“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, but thanks for offering. I need to be able to think out loud and talk to myself to work this out. Having company would only distract me.”
“Be careful, then.”
I looked at the clock. Two thirty. I had only been asleep for an hour? It had felt like several. “If I’m not back by four, send a search party.”
“Right. Werewolves to the rescue. Are you sure you’d feel safe with that?”
“It depends on which one you send.”
The puzzled look on her face as we walked out of the office told me she would ponder what I meant for a while, but I didn’t care. I felt like I had finally made progress in solving the mystery of the missing children.
I walked across the lawn and resisted the urge to look back and see if I was being followed, or at least watched. I found the trail leading into the woods and took the north fork, which would bring me to a bluff over the river and my grandfather’s “thinking spot”. It was amazing how quickly my feet remembered the terrain, the dirt path with underlying rock exposed by the rain and erosion. I wondered if anyone else had been this way recently, if my grandfather had gone out to his thinking spot soon before he had disappeared. The sunlight made dappled patterns through the leaves, but the slight metallic smell in the air told me a storm was building close by. I didn’t care—a little rain wouldn’t hurt me.
I stepped on to the bluff and walked to the front, where a boulder with an indentation that was just the perfect size for an adult bottom stood and looked over the woods and the land below. To the left, a few small trees held on, but there was mostly a drop-off. I could see across the hills, the trees a patchwork of green with fading that hinted of autumn. Below me, the river whispered, but I could only see glimpses of it through the greenery. I sat on a rock and just watched the clouds, felt the space, and was reminded this was the first time I’d been truly alone in almost a week.
I let my mind wander over the past few days, the revelations about the guys and the suspicions I had about my own family and the Landover Curse. Up there, alone, I knew I would have to face memories I’d avoided for years. I would have to read the contents of the box my grandfather had pointed out to me as well as the letters from my childhood.
“Oh, Andrew,” I moaned, and a drop plopped on my jeans. I went to wipe the tear from my cheek, but another one fell, then another. I buried my face in my hands as all the grief from the past—and the past week—welled up and spilled out in great, heaving sobs. The biggest insult was that Robert wasn’t there to hold me and comfort me, to let me cry on his shoulder.
When I raised my face to the sky, I saw the clouds had turned dark gray, and an ominous rumble was enough to send me scurrying off the bluff and back toward the Manor. Soon sheets of rain fell, and I had to stop to get my bearings as the path seemed to taper off into the woods. Had I taken the wrong path off the bluff? I didn’t know if there was more than one, but then, things may have changed since my childhood. Righteous indignation welled up. I’d been through enough, and now the forest would betray me? I picked a direction that felt right and headed that way, picking my way through the underbrush.
I walked along, pelted by raindrops so big they may as well have been small water balloons. My clothes were soaked completely, and I couldn’t help but ponder how miserable I was. It was all Robert’s fault. If he hadn’t screwed up my appeal to keep my job, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
But then, the little voice at the back of my head told me, he would be the most welcome person to you right now, and I had to admit it was right.
I continued to walk through the forest, completely lost, and then the rain let up enough for me to hear something behind me. It matched me step for step, only a beat behind. I quickened my pace, and it did as well. The image of the black wolf came to mind, the way it had stalked me and driven me into hiding on the night of the fire, and then how it had reappeared the night of Louise’s death. Had it played with me enough? Was it waiting to finally drag me to my doom?
Strong arms wrapped around me and tackled me to the ground on a bed of pine needles. The smell, the same as in my dream, burned my nostrils. I screamed at the top of my lungs and brought my knee up to my attacker’s groin. He grunted, but laid on top of me, which completely immobilized me. I squirmed anyway.
“Will you be still?” asked a familiar voice.
I stopped writhing. “Leo?”
“Who else?” He raised himself up on his hands and looked at me through rain-soaked hair. I became acutely aware of his thighs across mine, his face only inches away, and his hair dripping into my eyes.
I turned my head away. “Okay, okay, I surrender.” Then a thought crossed my mind, and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Oh, for God’s sake, what are you laughing at?”
I rolled on to my side, now laughing so hard I couldn’t speak for a moment. He sat back on his heels and watched me.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I sat up. “The thought just hit me that I’m very glad you don’t smell like wet dog.”
His lips twitched. “Actually, it’s a good thing I do smell like a dog, otherwise I wouldn’t have found you. Do you have any idea how far away from the Manor you are?”
I looked around as though I could divine my location from the trees. “I’m completely lost.”
“Well, it’s going to be a bit of a walk back. Come on.” He stood and held out his hand to me. I took it, and he helped me to my feet.
“How is your wrist?” he asked as we walked back the direction I had come.
I held it up. “Fine. You didn’t damage it when you tackled me.”
“Good. I was trying not to.”
“Did Lonna send you?”
“No. I saw you leave the Manor and was worried when the storm blew in and you didn’t.”
“Are you my guardian angel now?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Now that is one job I would not want. You’re little, but you get yourself into some big messes.”
“This is actually the lesser of the two today.” I remembered Kyra’s running after us at the junkyard. “I think your girlfriend tried to shoot me earlier.”
