by RJ Blain
I hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into that. Wrinkling my nose made my face ache and roused my need to sniffle. “We get the hell out of New York, that’s what. I’ll catch a flight out of Newark, I guess. I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
Samantha smiled. “I have a better idea.”
The seatbelt tried to strangle me as I sat straighter. I yanked on it with a wordless growl, which earned me a glare. “What’s your idea?”
“Give me a sec.” Samantha hit a button on her steering wheel. “Call Boss,” she said.
The SUV dialed, piping the audio through the speakers.
“Peter,” a gruff voice answered.
“It’s Samantha. I need to take a few days.”
Peter barked out a laugh. “You’re aware the Queen Bitch is in town, right?”
I slapped my hand over my mouth and swallowed my laugh. A snort exploded out of my nose. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “You’re an asshole, Peter.”
“Oh, why, hello Queenie. It’s been a while.”
Samantha cleared her throat. “This is my phone call, thank you very much.”
Ignoring my friend, I propped my elbow against the window and grinned at the dashboard. “It has been a while,” I agreed. “I’m stealing Samantha, Peter. She’s mine.”
“The last time I checked, stealing people is called kidnapping, Queenie. How long do you want her for?”
I smirked, glancing at Samantha. She sighed. “A week, Boss.”
At least Peter wasn’t a problem. He was willing to do anything, so long as I didn’t break too many laws. I doubted he’d care if I broke a lot of laws, so long as I wasn’t caught. Anything that ended up on my credit card was money in his pocket, one way or another.
“Personal time or on the clock?”
Before Samantha could answer, I replied, “I’m paying. Use the private card.”
Peter whistled. “Please tell me you aren’t buying another company on the sly. Even routing through Swiss accounts, it’s hard to hide that sort of movement, Queenie.”
“I wasn’t hiding it. I was just doing a friend of mine a favor.” I bit my lip. It’d been one of the most dangerous tricks I’d done, arranging a sale between me, myself, and a third party. Anyone wanting to follow my trail would first need to dig to establish a connection between all of my accounts. Most of those Swiss accounts, numbering in the hundreds, I had closed immediately after the transfers. Someone really determined could trace it back to me, but not without a great deal of work. “I just want some privacy for a bit.”
I could hear the lie in my voice, and smell it as a sour taint to the air. Pinching my nose so I wouldn’t sniffle, I stared over at Samantha. Her eyes were fixed on the road.
“Don’t we all? If you need anything from me, let me know,” Peter replied.
When I could speak without sneezing, I let go of my nose. “Actually, there is something you can do for me, Peter.”
“What is it?”
“Build me a paper trail to Atlanta. Put a concierge on the plane instead of me. Get her to Atlanta, then send her to the Bahamas for a week, on me. Up for the challenge?” I couldn’t help but grin. Magic of the mundane sort was what Peter did best, and he was always boasting he could do anything for me. I hadn’t tested it much before. It was time to see how close to real magic he could get.
“You want me to have an employee pretend to be you?”
“I thought you could do anything,” I teased.
“I know just the girl, and I can book a private plane to both locations. What’s going on?”
After testing my luck with one lie, I gambled with the truth. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided on a story that wouldn’t cause too many questions, I hoped. “I tangoed with some of the rich and famous. Decided I didn’t like it. Thanks for your help, Peter.”
“You’re playing a dangerous money game again, aren’t you?”
I wrinkled my nose and bit back the urge to sigh. “Always.”
“I’ll be using my card and name on Allison’s behalf for at least a week,” Samantha said.
“Okay. I’ll unlock your limit. Pay Samantha’s cards for the next week from the usual account, Queenie?”
“Yes.”
“Have fun, ladies. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Peter.” Samantha hung up before I had a chance to say anything. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. It does simplify things, you have to admit.”
Samantha shook her head. “You’re impossible. Did you ever tell Peter you’re a Fenerec?”
“Werewolf,” I grumbled. “And hell no. It’s bad enough he knows I’m an unaffiliated witch.” Without my latent powers as a witch, the old silver would’ve done a lot more to me than make me uncomfortable.
