by Dorlana Vann
That had been the second time in two days he had accepted death. He thought he was going to die out there in the snow. But he’d kept hoping a house would be a little ways up the road. He thought it would be stupid to turn around if safety was a foot away. By the time he’d given up on finding a house, he knew he would never be able to walk back. He’d already fallen a couple of times and decided to sit and rest a bit. That was the last thing he remembered until he was slung over Diesel’s shoulder. He couldn’t believe they gone out and searched for him during a blizzard.
Diesel had rescued him, again. He felt stupid for letting his fear get in the way of his judgment. He should have turned around and walked back to the house after he’d crashed the snowmobile. Not only had he put his own life at risk but theirs as well.
This forced him to think about what he had truly run from, what he had avoided thinking about. Werewolves were real.
When he heard chewing noises over the crackle of the fire, he followed them to Diesel, who had red sauce covering his lips, some had even spread to his cheeks. He reminded Aiden of a wild animal, pulling his head up from the warm insides of a fresh kill.
Aiden winced. Stop it, he told himself, only to notice Scarlet also staring at Diesel. Slowly, she turned to Aiden, her eyes wide with dismay, confirming she shared his thoughts.
Aiden swallowed, forgetting to chew, and the tube of pasta felt like a brick going down his dry throat.
Scarlet looked back at Diesel.
Diesel had been concentrating on his plate but suddenly shot them a look. “What?” he asked with a mouth full of food.
“You’re eating like a pig,” Scarlet said with disgust.
He rolled his eyes. “Excuse me, I’m starving. I lugged 150 pounds through the snow for miles.” He wiped his messy mouth on his sleeve and took another enormous bite.
Scarlet gave Aiden another quick glance before placing her fork on her plate. She pushed the tray away, stood up, and walked to the kitchen.
Aiden tried to keep his attention on getting his food past his chapped lips instead of on the way Diesel was now humming as he ate, like the pasta was the best meal of his life, like he hadn’t eaten a thing in weeks, like at any second he would start licking his plate.
It was no use. He no longer had an appetite. As he put his fork down and picked up his napkin, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
From the kitchen, Scarlet motioned for him to come to her. He frowned and moved only his eyes to see if Diesel had noticed. It didn’t seem like it, so he picked up his still-full glass of wine with a shaky hand and forced it to stay up until he drank it down. He got up, making an off-handed comment about needing some more to drink. Diesel didn’t seem to notice or to care. Aiden walked to the kitchen.
“Don’t eat the muffins,” Scarlet whispered as she put a couple of fresh-baked muffins on a plate.
“Okay,” he said, not planning on eating them, anyway.
“I put something in them that I hope will put Diesel to sleep,” she whispered.
“What?” he whispered back.
“I found this stuff in the pantry labeled, ‘Kava-something and Valerian for Granny to sleep’.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Why did you do that?”
Scarlet’s eyes danced nervously. “You know. If he does change, maybe he’ll sleep through it.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense. How much did you use?”
“Well, I thought since it had been mixed for Granny, then Diesel would probably need a lot more. I put a pinch in his drink and sprinkled it on his food and—”
“What’s going on in here?” Diesel said from the doorway.
They both flinched.
“You’re not making more moves on my girl now are you, Tex?”
“Huh, no? Look, I have a girlfriend. A very hot girlfriend.”
“Sure, you do.” Diesel walked into the kitchen and grabbed one of the muffins. “Because, you know, I would kill you if I thought you were hitting on her.” He took a huge bite of the muffin.
“Stop being such a jerk,” Scarlet said.
Aiden thought the way she said it, sounded strange, as if she had lost some of the edge she’d had when he first met her.
They all stood in the quietness of the candle-lit kitchen. Diesel chewed, eyeing Scarlet and then Aiden.
Aiden felt nauseous. “I’m going to my room.”
Diesel said, “Hey, Aiden.”
