Then he saw the wolf on the next hill over, slinking from the cover of trees toward some boulders. A few leaps and Clive would have him. He leapt forward…
…and fell into an agony of fire, as flames licked at his body, consuming him alive. He could not move away from it, and with dim awareness, he knew there was nowhere to move to, for there was no fire. The forest surrounded him with cool wholeness, but here in this spot, he was trapped in pain.
His howls filled the air as he writhed, tearing at his own fur and skin, trying to escape. How long he endured, he could not tell, but it ended as suddenly as it began. He lay where he'd fallen, panting with fear as the other wolf howled from his perch, pacing back and forth as he watched Clive. Then the wolf turned and vanished through the trees.
Chapter 36
Tina paced the length of her room, crossing in front of Shandari, who sat curled on a chair, wrapped in a thin hospital blanket. The healer's eyes were glazed with blank exhaustion and her face seemed incapable of holding onto any expression. Her dark skin was a paler ash color. She assured Tina she was all right and just needed to rest, but Tina was worried about her anyway.
She was even more worried about Clive. The moon was high as the clock approached one in the morning. A wind was blowing, and Tina could swear she heard howls. That was nonsense, of course. Even if there was howling, the werewolves were much too far away for her to hear them.
Kasia wasn't taking any chances. She had placed a ward around the clinic and left guards to patrol the area. Shandari kept in touch with Kasia through her strap, and Kasia told them everything she knew as information came in.
No one had spotted either wolf since Clive had entered the forest. They had reported hearing howls, described by one shaky guard as “soul-tearing.” Tina had shuddered at that report. Maybe she was hearing it.
“I need to be there,” she muttered under her breath as her pace brought her to the wall and she turned around. “I need to help him.”
“Tina.” Shandari's weary voice broke into her fretting. “Come sit down.”
“I can't sit. I need to be there.”
“You don't understand what's happening to you. Please. Sit down. Let me help you.”
Tina waved a hand at her. “No way. Whatever you did to heal me has worn you out. You are not doing anything else.”
“No.” Shandari sighed. “But you are using magic and you're not even aware of it. I can offer you some advice.”
“What do you mean, I'm using magic?” Tina stared at Shandari and tried to make sense of that.
“It's coming off you in sparks. You don't have the slightest idea how to control it, and that can be dangerous.” Shandari pointed a firm finger at the chair next to her. “Sit down and listen to me. I'm too tired to chase you.”
Tina sat, resisting the temptation to jump back up and resume pacing. “What am I doing? I don't feel anything.”
“Then why are you pacing?”
“I'm scared. I'm afraid for Clive. I want to help him and I'm stuck here in this room.”
Shandari wrapped her blanket tighter around herself, as if cold. Tina's skin itched in response—she was too hot. She shivered with suppressed energy.
“Deep breaths,” Shandari said. “Breathe gently, but deeply. You need to realize that you and Clive have worked magic between you. You are connected while the spell is in action. Some of your tension is coming from him.”
“How? When? I don't understand.” Tina fought off a wave of dizziness.
“You don't need to understand. When there's time later, I'll explain. For now, just listen. And calm your breathing.”
There was a wild glittering light in Shandari's eyes, as if Tina's anxiety was feeding into her. Alarmed, Tina made an effort to follow her instructions. By her second deep breath, the glitter began to fade.
Shandari nodded. “That's better. Now try to focus the energy you feel. Picture yourself gathering it together into a ball. Hold it close.”
Tina closed her eyes and tried to see it. Shandari continued to talk. “In order to help Clive, you need to turn your energy to him. He will have more power if it is focused. That's better. Keep breathing. Relax your muscles, and concentrate on sending your energy to Clive. Picture it filling him and giving him strength.”
Tina's shivering eased as she relaxed. She thought of all her anxiety and restlessness, picturing it as electric current. When she paced, the current shot out in all directions, uncontrolled and ineffective. She pulled it together and saw herself send it to Clive. She didn't know what he looked like as a wolf, so she pictured him as she knew him—human and male, desirable and comforting. She felt him in her arms, sweaty and soft from lovemaking, his heartbeat strong against her skin.
