Crave the Moon

by Lori Handeland

  “It’s the opposite of yes.” She threw the saddle on Lady Belle.

  “But … why?”

  “That’s more your department than mine.”

  His confused expression intensified.

  “I have no idea why yes is the opposite of no. Isn’t that the kind of crap you study in college?”

  “Gina,” he said, exasperated. “Tempting me with linguistic puzzles will not make me stray from my goal.”

  When he talked all stick-up-the-butt like that she wanted to—

  Kiss him. Which was a big change from how she used to feel whenever she read one of his letters.

  When had the change happened? She wasn’t quite sure.

  What she was sure of was that she couldn’t leave him here. Who knew what would happen by the time she got back? What if he was gone like the others? The thought of losing Teo Mecate was not a thought Gina could live with.

  “I need better lights,” he muttered. “Certain equipment, people trained in uncovering the truth.”

  Oh yeah, more people wandering around out here would be a fantastic idea, Gina thought.

  “I’m not gonna call anyone,” she said.

  “My phone doesn’t work.”

  “Aw.” She pouted like an A. “If you want to call someone I guess you’ll just have to come back to the ranch and do it yourself.”

  The confused expression returned. “Why are you being difficult?”

  Gina turned away, messing with Lady Belle’s saddle even though she’d already tightened everything that needed tightening and checked everything that needed checking. “I don’t want you to be gone, too,” she whispered.

  He didn’t respond; she wasn’t sure he’d heard her. The activity all around them—the saddling of horses, chewing on granola bars, slugging water, talking—was loud and distracting. Even though Gina was totally focused on Teo, she didn’t hear him approach, only knew that he was near when the scent of oranges arrived an instant before he did.

  He slid his hands over hers where they rested on the saddle, set his lips to her hair, and murmured, “I won’t be.”

  She couldn’t help it; she turned her hands in his, tangling their fingers together and holding on tight. “No one saw what took them. A whoosh, a howl, the darkness. What is that?”

  “Mass hysteria,” he said. “You don’t really think they were taken by the night.”

  “I don’t?”

  He chuckled, his breath puffing against her cheek. “That’s impossible.”

  She knew that in her head, in the light of day, but in her gut, in the middle of the night …

  “What did take them?”

  “The wolves.” Teo shrugged, sliding his front all over her back. She leaned into him, enjoying the flex of his muscles against her skin, despite the layers of clothing in between.

  “Wolves are fast, but I doubt they’re faster than the speed of sight.”

  He squeezed her fingers, like a hug with hands, the movement making his biceps bulge against hers. “People see things when they’re frightened, Gina. Or, in this case, they don’t see things.”

  He sounded so sure, so rational; her crazy suspicions wavered.

  Gina turned, and Teo stepped back but not too far. “You need to spell it out for me.”

  “A wolf snatched Ashleigh and dragged her off. Amberleigh’s mind was so horrified by what she saw, it shut down and refused to remember anything but darkness.”

  “And Melda?”

  “Power of suggestion. Once she’d heard Amberleigh’s tale, when the same situation occurred she saw what Amberleigh saw—or rather she didn’t see it.”

  Strangely, that made sense.

  Of course, when compared to a whooshing darkness stealing, then killing people, pretty much anything would.

  Perhaps Teo’s explanations could be applied to what she’d heard and felt as well. Tricks of the mind. Post-traumatic stress. Anything was preferable to what she had imagined.

  “I’ll be fine, Gina.” Teo brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “I know.” She stepped out of his reach. When he touched her she couldn’t breathe, let alone think. “Because you’re coming back to the ranch with us if I have to hog-tie you and have Jase toss you over Spike’s back.”

  “But—”

  “You think we have superfast, supersmart, superhungry, vicious wolves on the prowl. I’m not leaving you anywhere near them.”

  Teo’s expression of surprise morphed into one of annoyance as he realized his own explanation had doomed him. “I’m an idiot,” he muttered.

  Gina shrugged. “Saddle your horse.”

