Goldenseal

by Gill McKnight

  “An easy target. Why did he go for you?”

  “The same reason. Easy hit. I picked up his trail from your cabin. I didn’t realize what I was following.” He smiled ruefully. “Inexperience. I was lucky I hurt him harder. After he ran I found I couldn’t hold my shape. I began to change back to human form too quickly. Not a good thing.”

  Amy nodded. “Claude said you were suffering from an overload. I wasn’t sure what he meant.”

  “You would have been next, Amy. Virgil would have come for you. We were all guarding you. It’s just a pity no one knew who the rogue werewolf really was.”

  “Bastard. I hope Leone got him.”

  “Leone?”

  “When he was after me, a second wolf appeared and chased him away. He nearly had me. It was so close.” She shook her head in wonder at her marginal escape. “It was Leone,” she whispered softly. The mystery was no more. Leone’s secret was out in the open. All that was left was what they had now.

  “Well, she is your mate.”

  Amy left Paulie tucked up and recuperating and started out for the most logical place she could think of, the storage cabin. Connie must still be there, being administered to by Marie and her horse-felling potions. Amy had to see her to set her heart at rest.

  It was terrifying running alone along the forest trails. Amy failed to understand how her body was still operating and not curled in a fetal ball under a bush. The only thing that kept her going was adrenaline and her anxiety to see Connie.

  Nevertheless, the nighttime valley had never looked so frightening. The full moon hung heavy, its bright light illuminating and shadowing simultaneously, giving her guidance on one hand but playing on imagined fears with the other. Every rut and stone along the track was visible, and her feet flew over them. At the same time, every darkened branch, hollow tree, or shady undergrowth hid another imaginary monster. Amy ran on, as if the hounds of hell were after her. For all she knew, they were.

  Her mind was in turmoil, seething with questions, conclusions, and frustrations. The Garouls were werewolves. Had been so since time immemorial. Had Connie known this? Marie was her partner, so she must have known. It seemed only Amy was in the dark all these years. Why? Was she untrustworthy? Had her teenage romance with Leone tainted her into being the perpetual outsider?

  It hurt an incredible amount, so much that her chest cramped at the implication that these people were not the second family she had always thought. That Connie, her only real family, colluded with the Garouls, and in doing so had been wounded and…and possibly mutated into a monster herself.

  I should run away. Leave them all and go to Europe, like before. This secret could become a cage if I don’t run now. But she remembered the massive furred beast in the cab of Claude’s truck, leaning in to caress her neck with a maw that could rip a deer apart. And its clumsy attempts to get her to notice the cherry flavored candy, to bring her back to Connie. Amy knew there was nowhere else on earth she wanted to run but here, along this spooky moonlight path, straight into danger for the people she loved most.

  The moon was clearly her ally, for she found the storage cabin easily. Cautiously approaching from the front, she could see the door lying open, swinging gently in the night breeze. There was no damage, but the air of abandonment didn’t bode well.

  The crawling sensation she now associated with Virgil slid over her skin again, like a cold, oily rag. So, he had escaped the library and the attention of the emergency services. She knew he was somewhere nearby, spying on her. Amy hesitated, fretful and uncertain. Where was the threat coming from? If she ran to the cabin, would he be in there waiting? Maybe staying in the woods gave her more options for escape.

  A flutter of movement from the shadowy doorway nearly had her bolting for the river. He was in there! She caught a flash of red—a red jacket. Squinting, she took a hesitant step forward. Elicia appeared, quietly but frantically signaling her inside. Amy made a run for it and leapt onto the porch and through the door, slamming it behind them.

  Elicia retreated into a corner, hovering anxiously beside the neatly made bed.

  “Did you see it?” she whispered fearfully.

  “Since I arrived in the valley, I knew there was something in the woods following me around. I thought it was a bear at first.”

  Elicia nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you could sense it. Some people can’t. They walk around blissfully unaware.” She moved closer to Amy, whispering fervently, “But they’re everywhere. Beside you in the supermarket aisles. Behind you on the subway. Teaching your kids, pumping your gas, cutting your hair—”

  “Checking your books out at the library.”