Her womb grew warm, and she placed a hand there. Come back to us, she thought to Clive. We're waiting for you.
~~
The air itself seemed to harbor the scent of the silver wolf, as if it were bound to do his bidding. This confused Clive, often sending him down paths that became impassable brambles where the scent faded to an illusion. He would turn to retrace his steps or go another way, and find himself surrounded by the scent again, uncertain of what was real. He kept moving, ignoring confusion and exhaustion, the instinct to protect growing until it was a siren pushing him on.
Memory of pain receded and he grew more alert. He paused next to a stream, lapping the water for a time, then crossed the ribbon of water to climb the hill on the other side. A screech of agonized terror rent the air ahead of him, sending him into a crouch, fur bristling along his back. He inched forward through a bush, stopping within its cover when he saw the source of the screeching.
A squirrel lay on its side and scrambled in a circle along the ground, the screech a continuous wail torn from its throat. Its eyes flamed with unseeing terror. Its body jerked in deep spasms. Clive flinched, remembering his own pain. A spasm flipped the squirrel onto its back. Its legs twitched in the air as the screech echoed from the branches.
A flash of silver in the distance drew Clive's attention. The other wolf paced in a cove, his eyes glittering, fixed on the squirrel.
Clive's muzzle was the only part of him visible, and now he inched back, withdrawing entirely into hiding. Not allowing a single leaf to move, he pulled away from the bushes. With no wind to betray him, he slipped through the trees, circling around the invisible trap of pain. He came out several feet behind the cove, pausing in utter stillness to gauge the silver wolf's actions.
The wolf still paced, an occasional anxious whine sounding in counterpoint to his steps. Once he crawled forward, as if to approach the agonized squirrel. His sharp yip! yip! mimicked the throes of mating. Clive gathered his strength, and leapt.
The silver wolf turned a moment before Clive slammed into him, too late to move or react. His teeth scraped Clive's leg, but did not prevent Clive's fierce grip on his back. They rolled, Clive sinking a deep bite onto the other's shoulder and hanging on, ripping away a chunk of flesh when he was thrown clear. He charged back, lunging for the wolf's throat. Their jaws clashed, then pain burned through Clive as the other's teeth tore through his ear.
The silver wolf raced away, leaping a thicket of bushes despite his injury. Clive followed, blood leading him close on his enemy's trail. His insides shook with the fear of falling into another trap of pain, but now it was easier to follow the wolf's scent. He knew without understanding it that the other wolf had laid the traps and would try to lead Clive into another one. Clive followed him with exact steps, knowing the other wolf would not enter one of his own traps.
He spotted the wolf near the top of a rise, facing away from him. With his blood roaring in his ears, he leaped upward in two bounds, slamming into the hard silver side as the wolf turned toward him. His speed carried them over a stand of low bushes. Clive landed on top, teeth tearing into the soft fur of his enemy’s throat. Chaotic light and noise distracted him, and then a familiar and ominous scent struck his senses: the sweat and terror of hum
ans, elves, and others. The silver wolf wrenched free, slicing a long tear across Clive’s stomach. Light bounced confusing patterns on the ground and trees. Shouts and frantic movement surrounded them.
Rage fed him, blocking pain, and heightening his senses. Years of imprisonment under the weapons of the enclave guards had taught him of the danger. But the wolf was the more immediate threat. Clive lashed out, catching one back leg in his teeth before the wolf got away. The silver wolf became a raging ball of claws and teeth. Clive lost his grip and the two of them rolled together, blood, fur, and saliva flying from their furious embrace.
They parted a few inches, chests heaving. The crackle and retort of a guard’s weapon flashed into Clive’s vision, blinding him. Instincts honed in the prisons sent him flying for the cover of a tree. Behind him, he heard another retort, and a sharp yelp from the silver wolf. Still half blinded, he saw the dark form of the wolf fly past him. Scrambling on his torn paws, he turned and followed.