  She let out a long, silent sigh of relief when he did.

  * * *

  Matt didn’t waste time thinking about how he could have avoided returning to the ranch. Looking back on what had happened thus far, returning had been inevitable. Gina wasn’t going to let him, or anyone else, stay behind when they might wind up dead.

  Although going back to Nahua Springs after McCord had seen him and Gina murmuring and snuggling next to Lady Belle … probably not the best idea. Matt had intercepted no fewer than half a dozen “I’m gonna kill you” glares from the man already.

  And if Matt was going to wind up dead or missing, he’d rather do it while he was hard at work in the place he’d spent a lifetime searching for. However, that was the problem with dead or missing—one rarely got to choose when and how it happened.

  They arrived at the ranch as the sun fell from the sky. The place appeared deserted, and Matt experienced a tingle of unease, although considering Isaac and Fanny were the only ones here, he doubted it could appear anything but.

  Then Matt glanced at Gina and caught her worried glance at McCord. The creepy, not-right feeling Teo had had … she was having it, too.

  “Mom?” McCord yelled at the same time Gina sprinted for the house shouting, “Fanny?”

  The front door opened, and Fanny stepped out. A collective sigh of relief swirled around the yard. The others dismounted and led their horses away, Tim and Derek quietly coaxing Melda and Amberleigh along.

  Fanny’s dark gaze stayed on the guests until they’d disappeared into the barn; then she motioned for Jase and Gina to come inside. Matt decided to go inside, too.

  He left Spike ground-tied with Jase’s and Gina’s horses. “Be right back,” he murmured.

  Spike snorted his opinion of that, but right now Matt didn’t have the time. Something was up; he had to know what it was.

  He slipped into the hall just as Fanny announced: “He was there, and then he was gone.”

  “Whoosh?” Gina asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Who?” Matt hoped it wasn’t Isaac.

  McCord whirled, a scowl already crinkling his face. “Get lost.”

  “No.” Matt joined them. “Who’s gone?”

  “Part-time worker.” Gina turned to Fanny. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

  “They had just put away the horses. It was late, dark. Juan was headed to his car. Then there was a howl, the sound like a big wind, and the darkness took him away.”

  “You saw this?” Matt asked.

  Fanny shook her head. “This is what my father saw.”

  Gina flicked Matt a glance. “Isaac is the least likely person to see something that isn’t on this earth. And since he didn’t know about what happened out there,” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, “he certainly couldn’t repeat the exact same occurrence back here.”

  She was right, of course, but what did that mean?

  “Did Granddad find Juan?” McCord asked.

  Fanny’s lips tightened as she gave a sharp nod. “Dead. Throat torn out.”

  Gina placed her hand on the older woman’s arm. “And then?”

  Fanny removed her arm from Gina’s touch, hugging her elbows, swaying back and forth, as if she was cold or scared, maybe both. “Dead is dead. What else could happen?”

  They all wa
ited, because from Fanny’s behavior, her expression, the shadows in her eyes, something else had happened.

  “Father came to get a horse to carry the body. But when he returned it was no longer there.”

  “Tracks?” McCord asked. His mother nodded. “What kind?”

  Her wide brow creased. “What kind?”

  “Boots? Shoes? Man? Woman? One set? Or two?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Where’s Granddad?”

  “He took his rifle. He has been gone all day.”

  “Have you seen any wolves?” Gina asked.

  “Not before Juan died. Since then, there is one that watches the house. That’s why Father left with his gun. He said it is the creature that killed Juan and that creature must die.”

  The others began to file inside, and Fanny rubbed her hands on her apron, face clearing. “I must return to the kitchen. Everyone will be hungry.” She peered at the group crowding into the hall. “Where are the other two?”

  Amberleigh gasped. Melda choked. Then they were both crying.

  Ah, hell.

  Gina glanced at Matt, and he moved forward, putting his arm around Melda, even as Gina cast him a dirty look for choosing the easy one and headed for Amberleigh. Gina jerked her head at Fanny, and McCord drew his mother aside to explain that what had happened at the ranch had been repeated away from it times two.

