by Бри Деспейн
"Grace, I wish it were that simple. Time is exactly what we don't have. We can't put this off indefinitely. There's more than one person out there who wants me dead. And if anyone other than you kills me ..."
"Who? Who wants you dead?" I felt like I could wring that person's neck with my own bare hands-- moral consequences be damned.
"My father, for one." Daniel's eyes were wide like a frightened child.
"Is he here? Is he back? Is he the one who---?"
"No," Daniel said. "Last I heard, he was in South
America somewhere. I'd know if he were anywhere close."
"Then why are you so worried? We can deal with all of this when the time comes. All I'm asking for is more time. Can't we just live for today?"
Daniel sighed, sounding resigned. He pulled me into his arms and leaned my head against his chest. I listened to his two heartbeats thrumming under his skin. The slower pulse seemed closer to my ear, the faster one fluttering behind it.
"Is your human heart in front of the wolf's heart?" I asked.
Daniel made a noise like he was surprised that I'd noticed the fact that he had more than one heart. "Yes, but only when I'm in human form. When I'm the wolf, then its heart takes the dominant position. But it's always with me--part of me."
That must be why I needed to stab him while he was in wolf form--to guarantee that the wolf's heart took the brunt of the blow.
"What did the letter mean when it said 'In an act of true love'?" I asked. If I was going to do this--kill him-- someday, I wanted to make sure I understood exactly how to do it right. "The letter said the cure would only work if" you were killed 'in an act of true love' by the person who loved you most."
"I think it means the intent has to be pure," Daniel said into my hair. "Not something done out of fear or hate or coercion. It has to be an act of pure, unwavering love."
"No fear." I pictured myself alone with a monstrous wolf. Was that something I was capable of? I'd have to be. "Just love," I said, and buried those other thoughts.
"Yes," Daniel snorted. "True love's first kill."
He held me tight against him. The parking lot had emptied and filled with a new set of cars by the time he let me go. He brushed his hands through my hair and kissed my forehead.
"You can so do better than that." I stretched up on my toes for a real kiss.
Daniel turned his head away. "What about your brother?"
"I don't want to kiss him" I said, and pecked my lips along Daniel's jaw.
"He's here, you know." Daniel swallowed air. "I can taste him."
"Okay, let's put that on our 'Top Ten Things Not to Say While Making Out' list. Super senses are cool and all, but kinda not romantic. Besides, Jude's probably just picking up April's corsage for the dance... Oh, crap."
Daniel stiffened. "What is it?"
"I'm supposed to go to the dance with Pete tonight. We're sharing a car with April and Jude."
"No." Daniel let go of me. "You can't go out tonight. You have to cancel."
"You know I can't do that. Pete's probably already spent a ton of money. He's a nice guy. I can't just bail--"
"Pete's not as nice as you think," Daniel grumbled.
I laughed. "Are you jealous? Pete's just a friend--"
Daniel grabbed me by the hips. "Of course I'm jealous, Gracie. You just told me that you love me but you are going out with another guy. But this is more important than my jealousy. If I'm staying here, then you have to stay in. I've got enough to keep my eye on. I can't have you out there. Not tonight."
"What's with tonight?"
He looked down. "The full moon."
"The full moon?" I looked at the little crescent carved in his necklace. "You're afraid of the--"
"Even with this moonstone necklace, the wolf is hard to control under the light of the full moon. It's when the wolf has the most draw on the emotions." He bit his lip. "I try my hardest to never go into wolf form. Even though I can control my actions now, it scares me to give the wolf that much leeway. I've only gone wolf twice since I've been back. The last was when I was looking for James. The moon was waning, so I felt safer letting the wolf have a little freedom. But the first time ... it was the last full moon.
That time scared me. I'd turned and was miles from my place on Markham before I realized it." Daniel looked at me. "Do you remember the last full moon?"
"No." Where had the last month gone?