On the next hill over, the wolf was waiting for him, attacking with desperate fury. Clive tasted his blood, smelled the singed fur and muscles. The silver wolf had Clive by the throat, but his hold was tenuous. Clive couldn’t break free, but he managed to get his hind legs under the other wolf, preventing him from using his weight to hold Clive down. The weapon had torn low into the silver one’s side, and Clive kicked the underbelly, ripping the tear further open.
With each kick he delivered, it seemed that the silver wolf’s teeth gripped harder and deeper into his throat. His legs were covered with blood and shredded organs, but his open eyes saw nothing but darkness, falling as if from a great distance, rushing inward at ever-increasing speed.
Chapter 37
Tina jolted to full alertness from her meditation pose, chest heaving against a wave of vertigo. Her spirit soared upward in a giddy spiral of freedom, like a dove released from a cage. Shandari turned to stare over Tina’s head with wide and glittering eyes.
“What is that?” Tina asked. She looked around the room, trying to find what was different. There was nothing to see, but every cell of her body was aware that something had changed.
“The ward is gone,” Shandari said. She stood. The expression on her face made it clear she was listening intently for something.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Tina breathed in, tasting exhilaration.
“Fontaine?” Shandari turned to Tina, her gaze sharp and penetrating. “He might be. Or Kasia’s witches finally deciphered the ward and broke it.” She crossed her arms. “Tell me what you feel.”
“Like I’m flying.” Tina stood, holding her arms out. “I feel excited and light. I want to run.” She turned to the door as a laugh bubbled out of her, taking a step as if to start her run immediately.
Shandari reached out to touch her arm and Tina spun back around to face her. “Then I think he is dead,” Shandari said. “It is only his death that could free you to this extent.”
That brought all kinds of disturbing questions to Tina’s mind, but she shunted them aside, too happy to bother about it now. Her giddiness increased. “Let’s go. I want to see Clive.”
This time Shandari gripped her arm, holding her in place. “No, Tina. Not yet.”
“Why not?” Tina jerked away, her happiness plummeting into a deep hole, leaving a creeping panic in its trail.
“Clive is still in were-form. It’s not safe until he’s changed back.”
“But he’s hurt.” Tina glanced up, thinking to check the sky, but there was nothing to see except the ceiling. The panic blossomed. She turned to the door.
Shandari’s call did not stop her, but as Tina dashed toward the front of the clinic, she heard her friend’s footsteps behind her.
A guard stood at the entrance, blocking her way. His head brushed the nine-foot ceiling, and the arms he crossed over his chest were thin tree trunks. Tina detected a green cast to his face and hands, but it was his resolve that she noticed. No one was getting past.
“What the hell?” She pivoted to face Shandari. “Is the ogre here to protect me or to guard me?”
“Both.” Shandari managed to sound authoritative and apologetic all at once. “If you go out there, we may not be able to protect you. You’re safest in here.”
“Bullshit.”
“Why….”
“Bullshit, Shandari! You’ve got a hundred witches and elves and whatever in a perimeter out there. Kasia’s out there. Hell, Will’s out there, and for all I know, so is Ringstrom. I’m not in any more danger than they are.”
“Yes, you are. You have a connection to Clive that the others don’t. It will draw him to you, and he will not be able to control himself.”
“I don’t care. He’s hurt.” Tina swung back to face the giant, thrusting a finger upward to poke as high as she could. She could just hit his chest, but she jabbed the finger hard. “I can feel it. Clive is hurt. He needs help, and you are going to move aside and let me out of here. If you want to come with me, fine. You can carry the damn car, for all I care. Now, move.”
His expression didn’t change, but he lifted an eyebrow at Shandari. Tina didn’t bother to look back, but Shandari must have given some signal, for the mountain shrugged once, and stepped aside. The double doors looked incongruously small next to him. Tina wondered how he had managed to get inside. Her panic gave her no time to question. She slammed against the doors, shooting through as they flew open with a force they weren’t made to withstand.