  Fanny began muttering in Ute, and Jase herded her and the others down the hall toward the kitchen.

  “We need to take,” Gina indicated Amberleigh, who’d folded herself into Gina’s embrace like a baby, with a downward tilt of her chin, “into town.”

  Matt nodded. The sooner the better.

  “Let’s get everyone cleaned up and settled first.”

  Matt tilted his head, patting Melda as she continued to cry on his shoulder. “You think that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s a better idea than dragging a traumatized woman into town covered in mud and just—” She mouthed the words leaving her there. “Besides, we need to talk to the police. I’d prefer not to do it dropping dried mud all over the station.”

  Matt wasn’t so sure. He figured their appearance would lend weight to their story. But … What was their story?

  “What are you gonna say?”

  Gina climbed the stairs, Amberleigh moving along compliantly at her side. “Give me an hour,” she said. “I’ll come up with something.”

  * * *

  A half hour later Gina stood beneath the heated stream of the shower, letting all the mud and grit slide down the drain. Too bad all the confusion didn’t wash off the same way.

  She’d been afraid she might have to climb into the shower with Amberleigh, but cleanliness appeared to trump craziness, because as soon as the girl saw indoor plumbing she stopped whimpering and tore off her clothes.

  Gina sat on the bed until Amberleigh came out of the shower wrapped in a robe—pale, with purple circles under her eyes, at least she’d stopped sucking her thumb—and kicked her out.

  “I just wanna sleep,” Amberleigh said. “Go away.”

  Before Gina was out the door, Amberleigh was snoring. Maybe sleep was the best thing. Maybe they’d take her to the doctor tomorrow. That might give Gina a chance to figure this out.

  She pulled back the shower curtain with a half laugh. There was no figuring this out.

  Although she would like to have a long talk with Isaac.

  The sun had set while Gina dealt with Amberleigh. She heard the others going into their rooms, turning on their showers. She threw on sweatpants, fuzzy socks, and a T-shirt, then went to find food, coffee, and her family. All three were in the kitchen.

  Fanny and Jase sat at the table, steaming bowls of soup and cups of coffee in front of them. Fanny made a move to get up, but Gina shook her head. “I’ll get it.”

  Before she’d finished, Teo entered, wearing nearly the same outfit as she—minus the fuzzy socks. His were just socks, white, athletic; he had a tiny hole in one heel. His wet hair was tied back; the ponytail had left a damp patch between his shoulder blades.

  “Private conversation,” Jase muttered.

  Teo opened his mouth, no doubt to tell Jase to perform an anatomically impossible act; then his gaze went to Jase’s mother and, instead, he smiled and crossed the room to help Gina—who’d filled a second bowl and cup upon his arrival—carry everything to the table.

  “Did Isaac get back yet?” Gina asked.

  “No.” Fanny glanced at the windows, her eyes as dark as the night beyond the panes. “Where could he be?”

  No one answered, no doubt thinking of what had happened to the others whose location was now a mystery. Everyone hoped Isaac hadn’t met the same fate.

  “The guests will be leaving tomorrow,” Gina said. “Then we can deal with this.”

  “With what?” Fanny asked.

  Gina took a deep breath, prepared to lay everything out—from the first time she’d fallen through the earth to what had, she hoped, been the last, but a movement in the doorway had them all lifting their heads. Derek hovered between hall and kitchen.

  “Growing boy,” Fanny cooed. “You would like more soup?”

  “Uh … no.” Derek stepped into the room. “Thanks,” he said as an afterthought, then turned to Gina. “That one blond chick who’s left?”

  Gina nodded, tensing. From the instant the blond chicks had come, any mention of them had been followed by something unpleasant.

  “She’s standing at the window in the upstairs hall, sucking her thumb and muttering, ‘No, no, no.’” Derek shrugged. “I figured that wasn’t good.” He left as quickly as he’d come, his footsteps thundering up the stairs.