  Elicia’s dark eyes widened. “You know?”

  “I know he’s hurt Connie. I’m guessing he’s outside waiting to try to hurt her again.” Amy looked around the tidy interior. “I’m glad she got away.”

  Elicia shook her head slowly. “He’s here for me.”

  “You?”

  “He wants to rip out my cubs. They’re Garoul cubs. He wants to eat them.”

  “Cubs…” Amy’s mind was spinning. “Jori’s? Elicia, you’re pregnant by Jori, right?”

  “Yes. We didn’t plan…” Elicia began to cry; her shaking hands covered her face. “I love him so much, and now he’ll hate me.”

  “Why did you say cubs?” Amy asked quietly. “Elicia, do you know about the Garouls?” Her answer was a sad nod.

  “Well, you knew more than me.” Amy sighed and moved to comfort her. “I’ve known Jori all my life, Elicia. And I know he won’t hate you. He loves you. He’ll be so happy about the…cubs.”

  Elicia sank onto edge of the bed, sobbing in deep cracked gulps. Amy crouched and put her arms around her.

  “He loves you. We all know it. That’s why you’re here, in the valley. No one comes here unless they’re practically a Garoul.” She tried her best to reassure Elicia, all the time keeping an ear open for any prowling outside. “Elicia. You’ll be all right. Everything will be fine. I promise. Look, I have to go check that all the windows and doors are locked. Are you okay for a minute?”

  “It’s no use.” Elicia wiped her wet cheeks with her palms and sniffed. Regaining a little control, she kicked off her shoes.

  “Believe me, this is a stout cabin. I’ve seen the damage it took to get out of the damn thing, never mind in.” Amy was rattling the shutters. Combined with the bars on the outside, she felt certain the windows were secure.

  “It’s no use.” Elicia sighed dejectedly. She shrugged off her jacket and loosened her belt.

  “It buys us time. The Garouls know who he is, and he’s been stupid enough to come into their valley.” Amy barred the door with a hefty plank used for that purpose. It should hold; she was sure it would.

  “It’s no use…”

  “Elicia. Trust me, we’re safe.”

  “It’s no use…because I’m in here with you.” Elicia’s voice had dropped an octave and rasped harshly in the quiet.

  Amy stilled. Slowly, she turned to look at Elicia. Or what used to be Elicia.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Amy stared at the convulsing woman before her. Elicia was doubled over on the bed in pain. Amy recognized her facial twitching and twisting as the same process she had witnessed with Virgil’s change.

  “Elicia. Please don’t be a werewolf. Please.”

  “I’m trying so hard not to be tonight,” Elicia answered with a sickly smile, her face bathed in sweat. “It’s the moon. It’s hard—” She broke off with a deep moan.

  “Can I do anything to help? Will the cubs be okay?” They were incredibly stupid questions, but Amy felt compelled to ask. Elicia’s reply was to curl up tighter in a cramped ball.

  “Okay. Okay. Elicia? If you can’t control this…will I be safe in here with you?” Another stupid question, but it was clear to her Elicia was not managing to subdue her mutation. Her fingers had truncated to painful hooks, the nails had coarsened to thick, yellow flake
s. Nasty and needlelike. The veins on the back of her hands bulged out like a corded roadmap. Her face was turned to the wall and Amy knew this was deliberate. Elicia was ashamed of what her body was doing. She guessed Elicia probably had no clan but was another one of the rogues Paulie had talked about.

  Amy had no idea how this might go. Virgil was malicious; he’d hated her and wanted to attack. Elicia did not have the same malevolence, but did that mean Amy was safe? Would Elicia strike through fear and instinct alone? Did it work like that? How did any of it work?

  “Go, Amy. Go.” Elicia’s whisper was hoarse and filled with pain. Amy stood for a moment considering this. But it was not really an option.

  “I can’t. If I leave, he’ll come in here after you and the cubs. I can’t lock you in safely, the outside padlock is missing.”

  Anyway, where could she run? Out the door and straight into— what? She couldn’t leave Elicia behind, alone and defenseless. Not with Virgil prowling in the trees.