“Peter wouldn’t betray you. You earn him way too much money.” Samantha wrinkled her nose at me. “Sometimes, you’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met. Other times, I swear you tuck your tail between your legs and hope the world doesn’t find you.”
I snorted. “It’s only because the reward for turning in a two-bit witch with less than middling ability isn’t as much as the interest he scalps me for.”
It was bad enough Peter knew about the Inquisition. It didn’t surprise me. The Inquisition paid well for rogue witches and wolves. I didn’t want to imagine the reward for the head of a wolf-witch.
“It doesn’t hurt that he believes you’re worthless to the Inquisition,” my friend agreed. “But he calls you Queen Bitch. Why then, if he doesn’t know you’re a Fen—sorry, werewolf.”
That took me by surprise. I twisted in my seat to face Samantha. “I didn’t tell you? He told me I was acting like a bitch a few years back. I told him he could call me Queen Bitch, thank you very much, and hung up on him. It stuck. Why didn’t you ask me earlier?”
Samantha stuck her tongue out at me. “Because every time I see you, I’m too busy cleaning up your messes.”
“Oops.”
“Bad dog! Learn some restraint, please.”
I tried not to grin, failing miserably at it. “I’ll try.”
“Thanks.” Samantha scowled at me.
I turned back to the window and stared out of it. Dark clouds obscured the sky. “What’s the plan, then?”
“I’m taking you out into the country. I’m going to lock myself in the SUV. You’re going to wander off and kill some rabbits, or whatever the hell gets in your way. If you’re not back in a day, I’m going to hunt you down and force you to change back. After that? No idea.”
Apparently no one had sent my body a memo that being allergic to one’s self was a nuisance. I winced. “But, Samantha, I’m allergic.”
“Oh, stop your whining. I have your meds in the backseat. Just be quiet and let me drive.”
I shut my mouth. There was no arguing with Samantha when she was right.
~*~
Samantha stopped the SUV deep within the Appalachian Mountains some three hours after escaping New York City. I could feel her eyes boring holes right through me, and while I fidgeted, I didn’t touch my seat belt or make any move to get out of the vehicle. It was still dark and cloudy outside, but I could still feel the presence of the moon low in the sky. It tugged at me, begging me to do the one thing I knew I shouldn’t.
Once I left, I didn’t know if I’d return. Despite the SUV’s warmth, I shivered.
“How long has it been, Allison? And don’t you even dare lie to me.”
I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “Ten or twenty years.”
The air soured with Samantha’s anger. “Christ, woman. You go out to the sticks several times a year, and you’re telling me you don’t even change? Are you insane?” Samantha beat her balled hand against the steering wheel. “Get the hell out of my car and don’t you come back until you’ve gotten at least one kill. You hear me? Out! I’ll be waiting. I’ll piss out the damned window if I have to until you’re sane.”<
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I cringed and unbuckled. “Fine.”
My friend shook her head and splayed her hands over the wheel. “Damn it. Be careful, Shimmer.”
The handle of the door may as well have been ten thousand miles away. My fingers twitched, but I couldn’t bring myself to grab it. “What if I can’t change back?” I whispered.
Samantha sighed. “Then I’ll get out of the damned car, figure out which wolf in this damnable forest is you, and beat you until you change back. If that doesn’t work, so help me god, I’ll collar your mangy ass and sell you on eBay.”
I glanced at the plastic bags littering the backseat of the SUV. I shivered. It’d been haunting me, like some foul breath on the back of my neck. It was new silver, but silver all the same. To reinforce her threat, Samantha twisted around and yanked at one of the bags, revealing a collar and leash.
“There are laws against animal abuse, you know,” I muttered.
“Shimmer, the moon is going to set soon. Go while it’s still up. I’ll be here, okay? How do you want me to handle the GPS?”
