The Wolf Witch

by Kara Jorgensen

  “That’s more than a little blood! And I didn’t faint!” he cried, storming back into the clearing. “Why aren’t the servants doing this instead of us?”

  Emmeline’s hips and knees burned from staying in a crouch, and her legs were so numb she feared she would topple over if they had to run. Gernier and Bourgot worked in silence for a few moments before the squeal of an unoiled wheel broke through the distant croaks of the lingering birds. What remained of Mr. Doughty was gracelessly dumped into something metal that clanged when what she assumed was a limb wrapped against it.

  “What was it like?”

  Emmeline’s blood ran cold at the amused edge in Bourgot’s voice as he said, “Like I was alive for the first time. Everything felt… more. The world is louder, sharper, and you’re no longer constrained by Man’s rules. The pain is so strong you think you’ll die, but the bloodlust is stronger and it makes everything so much easier. Come on, let’s get this to the pit before the others wake.”

  He sounded so much like Lord Rose that Emmeline’s ribs tightened. She tried not to think about him, yet he and Lady Rose still haunted the periphery of her nightmares. She would wake with lingering visions of devils in the night or the rough edges of a rock in her hand and her heart would pound as if she had held her breath too long. That familiar adrenaline-stoked fear pumped through her body as the last echoes of the men’s voices trailed away.

  “Are they gone?” she whispered, her voice barely more than a puff of air.

  Nadir cocked his head to listen before nodding. Gripping the fallen limb, Nadir hauled himself to his feet, biting back a stiff groan. When Emmeline tried to stand, she found her muscles had finally frozen from remaining in the same position for so long. Catching her wince, Nadir shook out his legs before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up. For a moment, Emmeline clung to him, breathless as the blood rushed to her feet. Nadir Talbot was warm and solid and alive, and with his arm around her keeping her standing, she didn’t have to think of what awaited at the crest of the hill. The ice sparkled under the morning sun as the rest of the forest began to come alive with chirps and the shuffling of creatures. How could a beautiful morning be so terrible?

  “We have to go,” Nadir whispered, his voice wavering under its flat façade. “Can you walk?”

  The moment her legs no longer hummed, they started back down the path. Her knees wobbled under the sudden exertion and her legs were still numb in places where the snow had seeped through the layers of her gown. At the sight of the house’s imposing stone face through the trees, Emmeline’s brain struggled to process all she had heard. Wesley hadn’t done it. It was a relief, but it meant there were more monsters lurking in the manor. Monsters who wore the faces of men who demanded respect with a look or a dismissive flick of a hand. They had set upon a man she had spoken to only hours before and murdered him in the most ruthless way she could imagine. Her stomach flipped, but she steeled herself. She needed to focus on what she could do. It would be too soon to speak to his ghost. The newly dead were too disoriented to get coherent answers from, and her mother had said the more violent the end, the longer it took for them to settle.

  And what did Nadir think? She watched his hair swish against his collar in time with his steps. He knew nothing of werewolves and creatures. Had he seen the paw prints in the snow and how had he reconciled that with Bourgot blaming Verdun? Emmeline wanted to say something. She wanted to know how he was after seeing all of that, but she didn’t want to scare him away. If he knew how much of this shadowed world she belonged to, he would see her as she saw herself.

  At the edge of the tree line closest to the house, Nadir veered off the path and motioned for her to follow. She opened her mouth to protest, but he held a finger over his lips for silence. The undergrowth wasn’t nearly as dense close to the lawn, yet each crunched twig sounded like a firecracker to her ears. As they rounded the side of the house, she realized where he was taking her. A squat miniature of the house had been built in its shadow. A gravel driveway looped around the far side of the manor and ended at a wall with four massive doors. At one point it must have been the stables, but with the steamer growing in use, it had been converted into a carriage house. When Nadir stopped at the edge of the trees to check for anyone nearby, Emmeline slapped his shoulder.

  “Are you seriously going to steal one of their steamers?”

  His eyes widened and his mouth hung open before indignantly snapping shut. “No! How foolish do you think I am?” Reaching into his coat pocket, he dangled a long key in front of her nose. “I drove mine here.”

