"How did you make Cin for a were?" I asked.
"Red fur in her bedroom. No pets."
"When were you in her...oh yeah, the bathroom visit."
"The Luparii teaches us to be sneaky that way," he said.
I nodded. "I'm not going to let you take her without a fight you know. Not unless you can prove to me she's the one. Her room had scents of some kind of canine, but not wolf-not-wolf."
"Good to know. I like her."
"Then why the gun in the back seat?" I asked.
"Safety. Her foot was hurt." He glanced over at me. It was hard to make out his features in the darkened car, so I couldn't judge his look. I hoped that meant he couldn't judge mine as well. I'd hate for him to think I was that slow. The limping werewolf.
I gulped. The creature's scent had been nothing but weird from the beginning. Was it possible I had scented the skin in her room? When worn and the change happened...Creator, please, no.
"So how do we go from here?" I asked.
"We wait until Cin returns to her room. Then we watch."
"You have x-ray goggles or something I don't know about?" I mean it's the Luparii, so you never know.
"Better." He pulled open a small laptop and powered it up. A few short keystrokes and there on the screen was Cin's room. "I placed a small camera transmitter by her window." The view was good. The shot picked up her bed, most of her room, and her doorway.
"You have any of those planted in my cabin?"
"Of course not." The Luparii really should teach their assassins to lie better. Like how to meet a person's eyes while telling a bold-faced fib. I'd be doing a floor to ceiling search of my bathroom when I got home. Pervert.
"Here we go," he said. I glanced back at the screen and saw Cin enter her room. She was stark naked. A cloud drifted off the moon just long enough for me to see that Jed was blushing. Looking, yes, but blushing.
She turned and locked her door, then fiddled with her stereo for a minute before falling across her bed. Cin curled up in a small ball form and fell almost instantly asleep. And then she wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was a small, cute, little red fox. Still curled up and still fast asleep.
I was confused. Weres returned to their natural state in sleep. I would always sleep in human form, as would Rose and Lily, so what did that make Cin? Jed answered my question, his voice filled with relief.
"She's a kitsune."
Chapter 28
A kitsune, I soon learned, was a were of a very different color. The Benandanti are humans that have the ability to take another form. Wolf, rabbit, etc. A kitsune is a fox. Not a human that shifts into a fox. Actually the exact opposite. Which explained the separate bedrooms I'd been wondering about. Mindy might have been a little dismayed to wake up to a fox in her bed.
Rose did some research and found out that Cin, like me, had no family. So we, the small and very unusual Benandanti pack of Spencer, decided to adopt her. Rose volunteered to deliver her the good news. No one should have to be alone just because they were different.
Over the course of the next week, we all fell into a routine. The mornings were spent pouring over our research trying to trace the most likely suspects for the role of bad walker. Luckily Rose had managed to clear Dunwood's good name. He had been a Marine MP stationed in Germany at the time of his brother's death.
We also kept looking for another Luparii agent. Someone new to town who was sticking around for no real reason. Jed thought we were wasting our time, but even he couldn't think of anyone else who would be going around serial killing weres. Lilith missed these sessions as school was back in session after Fall break.
After sandwiches—mostly peanut butter and jelly for me, since I just couldn't get used to the idea of eating fake meat—Jed and I would leave Rose to scout out our most likely suspects of the morning and head to the park or the forestry for a routine patrol. He came up with a pair of mountain bikes from somewhere, and we were able to cover the trails in less than half the time. Not to mention the effort.
Around four, after the mill's employees had left for the day, we'd head over to work on the wolf statue. I hadn't lied about that to Mason. This was my bread and butter job, and I didn't get paid until the job was finished.
Jed would sit on the stool that Russell had used and do more research on his laptop computer. While I was working, all of my focus was on the stone in front of me. By the end of the week, it was almost finished. I was grateful for Maggie's presence as a second model. Her eyes would grace the finished work.
