Moon Dancer

by Aimee Easterling

  He frowned. “I don’t recall....”

  “It’s important.”

  As careless as my father had been of my needs and feelings in the past, he now seemed willing to answer me. Willing...but unable. Like Benjie, he was either a phenomenal liar, or he had no idea I’d spent my night fleeing from fiery hellhounds.

  “Have you seen Justine?” he asked instead of answering. “She was so annoyed last week about me adding a student-attendance mandate to your endowment. But I told her it was necessary to raise the profile of the expedition. I thought she’d forgiven me. Then she went out right after dinner and never came back....”

  For the first time, I took in the fact that my father was reading with the aid of a lamp even though he could have opened the blinds and enjoyed sunlight. There were bags beneath his eyes and his bed didn’t appear to have been slept in.

  If my father had possessed the statue long enough to draw it, Justine would have had several opportunities to manipulate it also.

  And puzzle pieces—better late than never—snapped together in my head.

  Justine had been the one who talked my father into helping me in the first place. Had she planted the pills in the van in an effort to remove extraneous students? The impulse perhaps being to provide breathing room so I could work?

  I’d gotten caught up in her patter when I first mentioned the expedition, the way she compared Mummy Cave to King Tut’s tomb. I’d assumed she knew nothing about archaeology when she waxed eloquent about ancient bling.

  And yet...Justine had known about the existence and importance of the petroglyph. She wasn’t a neophyte. She was just obsessed with jewelry.

  Had she set up this journey, not to help me bond with my father, but to use me as a bloodhound rooting out a major find?

  Then, yesterday, Justine had given back my childhood artifacts. Was that a distraction? Or an attempt to get me to confide in my father, to tell him where I was planning to dig?

  When that didn’t work, Justine must have followed us. Swooped in and—

  “She’s stealing the artifacts.”

  I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until my father was on his feet towering over me. “What? Justine? Why would you suggest that?”

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I was running through the upcoming dangers.

  Hellhounds, thieves, dark cave entrances. Could I risk calling in the police?

  If I did, my father couldn’t be present. For the past ten years, he’d found his antiquities legally, albeit unethically. But he had a decade-old record that could turn him into a person of interest in the current theft....

  “Buy a plane ticket and get out of here,” I warned, already turning away as I ran through my game plan.

  Step one, ensure the safety of my students. Step two, neutralize five hellhounds.

  Step three—assuming I was still living—find and stop Justine.

  STEP ONE WASN’T AS easy as it should have been. Because I had no ride other than the university van, and neither Patricia nor Suzy was willing to be put off by my vague explanations.

  “I still don’t understand how you ended up in the river,” Patricia prodded from the seat behind me. “I mean, it’s lucky Adena did a Lassie. But why were you kayaking in the first place?”

  “Turn here,” I said rather than answering. I glanced in the rear-view mirror and was relieved to find all of the other students sound asleep.

  They must have partied late into the night while I was walking through caverns. It was too bad Patricia wasn’t similarly inclined.

  “What can we do to help?” Suzy asked from the driver’s seat, cleverly changing the subject when it became clear I didn’t intend to answer Patricia.

  Benjie shifted uncomfortably behind me. “We have it under control...”

  He didn’t believe that and neither did I. But matters would be ten times worse if Patricia and Suzy caught wind of the danger and decided to stay and offer assistance. So I ordered: “Just drop us off then take the kids back to campus. You should be safe once you’re out of the state.”

  “Safe?” Patricia latched onto my misplaced word with wolf-like intensity. “If you’re not safe, we’re not leaving you.”

  A pinch in my belly bent me double, a good excuse to evade her question. Through watery eyes, I caught a glimpse of Theta’s rental vehicle backed up beneath low-hanging trees.

  “Here,” I managed, fumbling with the door until I got it open. The van had nearly stopped when I staggered out onto the tarmac.

  At least I was upright. On the other hand, I was already shivering. For once, I was glad of Suzy’s tenacity as she disembarked to join me, thrusting a bundle of blessedly dry clothes into my arms.