“Who?” The shocked expression on his face seemed genuine, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Kyra. She came after us today when we talked to Ricky, the junkyard guy.”
“I know Ricky. He’s a good guy. Kyra tried to shoot you?”
“She ran after us yelling something about a man-stealer.”
He brushed leaves off his jeans. “And she had a gun?”
“Not that I could see, but she reached in her pocket.”
“If she was fresh off the hunt, who knows what she was thinking?” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “She lost a lot when she developed CLS. We all did, but it really screwed up her lifestyle.”
I crossed my arms. Was he actually defending her? “And what did she lose?”
“Her business. Her home. Her life. She ran a modeling agency in Memphis and Little Rock. Her main clients were girls whose parents were willing to pay her outrageous fees for classes, but to her credit, she was very good at placing them with companies in New York and L.A. When she started disappearing at night and news of her erratic behavior got around, her contacts dried up, then her clients, and she finally had to close the agency.” His voice became a little hoarse, and I could tell Kyra’s loss echoed his own. “She moved up here, where her parents had a cabin. They’d died the year before and left her a little money, and she found a place where she wouldn’t be bothered and where she could exist as a werewolf.”
“Wow.” My problems seemed a little better compared to having lost everything. “She shouldn’t have come after us, though.”
He turned away and studied the gloom ahead. “Who am I to say what she should or shouldn’t have done? We all make mistakes, Joanie.”
It was my turn to look away as my wrist gave a little throb. Or maybe it was my heart. We walked t
he rest of the way in silence.
Chapter Thirteen
“Thank God!” Lonna threw open the kitchen door and hugged me close in spite of my wet clothes. “I didn’t know what had happened to you. You were gone for hours.”
“And you didn’t send the cavalry?”
“Ron said Leo had gone after you. I figured he would be best since he knows the woods.”
I looked at Leo, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. It struck me that Kyra was his pack-mate, and who was I? Nothing but an ivory-tower princess who may or may not know the secret to their cures. And if they were cured, would they then live happily ever after?
Lonna distracted me from my thoughts by throwing a giant bath sheet around me. “Go on up and take a shower. Gabriel will have dinner waiting when you get done.”
The butler was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. “Are you okay?” he asked. The concern in his eyes almost made me start crying again, but I felt ashamed for having gotten lost and then for wanting to wallow in my self-pity and grief, especially since others had lost so much more.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good, then. I’ve drawn a nice, hot bath for you and warmed your robe and slippers.”
“Thank you, Gabriel.”
He inclined his head, and I searched for something more in his smile. His face didn’t change, but he squeezed the top of my arm as I walked past him.
I felt more human after my bath and walked down the stairs to find Leo, Ron and Lonna in the sitting room. Gabriel had retreated into the kitchen and, I found when he handed me a glass of shiraz without saying a word, into his formal persona.
“Galbraith called while you were upstairs,” Lonna said. “I told him you’d call him back when you were available.”
“You didn’t tell him I was bathing, did you? He’s the last person I want thinking of me naked.” I caught Leo’s glance and felt the heat in my chest and cheeks. “I’ll make the call in my office.”
I sat at the desk and looked around. Something seemed different, but I couldn’t place it. I didn’t care. I was tired, hungry, and just wanted to get dinner and go to bed.
“Galbraith.” The clipped tone was the same, but it seemed like ages ago that I’d seen him.
“This is Joanie Fisher. I was told that you’d called?”
“Ah, yes, Doctor Fisher. This is regarding the butler your grandfather retained. He apparently has an interesting background.”
My stomach clenched, and I put the wineglass on the desk. “What kind of background?”
“One of your colleagues is coming into town tomorrow. He didn’t want me to say who because he wanted to surprise you, but he has some interesting information about this Gabriel person.”
“Be straight with me, Galbraith. Are we in any sort of danger?”
“None foreseeable.”
“Right.” Well, this was getting nowhere. “I’d also like any papers my grandfather may have left with you. Are there any files?”
“There is one. He wanted me to hold on to it until you’d seen the Manor and had become acquainted with some of its secrets.”
“Right, and now I’ve got more secrets than I can handle.” We set up a time for me to meet with him and this mystery person at two o’clock the following afternoon at his office in Little Rock.
“What was that about?” Lonna asked as I sat down.
“I’ve got to go into Little Rock tomorrow to meet with Galbraith. He’s been holding on to some of my grandfather’s papers for me.”
“Why didn’t he just give them to you when you met with him before?”
“He said my grandfather wanted him to wait until I had been here awhile. Guess he didn’t want to put too much on me at once.”
Ron and Leo exchanged a look.
“What did he want you to see?” asked Leo.
“I’m guessing it’s the big secret that no one is talking about. Or ever talks about willingly.”
He dropped his gaze to the butternut squash soup. “There’s really nothing to say.”
“Actually, I’m fascinated by the whole culture of it. The names, the pack, the fact that Gabriel is a virtual exile for wanting to help my grandfather, but here he is cooking and cleaning for us.” That only reminded me about what Galbraith had said. A wave of frustration exploded in my chest. So what if he tried to poison us all? At least I wouldn’t have to deal with all the damn secrets.