The evenings were spent back in Gosport for some more vegetarian fare. My favorite so far was the eggplant pizza. Put enough red sauce on a dish and you confused your taste buds into thinking there was meat in there somewhere. Lilith would be done with her homework and join us after supper for a de-briefing of the day.
Then it was home and bed—couch for Jed—for a few hours’ sleep before our now routine midnight patrol.
All in all, it was a good week. No one died or was murdered. No one was running through the streets of Spencer shouting about werewolves. Jed and I, while still not the best of friends, hadn't killed each other yet. And everyone was getting along.
It lasted till Friday.
In one of those weird Twilight Zone music playing moments, both Jed and Rose's phones rang at once. We had just finished bowls of broccoli-cheese-potato soup topped off with buttery, flaky crescent rolls for dinner. I was considering changing my favorite yet again when the phones went off.
Lilith and I were in a quiet discussion about how she was not going to change in the actual woods until the creature was for absolute, positive sure dealt with. And even then, only when I was present to referee any remaining wildlife that might like a little hasenpfeffer. As intent on our conversation as we were, it took a couple of minutes to realize something was wrong.
One glance at Rose's face drained of color and Lilith and I were on either side of her, guiding her to the living room couch. I looked over my shoulder to ask Jed to bring her a glass of water and got my second shock. His face was as white as a red man's face could get. He saw me looking at him and walked over to the side door and out onto the wrap-around porch. Whatever it was, he didn't want us to hear. Which of course, made me want to hear all the more.
I helped get Rose laid down and went for the water myself. Sue me if I paused for a moment beside the screen door leading to the porch. It wasn't my fault he'd left the wood door open. Unfortunately, it was no good. He was talking far too low for me to be able to make out the words. So I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went back to Rose.
Her face had gone from white to a very faint twinge of color. She sat up and smiled weakly as she took the water.
"That call was from my brother, George, down at the home place in Kentucky. He wanted to thank me for sending him the album."
My heart sank as I went to my knees by the couch. "Lil Red?"
Rose nodded and tears leaked from her eyes and ran down her face. "He must know we're looking for him. Either that or he's just trying to thin the pack so he can get to you." Lilith sat down beside her and put her arm across Rose's shoulder. Rose reached up and patted Lilith's hand. "Besides Lily here, George is the only family I have left."
"He's dividing the pack," I agreed. "He's too much of a coward to take us all on, so he's dividing us to take us down one at a time." I caught a whiff of peppermint and bacon and realized that Jed had slipped up behind me.
"I agree. Though I'm not convinced the stalker is a Luparii hunter, he seems ruthless enough to carry out the threats. If he can't get a crack at Taz, he'll shift to another target and come back for her later."
"You have to go to your brother. The killer doesn't like to deal with numbers. With you and Lily in Kentucky with him, he'll shear off," I said. "We'll stay in touch by phone and double up on our research. If he truly isn't a Luparii, or one working on his own agenda, if we take him down, maybe this will truly be over."
Reluctantly, Rose nodded. "At least you
will have Jed." She smiled at him through her tears. "I've grown to trust him, Taz. Whether he recognizes it or not, I believe he sees the truth now."
Jed cleared his throat. "There is one more complication. The killer has issued a third warning. That call was from my mother. She received the album this morning, too, and wondered if I had sent it."
"But the killer only targets..." my voice trailed off. The possibility was too staggering to put into words. Jed was from the wolf clan of the Cherokee. Maybe it was more wolf than he knew. But the Benandanti female was the one who passed on the ability to were, so if his mother was one of us, he should be too.
"Occasionally, a true Benandanti is born without the ability to change. It is rare, and only happens when they have a different path to follow." Rose looked at Jed with a smile of pride. "Like that of Spirit Hunter."
"I'm not having this discussion until I talk with my parents. She refuses to budge from their mountain cabin, so I have to go there." Jed turned to me. "You will come with me."