"It was the day I first saw you again." Daniel dropped his hands from my hips, but he didn't step away. "Your dad had asked me to stay away from you and Jude until we figured things out, but I couldn't. I think he knew I wouldn't be able to, either; he was just doing the fatherly thing." Daniel studied the back of his hands. "I've always liked you, Grace. I don't know if you knew that?"
My heart fluttered. "Really?"
"Ever since the day you marched home with that three-legged runt of a puppy, I knew that there was no one else quite like you. Gabriel told me to find someone who loved me--and I hoped if there was anyone in this world who could, it would be you.
"So when I saw your name in that art class, I was so curious. ... I remembered you as this spunky, unbelievably caring, totally bossy kid, and I couldn't help teasing you a bit. But then when I looked at you and saw how beautiful and amazing and strong you had become--it was like something woke up inside of me."
He stepped back now. As if he needed to put distance between us. "I'd never felt that way before. I didn't know I was capable of feeling that way ... but the wolf felt it, too. And when the full moon came out, it told me to go find you. It told me I couldn't stay away. I even tried locking myself in my room, but that didn't work. Like I said, I was almost to your house before I came to my senses. I had more control, but I still couldn't leave--not until I saw you again."
I gasped. "I saw you. You were that dog, that wolf, that sat under the walnut tree. The one that was watching me."
I don't know why that surprised me--that I'd seen him as a wolf. I guess I'd pictured some kind of grotesque mix of man and beast. But that dog had been beautiful, large--larger, I realized now, than any dog I'd ever seen before--and sleek, majestic. Like the sculpture of the wolf with Gabriel in the Garden of Angels.
"So you're afraid that now that you know--and the wolf knows--that I'm the one, the wolf will come for me?" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "At least I know I'll have one free night to myself a month."
"Three," Daniel said. "You'll have three nights to worry about."
"Huh?"
"The moon is technically full for three nights. I came looking for you on the third night of the last full moon. Tonight is the first of this month."
"Three nights to myself then? All the better, I guess. New relationships can be so time-consuming." I shrugged and tried to laugh.
Daniel didn't. "I wish making you lonely was the only thing I had to worry about. If I'm staying here, if we're going to be together, then I have other things to take care of tonight. That's why you need to stay in. Please, Gracie. Don't go to the dance, or dinner, or anywhere with Pete and your group. I can't be distracted tonight. I need you to be safe." "I can't just cancel."
"I've never been more serious, Grace. Please, do this for me." He engulfed me in his arms, pressing me to him with such urgency. "Promise me you'll stay out of harm's way." He kissed me then like he had under the walnut tree--like his life depended on it.
"Okay," I said, and sank into his arms.
Chapter Twenty-five the other one
BEFORE THE DANCE
What is it about promises? They should just be outlawed. Seriously, I'm going to hell for this one, I thought as April slipped one last bobby pin into my upswept hair.
"You look amazing," she said.
I'd tried to keep my promise to Daniel. I really did. I'd called April first thing when I got home. I thought I could soften the blow on Pete if I convinced her to call him for me and tell him I had the chicken pox or something equally contagious. But no, that had bee
n a mistake.
"Don't do this to me!" April yelped over the line. I could hear the din of the Apple Valley Mall behind her. She'd just left Nails 18 and was fumbling with the phone, trying not to ruin her manicure. "I will never forgive you," she said, more than half meaning it. "Do you have any idea what this means to me? You will ruin my entire life if you don't go."
April's used-to-be-absent mother was keeping her on a tighter and tighter leash as more and more days passed without the police finding Jessica Day. She would only let Jude come over for "studying," and she'd agreed to the dance only if April shared a car with Pete and me. April was to go straight to dinner, then to the dance, and then back home, with absolutely no unplanned stops in between.
"But I'm sick. I can't go."
"No, you're not. You just told me that was your excuse for Pete." Crap.
"Please, please, please. You have to do this for me. I'll just die if I don't go to the dance with Jude."
I laughed. "Well, if it's a life-and-death situation ..." "Thank you, Grace. You will never regret this!" I really hoped I wouldn't.