I bit my lip. The collar and the portable GPS device were just two of the tools Samantha had in her arsenal of dealing with bad wolves. Unfortunately, wolves didn’t have hands, and I didn’t relish the idea of wearing a collar before trying to change. “Put it on me before I recover.”
Samantha paled, but grabbed the box with the GPS in it, opened it up, and tested it before nodding to me. “Damn it, Allison, you’re a pain in my ass.” With deft, graceful fingers, she attached the box to the leather collar. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
I drew a deep breath. I considered praying, but I had no idea if there were any gods out there who would listen to the plea of a werewolf. With my luck, I’d annoy one of them and end up cursed. The hinges squeaked as I shoved the door open. I left the necklace on the dashboard. If I didn’t manage to return to human form, at least Samantha would be left with something. Samantha followed, keeping her distance.
The lure of the full moon had waned, but the need to change roused at the thought of taking to the wilds on four paws instead of two feet. Breathing deep of the cold, wet forest, I succumbed to my wolf.
Before I had been forced through the initial ritual transforming me into a werewolf, one of the members in my new pack had told me the change was a little like being torn into several pieces, only to be stitched back together again without the benefit of painkillers. The others had agreed.
For me, it was a little like the shifting of the seasons. It ambushed me from behind, stealing my humanity and casting it aside in the same fashion as someone who discarded a winter coat because it was spring.
I rose to my paws and shook myself off. Something hugged my throat. With a snarl, I kicked at it with my hind paw. Metal tags jangled. An itch started on my right foreleg, and I attacked it with my teeth. A growl rumbled through my chest.
My nose burned as I breathed in my scent.
“Stop that. Bad Shimmer.”
I froze, bearing my fangs. Fear hung in the air, sweet and enticing. I quieted, so I wouldn’t scare off my prey. She, judging from the sweetness of the scent, was close.
“Shimmer!”
It took me a moment to remember that the metal box my prey hid in was an SUV, and the witch within wasn’t prey, food, or a prospective mate. It took twice as long to remember the female’s name.
Hunt, part of me demanded. Watching the SUV, I bit at my itching skin. Samantha wasn’t food. Samantha wasn’t prey.
Samantha was pack. Furless, weak, and incapable of hunting. Samantha needed feeding, as did I.
Hunt, my wolf ordered. I drew a deep breath. The stench of metal, oil, silver, and fear burned my nose. The full moon peeked through a gap in the clouds and bathed me with its light.
Lifting my head high, I howled.
There was no answer. A snarl worked its way out of my throat. Of course there was no answer. Samantha was the last of my pack. Humans had extirpated my brothers and sisters from all of the wild places nearby long ago.
I would, as always, hunt alone.
~*~
The rabbit squealed and thrashed in my jaws, and I didn’t wait for it to die before feasting. Its cries ended in a gurgle. I gulped the warm flesh down as fast as possibly without choking.
There weren’t other wolves to steal my kill, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other predators or scavengers out in the trees, waiting for their moment to strike. My growls rumbled in my chest. The first rabbit, as was my right as the dominant Alpha Female of our pack of two, was mine.
My weaker sister would get two rabbits, fresh killed for her, until she could hunt with me, until her song joined with mine in the still quiet of the dawn. I was aware of the moon dipping beneath the horizon as the sky lightened to the east. Drizzle dampened my fur. A sneeze burst out of me, the incessant itching of my muzzle intensifying with each breath.
Dragging my nose over the leaf-strewn ground didn’t ease the itch. If anything, it made the crawling sensation creep over my skin worse. I attacked the worst of the spots with my fangs.
When I couldn’t make it stop, I took my frustrations out on my rabbit. The tiny bones cracked beneath the force of my jaws. I licked the blood from my muzzle. A breeze stirred the leaves still clinging to their branches. Voices whispered, and I lifted my head, twisting an ear to listen. Snapping the last of the bones and swallowing them, I rose. Sniffing at the air, I stalked after the sound.
The musk of perfume tickled my nose. Humans, I decided with a silent baring of my fans. Females. I breathed deep, fighting the urge to sneeze. There was another scent mingling with theirs. Something more earthy, richer.
