Wolfsbane: Aspect of the Wolf

by Jennifer Colgan

  All the training she'd had, the years of following her mother's and grandmother's instructions to the letter, should have made her a first-class witch. Where had she gone wrong? Why didn't things turn out perfectly for her the way they did for Charlotte and Audra and all the members of her coven? Even her own protection amulet had failed her tonight. And worse, she'd failed Vance. Assuming he and Daniel would ever speak to her again, could she find a way to fix her mistake?

  She sighed deeply and shoved a bundle of sage into her satchel. “Pity party is officially over, Em,” she said. Get your act together—now!

  The doorbell punctuated the end of her self-recriminations.

  Emilie grabbed the satchel and slung it over her shoulder, cringing at the pain from the scratches. She shifted the heavy bag to her other shoulder and headed for the door.

  Daniel stood outside, his handsome features sallow in the yellow glow of the porch light. Dirt smudged his shirt, and he smelled like damp grass and musky male. Emilie berated herself for the stab of desire she felt. This wasn't the time to get horny.

  "How's Vance?” she croaked.

  "He's fine. He changed back and I got him home before anyone saw us."

  Without invitation, he stepped over the threshold and grasped her upper arms. For the briefest second, she feared he would shake her or berate her for screwing up so badly with the spell.

  Instead, he hugged her. “Are you all right?” His rough voice sent a shiver down the center of her back.

  "Yes ... um ... I'm fine.” For a moment, she indulged herself with a deep breath of his scent and the warmth of his arms. God he smelled so good, like night air. When he let her go, she stumbled backward a step and dropped the satchel. “I've got everything I should need to undo the separation spell. Then we can start from scratch."

  He lowered his head and fixed her with a dark gaze. Its intensity frightened her a little.

  Her pulse raced and she looked away. “I'm sorry about how things turned out. I went over everything and I don't know where I went wrong but I'll—"

  "You put me in a bad position tonight."

  Here it comes, she thought, bracing for a battle. But she had no strength left. “Vance doesn't blame you, does he? I'm not trying to make excuses but—"

  "That's not what I mean.” Emilie felt the heat rolling off him in waves. She tensed and her muscles clenched when he tipped up her chin with his fingers and looked into her eyes. “I had to choose between you and Vance. I hated leaving you. I hated that I thought about killing the wolf to save you from him."

  Emilie swallowed hard. Every possible retort crashed together in her mind, into a jumble of unusable words. Daniel plowed on, though, saving her from mumbling incoherently.

  "Even when I was running through the park, searching for him, afraid the cops might find him, the only image in my mind was of you, under him, those filthy claws on your skin. I couldn't shake the image of him hurting you—and I wanted to kill him for it."

  Emilie drew in a labored breath. It seemed as if the air had turned to liquid between them. Their faces hovered inches apart, and she felt her aching body drawn to his.

  "I'm sorry.” Her words slipped out as a tortured whisper. She looked into his eyes again and saw something that made her blood pound and her knees weak.

  He brushed his thumb over her lips; it felt like a kiss. Emilie closed her eyes.

  "I'm the one who's sorry. I should have told you."

  "Told me what?” She tipped back her head, her heart hammering.

  "The wolf is inside me, too. Both of us."

  Emilie's stomach flip-flopped as a rush of cold realization washed over her. “You're a werewolf, too?"

  "Son of a werewolf. Grandson of a werewolf."

  "Huh?"

  Daniel took her hand and led her to the couch. “Pop was a werewolf hunter first. He became one when he was about twelve. He was bitten not long afterward, yet he managed to keep the secret for more than thirty years, even from our grandmother. Even after our father was born, he didn't tell her."

  "But he told you?"

  "I found out from reading his journals. My father didn't even know half of it. He had the wolf in him, too, but he didn't transform—at least as far as I know. He was never bitten, and you have to be bitten in order to transform. Pop apparently kept Dad out of it, wouldn't allow him to become a werewolf hunter."

  Emilie nodded as the puzzle pieces fell into place. The spell hadn't separated Vance from the beast because they were too closely entwined. The wolf had an anchor to hold onto within Vance, and making it let go wouldn't be easy.