It was just dinner, the dance, with no unplanned stops in between. Daniel wouldn't know I wasn't locked up in my room for the night. He wouldn't be distracted. I wouldn't be in danger.
Seriously, why did I never learn?
April strategically situated a lone, curling tendril down the side of my cheek. "Pete is going to flip when he sees you."
I hope not, I thought, but smiled and thanked her anyway.
April had almost gagged when she came over early and saw the hairspray-mates-with-mousse mess I'd made out of my hair. I don't know why my hands shook so much-- it's not like I was nervous for my date with Pete.
"You look like a 1980s beauty queen," she'd said, and sat me back down at the bathroom vanity.
"Isn't that look in this year?"
I could see April roll her eyes in the mirror as she set to work fixing the disaster. And I have to admit that I ended up looking pretty darn good. It was a good thing the guys were totally late, or I would have looked scary instead.
I stood up and inspected myself in the full-length mirror. Sometime during finals, April had dragged me to a dress boutique in Apple Valley. I hadn't been in the right frame of mind for shopping, so I'd let April pick out my dress--and I'd bought it without even trying it on. But I have to say: once again, she'd done a stellar job. I loved the way the white satin dress felt against my skin, and I loved even more the way it looked with my violet eyes and flawlessly coifed dark hair. The tight, sculpted bodice actually made it look like I had breasts, but my favorite parts were the pop of color in the purple sash around the middle that made my waist appear impossibly small, and the quick coat of matching purpley toenail polish that April had picked up for me at the mall.
I did a girly little twirl in front of the mirror. Too bad
Daniel wasn't the one who was going to see me in this.
The only thing I wasn't sure about were the thin spaghetti straps. Mom was pretty strict about sleeves when it came to my clothing. She'd been so busy with her late shifts at the clinic that she hadn't even asked to see my dress after I bought it.
I brushed my bare shoulders and shivered.
"Don't worry," April said. "I brought a wrap for you. I just strategically left it downstairs so you wouldn't have to put it on until after Pete sees you."
"I don't know if that's such a good idea--"
The doorbell rang.
"Showtime." April plumped her pink lips that matched the shade of her rosy pink dress. She took my hand and led me to the staircase where we could make our "grand entrance."
Jude, who had agreed to get ready over at Pete's house so April and I could get ready here, looked sullen but dashingly brooding in his black suit. He held a pink five-
rose corsage for April. Pete, in a navy-blue blazer and tan dress pants, put his fingers in his lips and let out a long whistle of approval when he saw us.
My bare shoulders felt warm and itchy. I could see the stern look on my mother's face.
"Tell me you have a wrap," she said as Pete greeted me with a peck on the cheek.
"It's in the front room with my purse," April said.
When Mom went to get it, Pete leaned in slipped a corsage of pale purple roses on my wrist. "Don't you look divine," he whispered in my ear, and then he kissed me on the cheek again, so low it was almost my neck. He smelled of an extra dose of spicy deodorant and something strangely sweet that I couldn't place.
I stepped away from him and let my mom securely wrap the length of purple chiffon around my shoulders.
"Be glad your father isn't back yet, young lady," Mom said in my ear. "Or you wouldn't be going out at all."
Part of me wished he was here then. I felt wrong for being on this date--and not just because of my broken promise. I wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable when Daniel kissed me like that, but Pete was different. There was this look in his eye that made me shiver as he watched me while Mom snapped pictures of us--it was the same look I noticed him wear when I played street hockey with the guys in the cul-de-sac, like he was determined to win no matter what.
We paraded out the door. Pete squeezed me to his side and waved good-bye to my mom. I was glad we were all going together in the Corolla.
"Wow, is that really the time?" I said when I noticed the clock in the dash. "Are we going to make it to the dance after dinner?" It was almost seven, and the guys had chosen a restaurant in the business district of the city. Our group would be nearly done eating by the time we got there. The prospect of being out late made my broken promise seem even worse.