Aiden stopped.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
Aiden shook his head and walked out, hearing Diesel immediately say to Scarlet, “What was going on in here? You two are sure getting friendly.”
As Aiden walked through the living room, dizziness set in. The thought that he was the one who had been drugged entering his consciousness.
Then he remembered the wine. He wasn’t much of a drinker. The last party he and Summer had gone to, he’d drank a beer to be social. He ended up embarrassing himself. After sipping half the bottle, he stumbled into Jessica Bickham, knocking her into some dude with a bowl of chips and an attitude. He hadn’t touched a drop since.
He entered the cold and gloomy guestroom. The wind whistled through the window. Even though he could see his own breath, it wasn’t enough to make him want to go back in there with Diesel. Not even for the warmth of the fire. Once again, he was wondering which was worse, Diesel or the elements.
To be home again, even with throw-up, was all he wished for. He imagined the weather was mild and his friends were on the computer playing games and talking about sports and girls. He and Summer would tell her mom they were going Christmas shopping but instead sneak back to his house to make-out. But no, he was here, stuck in hell.
Maybe his dad and his brother were over the flu. If they were, maybe his mom was just snowed in at the airport and would be there by morning. And if not, perhaps the storm would have lessened, and he could get up bright and early and start shoveling snow from the driveway, wound or not. He examined his arm. Blood hadn’t started seeping out through the dishrag Scarlet had given him, so he figured it would be all right for now.
He yawned drearily as he stared at the bed, remembering the quilt was still on the couch. But all he had to do was make it through the rest of the afternoon and then through the night. Scarlet had drugged Diesel. Surely, he’d fall asleep soon, and, hopefully, he would be out for the night. Aiden crawled on the bed, under the sheet, curled up in a ball, and drifted off into an awkward sleep.
“Aiden. Aiden. Wake up. Aiden.”
He was dreaming. Faint images of snowflakes, Summer, and comfort still lingered as he opened his eyes to Scarlet and the dark room.
“Aiden? Are you awake?”
He sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”
Scarlet sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s almost five. He’s finally asleep,” she said, her voice giving way to a seemingly uncontrolled sob.
“What’s going on? Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” She shook her head. “It’s just that …”
“What?”
“I had to get close to him, so he wouldn’t suspect anything. I had to act normal, you know.” She sniffed. “I can’t believe I’m scared of him.”
Aiden climbed off the opposite side of the bed Scarlet was on and walked toward the window. “I guess I shouldn’t have left you in there by yourself.” He opened the curtain; the faint early evening light awoke the shadows in the room.
“The way he was acting, it’s probably best that you did leave. It’s strange. I mean, sure, he always acts like it bothers him when another guy is checking me out, but it’s like this joke between us. He knows I’m a flirt. Earlier, though, that look in his eyes, no joke.” She exhaled and wiped tears from her cheeks, which Aiden couldn’t see in the dimness. “He’s changed. I know it. He’s different. He’s not himself anymore.”
Aiden tried to remember what time he had gone up to Granny’s room the ni
ght before. What time had she turned into a werewolf?
“I can’t believe I want to go home,” Scarlet said. “That is the last place I usually ever want to go. But I’m stuck here in this house. I drugged my boyfriend because he might turn into a wild animal and kill me.” She sniffled and gave a low whimper. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t take it anymore.” And then she full-out cried into her hands.
Aiden walked over to Scarlet and sat next to her, never expecting tears from her and not sure what to do about them. “I’m sorry.”
She wiped at her eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I’m acting like such a baby.”
“No. No, you’re not. You’re keeping it together better than I am. That was smart of you to put him to sleep. Where is he?”
She indicated with her head. “On the couch.”
“Are you sure he’s out?”
“He’s snoring. Loudly. Normally, he doesn’t snore.”
“All right.” He wiped his hands down his face. “What do we do now? Take shifts, and if he wakes up tell the other. I don’t know.”
“I think we should find the dart gun.”
“Right. That’s a good idea. That way, if he does turn, we’ll be ready.”