Outside, the night was clear and cold. Stars glittered over the town. Shadows of nearby buildings leaned toward her from the west, drawing Tina’s gaze to meet the glare of the full moon. She jammed her feet into the ground to stop her forward rush, shocked into paralysis by its unspoken message. Then the panic returned, and her attention came back to the empty parking lot. “Shit!” She turned in a circle, arms outstretched, until she came face-to-face with Shandari, watching from the porch. Somehow, the giant had emerged from the building. He stood behind Shandari, regarding Tina with deep disapproval.
She ignored him.
“I need a car,” she said. Shandari lifted her hands, as if to prove she did not have one. Tina slapped her hips, remembering too late that her cell phone was gone. Lips pressed tight, she took a step, firming her resolve to barrel past the giant again, to go back inside and use the phone. She’d call Sharon.
Before her next step, bouncing lights appeared around the corner of the clinic, accompanied by the crunch of running feet.
“Nobody move!” A man’s shout came from behind the leading flashlight, which stopped about twenty feet from Tina. In the light’s shadow, she saw a gun pointed at her. Behind the lead figure, the second light was performing a series of leaps as the person holding it scanned the area behind Tina, then around and behind all of them.
“It’s me,” Tina said, her voice small in the darkness. “Is that you, Eddie?”
“Yeah.” He lowered his gun, but didn’t holster it. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“I’m trying to get to Clive. He’s hurt. He needs me.”
“That’s not going to happen, Dr. Cassidy.” The other man stepped next to Eddie. He seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place him. “You should not be out here at all. You need to...”
“I need to find a car and get out there,” Tina said. “Why can’t everyone understand that?”
He stepped closer to her, his glance taking in the scrubs and flimsy tennis shoes she wore, reminding her she wasn’t prepared to hike around the mountains.
“I do understand. I’m Riff Freeder. I was with Clive when he found you. I understand a great deal, Tina. Including the danger you would face out there.”
“The other werewolf is dead.” To her own ears, Tina sounded like she was begging him.
“The danger now is from Clive.”
“Clive will not hurt me.”
The giant guffawed, making the ground tremble under Tina’s feet. Even so, she heard Shandari’s sigh from the porch.
&n
bsp; “Will you force Clive to live with the consequences if he did?” Riff asked.
“Listen, I don’t know how to explain this to you people. But I’ve got to be there.” She pointed with both hands at her chest and stomach, turning to catch the gazes of each Kaarmaneshian. “There’s something inside me that’s forcing me to go. Every minute you detain me makes it worse.” She focused on Shandari, whose face showed a trace of doubt. “It hurts, Shandari. If I don’t go, I think I’ll explode. And Clive will die.”
Shandari stared at her, then turned to Riff. Tina held her breath, wondering if they could communicate telepathically. Perhaps they could, because Riff nodded and held out a hand to Tina.
“We have a vehicle in back. I’ll take you. But you’ll still have to convince Kasia.”
Everyone around her moved, streaking off in various directions. Tina could not track them all, so she concentrated on her hand in Riff’s as he pulled her around the clinic at a fast trot. The beam of his flashlight passed over Eddie’s black Dodge Ram. She scrambled into the back seat, while Riff stood guard. A few minutes later, Shandari and Eddie rounded the building. Shandari climbed in and tossed a bundle of clothing into Tina’s lap.
“Your jacket,” she said. “And hiking boots. Your nurse brought them over from your house this afternoon.”
Bless Sharon and her uncanny insight.
No one talked during Eddie’s wild drive to Kasia’s reconnaissance camp. Tina struggled into the boots, fighting both the seat belt and her lack of balance with the curvy mountain road. Eddie’s speed matched her own urgent yearnings, so she didn’t ask him to slow down.
Just as they screeched to a stop behind Ringstom’s police car on the side of the road, Shandari reached a hand to grip Tina’s fingers. “Center the panic you feel,” she said. “Control it, Tina. You’ll need it to convince Kasia.”
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