  Ignoring her reddening cheeks, Emmeline trotted beside him as they made a break for the carriage house. They sprinted past the bay doors, hoping no one in the house spotted them as they made their way to the side door. When Nadir’s hand closed around the knob, she expected it to be locked, but it opened without a whine. Her pulse quickened at the thought that perhaps someone was already inside waiting for them. Before she could grab Nadir to pull him back, he was already inside. Stumbling in after him, she was relieved to find the building dark and empty save for the four steamers slumbering within it.

  “Won’t starting it be noisy?” she asked, watching him dart into his grey cab.

  “For a moment, but once I get it started, we’re out of here. Even if they hear us, we’ll have a few minute head start.”

  Emmeline nervously eyed the side door. “I’m going to keep watch in case Gernier or Bourgot come back.”

  Nadir nodded as he pulled a lever within the cab and hopped out to run to the front. His back and forth from engine to seat looked like an inelegant dance. With a servant or helper, it probably would have been easier, but he hadn’t asked and she wasn’t volunteering. Standing on tiptoe, Emmeline peered out the high window beside the door. The path remained clear beside the house as the engine puttered softly.

  “Do you think we should leave Wesley behind?” Emmeline asked.

  “Wesley is a Pinkerton, right? He can handle himself until help arrives.”

  “True.” Emmeline sniffed her sleeve and checked the bottom of her shoes at the lingering scent of blood. When she looked back, Nadir was climbing back into the driver’s seat. “Did you know Mr. Doughty?”

  “Not personally. He belongs— belonged to the same society as Mrs. March. I met him once or twice while writing the—”

  His voice cut off at the squeal and sputter of the engine. Nadir pulled the lever again, harder, but the noise persisted. Cutting the engine, he returned to the front and unlatched the engine hood. When he peered inside, his face paled to an ashy grey.

  “What? What is it?”

  “All the tubes are cut,” he said, his voice pinched. He shook his head and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Before Emmeline could speak, he rushed to the nearest car and opened the hood. It must have been the same for he slammed it shut and murmured a curse under his breath.

  “What about the others?” she asked.

  “They’re newer models. I can’t open those without the key. We’re trapped. Oh god.”

  “Can we replace the tubes?”

  “Do I look like a bloody mechanic? Sorry, sorry, no. No, we can’t.”

  “Can we walk?”

  “To the nearest town?” He released a derisive laugh that bordered on hysterical. “It was a good half an hour from here by steamer. They would realize we were gone long before we got close to it.”

  “Let’s speak to Wesley. He’s as close to a policeman as we can get.”

  ***

  Emmeline and Nadir had been lucky thus far in that the only people they had run into were maids bustling between rooms with firewood. None paid them any mind, except to hang back out of sight at their approach. Stealing a glance at Nadir’s face, Emmeline frowned. Usually he came off as proud and fussy, but today he seemed, aloof and haughty, like he had layered on his outer shell a tad too thick. He was scared. She could see it in the sharpness of his ga
ze and the way his hand occasionally curled for something that wasn’t there. His walking stick probably. She had glimpsed the sword hidden within, though she doubted it would do much good against the beast that attacked Mr. Doughty. Lord Verdun, she corrected. At some point Nadir would crack and so would she. The question was could they make it through whatever they had to do to survive before that happened?

  At Wesley’s door, Emmeline hesitated. Voices carried from the rooms around them, and soon the others would be coming for breakfast. When Nadir raised a brow and nodded toward the door, she finally knocked as hard as she dared. No one answered. Panic’s icy grip tightened around her ribs. Grabbing the knob, she was surprised to feel it give under her hand. Her brother’s room was dark, save for a narrow gap in the curtains. His room had the same furniture as hers with the trimmings and walls done in a dark green. Her eyes skimmed over his shaving kit on the dresser and the pile of rumpled blankets on the bed. Peeking out from beneath the pillow was the silver barrel of a gun. With two fingers, she gingerly pulled it out and showed it to Nadir. He swallowed hard, his hand trailing to his bicep as he folded his arms.