  “Damn,” Gina muttered. “I thought she’d sleep the night and we could take her in the morning, but—”

  “Let’s take her now.” Jase shoved his chair away from the table and stood. “I’ll get the car; you get the blond chick.”

  “How come I always have to get the blond chick?” Gina muttered, but she headed for the front hall. Teo fell into step behind her. Explanations would have to wait.

  As they reached the stairs, Jase opened the door. Instead of walking through, he cursed, then slammed it shut again.

  Gina, who’d just planted her foot on the first stair, spun. Jase stared at the closed door as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

  “What’s the matter?” Gina asked.

  He glanced over his shoulder, then, without a word, stalked into the living room and opened the curtains. Gina followed.

  What she saw through the window made her blink, rub at her eyes, glance out, then rub at them again. No matter what she did, the scene remained the same.

  A semi-circle of wolves stood in the front yard, barring their exit from the house.

  CHAPTER 18

  “Everyone’s seeing what I’m seeing, right?”

  “Dammit,” Jase muttered.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Gina glanced at Teo. He stared at the wolves with a thoughtful expression. At least he wasn’t staring at her with the same look, one that brought to mind a mechanic who just loved to take apart every motor he saw and lay the pieces on a tarp until he figured out what was wrong with it.

  “I told you never to go there.”

  Gina spun. Isaac stood in the archway between the living and dining rooms. He still held his rifle, which was strange. What possible good could come from a firearm in the house? Although—

  She peered at the wolves again. What possible good could come of not having one?

  “Now you’ve let it out,” Isaac continued.

  Which was exactly what Gina had been afraid of.

  The old man crossed the floor and peered through the glass. “They might crash through the window,” he murmured. “But I don’t think they will.”

  “What?” Gina blurted. “Why?”

  “I shot one with silver. They don’t like it much when one of their friends turns into a great ball of f
ire.”

  Gina had meant “Why would they crash through the window?” Wolves didn’t do that. They also didn’t turn into balls of fire when shot with—

  “Silver?” Gina glanced at Jase, who shrugged. The old man had finally snapped. “Maybe we should call the police.”

  “They’ll only die.” At Gina’s startled expression, Isaac lifted his rifle. “Their guns won’t be filled with silver. They’d walk right into an ambush. Silver is the only way to kill a Tangwaci Cin-au’-ao.”

  “What, specifically, is a Tangwaci Cin-au’-ao?” Gina’d heard the word in Isaac’s tales of the curse that lay at the end of Lonely Deer Trail. She’d thought it was merely what the Ute called their Angel of Death, but now she had her doubts.

  “Man-wolf,” Teo answered, then glanced at Isaac. “Right?”

  Isaac merely shrugged and went back to watching the wolves.

  “Man-wolf,” Gina repeated, thinking of the glyph on the cavern wall. Things were beginning to connect. Strangely, the connections only brought more questions. “What the hell is a man-wolf?”

  “Why do we suddenly have wolves where we never had wolves before?” Isaac’s gaze remained fixed on the window.

  Answering her question with a question wasn’t even close to providing an answer. But then, with Isaac, sometimes the answer came in a roundabout way.

  “Because they aren’t wolves,” he continued. “They’re Tangwaci Cin-au’-ao.”

  “Man-wolves. I don’t know what that means.”

  Isaac’s dark, endless gaze met hers. “Werewolves, Gina.”

  “That’s insane.”

  “Look at the eyes.” Isaac swept his mottled hand forward to indicate the scene still spread before them. “Those ain’t the eyes of a normal wolf.”

  Gina inched closer to the window. “Give me the binoculars.”

  Jase snatched Isaac’s pair from the end table. The old man liked to scan the hills; he’d always said he was searching for deer, but Gina no longer believed him. She lifted the binoculars, focused on the nearest waiting wolf, and gasped.

  The gaze that stared back was freakishly human.

  Wolves’ eyes were green or gray or brown, maybe yellow, but the color extended all the way to the lids; not a speck of white surrounded it. However, humans were a different story. Humans had eyes like …