Lonna cleared her throat. “So Joanie found out the vector for how CLS victims are becoming infected.”
Ron’s and Leo’s spoons clattered into their bowls.
“It’s in vaccinations.”
Ron’s jaw dropped. “We had flu shots right before we got sick.”
“We think it’s in the kids’ Tdap vaccines.”
“They’re about the right age.” Leo sat back and ran his right hand through his hair. “That vulnerable age for development of CLS.”
“But was it the same batch?” asked Lonna. “They go through a lot of that stuff, just like they go through a lot of the flu vaccine, I’m sure.”
“So there’s something in the vaccines, but it’s not the only thing.”
“Do you mind if I look at those charts?” asked Lonna. “Fresh eyes might help.”
“Not a problem. I’ll bring them into the library.”
Gabriel cleared the soup dishes in preparation for the main course. “Just tell me which boxes you want transferred, Madam, and I’ll bring them in there while you finish dinner.”
“Thanks, Gabriel. It will be all but the box with the letters and the two really old ones.”
Leo smacked both hands on the table, and I jumped. “I’m coming with you.”
“Coming where?”
“I’m coming with you. To Little Rock. Who knows what danger may be waiting for you there?”
“Are you kidding me? I don’t need your protection.”
“Like you didn’t this afternoon?”
“That was different.”
Gabriel came in and set a grilled beef tenderloin on the table with horseradish sauce and rolls. “Who would like a slice?”
“Go ahead and start with the ends for the girls,” Leo said. “Ron and I like it nice and bloody.” He bared his teeth at me.
I couldn’t help it—I laughed, particularly when his facial expression went from ferocious to bewildered.
“I think I’d like a rare piece as well,” said Lonna.
“Yep, and I’m a medium rare girl, so sorry, Leo, try again.”
The corner of his mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. “So you’re interested in werewolf culture.”
“It seems like you have your own. You have your wolf names. I’m assuming there are territories involved, otherwise the appearance of the strange black wolf wouldn’t have made such a big stir for you.” Never mind why it did for me.
Ron held his plate up to Gabriel for a couple of slices dripping with red juices. “A wolf’s territory is where he hunts. Where the pack hunts. And where the pack leader is.”
Leo jumped in. “That means that this land is the property of the pack. And the last time I checked, you’re not a member.”
We locked eyes, and my heart beat in my throat, but I refused to look away. A sense of strength and power overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t help but imagine what it would have been like if the moment in the woods had taken a sexual turn.
“Hasn’t anyone told you never to challenge a predator?” he asked me in a low tone and brought me out of my fantasy into the present moment.
I remembered our first meeting and what he said to Galbraith about his right to the land. Instead of being frightened, I got pissed. No way was I going to back down from this infuriating but fascinating man. “It doesn’t matter about your stupid pack. I’m my grandfather’s heir. Sorry, bud, but this is civilized society.”
Lonna looked back and forth between the two of us and then put a hand on my arm. “This isn’t a productive discussion,” she said. “Of course the estate
is Joanie’s, that’s what the will said.”
“We’re sorry, of course you’re right.” Ron put his hand on Leo’s arm, and I couldn’t help but notice the similarity in gestures. “Please forgive my cousin. He’s under a lot of stress right now. We really do appreciate all you’ve done for us.” I saw the knuckles of his hand turn white as he squeezed Leo’s arm. Leo’s face went pale.
“I’m sorry, Doctor Fisher. I do appreciate your hospitality.”
I sat back, shaken. That was the first glimpse I’d gotten of the animal Leo since he had hurt my wrist, and I was as troubled by my own reaction as his. What is this? Doctor Leo and Mr. Werewolf? It was good Ron intervened when he did, otherwise they would have been sleeping in the woods again. Even so, I wasn’t thrilled about having two resentful werewolves in the house in addition to the butler with suspicious credentials and a best friend who seemed to be developing an extra bitchy side.
After dinner, Lonna and Ron went into the den to play a board game, and I went out on the back porch with a glass of wine. Leo had disappeared before dessert, and I honestly didn’t care where he had gone. Gabriel was in the kitchen cleaning up.
I sat back on the Adirondack chair and looked across the lawn, the edges of the woods inky black outside the range of the spotlights on the house. The lights gave everything a garish glow. The thought crossed my mind that the house would be an amazing place for parties. I could picture it, twinkling lights in small potted trees around the yard, buffet tables on the patio, and a live band set up on the porch. I could see myself walking across the lawn, greeting guests, a tall, handsome man in my wake. I couldn’t see his face, for he always had his back to me as I watched the imaginary scene, but I knew he must be with me because I saw a sparkle on imaginary Joanie’s left hand. She had bigger boobs than me, too. Obviously this was a fantasy. The babble of voices dissolved again into the sounds of the evening.
The irony of the situation hit me. This place had been built for entertaining but never had seen a party like I imagined. The ballroom with its strange murals had lain under a layer of dust for months if not years, and who knew whether it was only there to cover up the lab? Nope, no parties here. Just secrets and closet skeletons with fangs.
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