  “If you won’t tell us, at least take this.”

  “Thank you.” I forgot to even check for passing traffic or wide awake students before stripping to my underwear and shrugging into the replacement clothing. But surprising warmth in one of my pockets prevented me from dumping the soggy mess I’d shrugged out of into Benjie’s duffel bag.

  “You still have it?” Benjie’s voice was distant. “That could be useful....”

  Jacob’s wolf statue, unused and unharmed by its dunking, emitted heat like a tiny furnace. I let the stone sit in my hand for a moment longer than necessary, basking in its heat.

  “What is it?” Patricia snatched the statue out of my frozen fingers before I could stop her. She raised the wolf to her nose, inhaled in wonder. “Ooh!”

  Then, without warning, she fell to the ground in the form of a wolf.

  MY FIRST TRANSFORMATION had been long and painful, but Patricia’s was instantaneous. She rose, shook, lupine wildness emanating from every angle of her tail and spine.

  “Wow.” Suzy’s eyes were so wide I thought they might pop out of their sockets. “Whoa.” She reached down...

  ...and I snatched the statue away before the disaster could worsen. “I need you to get into the van and drive away from here,” I said, wishing for alpha command abilities and finding them entirely lacking. Instead, the older woman dropped her hand to Patricia’s head in a trusting pat.

  Benjie was similarly awestruck. Maybe he hadn’t stuck around to see Jacob’s transformation? Whatever the reason, he hunkered down beside Patricia with wonder in his eyes.

  This was bad, bad, bad. Patricia might be acting like a well-trained pup now, but newly Changed werewolves were erratic. I no longer possessed an inner beast to stop Patricia if she succumbed to bloodlust. And while I still had Harry’s gun, what I could do with it to improve this situation was beyond me....

  But Patricia didn’t attack or flee or do anything actually. She just sat there, like a dog at heel, peering up into my eyes.

  “Amazing.” Suzy breathed one last word of wonder. Then she turned to Benjie, “You’ll help Dr. Hart and Patricia?”

  She sounded wolflike. And Benjie bowed to her dominance.

  “I broke it. I’ll fix it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I promise we’ll tell you more later....”

  “Don’t worry about the students,” Suzy interrupted. “Do what you have to do.” Then she hugged me fiercely, hopped back in the van, and left us there alone in the snow.

  Alone...with clear evidence that Justine had been here before us. I knelt beside the tire tracks the university van had run over. The damp treads could have been made by anyone. They could go anywhere. And...it really didn’t matter since stolen artifacts paled in the face of five hellhounds with unknown abilities and a taste for blood.

  “So, what’s next?”

  Benjie’s words broke into my analysis of exactly that question. I hadn’t realized until then that I lacked snowshoes, I lacked the ability to hunt by scent, and I lacked even the faintest glimmering of a plan.

  “I think...” I started, only to be interrupted by a deep growl from Patricia.

  Her ears pricked; her ruff raised. I turned to peer in the direction she was facing just as Sam stepped out of the trees.

 
Chapter 32

  This wasn’t the same Sam we’d seen at the funeral, however. Instead, Benjie’s friend from childhood was furious, and we were the focus of his rage.

  “You desecrated a sacred place. Did you really think you’d get away with it? We’re talking felony charges. Lifetime sentences behind bars.”

  His phone was out, his finger poised to dial. That couldn’t happen. Not while hellhounds ran through the forest unhindered.

  Benjie must have felt the same way I did, because he rose from his crouch and stepped in front of me. “Skidmark, I can explain everything.”

  Sam laughed, a harsh bark of frustration. “You lost your right to use that name a long time ago. I can’t believe you would rob us.”

  “We didn’t take anything....” Benjie started.

  “No? So this isn’t yours?”

  Sam fumbled his phone as he pulled out a familiar keychain. And, for a split second, I lost track of the impossibility of the upcoming task.

  That keychain was Claw’s. My fingers twitched. Sam smiled, his expression far from friendly.