  "Your grandfather was killed by a werewolf hunter, wasn't he?” she whispered.

  The pain in Daniel's eyes told her only part of the answer. “He had a few close calls and finally stopped hunting. He tried to avoid his old friends because he didn't want any of them to have to kill him one day.” He looked away, stiffening under her touch as he spoke. “I was seventeen. Pop had a cabin that bordered on the state forest. He stayed there in the summers after my grandmother died. Sometimes Vance and I would sneak up there at night, but he'd drive us home in the morning and never tell on us. One weekend, I went there alone because Vance had chicken pox ... he was so mad I was going without him..."

  He smiled at the memory, but it didn't reach his eyes. Apparently, the pain was too deep. Emilie touched his face.

  "A group of deer hunters wounded something by the lake. When I got up there, I saw it, crawling toward the cabin. I called for Pop, but he didn't answer. I panicked. I let myself in the back door and got his gun."

  Emilie squeezed Daniel's shoulder. Her heart ached for him. She didn't need to hear the rest of the story, but he seemed compelled to tell it.

  "They'd wounded it pretty badly and it was crazy with pain. I was going to shoot it, but I panicked. I ran and it chased me. Then it cornered me, and I fired. Just once."

  "I'm sorry.” Emilie wrapped her arms around him and cradled him against her. He clutched her to him, and she felt the ragged beat of his heart.

  "I should have told you, but Vance doesn't even know exactly what happened."

  Emilie wiped away the tears that brimmed in her eyes. “It's okay. It's okay. We don't need to reverse my spell, then. It worked—just not enough. It brought out the beast, but not far enough. We need something stronger."

  "Can you do it? Can you separate him from the beast?"

  "I think so. But I'm going to need Charlotte's help."

  "Charlotte?"

  "My cousin. She's from Seattle, so I don't think you have to worry about her spilling the beans to Bethany."

  Daniel smiled. “At this point, it doesn't matter to me anymore. We have to get Vance back to normal before he hurts someone else."

  "We will. We'll find a way."

  * * * *

  "He had a lot of nerve telling you that you were reckless when he kept a secret like that,” Charlotte said.

  Emilie entered the kitchen with a newly delivered pepperoni pizza. She sat their dinner on the table and slid into the seat opposite her cousin. Charlotte's green eyes held disdain for the Garrison brothers.

  "It wasn't an easy secret for him to tell.” Emilie's heart still ached for Daniel, and her body did, too, but she refused to dwell on that now. With Charlotte here, they had to concentrate on their spell work.

  "You had no idea your spell would set off a transformation. God, you might have set them both off."

  Emilie shook her head as she dug into her pizza. It was good to have Charlotte around. Her presence would keep Emilie's thoughts on the business at hand. “Daniel can't transform. He's second generation, only a quarter wolf, and he's never been bitten."

  "The spell could have triggered a similar reaction in him, though.” Charlotte rolled her eyes and reached for a can of soda. “You could have ended up with the two of them battling it out over who got to eat your spleen."

  "Nice image.” Emilie gave her pepperoni a skeptical look. “Thanks!"

>   "We've got sixteen days until the next full moon. It seems like a lot of time, but we can't waste it. The sooner we get this done, the better off Vance will be. I suggest when we do the spell, we chain them up just to be sure."

  Emilie sighed. “I told you, Daniel doesn't transform."

  "So he says. But who knows what else he hasn't told you? For all you know, he's a vampire, too, and just hasn't mentioned it yet."

  "I doubt that. I've seen him in daylight."

  Charlotte smirked. “But have you seen him naked?"

  Emilie groaned. Just exactly what she was trying not to think about. “What's that got to do with him being a vampire?"

  Her cousin shrugged. “Nothing. I was just wondering if you were heeding my sage advice not to get involved with him."

