by Geonn Cannon
She kissed Dale’s hair. Her lips happened to land on a scar from a bullet, inflicted years ago during their first really big case. She always shuddered when she thought about how close she’d come to losing Dale that night, and how much her life had changed since then. She doubted she would have gotten through the past ten years without Dale at her side, and had no intention of seeing what the next ten would be like without her.
“Marry me.”
“Are we going to have to do this every night? That sounds exhausting.”
Ari leaned back. “But worth it...?”
Dale smiled up at her. “So worth it. You were kidding, right...?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. But I would.”
“I would, too,” Ari said, pulling Dale back to her. “You know what would be nice right now? A massage. Just like the old days.”
Dale laughed. “Oh, you’re going to put me to work?”
“Who said anything about you?” She put her hands on Dale’s shoulders, turning her around to guide her to the couch. “You must have rubbed the aches and pains of transforming out of me a couple hundred times. And since you’re doing my job, maybe it’s time I do yours.” She kissed Dale just above the ear. “Take off your shirt and lay down.”
Dale licked her lips and started unbuttoning. “Is it still sexual harassment if we’re married?”
“Only if you don’t like it.”
“Then I think you’re okay.” Dale stretched out face down on the couch, and Ari straddled her waist. She folded her arms to make a pillow. “We should do this more often.”
“I’m game if you are. Better than paperwork.”
“You still have to do the paperwork,” Dale said.
Ari squeezed Dale’s bicep. “Hey, who’s the boss here?”
“Who do you think?”
Ari grinned. “Okay, fair.”
She was midway through the massage when her phone rang. Dale groaned and Ari patted her on the hip as she twisted to take the phone from the back pocket of her pants.
“Unknown number. Should I chance it?”
“Live dangerously for once in your life,” Dale said.
Ari smiled and swiped, assuming a professional tone as she brought the phone up. “This is Ariadne Willow.”
“I took part in the Howl Around the Sound.”
Ari furrowed her brow. “Pardon?”
“My pack heard that the canidae who wiped out wolfsbane needed us to howl for her, so I left work early and did it from my garage. Hope it helped.”
“I’m sorry, who...” She realized who she was talking to. “You’re Conrad Rigas.”
“Ah, you are a detective. Well done. I hear from a mutual friend that I might be able to help you out again.”
Dale tapped Ari’s knee. Ari shifted to let her get up and retrieve her shirt. “I definitely hope so. We’re hoping you can give us information on Gabriel Roemer.”
“Which one?”
Ari was thrown. “Uh. I only know of one.”
“There have been fourteen or fifteen,” he said. “Only two are still alive, and I’m pretty sure you’re looking for the youngest of those. His family goes way back. One of those lineage things where the patriarch tries to gain immortality by giving his name to his kid. Always feel bad for those kids. Like their whole life is just a chapter in someone else’s book...” His voice trailed off.
“Uh,” Ari looked at Dale. “Sure...”
Conrad snapped out of whatever mental distraction he’d suffered. “Our mutual friend says you’re good people. She doesn’t say that often, even about her friends. So I’ll help you out.”
“That’s great. When do you want to meet--”
“We won’t meet,” he said, “at least not yet. I’m a wolf who spends most of his free time hanging around hunters to find out their deepest, darkest secrets. Agreeing to work with you doesn’t mean I trust you enough to set up a meeting.”
Ari grunted. “I guess that makes sense. I’m not terribly interested in his past unless it directly affects what he’s doing now.”
“Define now.”
“The past year or so.”
There was a pause. She assumed he was making a note. “Understood. I was led to believe that you think he’s involved with this canidae exposed video that’s making the rounds on social media.”
“Yeah,” Ari said.
“Is your involvement common knowledge or should it be treated as confidential information?”
She hadn’t considered that. “Well. I’m a private investigator, so I guess--”
“Noted.” Pause. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. Do you keep an ear out for general canidae information as well as specific targets?”
“Of course. You never know what piece of knowledge could become vital.”
“Right,” Ari said. “In the past two days, I’ve encountered two hunters and a man who might as well be one. I didn’t pick up the scent of any of them.”
One more pause, this one longer than either of the others. “They didn’t smell like hunters, or...?”
“They didn’t smell like anything,” Ari said. “They all snuck up on me because I didn’t realize there was anyone around. It was like they’d blocked their scents somehow.”
“Interesting,” he said. “I’ll see what other wolves are reporting. Although it is hard to ask someone to recall an absence of something, to know when a thing has not been seen requires more attention than most people are willing to be pay.”
Ari wondered if he was high. “Okay,” she said. “Well... stay in touch, and let us know what you find. The clock is ticking.” She listened for a response. “Conrad? Mr. Rigas...?” She looked at the phone to see the call had disconnected. “I guess you’ll be in touch.”
“The clock is ticking louder than you know.”
Dale turned her monitor so Ari could see the screen. It showed a column of tweets, all of which either had a link or screenshot of the video along with hashtags about werewolves next to a string of content warnings.
“You said people were ignoring it.”
