to stand next to her. “That doesn’t make sense. Why not use a skunk for cover, or start a fire or something? Nobody would notice that with the wildfire nearby. Why use something that spooks even Sazi cops? Now, I don’t know what sort of spider freaks you guys out, but I guess it’s not a local one. Is it one of those big Australian kinds?”
“It’s a spider shifter.” Tristan’s voice was calm, but there was an underlying tension that told Anica he’d encountered one before. “They feed on other Sazi. We’re prey to them.”
Rachel’s reaction was immediate and echoed what was going through her own mind … a horror almost too big to think of. “Oh, hell no!” She looked up in the trees and around to the suddenly sinister forest, and started rubbing her arms like something was clinging to them. “Spiders with brains? Are you kidding me?!”