  "Yes, I have heeded your advice.” Emilie kept her voice neutral. Lying to Charlotte was damn near impossible, but she had no intention of admitting that she'd been having impure thoughts about Daniel. In fact, she'd been plagued by them since he'd left her apartment on Saturday night. She still wondered why she'd let him go and had not invited him to spend the night. Maybe because she would have felt like a guy—taking advantage of his emotional state to sate her own desires. That's what Charlotte would say, of course.

  Hopefully, with her cousin staying until the next full moon, Emilie would be able to refrain from doing something she'd regret, like inviting Daniel over for coffee, or dinner—or sex.

  "All right. Why don't we start by taking a supply inventory?” Charlotte's segue to business interrupted another foray into Emilie's carnal fantasies.

  "Good idea. I'm pretty sure we'll need some fresh wolfsbane."

  "And chains. Don't forget the chains."

  CHAPTER 11

  "So what do you think of our new resident witch?” Bethany asked over breakfast on Tuesday morning.

  Daniel nearly sucked coffee into his lungs at her question. He swallowed hard and coughed. On the far side of the breakfast table, Vance gaped.

  "Who—?” Daniel's voice hadn't cracked so badly since the age of thirteen. He coughed again. It had been hard enough keeping Emilie out of his thoughts since he'd left her on Saturday night. But having Beth ask about her nearly caused him a heart attack.

  "Don't play coy.” She grinned knowingly. “I saw you going into her magick shop last week. I hope you're not still trying to get the poor girl kicked out of town.” Beth's blue eyes twinkled, and she winked at Daniel over her glass of orange juice. “I stopped in there the other day to look around. She has some adorable things. Everything smells so good in there. I bought a set of wedding blessing candles to burn at the rehearsal dinner. I think I might go back and get one of her wreaths to put on our front door.” She nudged Vance, who had managed to wipe the look of shock off his face. “When we actually have a front door. So what were you doing there?"

  "I just stopped in to check out the place.” Daniel put on his disapproving face. “No sign of trouble."

  "I can't believe you're still holding it against her—that the previous owner was some kind of pervert."

  "I'm not. I just ... looked around. That's all."

  "Did you talk to her?” All innocence, Bethany dug into her scrambled eggs and waited for his reply.

  "Not really."

  "She's very pretty. A little lonely, I think. Oh, I heard someone threw a rock through her front window. Isn't that awful?"

  "Terrible.” Daniel looked at Vance. His brother shrugged, then grinned at his fiancée. “I've got to get to work. Are you two going house hunting again today?"

  "We're going back to see that cape on Morningstar,” Beth said, while Daniel congratulated himself on successfully changing the subject. “We really need to make a decision on it before Vance leaves."

  "Leaves?"

  "On my trip, the week after next,” Vance replied.

  "Right. You'd better make an offer before someone beats you to it."

  "That's what I said.” Beth plunked down her juice glass and nudged her fiancé again. “Mr. Indecision wants to look at split levels."

  "I just don't want to make a hasty decision.” Vance defensively spread his hands. “The right place will come along and I'll know it when I see it."

  "Just so long as you know it before someone else's name is on the mailbox."

  Daniel gulped the last of his coffee as Beth and Vance merged in a passionate kiss. He rolled his eyes and got up to leave. “Whatever place you pick will be great. Good luck."

  * * * *

  The ride to work took him past Mystikal Excursions as usual. Today, instead of craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Emilie through the window, he parked across the street. A small crowd had gathered on the sidewalk outside the shop, and a police cruiser had pulled up directly in front.

  Daniel hurried across the street just as the officer parted the curious group. Daniel's heart dropped into his stomach when he saw the red puddle oozing from under the shop's front door, which still bore the “Closed” sign hanging untouched from its pewter chain. The officer waved people away from the viscous, transparent fluid.

  "It's blood,” someone said.

  Daniel stepped forward, pushing through the crowd. He kept his distance from the red stain. “What happened?"

  "Is this your property, sir?” the officer asked.

  "No, but I—"

  "Then please step back."

  "It's my store.” Emilie appeared with a tall redhead striding behind her. Her cousin from Seattle, Daniel assumed. The two women elbowed through the crowd. “What's happening?"

  "Witches,” someone hissed.