She shook her head vigorously. “No. I don’t think we’ll be ready. Don’t you remember how strong and fast his old, crippled grandmother was? Can you imagine that power in someone as young and strong as Diesel?” She took her ponytail holder out of her hair and ran her fingers through to muss it. “I’ve been thinking about this.” She turned to Aiden, her eyes wide, dark, and wild. “I think we should go ahead and shoot him.”
“What? NO!”
“We need to, before he wakes up—before he changes!”
“I don’t think you know what you’re saying.”
“Do you think this is what I want to do? I’ve thought about this. How do we know this silverweed stuff will even work on him? How can we be sure the animal that I know he is becoming will wait for the moon to come out? He’s my boyfriend, and I love him, but I don’t want him to rip me to shreds. Can you imagine? Well, I have. I’ve thought about him devouring me like he did that food tonight.”
Unfortunately, Aiden didn’t have to use much of his imagination. His heart sped up as he remembered Granny-werewolf’s sharp fangs and hot musky breath.
Scarlet leaned in closer, so close he felt her words in a breeze on his face when she whispered, “Can you imagine how scared I was for him to kiss me?”
Aiden jumped up and walked back to the window.
“It would solve another problem, too,” she said desperately. “Don’t you see? We can tell the cops that he shot Granny and then came after us. That we had no choice. He flipped out. Then no one, but us, will ever have to know what happened here. We wouldn’t have to tell anyone about werewolves or monsters. And we will be alive! Not dead.”
His heart pounded in his chest. Scarlet didn’t want to knock Diesel out; she hoped the dart would kill him. She didn’t care if they murdered Diesel in his sleep. Aiden’s entire body shook. Why was this even a topic of conversation?
“I don’t know how long he’ll be asleep. You know as well as I do, it’s either him or us.”
Aiden hoped he was dreaming, and this was all a horrible nightmare. His mom was about to walk into his room, wake him up, and say it was time to go to the airport. Then they would go see his normal grandma and cousin in a normal house.
“Aiden,” she pleaded. “Say something, please.”
He couldn’t make out her facial features, but the way she sat slumped with her feet tucked underneath her, hugging herself, she seemed genuinely terrified. Aiden didn’t know Diesel’s moods or if his personality had changed or not. But Scarlet did. Or was she so freaked out that she was seeing and believing things that weren’t true.
There was another thing to consider. He’d been on the other side of Scarlet’s schemes, so to believe the situation the way she fed them to him, would be foolish. Scarlet was only concerned about herself. Apparently, it didn’t matter who stood in her way.
To him, the only way to know for sure if Diesel would turn into a werewolf was for him to turn into a werewolf. He realized, then, not only did he need to figure out how to protect himself and Scarlet, but his cousin, as well.
Chapter 14
The Huntsman Saw the Wolf Lying in The Bed
“Where’s the gun?” Aiden asked.
Scarlet felt relieved that Aiden saw things her way. She wasn’t sure how he’d react to her survival plan. However, since Aiden had the guts to steal a snowmobile and ride off into a blizzard, she had been hoping this wouldn’t be too much for him to handle. She rewrapped her ponytail holder around her hair. “I think it’s upstairs in the room with Granny.” She pulled a small flashlight out of her back pocket she’d been carrying around with her since the lights went out.
“Well, that rules that out. I can’t go up there.”
She untangled her legs and stood. “Fine. I’ll go get it.”
“No, I can’t let you do that. There’s got to be something else we can use to defend ourselves. A knife maybe.”
“Come on, do you really want to go up against the big, bad wolf using a kitchen knife? Look, Diesel told me that his mom had told him to use a dart if Granny turned into a werewolf.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “A knife is better than nothing. Better than going upstairs to Granny’s room. I’m more prepared than before. I think I could have held my own if I’d been a little more ready, you know.”