  “Please, Amy. Go. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ve only been like this for less than a year. I don’t know how to…” Elicia’s words trailed away in another grunt of pain. She gulped for air. Then she slowly relaxed, her body uncoiling from its tight muscular contraction. It reminded Amy of a woman in labor, the little bouts of relief between the shuddering, cramping pain.

  Uncertain, Amy reached over and smoothed Elicia’s forearm. Maybe she could help just by talking calmly. Leone had sat beside her in a small truck and hadn’t been a ravening beast. Perhaps a werewolf didn’t need to be dangerous, unless it wanted to. Maybe if she simply talked to Elicia she could ease her through the pain, and help her retain control.

  “Less than a year?” she said, deciding to try her theory out.

  “I parked too close to the Dumpsters one night. I was lucky to survive,” Elicia explained bitterly. “The papers called it a ‘savage dog attack on local woman.’Amonth later I knew what it was.” Her voice was a little stronger now. More like her natural voice. More confident she was helping, Amy perched on the edge of the small cot and continued asking questions.

  “You’re doing fine. Stay with me. Tell me more, Elicia. What did you do when you found out what was happening to you? It must have been terrifying.”

  Elicia laughed dryly. She rolled onto her back so Amy could see her fully. She had the same flattened muzzle with sharp, vicious teeth under a curled black lip that Amy had seen on Leone. Her dark skin had become leathery, covered with a soft black fur, thin around her face but thickening over her head and down her throat. That was the extent of her change as far as Amy could see. Elicia plucked ineffectually at her blouse, her hands misshapen and knotted.

  “Do you want me to help you undress?” Amy asked softly. The clothes looked tight and restricting. Elicia nodded a little shyly. Quickly Amy helped her disrobe; the skin on her body was dark and burnt looking, and very coarse. The musculature was far more pronounced. Elicia’s breast tissue had all but disappeared, flattened onto an expanded rib cage. Distress and anxiety streamed from her, and Amy’s heart went out to this woman who had to cope with this terrifying ordeal all on her own.

  A deep moan ripped from her throat and she doubled up, cradling her stomach as if protecting her cubs.

  “Breathe, Elicia. Breathe through the pain.” Amy tried to remember every hammy medical television show with a birth coaching scene. It worked. Minutes elapsed with no sound other than the breeze in the trees outside, and Elicia’s deep panting. Her body did not mutate any further.

  “There are others like me.” She finally relaxed, her trust in Amy established. “Virgil collects us. He’s set himself up as an Alpha with his own rogue pack. He wants what the Garouls have.”

  Amy’s jaw dropped at this. Elicia was aligned with Virgil? Well, initially. It seemed she had changed sides somewhere along the line. Clans, and packs, and rogues, and loners. There was an entire society of these beings out there. Amy’s precise, logical world shattered even further. The supernatural didn’t feel so super anymore. Not when it was incredibly real and sitting on her doorstep.

  “Is that why you started seeing Jori? To infiltrate the Garouls and the valley?”

  Elicia grunted. She was more comfortable now, but still hurting. Small convulsions ran forcefully through her body, caught in its half stasis. Amy watched it all carefully, praying she had made the right choice not to run away and abandon her.

  “But we fell in love, and now I’m pregnant, and I’ve betrayed Jori.” Elicia’s upset quivered across her face, and her eyes slowly caramelized into a lighter, golden color.

  “Hold on there, Elicia. Good thoughts only.” Amy placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “Remember, I told you no one comes here unless they’re already accepted. Jori and you have to talk. But he’ll be delighted you’re carrying his babies. Trust me.”

  “I don’t deserve your kindness, Amy. I tricked you to go to the library so he could meet you. Marie didn’t have any books to return. I did as he asked and never questioned it.”

  Marie had denied knowing Virgil Bloomsy; now Amy knew it was true. Virgil had flushed her out of the woods that day straight into the path of Elicia. Not that it mattered anymore. “Hush, Elicia. It’s okay. It was all Virgil’s doing.”