I was saved from answering his imperious command by the ringing of my phone, which now sounded like the theme from the Lone Ranger. William Tell Overture? Lately, my phone only rang with bad news, so I had mixed feelings about answering it. Yes, it gave me time to consider my reply, but it also had the sound of doom to it.
Out of breath from running for it, I answered with a short, "Taz."
"Hey, Babe." I felt myself sag. Maybe this was good news for once. I mouthed the word Mason so the others would know it wasn't another crisis in the making.
"I just landed at the Bloomington airport and am on my way to get a rental car. Is the great wolf hunt still on?"
"It's kind of on a temporary hiatus right now. Something's come up." I looked over at Jed and smiled, seeing my way out. "Look instead of staying at your hotel, why don't you come stay at the cabin? Jed's being called away, so my couch will be free. I'm sure everybody would rest better knowing I'm not alone with the killer still on the loose."
"The couch, huh?" Mason asked, laughing. "Well, maybe I can talk you into an upgrade once I get there. Count me in. I'll be there in...say an hour?"
Triumphant, I closed the phone and turned to Jed. "I'm not going anywhere. Your good buddy Mason is back in town and will stay with me until things clear up."
He didn't seem as happy about it as I was. In fact, he turned and walked out the front door without saying another word.
"I don't like this, Taz," Rose said. "Mason may be a great guy, but he doesn't know what is really going on here. How much help will he be to you?"
"It's not like the walker is after me. My stalker is completely human and a verified serial killer. Mason has had plenty of practice with those. He may come in more handy than you think." I hesitated. "Do you think you would have time to gather up the information we have on the Luparii candidates? I can go through it and take out the odd reference to the behind the scenes fight. Maybe Mason could find something we've missed."
"We'll drop it off at the cabin on our way out. I don't dare wait until morning to leave. Besides, it's only a four-hour drive." Rose looked at me. "You could come with us, dear."
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. The killer had targeted me first and I wanted him staying here with me, not following Rose and Lily. The stalker had made an error in messing with my new family. I wasn't afraid anymore. I was flat out furious. I wanted a crack at the bastard.
Chapter 29
Jed's mood did not improve on the ride back to the cabin. On the good side, he wasn't yelling either. Not that I'd ever heard Jed yell, but I believed him to be capable of it. Maybe.
He stalked into the cabin and starting throwing his things into his duffel. Once his duffel was in the trunk, he unfolded Maggie's kennel and it followed. After he was finished packing he sat like a silent lump on my couch.
I wasn't about to let our time together end in silent movie mode. "I know you don't approve of me staying here, but if our situations were reversed, would you run away?"
He glared at me. "I have been trained to take down killers, you have not."
"You were trained to take down Benandanti, the occasional killer you may have gotten was just a fluke." Okay, so maybe I was a little angry too. I didn't like the situation any better than he did. It wouldn't be the same without him on my couch at night to scare away the nightmares.
He went back to silent. Maybe antagonizing him wasn't the way to get him to talk. I should know by now that an angry Jed is a silent Jed.
"Look, I'll have Mason here. I may not be trained to take down killers, but he is. I'll be safe. I don't like our pack being torn apart like this, and I really don't like feeling like it's my fault your families are in danger. Maybe this means the killer will make a mistake. Maybe Mason will see something we don't and we'll wrap this up."
"Mason." One word. That's all I got after my whole spiel. What a talker, that Jed.
"Yes, remember him? The other great hunter? I thought the two of you were best buddies."
"I may have been premature in my friendship..." whatever he was going to say was lost in the sound of thrown gravel from my drive. Mason was early.
Jed got up and met him at the door. They stood for a moment looking each other up and down. Friends had turned to rivals in a week's time. Men are so fickle.
I shoved past Jed to welcome Mason and grab his bag. He held onto his briefcase. I had to smile as I could almost see the invisible handcuffs keeping it to his wrist. He was almost never without that thing. I sniffed. Yup, it still smelled like fresh squeezed orange juice. It must be the leather polish he shines it with.