"Yeah," April said. "You guys are way late."
"I'm starving," I groaned, trying to cover my real reason for being concerned about the time.
"Don't blame me," Pete said. "Jude here suddenly forgot how to get home from the florist or something. It took him three hours to pick up your corsages."
April stared at Jude. He didn't say anything in his defense. I didn't complain anymore. I just hoped he wouldn't stay in his shell all night.
Pete draped his arm across my back.
Goose bumps ran up my arms even though it was a surprisingly warm evening. The air was still, and it wasn't even cold enough to need a coat--the weatherman called today the "warm before the storm," and I knew our annual white-Christmas blizzard was just around the corner. Despite the unseasonable warmth, Jude had the heaters blasting, and I kept my shawl around my shoulders and held it closed in front of my chest.
Maybe it was Jude's sullenness, April's sudden silence, Pete's occasional sidelong glances, or the light of the full moon shining through the windows that made the air in the car seem too thick, too solid. My arms pricked with nervousness, my heart beat too fast--like I was anxiously waiting for something to happen.
I was glad for the fresh air when we got out of the car. I wanted to linger in the lot, but the others hurried off to join our group. I breathed in the night, letting it wash over me until I saw something move in the moonlit shadows beyond the restaurant's marquee. I didn't wait to see what it was and dashed inside the restaurant.
My anxiety grew as dinner went on. Before I joined the group, Pete had ordered me a steak, medium rare, even though Jude could have told him I liked my steak cooked so well done it was practically burned.
"It just felt like a red-meat kind of night," Pete said with a wink and a "triple threat" smile. He turned that smile on our waitress, whom he then tried to coax into bringing him a glass of wine.
But when she gave him a "nice try, buddy" grin and suggested she bring him another Coke, he called her something quite unfavorable under his breath.
I blinked at him, not sure if I'd heard right.
"Don't worry, man," Brett Johnson said from beside Lynn Bishop, "I've got you covered." Brett passed a waded cloth napkin down to Pete.
Pete smiled with approval when he unwrapped a golden flask.
As he poured what seemed like half the bottle's c
ontents into his Coke, I found myself wondering how well I knew Pete. He'd been my lab partner and study buddy since
August, and Jude had been friends with him for a couple of years--a fact that usually gave a guy automatic approval in my mind. But Daniel had tried more than once to tell me Pete wasn't as nice as he seemed, and Don hadn't wanted a certain boy to walk me home. Someone he called "the other one." Hadn't I mentioned
Pete's name before Don offered to walk with me? Pete offered me the acrid-smelling flask. I waved it away. Pete just shrugged.
But Lynn Bishop made a snarky-sounding snort. "Figures," she said.
I was about to ask her what her problem was when Pete passed the flask to Jude--and instead of waving it away like I expected, Jude drizzled a bit over his Sprite. It took every ounce of self-control not to shout at him in front of his friends. I didn't want to ruin the night for April. Good thing she'd gone off to the bathroom with a pack of girls so she wouldn't know what Jude had done.
The others had finished with dessert by the time our appetizers came--except for Brett and Lynn, who'd shown up as late as we had. The ones who were done said their good-byes, promising to wait for the rest of us before they did group pictures, and left. Pete talked louder and louder as the meal went on. He swung his arms, smacking me in the shoulder as he recounted the previous night's hockey game with gruesome detail. Although Jude had the same alcoholic beverage in his drink, he didn't relax the way Pete did. He seemed to get stiffer and harder like a statue with every sip.
After paying his bill, Jude got up and headed toward the back of the restaurant. I got up to follow him.
Pete grabbed my arm. He trailed his hand up to my elbow. "Don't be long, angel." He bared his teeth in a huge, hungry grin.
Sometimes I think he might be the monster, Don's voice whispered inside my head.
I shook it off. That was completely crazy. Pete was proving to be a jerk, but not a monster. But Daniel had been afraid of something--something that might happen tonight during the full moon--when he didn't want me out with Pete...