  “Put it down before you shoot one of us.”

  She rolled her eyes but did as she was bid and carefully placed it on the nightstand. The thing was heavier than she imagined, and with the flames that liked to jut from her palms, she knew it wasn’t wise to be near gun powder. Wiping her sweaty palms on her coat, Emmeline walked to the banked fire and distractedly poked at the logs. She felt sick.

  “I don’t like this. I don’t think Wesley would have left without taking his things. What if something’s happened to him?”

  She didn’t want to picture her father’s face if Wesley had fallen victim to Verdun. He would be crushed, and with a horrible flip of her stomach, she realized she would be, too.

  “He could have simply gone down for breakfast early. Who knows when Americans eat. They probably wear dinner jackets and get up at the crack of dawn.”

  Nadir gave her the closest approximation of his charming smile as he could manage, and she nearly sobbed. She had forgotten how much of a burden it was to care about people. The worry that had disappeared during her time abroad felt as if it would drag her down until she drowned now. She sucked in a breath and gave Nadir a tight-lipped smile as she sank onto the edge of the bed.

  “You’re probably right. Should we just get dressed and go down? We’ll have to think of a way to talk to him in private if he’s there. A distraction per—”

  Emmeline stopped at the widening of Nadir’s eyes. His gaze seemed to look past her as his features returned to frozen terror.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered.

  Please let it be a spider, she thought, but as she slowly turned, she found she was staring at two long, furry legs that were far too large to be an arachnid’s. Relief washed over her at the realization that Wesley was fine, but on its heels was the instinctual panic of a cornered rabbit. The wolf’s breath swept across her neck as its eyes trailed along Nadir’s form. With a shake, the blankets fell from its back and it stood to its full height. Emmeline’s body locked against her will at the low growl rising from the wolf’s throat.

  “Is— is that a wolf beside you or am I hallucinating?” Nadir asked, his voice rising to a tight squeak.

  “It is.”

  He nodded, his eyes wider than she had ever seen them. He looked slowly flickered from the wolf to the gun lying on the end table. Following his gaze, the wolf bared its teeth at him and stepped back on the lumpy mattress. The moment Nadir sprang for the gun, Emmeline dove for him. She nearly swept Wesley’s legs from under him as she swatted the gun off the table top. As it fell with a clatter and skittered under the bed, Emmeline and Nadir collided. The shock of the blow knocked the wind from her as she struggled to catch ahold of him. Their limbs tangled together, but when he tried to wriggle away, she clung to him like a barnacle. She cursed his dancer’s strength as he easily slipped from her grasp and staggered toward the door. The wolf launched off the bed and over Emmeline’s head only to land gracefully between Nadir and the door. Nadir yelped and stumbled back. His hand caught the curtains while his foot hit the corner of the rug and slid out from under him. He desperately tried to scramble to his feet only to become more entangled in the blankets and curtains. Tears glistened at the corner of his eyes as he murmured under his breath while trying to free himself from his coat with shaking hands. Emmeline looked between Nadir and Wesley to find the wolf watching them with a thin smirk. Anger wound its way around her neck and chest, climbing lower until her hands tightened into fists.

  “Wesley, for god sakes, change back!” she ordered between clenched teeth.

  A twang of energy caught and yanked at the air around them. Emmeline felt it in the space behind her heart where she sometimes felt her bond with Immanuel Winter, but this was different. While the other felt neutral or open, this felt like someone had let the drain out of the room and the energy began spooling out. The wolf stumbled into a slouch as its mouth opened in a silent scream. Nadir’s body stilled beneath her hand as he stared at the wolf’s muzzle collapsing in on itself only to reveal a strong nose beneath the receding fur. Human feet emerged where paws had been a moment before. The transformation was so dizzyingly quick, her mind couldn’t track what had been where a moment before. Wesley half rose with a grimace only to have his legs buckle. He fell forward, clutching his throat as the final throws of the curse echoed through him. His breath came in rough wheezes that flared the taut muscles encircling his ribs so hard that Emmeline winced. Ignoring his nakedness, she reeled the rest of the coverlet off the bed and threw it at him. It half landed on his face, but he murmured his thanks and rested with his back against the door as he pulled the coverlet around his waist.