After a last long look, Jed hugged me, whispering, "Take care and don't trust this guy any more than you do me, okay?"
I smiled—imagine, Jed jealous—and nodded. He walked past Mason with a terse, "You'd better keep her safe, Hays."
"No problem, Crowe. People in my protection always stay safe. I haven't lost a witness yet." Mason smiled at me as Jed walked gravely to the Nova and got in. After he had turned onto the main road, Mason looked to me. "What was that all about? Something between you two I should know about? I take it that Jed upgraded from the porch to the couch in pretty short order."
I shrugged. "It turned cold, but the couch is as far as he got, Mason. Which is where you'll be sleeping tonight, too." I helped him put his few things away, except his briefcase, which he never let anyone touch. Once his things were organized, I asked if he was tired from his trip and wanted to go to bed, or if he wanted to see the information we had gathered on the Spencer newcomers since the wolf attacks.
"I'm willing to go to bed if you'll share it with me. Jed upgraded to the couch in a matter of days. We've known each other for years. I was kind of hoping for an upgrade myself." He put his arms around me, pulling me to him. I closed my eyes for the kiss. We had kissed before, but heaven help me this was my first kiss with Mason while thinking of Jed.
I pulled away and shook my head. "Too much is going on right now, Mason. I can't think straight enough to make that kind of decision." I smiled at him to try to soften the rejection. "I really do like you and you've always stood by me—but now just isn't the time. My life kind of sucks right now, and that's not how I want to start my ..." I trailed off. I was pretty sure that Mason knew I was a virgin, but I just couldn't bring myself to admit it out loud.
Sighing, he walked over to the table. "Then I guess it's an overnighter of work to keep my mind off the bed." He glanced over his shoulder. "Which is kind of hard to do, this being a one room home."
"Hey, I have a bathroom," I protested.
"In real estate terms, I don't think bathrooms count. You have a one room, one bath cabin. Still counts as one room, especially with the bed visible from the front door."
I looked at the bed, too. It was rather large, sitting there taking up so much floor space. I'd thought about going with a twin to save space, but I love the luxury of a king sized bed. I did have hopes of someday sharing it with someone. Ri
ght now, I just didn't know which man I wanted in it. I was turning into a slut and I hadn't even had sex yet.
"I have a screen divider out in the workshop. We could set that up," I said halfheartedly.
"No good, Babe. The vibes coming off that bed would travel right through it." He sat down at the table. At least he was taking this well. But then it wasn't the first time I'd shot him down for one reason or another. Or the second or third time for that matter. I glanced back to the bed before sitting down, feeling guilty. Any other girl would have slept with him years ago. It's not like I expected to howl.
We got to work. Mason seemed surprised at all the information we had gathered. He smiled at me as I told him about the book my new friend was going to have to write, seeing as how she already had orders for it.
"When do I get to meet these new friends of yours? This Rose sounds like quite the character."
"She is. I've only known them a short time, but they seem more like family than friends. Rose is like the Grandmother I lost so many years ago." I'd never known my father's mother as she had died long before I was born, but me and Grandma Tess had been best buds. She was the one who had taught me to drive in her little VW bug. I can still hear her raspy voice singing "Chugalug, Chugalug," as I tried to get the habit of handling gas, brake, and clutch. I hadn't realized until now just how much Rose reminded me of her.
He smiled at me. "Maybe we could all have dinner together tomorrow. I could treat us all to that surf 'n turf I offered you last time."
"I wish we could." I hesitated. I don't know why I was reluctant to tell Mason about the album deliveries to the others. It might be the missing link that would lead him straight to the killer. On the other hand, he was getting awfully close to this, and if he did manage to find out my secret, I didn't want to be the one to rat out the others when he put two and two together. "They had to go out of town for a family emergency. I don't know when they'll make it back."
"Too bad." He sounded halfway distracted, looking back through the papers in front of him. I tried to stifle a yawn. My body had gotten used to those early night naps.
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