A male.
I flattened my ears back, dropping to my belly so I could crawl through the underbrush to get closer. The whispers grew in volume.
“Are we done yet? Hikers might find us if we don’t hurry,” a woman hissed. She sounded young. I flicked my tongue out to lick what remained of the blood from my muzzle.
Young ones were easy prey. My ears pricked forward. Not only were they easy prey, they were a threat to the mountain. The forests, the hills, and the mountains belonged to the wild ones, to the wolves.
They belonged to me.
The humans murmured again, with the young dissenter’s voice rising over the others.
I kept my fangs bared. The humans were invading my territory. No other wolf had claimed it from me.
“Quiet, Dana. The power of the Hallow’s Eve has not waned yet,” an older voice, that of a woman’s, snapped in reply.
I edged my way forward, shouldering through the brush. Under the cover of rustling leaves, I wormed my way closer to my prey.
“The sun’s rising,” Dana whined. Other voices—all feminine—murmured their agreement.
I shoved my nose through a thicket far enough to see the humans. Six of them huddled around something on the ground. It glowed with a pale light. My snuffling held my need to sneeze at bay.
The humans didn’t notice my noise.
Ears still pinned back, I took stock of my prey. My nose, in its weary, itching state, had missed the scent of a second male. A low, quiet growl rumbled in my chest. Four females sat together, the two younger, smaller ones—teenagers—flanked by the older ones. The males, while adult so far as my nose could tell, were young.
Humans. Frail. Larger than me in body, but so weak, so submissive. The girls flinched as one of the older females stood. “Once more,” she ordered.
I flattened myself closer to the cold of the ground. The males, like the younger girls, recoiled from the standing figure.
Submissives. I clacked my fangs. I couldn’t use them to feed my sister, who wouldn’t eat humans. The males weren’t dominant enough to be worth bringing back as a mate for either one of us.
“Once more,” the woman repeated. “Now!”
The humans stood in obedience of the woman’s order. Despite the chill of the autumn dawn, they stripped out of their clothes. Sweat glistened o
n their shivering bodies. As they took their places in the circle, I got a better look at the object they surrounded.
The quartz crystal glowed with an inner light, bright enough in the morning gloom I couldn’t tell what color the gem was. The wind masked my growls.
I recognized it, and a shiver of fear rippled through me.
The wild places of the world, my territory, my mountain, was no place for a witch-circle’s focus stone. I froze, staring at the facets of the gem as light rippled over the trampled ring around it. The humans stretched out their hands to the center of their circle. The wind strengthened, tearing leaves free from the branches and raining them down on the clearing.
The cold bit at my sore nose. Energy cracked in the air, sparks of static dancing over my fur. An acrid odor deadened my sense of smell.
“Focus!” the old woman barked. One of the younger girls made a whimpering noise, silenced by a glare from the dominant witch. “Think only of the cold of winter, of purifying snow, and of the power of the great blizzards.”
A chant started from one of the young girls, a pale little thing who looked like the easiest prey of the lot. One by one, the others joined her. The crystal’s light turned into the blue-white of undisturbed snow and ice. A beam of white light stretched from the ground to the sky, burning away the fog of morning.
The static strengthened with their chanting, sparks dancing from their ring to sweep over the ground. Frost spread from the circle, caking the grass and the trees before penetrating the thicket to freeze my fur.
Using the voice of the wind, their magic sang to me. It touched me, worming its way into my head. Its cajoling urged me to join the circle and add my song to theirs. I desired to summon the full, true fury of winter. The need for the cold and a mate ignited within me.
The chanting grew in volume until the humans shouted their words to the sky. My breath froze in my lungs. The drizzling rain turned to sleet. I struggled to draw a breath. Snow fell, blanketing my nose and sticking to my coat.
Freeze, the magic urged. My body shuddered from the cold.
I closed my eyes. With the darkness, I could feel the winter fighting the fledgling autumn. In that moment, the seasons shifted.