  Daniel glared at the onlookers, but no one made further comment. The redhead assessed Daniel with a searing gaze, then looked away.

  "There seems to be something leaking out of the premises, ma'am,” the officer said. “It looks like blood."

  Emilie glanced through the window. “It's all over the floor inside,” she said, pulling out her keys.

  Charlotte bent down and boldly stuck her fingers in the substance. She brought the red fluid to her nose and sniffed. “It doesn't smell like blood."

  "You shouldn't do that, miss,” the officer protested. “You don't know what it is."

  "It's floor stain, probably Cedar.” Charlotte straightened and held out her fingers for the cop's perusal. “Looks like someone poured it under the door from the outside."

  "What for?” Emilie gave an exasperated sigh as she jammed her key in the lock.

  The officer began herding people away. “Move along, everyone. Looks like it's just an accident."

  The crowd thinned, but a few onlookers kept careful watch on Emilie and Charlotte as the women climbed over the thick red puddle and through the shop's front door. Daniel and the officer followed as soon as the last of the curious residents wandered away.

  "It wasn't an accident,” Charlotte said under her breath.

  The cop pulled out his notepad. “Do you want to make a report, ma'am? Any idea who might want to cause you trouble?"

  Emilie's gaze rested on Daniel. “No, I don't."

  "I'll write it up as vandalism, then. If you have any more problems like this, be sure to call them in."

  They waited quietly until the officer finished taking notes and left.

  Charlotte gave Daniel a disparaging look. “Nice work."

  "What are you blaming me for—"

  Emilie stepped between them. “Charlotte, don't. It's not Daniel's fault. We need to get this stuff cleaned up."

  "I'll see if I can find out where it might have come from,” Daniel said, careful to step around both Charlotte and the sticky puddle.

  Emilie shrugged. “Thanks, but I don't know how much good that will do."

  "Arresting someone for vandalism will do a lot of good.” He tried to keep his voice level, but his guilt ate at him. He wanted to touch Emilie, to comfort her, but her stiff posture and Charlotte's dark glare told him to stay away. Maybe Emilie's cousin was right to blame this on him. He'd set th
e stage for reactions like this. “I'll call you later. If you need any help ... let me know and—"

  "We can handle this, thanks,” Charlotte said. Her disapproval seemed to follow him out of the store.

  * * * *

  "So that's big brother,” Charlotte said when Daniel's car pulled into traffic.

  Emilie scowled at her cousin's back. “You didn't have to be so rude to him. He wanted to help."

  "Help get himself out of his own mess. Where's your mop?"

  "In the back.” Emilie began moving display racks to make room for their cleanup effort. Her gaze wandered out to the street, where everything had returned to normal.

  Charlotte retrieved the mop and bucket from the bathroom. “You saw the looks on their faces outside. Everyone was scared. They think it's only a matter of time before your legion of flying monkeys swoops through town to carry off their babies."

  "That's not true.” In fact, very few residents of Cypress Park actually knew the whole truth about Chester Creek's dealings in black magick. Most of them thought he'd been selling drugs, not conjuring demons.

  "It is true. And Daniel is to blame."

  "Chester Creek is to blame. And I've got to undo the damage he did here.” Emilie put her hands on her hips. “I never thought it would be easy."

  "With Daniel Garrison on your side, it'll certainly be a lot harder.” Charlotte punctuated her statement by stabbing the mop into the puddle.

  Emilie rolled her eyes. “That doesn't even make sense."

  "Em, he's part of the problem, not part of the solution. And to top it off, he's drop-dead gorgeous, making it impossible for you to be properly repulsed by him. What does his brother look like anyway?"

  "Just as hot, but with dark hair and glasses. The studious type."

  "Engaged, you said?"

  "Yeah."

  Charlotte sighed and began mopping in earnest. “Too bad."

  CHAPTER 12

  Two and a half weeks later

  One night before the full moon

  "Is this really necessary?” Vance asked.

  Using iron manacles, Charlotte secured his wrists to the sides of a chair. Another chain held his ankles secure and a third circled his waist. He tugged at the bonds and gave her a skeptical look.