“Sure.” She should have known this wasn’t going to be butter. Good thing she’d been practicing patience with Diesel for the last twenty-four hours. She had lied and coaxed so much, she was beginning to believe her own sincerity. “I understand why you can’t go in the room; she’s your grandmother. It won’t bother me. Really. For some reason, a dead person, lying there on the bed, isn’t going to scare me. I’m pretty sure the gun is right there on the floor in front of her bed.”
Aiden rubbed his chin and looked around the room. He grasped his hurt arm, inhaled a few times, and finally he said, “Even if you do go and get it, it doesn’t mean we’re going to use it. And if we must, we’re only going to use one dart. Maybe one won’t kill him. Maybe it’ll just—”
“What? Piss him off?” She inhaled and exhaled a few times, getting herself back into calm-I’m not going to kill you-mode. “Look, we’ll talk about all that later.” Despite wanting to be strong, her heart fluttered at the thought of walking out of the room and into the dark foyer. “Maybe you should keep an eye on Diesel—in case he wakes up. Because if he does, and he figures out what’s going on, or jumps to his own conclusions as to why we drugged him, we’re going to have a whole other set of problems.”
Aiden snapped his head toward her. “We?”
“You knew what I did and didn’t tell him. So werewolf or not, if he wakes up and figures out what’s going on, we are in trouble.”
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “You’re something else. But okay. Maybe I do agree that we might need the gun later. I’ll go along with this for now, but I’m not going to consider using it on him before we even know if he’s going to change.”
“Whatever.” She would convince him otherwise, after she got the gun. She had no choice because Diesel had to be stopped, and she didn’t think she could shoot him, even if he changed. He hadn’t physically turned into an animal yet, but the werewolf blood was already taking over his mannerisms and sense of humor. She couldn’t get the images of him eating like a wild animal and tossing Aiden over his shoulder out of her brain. She especially couldn’t forget the way he’d made her feel when they had been alone.
She led the way with the flashlight into the foyer. Peeking into the living room, she heard Diesel’s loud snores. At least, the living room was well lit; earlier she and Diesel had decided they had better gather all the candles and lanterns they could before dark.
Any other time Scarlet would have thought of it
as the perfect romantic atmosphere: snuggling under a blanket with candles flickering inside a warm house while the outside snow and wind was forgotten.
After lighting the last candle and turning around, she had expected Diesel’s usual clever and mysterious twinkle in his eyes. Instead, his stare looked hard and hungry.
She’d tried to ignore the thought that if she refused to kiss him, he would go feral and attack her. When it begun, there had been no gentleness to his touch, no flirtatious eye contact or tiny kisses; only aggressive groping, tongue, and persistence. For the first time in their relationship, the intimacy had ended with a slap. He had called her a couple of ugly names, which under different circumstances she wouldn’t have let bother her. She wasn’t a delicate snowflake that would melt with a slight temperature change. She enjoyed confrontation and being able to speak her mind and being with a boy who could hold his own around her. But that was for a different time, not when they were in each other’s arms; that was the time she needed to feel special and to feel loved.
Diesel slept sprawled out on the couch. He looked like her old Diesel, but she knew better. She had watched a loving grandmother attack her own grandson, who she thought could do no wrong, so to hope and to think Diesel wouldn’t attack her was foolish. Because he wasn’t Diesel anymore.
“Gosh,” Aiden whispered from behind her. “How much did you give him?”
“Enough, I guess. Stay in here, okay. If he makes a move, whistle or something.”
Aiden nodded and sat in the chair across from Diesel.
Even though her legs felt weak, she had no choice but to walk up the stairs to Granny’s room. If she had the gun, all she would have to do was convince Aiden to use it. “I went and got it,” she could tell him, “now use it.” Or, if all else failed, she could turn on the tears again. Obviously, he was a sucker for tears.
If that didn’t work, she had one more trick. Aiden wasn’t a bad-looking guy, pretty cute actually, so faking attraction wouldn’t be difficult if she needed to be a little more persuasive.