“They were. But I guess someone with a blue checkmark and a million followers must have found it and started spreading the word.”
“So what does that mean?”
“I think it means Marin Cardoso is about to go viral.”
Chapter Ten
The video still hadn’t made it to any mainstream news sites, but it was spreading like wildfire across every social media platform. The people who thought it was clickbait viral marketing were growing quieter, giving way to discussions about how sickening it was to use images of a woman being tortured to sell a movie. Some were starting to worry that it wasn’t a prank, although no one seemed quite ready to believe it was real. It was only a matter of time before the police got involved, which was a double-edged sword. More people looking for Marin, Val, and Gwen could only be a good thing. But if Marin’s imprisonment was proven to be authentic, people might start looking at the “werewolves are real” part of the equation.
The worst part was that they were essentially helpless against it. The site was up, and it was spreading around from tweets to Facebook posts to blogs, and she didn’t think it was humanly possible to stop something once it had that kind of momentum. The only thing they could do was hope something big, flashy, and controversial took over the news cycle before Marin gave in and transformed. The internet had a very short memory and, without the spectacle of someone literally becoming a wolf in front of them, the video would easily be forgotten by the masses while the police would keep looking. The best of both worlds.
Ari spent the rest of the afternoon trying to nap in anticipation of her plans for the night. She hated that she’d misled Eva, even if it was well-intentioned and her plan wouldn’t have worked if she was upfront about what she was trying to do. The poor girl was worried about her sister and Ari couldn’t help but feel like she was manipulating Eva’s grief. But if a little manipulation was what it
took to get Marin back...
It was almost dark when she woke up. She had dinner with Dale, who had spent the past few hours creating new accounts so she could spread the word that the “werewolf rumor” was very clearly fake. She pointed out tiny details in the video - “Look at that break, they obviously cut something” and “oh please, it’s on a LOOP!” - and retweeted herself enough times that strangers started picking up on it.
“I’m glad it’s working,” Ari said, “even though it’s also depressing and terrifying that people can be manipulated like that.”
“Yeah,” Dale said. “I feel a little like an evil genius.”
“So...” Ari poked at the bowl of chicken and rice Dale had made for her. “Are you, um... are you ready for... for tomorrow...?”
Dale reached across the table and put her hand on top of Ari’s. “We can push it back if you want. See if there’s another angle.”
Ari shook her head. “Sending you in is a good plan. And time is crunching on us, so waiting would just leave them in danger for no reason. But I feel like all I’m doing is sending one more person I love into the fire while I sit back and chase my tail.”
“It’s a great tail,” Dale said with a smile.
Ari smiled back at her. “You have to do something you don’t like tomorrow, I have to do something that makes me feel dirty tonight. We’re really coming out of this smelling like roses.”
“Well, lie down with dogs, you’re going to get fleas.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, god.”
Ari laughed. “Hey...”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s a common saying,” Ari said.
Dale was blushing bright red. Her eyes were shining with tears. “This is like what I did when I started reading that fucking book.”
Ari got up and came around the table, crouching next to her chair. “Babe, look at me. I remember when you used slurs against me. I remember it very well. Because they weren’t just words, there was a tone and a venom behind them that I felt deep inside. People slip up. It happens.”
“I’m still sorry.”
Ari leaned in and kissed Dale’s cheeks. “I forgive you. And I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed Ari’s lips. “Go on. They might leave early.”
“Yeah,” Ari said. “See you by morning.”
“Be safe, puppy.”
Ari promised by kissing two fingers and touching them to her heart as she went to the door. She undressed and slipped outside into the ditch of their stairwell, just low enough that her head was almost even with the grass. She put her hands on the steps and arched her back. She felt the bones along her back popping like a symphony, her shoulder blades sliding apart, her hips reforming. She watched as her fingers curled and the skin thickened from her elbow to wrist before sprouting dark brown fur. It felt like standing up to stretch after being seated for hours, only the blissful feeling was magnified by a million. The pain she’d once felt was not just manageable now, it was all but an afterthought. A vague memory of soreness and ache that was easily forgotten.
Ari trotted up the stairs before she shook out her fur. Her wolf brain wanted to run wild, to explore, to race and get into mischief, but she reminded herself that this was a work night. She huffed, hating how she gave herself Responsibilities while in human form. But it was Important, so she would do it and be rewarded with a free night later on.
She thought about Eva and her pack, the scents she’d picked up at the Cardoso house without even realizing she was doing it. She headed out, north, toward the lake. The lake, with all its wonderful smells, the highway! Oil and gas and exhaust, smelling like burning poison but also kind of good. Mixture of dirt and metal, perfect, her favorite, and she ran faster to get there so she could enjoy it before the Work started.
The cars were still parked in front of the house when she arrived. She sniffed the stoop and walkway that led around to the condo, but she didn’t think anyone had passed by in the past few hours. Good good good, she was on time, not too late. She went to the end of the block and scoured around until she found a good place to settle out of sight. Her Job was Harder the unusual tonight, hiding from other wolves, following other wolves, without them noticing her or picking up her scent. She’d have to be Sneaky and Very Focused.