  “Ah, I see you recognize it. Dropped it when you changed clothes, did you? Not a smart move. Lots of DNA on underwear.”

  He was on entirely the wrong track, but I found myself unable to correct him. Claw’s keys would get me into the parked SUV, a source of both spare snowshoes and transportation. Meanwhile, Harry’s gun weighed down my pocket. Could I really stoop so low as to threaten two innocents in a single day?

  I had to try words first. “Look, we’re sorry about the theft,” I started, “but...”

  “...we need to find them.” Patricia rose to two feet in time to finish my sentence, her transformation clearly visible to Sam’s widening eyes.

  “AH.” HE BLINKED, HIS face filling with childlike wonder. I barely caught the addendum he muttered beneath his breath. “There really is more to life than money. You were right, Grandad.”

  And just like that, Claw’s keys came spinning through the air toward me. I caught them two-handed, not willing to risk washing the last of Claw’s scent away by letting his possession fall into the slush.

  Benjie had taken over the duty of offering explanations, so I allowed myself one second of self-indulgence. Raising the keys to my nose, I inhaled deeply...and smelled nothing. My human senses weren’t up to the task.

  “Olivia?” Benjie raised his eyebrows, gesturing toward the vehicle.

  Right. Forward motion. We didn’t want to give Sam a chance to change his mind. I unlocked the SUV then lifted the back hatch...

  ...And now that I wasn’t looking for it, a wave of moss and butterscotch rocked me back onto my heels.

  “Who was he?” Sam’s face pressed into my field of vision. It was probably just as well Patricia had shifted and drawn this banker into our drama. I was rattled and he was perspicacious. We could use a mind clearer than my own.

  So I told him the truth. “My mate. He’s still out there....”

  Only he wasn’t out there...he was here. Patricia barked, but I didn’t need the warning. Hairs sprang upright across my body as Claw’s eyes skimmed across me.

  Unlike in my memory, this contact wasn’t warm but rather fiery. Hungry. Intent. Eager to consume.

  I didn’t bother turning to search for him. He was close...and surrounded by other hellhounds. I could smell them. Smoke and flowers, like the aftermath of a funeral pyre.

  “Inside. Now!” I pushed Sam before me, hurtling for the safety of the vehicle. He stumbled over his snowshoes, requiring Benjie’s assistance before the two could fumble their way into the back seat.

  Patricia was harder to wrangle. She’d fallen back to four paws sometime while I wasn’t looking. Now she paced near the back bumper, growling out a warning.

  As if she intended to take on five hellhounds single-handed. Or, rather, single-pawed.

  Only, there weren’t five hellhounds. There were ten stepping out of the tree cover. Were the others wild wolves or transformed shifters? Were they even hellhounds?

  In daylight, flames weren’t visible. But the floral aroma overwhelmed my nose.

  I couldn’t let Patricia near them or she’d be charred out of her humanity. “Patricia, no. This isn’t your battle.” I deepened my voice, tried to sound commanding. The effort did exactly no good.

  The moon blindness I’d expected to take her when she first transitioned had awoken. There was no human nature between those furry ears to rationalize with. Just a wild animal, protecting her pack from another even though she was sorely outnumbered. Patricia took a step forward...

  ...and Benjie sprinted around the side of the vehicle then launched himself at her back.

  WE DRAGGED PATRICIA back to the SUV between us. Forced her inside and slammed the door.

  Tires spun as I accelerated out of there. Only when we were back on the highway did I manage to breathe.

  “We have to find a way...” I didn’t know what we could do with the hellhounds we’d just escaped from, let alone how to do it. I just knew it was my responsibility to fix the problem I’d created.

  To my surprise, muttering in the back seat erupted into a path forward. “Turn here,” Sam said, his voice much calmer than mine would have been in his shoes. So I obeyed without argument, following his instructions as he guided us down a winding side road.

  Meanwhile, Benjie was guiding us spiritually. “What we’ve been missing,” he told me, “is that you are the linchpin in this situation.”