  With a knot in her stomach, Emmeline slowly turned to face Nadir. “Mr. Talbot, I—”

  Nadir lay slumped against the bed covers, his eyes closed and his lips parted. Emmeline frantically felt his neck before placing her palm over his heart to feel steady, quick beats that she hoped weren’t her own. She patted his cheek and whispered his name before giving him a good shake.

  “Mr. Talbot! Mr. Talbot, wake up. Nadir, open your eyes and look at me.” Emmeline glared over her shoulder at Wesley. “This isn’t funny. You scared him half to death. What is wrong with you? We only wanted to talk. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Do what? I was asleep and you two barged in. You scared me. Did you think maybe I didn’t open the door for a reason?”

  “Somehow, I didn’t think a lack of thumbs would have been the reason. And we came in because I was worried you were dead,” she hissed, keeping her voice low.

  “Why would I be dead?”

  Emmeline bit back a relieved grin as Nadir’s jasper eyes fluttered open. Unsteadily sitting up, he looked between Emmeline and the mostly naked man. His gaze lingered on the hard lines of Wesley’s chest before traveling to his face. His eyes grew wide, and for a moment, Emmeline feared he would faint again.

  “What the bloody hell just happened? And don’t tell me I didn’t see a giant dog or a wolf or whatever the fuck that was turn into your brother.”

  “Keep your voice down!”

  “No, I want to know what I’ve gotten myself into. Is he—? Did he—?” Nadir asked, his voice growing higher.

  Emmeline’s sinuses burned at the look on Nadir Talbot’s face. This is how it would end. “No! Wesley didn’t do that. Remember what Bourgot said? He said Verdun did it.”

  The look of amusement fell from Wesley’s face. “Verdun did what?”

  Drawing in a slow breath, Emmeline recounted what they had seen and heard in the woods. The furrow in Wesley’s brow and the hardness of his jaw as he listened reminded her of their father, but she didn’t dare mention it. Through the whole tale, Nadir sat silently, keeping his back firmly against the bed and his eyes on Wesley as if he might turn into a wolf at any moment. When she reached the end of the story, Wesley released a heavy
sigh and stood. He paced from one side of the room to the other without a word.

  “Well, what do we do now?

  “Do? You two aren’t doing anything. You’re going to have breakfast and pretend that nothing happened. You understand me? I need to figure out how deep this runs.”

  Emmeline pursed her lips and glared at the matching look in her brother’s eyes. “Then, tell us about your conversation with Colonel Roulet. Do you think he’s involved?”

  “No, I— How did you know I met with the colonel?” His eyes fell upon Nadir Talbot only to have the other man blanche. “Of course you told her. But no, I don’t think he was involved. He seems concerned about the others’ plans.”

  “Do you think he met with you as a distraction while they killed Doughty?

  “I really don’t. He seemed sincere when we spoke. He’s an unstable werewolf, but he’s not a killer.” He paused with his hand on the door of the wardrobe. “You said Bourgot admitted to killing someone?”

  “I believe so.”

  “And do you know him from London?”

  “No,” Emmeline said the same time Nadir replied, “I do.”

  Nadir held up his hands. “I don’t know him. I’m fairly certain I’ve seen him at a party or two. I think he was at Elsworth’s last party, the one we were just at. They were speaking when I went to get you a drink.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I really don’t bother to know one dull lordling from another unless absolutely necessary. I’m sure we have seen hundreds of people at salons and parties that we couldn’t name. I didn’t recognize him until I saw him talking to Elsie after dinner, and I didn’t think much of it.”

  Wesley nodded slowly. “There were four murders in London similar to what you described. I smelled the perpetrator here, but I couldn’t figure out who it was. Now we know.”

  Outside the door, the soft clack of heels pattered down the hall along with the sound of voices. The three of them stilled until they passed. Wesley looked pointedly from Emmeline and Nadir to the door.