Earlier she had planted the seed in Eva’s mind: let the wolves out, let them process what was happening to Marin. She knew wolf brains, she knew they would take that Huge Grief and Sadness and try to make it useful. She knew that Eva and the rest of her pack were too distraught and stressed out to be in full control once they transformed. Ari hated taking advantage of that, but it was for the greater good. If the wolves came out, there was every chance they would be drawn to their missing member.
She was staring at a squirrel when she saw a shadow move near the condo. Ari lifted her head and watched as first one wolf slipped out onto the sidewalk, looked around, then darted across the street. She was followed by a second, then a third, fourth, fifth. Ari tried to remember how many wolves were in Eva and Marin’s pack. She had a hard time remembering numbers. The wolves moved furtively down the street. Ari let them get a lead and then followed.
They went to the lake, Ari loved the lake, she loved the smells and the animals and the sound of the water, even though she stayed well away from the water. She’d been dunked in the water too many times and didn’t want that to happen again, no, on purpose or on accident, she didn’t want the risk. Eva’s pack was also cautious. They stayed as close to the water as possible, using foliage to conceal them when possible and hiding in the dark silhouettes of buildings the rest of the time. Ari found it difficult to see them sometimes even when she knew they were there.
This pack is good, she thought. Clever, sneaky, quick.
When they reached Fairview, they used the walkway to avoid being seen by traffic. Ari hated it. Too exposed to follow them, but too dangerous to follow from above, and it was too close to the water. She gave them more of a lead, let them get almost all the way across the walkway before she went out onto it. She stayed low, her belly scraping the surface, ears flat, heart pounding, but she made it across safely.
Soon they turned south, sometimes cutting east or west to avoid traffic but always returning to a southern bearing. Ari was starting to worry she’d set this whole pursuit up just to be led back to the remains of the viaduct, which would take her right back to square one. But at least then she would know for a fact that Roemer and his people were stationed in that area. Lots of empty buildings due to the construction, lots of places for the hunters to set up their little house of horrors.
Because she was over a block behind Eva’s pack, the men who slipped out of a black van to follow them didn’t see her. Ari’s ears pricked up as the men spread out, one near the side of the building with the other walking along the curb. The one by the building pulled something out of his pocket that Ari couldn’t see, but she didn’t need to see anything else to know they were a threat.
She sped up and aimed herself at the men like a bullet. A growl brewed in her chest, building and rattling against her ribs until she was right behind them. The man next to the building raised his arm, and Ari let out a mighty bark-howl that echoed up and down the street as she threw herself hard into the attacking man. He collapsed hard against the pavement, crying out in pain as his elbow bounced off the pavement in a way that couldn’t have been healthy.
A member of Eva’s pack launched himself at the other man, who was already retreating back to the car. The man Ari had tackled got onto his feet, cradling his arm to his stomach. It was twisted at a very unnatural, clearly painful angle. He jabbed out his other arm at the wolf who had jumped into the fray, and its body convulsed with electricity discharged from the sparking tip.
Fortunately the man with the taser was only interested in escape. He ran, and Ari pursued. She saw a wolf watching her and recognized it was Eva. They watched each other for only half a second, but it was more than enough for a full conversation t
o pass between their wolves. Eva dipped her head, yipped to the rest of her pack, and darted across the street. The other wolves followed.
The van peeled its tires as it pulled away from the curb. Ari let it pass and then gave chase. The world narrowed down to the back of the van, its lights and empty license plate holder, the dents and dings that would identify it from a million other vans if she happened to lose track of it. Everything on either side of the street became a blur. The other cars on the street were just ghostly shapes of light and noise. She heard honking horns and tires screeching, either in response to her or the fleeing van, but they were non-entities to her.
At the next red light the van screeched to a halt. The driver, who was still uninjured, leapt out and charged her. Ari braced for his attack, head down, teeth bared. Don’t bite, don’t bite, don’t bite. She recognized him now. He was one of the men who had attacked her the morning after the hospital. He was carrying a shock stick like his partner, and he waved the tip of it in her face.
“I think I know you,” he said. “I think you’re the same bitch we saw by the viaduct, huh? You want to see your friend? We can take you to her, no problem...”
The offer was tempting. She would at least have confirmation about Gwen, Val, and Marin. But getting herself captured was a horrible plan. When he got close enough, she ducked under the stick and snapped at his leg. She timed her lunge perfectly so that her teeth plucked the fabric without getting close to the skin, but it was enough to make him back off. Even that close, she couldn’t smell him at all. Not even a hint of cologne or shampoo.
“Should’ve just thrown the van in reverse and smeared you all over the damn road. Fucking mutt.”
Sirens filled the air and both Ari and the thug turned toward the sound. Being rounded up by animal control was only slightly more appealing than being taken prisoner, and the goon didn’t seem interested in explaining what he was doing or how his friend had been hurt. He glared at Ari and retreated back to the van, climbing behind the wheel, slamming the door. Ari, wary of his threat, ran to the sidewalk just in case he decided to make good on it.