  I snorted. The SUV’s tailpipe ground against a pothole as I lost track of the road for one split second. “Doubtful.” Then, glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing Benjie’s crestfallen expression, I softened my words. “Okay, talk me through it. What do you mean?”

  So he did, sounding much more like the learned scholar I’d chatted with in the darkened departmental van than the charlatan I’d met originally. He spun a web of ancient stories, of rock ogres and water ghosts and raven spirits who helped find lost objects. About ceremonies at petroglyphs intended to imbue people with power. How that energy could be used to become a warrior, a healer, or to wreak revenge.

  I frowned, having a hard time following. “So, you’re saying Justine is a shaman? She used the wolf statue to get back at me and my father?”

  “Doubtful.” Benjie shook his head, pausing while Sam got out to unlock a gate and wave us through it. Then he continued. “I think what happened with the statue was a fluke. It passed through too many hands, everyone adding contradictory intentions to it. Then you didn’t give the cave any offerings when you tried to Change Val. And, mostly, I just did everything wrong when I charged the statue up.”

  His face was pinched now, his hands twisting together. A moment ago, Benjie had been confident. Now I was losing him.

  I slammed on the brakes.

  “Benjie, look at me.”

  Patricia pushed her head between the seats, joining in as I thrust my way into Benjie’s personal space. Sam leaned sideways. Despite being drawn into our mess by Patricia’s shift, he was very much a banker. Benjie, on the other hand, leaned toward me like a pack-hungry wolf.

  “Benjie,” I repeated, waiting until his eyes left the floor and met mine. “You’ve more than earned your fee already. I’m begging you. Dispense more wisdom so I don’t have to keep stabbing into the dark.”

  And he did, hemming and hawing for a moment before circling back around to the beginning of our conversation. “Like I said, you’re the linchpin,” he told me. “You’re looking for a solution outside yourself. But it’s time you started looking inside instead.”

  Chapter 33

  Benjie’s words had power. I could feel them, lying there in my stomach. But, for now, it was time to return to the physical world.

  “Where are we?” I asked Sam as he directed me to park at the end of a gravel driveway. There was nothing visible around us. Just trees, trees, and more trees.

  “I thought the first step might be trapping the hellhounds,” he answered. A cr
eased map emerged from his pocket—a network of lines and bumpy ovals. “The obvious location is inside the cave.”

  So he had a map and a way to drive closer to the entrance. Helpful. Still, the fiery wolves had gotten out once already. And—“I don’t think they’ll go down an elevator.”

  “There are two ways in,” Sam said, having clearly thought the matter through already. He twisted the map around so I could see it better, tapped one side with his finger. “I had the mine-shaft elevator installed when Grandad dug in his heels and refused to stop going down there. I was afraid he would fall or get stuck. But that wasn’t the original door. There’s another way in—smaller, gated, accessible to creatures with paws....”

  “So we draw the elevator up to block the main entrance, lead the hellhounds in the back, then lock that behind them once they’re inside?”

  The idea had merit. And it also had the benefit of keeping everyone except me out of the cavern. Or so I thought until the plan began falling into place.

  “You really want to be the one inside?” I asked Benjie as he cranked up the mine-shaft elevator.

  He was red-faced with effort, but his voice was steady. “Of course. I can do this.”

  He didn’t mention Yelp reviews and infamy. Like Jacob after bonding with his inner animal, Benjie was ten times steadier now than when we’d first met.

  Which left only one gap in my plan—how we’d get the hellhounds down there in the first place. It would take someone quick on their feet. Someone enticing.

  Watching Patricia frolic in snowdrifts, I understood that our bait would have to be a wolf.

  The trouble was, she was a kid. An undergraduate with a bright future ahead of her...

  ...And a budding leader itching to spread her wings.

  I felt absurd whistling for a werewolf. But Patricia sprinted toward me with no annoyance in her posture. Sat at my feet and looked up with trust in her eyes that I was sure I didn’t merit.