  She was answered with a sad little whimper and continued to stroke the furred shoulder, conscious it had been flesh only moments before. In the end, if Elicia couldn’t hold back the tide, Amy needed a plan B. It was obvious Elicia couldn’t control this. Her face was almost fully wolven now and Amy could see it distressed her. Elicia had not come to terms with her survival as a werewolf. She wore it with shame. Amy hadn’t thought of it that way. Leone was so statuesque and majestic; Paulie spoke with such pride in his heritage. Even Virgil was drunk with the vicious power of it. Elicia was frightened and unschooled. She feared it.

  “You know, you’re sort of pretty…for a werewolf.” Amy felt terribly for her. Elicia’s eyes flitted suspiciously at her. “Okay, handsome is the better word. Like Leone.”

  “You’ve seen Leone? As wolven?”

  Amy nodded. “She kicked Virgil’s ass and saved me.”

  “I’d loved to have seen that.”

  “You don’t like him, do you?”

  Elicia shook her head. “Never. But what did I know then? He made me feel even dirtier. Then as I got closer to Jori and his family, I saw a different way. They were so close-knit and warm. They were a real family, and I began to understand the pack mentality was not about power and hierarchy, but togetherness and bonding. They have such control over their wolven side,” she said in awe, before another wave of pain rolled over her. They sat quietly until it freed her.

  “You were the one who helped me, weren’t you? You left the langue d’oc book on the porch. And you tried to lead me here, to Connie, when I first found this cabin. Why?” Amy said, realizing it had been Elicia all along, and not Virgil as she had assumed.

  “I stole his book. I wanted you to know. I hated the way you were kept in the dark, opened to the same threat as Connie. I liked Connie so much. She was always kind to me when she came to the city to see Jori. Please, can I have some water?”

  Amy helped her sip from the bottle sitting by the bed. Elicia licked her dry lips. “I knew Leone was trying to protect you, but Virgil always managed to get close—” She gasped, more pain. The spasms were coming closer together, and though Amy could see no more outer signs, she was unsure what happened to the human physiology on the inside. Would Elicia being pregnant complicate her change?

  With a powerful gulp Elicia continued. “I took you to the trees because I wanted you to realize you were in danger and make the Garouls tell you the truth. You and Connie are more important than the stupid code. But when I saw them, what he had done to those trees, I knew he was out of control.”

  “Thank you,” Amy said simply. Elicia had given her a lot and placed herself at risk in her rejection of Virgil and his plans. Amy was glad she had decided to stay in the cab
in and comfort her.

  “Amy?” Elicia whispered into the dark.

  “Yes?” She leaned in closer to the quiet voice.

  “You smell like food.”

  “Oh.” She pulled back.

  “You need to go. Tell Jori I’m sorry, and I love him.”

  “No.” Amy stood and spoke forcefully at the creature curled up on the narrow cot. “You can do your own goddamn dirty work. When you’re ready I’m going to open that door and we both run for it. Once we get out, we go our own ways. Don’t you dare come after me! Find some other food. Just go and hide until morning.”

  Elicia blinked at her, eyes shining likes twin moons in a dark, muzzled face. Her teeth glinted, her mouth swimming with saliva. Amy knew she smelled like supper, but this was their only chance.

  “Elicia. Listen to me, concentrate. You have to do this for your cubs. You have to protect Jori’s cubs. These are Garoul babies, and you are in the Garoul valley. This is home. This is your home, and your cubs’ home.”

  The cot creaked as Elicia rose. She towered over Amy, but was not as tall as either Virgil or Leone had been. It struck Amy that a lot of the pain must be in bone, muscle, and ligament mutation. Amy moved to the door and lifted the wooden bar. She held on to it; this was her only weapon. It might well prove useless as a weapon, but she felt marginally safer armed.

  “On the count of three, we run.” With a nod at Elicia, she lifted the latch and pushed at the door. Her body tensed ready to spring out and run like hell.

  “One.” The door swung slowly open.

  “Two—” On the porch before her, side by side, were two massive wolven. Silent and sentinel. Amy realized with a sickening lurch that all this time they had simply stood and waited for the stupid human to open the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Both beasts looked in surprise at Amy’s wolven companion.

  Behind her Elicia whimpered and pulled back into the depths of the cabin. Amy raised her plank; she’d be lucky if she landed one blow.